From the Office of the Governor: Following unprecedented water conservation and plentiful winter rain and snow, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today ended the drought state of emergency in most of California, while maintaining water reporting requirements and prohibitions on wasteful practices, such as watering during or right after rainfall. “This drought emergency is over, … Read more
After praying for rain over five dry years, Californians are now praying for a break. The state is being soaked. Its biggest reservoirs, once at record lows, are at capacity or overflowing from record-setting rain and snow. That includes the Oroville Lake reservoir behind the Oroville Dam, where nearly 200,000 Northern California residents were evacuated … Read more
Aerial tree mortality surveys show patterns of tree death during extreme drought. Why do some trees die in a drought and others don’t? And how can we predict where trees are most likely to die in future droughts? Scientists from the University of California, Davis, and colleagues examined those questions in a study published in … Read more
Ultimately, “Is the drought over?” is the wrong question. We should ask, “Are we managing water in a sustainable manner for the long haul”? The answer to that is still “no.” Given the massive series of storms bringing rain and snow to California over the past month, people are asking, “Is the California drought finally … Read more
Restoring salmon in the Russian River and protecting the North Coast from oil rigs — two long-standing campaigns with broad public support — are among the goals likely to be challenged if not stifled by the sharp right turn of Donald Trump’s administration, environmental advocates and Democratic lawmakers said. More broadly, the environmental camp fears … Read more
Remember the California drought? It was all over the news a year ago, when the state took the unprecedented step of mandating statewide water cutbacks. The Sierra Nevada snowpack was at its lowest recorded level. Rivers and reservoirs were getting shallower and shallower. Wells in rural towns were literally running dry. That drought is still … Read more
FRESNO — New figures Wednesday show Californians’ summer water use up by more than a third since the same time last year, making water regulators worry some areas have abandoned drought-time water savings since the state lifted mandatory conservation orders. “We’re at yellow alert,” said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the state Water Resources Control Board, … Read more
WEED, Calif. — The water that gurgles from a spring on the edge of this Northern California logging town is so pristine that for more than a century it has been piped directly to the wooden homes spread across hills and gullies. To the residents of Weed, which sits in the foothills of Mount Shasta, … Read more
In July 2016 PG&E requested yet another temporary variance from minimum flow requirements for the purpose of preserving water resources during the drought. We submitted comments on the variance, voicing our concern about inadequate management of the Potter Valley Project. Read a portion of our comments below, or click here to read the entire document. … Read more
Climate had little to do with the research, but it emerged as a telling factor after UO geologist Joshua Roering and postdoctoral researcher Georgie Bennett found themselves confused by new landslide data they had gathered. In the project, Bennett had merged data from on-the-ground measurements, aerial photography, satellite imagery and satellite-radar imaging of 98 landslide … Read more