The growing leadership of women in water. The Colorado River’s persistent drought and efforts to sign off on a plan to avert worse shortfalls of water from the river. And in California’s Central Valley, promising solutions to vexing water resource challenges.
These were among the topics that Western Water news explored in 2018.
We’re already planning a full slate of stories for 2019. You can sign up here to be alerted when new stories are published. In the meantime, take a look at what we dove into in 2018:
The Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water
Resources have scheduled a negotiation session with seven Cross
Valley Contractors on long-term conveyance contracts for the
delivery of federal Central Valley Project water conveyed through
state-owned facilities.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Reclamation
will hold a public Open House on Thursday, July 31, 2014, to
present and solicit comments on the Central Valley Project
Improvement Act Annual Work Plans for Fiscal Year 2015.
For the first time in the more than half a century that the
federal government had been diverting Sierra Nevada water to
farmers, there would be no deliveries to most Central Valley
irrigation districts. In the third year of drought, there wasn’t
enough water to go around.
Late-hour motorists on Interstate 5 should expect long delays
between Cottage Grove and Sutherlin tonight while an oversize
load carrying a massive [Folsom] dam gate is transported through
the area, the state Department of Transportation said Tuesday.
…
“The Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled a meeting to update the
public on the current status of the ongoing Cost Allocation Study
for the Central Valley Project. The focus of the meeting will be
to discuss the methodology on calculating the economic benefits
for irrigation and municipal and industrial water supply.”
From the California Department of Water Resources (DWR):
“Located next to San Luis Reservoir along Highway 152 in Merced
County, the [Romero Visitors] center features exhibits of
the area’s history, dam construction and State Water Project
construction and operations.”
“The U.S. District Court in Fresno Tuesday refused to stop
Millerton Lake water from being sent to wildlife refuges and
farmers with historic rights on the Valley’s west side.”
“East San Joaquin Valley farmers, facing a zero water allocation
this summer, are asking a judge to stop unprecedented water
releases that started last week at Millerton Lake.”
“Farmers, water district officials and city leaders expressed
frustration Thursday over the decision by federal managers to tap
water from Friant Dam to meet a long-standing obligation with
west-side landowners.”
2014 is one of California’s driest years on record, creating
challenging hydrologic conditions for operations of the state and
federal projects that move water across the Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Delta and to much of California.
Attend this free briefing on Wednesday, June 4, at the Sacramento
Convention Center and learn about water project challenges.
“The Challenges of the 2014 Drought: Water Project Operations,”
is sponsored by the California Department of Water Resources
(DWR) and the Water Education Foundation.
“Reclamation will begin increasing releases from Friant Dam near
Fresno into the San Joaquin River on Thursday to help meet
contractual obligations to deliver Central Valley Project water
to the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority on
the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.”
“For the first time ever, federal water managers will tap San
Joaquin River water to meet contractual obligations to west side
landowners, officials announced Tuesday.”
“An oversized load carrying two gates for a California hydro dam
will pass through Oregon Tuesday and Wednesday nights on
interstates 205 and 5 — and take a breather at a rest stop north
of Eugene.”
“As droughts have worsened in recent years, federal authorities
have released less and less water from a web of reservoirs and
canals in northern California that feeds farms and cities in the
arid south. For the first time in six decades, most farmers on
the east side of this valley have been told they will get no
federal irrigation water.”
“A wet March is yielding benefits for California’s water supply,
as state and federal officials announced Friday that deliveries
to some of their contractors will be increased.”
“After months of waiting, farmers with strong water rights along
the Feather River received news that 100 percent of their
contracted amount of water will be delivered. … Just a few
weeks ago, these same irrigation districts were told they would
only receive half of their water.”
