More than 58,000 fires scorched the United States last year,
and 2021 is on track to be even drier. What many people don’t
realize is that these wildfires can do lasting damage beyond
the reach of the flames – they can contaminate entire drinking
water systems with carcinogens that last for months after the
blaze. … Since 2017, multiple fires have
impacted drinking water systems … including the CZU
Lightning Complex, Camp and Tubbs fires in California.
Thousands of private wells have been affected too.
California gubernatorial candidate John Cox swung through
Fresno on Thursday as part of his “Meet the Beast” campaign
tour, holding a press conference at Machado Farms.
… With the state once again in the midst of another
drought, Cox said he would do something that Newsom has so far
refused to: declare a state-wide emergency. Instead of a
state-wide declaration, Newsom enacted an emergency in
Mendocino and Sonoma Counties.
San Diego takes droughts very seriously. That’s why the region
is well-positioned to weather an extended dry spell with enough
water. Local officials don’t shrug at the drought
conditions across the state that have triggered emergencies in
a couple of northern counties. For one thing, the wildfire
threat can be as dangerous here as anywhere. San Diego may
be more drought-tolerant than in the past when it comes to
water…
Early May water supply volume forecasts are below to much below
normal throughout the Colorado River Basin and Great Basin.
Upper Colorado River Basin water supply forecasts range between
15-75% of the 1981-2010 historical April-July average. Great
Basin water supply forecasts are 10-70% of average. … Many
April-July volume forecasts fall in the bottom (driest) five on
record….The Lake Powell inflow forecast is 2.0 MAF (28% of
average), a 17% decrease from April….
The drought situation in the Bay Area has officially gone from
bad to worse. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the entire
Bay Area is now in the “extreme” drought category, along with
nearly three-quarters of California. According to the latest
summary, precipitation in the state for the water year that
began Oct. 1 is well below normal, in the bottom 10th
percentile, and the greater Bay Area is “experiencing record or
near-record dryness.”
After one of the most destructive and extreme wildfire seasons
in modern history last year, a widening drought across
California and much of the West has many residents bracing for
the possibility this season could be worse. Anemic winter rain
and snowfall has left reservoirs and river flows down
significantly, even as the state experiences its driest water
year in more than four decades. Today, wildfire fuels in some
parts of California are at or near record levels of dryness.
More than a decade of collaboration between public agencies
yields tremendous benefit to Orange County’s water supply
following approvals by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps)
associated with the Chief of Engineer’s Report for the Prado
Basin Ecosystem Restoration and Water Conservation Feasibility
Study. For the Orange County Water District, this critical
action increases water storage and habitat restoration behind
Prado Dam.
If any doubt persisted over the first months of the year, it
has now become clear that this past winter’s dry conditions
will not be reversing anytime soon. With 88% of California
classified as experiencing severe drought and no less than 53%
classified as extreme, according to the California drought
monitor, there is no question that conditions have worsened,
confirming fears that another dangerously dry summer looms on
the horizon. In fact, so troubling is the situation that on
April 21, amid the barren backdrop of a greatly depleted Lake
Mendocino, Governor Newsom issued a state of emergency
declaration for Mendocino and Sonoma counties …
At the Water Education Foundation, we focus on telling the
complex story of water in California and the West because of
its critical role in sustaining our lives, growing our food and
nourishing our environment. As a nonprofit we rely on the
generosity of people who value what we do – enhancing
public understanding of our most important natural
resource and catalyzing critical conversations to inform
collaborative decision-making.
Donate here to help us keep doing what we do, and
join us for a virtual open house at 4:30 p.m. today.
The official “new normal” for the U.S. climate is warmer than
ever before — and the changes are ominous for California,
experts say. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration on Tuesday released its new climate averages,
based on the 30-year period from 1991 to 2020. The averages,
known as “climate normals,” are updated every 10 years, and
they show most of the country, including California, heating
up. “The influence of long-term global warming is obvious,” the
NOAA said in announcing the updates to its averages.
California’s current drought is already off to a strong start,
with some major challenges already looming just two years in.
Compared to the drought of 2012‒16, the normally wetter
Sacramento and North Coast regions have been hit much harder
than the rest of the state. Beyond the local challenges this
poses, drought in the Sacramento region is already having
statewide implications, given its key role in supplying water
to farms and cities further south.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday passed a
resolution proclaiming a local drought emergency. The vote on
the resolution during Tuesday’s special meeting was unanimous.
The resolution comes after Fresno leaders joined officials from
three other Central Valley counties on Friday to declare a
regional drought emergency and urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to do the
same statewide. Fresno County Chairman Steve Brandau said the
drought “is a crisis that we are putting upon ourselves.” He
said he’s not a water expert, but it has been “painful” for him
to watch “as water flows out into the ocean unused for human
resources.”
Experts say a statewide drought declaration … could bring
significant consequences for the regulatory structure governing
California’s complicated water-delivery system. Many farmers
believe an emergency order could loosen environmental
regulations and free up water supplies for them. Environmental
groups fear the very same thing – that more of California’s
dwindling water supply could be directed to farming at the
expense of fish and wildlife.
In today’s Home Grown, a local lawsuit over ownership of the
Colorado River water might be taken higher to the U.S. Supreme
Court. The Michael Abatti versus the Imperial Irrigation
District (IID) lawsuit has been ongoing in the valley,
disputing over whether water rights belong to the landowners or
if they are controlled by the IID. … Abatti won the lawsuit
in Imperial County Superior Court, but Katie Turner, attorney
with Sutherland and Gerber says it didn’t make it to the
California Supreme Court.
A recent spate of spring blazes announced an alarmingly early
start to California’s wildfire season, which is fast occupying
too much of the year to fit any conventional understanding of
the word “season.” With historically low moisture measurements
suggesting vegetation is particularly primed to burn, too many
Californians are about to find themselves in wildfires’ way.
… The prospects for a respite aren’t hopeful. Following
California’s third driest rain season on record, Gov. Gavin
Newsom is tiptoeing toward acknowledging a statewide
drought.
California Senators have unveiled a $3.4 billion drought relief
package to address the hardships created by ongoing dry
conditions. The Senate Budget Plan on Drought, Safe Drinking
Water, Water Supply Reliability, and Ratepayer Assistance would
be the single largest investment to address drought challenges
in California. During the Senate Budget & Fiscal Review
Subcommittee 2 on Resources, Environmental Protection and
Energy hearing, the proposal was passed by a 4-0 vote. The
proposal offers a comprehensive approach to drought relief,
with funding designated for water supply projects, research,
and water-use efficiency projects.
Regenerative farming practices integrate the entire ecosystem —
building upon the relationships of the natural world — to
simultaneously produce healthier, more abundant crops and
restore the Earth’s natural resources. … And
restoring soil health and fertility produces more abundant,
nutrient-dense crops that better resist pests and disease. It
increases soil’s ability to filter and store water, reduce
erosion and sequester carbon. And it builds a diversity and
abundance of microbes that drive every function of soil.
Increasingly ominous signs suggest that we are entering another
multiyear drought in California. The State Water Project
recently reduced projected water deliveries for 2021 from 10
percent of requested supplies to 5 percent, and on April 21,
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a regional drought emergency in the
Russian River watershed in Northern California. But it’s a
different story in San Diego County.
-Written by Gary Croucher, chair of the San Diego County
Water Authority’s Board of Directors.
The US Bureau of Reclamation last week warned water users to
brace for a 500,000 acre-foot cut in water from the Colorado
River as a historic drought continues to tighten its grip on
the Southwest. The cutback comes on top of a 200,000 acre-foot
reduction Arizona water users agreed to last year in an effort
to put off this day of reckoning. The Central Arizona Project
provides more than a third of the state’s water. The reductions
will mostly impact farmers. The sparse snowpack this winter
soaked into the ground during the hot, dry spring — producing
little runoff.
The beaver does more to shape its environment than nearly any
other animal on Earth. They can cause incredible amounts of
destruction to infrastructure; downing power lines, and
blocking and rerouting waterways. But their dam-building also
can improve water quality, reduce flood risk, and create the
conditions for complex wetland habitats to form —providing
refuge for wildlife and storing carbon in the process.
