Torrential rainfall in Ventura County, a swath of coastal California just north of Los Angeles, triggered evacuations, flooded streets and homes and brought intense rainfall rates — nearly an inch of rain in five minutes at one location, officials said. Portions of streets in Oxnard were under water due to the severe, heavy rains spawned by a low-pressure system that soaked the Golden State.
Southern California has agreed to conserve enough water in Lake Mead to support upwards of 300,000 single family homes for a year under an agreement struck with the federal government.
Leo Ortega started growing spiky blue agave plants on the arid hillsides around his Southern California home because his wife liked the way they looked.
A decade later, his property is now dotted with thousands of what he and others hope is a promising new crop for the state following years of punishing drought and a push to scale back on groundwater pumping.
The cutting-edge world of desalination and the future of water supply in Southern California is the topic for conversation and insight from water agency officials in a new podcast. The four distinguished guests are from San Diego County Water Authority, Eastern Municipal Water District, Las Virgenes Municipal Water District and South Coast Water District.
The cutting-edge world of desalination and the future of water supply in Southern California is the topic for conversation and insight from water agency officials in a new podcast. The four distinguished guests are from San Diego County Water Authority, Eastern Municipal Water District, Las Virgenes Municipal Water District and South Coast Water District.
Learn how these projects work, their impact on California’s thirst during dry times.
From coastlines to arid inland regions, seawater and brackish water desalination projects are popping up like never before. But how do they work? What is the environmental impact? And can they really quench California’s thirst during those dry times? Are they truly drought proof?
These four are each at the helm of a water agency contributing to this critical conversation: Dan Denham, General Manager of the San Diego County Water Authority; Joe Mouawad, General Manager of the Eastern Municipal Water District; David Pedersen, General Manager of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District; and Rick Shintaku, General Manager of the South Coast Water District.
Tropical Storm Hilary drenched Southern California from the coast to the desert resort city of Palm Springs and inland mountains, forcing rescuers to pull several people from swollen rivers.
By early Monday, remnants of the storm that first brought soaking rains to Mexico’s arid Baja California peninsula and the border city of Tijuana, threatened Nevada and as far north as Oregon and Idaho with flooding.
Southern Californians were battling flooded roads, mudslides and downed trees.
With Hurricane Hilary fast bearing down on the region, officials issued a tropical storm warning for a swath of Southern California Friday night — meaning tropical storm-force winds are expected in the region within the next 36 hours.
Southern California was already bracing for a rare and potentially destructive weekend. Such lashing winds would be only one of the storm’s potentially dangerous impacts, with forecasters also predicting intense rain, flash flooding in the desert and mountain areas and harrowing conditions along the beaches.
The storm has prompted officials to cancel events and issue dire alerts, particularly as the system moves across southwestern California on Sunday and Monday.
With Hurricane #Hilary fast bearing down on the region, officials issued a tropical storm warning for a swath of Southern California Friday night — tropical storm-force winds are expected in the region within the next 36 hours. https://t.co/Kb0cbd2FMg #CAwx #TropicalStormWarning
— San Diego County Water Authority💧 (@sdcwa) August 19, 2023
The shrinking and drying out of the Salton Sea has reduced stress on the San Andreas Fault, possibly reducing the frequency and severity of earthquakes in Southern California, according to research from San Diego State University and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, found that the reduced stress on the fault from a significantly lesser amount of water may be delaying the next “big one.”
A wet winter in parts of California and Arizona means an epic wildflower season. In some areas the so-called “superbloom” can be seen from space.
Colorado River water from Lake Mead makes its way to Southern California through the California River Aqueduct.
Once this water arrives in Lake Mathews, it’s then distributed to a water treatment plant owned by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
