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California wildfire season at ‘extreme point’ with months to go

/in /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Gabby Ferreira

Wildfires are nothing new in Southern California, but as the record-breaking drought stretches into its fifth year, conditions in the southern part of the state are ripe for severe wildfires.

“In the normal season, it’s (wildfires) still threatening. Put in five years of drought and it’s exponentially threatening,” said Cal Fire Capt. Lucas Spelman. Though Southern California saw some rain this year, it wasn’t enough for fuels such as dry brush and already beetle-stricken trees to recover.

“We just haven’t stopped,” Spelman said. “Starting in the beginning of the year, we’re already at the extreme point and we just can’t imagine what the end of the season’s going to look like.”

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California Wildfire Season at ‘Extreme Point’ With Months to Go

/in /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Gabby Ferreira

Wildfires are nothing new in Southern California, but as the record-breaking drought stretches into its fifth year, conditions in the southern part of the state are ripe for severe wildfires.

“In the normal season, it’s (wildfires) still threatening. Put in five years of drought and it’s exponentially threatening,” said Cal Fire Capt. Lucas Spelman. Though Southern California saw some rain this year, it wasn’t enough for fuels such as dry brush and already beetle-stricken trees to recover.

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Judge says Yorba Linda water board’s fee increase was legal

/in /by /The Orange Couney Registerby DENISSE SALAZAR

The Yorba Linda Water District won its legal fight Monday against a community group opposed to a $25 monthly water-rate increase imposed on ratepayers.

The suit suit, filed in January in Orange County Superior Court by the Yorba Linda Taxpayers Association, asked that the district’s increase be repealed or the issue be placed on a ballot for voters to decide.

But Judge Robert J. Moss ruled Monday in the water district’s favor.

 

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Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta: Battle Continues Against Water Weeds

/in /by /San Jose Mercury Newsby Lev Facher

Every year, the state battles invasive water weed species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The state Division of Boating and Waterways is at it again in 2016, and the hot, dry conditions created by the ongoing drought continue to make the job even harder.

In Discovery Bay, the Port of Stockton and around the Delta, the department is attempting to beat back familiar foes including water hyacinth and Egeria densa. Other culprits like varieties of water pennywort and primrose aren’t new to the Delta but have recently begun to pose a bigger problem.
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Pace to build Brown’s tunnels steps up Tuesday

/in /by /Central Valley Business Times (Stockton)

The State Water Resources Control Board’s five members, all of whom owe their 120,000-plus a year jobs to Gov. Edmund Brown Jr., on Tuesday begin the first part of a two-part, multi-month water right change petition hearing for what is marketed as the “WaterFix Project.”

The project would dig two massive tunnels beneath the California Delta to drain fresh water out of the Sacramento River before it could flow naturally into the Delta.

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Will the Delta Tunnels Get Built? Plan Enters Critical Make-Or-Break Phase

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler and Ryan Sabalow

Still swirling in controversy, Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed $15.5 billion re-engineering of the troubled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is heading into a critical phase over the next year that could well decide if the project comes to fruition. Crunch time starts Tuesday. The State Water Resources Control Board begins months of grueling public hearings on the details of Brown’s plan to burrow a pair of massive tunnels beneath the heart of the Delta, a grand public works project designed to shore up the reliability of water deliveries to millions of Southern Californians and San Joaquin Valley farmers.

 

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San Diego Sustainable Landscapes Program Now Has Website

/in /by /Village News (Fallbrook) Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego Sustainable Landscapes Program, a grant-funded partnership created by the San Diego County Water Authority, the City of San Diego, the County of San Diego, the Surfrider Foundation, the California American Water Company and the Association of Compost Producers, now has a website to help the region’s residents easily find the information they need to transform turf-based urban landscapes to ones that provide multiple environmental benefits, such as increased water-use efficiency and improved stormwater management.

 

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OPINION: Here’s How Metropolitan Water District Can Be Good Delta Neighbor

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Mary Nejedly Piepho

Now that Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has completed its $175 million purchase of four islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, totaling almost 20,000 acres in size, it is time to engage in a discussion of how Met can be a good Delta neighbor. Delta interests are rightly concerned about the presence of Met in our midst. The overpumping of the Delta by water contractors, led by Met, has had a negative impact on Delta water quality for farms and wildlife.

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OPINION: When It Comes to Water, We Need All the Data We Can Get

/in /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)

In many cases, more truly is better. In California, especially as the current punishing drought continues for a fifth year, more definitely would be better in just about every regard when it comes to water. This is true when it comes to water research. And as demonstrated by two separate studies reported on recently by The Desert Sun’s Ian James, more data on groundwater in California would be a good thing indeed. The Desert Sun’s Ian James reported recently on the work done by teams at Stanford University.

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San Diego Accelerates Water Recycling

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby David Garrick Quoted: Hallah Razak

San Diego is accelerating construction of its landmark water recycling system and making other changes that will save money, benefit the environment and make pipeline construction less disruptive.

City officials plan to begin recycling 30 million gallons a day of sewage into drinking water by 2021, much quicker than a previous schedule calling for 15 million gallons daily by 2023 and 30 million gallons per day by 2027. The faster schedule is possible primarily because officials have decided to do all of the recycling in Miramar instead of splitting it in half between Miramar and Otay Mesa.

 

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