Stretching along the eastern edge of the state, the Sierra Nevada
region incorporates more than 25 percent of California’s land
area and forms one of the world’s most diverse watersheds.
It features granite cliffs, lush forests and alpine meadows on
the westside, and stark desert landscapes at the base of the
eastside. Wildlife includes bighorn sheep, mule deer, black bear
and mountain lions, hawks, eagles, and trout.
The majority of total annual precipitation – in the form of rain
and snow – falls in the Sierra Nevada. Snowmelt from the Sierra
provides water for irrigation for farms that produce half of the
nation’s fruit, nuts and vegetables, and also is a vital source
for dairies, which have made California the largest milk producer
in the country.
In addition, Sierra snowmelt provides drinking water to Sierra
Nevada residents and a portion of drinking water to 23 million
people living in cities stretching from the Bay Area to Southern
California.
My fellow Californians often remark that the weather in this
state feels like it has been reduced to two seasons, both
defined by natural disasters: In summer and fall, huge, intense
wildfires rip their way across dry land, while winter and early
spring bring intense atmospheric rivers with heavy rainfall,
floods and landslides along with winds that take down trees.
The weather extremes here are so common, and climate change is
so in your face, that many people now just expect to jump from
one natural disaster to the next. And this pessimism means it’s
hard to enjoy it when — for once — nature deals us a good hand.
But this year, after several brutal years of fighting drought,
we finally got the water that we have so sorely needed for so
long. We damn well better enjoy it. -Written by Andrew Schwartz, lead scientist and
station manager at the University of California, Berkeley,
Central Sierra Snow Lab.
As California transitions to a hotter, drier future with
greater swings between flood and drought conditions like we’ve
seen this past year, DWR is continuing to prepare for the
long-term impact on water management. DWR has been and
continues to adapt to these extreme weather swings by focusing
on advancing our forecasting efforts in order to capture and
move as much water as possible during high flow events and
managing low flow in drought conditions. This year’s series of
atmospheric rivers demonstrated how quickly California can move
from one extreme to another, as 3 years of severe drought
conditions gave way to flooding and one of the largest
snowpacks on record.
After an unexpected wet winter, California’s drought-addled
Central Valley now faces dangerous floods as a historic
snowpack melts — even as the state moves to store the liquid
gold as quickly as possible. Once the largest freshwater
lake west of the Mississippi River at about 650 square miles,
it hosted a diverse ecosystem and many Indigenous people. When
the lake dried as rivers were diverted for cities and farming,
agricultural communities appeared thanks to the rich soil.
Today, the basin spans several counties and produces more than
half of the state’s agricultural output, according to the
Public Policy Institute. Those crops account for 97% of
regional water use, often relying groundwater pumping in dry
years.
As trickling snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada slowly raises Mono
Lake — famed for its bird life and outlandish shoreline
mineral spires — advocates are pressuring state water officials
to halt diversions from the lake’s tributaries to Los Angeles,
which has used this clean mountain water source for
decades. Environmentalists and tribal representatives say
such action is years overdue and would help the iconic lake’s
ecosystem, long plagued by low levels, high salinity and dust
that wafts off the exposed lakebed. The city of Los Angeles,
they argue, should simply use less water, and expand
investments in more sustainable sources – especially recycled
wastewater and uncaptured stormwater. This, they say, could
help wean the city off Mono basin’s water for good.
A wet winter brought record snowpack to California, alleviating
drought conditions in many parts of the state. But even that
blessing for parched landscapes comes with its costs. Officials
throughout the state have prepared for what comes in a wet
season’s aftermath, like excess snowmelt flooding rivers.
Another hazard that still lies ahead is peak wildfire season.
CapRadio’s Manola Secaira spoke to Zack Steel, a research
scientist who has studied changing wildfire patterns in
California. While last winter’s heavy rains and snowfall
boosted the state’s water resources, Steel said it could also
play a part in how and where wildfires manifest this
year.
High water levels at California reservoirs and other waterways
could pose a threat to outdoor recreation this Memorial Day
weekend, prompting officials to warn against swimming or
boating in rivers teeming from winter’s heavy rainfall.
… Holiday travelers are being asked to avoid waterways
overflowing with melted snow from this year’s record-breaking
storm season. Adding to the risk, water managers
have begun diverting water from major reservoirs as
they approach capacity, and sending it into rivers across
the state. Placer officials have reason to urge caution:
several people have already been swept into the American River
that courses through the county, necessitating extensive search
and rescue missions.
This winter produced record snowfall in California, but a new
study suggests the state should expect gradually declining
snowpacks, even if punctuated with occasional epic snowfalls,
in the future. An analysis by Tamara Shulgina, Alexander
Gershunov, and other climate scientists at UC San Diego’s
Scripps Institution of Oceanography suggest that in the face of
unabated global warming, the snowlines marking where rainfall
turns to snow have been rising significantly over the past 70
years. Projections by the researchers suggest the trend will
continue with snowlines rising hundreds of meters higher by the
second half of this century. In the high Southern Sierra Nevada
range, for instance, snowlines are projected to rise by more
than 500 meters (1,600 feet) and even more when the mountains
get precipitation from atmospheric rivers, jets of water vapor
that are becoming an increasingly potent source of the state’s
water supply.
Droughts can be good for trees. Certain trees, that is.
Contrary to expectation, sometimes a record-breaking drought
can increase tree growth. Why and where this happens is the
subject of a new paper in Global Change Biology. A team of
scientists led by Joan Dudney at UC Santa Barbara examined the
drought response of endangered whitebark pine over the past
century. They found that in cold, harsh environments — often at
high altitudes and latitudes — drought can actually benefit the
trees by extending the growing season. This research provides
insights into where the threats from extreme drought will be
greatest, and how different species and ecosystems will respond
to climate change.
Spring is in the air in the foothills around Placer County,
meaning Rob Hyde’s property in Applegate needs yardwork. He
isn’t the only one who knows it’s lush and green in the
foothills. … While bear sightings in the foothills aren’t
new, executive director of the Bear League, Ann Bryant, who
helps rescue and educate the public about bears in Tahoe, said
the lower-elevations are seeing more bears than normal because
the many bears around Tahoe woke to a heavy snowpack that is
still persisting, forcing them down the mountains.
… Bryant said bears getting into bird feeders and
unsecured trash of people who aren’t used to them have been the
bulk of the calls. She worries the easy food and a snowpack
that isn’t melting quickly will have lasting effects on the
bears that are usually at higher elevations.
As California’s famous Hetch Hetchy Reservoir celebrates its
100th birthday, the fight to get rid of it is alive and well.
Spreck Rosekrans is with Restore Hetch Hetchy, a group
dedicated to draining the reservoir and restoring it to its
original state. … But like most things, it’s not that
simple. Hetch Hetchy provides around 97 percent of drinking
water to San Francisco. Jenn Bowles is with the Water
Education Foundation, an impartial organization that doesn’t
have an official stance on the issue. She said San Franciscans
are very particular about their water, which is considered
especially pure and soft. … Past efforts to remove the
reservoir have failed, but Rosekrans still has hope. He said he
thinks the undamming of Hetch Hetchy is something he’ll see in
his lifetime.
Our Headwaters
Tour June 21-22 will take you
into the Sierra Nevada to explore the impacts of this
year’s historically large snowpack, reported at well over
200% of average. Remaining seats are limited so don’t miss
your chance to examine water issues happening upstream that
have dramatic effects throughout the state. What exactly is an
‘average’ snowpack and how is it measured? How are those
measurements then translated into forecasts of California’s
water supply for the year, and is climate change making
our reliance on historical patterns as a predictor
obsolete? You’ll get an opportunity to learn about
these topics directly from experts including Sean
de Guzman, manager of the California Department of Water
Resources Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting
Unit.
The risk of catastrophic flooding in the Tulare Lake Basin has
diminished as cool temperatures have predominated this spring,
flattening the melt curve of the Sierra’s epic snowpack, state
officials said Monday. We are “not forecasting nearly as severe
of damage as perhaps we were looking at several weeks ago,”
Brian Ferguson, deputy director of crisis communications for
the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said at
a news conference Monday. “However, we want to strongly
emphasize that we are not out of the woods by any stretch of
the imagination.” Just a few weeks ago, officials worried that
floodwaters from the melting Sierra Nevada snowpack would surge
down the Tule, Kings, Kaweah and Kern rivers and topple berms,
breach levees and inundate towns such as Corcoran and
Stratford.
Snow is the lifeblood of California rivers, and this year a
historic bounty fell in the high Sierra. In April, the
California Department of Water Resources reported the biggest
snowpack in 70 years — 237% of average in the Central Sierra.
The only comparable year is 1983, a mythical season at the dawn
of the commercial rafting industry that is still reverently, if
dimly, remembered in guide camps throughout the state and
around the world. Those tales tend to focus on epic runs and
high-water records, but the takeaway for regular folks planning
a whitewater adventure this season isn’t just about big water.
It’s also about an abundance of options. Free-flowing rivers
that rarely run past May will enjoy ample flows into midsummer,
while many dam-controlled rivers will be in through Labor Day.
It’s Earth’s original disrupter — a recurring climate pattern
so powerful that it can drive global average temperature to
record highs, and generate both cliff-crumbling storms and
crop-destroying droughts across the planet. Now, after a
long hiatus, El Niño is showing signs of a strong return
in 2023. [Last] week, federal forecasters said there was a 55%
chance that a strong El Niño would occur, effectively flooding
the surface of the Equatorial Pacific with water so unusually
warm that it can alter weather patterns and devastate some
ocean fisheries. … For California — a state already
bracing for potentially devastating floods due to epic snowmelt
— a strong El Niño could bring a second consecutive winter of
above-average precipitation, accompanied by landslides, floods
and coastal erosion.
In California’s Central Valley, vibrant wildflower blooms are
drying into brittle fuel for wildfires. Now land managers
and property owners are under deadlines to clear brush and
mitigate risk before peak fire season later this year. The
state’s wet winter, which saw nearly two years-worth of
precipitation, resulted in a so-called super bloom blanketing
the low hills of the state’s valleys with yellow fiddlenecks,
purple lupine and orange California poppies. Tourists flocked
from all over the U.S. and the world to see them, and satellite
photos even captured their colorful streaks from space.
A ridge of high pressure is set to send moisture and hot air
toward Yosemite National Park and Lake Tahoe this weekend,
raising unseasonable heat across one of the largest snowpacks
in recent memory, increasing flood risks, while unstable air
churns up thunderstorms. The combination of warm and
unsettled weather will likely lead to yet another round of
snowmelt-related floods and river rises across the Sierra
Nevada. … Large portions of the snowpack are likely to
melt into a slushy mess along some of the hot spots, including
streams, rivers and lakes along the foothills of the Sierra.
This includes the Walker, West Fork and Merced rivers.
It is still too cold to swim in Northern California rivers,
officials warned Thursday. Temperatures are in the 90s in
Sacramento — but don’t give into the temptation to take a dip
in local waterways. The record Sierra snowpack is melting,
causing fast and cold currents longer than even regulars are
used to. … Water flowing out of the Nimbus Dam into the
American River is anticipated to be flowing “six times higher”
than normal for the summer months at 12,000 cubic feet per
second, the news release stated. Not only are rivers flowing
fast, the water is cold, too.
California has been on an amazing roller coaster of drought and
floods recently. The three years from 2020 to 2022 were the
driest three-year period in the state’s recorded history,
breaking the old record set during the previous drought from
2013 to 2015, according to the state Department of Water
Resources. But after a deluge this winter, reservoirs are full.
Wildfire risk has dropped. Groundwater tables in many areas
have risen. The Sierra snowpack, the source of 30% of
California’s water supply, was at 324% of normal on Thursday,
the highest level in 40 years. The extreme swings have been
documented each week in color-coded maps issued by the U.S.
Drought Monitor, a weekly report by the NOAA, the USDA and the
University of Nebraska. Here’s how it unfolded: The drought
began with below-average rain and snow in the winter of
2019-2020.
Mountains are capped with record snowpack, rolling hills are
covered in a rainbow of wildflowers, reservoirs are filled to
the brim, and rivers are rushing with snowmelt. A vast majority
of California is finally out of drought this month, after a
punishing multiyear period of severe aridity that forced
statewide water cuts and fueled existential fear over the
future of the water supply. Although a series of massive storms
during the winter months brought desperately needed
precipitation throughout the Golden State, water experts and
state officials remain focused on preparing for the inevitable
next drought. Based on lessons learned in recent years, they’re
refilling the state’s over-drafted groundwater aquifers and
encouraging water efficiency among residents learning to live
with climate change.
On May 24, 1923, San Francisco officials sent water thundering
into a valley that Sierra Club founder John Muir described as a
“one of Nature’s rarest and most precious mountain temples.”
Thus the controversial Hetch Hetchy reservoir was born – and
100 years later, some environmentalists still cherish the
notion of restoring the temple by draining the valley, even as
San Franciscans continue to rely, almost wholly, on its pure,
high-quality water. … Yet at the same time, the opposite
talk has even begun of raising the O’Shaughnessy Dam that
encloses the reservoir, so the valley can hold even more water.
California’s Yosemite National Park has issued a warning of the
“extremely dangerous” effects of flooding as the Merced River
continues to rise. In a statement posted on May 15, the park
reiterated that it remains under a flood warning as the river
reaches flood stage. It is expected to stay at that level for
the next few days. A record amount of snowpack accumulated in
California over the winter months and into early March, as
storms battered the state. That snowpack is now melting as
temperatures start to rise, causing higher-than-average water
flows at the park.
Every summer, wildland firefighters across the West gear up for
a monumental task, aiming to stop fires that are burning hotter
and moving faster with climate change. They accomplish this in
two ways: on the ground and out of the sky. From above,
helicopters sling buckets of water, while airplanes dump fire
retardant — a thick red solution made mostly of
fertilizer. The United States Forest Service uses millions of
gallons of retardant each year. But there have long been
concerns about what happens when that mix of ammonium
phosphate, emulsifiers, and colorants finds its way into water.
Some environmentalists worry spraying the stuff on forests does
more harm than good.
For 170 years, the gold deposits along Sierra streambeds have
been so poked and prodded that easy supplies of the precious
metal have grown scarce and are a challenge to find. This
spring’s raging rivers are regifting them. … [G]litter
suddenly illuminated the inky black sand. A half bucket of
material yielded 12 showy specks — nearly a tenth of a gram of
gold, worth about $7 — about double the typical haul in
previous years. Prospectors call it “flood gold” — fine-sized
flakes carried by alluvial waters and then deposited as flow
recedes.
Flying thousands of feet above the Sierra Nevada in a plane
equipped with specialized imaging devices, Elizabeth Carey has
been scanning the mountains with lasers to precisely map the
snow. The snow blanketing the Sierra lies so deep that the
mountain range looks surprisingly swollen and “puffy,” said
Carey, who leads the flights as part of a state-funded program.
… By mapping the snowpack with laser pulses and
spectrometers, Carey and her colleagues are able to provide a
detailed picture of one of the biggest snow accumulations ever
recorded in the state. The flights are also collecting data to
estimate when and how fast the snow will melt, helping
California officials prepare for the runoff, manage water
releases from dams, and assess which areas are most at risk of
flooding.
When [National Interagency Fire Center meteorologist] Jonathan
O’Brien sees the rolling green hills of Southern California,
the grasses lush from this winter’s heavy rains, he can’t help
but feel uneasy. … “It’s all but inevitable we will see a
severe fire season or two.” This summer, however, O’Brien and
other forecasters project that portions of the state could get
a break. The storms of the past couple of months have left
behind a deep mountain snowpack that is expected to act as a
buffer against massive wildfires like those that twice burned
from one side of the Sierra Nevada to the other in 2021. At
lower elevations, the outlook is uncertain. Those grassy hills
could burn sooner rather than later.
Even while the recent heatwave is over and warming temperatures
are ahead, the central Sierra snowpack remains at nearly 300%
of normal, with much of the Truckee River watershed at 200%.
The heatwave brought regional-wide record temperatures which
accelerated melting of the snowpack, raising the river and
enacting a flood watch. This also had officials warning the
public to avoid swimming in the river as it is running cold and
fast. With more snowpack melting soon, we wanted to take
a chance to see what rising water across the Truckee River
looks like, and see what those images can tell us about the
river’s health, ecology and development.
Our Headwaters
Tour on June 21-22 returns in person for the
first time in four years and seats are filling up
quickly! Don’t miss your chance to venture from the
foothills of the Sierra Nevada to Lake Tahoe to examine
water issues happening upstream that can dramatically affect
communities downstream and throughout the state. The quality
and availability of drinking water for millions of Californians
depend on the health of Sierra forests that have been ravaged
by a series of historically destructive wildfires and a series
of multi-year droughts despite an epic snowpack this year. In
all, 30 percent of the state’s developed water supply
originates high in the Sierra.
On a hot, dry August day in 2002, air tankers swooped over a
small wildfire south of Bend, Oregon. The Forest Service hoped
to suppress the flames by dropping over a thousand pounds of
fire retardant on and around the fire — but the pilots missed.
Instead, the neon-red liquid cascaded into the nearby Fall
River, a tributary of the Deschutes. Soon after, at
least 22,000 trout died — virtually all the fish
living in a six-mile stretch. … In a suit filed in Montana’s
Federal District Court last October, FSEEE argued that fire
retardant is a pollutant, so the Forest Service needs
a Clean Water Act permit if it flows into waterways.
California’s “big melt” is underway, and if forecasts bear out,
much of the water being held in mountain snow will flow
downhill in May and June. But at the moment, the state’s
snowpack remains huge — about three times its normal size for
this time of year — and depending on coming conditions, the
snow can either dissipate slowly or quickly cause trouble.
Snowmelt often accelerates in May with warmer weather, longer
days and a higher sun angle. … Although it started out at a
higher point, California’s snowpack is already melting faster
than it did in 1983, a year of historic flooding in the San
Joaquin Valley, thanks to a dry April and a heat wave late in
the month. … With the weather driving how quickly snow
will melt, here are four scenarios that could determine flood
severity this spring and summer.
With a thick blanket of snow still covering the mountains and
warm temperatures (hopefully) on their way, water managers are
planning for epic runoff and high volumes of water in
downstream areas. No flooding is expected on the Truckee River
this spring. Historical records show the river doesn’t stand
much threat of flooding after mid-February, which is good news
for Reno residents. But with all-time snowpack records across
the region, expect to see extremely high water levels in area
waterways well into June, as well as extremely full reservoirs.
Over the winter, the Carson and Walker basins broke snowpack
records dating back to 1981.
The land near Yosemite National Park had been tended by Irene
Vasquez’s family for decades. They took care of their seven
acres by setting small fires to thin vegetation and help some
plants to grow. But the steep, chaparral-studded slopes
surrounding the property hadn’t seen fire since Vasquez and
fellow members of the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation were barred
from practicing cultural burning on a wider scale some 100
years before. When a wildfire swept through in July, the dense
vegetation stoked flames that destroyed Vasquez’s home and
transformed the land into a scarred moonscape. With that, she
became one of many Indigenous residents to watch her ancestral
territory burn in recent years, despite knowing the outcome
could have been different.
California’s stubbornly persistent illegal cannabis industry
isn’t just undercutting the legal market — it’s also behind
some of the world’s most blatant water theft. The state’s
estimated $8 billion underground marijuana industry consumes
staggering volumes of the precious resource, despite the state
legalizing recreational use back in 2016. Some participants
have been known to truck in stolen water, while others take it
from fire hydrants or dig illegal wells. Years of
off-and-on droughts in the state have exacerbated the
problem. … An average cannabis plant requires as much as
5 gallons of water a day and takes anywhere from 90 to 275 days
to grow … In California’s northern Siskiyou County,
where there’s been a longtime heavy presence of illegal
marijuana growing and drought conditions are among
the worst in the state, Nores said he’s seen drilling
of wells without permits and other obvious water theft.
A river whose twists and turns have earned names like
“Troublemaker,” “Satan’s Cesspool” and “Dead Man’s Drop”
warrants respect — even when years of drought have tamed its
rushing waters. This, of course, is not such a year. A winter
that drenched the Golden State with torrential rains and
blanketed its mountains with massive, now-melting snow has
swelled California’s rivers like the American to levels not
seen for years, even generations. That’s making for an epic,
adrenalin-fueled season for whitewater thrill-seekers. Andres
Moreno, whose 8th-grade class at Golden Valley Charter School
near Folsom took a trip last week down the South Fork of the
American River with American Whitewater Expeditions, had been
rafting before, but that was nothing like it is now.
Triple Threat. Deadman’s Drop. Satan’s Cesspool. After years of
drought, the rapids along California’s American River are truly
living up to their names. As a historic snowpack starts to
melt, the spring runoff is fueling conditions for some of the
best whitewater in years on the American River and its forks,
which course through the Sierra Nevada northeast of
Sacramento.
California’s wet winter will help the Golden State keep the
lights on when energy demand soars this summer, PG&E
Corp.’s top executive said. The series of atmospheric
rivers that slammed the state with heavy snow and rain has
replenished hydroelectric supplies that had been sapped by
drought. … Levels at PG&E’s 16 largest reservoirs
were close to average as of April 1, considerably better than
the prior year, Poppe said. Low hydroelectric supplies from
drought have made it more challenging for California’s grid
operators to meet soaring demand during the hottest summer
evenings.
Forecasters from the World Meteorological Organization are
reporting increased chances that the global climate pattern
known as El Niño will arrive by the end of summer. With it
comes increased chances for hotter-than-normal temperatures in
2024. While there is not yet a clear picture of how strong the
El Niño event will be or how long it might last, even a
relatively mild one could affect precipitation and temperature
patterns around the world. … El Niño is associated with
warmer-than-normal ocean surface temperatures in the central
and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. In the United States, it
tends to lead to rainier, cooler conditions in much of the
South, and warmer conditions in parts of the North.
This year’s California wildflower superbloom is a historic
phenomenon, brought on by an unprecedented wet winter. Miles of
golden-orange poppies, purple desert sand-verbena and pink
filaree are visible from space. This time of year it seems that
everywhere from remote corners of the desert to drab highway
medians are bursting with color. The spectacle draws thousands
of visitors every spring, who flock to enjoy the view and take
photos of the unique natural spectacle – as people have done
for generations. But the crowds also can make their own
paths through sensitive areas, causing damage and threatening
the future of the phenomenon.
Twelve months ago, California was entering year three of an
extended drought. On the heels of the driest January-April
period in 128 years, the state’s two largest reservoirs were
down to critically low levels and a skimpy snowpack meant
little additional water was on the way. … This year has
been a complete turnaround. Storms drenched
California for months and piled on epic amounts
of snow in the Sierra Nevada. The state’s May 1 snowpack
clocked in at 254% of average for the date.
California regularly sees variability in Sierra snow from
season to season, or a “snowpack whiplash.” … Satellite
images show how much California’s snowpack, in white, varied
from 2000 to 2023.
An atmospheric traffic jam is bringing a taste of
winter to both the eastern and western United States during the
first days of May…AccuWeather meteorologists say a cold,
slow-moving storm…may leave California residents in a state
of bewilderment. Weather along the West Coast will remain
active this week as a storm brings rain showers along with
mountain snow…The chilly, damp weather will sweep southward
with the storm into Thursday, bringing unusual May rain to
places such as Fresno, Los Angeles and San
Diego.
Shortly after World War II, California fish managers had a
brainstorm: They loaded juvenile trout into airplanes and
saturation-bombed naturally fishless lakes in the High Sierra
Mountains of California. Some of the fish hit rocks and ice,
but most hit water. Gorging on zooplankton, insects and two
kinds of mountain yellow-legged frogs, the alien invaders
unraveled aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, often in
designated wilderness. In 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service listed both groups of frog as endangered, prompting
aggressive action by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
The agency plan called for eradicating trout in 110 lakes,
though trout would remain in 465 park lakes and hundreds of
stream miles, leaving plenty of fishing opportunity. -Written by Ted Williams, a contributor to Writers on
the Range, an independent nonprofit that seeks to spur lively
conversation about the West.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed and a gaggle of water
officials gathered in the northwest corner of Yosemite National
Park on Tuesday to celebrate the centennial of the creation of
the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and the O’Shaughnessy Dam. … The
water system, San Francisco’s main water source, provided a
stable supply of pristine Sierra Nevada snowmelt for city
residents through most of the 20th century. But as human-caused
climate change worsens, some water experts say the stability of
San Francisco’s mountain tap is losing its surety for the 21st
century and beyond. “I no longer think it will be a reliable
water system,” said Samuel Sandoval Solis, an expert in water
management at UC Davis. … The water passes over three
faultlines and is used for about 85% of the water needs for 2.7
million people in San Francisco and parts of Santa Clara, San
Mateo and Alameda counties.
The Western United States is likely to see a delayed start to
the summer wildfire season after months of rain, snow and cold
weather. But the wet winter, which has dramatically eased
drought conditions, doesn’t guarantee a low-risk fire year.
Destructive fires could still spark in the late summer and
autumn, fueled by all the grasses that bloomed because of the
downpours and will be ready to burn later in the season. The
latest wildfire outlooks, released this week from the National
Interagency Fire Center, show the West with low to normal
wildfire risk for at least the first part of the summer.
Near-record to record snowpack in several Western states will
keep high elevation forests moist for much of the summer,
making them less prone to bigger fires.
Meteorologists in California were talking about baking
temperatures melting the massive snowpack in the Sierra Nevada
only a few days ago. This week, they are focused on
plummeting temperatures bringing snow to those same
mountains. Welcome to spring in the Golden State. It’s the
season when significant temperature swings are not
uncommon. The shift in the weather was triggered by a
trough of low pressure from the Gulf of Alaska pushing into
California and pulling in cold air and unsettled weather, the
National Weather Service said. … On Friday, downtown
Sacramento hit a high of 88 degrees; at 2 p.m. on Monday,
the city had hit 57 degrees — that’s a 31-degree temperature
difference.
One of California’s driest and warmest three-year periods on
record just ended in an epic wet season. As snow melts and
water demand skyrockets, it’s a good time to take stock. Did we
sock away some water for the next dry period? Where are we most
vulnerable to flooding, and what might we do better? “We
are having an extreme year, and it is embedded within a series
of extreme years,” said PPIC Water Policy Center senior fellow
Jeffrey Mount at an event last week. “I want everyone to remind
themselves where we were a year ago. Last year at this time we
were pretty freaked out about storage,” he said, referring to
the low reservoirs and meager snowpack, which supplies about
30% of the state’s water.
Although it’s well into spring, the snowpack in California’s
mountains remains huge, measuring 254% of average in the
state’s May 1 snow survey on Monday. The Sierra Nevada and
southern Cascades together have seen near-record accumulation
this year, with the snowpack peaking on April 8 and then
beginning to decline, state records show, losing just under 20%
of its water mass since. A cold start to April and lots of
cloud cover prompted the snow to melt at slower-than-average
pace, state officials say, leaving the snowpack in May
among the largest in modern times for the month. This amount of
snow presents the potential for catastrophic flooding as it
melts through the rest of spring and into summer. Already, many
areas of the state are on high alert, notably the southern San
Joaquin Valley.
Even as the spring heat wave that’s thawed California’s record
Sierra Nevada snowpack comes to a close, communities across the
Central Valley and the state’s northeastern mountains are
continuing to prepare for potentially dangerous flooding.
Already, near-overflowing rivers triggered the closure of much
of Yosemite National Park on Friday. The Yosemite Valley, home
to many of the famous cliffs and waterfalls in the park, was
expected to reopen for day-use only on Sunday morning before a
full opening Monday morning, when a flood warning for the area
was set to expire. Indefinite flood warnings were also in
effect for areas near rushing rivers in parts of Fresno, Kings
and Tulare counties, where some 60,000 acres of farmland are
under about 3 feet of water brought by last month’s powerful
atmospheric river storms.
Record rains this winter may have dampened Northern California,
but wildfire season is still coming — and certain regions will
see it sooner than others. Temperatures in the region are
warming up, teetering in the high 80s and low 90s in
Sacramento, slowly drying up land drenched in early 2023
storms. According to the state’s Department of Water
Resources, California is experiencing one of the largest
snowpacks in history … Ken Pimlott, retired chief of the
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said
because of the snowpack, the onset of this season could be
delayed a number of months compared to the last several years.
More than a month after heavy storms eroded a section of the
Los Angeles Aqueduct, work crews are still scrambling to
complete repairs and shore up flood defenses in the face of a
weeklong heat wave that threatens to trigger widespread
snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada…Historic snowpack levels in the
Eastern Sierra are expected to melt into runoff that is 225% of
normal, which translates to about 326 billion gallons of water
that will need to be managed, DWP officials said. And while a
typical runoff season in the region can last from May to June,
this year’s “could push through to August,” said Anselmo
Collins, senior assistant general manager of the DWP’s water
system.
As the gargantuan Sierra snowpack gets heated up by warmer
temperatures this week, many of the Golden State’s major
waterways are expected to see a surge in flow from the melting
snow — though major floods still seem a ways off for now. The
only rivers forecast to exceed flood stage in the next four
days are the Merced River near Yosemite Valley, which will
close down parts of the national park, and the West Fork Carson
River in Alpine County.
Satellite images taken over the past several weeks show a
dramatic resurrection of Tulare Lake in California’s
Central Valley and the flooding that could remain for as long
as two years across previously arid farmland. The satellite
imagery, provided by the Earth imaging company Planet
Labs, show the transition from a dry basin to a wide and deep
lake running about ten miles from bank to bank on land used to
grow almonds, tomatoes, cotton and other crops. Scientists warn
the flooding will worsen as historically huge snowpack from the
Sierra Nevada melts and sends more water into the basin. This
week, a heat wave could prompt widespread snow melt in the
mountains and threaten the small farming communities already
dealing with the resurrected Tulare Lake.
Following an epic winter that has grown the California snowpack
to historic levels, the Los Angeles Department of Water and
Power is preparing for an equally epic runoff season. With the
Eastern Sierra snowpack at 296% of normal, the municipally
owned water agency for the City of Los Angeles is anticipating
runoff to be 225% of normal and is implementing safety
measures. Runoff season, when temperatures increase and snow
melts, typically lasts from May to June, but with an extra 326
billion gallons of water needing to go somewhere, LADWP expects
runoff season to last through August. … Doing so allows LADWP
to use aqueduct water instead of water purchased from other
places. The agency expects 130 billion gallons of water to come
to the city through the LA Aqueduct this spring and summer —
enough to meet 80% of the city’s annual demand.
Most of Yosemite Valley will close to the public this Friday,
through at least Wednesday of next week, because of the
potential for flooding along the Merced River. The
extraordinary snowpack in California’s Sierra Nevada this year
is beginning to melt with the warm weather this week, swelling
rivers with runoff and creating the likelihood of high water in
mountain creeks and rivers, including those in
Yosemite. The shutdown at the park will affect
campgrounds, hotels, shops and visitor centers in the valley,
the most popular part of Yosemite. Park officials warn that the
closure will likely mean other parts of Yosemite see much
heavier traffic. Officials say visitors should prepare for
limited parking throughout the park.
Lawmakers want Gov. Gavin Newsom to devote an additional $200
million to flooding in the San Joaquin Valley as their
districts recover from flood damage and face down the new
threat of rapidly melting snow in the southern Sierra Nevada. A
group of 12 bipartisan members of the state assembly requested
the funding for disaster relief in a letter Tuesday, citing the
need for greater emergency response to flooding and more
investment in protection efforts long term. … In his January
budget proposal, Newsom cut $40 million for floodplain
restoration projects in the San Joaquin Valley, which allow for
rivers to flood in strategic places during storms or snowmelt,
reducing the risks downstream and benefiting ecosystems.
El Niño is likely next winter and that could play an important
role in the weather in parts of storm-weary California and the
West. But there are some important caveats and stubborn myths
about this that also need to be addressed. Here’s everything
you need to know about what could happen next winter season
with an over 80 percent chance of El Niño developing by summer
and then lasting into the winter.
A federal judge heard oral arguments in a U.S. District Court
for the District of Montana on a case over aerial fire
retardants that could change the way California fights
wildfires. The lawsuit, filed by Forest Service Employees
for Environmental Ethics (FSEEE), is aimed at curbing the
Forest Service’s use of aerial fire retardants that are used in
firefighting. The suit says that the federal agency pollutes
waterways when the retardants are dumped from above national
forests without permits, violating the Clean Water Law.
The suit asks a federal judge to rule on an injunction that
would keep the Forest Service from making aerial fire retardant
drops until it receives a Clean Water Act permit. This process
could take more than two years, according to the former
director of Cal Fire.
After weeks of uncertainty, forecasters say an incoming
California heat wave will trigger rapid snowmelt on the slopes
of the Sierra Nevada and cause more flooding in portions of the
San Joaquin and Owens valleys this week. Temperatures in
Central California are forecast to climb into the high 80s and
mid-90s beginning Wednesday and into the weekend, with the
potential for some areas to approach daily records. Nighttime
temperatures are also expected to be warmer than usual — around
40 degrees — meaning Sierra snowmelt could start to happen 24
hours a day, UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said.
There’s a fever in California’s gold country these days, the
kind that comes with the realization that nature is unlocking
another stash of precious metal. California’s prodigious winter
rainfall blasted torrents of water through mountain streams and
rivers. And as the warmer weather melts the massive banks of
snow — one research station in the Sierra recorded 60 feet for
the season — the rushing waters are detaching and carrying gold
deposits along the way. The immense wildfires of recent years
also loosened the soil, helping to push downstream what some
here are calling flood gold.
It was the snowpack reading that spawned a hundred headlines.
“California ties 1952 record for all-time Sierra snowpack,”
proclaimed KTVU. “California’s snowpack soars to record high
after 17 atmospheric rivers,” trumpeted the Washington Post.
State officials largely seemed to agree. … But this year
wasn’t a record at all. It only appeared that way in large part
because of the state’s shifting definition of a “normal”
snowpack, which critics say obscures the true impact of climate
change. And, in a closer look at the state’s seven decades
of snowpack data, 1952 — the year atop the state’s data —
wasn’t a record either. That top honor should go to 1983, which
cinched first at 231% of normal, a new analysis by the Bay Area
News Group found, when “normal” is considered the average
dating back to 1950, the start of the state’s recordkeeping.
[A]n immense wall of snow has started to drain from the
Sierra Nevada as the skies warm over a near-record
snowpack. “The Big Melt is now officially arriving,” Daniel
Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los
Angeles, tweeted late last week. … Already, the bed of
Tulare Lake, which was the largest body of fresh water
west of the Mississippi River before it was drained, has
begun to refill in Kings County, submerging the great stretches
of prime agricultural land and major dairy operations that took
its place. And only about 5 percent of the snowpack has melted
so far, according to Swain. (The indefatigable Swain has been
an invaluable resource in educating the public on these complex
climate disasters.)
Weather forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration on Thursday issued their latest outlook for the
United States, and there’s at least one piece of hopeful news
for a state that has already had a wild year, weather-wise:
California. The gargantuan piles of snow that this winter’s
powerful storms left in the Sierra Nevada have prompted
concerns about the flooding that could result when all that
frozen water starts to melt and head downhill. But according to
NOAA’s latest forecasts, temperatures for May through July are
highly likely to be in line with historical averages across
California and Nevada. For May, much of California could even
see cooler-than-normal conditions, the agency said. This could
mean the snow’s melting would be more gradual than abrupt, more
beneficial to water supplies than destructive to homes and
farms.
Growing up in the shadow of the
Rocky Mountains, Andrew Schwartz never missed an opportunity to
play in – or study – a Colorado snowstorm. During major
blizzards, he would traipse out into the icy wind and heavy
drifts of snow pretending to be a scientist researching in
Antarctica.
Decades later, still armed with an obsession for extreme weather,
Schwartz has landed in one of the snowiest places in the West,
leading a research lab whose mission is to give California water
managers instant information on the depth and quality of snow
draping the slopes of the Sierra Nevada.
Rare photos show the transformation of Hetch Hetchy Valley from
untouched paradise to home of the O’Shaughnessy Dam, which
supplies some of the country’s cleanest water to 2 million
people in San Francisco and beyond.
On average, more than 60 percent of
California’s developed water supply originates in the Sierra
Nevada and the southern spur of the Cascade Range. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
Join us as we head into the Sierra to examine water issues
that happen upstream but have dramatic impacts downstream and
throughout the state.
Innovative efforts to accelerate
restoration of headwater forests and to improve a river for the
benefit of both farmers and fish. Hard-earned lessons for water
agencies from a string of devastating California wildfires.
Efforts to drought-proof a chronically water-short region of
California. And a broad debate surrounding how best to address
persistent challenges facing the Colorado River.
These were among the issues Western Water explored in
2019, and are still worth taking a look at in case you missed
them.
Many of California’s watersheds are
notoriously flashy – swerving from below-average flows to jarring
flood conditions in quick order. The state needs all the water it
can get from storms, but current flood management guidelines are
strict and unyielding, requiring reservoirs to dump water each
winter to make space for flood flows that may not come.
However, new tools and operating methods are emerging that could
lead the way to a redefined system that improves both water
supply and flood protection capabilities.
It’s been a year since two devastating wildfires on opposite ends
of California underscored the harsh new realities facing water
districts and cities serving communities in or adjacent to the
state’s fire-prone wildlands. Fire doesn’t just level homes, it
can contaminate water, scorch watersheds, damage delivery systems
and upend an agency’s finances.
The majestic beauty of the Sierra
Nevada forest is awe-inspiring, but beneath the dazzling blue
sky, there is a problem: A century of fire suppression and
logging practices have left trees too close together. Millions of
trees have died, stricken by drought and beetle infestation.
Combined with a forest floor cluttered with dry brush and debris,
it’s a wildfire waiting to happen.
Fires devastate the Sierra watersheds upon which millions of
Californians depend — scorching the ground, unleashing a
battering ram of debris and turning hillsides into gelatinous,
stream-choking mudflows.
Registration opens today for the
Water Education Foundation’s 36th annual Water
Summit, set for Oct. 30 in Sacramento. This year’s
theme, Water Year 2020: A Year of Reckoning,
reflects fast-approaching deadlines for the State Groundwater
Management Act as well as the pressing need for new approaches to
water management as California and the West weather intensified
flooding, fire and drought. To register for this can’t-miss
event, visit our Water Summit
event page.
Registration includes a full day of discussions by leading
stakeholders and policymakers on key issues, as well as coffee,
materials, gourmet lunch and an outdoor reception by the
Sacramento River that will offer the opportunity to network with
speakers and other attendees. The summit also features a silent
auction to benefit our Water Leaders program featuring
items up for bid such as kayaking trips, hotel stays and lunches
with key people in the water world.
Our 36th annual
Water Summit,
happening Oct. 30 in Sacramento, will feature the theme “Water
Year 2020: A Year of Reckoning,” reflecting upcoming regulatory
deadlines and efforts to improve water management and policy in
the face of natural disasters.
The Summit will feature top policymakers and leading stakeholders
providing the latest information and a variety of viewpoints on
issues affecting water across California and the West.
One of California Gov. Gavin
Newsom’s first actions after taking office was to appoint Wade
Crowfoot as Natural Resources Agency secretary. Then, within
weeks, the governor laid out an ambitious water agenda that
Crowfoot, 45, is now charged with executing.
That agenda includes the governor’s desire for a “fresh approach”
on water, scaling back the conveyance plan in the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta and calling for more water recycling, expanded
floodplains in the Central Valley and more groundwater recharge.
There’s going to be a new governor
in California next year – and a host of challenges both old and
new involving the state’s most vital natural resource, water.
So what should be the next governor’s water priorities?
That was one of the questions put to more than 150 participants
during a wrap-up session at the end of the Water Education
Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento.
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply
originates high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
We headed into the foothills and the mountains to examine
water issues that happen upstream but have dramatic impacts
downstream and throughout the state.
GEI (Tour Starting Point)
2868 Prospect Park Dr.
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.
Water supply for
California’s cities and farms is largely dependent on
snowmelt from the upper watershed in the Sierra Nevada. But that
paradigm is being challenged by wildfires, climate change and
widespread tree mortality.
Join us for a two-day tour as we head into the Sierra foothills
and up into the mountains to examine water issues that happen
upstream, but have dramatic impacts on water supply and quality
downstream and throughout the state.
Lake
Tahoe, the iconic high Sierra water body that straddles
California and Nevada, has sat for more than 10,000 years at the
heart of the Washoe tribe’s territory. In fact, the name Tahoe
came from the tribal word dá’aw, meaning lake.
The lake’s English name was the source of debate for about 100
years after it was first “discovered” in 1844 by people of
European descent when Gen. John C. Fremont’s expedition made its
way into the region. Not long after, a man who carried mail on
snowshoes from Placerville to Nevada City named it Lake Bigler in
honor of John Bigler, who served as California’s third governor.
But because Bigler was an ardent secessionist, the federal
Interior Department during the Civil War introduced the name
Tahoe in 1862. Meanwhile, California kept it as Lake Bigler and
didn’t officially recognize the name as Lake Tahoe until 1945.
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply originates
high in the Sierra Nevada.Thus, the state’s water supply is
largely dependent on the health of Sierra forests, which are
suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought, wildfires and
widespread tree mortality.
Join us as we head into the Sierra foothills and up to the
mountains to examine water issues that happen upstream but have
dramatic impacts downstream and throughout California.
California voters may experience a sense of déjà vu this year when they are asked twice in the same year to consider water bonds — one in June, the other headed to the November ballot.
Both tackle a variety of water issues, from helping disadvantaged communities get clean drinking water to making flood management improvements. But they avoid more controversial proposals, such as new surface storage, and they propose to do some very different things to appeal to different constituencies.
Every day, people flock to Daniel
Swain’s social media platforms to find out the latest news and
insight about California’s notoriously unpredictable weather.
Swain, a climate scientist at the Institute of the
Environment and Sustainability at UCLA, famously coined the
term “Ridiculously Resilient Ridge” in December 2013 to describe
the large, formidable high-pressure mass that was parked over the
West Coast during winter and diverted storms away from
California, intensifying the drought.
Swain’s research focuses on atmospheric processes that cause
droughts and floods, along with the changing character of extreme
weather events in a warming world. A lifelong Californian and
alumnus of University of California, Davis, and Stanford
University, Swain is best known for the widely read Weather West blog, which provides
unique perspectives on weather and climate in California and the
western United States. In a recent interview with Western
Water, he talked about the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge, its
potential long-term impact on California weather, and what may
lie ahead for the state’s water supply.
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply
originates high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply originates
high in the Sierra Nevada. Thus, the state’s water supply is
largely dependent on the health of Sierra forests, which are
suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought, wildfires and
widespread tree mortality.
Join us as we head into the Sierra foothills and the mountains to
examine water issues that happen upstream but have dramatic
impacts downstream and throughout California.
ARkStorm stands for an atmospheric
river (“AR”) that carries precipitation levels expected to occur
once every 1,000 years (“k”). The concept was presented in a 2011
report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) intended to elevate
the visibility of the very real threats to human life, property
and ecosystems posed by extreme storms on the West Coast.
Owens Lake is a dry lake at the terminus of the Owens River
just west of Death Valley and on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. For at least
800,000 years, the lake had a continuous flow of water, until
1913 when the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
(LADWP) completed the 233-mile Los Angeles
Aqueduct to supplement the budding metropolis’
increasing water demands.
This 28-page report describes the watersheds of the Sierra Nevada
region and details their importance to California’s overall water
picture. It describes the region’s issues and challenges,
including healthy forests, catastrophic fire, recreational
impacts, climate change, development and land use.
The report also discusses the importance of protecting and
restoring watersheds in order to retain water quality and enhance
quantity. Examples and case studies are included.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Truckee River Basin, including
the Newlands Project, Pyramid Lake and Lake Tahoe. Map text
explains the issues surrounding the use of the Truckee-Carson
rivers, Lake Tahoe water quality improvement efforts, fishery
restoration and the effort to reach compromise solutions to many
of these issues.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, illustrates the
water resources available for Nevada cities, agriculture and the
environment. It features natural and manmade water resources
throughout the state, including the Truckee and Carson rivers,
Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Lake and the course of the Colorado River
that forms the state’s eastern boundary.
Fashioned after the popular California Water Map, this 24×36 inch
poster was extensively re-designed in 2017 to better illustrate
the value and use of groundwater in California, the main types of
aquifers, and the connection between groundwater and surface
water.
A new look for our most popular product! And it’s the perfect
gift for the water wonk in your life.
Our 24×36 inch California Water Map is widely known for being the
definitive poster that shows the integral role water plays in the
state. On this updated version, it is easier to see California’s
natural waterways and man-made reservoirs and aqueducts
– including federally, state and locally funded
projects – the wild and scenic rivers system, and
natural lakes. The map features beautiful photos of
California’s natural environment, rivers, water projects,
wildlife, and urban and agricultural uses and the
text focuses on key issues: water supply, water use, water
projects, the Delta, wild and scenic rivers and the Colorado
River.
Travel across the state on Amtrak’s famed California
Zephyr, from the edge of sparkling San Francisco Bay,
through the meandering channels of the Delta, past rich Central
Valley farmland, growing cities, historic mining areas and into
the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
Stretching along the eastern edge of
the state, the Sierra Nevada region incorporates more than 25
percent of California’s land area and forms one of the world’s
most diverse watersheds.
On average, more than 60 percent of California’s developed
water supply originates in the Sierra and the southern Cascade
Range in northeastern California, according to California’s Water
Resilience Portfolio of 2020.
The East Fork begins in the mountains of California’s Sonora Pass
and after flowing through California and Nevada, it meets the
West Fork just south of Carson City. The West Fork forms at
California’s Carson Pass, running through California and into
Nevada to its junction with the East Fork.
