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.
