After being slammed for being on vacation during last major storm, Gov. Newsom gets emergency declaration approved and wisely nixes permit requirements to store rainwater.
To pull water from the state’s network of rivers and canals for groundwater recharge, state law requires a permit from the State Water Resources Control Board and Department of Fish and Wildlife. Many local agencies lacked the permitting during January storms, but this month’s atmospheric rivers and near record snowpack promises new opportunities to put water underground.
Newsom’s executive order eliminated the need for a water rights permit for groundwater recharge if the land meets specific environmental conditions between March 10 and June 1. It also waives the need for a permit from the Department of Fish and Wildlife to alter a lake or stream bed. Meanwhile, a Northern California agricultural community was forced to evacuate early Saturday after the Pajaro River’s levee wasAcross the Central Coast’s Monterey County, more than 8,500 people were under evacuation orders and warnings Saturday, including roughly 1,700 residents — many of them Latino farmworkers — from the unincorporated community of Pajaro.
Officials said the Pajaro River’s levee breach is about 100 feet wide. Crews had gone door to door Friday afternoon to urge residents to leave before the rains came but some stayed and had to be pulled from floodwaters early Saturday.sprinklers this yearTremendous rains and snowfall since late last year have freed half of California from drought, but low groundwater levels remain a persistent problem, U.S. Drought Monitor data showed Thursday.
The latest survey found that moderate or severe drought covers about 49% of the state, nearly 17% of the state is free of drought or a condition described as abnormally dry. The remainder is still abnormally dry.
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
California braces for another onslaught of rain, snow after massive floods - National | Globalnews.caThe National Weather Service said the next torrent could exacerbate the severe flooding that overwhelmed the area in the past few days.
Read more »
Storm breaches California river's levee, thousands evacuateA Northern California agricultural community famous for its strawberry crop was forced to evacuate early Saturday after the Pajaro River's levee was breached by flooding from a new atmospheric river that pummelled the state.
Read more »
Flood problems grow as new storm heads toward CaliforniaA levee break on a storm-swollen river in California's central coast has quadrupled in size, complicating repair efforts Monday and spilling floodwaters into farmland and agricultural communities -- even as yet another atmospheric river took aim at the swamped state.
Read more »
From wine country to London, Silicon Valley Bank's failure shakes worldwideIt was called Silicon Valley Bank, but its collapse is causing shockwaves around the world.
Read more »