When it comes to rainfall, California has already had an active start to the year. Since the water year began on Oct. 1, San Diego International Airport has received 8.82 inches of rain. That’s compared to the annual average of 9.79 inches.
An ongoing, historic drought in California has compelled California state legislators to rethink the state’s long-standing treatment of water rights. While the recent heavy snowpack and wet spring and summer have alleviated the extreme drought conditions for now, the changing climate leaves California susceptible to future long and extreme droughts.
Despite a spate of recent storms, scientists say California needs more winterlike weather to bolster its water supply and avoid another drought.
During California’s most recent drought, officials went to great lengths to safeguard water supplies, issuing emergency regulations to curb use by thousands of farms, utilities and irrigation districts.
State lawmakers are advancing a bill that would prohibit the planting of new, nonfunctional turf.
If the bill passes next year, it would prohibit local and state governments and unit owners associations from allowing the planting of nonfunctional turf or nonnative plants or installing artificial turf in commercial, institutional or industrial properties beginning in 2025.
A water district known for supplying celebrities and affluent communities like Hidden Hills and Calabasas is trying a new approach for collecting fresh water.
The Las Virgenes Municipal Water district is studying the feasibility of harvesting drinking water from desalination pods on the ocean’s floor.
Dozens of California cities could be required to impose permanent water conservation measures starting in about a year — and keep them in place even when the state is not in a drought — under proposed new rules from state water regulators.
Almost all of California is finally drought-free, after Tropical Storm Hilary’s rare summer drenching added to this winter’s record-setting rainfall totals. But despite all that drought-busting precipitation, California continues to capture only a percentage of that water. Much of the abundance in rain from Hilary ended up running off into the ocean — not captured or stored for future use, when California will inevitably face its next drought.
For most of the state, the drought is over. The Central Valley is receiving their full state water supply allocation and farmers don’t need to pull water from the ground to keep their crops from dying of thirst. But that doesn’t mean the signs along Interstate 5 and Highway 99 grumbling about the “Politicians Created Water Crisis” and the Valley’s man-made dust bowl, and asking if “Growing Food Is Wasting Water?” should be taken down.
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.
