The growing leadership of women in water. The Colorado River’s persistent drought and efforts to sign off on a plan to avert worse shortfalls of water from the river. And in California’s Central Valley, promising solutions to vexing water resource challenges.
These were among the topics that Western Water news explored in 2018.
We’re already planning a full slate of stories for 2019. You can sign up here to be alerted when new stories are published. In the meantime, take a look at what we dove into in 2018:
A federal judge has cleared the way for water transfers from
Northern California to the thirsty south San Joaquin Valley,
overruling environmentalists who argued the transfers would harm
threatened fish.
For the first time in the more than half a century that the
federal government had been diverting Sierra Nevada water to
farmers, there would be no deliveries to most Central Valley
irrigation districts. In the third year of drought, there wasn’t
enough water to go around.
The lone state agency to oppose Gov. Jerry Brown’s twin tunnels
plan warns that the project could force marinas out of business
and take a big bite out of Delta agriculture.
From The Fresno Bee, in a commentary by Genoveva Islas:
This month’s Drought Report from the National Climatic Data
Center reiterates what we already know: The drought is bad, and
the heat is making it worse. …
On the heels of
the drought’s natural and economic catastrophe, a social
catastrophe is looming for farmworking families.
In the Sacramento Valley, where water districts have been
shrinking water allocations, the gritty olive tree, with its
gnarly bark and thin, dusty-looking leaves, has become a go-to
crop.
From The Modesto Bee, in a commentary by Dick Hagerty:
“Cherry farmers are pondering the future of their $200 million
annual Central Valley crop as this year’s harvest has come in at
half or less of normal.”
“In California, water flows uphill toward money and power. That’s
a well-known maxim out here, especially in the Dust-Bowl-ready
Central Valley — that forgotten stretch of California that grows
40% of U.S. fruits, nuts and other table foods.”
“The Central Valley’s 7 million acres of irrigated farmland are
best known as the richest food-producing region in the
world. But a new study by UC Davis researchers forecasts
severe socioeconomic impacts ahead in the area where many of the
nation’s fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables are grown.”
From the California WaterBlog by UC Davis Center for
Watershed Sciences, in a post by Richard Howitt, Josué
Medellín-Azuara, Duncan MacEwan and Jay Lund:
“This year’s drought will have severe impacts on irrigated
agriculture in California’s Central Valley.”
“California’s Central Valley hosts millions of migrating
shorebirds. It’s a critical stopping point on migration route
that runs thousands of miles. But the drought could make it
difficult for birds to find a haven.”
“Flood control projects in California’s Central Valley get a
boost in a long-awaited water resources bill now flowing toward
final congressional approval.”
“The change is noticeable to anyone who has driven California’s
Central Valley over the past decade. … To find out how this story
of a changing landscape might play out in California’s future, we
need to look deeper. We need to go underground.”
From The Seattle Times, in a commentary by Froma Harrop:
“This summer, even drinking water may be hard to find in some
Central California towns. This region is in its third year of
drought, among the worst in recorded history.”
“A special new breed of turf that’s been growing in the Central
Valley for the past 18 months reached Levi’s Stadium on a
convoy of flatbed trucks before dawn Thursday. …
“It [Bandera Bermuda] also will allow it to drain faster
to avoid muddy conditions and will need less water for upkeep —
a plus in a state enduring a drought.”
