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How Water Bill Was Resurrected In Legislature’s Final Hours

It was 11:59pm last Friday, and Assembly Bill 313 sat silently in the Senate Appropriations Committee, where it had slumbered untouched for weeks. Less than three hours later, it had passed both chambers of the Legislature and was heading to the governor’s desk. This is how the sausage is really made in the California Capitol. Or, more precisely: how a bill can go from its deathbed to the governor’s desk on the Legislature’s final night of session. It’s a bill backed by water agencies and despised by environmentalists – and its passage was crucial to the fate of the $4 billion parks and water bond.

Poseidon’s Environmental Plan Doesn’t Halt Criticism of Proposed Desalination Plant

Poseidon Water announced this week that its proposed ocean desalination plant in Huntington Beach would employ an environmental protection and energy efficiency plan. But that didn’t halt criticism of the controversial facility. Poseidon said the plan includes several tactics aimed at reducing the environmental footprint of the $1-billion plant proposed at Newland Street and Pacific Coast Highway, including installing as many solar panels and purchasing as much “green” power as allowed by law.

Delta Tunnels Project In Jeopardy

Gov. Jerry Brown’s Delta Water tunnels project faces a major funding hurdle following a critical vote this week. The massive infrastructure project that would move water from the San Joaquin Delta down to Southern California lost support from the Westlands Water District after a vote on Tuesday. Will other water districts follow suit and bury Governor Brown’s controversial water project Sacramento Bee reporter Ryan Sabalow has been following the story closely and has details.

Delta Tunnels Opponents File Third Lawsuit

Save the California Delta Alliance (STCDA) has filed its third lawsuit to stop the Delta Twin Tunnels, Sept. 15, in Sacramento Superior Court. The Delta Tunnels project, sometimes called the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) or California WaterFix, would divert water from the Sacramento River near Hood and carry it underground in twin 40-foot-diameter tunnels, 40 miles south to the export pumps near Tracy. STCDA, known for its “Stop the Tunnels” signs and T-shirts seen all over Discovery Bay, has been fighting the tunnel project for almost 11 years.

East Bay Water Board Backs Delta Tunnels Project

One day after the largest water district in America pulled out of a $17 billion state project to build twin tunnels under the Delta, a water supplier for 220,000 Alameda County residents supported the plan and said it wants to join in. In a 5-2 decision Wednesday night, Alameda County’s Zone 7 Water Agency endorsed the California WaterFix , which proposes to build tunnels under the Delta as a means of making state water supplies more reliable for buyers like Zone 7. The agency also agreed to commit up to $250,000 more toward state planning of the project.

Main Spillway Reconstruction This Season On Track, DWR Says In Media Call Update

State Department of Water Resources officials said Wednesday reconstruction of the spillway is on track to reach the Nov. 1 deadline for a 100,000 cubic-feet per second flow capacity. “Nov. 1 is a major milestone but it is by no means the finish line,” said Jeanne Kuttel, chief engineer for DWR, in a press conference call. Contractor Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. has demolished most of the spillway for reconstruction this season, leaving just the top 730 feet intact and making patch repairs there, representatives reported.

Spanish Revival Fixer-Upper Now Rocks The Neighborhood

Lilia Valeeva’s Spanish revival bungalow in Mission Hills was purchased as a fixer-upper in 2013. The landscaping was also in need of an overhaul. The front yard was mostly Bermuda grass, with bushes on the perimeter and an oak tree that was causing problems with the home’s foundation. She envisioned a front yard that suited the historically designated house and wanted the landscape to be drought-tolerant, too. To get ideas, Valeeva did online research, visited parks and the zoo, and walked around the neighborhoods of Mission Hills.

Sierra Snow Possible On Last Day Of Summer

The last day of summer could bring snow to the Sierra, weather forecasters say. Thursday morning will see near-freezing temperatures and a 20 to 30 percent chance of precipitation in Sierra locales including Truckee, South Lake Tahoe, Reno and the higher elevations of Yosemite. Friday morning will be a little colder, under clear skies. Closer to the coast, a frost advisory has been issued for 3 to 8 a.m. Thursday in parts of Trinity and Mendocino counties, including Weaverville and Willits, the National Weather Service said. Temperatures there are expected to be in the low 30s.

What’s Next For Brown’s Delta Tunnels Now That A Big Chunk Of Funding Has Disappeared?

Shellshocked by an influential farm irrigation district’s refusal to help pay for the Delta tunnels, advocates of the $17.1 billion project were scrambling Wednesday to salvage it or conjure up a Plan B. Three possible options were floated by California water policymakers for reviving the proposal. All of them face substantial hurdles of their own. Can the tunnels go forward? Here’s a look at the current state – and the immediate future – of the project dubbed California WaterFix by Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration.

Water Fix

Customers in the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District who have already been hit with a series of annual rate increases could see their bills on the rise again as agencies across the state figure out how to pay for the $17-billion Delta tunnels. The LVMWD board of directors met Sept. 12 to endorse Gov. Jerry Brown’s California WaterFix project that will use a pair of 30-mile-long tunnels in a way that changes the how Northern California water moves through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and into the state’s Central Valley and points south.