Thursday, February 09, 2012
Click here for RSS feedSALEM -- Proposed state legislation to increase Oregon water withdrawals from the Columbia River is either a "major threat" or a welcomed jobs bill, depending on who is asked. House Bill 4101 would create a task force to recommend how to use 450,000 acre-feet of new water withdrawals from the Col ...
Thursday, February 09, 2012 9:00 AM
The federal agency that regulates much of the electrical transmission in the Northwest proposed a compromise Tuesday in a dispute with wind producers who were forced to shut down last spring, when heavy runoff produced too much hydroelectric power. The Bonneville Power Administration, bas ...
Tuesday, February 07, 2012 4:31 PM
OLYMPIA -- With the first cutoff date passed, several important pieces of ag-related legislation are still in play, among them bills related to managing wolves. Off the table are proposals to require labeling of genetically modified foods. Feb. 3 was the date by which bills had to emerge fro ...
Monday, February 06, 2012 2:49 PM
DENVER (AP) -- An opponent of hydraulic fracturing south of Denver is leading an effort to have voters decide on two proposals that critics say would change the way Colorado has handled water rights since 1876. The Colorado Constitution says unappropriated water in natural streams is publ ...
Saturday, February 04, 2012 2:17 PM
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Jerry Brown's recent hint that he'd consider delaying an $11.1 billion water bond set for the November ballot didn't please a leading proponent of plans to fix California's water system. The governor indicated last month that a massive overhaul of the system could begin ...
Thursday, February 02, 2012 12:00 PM
SALEM -- Rep. Mike McLane and five other legislators are making a run at increasing irrigation water withdrawals from the Columbia River. The lawmakers want to establish a task force "to develop recommendations for new allocations totaling 450,000 acre-feet of water from surface or storage source ...
Thursday, February 02, 2012 1:00 PM
OLYMPIA -- A bill giving counties more control over groundwater does not affect the exemption for stock watering, its backers say, but spokesmen for farmers and ranchers aren't so sure. State statute allows the unlimited withdrawal of groundwater for watering livestock. That exemption was upheld ...
Thursday, February 02, 2012 2:00 PM
ECHO SUMMIT, Calif. (AP) -- An announcement Wednesday that California's Sierra Nevada snowpack is a meager 15 inches in some places means bad news in a state dependent upon snowmelt to meet the water needs of 25 million people. Resorts are suffering as skiers turn up their noses at manmad ...
Wednesday, February 01, 2012 3:44 PM
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Preliminary assessments indicate the wind, rain and snow that hit Oregon in mid-January caused an estimated $38 million in damage to nine counties. The Oregonian reports (http://is.gd/6Aykjh) that figure is expected to grow. Flooding was blamed for two deaths. H ...
Wednesday, February 01, 2012 7:43 AM
BOISE -- The Idaho Water Resource Board has approved a five-year pilot program that will invest $1.5 million in recharging the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer. Revenue from the Secondary Aquifer Planning, Management and Implementation Fund will be used to pay canal companies and irrigation districts s ...
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 11:42 AM
PARMA, Idaho (AP) -- Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey say farms and sewer systems in the Treasure Valley region are dumping enough phosphorus into the Boise River to contribute to algae blooms and fish kills in the lower Snake River. The two-year study, commissioned in part by Namp ...
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 11:42 AM
BALTIMORE (AP) -- The American Farm Bureau Federation is asking a federal judge to toss out the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake Bay restoration strategy before its suit challenging the effort goes to trial. The federation filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Penns ...
Monday, January 30, 2012 3:10 PM
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas farmers have already claimed a record amount in crop insurance for losses suffered during a lingering drought last year, and the claims are expected to surpass $1 billion, a federal agriculture official said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its ...
Thursday, January 26, 2012 8:46 AM
OLYMPIA -- Rep. Bruce Chandler's name appears on several pieces of water rights legislation in this year's regular session. In his dozen years in the House of Representatives, the Republican from Granger has sponsored or co-sponsored many bills with a central purpose: "to help the water resources ...
Thursday, January 26, 2012 11:00 AM
RED BLUFF, Calif. -- Storm clouds in recent days have brought much-needed rain and snow to California's parched farmland but left many growers wanting more. The Golden State's worrisome dry spell came to an abrupt end on Jan. 18, when low-elevation snowfall brought chain requirements to northern ...
Thursday, January 26, 2012 11:00 AM
Canal companies would not be held liable for property damage or injury resulting from acts of God or third parties under legislation introduced Jan. 20 in Idaho's House Resources and Conservation Committee. The legislation, backed by the Idaho Water Users Association, would have no fiscal impact ...
Thursday, January 26, 2012 11:00 AM
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Mother Nature is a fickle mistress. One year removed from near-record snow levels that sent 4 trillion gallons of much-needed meltwater into Lake Mead, winter has gotten off to a terrible start in the mountains that feed the Colorado River. Conditions are so dry that wat ...
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 2:55 PM
The Skokomish River rose above flood stage Wednesday morning but is expected to recede by early afternoon. The National Weather Service said the river crested at 16.7 feet after heavy rain -- up to 3.5 inches -- fell on the south slopes of the Olympic Mountains. Flood stage is 16.5 feet. Wides ...
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 10:25 AM
Continued rainfall and snow melt in Western Washington could push the Skokomish and Chehalis rivers above flood stage between Friday night and Saturday evening, the National Weather Service says. Forecasters have issued a flood watch for Grays Harbor, Clallam, Island, Jefferson, San Juan, Skagit, ...
Friday, January 20, 2012 10:10 AM
IDAHO FALLS -- It costs a farmer about $2 to replace a worn and leaky irrigation nozzle. If left alone, however, a worn nozzle leaking 4 gallons per minute increases power bills by $50 over the course of a season, according to University of Idaho Extension irrigation specialist Howard Neibling. ...
Thursday, January 19, 2012 11:00 AM
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexicans are rushing aid to Tarahumara communities in the remote northern mountains after a local official announced -- apparently falsely -- that dozens of the Indians had killed themselves because they couldn't feed their children due to severe cold weather. The Tara ...
Monday, January 16, 2012 6:04 PM
HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Thursday that snowpack in the Missouri River Basin headwaters is below normal so far this winter, and far below levels seen last year when heavy snowfall in the mountains was a big factor in floods downstream. So far, snowpack in th ...
Friday, January 13, 2012 10:12 AM
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- State and federal water officials are planning to install a temporary rock barrier in a tributary of the San Joaquin River to help improve salmon and steelhead populations and make water supplies more reliable, according to an agreement announced Thursday. The barri ...
Thursday, January 12, 2012 5:01 PM
IDAHO FALLS -- As watermaster of a small Fremont County canal company, Bill Fuchs didn't have the budget to rid his system of aquatic vegetation through traditional means -- using a pair of tractors to dredge a massive chain across the bottom. For a while, he relied on an excavator to dig weeds o ...
Thursday, January 12, 2012 10:00 AM
It's been an annual tradition dating back more than a century for the Aberdeen-Springfield Canal Co. to excavate roughly 20 feet of levee near Rockford. Creating the gap allows spring snow melt to enter the canal, averting flooding in the rural community. In addition to the hassle of having to re ...
Thursday, January 12, 2012 11:00 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The U.S. can safely increase its drinking water supply by reusing some of the 12 billion gallons of wastewater that pours down sewers and into the ocean each day, a panel of experts concludes in a new report. The health risks from using reclaimed wastewater in aquifer ...
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