Tag Archive for: Water Supply

From Serial to Ethernet

/in , /by /Water & Waste Digestby Alan Levezu

In Northern San Diego County approximately 7 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean lies the town of Vista, Calif. Vista was founded in 1882 and quickly grew as its Mediterranean climate proved to be excellent for agricultural homesteaders. During the 1920s, Vista was referred to as the avocado capital of the world. But the town faced many hurdles during its growth including severe drought, a problem that Vista, like the rest of California, faces today. As the area increased in population, the Vista Irrigation District was created in 1923 to ensure a reliable source of water for the naturally arid region.

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Data Collection Begins Toward Raising Shasta Dam

/in , /by /Paradise Post (Paradise, Calif.)

Geologists are beginning take core samples to collect data for a proposal to raise Shasta Dam by 18 1/2 feet. The Bureau of Reclamation says the samples will be taken over the next few months from on, around and deep within the dam, in order to characterize concrete and geology conditions. The federal government has been studying the idea of raising the dam and enlarging Shasta Reservoir on and off since the 1980s. But the state of California, environmental groups and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe have been and remain opposed.

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Drought Contingency Plan To Ease Pain Of Water Shortage

/in , /by /Mohave Valley Daily Newsby DK McDonald

Current weather patterns and Colorado River water management will result in a drought by the year 2020, affecting communities and farms along the entire Lower Basin, according to officials. Arizona’s water stakeholders, led by Arizona Department of Water Resources and Central Arizona Project, have been engaged for more than two months in crafting Arizona’s approach to the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan in an effort to protect Lake Mead, the reservoir formed by Hoover Dam, from falling to critical levels.

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Saving Troubled Water Systems Requires Flexible Solutions, Not Mandates

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Michael Kiparsky and Nell Green Nylen

During the hot summer months of 2014, East Porterville, Calif., became a poster child for vulnerable drinking water. Hundreds of shallow wells in this unincorporated Tulare County community ran dry in the midst of statewide drought. Some families had to wait years to have running water again, when their homes were finally connected to the city of Porterville’s municipal water supply. While East Porterville’s experience made headlines around the country, the serious drinking-water problems facing other communities across California are just beginning to receive much-needed attention.

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US Southwest Set For Water Crisis As Levels Continue To Drop At Lake Mead And Lake Powell

/in , /by /Daily Mailby Cheyenne MacDonald

Two major lakes in the Colorado River Basin that operate as one huge reservoir to supply millions of people with water are drying up, scientists have warned. Water levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell have been steadily declining over the course of a two-decade drought affecting the region. In addition to the extended dry spell hitting the Colorado River Basin, the water supply is suffering a severe ‘structural deficit,’ in which more water is being consumed each year than can be replenished. More than 40 million people and 7,800 square miles of farmland rely on the Colorado River and its tributaries.

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Why San Francisco Is Joining Valley Farmers In A Fight Over Precious California Water

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler and Ryan Sabalow

Originating in a glacier at the eastern edge of Yosemite, the Tuolumne River runs into a man-made roadblock in the towering granite cliffs of the Hetch Hetchy Valley. A massive concrete dam captures its icy water and ships much of it through pipes and tunnels to the residents of San Francisco. Farther downstream, the Tuolumne is halted again, this time by a dam in the oak-covered Sierra foothills. From there, a network of canals spreads the Tuolumne’s waters over mile after mile of rich San Joaquin Valley vineyards, orchards and dairy farms.

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California Water Wars: State Plans To Cut SF’s Sierra Supply To Save Delta

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

The cold, rushing water of the Tuolumne River, piped from the high peaks of Yosemite to the taps of Bay Area residents, is not only among the nation’s most pristine municipal water sources but extraordinarily plentiful. This point of pride for San Francisco, which has maintained rights to the cherished Sierra supply since the early 1900s, is being threatened, however. Under a far-reaching state plan to bump up flows in California’s rivers, the city would be forced to limit its draws from the Tuolumne for the first time in recent memory.

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Water Main Break Leaves More Than 100 San Marcos Homes Without Water

/in , /by /NBC7

A water main break in San Marcos has left more than 100 homes Coronado Hills residents without water, Vallecitos Water confirmed. All homes east of Indian Ridge are out of water, Vallecitos said. The break happened at Indian Ridge and Washitonia around 7 a.m. Vallecitos crews are excavating the site to get down to the break – which takes time, Vallecitos said, as crews have to jackhammer through granite. and expect wear to be restored around 2 a.m. Monday. The cause of the break is unknown at this time.

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Stanislaus, Merced County Opponents Gear For Water Rally At Capitol On Monday

/in , /by /The Modesto Beeby Ken Carlson

Opponents of a state “water grab” are taking their political battle to the steps of the state Capitol building in Sacramento on Monday. From 500 to 1,000 people are expected at a rally to protest a state water board plan to double the amount of water taken from the Tuolumne River to improve water quality in the Sacramento-San Joaquin river delta and restore fish populations. The plan, also to take additional water from the Stanislaus and Merced rivers, is opposed by irrigation districts and cities that predict devastating effects on agriculture and the economy in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

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Federal Officials Predict Shortage For Lake Mead in 2020, Adding More Pressure On States For Drought Plan

/in , /by /The Nevada Independentby Daniel Rothberg

Thirty miles outside of Las Vegas, Lake Mead holds back Colorado River water for tribes, farms and growing cities across the Southwest. The reservoir, impounded by the Hoover Dam, is one of the most visible symbols of drought in the West. In nearly two decades of drought, the storage bank for the regional economy — and Las Vegas’ primary water supply — has dropped so many feet that there is a white chalky “bathtub ring,” a stark imprint of where the water line used to be.

Now the reservoir is teetering at the edge of shortage.

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