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OPINION:Mailbag: San Diego is importing less water now because of desalination

In its commentary, “Orange County Should Learn from San Diego’s Mistakes with Poseidon Water” (Nov. 4), the Surfrider Foundation fashions an imaginary world in which the public is forced to choose between water conservation and water-supply development.

In reality, water ratepayers and water agencies can and should do both. For the past 25 years, the San Diego County Water Authority has worked on both sides of the supply-demand equation, helping reduce regional per capita water use by nearly 40% (even before the state’s emergency water-use mandates in 2015) while increasing reliable, locally controlled supplies, such as desalinated seawater.

Four Valley Issues Where President-Elect Donald Trump Could Act Quickly

Some of the bigger promises made by president-elect Trump will require the cooperation of the Republican-controlled Congress. Promises like a border wall, mass deportations, and repealing Obamacare will take some time. But with a stroke of his presidential pen, Mr. Trump can bring sudden and consequential changes that could reverberate throughout the Central California. One of the biggest changes could be to the distribution of water to farmers in the Valley.

 

 

Supervisors Assail State Water Flow Plan

San Joaquin County has joined several local water districts and boards in opposing a state plan to increase pulse flows in the lower San Joaquin River. The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously expressed its opposition to proposed changes in the Water Quality Control Plan presented by the state. Supervisors said the state’s plan, which involves increasing flows out of the lower San Joaquin River in an effort to protect fish and wildlife in the southern portion of the county and much of Stanislaus County, doesn’t have benefits at all.

California’s Westlands Water District Could Win Forgiveness for $375 Million Debt

Today, House committee legislators will be voting to approve or deny a California irrigation bill that would forgive $375 million worth of debt owed by one of the nation’s largest farm-focused irrigation districts, Westlands Water District.

Approving the plan would, essentially, relieve the federal government of its obligation to provide drainage for each farm in the 600,000-acre Westlands district. According to The Sacramento Bee, the estimated overall costs to the federal government of providing these drainage services is $3.5 billion and counting.

Water Board Skewered For Failing to Fix Salton Sea

Residents and officials living near California’s Salton Sea skewered the state water board in Sacramento on Tuesday for dragging their feet to solve the lake’s steady shrinking.

“You assigned a task force to address this problem, but neither the task nor the force were sufficient to meet the scope of the problem,” Imperial Irrigation District general manager Kevin Kelley told the five-person State Water Resources Control Board. “The state has dithered and called it due diligence. We have a ticking time bomb and you’ve treated it like a beach ball at a backyard picnic.”

 

Salton Sea ultimatum: California water district demands state plan by Dec. 31

The Imperial Irrigation District has given California officials an ultimatum on the Salton Sea, demanding the state finalize a 10-year “roadmap” for the shrinking lake by the end of this year.

The Imperial Valley water district made the appeal this week, urging state officials to uphold their responsibility to control dust and protect public health as the lake recedes.

BLOG: ‘Sustainable’ Groundwater? It’s Not a Universal Standard in California

Next year, A new California law will revolutionize how the state manages its groundwater. By June 30, 2017, according to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), many groundwater users must form new agencies and begin drafting plans to “sustainably manage” their aquifers. Three years later, they must begin operating aquifers according to those new plans, which will dramatically change how groundwater is used.

Drought on Colorado River Sparks Revolutionary Idea: Sharing Water

Business as usual on the Colorado River may be about to come to a screeching halt.

One of the worst recorded droughts in human history has stretched water supplies thin across the far-reaching river basin, which serves 40 million people.

Nowhere is this more obvious than Lake Mead, which straddles the border of Arizona and Nevada. The water level in the country’s largest manmade reservoir has been plummeting; it’s now only 38 percent full. With an official water shortage imminent, Arizona, Nevada and California are taking matters into their own hands.

Drought on Colorado River Sparks Revolutionary Idea: Sharing Water

Business as usual on the Colorado River may be about to come to a screeching halt. One of the worst recorded droughts in human history has stretched water supplies thin across the far-reaching river basin, which serves 40 million people. Nowhere is this more obvious than Lake Mead, which straddles the border of Arizona and Nevada. The water level in the country’s largest manmade reservoir has been plummeting; it’s now only 38 percent full. With an official water shortage imminent, Arizona, Nevada and California are taking matters into their own hands.

 

Another step in long march toward California water deal in Congress

A key House committee on Wednesday approved a big irrigation drainage deal with California’s politically potent Westlands Water District, opening another front in the state’s ongoing conflict over water, money and power.

Watched over by a handful of lobbyists and activists, the House Natural Resources Committee approved the controversial Westlands deal by a mostly party line 27-to-12 vote following an occasionally testy markup. Fresno-area Rep. Jim Costa was one of only three Democrats on the committee to support the legislation.