Groundwater losses from the Colorado River basin appear massive enough to challenge long-term water supplies for the seven states and parts of Mexico that it serves, according to a new study released Thursday that used NASA satellites.
Droughts appear to be intensifying over much of the West and Southwest as a result of global warming. … Things have been particularly bad in California, where state officials have approved drastic measures to reduce water consumption.
Low warm water conditions from the drought are starting to kill salmon in Northern California’s Klamath Basin — the site of a massive fish kill in 2002.
Urban water districts in California can raise property taxes without first getting voter approval to pay for the state’s multibillion-dollar plan to build twin tunnels and export water out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, according to the California Legislative Analyst’s Office.
For the first time since the Public Policy Institute of California began environment surveys in 2000, residents are more worried about water than air pollution. And it’s not even close.
County water directors unanimously adopted mandatory conservation measures Thursday that ask families and businesses to reduce their use or face a fine. In general, the move by San Diego County Water Authority directors to declare a “Level 2” drought alert limits landscape and turf watering to three days per week.
Many public institutions have taken steps to save water after three dryer-than-normal years. In San Francisco, fountains at parks have been turned off, street-cleaning trucks sometimes operate without water, and municipal buildings, if they haven’t already, are switching to water-friendly toilets and appliances. But few places are in a position to scale back consumption like the Academy of Sciences.
Triple-digit heat scorched parts of Southern California for the second day in a row on Thursday as a warm air mass remained locked over the region and was expected to result in warm weather into the middle of next week.
State wildlife officials have captured and released two more black bears in the Sierra and they’re on the lookout for another one on the edge of Reno. Nevada Department of Wildlife biologists have handled 15 bears since July 1 in what they expect to be busy bear season because the drought has them searching for food and water.
In the ongoing debate over water bonds for California, San Joaquin Valley legislators have a lot of leverage. But if they and their colleagues fail to reach agreement when the Legislature goes back to work in August, the Valley won’t benefit and the entire state could suffer the consequences.
This November, California voters will almost certainly vote on whether to authorize billions of dollars of taxpayer spending for a water bond. But crucially, the next few weeks will determine what water bond will be on the ballot in November – how much borrowing it authorizes, what it spends that money on – and whether it is a good investment in California’s water future.
The rerouting of the Carmel River and removal of sediment in the channel began this summer, part of the plan to remove the seismically unsafe San Clemente Dam in Monterey County. DWR Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD) engineers and geologists regularly visit the site of California’s largest dam removal project to ensure that all construction plans and specifications are executed correctly.
A slim majority of likely California voters support an $11.1 billion water bond slated for the November ballot, but public support would grow if the bond comes with a smaller price-tag, according to survey results released late Wednesday.
Few local water agencies have forced customers to cut their water use amid the ongoing drought, but a new poll shows a large majority of Californians support mandates to turn off the tap.
Most of California’s major reservoirs are now less than half-full — or at what officials call a “seriously low” level — but that’s still nowhere near the historic lows set in 1977, the state’s driest year on record.
Widespread drought across the West had forecasters expecting an above-average wildfire season this summer, which so far has not lived up to expectations.
California Gov. Jerry Brown has asked restaurants not to serve water unless diners ask for it. He’s letting lawns at the state Capitol turn brown. Farmers in the Central Valley are getting just a trickle of the water they usually do. Conspicuous water wasters – commercial and residential – face fines of $500 a day. Even Lady Gaga is pleading with Californians to conserve.
Five years after officials began writing a comprehensive billion-dollar flood protection plan for Stockton, the federal government said this week it will miss a December target to complete the document.
