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Valley Land Has Sunk From Too Much Water Pumping. Can Fresno County Fix It?

/in , /by /The Fresno Beeby Thaddeus Miller

The Fresno County Board of Supervisors adopted a plan on Tuesday meant to maintain groundwater and keep users from pumping too much from underground basins.

The supervisors adopted plans for two areas connected to the Delta-Mendota subbasin. Officials throughout the San Joaquin Valley have been required by the state to adopt a plan by the end of the month.

State regulators stepped in during 2014 after a U.S. Geological Survey in the previous year showed so much water was being pumped out of the ground in the Valley that the land was sagging. The process – called subsidence – could damage roads, dams, railroads, pipes and bridges.

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Water Crisis Puts Oregon Community At A Crossroads

/in , /by /National Public Radio (NPR)by Emily Cureton

In a desert far from any city, farmers use groundwater to grow lush green hay. The hay fattens livestock all over the world. But there’s a big problem: The water is drying up. Now scientists warn it will take thousands of years for an aquifer in southeastern Oregon to recover, while residents there are already hurting.

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New Monitoring Program Hopes to Boost Science on Colorado River Headwaters

/in , /by /KAWC (Yuma, Ariz.)by Luke Runyon

A new federal program hopes to fill in knowledge gaps on how water moves through the headwaters of arguably the West’s most important drinking and irrigation water source.

The U.S. Geological Survey announced the next location for its Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS) will be in the headwaters of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers. It’s the second watershed in the country to be part of the program, after a successful pilot on the Delaware River started last year.

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Threat of Mudslides Returns to California After Devastating Fires. How Do They Work?

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Rong-Gong Lin II, Joseph Serna, Rosanna Xia

With parts of California yet again burned by severe fires, the state is facing a new winter of mudslides.

Why do mudslides happen so often in California?

Mudslides have always been at the heart of the peril of living close to the mountains in California. All it can take is an intense amount of rain in a short amount of time to create damaging flows of mud and debris that can kill people and destroy buildings.

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