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NOAA Sees No Winter Drought Relief Across Parched West

/in , , /by /E&E Newsby Jennifer Yachnin

Western states gripped by persistent drought are unlikely to see any relief in the coming months, as a third year of La Niña weather patterns reduces precipitation in that region, NOAA scientists predicted Thursday.

According to the agency’s 2022-23 Winter Outlook, below-average rainfall and snowpack are expected in a wide stretch of the United States including Southern California, the Southwest, the southern Rockies, the southern Plains, the Gulf Coast and much of the South.

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Western States Plan Projects as Water Supply Dwindles

/in , , /by /Engineering News-Record by Corinne Grinapol, C.J. Schexnayder, and Pam McFarland

As Mexico and the seven western states that rely on water from the Colorado River Basin struggle to contend with current repercussions of a more than two-decade drought—including federally imposed cuts to water supply in the coming year—they must also plan for a drier future exacerbated by the effects of climate change.

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Lake Mead Keeps Rising, Crews Adjust Boat Ramp for Higher Water Level

/in , /by /KTLA-TVby Greg Haas

Workers at Lake Mead on Wednesday did something not seen in many years. They actually raised a boat launch ramp. The ramp at Hemenway Harbor was briefly closed as crews adjusted the pipe mat and dock for account for rising water level.

Bureau of Reclamation officials said Monday that the lake has been rising because of “recent storm events and runoff into the tributaries that enter Lake Mead.”

Other factors include reduced releases from Hoover Dam and a “decrease in downstream demand,” according to the bureau. Officials did not provide additional information on the decreased demand.

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Opinion: California Dodges Colorado River Water Cutbacks

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Dan Walters

One cannot overstate the importance of Colorado River water in the evolution of Southern California from a collection of small cities and villages into a megaregion of 20-plus million people — more than the population of all but three states.

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Two States and Mexico Ordered to Decrease Use of Colorado River Water

/in , , /by /NBC7 San Diegoby Joe Little Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The mighty Colorado River isn’t so mighty anymore. The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Tuesday steps will be taken to protect the increasingly fragile source of water.

“The worsening drought crisis impacting the Colorado River Basin is driven by the effects of climate change, including extreme heat and low precipitation. In turn, severe drought conditions exacerbate wildfire risk and ecosystems disruption, increasing the stress on communities and our landscapes,” said Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau.

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US: Drought-Stricken States to Get Less From Colorado River

/in , /by /KPBS-FM/TVby Tom Fudge Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

For the second year in a row, Arizona and Nevada will face cuts in the amount of water they can draw from the Colorado River as the West endures an extreme drought, federal officials announced Tuesday. California has avoided cutbacks for now.

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Ensenada, Last in Line for Colorado River Water, is Facing the Worst of the West’s Drought

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer and Vicente Calderón

Drought ravaging the western United States is falling even harder on Mexico, especially in places like Ensenada, which is dead last in line for water from the Colorado River that keeps much of the North American west alive.

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WATER 101: A Recap of Where We Are Amidst a Historic Drought

/in , , /by /Holtville Tribuneby Luis Gomez Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Local farmers may soon be forced to bite the bullet and find ways to use significantly less water in 2023 — potentially for a lot longer.

This drastic measure may come as a result of an emergency water conservation effort to prevent further depletion of the Valley’s main source of water, the Colorado River. If less water flows down the Colorado River, the consequences could be catastrophic for the two reservoirs — lakes Mead and Powell — that feed into the so-called basin states.

For example, if water levels in Lake Mead continue dropping, it could bring water and hydropower to a grinding halt, all due to a relentless drought over two decades.

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Conditions are Ripe For High Wildfire Season Come September

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diego by McKenzie Elmer Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The U.S. national drought early-warning information system, called NIDIS, gave a rundown Thursday on when much of the Southwest will experience conditions that heighten the potential for wildfire.

Drought is one of the main drivers because less water means drier soils, drier plants and drier air, all conditions that fuel wildfire.

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As New Deadline Looms, Groundwater Managers Rework ‘Incomplete’ Plans to Meet California’s Sustainability Goals

/in , , /by /Western Water / Water Education Foundation by Nick Cahill

Managers of California’s most overdrawn aquifers were given a monumental task under the state’s landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act: Craft viable, detailed plans on a 20-year timeline to bring their beleaguered basins into balance.

It was a task that required more than 250 newly formed local groundwater agencies – many of them in the drought-stressed San Joaquin Valley – to set up shop, gather data, hear from the public and collaborate with neighbors on multiple complex plans, often covering just portions of a groundwater basin.

Altogether, they submitted plans for 20 basins for review by the California Department of Water Resources in January 2020. Earlier this year, DWR rendered its verdict: Most of the basin plans were incomplete.

Earlier this year, DWR rendered its verdict: Most of the basin plans were incomplete. Now groundwater agencies responsible for 12 of the 20 basins are racing to meet a late July deadline to submit revised plans that meet SGMA’s requirements or risk the state stepping in to manage their groundwater basins.

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