Monterey County Water Digest

Researchers say if California could collect and treat more stormwater in cities, it could provide enough water to supply a quarter of the state’s urban population.

The office of Rep. Jimmy Panetta announced the award of a $6 million federal grant to support the Rancho Cañada Floodplain Restoration Project work being undertaken by the California State Coastal Conservancy.

It’s been almost a half-century since I first heard the term “peripheral canal” uttered by William Gianelli, who was then-Gov. Ronald Reagan’s top water official. The project, in one form or another, had already been kicking around for decades.

Researchers from the California Killer Whale Project and Vancouver-based Ocean Wise will be utilizing an innovative technique to study the local orca population.

The centerpiece of California’s water wars pits Gov. Newsom against local communities and environmentalists. A new report says the benefits of the tunnel exceed the cost since other water supplies would cost more.

The Big Sur Land Trust purchase of the 84-acre parcel protects and enhances the Canyon Del Rey watershed.

U.S. Representative Jimmy Panetta has secured $3 million in federal funding for the Floodplain Restoration and Environmental Enhancement Project on the Carmel River.

Monterey Bay residents Frans Lanting and Chris Eckstrom, renowned for their work documenting nature, have opened a new exhibit titled "Bay of Life: From Wind To Whales" at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) .

California, Arizona and Nevada would cut their allocations about 20% when reservoir levels drop. But other states have their own more aggressive plan. Now the federal government has to decide how to manage the drought-plagued river.

In October, CSU Monterey Bay received a $1.13 million grant from the U.S. Geological Survey to support its ongoing role in a project called OpenET.

A temporary lake in Death Valley National Park doubled after recent rains and is now deep enough to launch a kayak. Prior to August, ghostly Lake Manly hadn’t appeared in 19 years.

Los Angeles County flood control network withstands punishing rains—for now.

The storm fed off of unusually warm waters as it grew. It also reached “bomb cyclone” status as it neared California.

Chinook and other salmon runs are collapsing. Conservation groups call it too little, too late. Plan includes dam removals and restoring river flows.

What is an ARkStorm and why is everyone talking about it on social media right now?

Take a period of limited rainfall. Add heat. And you have what scientists call a “hot drought”—dry conditions made more intense by the evaporative power of hotter temperatures.

In a sign of the ongoing threats to its precious groundwater stores, half a dozen regions in California rank among the world’s most rapidly declining aquifers.

Groundwater depletion is worsening in many of the world’s farming regions. But a global study also found that some efforts are helping to boost aquifers.

Students throughout the nation have been engaging in environmental stewardship projects, as part of NOAA’s Ocean Guardian School program.

A California judge says a nearly 65-year-old law does not give the state permission to borrow the billions of dollars it would need to build a large water project.

New rules took effect Jan. 1 permanently protecting the most fragile deep sea corals off Southern California. Simultaneously, more than 4,500 square miles of ocean waters are now reopened to fishing after more than 20 years of closures.

Raging storms brought major damage to California’s coastline last winter. But in Half Moon Bay, a different kind of coastal upheaval is gaining momentum—one that could decide the fate of billions of dollars of property and affect hundreds of public beaches.

The Bay Area’s fog is iconic. But the latest episode of KQED podcast “Bay Curious” looks at how climate change could reduce the number of foggy days in the area.

Munition boxes, depth charges and smoke floats have been found 3,000 feet underwater off the coast of Los Angeles. More than 100 square miles of ocean might be contaminated.

Bright blue waves have been spotted in Long Beach, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach and Seal Beach. The bioluminescence is caused by organisms known as dinoflagellates and can impact fish populations.

The California Department of Water Resources has found that the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains is at just 25% of normal levels for this time of year. This could potentially impact water supply and wildfire protection.

The Bureau of Reclamation, which manages federal water such as the Central Valley Project, has a new regional director for the California-Great Basin Region.

The Hoopa Valley Tribe announced it is acquiring about 10,000 acres of land in Northern California for $14.1 million. As part of this, the tribe will remove dams along the Klamath River and restore salmon runs.

The California Department of Water Resources has approved building a tunnel between the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The approval could signal a new wave of legal challenges to the long-running and controversial project.

Suppliers now have detailed steps to create a new source of drinking water. But it’s not really “toilet-to-tap.” Due to the cost, it’ll likely be only large suppliers.

Salmon populations in the Scott and Shasta rivers have crashed, so state officials are about to restrict irrigation again. And the controversial rules may even become permanent.

Water fights have shaped California since its infancy as a state, when its abundance seemed limitless. Now, Californians are being forced to confront limitations, and the state that prides itself on creating the future is now reckoning with its past.