Watch our series of short videos on the importance of the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, how it works as a water hub for
California and the challenges it is facing.
When a person opens a spigot to draw a glass of water, he or she
may be tapping a source close to home or hundreds of miles away.
Water gets to taps via a complex web of aqueducts, canals and
groundwater.
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Unlike California’s majestic rivers and massive dams and
conveyance systems, groundwater is out of sight and underground,
though no less plentiful. The state’s enormous cache of
underground water is a great natural resource and has contributed
to the state becoming the nation’s top agricultural producer and
leader in high-tech industries.
A new era of groundwater management began in 2014 in California
with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The landmark law
turned 10 in 2024, with many challenges still ahead.
Before the construction of Hoover Dam on the lower Colorado River, as well as a slew of smaller sisters downstream, the stretch downriver served as a biological oasis in the middle of the unrelenting Mojave and Sonoran deserts. The marshes and backwaters along the river’s edge provided sheltered areas for fish to spawn and rear their young, and mesquite and cottonwood-willow forests provided important habitat for numerous species of birds and other animals.
With Utah facing a drier year, Gov. Spencer Cox issued an
executive order (Thursday) declaring a state of emergency in 17
counties due to drought conditions. … The governor’s
executive order comes after the Drought Response Committee
recently recommended he act due to drought conditions. …
Cox’s emergency declaration also comes after he told reporters
last week he was working on issuing one due to worsening
drought conditions in southern Utah, which has seen a weak
snowpack this winter. Though the governor said last week it’s
been a “pretty normal year for most of the state,” there are
some areas that are worse off than others. Currently,
severe drought covers 42% of the state, and 4% is in extreme
drought, according to the state’s website. This year,
Utah’s snowpack peaked at 14.3 inches on March 23, which is
equal to the state’s typical annual peak, according to state
officials. However, southwestern Utah’s snowpack was only about
44% of normal.
Arizona has taken another step forward in securing the future
of water in the desert. New rules for turning wastewater into
drinking water have been approved. The purification
process is one that the Arizona Department of Environmental
Quality said more local utilities could adopt. An oversight
council has just approved the new advanced water purification
rules. ADEQ said the rules create a regulatory framework
ensuring safe and reliable purification of wastewater for
drinking. With the new steps, Arizona cities and water
providers can apply for a permit to use advanced water
purification. By doing that, ADEQ said it creates a crucial
tool for managing water resources amid ongoing drought and
increasing demand.
In response to a letter urging federal officials to prevent the
decommissioning of the Potter Valley Project, the acting
commissioner of the federal Bureau of Reclamation advised that
the matter is under review. … The letter, which was sent to
Aaron Sykes, a board member with the Lake Pillsbury Alliance,
ends with: “The Department of the Interior is working to
(ensure) that concerns such as yours regarding projects like
Potter Valley are part of the review process to ensure the
Administration’s goals are achieved.” In April, a letter signed
by the presidents of four local County Farm Bureaus –
Mendocino, Lake, Sonoma and Marin – was sent to federal
officials asking “the Trump Administration to intervene and
prevent (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) from
approving (Pacific Gas and Electric’s) decommissioning plan
(for the Potter Valley Project) until a long-term solution is
secured.”
Coast Guard rescue missions failing after running into
unexpected currents. Surprise atmospheric river storms flooding
downtown San Francisco. Seafood contaminated by unseen algal
blooms. California scientists fear these scenarios, and more,
are possible under the Trump administration’s recommendation to
reduce the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s
budget by $1.7 billion. Several scientific programs in
California are slated for significant reductions or elimination
if the budget proposal is pushed through Congress. Scientists
say the cuts would hamper weather forecasting, disrupt critical
ocean data collection and decimate climate research.
Operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the
Bay Model is a giant hydraulic replica of San Francisco
Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta. It is housed in a converted World II-era
warehouse in Sausalito near San Francisco.
Hundreds of gallons of water are pumped through the
three-dimensional, 1.5-acre model to simulate a tidal ebb
and flow lasting 14 minutes.
As part of the historic Colorado
River Delta, the Salton Sea regularly filled and dried for
thousands of years due to its elevation of 237 feet below
sea level.
The most recent version of the Salton Sea was formed in 1905 when
the Colorado River broke
through a series of dikes and flooded the seabed for two years,
creating California’s largest inland body of water. The
Salton Sea, which is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, includes 130
miles of shoreline and is larger than Lake Tahoe.
Drought—an extended period of
limited or no precipitation—is a fact of life in California and
the West, with water resources following boom-and-bust patterns.
During California’s 2012–2016 drought, much of the state
experienced severe drought conditions: significantly less
precipitation and snowpack, reduced streamflow and higher
temperatures. Those same conditions reappeared early in 2021
prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom in May to declare drought emergencies
in watersheds across 41 counties in California.
