Tag Archive for: southern California

Why Southern California is Generally Better Prepared for Drought Than Northern California

/in , , /by /SF Gateby Amy Graff

Northern California receives more annual rain and snow than Southern California, with 75% of the state’s precipitation falling in the watersheds north of Sacramento. Yet amid a drought, it seems people in the north are conserving water by letting their lawns turn brown and taking shorter showers as districts and municipalities impose mandatory water-use restrictions, while urban areas of the arid south are lush and green with well-watered gardens and lawns.

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The Bad News Keeps Flowing For The Colorado River

/in , , /by /Nevada Public Radioby Joe Schoenmann and Zachary Green

Federal officials project more bad news for the drought-stressed Colorado River, which provides water to Las Vegas and much of the Southwest.

The Bureau of Reclamation issued a report last week saying there is a high likelihood over the next few years that California, the river’s largest water user, will join Nevada, Arizona, and Mexico in seeing cuts to its allocation.

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Lithium Fuels Hopes for Revival on California’s Largest Lake

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Elliot Spagat

Near Southern California’s dying Salton Sea, a canopy next to a geothermal power plant covers large containers of salty water left behind after super-hot liquid is drilled from deep underground to run steam turbines. The containers connect to tubes that spit out what looks like dishwater, but it’s lithium, a critical component of rechargeable batteries and the newest hope for economic revival in the depressed region.

Demand for electric vehicles has shifted investments into high gear to extract lithium from geothermal brine, salty water that has been overlooked and pumped back underground since the region’s first geothermal plant opened in 1982. The mineral-rich byproduct may now be more valuable than the steam used to generate electricity.

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Southern California Desert Farmers Will Earn Millions to Fallow Fields, Save Colorado River Water

/in , , /by /Palm Springs Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

California farmers near the Arizona border with the oldest rights to Colorado River water will reap $38 million over three years to not plant some of their fields and leave extra water in the rapidly declining Lake Mead reservoir.

Located roughly halfway between Los Angeles and Phoenix, growers near the City of Blythe in Riverside County have first priority to the river water. They hold rights that stretch back to 1877, superseding 40 million customers in eight states who also depend on it.

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Can Water Megaprojects Save The US Desert West? (Part 2)

/in , /by /CleanTechnicaby Jennifer Sensiba

In part one of this article, I covered the American West’s water problems, as well as some of the ways they have been solved with big engineering projects so far. Now, with climate change and growth both pushing the limits of water supplies, people are asking for even bigger projects, like a pipeline from the Mississippi River to somewhere in the Colorado River’s basin. Let’s talk about those ideas, even bigger ones, and why none of them might be a good idea.

Arizona state legislators asked Congress to consider a pipeline that dumps Mississippi water into the Green River, but there are alternate possibilities.

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Why Southern California Has Largely Been Spared by the State’s Worst Drought Conditions

/in , , /by /KCRWby Caleigh Wells

Los Angeles received less than half its average rainfall last year, most of the state is in a drought emergency, and Governor Gavin Newsom has asked all residents to reduce their water usage by 15%. But a stroll through any well-watered neighborhood in Southern California would suggest otherwise.

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Diamond Valley Lake Acts as Water Safety Net for SoCal

/in , , /by /Spectrum News 1by Jo Kwon

An area in Hemet offers a spot for people to get a little relief from triple-digit heat by cruising in their boats around a giant body of water.

However, Diamond Valley Lake also plays an important role when it comes to Southern California’s water supply. It is especially vital because Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked Californians to cut their water usage by 15% as the state drought continues to intensify.

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Battle Over Southern California Water Czar is Clash Between Old Vision and New, Observers Say

/in , , /by /Press Telegramby Teri Sforza

The most important thing to understand: If you’re reading this, you live in a desert. And you can live in this desert because politicians, scientists and engineers have moved mountains, almost literally, to bring you life-giving water.

The latest brawl in Water World plays out on this backdrop, and what comes out of your tap may well depend on the result. Will it come from recycled waste water? Desalination plants? A giant tunnel or two under the Delta? The answers will, in large part, depend on who’s chosen to lead the gargantuan Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which provides water to 19 million people from Ventura County to the Mexican border.

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Southern California Water Giant Wants Sacramento Valley Water — and has $44 Million to Spend

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

With California in the throes of a second year of drought conditions, the mega-water agency of Southern California served notice Tuesday that it’s prepared to spend up to $44 million to buy water from Northern California to shore up its supplies.

The board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which serves 19 million urban residents, authorized its staff to begin negotiating deals with water agencies north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where supplies are generally more plentiful.

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Pipe Dream: Feds Sued Over Desert Water Pipeline OK’d by Trump

/in , , /by /Courthouse News Serviceby Nathan Solis

Just before the Trump administration headed out the door, a federal agency this past December cleared the way for a private company to begin pumping groundwater from under the Mojave Trails National Monument in Southern California. The Cadiz water project would extract roughly 16.3 billion gallons of groundwater every year for 50 years from aquifers north of Joshua Tree National Park. The project would overtax the surrounding environment, according to environmentalists who filed a lawsuit to halt the project Tuesday.

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