Greenhouse gases trapped in the upper atmosphere are acting like natural climatic forces that made some ancient droughts last for 1,000 years, UCLA researchers say. Global warming created by these gases could be making a more arid climate, like what California has seen in its current five-year drought, “the new normal,” said UCLA geography professor Glen MacDonald, the study’s lead author.
Archive for date: September 15th, 2016
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Congressman Jeff Denham introduced the New WATER Act Thursday in hopes of authorizing a pilot project that would provide long-term, low-cost financing for water resources infrastructure in reclamation states.“The Central Valley desperately needs to build more infrastructure for water storage and delivery,” said Denham, who introduced the bill Thursday.
The Senate approved a $10 billion water projects bill Thursday that includes emergency funding for Flint, Michigan — nearly a year after officials declared a public health emergency because of lead-contaminated water.Senators approved the bill 95-3. The measure now goes to the House, where approval of a similar bill — minus the Flint provision — is expected as soon as next week. The Senate measure would authorize 29 projects in 18 states for dredging, flood control and other projects overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Sea level rise and its possible impact on the city of Coronado was the major topic discussed at the City Council meeting of Sept. 6, 2016. During a prior council meeting, City Councilmember Bill Sandke requested a staff report regarding what steps the city is taking to address sea level rise. The topic grew in importance to Sandke during a recent family trip to Amsterdam, where the Dutch have been defending their country against the incursion of water through a variety of means, including a lock and levy system, for five centuries.
Assembly Bill 1928, by Assembly member Nora Campos (D-San Jose) was signed by Governor Brown this week. The bill resets deadlines for the California Energy Commission to establish water efficiency performance standards and labeling requirements for landscape irrigation equipment by Jan. 1, 2018. “AB 1928 will help California further reduce water waste by taking the next step in improving outdoor water conservation and allow consumers to make informed choices about water-efficient equipment” said Campos.
San Francisco faces potentially drastic cutbacks in its water supply, as state regulators proposed leaving more water in three Northern California rivers Thursday to protect wildlife in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta estuary, the linchpin of California’s water supply. The draft rules by the State Water Resources Control Board would raise the amount of water into the Merced, Stanislaus and Tuolumne rivers to 30 to 50 percent of what would naturally flow in them. That means less water would be available for urban users and farmers in the northern San Joaquin Valley, compounding their need to conserve.
In a move that foreshadows sweeping statewide reductions in the amount of river water available for human needs, California regulators on Thursday proposed a stark set of cutbacks to cities and farms that receive water from the San Joaquin River and its tributaries. To protect endangered fish at critical parts of their life cycle, regulators proposed leaving hundreds of thousands of additional acre-feet of water in the San Joaquin River system.
California plans to reduce water for farms and cities from one of its biggest river systems in order to boost the amount of water for salmon and other threatened fish, state officials said Thursday. The plan, which still must receive final approval, rekindles a divisive fish-versus-farmers debate in the nation’s biggest agriculture state.
In 2000, researchers took a coring from the bed of a small, shallow lake in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains. They analyzed the organic matter and chemicals in the sediments to reconstruct a climate record of the past 10,000 years. They then compared it with reconstructions of ancient ocean temperatures. The results echoed previous studies that have found a link between past periods of climate warming, cool sea-surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean and centuries-long droughts in California and the West. Does that mean that global warming is pushing California to the threshold of endless drought?
State regulators want to leave more water for fish and wildlife in the heavily tapped tributaries of the San Joaquin River, setting the stage for another bruising California water fight. The proposal to keep more water flowing in the Merced, Tuolumne and Stanislaus rivers could spread the pain caused by environmentally related water cuts to irrigation districts and cities that have largely escaped them, thanks to their location and seniority in the hierarchy by which the state allocates water rights.