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County and IID will have Salton Sea workshop live-streaming locally

Locals interested in following the State Water Resources Control Board’s Salton Sea Workshop on Tuesday, will have the opportunity to do so online as the Imperial County and Imperial Irrigation District will be live streaming the workshop at IID’s William Condit Auditorium in El Centro.

“This gives people who don’t have access to the internet or a computer an opportunity and place to come watch it,” said IID spokeswoman Marion Champion.

 

How Do We Get Our Drinking Water In The U.S.?

Before you take a gulp of water, try to mentally trace where that water that just gushed out of your taps has been: How did it go from that weird-tasting raindrop to the clear, odorless water that is sitting in your glass now?

Safe drinking water is a privilege Americans often take for granted — until a health crisis like the one in Flint, Mich., happens that makes us think about where it comes from and how we get it.

State Bill Would Bolster Sycuan’s Water Supply — and Possibly a New Hotel

About half the Sycuan Indian tribe relies heavily on a single groundwater well for water.

The whole tribe now wants access to the same water most San Diegans enjoy – Colorado River water, Northern California water and desalinated Pacific Ocean water.

Most of San Diego’s state legislative delegation is pushing a bill that could make it happen. The water could secure the tribe’s supply and perhaps fuel future development, including a new 300-room hotel and possible casino expansion.

Salton Sea Geothermal: Cheaper than Solar Farms?

Building more geothermal power plants by the Salton Sea could eventually save Californians hundreds of millions of dollars per year, according to a new report.

The lake is home to one of the world’s most potent geothermal reservoirs, thanks to underground heat that brings salty water to temperatures greater than 500 degrees Fahrenheit. But while 11 geothermal plants already generate electricity along the Salton Sea’s southern shore, energy development has ground to a halt in recent years, due to the high cost of building geothermal facilities. Only one of those 11 plants opened after 2000.

Measuring Drought Impact in More Than Dollars and Cents

The standard way to measure the impact of drought is by its economic effect. Last year, for example, the severity California’s four-year drought was broadly characterized by an estimate that it would cost the state’s economy $2.7 billion and 21,000 jobs.

However, there are many experts who feel economic measures alone are inadequate to fully assess the impact of this complex phenomenon, which affected more than one billion people worldwide in the last decade.

California Drought Monitor and National Drought Summary for April 12, 2016

This week was generally uneventful in those parts of the country experiencing abnormal dryness and drought, with only a few patchy areas received 1 to 3 inches of precipitation. As a result, dryness and drought either remained unchanged or deteriorated where it existed.

Sacramento Moves out of Exceptional Drought

Northern California saw the biggest improvements in the Drought Monitor released on Thursday.  Beneficial winter rain and snow has helped moved the extreme Northwest coast out of a historic drought.

In January, all of the state was in some drought category. The most severe category of exceptional drought covered 43 percent of the state. That number is now down to 32% coverage. Looking at the two most severe categories combined, extreme and exceptional drought,  the coverage has dropped from 69 percent to 55 percent.

Stats Show San Diegans Are Slacking on Water Conservation: City Official

The city of San Diego will continue to conduct public outreach about the drought and cutting back on water use, as statistics show consumers slacking off on conservation in recent months, the city’s director of public utilities said Thursday.

“Like everything else, you keep hearing the same message over and over you start disregarding it,” Halla Razak told members of the City Council’s Environment Committee.

 

California Drought: Odds of La Niña Increase for Next Winter, Bringing Concerns the Drought May Drag On

In what may be an ominous sign for the end of the drought, the El Niño that brought Northern California its wettest winter in five years is continuing to weaken and appears to be giving way to its atmospheric sibling — La Niña.

The shift in Pacific Ocean temperatures could mean a drier-than-normal winter is ahead, especially in already parched Southern California, where La Niña conditions have historically had the most impact.

San Diego Residents Find Turf Rebates Are Taxable

Some San Diegans who got money from the San Diego County Water Authority for taking out their grass last year are now startled to find they owe taxes on those turf rebates.

And some homeowners only received those notifications a few weeks ago, after they had already filed their taxes.