Water/Drought

Congress conflicts on CA drought

Despite substantial labors on both sides of the aisle, legislators in the House and the Senate alike have failed to agree on a drought relief package for California, deepening a dispute over where water should flow that seems to have

Gov. Brown tees up permanent drought measures

James Poulos May 18, 2016

Even as California at long last eased up on drought restrictions, Gov. Brown helped ensure that policies remaining in place will continue indefinitely. “In a major shift, the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown announced [last week] plans to drop all

El Nino provides little relief outside of Northern California

Chris Reed April 4, 2016

Once-high hopes that a winter 2015-16 El Nino would lift California out of its 5-year-old drought have given way to a complex picture. Heavy winter snow and rains in the northern Sierras and the Sacramento Valley are providing widespread relief in

Measure diverting bullet train funds for water storage hits money shortage, eyes 2018

Matt Fleming March 27, 2016

Proponents of a ballot initiative that would divert high-speed rail funds to water storage projects announced on Friday that the cost of signature gathering was too great for the November ballot and set its sights on 2018 instead. The measure would

Another year of CA water restrictions likely

Chris Reed February 24, 2016

After a sunny February, the hopes that El Nino storms would go a long way toward restoring California’s water supplies and relieving the damage done by years of drought are now fading. Instead, the new assumption is that in April,

Ballot initiative pits water against high-speed rail

Matt Fleming February 23, 2016

What’s more important: High-speed rail or water? Proponents of a proposed ballot measure would force voters to choose just that. The measure would redirect $8 billion in unsold high-speed rail bonds and $2.7 billion from the 2014 water bond to fund new

Good news on several CA drought fronts

Chris Reed February 3, 2016

State officials measured the Sierra Nevada snowpack for the second time in 2016 on Tuesday, and once again the news was good. Capital Public Radio has the details: The latest measurement … showed that the “snowpack is growing quite nicely.”

U.S. tax policy undercuts CA water conservation push

Chris Reed January 27, 2016

Even before the current marathon drought, turf replacement subsidies have long been touted by the state government as a powerful way to get California homeowners to stop having water-guzzling lawns. But the federal government sees these subsidies as taxable income.

CA drought: Officials ease rules again

Chris Reed January 19, 2016

Nearly a year ago, when Gov. Jerry Brown announced a mandatory 25 percent reduction in state water use, it looked like Californians were in for a long era of constant conservation demands, even with anticipation of winter El Nino storms. Brown’s

CA seeks drought relief from mountains to desert

James Poulos January 19, 2016

This season’s heavy El Niño rains haven’t brought clarity to California’s competing drought plans, which now range from increasing water collection infrastructure to siphoning ancient reserves locked beneath the Mojave desert. Stepping up water collection has emerged as a priority