California's bout of extreme wet weather could become the new normal as climate change worsens, a researcher has warned.
A bomb cyclone battered the state on Tuesday, bringing down trees and power lines. At least one person was killed after a tree fell onto a vehicle, the Los Angeles Times reported. Early on Wednesday, more than 130,000 customers were still without power, according to PowerOutage.us.
Atmospheric river-fueled storms have hammered the network of hundreds of levees in coastal counties near the San Francisco Bay — from the agricultural fields of Monterey County to urban places like San Leandro, Walnut Creek and Richmond to more rural parts of the North Bay. At least two major levees, in Salinas and Pajaro, have failed since New Year’s Eve.
Scientists have discovered microplastics in Sierra snowpacks, raising concern that it maybe be contaminating the drinking water. A combination of sources is likely: wind may be sweeping the particles from the ocean to the clouds. Clothes dryers spew synthetic fibers like nylon and rayon into the air.
March 2023 has been chaotic from many California residents, as snow and torrential rain from an atmospheric river flooded several communities. And a few Central California counties in particular are still figuring out how to stay dry. Pine Flat reservoir's water levels have gotten so high that water is being diverted from right by the dam, and into the diminishing Tulare Lake. Hopefully, this will quell the fears of farmers and residents anticipating oncoming floods.
As storms have drenched Northern California, water diverted from the swollen Sacramento River has been flowing from a canal and pouring onto 200 acres of farmland.
For more than a month, the water has spread across fields, forming shallow pools, then percolating slowly into the earth.
California has experienced an exceptionally wet winter with 11 atmospheric rivers battering the state since late December. A twelfth such storm is due to land on Tuesday, threatening to cause even more flooding, landslides and road closures.
Atmospheric rivers are vast airborne currents of dense moisture carried aloft for hundreds of miles from the Pacific and funneled over land to fall as bouts of heavy rain and snow. Here's what such storms mean for the near and long term.
Senators Alex Padilla and Diane Feinstein announced nearly $97 million in funding to reduce wildfire risk in communities across California.
The money will fund 29 projects in the state, which will help plan for and mitigate wildfire risks. Some counties in the Sacramento region will benefit from the money, including Nevada, Sierra, Plumas, Yuba, and Tuolumne Counties.
On Feb. 27 or 28, Lake Tahoe flipped or, more correctly, it fully mixed vertically from top to bottom. Full mixing is an annual event in shallower lakes, however, for Tahoe and its 1,640-foot depth, it is a less common occurrence. Lake Tahoe last mixed during the 2018-19 winter.
The Westlands Water District board of directors has elected its newest general manager — also the organization’s first woman to serve in the role.
Allison Febbo comes to Westlands by way of the Mojave Water Agency north of San Bernardino, where she is currently general manager. Before that, she was the deputy operations manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley operations office.
The California Water Plan will hold a virtual public workshop over Zoom on March 29, 2023, from 1 - 4 p.m. The Water Plan Team will provide an in-depth overview of draft chapter content for Update 2023. The workshop will serve as a venue interested parties to provide input on the draft content and recommendations.
This online short course will review the fundamental principles of groundwater and watershed hydrology, water budgets, water quality, and water law and regulation in an intuitive, highly accessible fashion. Through real world examples, participants learn about the most common tools for measuring, monitoring, and assessing groundwater and surface water resources. We then review the key steps and elements of planning for groundwater sustainability and implementing projects and management actions.
Series: April 13, 20, May 4, 19, and June 1 | 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
This tour ventures through California’s Central Valley, known as the nation’s breadbasket thanks to an imported supply of surface water and local groundwater. The southern part of the vast region, the San Joaquin Valley, is the focus of this tour as it faces challenges after years of drought, dwindling water supplies, decreasing water quality and farmland conversion for urban growth.
This tour explores the heart of California water policy – the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay – to learn about the critical role the Delta plays in the state, Delta planning initiatives, water project operations, fish passage, ecosystem restoration, levees and flood management, Delta agriculture and water supply reliability.
Groundwater Resources Association of California - The popular Annual GSA Summit is getting revamped in collaboration with the ACWA Groundwater Committee and SGMA Implementation Subcommittee. This is a once-a-year get-together to foster progress on SGMA implementation, collaborating with ACWA members and implementers and GRA technical experts.
When: June 7 - 8, 2023 Where: Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in Sacramento
DWR is responsible for managing and protecting California’s water resources and works with others to benefit the State’s people and to protect, restore, and enhance the natural and human environments. DWR operates and maintains the State Water Project, oversees dam safety, provides flood protection, helps in emergency response, assists regional and local water agencies, promotes water conservation and safety, and plans integrated watershed management – in all to advance water resource sustainability.
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