The Sacramento Bee Archives

Gov. Gavin Newsom Hits Back At Trump In New Fight Over Who Controls California Water

April 22, 2019/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration is taking unprecedented steps to combat President Donald Trump’s efforts to ship more water to his agricultural allies in the San Joaquin Valley. Saying Trump’s water plans are scientifically indefensible and would violate the state’s Endangered Species Act, the state Department of Water Resources on Friday began drawing up new regulations governing how water is pumped from the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta to the southern half of the state.

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A California Town Could Finally Get Clean Water If Its Neighbor Is Willing To Help

April 22, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Cresencio Rodriguez -Delgado

The 80 homes that make up Tooleville nestle against the mighty Friant-Kern Canal, thousands of gallons of fresh water flowing each day past the two-street town. But none of that water can help Tooleville’s decades-old problem of contaminated water, chronicled at the start of this decade in a three-part series by The Bee on the San Joaquin Valley water crisis. Nearby Exeter might, though, giving a rise of newfound hope. The last year has proven to be the most productive in the town’s battle.

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California Heat Waves Could Be Predicted 2 Weeks In Advance, New UC Davis Research Shows

April 15, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Michael McGough

Want to know when the next hot spell is coming? It might help to look at the weather forecasts — a few thousand miles away. Summer heat waves in California’s Central Valley are almost always preceded by heavy rainfall over the tropical Indian and Pacific oceans, scientists at UC Davis and in South Korea determined in a recently published research effort. Researchers identified 24 heat waves that took place in California’s Central Valley during summer months from 1979 to 2010, and compared those heat waves to a weather pattern called the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) that brings heavy rain to the tropical Indian and Pacific oceans.

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Avalanches, Snow Slides and Chain Controls: Storms Keep Pounding Northern California

April 2, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Michael MCgough

There’s no weekend reprieve in store for Northern California after a wet start to the week. In fact, it should only get wetter. National Weather Service says Friday and Saturday will see a “stronger, wetter” storm than the one passing through Monday and Tuesday, with as much as 1 to 2 feet of snow possible near summit passes this weekend. Rain and snowfall were expected to be light during this week’s first storm, but Caltrans and sheriff’s departments have reported a snow slide incident Monday afternoon and an avalanche Tuesday morning, both of which closed stretches of highways.

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Oroville Dam Spillway To Be Used Tuesday. The State Says It’s Ready

March 31, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

Oroville Dam’s massive flood-control spillway will be deployed Tuesday for the first time since it was rebuilt for $1.1 billion after a near-catastrophe forced the evacuation of 188,000 people in 2017. In a brief statement Sunday, the California Department of Water Resources’ deputy director Joel Ledesma said the agency has “restored full functionality to the Oroville main spillway and is operating the reservoir to ensure public safety of those downstream. The Oroville main spillway was designed and constructed using 21st century engineering practices and under the oversight and guidance from state and federal regulators and independent experts.”

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Rebuilt Oroville Dam Spillway Could Be Used Next Week After Storm Hits. Is It Ready?

March 26, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler

Water may cascade down Oroville Dam’s rebuilt spillway next week for the first time since a massive crater formed in its nearly half-mile long surface two years ago — a major milestone in the saga that triggered the evacuation of 188,000 people and a $1.1 billion repair job to the country’s tallest dam.
A storm forecast to hit this week is expected to fill Lake Oroville to the point that state dam operators might need to open the spillway gates to manage lake levels, state officials said Tuesday.

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Rain, Snow And Thunderstorms To Hit Northern California Before Sunny Weekend

March 26, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Michael McGough

The latest forecasts show stormy weather will ramp up up across interior Northern California by midweek, hitting hardest Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. It’s the second system of the week, according to National Weather Service, after the first dropped showers in the Sacramento Valley and light snow in the Sierra range Monday and early Tuesday. Heavy snow is expected to have a major impact in the mountains Wednesday, and NWS is strongly discouraging mountain travel through Thursday. NWS and Caltrans have said on Twitter that chain controls appear all but certain and highway closures are possible at higher elevations.

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Heavy Sierra Snow, Valley Thunderstorms And Hail Possible Wednesday As Storm Peaks

March 25, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Michael McGough

The heaviest rain, heaviest snow and highest probability of thunderstorms accompanying the current storm will pass through Northern California at varying times Wednesday. Early morning showers were scattered, dropping heavier precipitation in the northern half of the Sacramento Valley while Sacramento stayed mostly dry as of 6 a.m., as National Weather Service radar images show. Rain in Sacramento will likely begin later Wednesday morning.

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California Is Now Drought-Free, Monitor Says. Wait, Didn’t That Happen 2 Years Ago?

March 14, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Michael McGough

Thanks to a wet winter across the state, the entirety of California is free of drought for the first time since 2011, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor’s Thursday update. Don’t confuse that with former Gov. Jerry Brown’s April 2017 announcement that the statewide drought had officially ended. The drought officially began with Brown’s declaration of a state of emergency in January 2014.

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Climate Change Will Endanger 3 Times More Californians Than Previous Estimates, Study Says

March 13, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Michael McGough

Climate change through the rest of the 21st century could be much more threatening to coastal California than previously anticipated, based on newly published research led by the U.S. Geological Survey. The new numbers are dramatic: Dynamic flooding in California could total more than $150 billion in property damage and impact about 600,000 people by the year 2100, according to research. When factoring in population trends, extreme scenarios could increase the total number of affected Californians to more than 3 million.

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