Watch our series of short videos on the importance of the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, how it works as a water hub for
California and the challenges it is facing.
When a person opens a spigot to draw a glass of water, he or she
may be tapping a source close to home or hundreds of miles away.
Water gets to taps via a complex web of aqueducts, canals and
groundwater.
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Unlike California’s majestic rivers and massive dams and
conveyance systems, groundwater is out of sight and underground,
though no less plentiful. The state’s enormous cache of
underground water is a great natural resource and has contributed
to the state becoming the nation’s top agricultural producer and
leader in high-tech industries.
A new era of groundwater management began in 2014 in California
with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The landmark law
turned 10 in 2024, with many challenges still ahead.
Time is running out to register for next Thursday’s Water
101 Workshop and go beyond the headlines to gain a
deeper understanding of how water is managed and moved across
California. Plus, only a handful of seats remain for the
opportunity to extend your ‘beyond the headlines’ water education
experience on the optional watershed tour the next day!
To replenish California’s
chronically depleted aquifers, the state’s Department of Water
Resources is taking a hard look at a new line of attack: Pairing
more sophisticated reservoir operations with groundwater
recharge. Water managers are aiming to make greater use of the
increased floodwater that’s expected to come with flashier, more
intense storms and earlier snowmelt.
… In many areas, all-important snowfall has been half of
normal, with even hotter, drier temperatures expected in the
coming months. Much of the nation is in a drought already, but
the headwaters of the Colorado River is among the driest
places, along with south Texas and all of Florida. Alarmed
civic officials across the West have already begun
ordering restrictions on watering lawns, cleaning cars and even
whether restaurant patrons get served glasses of
water. … Climate experts have long warned that
climate change will make the West hotter and drier, and worry
that what’s happening now represents a long-term shift that
could reshape how people live and work across Arizona,
Colorado, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming.
Instead of agreeing on a traditional, 20-year deal for the
Colorado River, the states that share the water source are
focused on a short-term plan as they stare down the basin’s
worst snow season in two decades. But that doesn’t mean
officials are ready to agree any time soon, despite mounting
federal pressure to do so. … “We are thoroughly prepared
to fight like hell if it comes to that,” said John Entsminger,
Nevada’s governor-appointed negotiator and general manager of
the Southern Nevada Water Authority. “We’re trying to avoid
that … If it comes to fighting to protect the water interests
of Southern Nevada, we’re ready.” A new deal must be in place
before the start of the next water year in October, whether the
states come to an agreement or the Trump administration imposes
one upon them.
Lake Oroville is sitting at 89 percent capacity, and the
Department of Water Resources is focused on keeping it that way
as dry conditions persist across the Feather River watershed.
The reservoir currently stands at 875 feet in elevation.
Releases to the Feather River are running at 2,100 cubic feet
per second, with a planned reduction to 1,750 cfs on Sunday,
March 29. Even with the reservoir nearly full, DWR is required
to maintain designated flood storage space under federal
guidelines set by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Between
mid-September and June, those rules dictate that a portion of
the reservoir’s capacity must remain open to absorb potential
inflows from rain and snowmelt.
… At least 36 states now offer tax incentives to attract data
center projects. But a backlash is growing in tandem — at least
12 states have filed moratorium bills this legislative cycle to
pause new data center construction while they sort out impacts
on electric grids, water supplies and public
health. Against that backdrop, the closed-door “Data x
Power” summit in Jackson April 1-2 will convene about 50 senior
leaders from hyperscale technology companies, energy
developers, government agencies and academia to explore whether
Wyoming belongs in the conversation.
Operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the
Bay Model is a giant hydraulic replica of San Francisco
Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta. It is housed in a converted World II-era
warehouse in Sausalito near San Francisco.
Hundreds of gallons of water are pumped through the
three-dimensional, 1.5-acre model to simulate a tidal ebb
and flow lasting 14 minutes.
As part of the historic Colorado
River Delta, the Salton Sea regularly filled and dried for
thousands of years due to its elevation of 237 feet below
sea level.
The most recent version of the Salton Sea was formed in 1905 when
the Colorado River broke
through a series of dikes and flooded the seabed for two years,
creating California’s largest inland body of water. The
Salton Sea, which is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, includes 130
miles of shoreline and is larger than Lake Tahoe.
Drought—an extended period of
limited or no precipitation—is a fact of life in California and
the West, with water resources following boom-and-bust patterns.
During California’s 2012–2016 drought, much of the state
experienced severe drought conditions: significantly less
precipitation and snowpack, reduced streamflow and higher
temperatures. Those same conditions reappeared early in 2021
prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom in May to declare drought emergencies
in watersheds across 41 counties in California.
