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Water Authority’s Garden Displays Sustainable Landscapes

Tucked between the corporate offices and condos of Kearny Mesa, a new model of next-generation landscape practices has sprouted at the headquarters of the San Diego County Water Authority — an oasis brimming with graffiti star clusters, Dallas red lantana, Santa Barbara daisies and dozens of other plant varieties arranged artfully between pavers, mulch and stone. As part of its efforts to promote water-use efficiency no matter the weather, the Water Authority recently installed the showcase garden to feature four core principles of sustainable landscapes — healthy soils, climate-appropriate plants, high-efficiency irrigation and using rainwater as a resource.

APNewsBreak: Trump Opposes Massive California Water Project

The Trump administration said Wednesday that it will not support a massive water project proposed by California, the latest and most serious blow for Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to re-engineer the state’s water system by building two giant water tunnels. “The Trump administration did not fund the project and chose to not move forward with it,” Russell Newell, spokesman for the U.S. Interior Department, said in an email. Asked if that meant the Trump administration did not support California’s tunnels project, Newell said yes.

First-Ever Lawsuit Asks: Does the Colorado River Have a Right to Exist?

Should a river have legal rights of its own? Should it be able to thrive, and even evolve naturally, without human interference? Those are the deep questions asked in a precedent-setting federal lawsuit filed in September in which the Colorado River, as an ecosystem, seeks federal legal rights to exist and to flourish. It is the first action of its kind in the United States. The plaintiff in the case is the Colorado River itself, with the organization Deep Green Resistance acting as a “next friend” on its behalf.

Salton Sea Communities “No Longer a Good Place to Live” for Those with Respiratory Issues

Nancy Johnson has lived near the Salton Sea her entire life. Her grandparents originally moved to the area at the behest of their doctors, who said the hot, dry desert was the perfect antidote for their emphysema. Now, as the principal of Westmorland Union Elementary School, Johnson faces an entirely different set of circumstances. She’s responsible for 380 of Imperial County’s most vulnerable residents — children between the ages of 5 and 11 — and 17 percent of her student body has asthma. The air quality is so poor that the county ranks first in California for asthma-related emergency room visits for children.

Flood Experts Say California Levees Need Much More Money

California needs to spend another $100 million a year to keep the state’s levee system sound, according to state flood control experts. At a press conference marking flood preparedness week Monday at a levee repair site near Sacramento, Bill Edgar, president of the Central Valley Flood Protection Board said the levees will need a $17 billion to $21 billion investment over the next 30 years to protect the seven million Californians at flood risk. That number includes $130 million a year annually for repairs and maintenance, up from the $30 million currently spent.

Trump Opposes Massive California Water Project

The Trump administration pulled support Wednesday from Gov. Jerry Brown’s ambitious plan to build California’s biggest water project in decades, casting the current form of the $16 billion proposal to build two giant tunnels as another unwanted legacy from the Obama era The comments from a U.S. Department of the Interior spokesman marked the first public statements by the Trump administration on the initiative and signaled the latest setback for the project that California’s 79-year-old leader had hoped to see launched before he leaves office next year.

Is Donald Trump Fighting The Delta tunnels? No. But He Won’t Pay For Them, Either

Is the Trump administration opposed to the Delta tunnels, Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to remake the troubled estuary and improve water deliveries to the southern half of the state? For a while Wednesday, it certainly looked that way. A top spokesman for the U.S. Interior Department, Russell Newell, told The Associated Press that “the Trump administration did not fund the project and chose to not move forward with it.”

Interior Department Clarifies, Says It Will Continue To Work On Delta Tunnels Project

After several hours of confusion over the Trump administration’s position on a massive water delivery project, the Interior Department said Wednesday it would continue to work with the state on California WaterFix. Russell Newell, the department’s deputy communications director, told the Associated Press: “The Trump administration did not fund the project and chose to not move forward with it.” Bob Muir, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, one of the project’s biggest backers, said he had “no idea” what to make of Newell’s remarks.