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Opinion: California’s Water Wars See Some Breakthroughs but More Clashes Loom

The politics of water in California could be likened to the constant grinding of tectonic plates 10 miles or more beneath its surface. The Pacific Plate battles with the North American Plate for dominance along the 800-mile-long San Andreas Fault tracing California’s coast. When one gives way, the state experiences an earthquake.

First Major Water Storage Project in Over a Decade Moving Forward

The recent approval of the B.F. Sisk Dam Raise and Reservoir Expansion Project marks a significant improvement to California’s water storage capacity. This major project, greenlit as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, represents the first substantial water storage approval in California since 2011. The Department of the Interior, in collaboration with the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, has granted the nod to this crucial initiative, signaling a new era for water storage in the state.

Feds OK Plans for Major Expansion of San Luis Reservoir

California is getting its first major water storage project in a dozen years, expanding an existing reservoir through federal funding.

Friday, the Department of the Interior and San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority improved plans to implement the B.F. Sisk Dam Raise and Reservoir Expansion Project.

State Water Project to Deliver 100% of Requested Supplies as Reservoirs Fill

The California Department of Water Resources announced Thursday that the State Water Project will be able to deliver 100% of requested water supplies this year thanks to full reservoirs following record winter rain and snow.

Water Windfall: Key California Reservoir Fills for Just Third Time in 12 years

Five months ago, San Luis Reservoir — the massive lake along Highway 152 between Gilroy and Los Banos — was just 24% full, an arid landscape of cracked mud and lonely boat ramps painfully far away from the dwindling water’s edge.

Planning for Dry Times: The West Considers More Reservoirs and Aquifers

As parched California receives much needed rain and snow this winter, some local water officials are calling on state leaders to invest in new infrastructure projects that will store freshwater for inevitable dry times to come. The worst megadrought in 1,200 years is devastating the water supply in the Western United States.

Toxic Blue-Green Algae That Can Kill Dogs Spotted in California. How to Identify and Avoid It

With temperatures heating up, it might be tempting to take a dip in the river or let your dog dehydrate at the shore after a walk, but you might want to think twice.

Toxic blue-green algae, known for causing negative health effects in people and animals who’ve been exposed to it, has bloomed in central California at the San Luis Reservoir in Merced County, according to a release from Department of Water Resources on May 31.

Calif.’s Central Valley Groundwater May Not Recover From Droughts

Groundwater in Calif.’s Central Valley is at risk of being depleted by pumping too much water during and after droughts, according to a new study in the American Geophysical Union journal Water Resources Research.

The study finds that groundwater storage recovery has been dismal after the state’s last two droughts, with less than a third of groundwater recovered from the drought that spanned 2012 to 2016.

Stunning Photos Show Drought’s Impact on Huge California Reservoir

The California drought has been brutal over the past few years, but to see just how devastating it has been, you need to see before-and-after pictures side by side.

Bay Area News Group photojournalist Nhat V. Meyer went out to the San Luis Reservoir in Merced County this week and took pictures in approximately the same places that he did in January 2019. The reservoir is one of the largest in California.

The results are startling.

Pwd Is Doubling Down on Water Conservation Efforts

 Looking to bolster its water reserves during a historic drought, the Palmdale Water District, on Monday, continued its request that customers conserve water by 15% and also agreed to purchase water from another State Water Project contractor.

The Board of Directors reaffirmed the voluntary water conservation program by implementing Stage Two of its Water Shortage Contingency Plan.

The District, in June, adopted an updated Water Shortage Contingency Plan, in which the requested 15% reduction falls under Stage Two instead of Stage One, as it was in the previous plan.