The Sierra snowpack is off to its best start in years, according to the California Department of Water Resources. Thanks to all the recent storms, it’s at 109 percent of where it should be for this time of year. Last year, it was at 82 percent of average.
The Water News Network’s top three stories of 2019 reflect the San Diego region’s interest in water conservation, sustainable landscaping, and successful efforts to diversify water supply sources.
Colorful art created by elementary school students communicated the importance of saving water. This was the most viewed story of 2019.
January 13, 2019
Eighteen talented San Diego, Coronado and Imperial Beach elementary school students used their artistic skills to communicate the importance of water conservation in the City of San Diego’s Public Utilities Department 18th annual Kids Poster Contest. Winning entries in the contest are featured in the 2019 Water Conservation Calendar, which debuts this month.
“The City of San Diego’s Public Utilities Department is proud to sponsor the yearly Kids Poster Contest,” said Brian Hojnacki, a supervising management analyst for city utilities. “It allows us to involve first to sixth graders through art while learning and thinking about water conservation in our region. It’s a win-win for us all.”
The theme “How Am I A Water Conservation Hero?” asked students to imagine themselves saving water from being wasted. They could draw, paint, color, cut and paste original artwork depicting one important message about water conservation.
People living in the San Diego region continue to take advantage of rebate opportunities that encourage sustainability. A program that provided incentives to remove grass and replace it with sustainable landscaping proved popular in the spring. The Water News Network story about the rebates was also popular and the second-most read story of 2019.
April 8, 2019
Removing grass can generate rebates of at least $2 per square foot for San Diego residents under new enhanced incentives that started this month.
As of April 1, the Metropolitan Water District is offering $2 per square foot for every square foot of grass removed from yards and replaced with sustainable landscaping.
“San Diego County homeowners and businesses know that sustainable landscapes are key to water reliability in our region,” said Joni German, who manages the Water Authority’s WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Program. “With the help of local landscape architects and designers, our WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Program gives them the knowledge and skills they need to be successful. WaterSmart landscapes are an upgrade, not a compromise.”
The San Diego County Water Authority sustains a $245 billion regional economy and the quality of life for 3.3 million residents through a multi-decade water supply diversification plan, major infrastructure investments and forward-thinking policies that promote fiscal and environmental responsibility.
California officials toured some of that infrastructure in July as they worked to prepare a water resilience portfolio for the state. Our reporting on the July 18 water portfolio tour was the third most read story of 2019 on the Water News Network.
During the water portfolio tour, state officials got a first-hand look at infrastructure, including the San Vicente Reservoir, Olivenhain Reservoir, and the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant. Photo: Water Authority
July 18, 2019
State officials Thursday toured San Diego County water infrastructure to get a first-hand look at the region’s successful water portfolio approach for supply diversification.
California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot, Deputy Natural Resources Secretary Thomas Gibson, State Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross, and State Water Resources Board Chair E. Joaquin Esquivel were here to assess the region’s water projects as part of their new role in developing a water portfolio strategy for the state.
“San Diego has been a leader in the water portfolio approach,” said Wade Crowfoot. “We have to make the investments to build regional water resilience as part of the Governor’s order to develop a portfolio to manage water in California.”
In a boost for California’s water supply, a series of recent storms that blanketed the Sierra Nevada in snow has built the state’s snowpack to its highest December level since 2015.
The snowpack — a key source of the state’s water supply — measured 113% of average this week, roughly 40% higher than the snowpack during the same time in 2018, according to the Department of Water Resources.
Last winter was a bountiful one in terms of water supply for California, but it’s still too early to tell whether 2020 will be as generous.
The 2018-19 winter was one for the record books, with above-average precipitation. Snow continued to fall in late-spring, with several inches or more in the Sierra Nevada and the Southern California mountains.
Ski seasons were extended into May and June, delighting skiers and resort operators.
The snowfall, and a boost from late-season storms, increased the northern Sierra snowpack in May 2019, which was “atypical,” according to Alexi Schnell, water resources specialist with the San Diego County Water Authority.
The statewide Sierra Nevada snowpack was 164% of normal, with the northern Sierra at 172% of normal on May 23, 2019.
Most major California reservoirs are above their historical averages as of November 8, 2019. (Graphic: California DWR)
The 2019 water year (October 1 – September 30) pushed snowpack levels well-above average and swelled major reservoirs to above-average. There were more than 30 atmospheric rivers, with many making landfall in Northern California. The state’s snowpack on April 1 was 175% of average.
The California Department of Water Resources said that makes a great start to 2020.
“We start the new water year in a good place,” said Karla Nemeth, director of the DWR. “However, we all know too well that California’s weather and precipitation are highly variable. What we have today could be gone tomorrow.”
Water Year 2020 begins with robust reservoir storage in California, boosting water supply. @sdcwa Water Resources Specialist Alexi Schnell says last season was “atypical.” https://t.co/oCsKHYN4yf #cawater #reservoir #WaterSupply #cawx #climate pic.twitter.com/31XzMskS9r
— San Diego County Water Authority (@sdcwa) November 8, 2019
While the biggest gains in precipitation over the past year were in Northern California, the San Diego region also benefited. Water Year 2019 ended with the region at 125% of average rainfall at Lindbergh Field. The rainfall helped increase supplies in regional reservoirs.
Schnell cautioned that the climatological cycle in California can bring several consecutive years of drought, like the 2015-17 period, which prompted mandatory water-use reductions statewide.
NOAA reported on November 6 that California experienced above-average to much-above-average temperatures from January through October 2019. The average U.S. temperature during that same period was 55.5°F, (0.5 of a degree above 20th-century average) “ranking in the warmest third of the record,” according to NOAA.
NOAA reported that California has had above-to much-above-average temperatures from January to October 2019. (Graphic: NOAA)
Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, or CW3E, just released an analysis that calculated the odds of water year 2020 reaching 100% of water year normal precipitation totals. The odds range from 20 to 40% of the Southwest reaching 100% of water year normal precipitation.
Odds of reaching normal precipitation for Water Year 2020. (Graphic: CW3E, Scripps, UC San Diego)
The three-month seasonal precipitation outlook for November-December-January by the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center shows below-normal to normal precipitation in Central to Northern California and equal chances of below, near- or above-normal in southern California and much of the Southwest.
The November-December-January precipitation outlook from the National Weather Service. (Graphic: NWS/NOAA)
“There will always be fluctuations based on weather and other factors, but the San Diego region continues to embrace water-use efficiency,” said Schnell. “The Water Authority and its 24 member agencies continue to increase San Diego County’s water supply reliability through supply diversification to provide a safe, reliable water supply to the region.”
SACRAMENTO — The California Department of Water Resources is encouraging Californians to prepare for a wide variety of potential flooding in the coming months, as the winter storm season quickly approaches.
More than seven million Californians in rural communities, urban areas and along the coast are at risk of flooding. Flooding can occur throughout the state and Californians need to be aware and understand the potential risks of flooding in their communities, the department said in a recent press release.
Local water agencies aren’t buying into the new version of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta “twin tunnels” project, and Santa Barbara County members of the State Water Project voted Thursday to opt out entirely.
The California Department of Water Resources’ Cal Waterfix project, also known as the twin tunnels, aimed to increase State Water Project reliability by building two 40-foot-diameter tunnels to move water under the Delta instead of through it.
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) gathered with its partners and contractors Oct.15 to celebrate the completion of the 460-acre tidal wetland known as Tule Red in the Suisun Marsh.
More than 100 attendees watched as a giant excavator perched on top of a 200-foot wide levee removed the earth separating the high tides of Grizzly Bay from the interior channels. The crowd cheered as tides began flowing over the breached levee. With the site opened to the daily tides, this ideal location along the Grizzly Island Wildlife Area will provide much needed habitat to benefit endangered fish and wildlife species.
The Delta smelt is such a small and translucent fish that it often disappears from view when it swims in the turbid waters of its home in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
However, it’s also been disappearing from the Delta entirely.
“The Delta smelt has gone from being one of the more abundant fish in the Delta to being just on the verge of extinction today,” Peter Moyle, an Emeritus Professor of Fish Biology at UC Davis, said.
Borrego Springs, Calif. – Faced with a state mandate to reduce water use by 75 percent after years over over-pumping groundwater, major water users in Borrego Springs have submitted a stipulated agreement for reducing the desert community’s water use by an estimated 75 percent. On Wednesday, San Diego County Supervisors will vote on withdrawing as a groundwater sustainability agency for the Borrego Valley Groundwater Basin, with a goal toward transitioning into water management.
October kicks off a new water year for California and the state has a considerably more water storage than last year.
Statewide reservoir water storage is 128% of average. That amounts to about 29.7 million acre-feet of water for California, according to the Department of Water Resources.
It’s due to that marathon wet winter in 2017 that pounded the state with rain and snow. The 2018 water year was about average, which actually built up the surplus.
Of course that’s good news for California agriculture producers.
