The California Water Commission has $526.3 million to spend on water storage. At February’s commission meeting, options on how exactly they’ll do that were discussed, and it could mean more funding for two Northern California water projects.
Even in San Diego, it’s typical to get some rain in the winter. Except this year, the San Diego County Water Authority said it’s the third driest start to the rainy season in 150 years.
Maybe we ought to change the name Valley Center to “Shut-off City!”
Besides one holiday shut-down greeting from SDG&E three weeks ago and another post-New Year kick in the teeth this week, add a 10-day water shutdown by the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) that began December 7—to be followed two months later by another shut-down.
Pictures taken from a NASA satellite earlier this month show a big difference in the water level at Shasta Lake from just two years ago. According to NASA, the older photo shows the lake at around 40% capacity, the low water level leaving a bright outline around California’s biggest reservoir.
Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior Laura Daniel-Davis announced more than $520 million from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to revitalize aging water delivery systems across the western U.S.
After another wet winter, record rainfall has turned California green and replenished the state’s reservoirs, which had been perilously low during the worst days of the drought.
Lake Oroville, the state’s second-biggest reservoir, often serves as a rainfall barometer. As of Tuesday, Oroville was at 100% capacity, according to data from the state Department of Water Resources.
After years of pervasive declines, groundwater levels rose significantly in much of California last year, boosted by historic wet weather and the state’s expanding efforts to replenish depleted aquifers.
California’s vital groundwater reserves grew by a record 8.7 million acre-feet — twice the volume of giant Shasta Lake — in the official water year ended Sept. 30, the Department of Water Resources reported this week.
For the second year in a row, Lake Oroville, one of California’s largest reservoirs, is at full capacity.
Alate season winter storm bringing up to 24 inches of snow to the Sierra Nevada mountains this weekend could prompt California water officials to release water from some of the state’s reservoirs for flood prevention.
