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Scientists Seek Old Photos After Annual State of Lake Tahoe Report Admits Uncertainty About Algae Before 1980

/in /by /Tahoe Daily Tribuneby Amanda Rhoades

Last week, University of California Davis Professor Geoff Schladow broke the news gently before a crowd of residents and scientists that Lake Tahoe is still getting warmer, regional winters are still getting shorter, and overall snowfall is still on the decline. “Hopefully you’re not like me where you’ve been investing in skis each year,” said Schladow. The news — highlighted by the fact that 2015 was the warmest year yet for Lake Tahoe — came with the release last week of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center’s 10th annual “Tahoe: State of the Lake Report.”

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Study Reveals Hidden Pollution Exchange Between Oceans and Groundwater

/in /by /Phys.org

Researchers have uncovered previously hidden sources of ocean pollution along more than 20 percent of America’s coastlines. The study, published online Aug. 4 in the journal Science, offers the first-ever map of underground drainage systems that connect fresh groundwater and seawater, and also pinpoints sites where drinking water is most vulnerable to saltwater intrusion now and in the future. Audrey Sawyer, assistant professor of earth sciences at The Ohio State University and leader of the study, said that while scientists have long known that freshwater and seawater mix unseen below ground, until now they hadn’t been able to pinpoint exactly where it was happening, or how much.

 

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Video: Improving California’s Water Accounting

/in /by /PublicCEO (Sacramento)by Lori Pottinger

Understanding California’s balance sheet for water—how much there is, who has claims to it, and what is actually being “spent”—is key to effective and sustainable water management, especially during droughts. But the state’s system of accounting is outdated and ineffective for managing some of our biggest water challenges, according to new research from the PPIC Water Policy Center. A group of water management experts gathered to discuss the topic at a PPIC event last week. These weaknesses make it harder to manage groundwater, water for the environment, surface water allocations, and water trading, he said.

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Scientific Report States Poseidon Desalination Plans Will Destroy Microscopic Life

/in /by /OC Weekly (Orange County)by Mary Carreon

It doesn’t take a whole lot of common sense to understand that the proposed desalination project in Huntington Beach is going to harm the environment. The marine life that inhabits the marshland by the smoke stacks along PCH will be impacted by the construction of the plant, causing hundreds, if not thousands, of habitats to be destroyed. Aquatic life will experience the harmful effects of the plant once the facility is operating and sucking water out of the ocean, killing plankton and other crucial microscopic life.

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Relining of Pipelines Crossing Hwy. 76 in 2016-17 Aqueduct Operating Plan

/in /by /The Fallbrook/Bonsall Village Newsby Joe Naiman Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority (CWA) annually develops an Aqueduct Operating Plan which was presented to the CWA’s Engineering and Operations Committee during the committee’s June 25 meeting, and the CWA plans to shut down its three Second Aqueduct pipelines which cross State Route 76 for inspection of the new relining. The presentation, which was a non-voting item for the committee and full CWA board, covered the Aqueduct Operating Plan (AOP) for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2016, and ending June 30, 2017.

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The Drought’s Water-Rate Paradox

/in /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

When water use goes down, water prices go up. It’s a maddening paradox San Diegans have dealt with for the past year. When Gov. Jerry Brown last year ordered Californians to use 25 percent less water, water agencies saw their sales plunge and holes open up in their balance sheets. So they raised rates. Short showers, brown lawns and dirty cars were rewarded with stubbornly high bills.The state recently relaxed those water rules because rain and snow this winter refilled rivers and reservoirs.

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Gov. Brown Makes Some Temporary State Water Limits Permanent: Cites Likelihood that Drought Will Continue

/in /by /Idyllwild Town Crierby Marshall Smith

Citing California’s five-year drought, Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order making some of the state’s temporary water restrictions permanent. Permanently banned are wasteful practices such as hosing off driveways and washing cars with hoses that lack shut-off nozzles. The governor credited Californians with having accomplished significant water conservation, saving 1.3-million-acre-feet of water from June 2015 to March 2016 with statewide cumulative savings in the same period of 23.9 percent compared to the same period in 2013. Nevertheless, the governor concluded water savings must continue statewide.

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Food Manufacturers Focus on Saving Water

/in /by /Central Valley Business Journal (Stockton)by Craig Anderson

California’s drought is in its fifth year. While that has prompted many businesses to change their operations, looking for ways to use water more efficiently has long been a priority in the Valley’s food manufacturing sector. “It has always made good economic sense for manufacturers to carefully manage their water use,” said California Manufacturers & Technology Association President Dorothy Rothrock. “For decades they’ve been investing in water-saving technologies and best practices to significantly reduce water use.” She added that California companies are more competitive because they’ve reduced their water bills and lowered energy costs used in water treatment or disposal.

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OPINION: San Diego County Embraces Water-Use Efficiency as a Way of Life (by Mark Weston)

/in /by /Times of San Diego

When I walk around my neighborhood, it’s clear that a new level of commitment to water-use efficiency has taken hold at the grassroots level. About half the homes around me have upgraded from conventional turf-based landscapes to attractive, low-water landscapes that are more appropriate for the climate of San Diego County. I see the same phenomenon across the county; residents and businesses are making the most of our water supplies like never before. In fact, we collectively use nearly 40 percent less potable water per capita today than we did in 1990.

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BLOG: MWD Rolls the Dice with Our Water Supplies During Drought

/in /by /Natural Resources Defense Council (New York)by Tracy Quinn Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

One would think an agency caught in the grips of one of the worst droughts California has ever seen would handle and account for its water supply with extreme prudence.  And yet, in attempting to avoid mandatory conservation measures, the Metropolitan Water District has grossly overestimated its projected water supplies when performing a state-required “stress test” to model water conditions in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

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