Any hope of a wet winter dousing California’s fire season is quickly going up in flames.
It seems that California just can’t catch a break. Sure, the state got its highest precipitation in years – at a critical time. But “for the brush and trees,“ says CAL FIRE’s Daniel Berlant, “the amount of rain we received this winter was not enough to really make up for the now five years of lack of rainfall.”
The Western Agricultural Processors Association held their annual meeting in Monterey. The Association had several speakers including California Farm Water Coalition President and CEO Mike Wade. Wade gave an update on the state’s water outlook which has been relatively bad news for the last five years.
Wade says on top of challenging water conditions, the coalition was shocked to see two new proposals that look to limit even more of the available water that could be moved south. “Yeah, unusual proposals we are seeing this year from the national fisheries agencies and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),”
It has been estimated that more than 60 percent of California’s freshwater comes from mountain storm runoff and snowmelt. Yet these mountain watersheds have never been officially recognized for their role in delivering and filtering this enormous share of the state’s vital water supply.
That may change soon. A bill in the state Legislature, AB 2480 (authored by Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica), would officially recognize five critical Sierra Nevada and Cascade watersheds as important pieces of the state’s water infrastructure.
The City Council’s Environment Committee gave tentative approval Thursday to a proposal to ratchet back water-use restrictions, following reports of ample local supply.
If the change from a Level Two Drought Alert response to a Level One Drought Watch is given final approval by the full San Diego City Council at a future meeting, water conservation efforts would become voluntary, though city officials will continue to urge efficient use.
The Obama administration is awarding $48 million in grants in 13 states, mostly in the West, to help farmers and others conserve water and energy amid drought and climate change.
The money will pay for improvements to irrigation and water delivery systems as well as provide technical assistance for planning and engineering conservation measures. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the grants Thursday in Brighton, just outside Denver. He was in Colorado to speak at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen on Friday.
San Diego officials are considering ratcheting back water use restrictions and are scheduled to present their plans Thursday to the City Council’s Environment Committee. If the change from a Level Two Drought Alert response to a Level One Drought Watch is approved, water conservation efforts would be voluntary, allowing residents to water their lawns more than two days a week. City officials will still encourage residents to water no more than three days a week, and continue other conservation efforts.
Southern California’s smaller cities and large businesses must take the threat of a crippling earthquake far more seriously than they have been, a committee of business, public policy and utility leaders said Thursday, saying action is needed to “prevent the inevitable disaster from becoming a catastrophe.”
Despite strides made by the city of Los Angeles to focus on earthquake safety, Southern California still faces significant threats that haven’t been resolved.
The San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors Thursday voted to raise rates 5.9 percent for treated drinking water and 6.4 percent for untreated irrigation water in 2017.
The Water Authority cited increasing expenses for imported water and the need to pass on higher costs for water from the desalination plant in Carlsbad. The SDCWA, which delivers water to 24 local agencies and districts that distribute to customers, also cited the impact of state-mandated conservation on its budget.
The Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) has unanimously approved and signed an agreement with J.F. Shea Construction to build a $110 million state-of-the-art water treatment plant that will enable WRD to develop the first locally sustainable groundwater basins in California. “This is an exciting day,” said WRD Board of Directors President Willard H. Murray, Jr. “The Los Angeles region has a long and sometimes colorful history of importing water to quench our thirst. With this project WRD will be turning a corner in our water history.
Two counties in California and an environmental group have partnered together to file an appeal against Southern California’s biggest water supplier, blocking its purchase of the Delta farm islands.
Contra Costa and San Joaquin counties, along with Restore the Delta group, have sued Metropolitan Water District in an attempt to stop its plan to buy the islands, which comprise 20,000 acres of wetlands. The group said the plan is an attempt at a water grab to move Delta water to Southern California.
