“Stockton could wind up as one of thousands of cities, irrigation districts or landowners to be subjected to what are called ‘curtailments’ for the whole summer. Essentially, they are orders to stop pumping water due to the drought.”
“Drought conditions have reached a new plateau this year, urging the State Water Resources Control Board to consider declaring a state of emergency at their next board meeting on June 17 and 18.”
“Environmentalists sued Wednesday to block proposed water transfers from Northern California to the drought-plagued south San Joaquin Valley, arguing that the plan fails to protect the fragile Delta.”
“Searing heat across the central San Joaquin Valley region Monday broke a century-old record in Fresno and made tough work for fire crews battling a pair of foothill wildfires.”
“State officials are beginning to apply herbicide to more than 2,000 acres of Delta waterways in an effort to control a tentacle-like invasive weed that lies just below the surface.”
“The Sierra Nevada is rising. Drought-stricken farmers in the Central Valley are pumping more and more water from the valley’s huge aquifer beneath them, and the drainage is triggering unexpected earthquakes along the San Andreas Fault, scientists have discovered.”
“A drought-inspired water swap will likely save hundreds of citrus orchards in the rolling hills of Tulare County, but it won’t come cheap for desperate farmers.”
“It is barely June, but the Fresno area will get some mid-summer heat this weekend. Jim Bagnall of the National Weather Service in Hanford delivered the news Wednesday.”
“Merced Irrigation District officials say growers in the district will receive additional surface water, after action taken Tuesday by MID’s board of directors.”
From the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:
“Over 4,000 marijuana plants were seized in a multi-agency drug raid on a ranch next to the City of Modesto Water Treatment Plant.
“Drug agents from the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA) had discovered several outdoor marijuana grow sites on an uninhabited area of the ranch, which is surrounded by water.”
“Ten years ago this morning, a levee on Jones Tract west of Stockton abruptly crumbled, unleashing a flood of water and worry. The water went away, eventually. The worry never did.”
“State officials on Friday ordered 1,634 junior water rights holders in the San Joaquin River basin to stop diverting water, the latest in a series of similar orders as California continues to grapple with a serious drought.”
“The two fieldworkers scraped hoes over weeds that weren’t there. … These days in Huron — and Mendota and Wasco and Firebaugh and all the other farmworker communities on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley — even the permanent populations are packing up.”
From The Fresno Bee, in a commentary by John Vikupitz:
“This year, the operation let 30% of its productive acreage go fallow for lack of water, redirecting available water to permanent crops and to honor tomato contracts. This fallowing has resulted in a loss of work for about 30 part-time employees and an estimated loss of $10 million to the local business economy.”
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.”
“Long thirsty for Mokelumne River water, San Joaquin County appears poised to oppose legislation that would designate 37 miles of the upper stream as wild and scenic.”
“Hoping not to alienate farmers, a water committee on Wednesday softened well-data recommendations going before Stanislaus County supervisors in two weeks.”
“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.”
“Nothing screams ‘drought’ like the sight of a near-empty reservoir. But it’s the invisible, ancient reservoir beneath our feet that is bubbling to the surface of policy discussions across the state this spring.”
