On the calendar today …
- IN-PERSON EVENT: From the Ground Up – Soil and Water Resiliency for Future Generations from 8:30am to 2:30pm in downtown LA. You are invited to join us for a free in-person forum on the connections between soil health, climate adaption, water resiliency, and well-being. Guest speakers at From the Ground Up will share new ideas and emerging policy, planning, and design practices with a special emphasis on connections between soil health and water cycles. Our keynote speaker, Jane Davidson, will showcase how one small country is inspiring the world by enacting policies and taking action to ensure the wellbeing of future generations. This event will bring together professionals in engineering, architecture, landscape design and management, water resources, public works, community services, parks and public health, along with emerging professionals, students, and others. NGOs and CBOs with an interest in planning and implementation of multi-benefit solutions to climate change and water scarcity are also encouraged to attend. Click here to register.
- WEBINAR: Recovery: Flood After Fire Resources from the U.S. Forest Service from 11:30am to 12:30pm. Please join us for our fourth webinar, Recovery: Flood After Fire Resources from the U.S. Forest Service, which will share resources that focus on flood after fire recovery. There will be an opportunity for open discussion and questions following the presentation. Web meeting link: https://usace1.webex.com/usace1/j.php?MTID=m31eacb54ae61ac8f0096aa019c915d03 For audio only (call-in): 1-844-800-2712 Meeting ID: 2760 351 6531
- WEBINAR: Managing Megafires Reflecting on a Decade in the New Megafire Era: Lessons Learned, Progress and a Path Forward from 12pm to 1:00pm. The 2013 Rim Fire burned through the Sierra Nevada becoming the second largest wildfire in California’s recorded history at the time. Now, a decade later, it ranks as just the 11th largest wildfire on record. The Rim Fire initiated an era of “megafires” sweeping across California’s landscape. Since then, leaders across our state have improved understanding of the complexities of wildfire management and the urgency to increase pace and scale of our efforts. As megafires rage this summer from Canada to Greece, join us for a candid talk with experts about how catastrophic wildfires have shifted and intensified our wildfire strategies and what is needed moving forward. Click here to register.
- IN-PERSON: GRA SF BAY: Predicting Regional Geogenic Metal Hazards in Groundwater from 6pm to 8pm in Oakland. Join the San Francisco Bay Area Branch on Wednesday, August 23, to learn about metals in groundwater! Attendance includes appetizers and a drink of your choice. Alandra Lopez from Stanford University will share about her research predicting metal concentrations in groundwater. Click here to register.
- VIRTUAL PUBLIC MEETING: Human Dimensions of Salinity Management Focused Working Group from 6pm to 7pm. As part of the Salinity Management Workshop Series, the Delta Science Program is hosting two working group meetings to explore the human dimensions of salinity management and help inform the direction of social science research in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The meetings will be held virtually on August 23, 2023, from 6:00 to 7:00 PM and on August 25, 2023, from 10:00 to 11:00 AM. Attendees will participate in small group discussions to share their perspectives on the drivers and impacts of salinity in the Delta, provide input on possible salinity management actions, and identify groups of people whom the research team should reach out to for further interviews and focus groups. Both meetings will follow the same agenda, so please only register to attend one. Click here to register.
In California water news today …
The big melt transformed California: A journey down a great river shows how
“The historic snowstorms that buffeted California this year fundamentally changed a state gripped by years of drought. From reducing fire risk to shoring up salmon runs to satisfying the thirst of faraway cities and farms, the state’s white-topped mountains have unleashed a torrent of melting snow that has touched nearly every aspect of life in California. From the peaks to the Pacific, it has been branded “The Big Melt,” and it continues to deliver well into summer. Water is the fuel of California, and decisions about who gets to use it and how it is used are a source of eternal conflict. What we can learn in a year of abundance will extend to the feared dry years ahead. One way to take stock of the melt is to travel 250 miles northeast of San Francisco to the headwaters of the Feather River, then follow the river back. The benefits of this year’s storms, and a few of the problems, are no clearer than on the Feather — not the longest river in California, nor the best known, but one of the most important. It’s also among the most altered by climate change. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
California considers permanent ban on watering grass at businesses, even in non-drought years
“California’s most-recent drought is over. Reservoirs are full. Ski season lasted until July. But despite the wet winter, an effort is gaining momentum in the state capitol to add manicured green grass to the list of business trappings — like fax machines, pagers and typewriters — that have become obsolete in a changing world. During California’s three-year drought, state water regulators banned watering “ornamental turf” at corporate, industrial or government properties with potable water as a way to preserve supplies. That emergency regulation is set to expire next June. A new bill would make the ban permanent. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
Southern California’s ‘water doctor’ pushes for transformation to adapt to climate change
“When Adel Hagekhalil speaks about the future of water in Southern California, he often starts by mentioning the three conduits the region depends on to bring water from hundreds of miles away: the Los Angeles Aqueduct, the Colorado River Aqueduct and the California Aqueduct. As general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Hagekhalil is responsible for ensuring water for 19 million people, leading the nation’s largest wholesale supplier of drinking water. He says that with climate change upending the water cycle, the three existing aqueducts will no longer be sufficient. Southern California urgently needs to buttress its water resources, he says, by designing the equivalent of a “fourth aqueduct” — not another concrete artery to draw water from distant sources, but a set of projects that will harness local water supplies and help prepare for more intense extremes as temperatures continue to rise. … ” Read more from the LA Times. | Read via Yahoo News.
We reviewed more than 150 papers on water management. Here’s what we learned.
Jose Pablo Ortiz Partida, Senior Water and Climate Scientist, writes, “In my previous life as a graduate student, I worked with hydroeconomic modeling. I recently had the opportunity to jump back into that type of research with colleagues from the University of California Davis and Merced. If hydroeconomic modeling sounds like jargon, that’s because it is. In a nutshell, hydroeconomic modeling is a tool for water management. It helps researchers, water practitioners, and policymakers answer critical questions related to how much water is available now and in the future, and–ideally–the best ways to use it. This type of modeling gets complicated when you are trying to find balance among water use by people, agriculture, ecosystems, energy production, and recreation. Fold in the need to consider flood management, politics, and economics…and oh yes!…add climate change, and it gets very complicated! My colleagues and I reviewed more than 150 scientific papers that applied hydroeconomic modeling. … ” Read more from the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Report highlights dirty legacy of mining in the West
“Extractive industries like oil and gas, and mining have essentially worked under the same legal and regulatory framework for more than 100 years. That has left a toxic legacy that is still being felt to this day. Rachael Hamby is the policy director for the Center for Western Priorities, a conservation advocacy nonprofit. This month, the group released a report titled “Backyard Problems: The Toxic Legacy of Extractive Industries in the West.” Hamby recently spoke with Sierra Nevada Ally Executive Editor Noah Glick about the report and what we can learn from it. … ” Read more from the Sierra Nevada Ally.
Cancelation of California salmon season forces fishermen to find new way forward
“Salmon fishers across the state are pivoting to stay afloat after the salmon fishing season was canceled earlier this year. At dock 47 in San Francisco, the pier looks different this time of year. More boats are tied up, an unusual sight for what would be peak salmon season. “It hurts all the way around,” Matt Juanes told CBS News Bay Area. “In a typical season, it would definitely be emptied out.” Juanes is preparing to head out to sea. He readies his lines and hopes for a big catch. For now, it’s all he can do. … He’s one of hundreds of fishermen who have been impacted by the cancelation of salmon season and forced to find alternative ways to make ends meet. … ” Read more from CBS Bay Area.
How recent rainfall has affected California farmers
“Rain can have positive effects when it comes to drought concerns, but it can also result in negative outcomes. Brad Rubin, Sector Manager of Specialty Crops for Wells Fargo, assesses the crop and agriculture industry for the bank. He gave an in-depth look at how the rain affects farmers, especially the most recent rains in California. “All in all, most farmers welcomed the majority of the rain that we received,” said Rubin. “It helped relieve some of the drought conditions. It helped fill some of the groundwater basins. It did different things that were very positive.” … ” Read more from Channel 23.
California mountain and desert towns dig out of the mud
“Crews in mountain and desert towns worked to clear away mud and debris Tuesday in the aftermath of the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years. The system was dissipating as it moved over the Rocky Mountains. Hilary dumped record rainfall over California’s deserts, including in the stark Death Valley that experienced its single-rainiest day on record Sunday. As Hilary moved northeast into the neighboring state of Nevada, flooding was reported, power was out and a boil-water order was issued for about 400 households in the Mount Charleston area, where the only road in and out was washed out. The area is about 40 miles west of Las Vegas. … ” Read more from Politico.
SEE ALSO:
- How wet was it? Tropical Storm Hilary had some amazing rainfall totals, from KCLU
- Hurricane Hilary soaked an already wet California. Is the drought over?, from Vox
- Tropical Storm Hilary: Reality or hype? Weather stories covered it all, from the San Jose Mercury News
What the rain from Hilary means for California’s fire risk
“As most Californians know all too well, the rain that drenched the state this week was extreme and often record-breaking. As Tropical Storm Hilary passed through California, more rain fell in San Diego and Los Angeles on Sunday than on any other August day on record. The same was true in the desert city of Palm Springs, which received about 70 percent of its annual average precipitation in a 24-hour period, according to Mark Moede, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s San Diego office. “You look at those numbers, and you have to look at it twice to say, ‘Is this really real?’” Moede told me. … ” Read more from the New York Times.
California caught in crosshairs of weather extremes in a warming world
“Southern Californians are surfacing from a historic weekend of weather extremes after what may have been the first tropical storm to hit California’s coast in 84 years. Tropical Storm Hilary, a probable combination of natural El Niño patterns and human-induced warming, dumped 2.48 inches of rain on downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, shattering the previous August daily record of 0.03 inches set in 1906, the National Weather Service reported. The tropical storm definitely hit Baja California, but there are questions over whether it actually made landfall in the United States as a tropical storm. Either way, it was widely seen as a harbinger of the state’s severe weather challenges in the future amid a warming world. … ” Read more from The Hill.
SEE ALSO: Southern California’s historic storm shows climate risk, from the LA Times
Multiyear El Niño and La Niña events likely to increase, researchers say
“Climate scientists are bracing for potentially lengthy El Niño and La Niña events, according to a new study revealing how the underlying mechanism for climate variability is responding to increased greenhouse gas emissions in unpredicted ways and inducing El Niño-like conditions after volcanic eruptions. The research published in Nature Wednesday details recently discovered trends of the “Pacific Walker Circulation,” (PWC) an atmospheric phenomenon relating to east-west circulation along the equatorial Pacific. The pattern plays an atmospheric role in the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, the dominant mode of global interannual climate variability that comprises two phases: El Niño and La Niña. El Niño brings about warmer, reoccurring climate patterns across the tropical Pacific that affect weather patterns globally. La Niña, on the other hand, consists of cooler climate trends that worsen drought in the western U.S. and exacerbate the Atlantic hurricane season. The shift between the two phases occurs irregularly every two to seven years, affecting ocean surface temperature along with tropical wind and rainfall patterns. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
The Water Transition: A conversation with author Peter Gleick
“The Three Ages of Water, a new book by scientist Peter Gleick, traces the arc of society through its relationship with the most elemental of human needs. “Water is us,” Gleick writes. And, he argues, we’re committing a series of self-inflicted wounds. From the overpumping of aquifers to the misery of cholera and conflict, Gleick details all that has gone wrong in what he calls the second age of water. But there are proven ways to adjust. A healthier, more sustainable future, he says, is possible if we all contribute. “As I try to say over and over in the book, we don’t need to invent any new technology. It’s not as though we can’t afford economically to make this transition to solve these water problems. In fact, I would argue we can’t afford not to solve them. And ultimately, it’s up to ‘we,’ it’s up to us. And the ‘us’ is everybody.” … ” Read more from Circle of Blue.
Water rights due diligence – is there “legal” and “physical” water available on the property you want to buy?
“When purchasing a parcel of land—whether a primary residence, vacation home, industrial complex, or working ranch—the existence or non-existence of water rights, and the characteristics and elements of any such water rights, are a critical consideration. The water supply can be different from the property’s water rights. There is generally a period of time in any real estate contract during which you can review and understand water rights on the property. The involved water rights inform many determinations … ” Continue reading from Somach Simmons & Dunn.
California boards want to keep pandemic rules for public meetings. Critics call it bad for democracy
“For a July meeting, the Little Hoover Commission — an independent state oversight agency — posted notice that the public could attend in Sacramento, but also in Traverse City, Mich., or Southampton, N.Y. Why the locations scattered across the country? Because some commissioners were taking part in the discussion on aging while on vacation, but California’s open meetings law requires in-person access to members of state bodies during public meetings, wherever they are. The odd setup is a reflection of a post-pandemic world: While COVID-19 public health rules have relaxed around in-person gatherings, remote work continues, even in state government. And as of July 1, some of the in-person requirements suspended during the pandemic are back in place — including disclosing remote meeting locations and making them accessible to the public. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Water board hits pause on flows for Scott, Shasta rivers
“The California State Water Resources Control Board held off on a decision to set minimum instream flows on the Scott and Shasta rivers and instead directed staff to return next month with a plan to adopt interim flow measures to support salmon. The board last week also asked farmers, tribes and other stakeholders to work together to develop plans for long-term restoration of the salmon fishery. “We heard a lot of commonalities among the discussions we had,” said E. Joaquin Esquivel, chairman of the state water board, during a seven-hour session on the matter. “There is disagreement on how you get to where we want, but I know this community wants to see thriving agriculture, thriving fish and thriving tribes. … ” Read more from Ag Alert.
Minimum flows set for Scott River in state Water Board meeting
“Last week, the state Water Board heard a petition to retain minimum water flows for the Scott River, a key Klamath tributary. The petition was brought by the Karuk Tribe, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and the Environmental Law Foundation. The board eventually directed staff to reinstate the emergency regulations for both the Scott and Shasta rivers, a major win for the petitioners who say flows must be maintained to protect endangered salmon. The board also directed staff to begin work on permanent regulation for flows in the Shasta and Scott rivers. The meeting went late into the night and saw public commenters who traveled hours to Sacramento to speak. “This is the first time that provision has been used to ask for a flow regulation, it’s really a result of nothing else working,” noted Craig Tucker, a natural resources consultant for the Karuk Tribe. He said that, in his mind, this is the best outcome of the petition. … ” Read more from the Eureka Times-Standard.
BAY AREA
Is water recycling the answer to the Bay Area’s drought woes, algae blooms?
“When recycled for drinking, the millions of gallons of water that Bay Area residents flush down toilets and showers every day could be cleaner than the pristine Hetch Hetchy water that flows from many taps in the region, according to a top California water official. “Both are drinkable and pure,” said Darrin Polhemus, deputy director of the drinking water division of the state’s Water Resources Control Board. Recycled water for human consumption, he added, will be so clean that workers will have to add minerals to it, because the purification process strips the water of necessary minerals that make it drinkable. But recycling the region’s used water for drinking, a process called “direct potable reuse,” is not happening anywhere in the Bay Area — at least not yet. … ” Read more from KQED.
Exhibition spotlights water management
“The Los Altos History Museum exhibition “Drip, Dry, Flood: Orchard Water Management” runs through Oct. 8 in the J. Gilbert Smith House Gallery. Harnessing the scarce water resources of the Santa Clara Valley has been a challenge for more than 100 years. The display showcases how orchardists have tackled the challenge historically and today. Visitors will have the opportunity to read stories that add a human touch to the historical narrative; explore photographs of orchards, well diggers and early water systems; examine blueprints and photos of tank houses; and peruse a 1928 catalog from an irrigation company. … ” Read more from the Los Altos Town Crier.
Palo Alto eager to expand footprint of wastewater plant
“Concerned about cramped conditions at the Regional Water Quality Control Plant, Palo Alto authorized staff on Monday, Aug. 21, to explore purchasing land next to the wastewater facility on Embarcadero Road. The plant, which serves Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford University and the East Palo Alto Sanitary District, is already in the midst of a massive renovation. The city and its partners are investing about $300 million to upgrade the plant’s headworks building, its electrical system and its secondary treatment system. Public Works staff are also looking to build a new laboratory building that would consolidate operations that are currently scattered around the industrial campus. … ” Read more from Palo Alto Online.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
New Turlock Irrigation District reservoir brings water saving benefits
“Turlock Irrigation District’s newly completed $10 million Ceres Main Regulating Reservoir west of Keyes was unveiled Tuesday, with the district’s board of directors touring the new facility. Operational for nearly two weeks, the reservoir is capable of holding 220 acre feet of water (about 220 football fields each submerged in 1 foot of water) and is expected to save some 10,000 acre feet of water each year. It is currently holding 150 acre feet of water, about two-thirds full. The reservoir — or pond as it’s sometimes referred to — has a gravity inlet with two flume gates that operate at a total capacity of 100 cubic feet per second. For putting water back into the Ceres Main Canal, it has four variable speed pumps (75 horsepower each), also with a total combined capacity of 100 cubic feet per second. … ” Read more from the Turlock Journal.
EASTERN SIERRA
Board provides $152,000 to ensure safe drinking water for Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe in Mono County
“Working with federal partners, the State Water Resources Control Board has committed more than $152,000 from California’s Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) drinking water program to support operational assistance and an interim solution for the Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe in Mono County to address elevated arsenic in wells on the Benton Reservation. The SAFER funding will ensure the Tribe has access to safe and affordable drinking water while a long-term solution is developed through a well-drilling and treatment project lead by the Indian Health Service (IHS) with possible additional funding from federal partners. “We know that sustainable drinking water solutions require strong collaboration and partnership, which the Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe has exemplified,” said State Water Board Chair E. Joaquin Esquivel. “We’re proud to support the Tribe’s efforts to achieve a safe long-term drinking water supply.” … ” Read more from the State Water Resources Control Board.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
NASA maps key heat wave differences in Southern California
“Like much of the planet, Southern California is expected to experience more heat waves in the future due to Earth’s changing climate. And some of these will feel increasingly humid, as long-term forecasts call for muggy spells more typically associated with Florida or eastern Texas. To begin to understand what these changes could mean across the greater Los Angeles area, scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California mapped how extreme heat and humidity patterns vary with regional geography. The results underscore how air temperature alone does not tell the full story of dangerous heat. “We can’t just look at air temperature when we talk about heat wave impacts,” said study author Anamika Shreevastava, a NASA postdoctoral program fellow at JPL. “People tend to get acclimatized to where they live. We have to understand how anomalous conditions are making a difference in what people are used to.” … ” Read more from Yuba Net.
Los Angeles County maps equitable access to nature, remediates degraded lands
“More parks are coming to LA County, many of them in neighborhoods where more green space is greatly needed. The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation has begun restoring degraded lands—brownfields, landfills, and oilfields—as future parkland. These former industrial sites are part of the county’s pledge to conserve 30 percent of lands and waters by 2030, what’s known as the 30×30 Initiative. The county’s 30×30 plan, called the Parks Needs Assessment Plus (PNA+), builds on efforts by the State of California, the Biden administration, and nations around the world. The commitment aims to improve environmental health and biodiversity in this time of rapid habitat loss due to climate change. In LA County, the plan will also address the needs of vulnerable populations, including people who live in places deprived of nature. … ” Read more from ESRI.
IMPERIAL/COACHELLA VALLEYS
Palm Springs: So much water, but where does it all go?
“Tropical Storm Hilary dumped about 3.18 inches of rain on Palm Springs on Sunday, making it one of the wettest days on record for the city. While a few inches of rainfall may not sound like a lot, it adds up to millions of gallons of water flooding neighborhood streets and clogging vital roads in and out of the city. And when those floodwaters recede, where does all of that water go? Lorraine Garcia, communication manager with the Coachella Valley Water District (which is responsible for regional stormwater protection in the area stretching from the Whitewater River to the Salton Sea), knows that it’s a simple question with a complex answer. … ” Read more from the Palm Springs Post.
Geography saves Imperial Valley from storm damage
“As a collective region, southeastern California felt the weight of Tropical Storm Hilary, with massive flooding and huge downpowers all around — but in the middle of it all, Imperial County dodged a bullet. The reason: Geography. The Imperial Valley, at least for Tropical Storm Hilary, became its own little shelter from the storm, according to a lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Eastern Coachella Valley communities like Cathedral City were underwater on Sunday, Aug. 20, Interstate 10 was closed for hours from flooding, and areas northeast and northwest of the Imperial Valley saw rainfall totaling more than 10.5 inches. Yet in Imperial County, Hilary’s predicted pounding never quite lived up to the hype, largely due to the geography of the western Mexicali Valley, where mountain ranges acted as natural barriers against the storm and diffused Hilary’s power as it traveled north over the border, meteorologist Alex Young said during a phone interview this week from the Phoenix office of the National Weather Service. … ” Read more from the Holtville Tribune.
SAN DIEGO
San Diego water woes | City auditor urged water department to notify customers about withheld bills back in 2018
“In San Carlos, a resident waited just over one year for his water bill. When the bill finally arrived, it was for $11,000. In San Diego’s Birdland neighborhood, a resident received ten months’ worth of bills, all in two days. Meanwhile, in Linda Vista, a homeowner was shocked to see that she owed $7,000 for several months of missing bills. Over in Santaluz, one couple hadn’t received a bill for 16 months before getting notified that they had two weeks to pay their $16,000 water bill. These are just four of the dozens of examples of San Diego residents who contacted CBS 8 about oversized water bill charges and missing bills. They are not alone. … ” Read more from Channel 8.
San Diego’s contentious water rate increase unveils detachment drama, environmental harm and $140 million at stake
“On Monday, the San Diego County Water Authority (Water Authority) filed a lawsuit seeking to protect the environment and prevent an impending, illegal water rate increase that could hurt farmers, working families, small businesses, and disadvantaged communities across the county according to the Water Authority. The suit filed against the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) is in response to the commission’s decision to allow two local water agencies, Fallbrook and Rainbow, to leave the Water Authority without paying their fair share of costs incurred on their behalf over the past decades. This unprecedented detachment effort in California would shift approximately $140 million in costs away from Fallbrook and Rainbow onto the remaining ratepayers within the Water Authority over the next ten years, possibly raising water rates across the county as soon as January 2024 per the Water Authority. … ” Read more from Hoodline.
Along the Colorado River …
Colorado River Basin states stake out positions on the future of Mead, Powell reservoirs
“Colorado River Basin states don’t agree on very much when it comes to the future operations of the basin’s largest water savings banks. One thing they do agree on: The current rules aren’t working. The seven states with land in the Colorado River Basin and other stakeholders submitted comment letters Aug. 15 to the federal government for consideration as part of ongoing discussions over future operations at Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which together comprise 92% of the basin’s entire storage capacity. … States, tribes, stakeholders and federal officials are in the midst of negotiations for both near- and long-term planning — each jockeying to strengthen their access to the vital resource. The federal government has until Dec. 31, 2025, to make a plan that basin’s stakeholders can work with. That plan will determine how the two massive reservoirs store and release water, and will impact 40 million water users across the West, in two countries and 30 Native American tribes. For now, it looks like they have a long way to go. … ” Read more from the Colorado Sun.
‘This buys a year’: Hurricane Hilary edges up Lake Mead water level
“Lake Mead water levels are at the highest point this year after Hurricane Hilary swept through the Southwest. The lake stands 1,063.95 feet above mean sea level according to information collected by LakeLevels. This is over 20 feet higher than where the lake was on this day last year, almost four feet below where it was last year, and almost 20 feet under where the lake was in 2020. A wet winter helped fill the reservoir on the Arizona and Nevada border on the Colorado River. At the beginning of the year, the lake was around 1044 feet above mean sea level, reaching 1050 feet in May. Prior to Hurricane Hilary making landfall, the lake measured 1063.49 feet above mean sea level. … ” Read more from USA Today.
As Nevada deals with Hilary’s fallout, experts warn of more big storms in future
“As forecasters tracked Hurricane Hilary’s trajectory toward Nevada, the predictions were dire. While most of Las Vegas was spared from intensive flooding, some portions of Southern Nevada saw much worse impacts than what was feared. Weather and climate experts agree the storm was an anomaly unlike anything seen in Nevada in decades and that, with a warming climate, storms like Hilary — which was downgraded to what meteorologists call a “post-tropical storm” by the time it reached Nevada — could be more common. Hilary was the first storm in more than 80 years to maintain its status of a “tropical storm” when it reached the mainland U.S. Although it lost steam as it moved into California and Nevada, it still brought a deluge of rain to some areas. Death Valley National Park received more than 2 inches of rain — its usual annual total — in about 24 hours. … ” Read more from the Nevada Independent.
Conservationists urge more federal action to eliminate invasive fish from Colorado River
“This weekend federal officials will begin another round of chemical treatments in the Colorado River meant to remove invasive fish. But environmentalists want more to be done to protect native species. On Saturday, biologists will begin using a piscicide called rotenone to try to remove predatory smallmouth bass below Glen Canyon Dam in order to protect the threatened humpback chub. … ” Read more from KNAU.
City of Phoenix on tight water restrictions despite feds recent cutback
“This year’s wet winter has been good for us. The above-average winter snowpack has improved water levels for the country’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead. That’s why the United States Bureau of Reclamation is easing water restrictions on the Colorado River, returning to a Tier 1 Shortage. The City of Phoenix will keep its Stage 1 Water Alert despite this. “Right now, even though we have a short time reprieve on the Colorado River and were not going to experience dramatic cutbacks in Colorado River supplies in the short-term, this is not a long-term solution,” said Cynthia Campbell, the water resources management advisor for the City of Phoenix. … ” Read more from Arizona Family.
Glen Canyon Dam, a giant on the Colorado River
“John Wesley Powell was the first man to navigate the Colorado River with a boat. It was in 1869, and his expedition into the heart of the Grand Canyon became a historic event. Almost a hundred years later, when the Glen Canyon Dam was inaugurated, the enormous artificial lake with a volume of 31 cubic kilometers created by the dam was named in honor of the great explorer. Lake Powell is now one of the largest artificial lakes in the United States, and the Glen Canyon Dam stands as one of the most majestic and representative dams built during the 20th century, a testament to the country’s efforts in developing essential infrastructure, such as water management projects. … ” Read more from We Build Value.
In national water news today …
U.S. high tide flooding continues to break records
“Coastal communities in eight locations along the East and West coasts experienced record high tide flooding last year — a trend that is expected to continue in 2024. For many communities, the expected strengthening of El Nino will bring even more high tide flood days. The 2023 Annual High Tide Flooding Outlook documents high tide flooding events from May 2022 to April 2023 at 98 NOAA tide gauges along the U.S. coast. It also provides a flooding outlook for these 98 locations through April 2024 and decadal projections out to 2050. High tide flooding is becoming increasingly common due to continued sea level rise, driven in part by climate change. It occurs when tides reach anywhere between 1 to 2 feet above the daily average high tide, depending on location. As sea level rise continues, it no longer takes severe weather to cause disruptive flooding along the coast. … ” Read more from NOAA.
SEE ALSO: El Niño means an even floodier future is on the coastal horizon, from the ENSO blog
Climate change is redrawing the disaster map
“Disasters have no borders, and a summer of unexpected catastrophe across the US shows it. California is notorious for drought and fire, not tropical storms like Hilary that barreled over Los Angeles this week. The East Coast expects hurricanes, not the pollution nightmare triggered by smoke that drifted in from blazes hundreds of miles away. Hawaii’s native greenery isn’t supposed to burn, and yet fires engulfed Maui. Climate change is sending new calamities to new places — a phenomenon that can be observed not just in the US but all over the world. It’s piling disaster upon disaster on communities figuring out how to adapt to these new realities. Often, they’re faced with some new crisis while still recovering from a previous one. … ” Read more from the Verve.
