Tag Archive for: rivers

Water Crisis “Couldn’t be Worse” on Oregon-California Border

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Gillian Flaccus

The water crisis along the California-Oregon border went from dire to catastrophic this week as federal regulators shut off irrigation water to farmers from a critical reservoir and said they would not send extra water to dying salmon downstream or to a half-dozen wildlife refuges that harbor millions of migrating birds each year.

In what is shaping up to be the worst water crisis in generations, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said it will not release water this season into the main canal that feeds the bulk of the massive Klamath Reclamation Project, marking a first for the 114-year-old irrigation system.

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Drought-Depleted Rivers Force Salmon Hatcheries to Truck Fish to the Pacific

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

Millions of young salmon raised at fish hatcheries in the Central Valley will be trucked to San Francisco Bay and other coastal sites for release, because the rivers they’d normally travel to get to the ocean are drying up, state and federal officials said Wednesday.

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Opinion: As Drought Alarms Sound, is California Prepared?

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Jeffrey Mount and Caitrin Chappelle

We’re facing another very dry year, which follows one of the driest on record for Northern California and one of the hottest on record statewide.

The 2012-16 drought caused unprecedented stress to California’s ecosystems and pushed many native species to the brink of extinction, disrupting water management throughout the state.  Are we ready to manage our freshwater ecosystems through another drought?

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Climate Change Spells Trouble for the Colorado River. But There’s Still Hope

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sammy Roth

One of the best road trips I’ve ever taken was a sightseeing tour of the Colorado River, where it straddles the California-Arizona state line. I stood at the edge of Imperial Dam near the Mexican border, which diverts water to the farm fields of the Imperial Valley, then drove north to Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, home to lots of birds. I walked along the river in Laughlin, Nev., where there’s a hotel called the Colorado Belle that looks like a boat, and in Needles, Calif., where Snoopy’s brother Spike lives.

Milestone Colorado River Management Plan Mostly Worked Amid Epic Drought, Review Finds

/in , , /by /Western Water (Water Education Foundation)by Gary Pitzer

Twenty years ago, the Colorado River Basin’s hydrology turned persistently dry, reservoir levels plummeted and a river system relied upon by nearly 40 million people, farms and ecosystems across the West was in trouble. So key players across the Basin attacked the problem. The result was a set of Interim Guidelines adopted in 2007 that, according to a just-released assessment, mostly worked to prevent forced water supply cuts. With the guidelines expiring in 2026, that assessment is expected to aid discussions as key players begin writing a new set of river operating rules.

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Opinion: Why Are Taxpayers Footing Klamath River Dam Removal Cost?

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Dan Walters

Decades of political conflict over the fate of four obsolete dams on the Klamath River reached a turning point last week with a multi-party, two-state “memorandum of understanding” to remove them in hopes of restoring salmon runs.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, heads of two Indian tribes that depend on the river for sustenance, and an executive of Warren Buffett’s PacificCorp that owns the dams announced agreement on a $450 million removal project.

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Historic Deal Revives Plan for Largest US Dam Demolition

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Gillian Flaccus

An agreement announced Tuesday paves the way for the largest dam demolition in U.S. history, a project that promises to reopen hundreds of miles of waterway along the Oregon-California border to salmon that are critical to tribes but have dwindled to almost nothing in recent years.

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State Shares Framework for New Surface Water Quality Protections

/in , , /by /Arizona Public Mediaby Ariana Brocious

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is beginning to draft a set of regulations to protect surface water following the Trump administration’s rollback of the Clean Water Act.

The changes that took effect in June significantly narrow the list of waters that receive federal protection from pollution and contaminants, known as “waters of the U.S.” or the acronym “WOTUS.” And that leaves a big regulatory gap in Arizona, which currently has no surface water protection program.

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Opinion: The Devastating Implications From Rollbacks of the Clean Water Act

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Ashley Overhouse

Here in California, rivers are a cornerstone of our landscapes. On a recent rafting trip down Northern California’s Yuba River, I was lucky to see eagles flying overhead and salmon spawning beneath our boat. Experiences like this remind me to appreciate the protections that keep our water clean and safe, and help habitats thrive.

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Trash from Coastal Cleanup Month Shows Impact of Coronavirus

/in , , /by /Southern California News Group by Laylan Connelly

There were the usual cigarette butts and bottle caps that made the Top 10 list.

But this year, there were new trends when looking at the data compiled during Coastal Cleanup Month, with preliminary reports released this week showing what volunteers scooped up on the beaches, waterways, parks and neighborhoods throughout the state during the month of September.

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