The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced yesterday the probability of El Niño conditions being present through the end of 2015 is now 80 percent -- up from 60 percent last month and 50 percent the month before. Ocean temperatures at the equator near South America are even warmer now than at this time last
Despite increasingly aggressive clean air and fuel standards, years of drought are taking a toll on California's air quality, the American Lung Assn. says in a new report. The portion of California’s Central Valley from Fresno to Madera was the most polluted region in the nation on any given day in 2013 with microscopic particulates,
Irrigation leaders may reconsider providing water this year to recently annexed customers, including Trinitas Partners, because of strident protests from some established irrigators. Also, the Oakdale Irrigation District board on Tuesday raised this year’s historic water cap from 30 inches per parcel to 36 inches. They put off deciding whether allocations to so-called tier 2
An emergency $6.7 million plan to make the State Water Project's California Aqueduct flow backward for roughly 100 miles to bring water from the Bakersfield area to Silicon Valley has been shelved for this year. The plan, which was developed by the Santa Clara Valley Water District, based in San Jose, would have moved about
Drought-related water cutbacks could affect several San Diego-area industries, according to one new study. Agriculture, breweries, dry cleaners, food manufacturers and construction firms could suffer in the face of water cutbacks, a National University System Institute of Policy Research (NUSIPR) study found, as those industries tend to use more water, though cutbacks will likely only
We join a vast coalition of citizens, working families, business leaders, family farmers, water experts and community-based groups in supporting the governor’s plan to update the aging system that supplies water to 25 million Californians and 3 million acres of farmland. Our failure to adequately invest in our water infrastructure is contributing significantly to our lack of
During the last major drought in the early 1990s, Irvine pioneered a different approach for calculating water bills for customers. The city's water agency allocated each customer a certain amount of water and then charged higher rates to those who exceeded it. The structure has been a wild success: Outdoor water use has dropped almost
FRESNO — When residents of this parched California city opened their water bills for April, they got what Mayor Ashley Swearengin called “a shock to the system.” The city had imposed a long-delayed, modest rate increase — less than the cost of one medium latte from Starbucks for the typical household, and still leaving the
The Oakdale and South San Joaquin irrigation districts defied the federal government by diverting some Stanislaus River water to a local reservoir, where it might help thirsty crops, rather than releasing it down the river to benefit fish. The move follows an announcement that the irrigation districts are willing to go to extraordinary lengths, including
A 25 percent cutback in urban water use – as Gov. Jerry Brown imposed last week – is less a hardship on California residents than an adjustment to a new reality. Droughts like the one gripping California now are inevitable, though climate change makes their frequency and severity unpredictable. We need to change the way