“When the namesake of your festival is a river god, the weather
on parade day can be a tricky sort of issue. Will it rain or
not, and does that mean Bok Kai cares about us? …
“But why bother with the dilemma? We can trust Bok Kai to do
the right thing — stop the rain long enough for us all to
remain dry during Saturday’s festival; or keep on delivering
the moisture we so sorely need during this drought.
“The strain on water supplies in this serious drought year was
evident this week, as major landowners in the Sacramento Valley
protested the federal government’s forecast that it will deliver
only 40 percent of usual water supplies.
“Any water bond measure that appears on California’s ballot in
November should simply contain three measures to combat future
droughts, Congressman John Garamendi said.”
“An unprecedented drought and water cutbacks of unprecedented
proportion are sweeping through the Sacramento Valley.
“This time it was Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District’s turn to
hear the dry news: the lowest amount of water in its history
and significantly less than required by its water contract.”
“Spring water bottler Crystal Geyser’s plans to tap an aquifer at
the base of Mount Shasta in far Northern California is running
into opposition from some residents, environmentalists and Native
American tribes.”
“Our view: The drought hasn’t vanished because of one storm,
and everybody needs to do their part to quit wasting water.
“It’s easy to point fingers at water wasters during a drought.
A San Jose Mercury News article printed over the weekend and
posted on our website was an eye opener. A map showing water
use per capita demonstrated that inland areas used more water
than coastal areas.
“Roseville residents are likely see dramatic price increases on
their water bills if a drought emergency is declared in the
city. …
“Like other
neighboring communities, Roseville for decades has sourced
water from Folsom Lake. But because of historic low water
levels, officials are working on a multipronged drought
plan.”
“As California continues to struggle with severe drought
conditions, the city of Corning will start asking residents
here to curb their water use by 15 percent.
“The Corning City Council voted Tuesday to implement the first
stage of its water conservation program, which calls on the
city’s customers to voluntarily reduce their water use.”
“In response to the worst drought on record, the Sutter County
Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night declared a local emergency
and encouraged a voluntary 20 percent reduction in water use by
county residents.”
“While most eyes are focused on the drought in the Sacramento
Valley, the Sacramento River Watershed Program took a day
Wednesday to focus on work that takes place rain or shine.
“The meeting was part show-and-tell and part networking for
people who specialize in working together.”
“Phillips [Lynn Phillips, general manager of the Sutter Extension
Water District], like most water managers and farmers, is unsure
about his water supply for 2014. Phillips is anticipating a 50
percent cut — the maximum possible — in the district’s water
delivery from Lake Oroville, which irrigates about 20,000 acres.”
“Last month, the small Mendocino County city of Willits faced a
real possibility of running out of water. …
“Enter this weekend’s storm. The powerful mass of moist,
tropical air from the Pacific Ocean known as a Pineapple
Express delivered more rain than Northern California had seen
in a year and gave some communities a needed boost to
drought-stricken supplies.”
“The storm system that soaked much of Northern California over
the weekend didn’t end the state’s punishing drought. But it just
may have kept it out of the record books.”
“To hear the Democratic critics, the water bill that the House
Republicans passed this week would highhandedly meddle in state
water laws and undermine environmental protections.
“A Pacific storm system spreading across Northern California this
weekend is delivering a welcome drenching to parts of the
drought-stricken state, dumping copious amounts of rain on the
coastal range north of San Francisco and several feet of snow on
the Sierra Nevada.”
From the San Francisco Chronicle Crime Scene blog:
“Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman told KPIX-5 that water
thieves could be making off with up to 5 million gallons of water
a day to irrigate thirsty pot plants.”
“On Friday, the
State Water Resources Control Board announced a curtailment of
all post-1914 water rights holders, which will affect about 500
water contracts in Yuba, Sutter and Colusa counties.
“Now, as water managers wait for those curtailment notices to
arrive, the Bureau of Reclamation and other federal partners
will announce additional responses to the drought at a press
conference today in Sacramento.”
“Water, or the lack of it, was the topic of concern for more than
100 people who attended Tuesday’s South Sacramento Valley Winter
Almond Meeting. … Tree planting density, groundwater
conditions and management, and irrigating in a drought year were
all discussed.”
