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Valley water savers rejoice: Most cities met conservation goals

/in /by /Fresno Beeby Barbara Anderson

Most central San Joaquin Valley water suppliers met their water conservation mandates in May.

In the third month of lower water-use mandates, 14 of 21 suppliers in the Valley achieved water-saving goals set by the state. Statewide, Californians also were successful in conserving water. Residential water use decreased by 28 percent in May, compared with the same month in 2013. And cumulatively, the statewide reduction for the 12 months from June 2015 to May 2016 was 24.5 percent, the State Water Resources Control Board said Wednesday. Overall, residents saved 1.6 million acre-feet of water since mandatory conservation standards began – enough water to supply 8 million people for a year.

 

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OPINION: Leave California’s ‘new’ water in the ground

/in /by /The Los Angeles Timesby Juliet Christian-Smith Mentioned: Carlsbad Desalination Plant

In the last couple of weeks, the California media have been heralding the discovery of “new water” in deep aquifers as a possible solution to the state’s ongoing drought and water shortages. Unfortunately, the updated estimate of available groundwater reported by Stanford University researchers isn’t that new — scientists have long known that there are many deep aquifers throughout the state — and more significantly, accessing these waters would be extremely expensive due to their great depth and poor quality.

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Drought Alert: Water-saving technology

/in /by /CBS 8 (San Diego)

San Diegans, and California residents in general, stepped up water conservation efforts in May, state water officials reported Wednesday.
Nearly all of the two dozen local water agencies in San Diego County posted large reductions in use compared to the same month in 2013, which the state uses as a benchmark.
The largest of the local water agencies, the city of San Diego, saw usage decline by 22.6 percent in May even though there wasn’t much rain after the first week of the month. Cumulatively since June 2015, water use in the city is down 18.4 percent.

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Lake Mead’s drought contingency plan: Holding off a water war one drop at a time

/in /by /The Los Angeles Timesby William Yardley

This may be what the start of a water war looks like.

Drought is draining the West’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead, to historic low levels. Forecasts say climate change will make things worse. Headlines warn of water shortages and cutbacks. Members of Congress are moving to protect their states’ supplies.

Yet if war is really imminent, why is one of the region’s most experienced water managers doing the same thing he has done for years: tinkering?

“I like to describe this as another incremental step,” said Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

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Focus: Do Dead or Dying Trees Raise Wildfire Risk?

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith

As a record number of trees stand dead or dying in California’s forests due to drought and beetle infestations, concerns are mounting that the die-off is creating an abundance of fuel likely to trigger wildfires that could threaten homes and lives.

However, an emerging body of science finds little evidence to support these fears. Researchers studying wildfires across the western United States during the past decade have increasingly concluded that forests ravaged by bark beetles and other insects aren’t more likely to burn than healthy expanses of forest.

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County Saw Major Water Savings in May

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith Quoted: Dana Friehauf

Residents and businesses statewide, including those in San Diego County, continued to save water aggressively as officials began moving forward with loosening emergency conservation standards. Regulators on Wednesday released their analysis of water consumption in May, the most recent month for verified data. Their reports are issued monthly as part of a program created in response to California’s historic drought, which is deep into its fifth straight year. Water use in May was 28.2 percent lower than during the same month in 2013 — Gov. Jerry Brown’s benchmark time period for his conservation mandate, which took effect in June of last year.

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North County Report: Agencies Consider Rolling Back Water Mandates

/in /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ruarri Serpa Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

As water restrictions shift to local water agencies, a few North County communities are moving to ease limitations after winter storms. In Del Mar, city staff recommended downgrading the drought level, which would have allowed power-washing the sidewalks, and turning on the showers at the beach, The Coast News reports. Not all members of the City Council were on board, though. “I think it’s a mistake to relax our drought restrictions — a big mistake — because the drought’s not over,” Councilman Don Mosier said.

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Facing Historically Low Levels, Lake Mead Officials Are Fending Off a Water War. Here’s How

/in /by /The Los Angeles Timesby William Yardley

This may be what the start of a water war looks like.

Drought is draining the West’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead, to historic low levels. Forecasts say climate change will make things worse. Headlines warn of water shortages and cutbacks. Members of Congress are moving to protect their states’ supplies.

Yet if war is really imminent, why is one of the region’s most experienced water managers doing the same thing he has done for years: tinkering?

“I like to describe this as another incremental step,” said Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

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Long Beach to study health of trees, create maintenance plan for urban forest

/in /by /Press Telegram (Long Beach)by Courtney Tompkins,

City officials hope to better understand the health of Long Beach’s urban forest, which contains some 92,000 street trees throughout the city.

As cities across Southern California have grappled with a historic drought and worked to comply with state-mandated watering restrictions, trees and park systems have suffered, including those in Long Beach.

A handful of City Council members, led by 5th District Councilwoman Stacy Mungo, asked the council to support having the Public Works Department study the condition of the city’s street trees – and based on that assessment, develop a life-cycle management plan.

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Are California Redwood Trees the Answer to Global Warming?

/in /by /The Murcury News (San Jose)by Paul Rogers

California’s ancient redwood forests aren’t just majestic and among the oldest living things on Earth — a new study finds they are a particularly potent weapon against global warming.

The towering trees remove and store more carbon from the atmosphere per acre than any other forests on the planet, including tropical rain forests, researchers found in a discovery that could influence everything from logging rules to how parks are preserved as the state grapples with climate change.

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