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 California National Guard on Monday joined more than a
dozen other agencies to help the Yurok tribe combat rampant
marijuana grows that have threatened the reservation’s water
supply, harmed its salmon and interfered with cultural
ceremonies. …
The breakthrough came in April when governor’s office staff was
discussing the drought with tribal officials.
The State Water Board acted Tuesday to set minimum standards for
water conservation, with the ability of local water providers to
issue fines for blatant water use. But local water providers
said residents are doing their part, overall.
Some California State Parks and Forest Service campgrounds have
begun shutting off toilets and showers because of the drought,
but most local facilities remain in the clear for water usage as
of right now.
About 2,200 firefighters have been assigned to combat the
fast-moving blaze, which sparked southwest of Ono on Friday when
a marijuana grower inadvertently sparked a brush fire with his
truck while transporting fertilizer to an illegal garden in the
area.
A man who was in his teens when Oroville Dam was built will give
a presentation Wednesday highlighting that history at the Lake
Oroville Visitor Center.
The heartbreaking story of a 12-year-old Gridley boy who drowned
while trying to cool off on a hot summer day has led to much
speculation about what can be done to prevent such accidents in
the future.
Firefighters were making little headway against a 3,700-acre
blaze Sunday in rural Shasta County that investigators believe
was sparked by the exhaust from a truck driven by a man
delivering supplies to an illegal marijuana growing site.
The panoply of eagles, ospreys, beavers, otters and other
critters that paraded before our gaze over our nine hours
(including 30 minutes for breaks) on the Sacramento River between
Hamilton City and Butte City far exceeded our hopes.
From the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW):
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is hosting
its third speaker series with a presentation on the effects of
climate change on salmon and steelhead trout in the American
River. The event will be held at the Nimbus Hatchery Visitor
Center in Rancho Cordova on July 17 at 7 p.m.
A small water agency that pumps water from Clear Lake expects to
declare a water shortage emergency as early as this week, not
because it’s running out of water but because thick algae growth
is putting a strain on its purification system.
California’s evolving cap-and-trade market may soon have a new
player: rice farmers. …
The program, called the Rice Cultivation Projects Compliance
Offset Protocol, is slated to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015,
and run for a 10-year period.
Rugged terrain, shifting winds and hot, dry conditions hampered
efforts to contain a wildfire in Northern California that burned
to the edge of a rural neighborhood, officials said.
A
wildfire in rural Northern California’s Napa County damaged two
homes and forced the evacuation of 200 others, but so far is not
posing a to the vineyards that are the region’s claim to
fame.
From the California Department of Water Resources (DWR):
Oroville Dam in Butte County will be the site of a spectacular
Fourth of July fireworks display presented by community
organizations in cooperation with the Department of Water
Resources.
