With the Sierra Nevada snowpack at its lowest level since 1950, California Governor Jerry Brown announced last week that he would implement the first mandatory water reductions in state history. But Brown also called on districts to streamline permitting practices for water projects, and to invest in new water infrastructure technologies. Brown’s comments amount to his first vocal support for widespread desalinization.
California Governor Jerry Brown warned Americans on Sunday morning that California’s drought was a sign of climate change. However, in his appearance on ABC News’ This Week, with guest host Martha Raddatz, Brown also defended California farmers from charges that they are overusing water, arguing that they feed the rest of the country.
On March 31, California put strict landscape watering restrictions in place to deal with water shortages in current drought conditions. Next door, in similar drought conditions, Arizona’s water supply remains good, and there isn’t even a 50/50 chance for a
On Wednesday, California Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order introducing new mandatory water restrictions in an effort to cut statewide water use by 25 percent.
California Gov. Jerry Brown finally pulled the trigger Wednesday, ordering mandatory statewide water restrictions for the first time in state history. While Brown has been criticized for his slow, “lame” response to California’s water problem, the fact is, we are
Instead of building dams, reservoirs and fighting to preserve every drop of water he can for Californians, Jerry Brown has chosen to waste his political capital on a train that no one wants, which California can’t afford–and he’s stealing people’s land and closing down businesses in order to do it. And now, finally in his fifth year as governor, he finally decides to act on the drought—and, in quintessential Jerry Brown style, he blames those who have nothing to do with creating the crisis and threatens to penalize them if they don’t comply.
California Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order Wednesday mandating a 25 percent cut in statewide water use, the first mandatory water restrictions in state history.
The amount of water frozen in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains fell to just eight percent of the historic average this week, as the state struggles through a devastating fourth year of drought.
One might think that not even a Climate Change devotee like Jerry Brown could justify spending two-thirds of a 1.1 $billion drought relief fund on flood control.
The San Jose Mercury News, San Jose’s chief newspaper, has published an editorial ripping Governor Jerry Brown for his inaction in confronting the drought that is wreaking havoc on the state.
Hot, dry weather is expected in many regions of California at the end of this week, threatening to put a dismal cap on the state’s rainy season as it struggles through a fourth year of severe drought.
A new map unveiled by the NASA Earth Observatory this week shows that the risk of “megadrought”–a severe drought lasting for up to 35 years – is increasing, and not just for the already drought-stricken California.
California Gov. Jerry Brown was scheduled to visit the state Capitol in Sacramento on Thursday morning to outline a $1 billion plan to help the state navigate through a fourth year of drought.
Rice farmers in northern California’s Sacramento Valley have found a new way to turn a profit in the drought-ravaged state: selling a portion of their water supply to thirsty southern Californians for a premium price.
The California State Water Resources Control Board will hold a vote Tuesday on several water conservation measures designed to alleviate the state’s devastating four-year drought.
Modesto Landscapes’ Paul Helen has a unique offer for drought-conscious Californians: if homeowners tear out water-intensive grass on their lawns and replace it with a drought-resistant alternative, Helen’s company will provide the switch for free.
A new investigation into executive pay at the four largest Bay Area water districts revealed that many of the region’s top water managers take home massive paychecks, despite the onset of a fourth year of drought in California.
In an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, NASA senior water scientist Jay Famiglietti warned that California only has about one year’s worth of water supply left in its snowpack, reservoirs, and groundwater storage. If conservation efforts are not ramped up, and soon, the state could be facing a full-blown “crisis.”
Facing falling revenue due to reduced water use, three of the largest Bay Area water agencies are mulling rate hikes for their customers as California finds itself mired in a fourth year of drought.
The city of Santa Barbara is planning to re-open and modernize a mothballed desalination plant in an effort to combat California’s crippling drought, now entering its fourth year.
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) raised the annual water allocation it provides to the State Water Project (SWP) to 20 percent on Monday following several large storms that have brought much-needed rain to northern California’s reservoirs.
California voters are evenly divided over whether the state should bypass fish and wildlife regulations to allow for more access to water during a punishing fourth year of drought, according to the results of a Field Poll released this week.
A water main from 1926 broke in the Hollywood Hills during the early morning hours on Wednesday, letting over 100,000 gallons of water loose onto the streets, resulting in damage to sidewalks and submerging vehicles.
California farmers, agricultural workers, and elected officials packed the hearing room at the headquarters of the State Water Resources Control Board in downtown Sacramento on Wednesday morning. The agenda: comments and complaints related to Board executive director Tom Howard’s rejection of a temporary order that would increase water pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to the drought-ravaged southern two-thirds of the state.
Flurries continue to blanket the east coast while sunny southern California continues to thirst for rain–and the forecast for the drought-stricken state isn’t too promising.
Some of California’s smaller ski resorts have closed because of the state’s drought, which has diminished the amount of snow in the mountain areas. Presidents’ Day usually is a boon for the ski resorts, but this year, the resorts are hurting.
Water-starved, regulation-burdened California dairy farmers are taking their cows to other states in hopes of getting cheaper land, more water, and better tax incentives for their businesses.
California will receive $50 million for drought research, U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced this weekend.
A storm brought on by an atmospheric river – a ribbon of water vapor extending thousands of miles from the tropics to the West Coast – will bring drenching rains to Northern California after a record dry January in the region.
Good news for one small part of California; it’s not considered drought-ridden, like the rest of the state, anymore. The area, which represents .16% of the state and lies near Lake Havasu and the Colorado River, was removed from the drought list shown in the U.S. Drought Monitor Report, the Los Angeles Times reports.
After a record-breaking rainless January in San Francisco and much of the Bay Area, an “atmospheric river” will bring a rainstorm to the region this weekend–and one team of scientists will ride into the storm to study the phenomenon and its potential impact on California’s devastating three-year drought.
Two California ski resorts were forced to close their lifts this week due to lack of snow.
Torrential, fast-moving rainstorms caused by atmospheric rivers, or ribbons of water vapor extending thousands of miles in the sky, could be the answer to a three-year drought, an answer for which California is desperate.
California’s December rainstorms are long forgotten. Two separate federal agencies predicted this weekend that the three-year-old drought plaguing the Golden State will continue, at least across most of the state.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court will evaluate two appeals filed by California water agencies and a coalition of Central Valley farmers that urge the court to strip away strict regulations regarding agricultural and commercial water deliveries under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Although Northern California is at 140% average rainfall so far this year, the state is still in the equivalent of one of its worst droughts. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently downgraded its estimated probability of El Niño torrential rains developing this winter to approximately 65%.
Avocado and guacamole lovers: brace yourselves. as your delectable fruit may soon be even more pricey and in short supply. thanks to rising fertilizer and water prices; California drought; and Mexican gangs. Comprising “[a] $435 million industry in California,” according
A torrential downpour dropping 10 trillion gallons of water inundated the northern part of the drought-stricken Golden State on Friday before working its way down to the southern part of the state. Yet even with the huge amount of rainfall
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Leave it to adventurous Californians to turn the state’s Stormageddon 2014 into a sporting event. Making the best of invasive floodwaters, school closures and business shutdowns, residents of wine country’s Healdsburg pulled out their kayaks and innertubes for a day
The ferocious rainstorm that drenched much of California this week and the smaller storm that hit last week have finally begun moving the needle in the right direction for the drought-ravaged state. While no one storm could end the state’s
