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Remedy, or Boondoggle? Hearings Launch on Delta Tunnels Proposal

Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to build twin tunnels beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta was hailed Tuesday as the long-awaited salvation for the damaged estuary and California’s shaky water delivery network. It also was lambasted as a nightmarish boondoggle that would rob water from Northern California and bring more environmental harm to the Delta itself.

And that was just Day 1. Known as California WaterFix, the tunnels project effectively went on trial as a key state agency began months of formal hearings on details of the $15.5 billion proposal.

Judge: Water district can hike rates during drought

An Orange County judge has ruled that a local water district could hike its monthly water rates to offset a decline in usage during the drought. The Orange County Register reports that Judge Robert J. Moss on Monday ruled that the Yorba Linda Water District could raise rates to cope with declining revenues as residents heeded state-mandated water use restrictions. Yorba Linda water officials have said the monthly $25 rate increases aimed to deal with a more than $8 million revenue shortfall.

Hearings Begin On California Governor Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnel Project

Water regulators have begun public hearings on California Governor Jerry Brown’s $15 billion twin tunnel project, known as California Waterfix. The project aims to provide a more reliable water supply for millions of Californians.

The public hearings that began Tuesday at the State Water Resources Control Board are supposed to be narrow in focus – the board must determine whether building three new water intakes on the Sacramento River would harm other water users or the environment.

Federal, State Leaders Pitch for California Water Tunnels

Representatives of California Gov. Jerry Brown and the Obama administration began making their pitch for approval Tuesday to build a pair of massive water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

They propose building the tunnels – each four stories high and running 35 miles long – to send Sacramento River water south to millions of residents and vast farmland in dry regions of the state. The project is estimated to cost $15.7 billion.

The surprisingly bright future of America’s forgotten renewable energy source: water

Long before wind and solar, water was the nation’s top renewable energy source. Going back some 100 years, the United States built enormous dams — like the Depression-era Hoover Dam in Nevada — to produce tremendous amounts of energy.

We have so many such dams that hydropower last year remained our fourth largest source of electricity overall and our single largest renewable source, providing 6 percent of Americans’ electricity. Yet it’s rarely talked about and lacks the excitement attached to other renewables. That’s in part because dams are controversial and can have major environmental consequences, affecting wildlife and altering local ecosystems.

Dissent Brews Over Governor’s $16 Billion Water Project

By the time the Sacramento River winds its more-than-400-mile course from the slopes of Mount Shasta past the state capital, it’s well into its leisurely stride, running slowly by fields of sweet corn, tomatoes and alfalfa.

But this lazy stretch of river, just south of Sacramento, is a metaphorical whitewater. The rural Sacramento County town of Hood, at the north end of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, is where state and federal authorities have planned the starting point of California’s hotly debated tunnel project.

San Diego Region Still Saving Water as Rules Loosen

As California relaxes its emergency drought regulations across the state, business owners and residents in San Diego County have continued to conserve notable amounts of water during summer months — when reductions in outdoor irrigation provide a chance for significant savings.

Regional water suppliers used an average 23 percent less water in June compared to the same month in the state’s baseline year of 2013, the San Diego County Water Authority announced Tuesday. That’s down slightly from May, when savings by county water suppliers was 26 percent.

County Water Authority Still Asking Residents To Save

Even though mandatory water restrictions from the state of California have been lifted, the County Water Authority is still urging residents to conserve. The rations will be evaluated again in January, so a free program is being offered that will check plumbing, appliances, irrigation and landscaping to make sure water is being used appropriately.