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Data Collection Begins Toward Raising Shasta Dam

/in , /by /Paradise Post (Paradise, Calif.)

Geologists are beginning take core samples to collect data for a proposal to raise Shasta Dam by 18 1/2 feet. The Bureau of Reclamation says the samples will be taken over the next few months from on, around and deep within the dam, in order to characterize concrete and geology conditions. The federal government has been studying the idea of raising the dam and enlarging Shasta Reservoir on and off since the 1980s. But the state of California, environmental groups and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe have been and remain opposed.

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California’s Looming Water Pollution Problem

/in , /by /Pacific Standard Magazine (Santa Barbara)by Kate Wheeling

In the winter of 2001, Tom Frantz and a friend were cruising in his pick-up truck along a stretch of Highway 33 in Kern County, California. Known as the Petroleum Highway, this particular stretch of the roadway cuts across some of the state’s largest oil fields. Frantz, a mustachioed man whose wispy white hair is usually hidden beneath a beige fedora, was born and raised in Kern County; he was used to seeing pumpjacks bobbing up and down on the west side of the region, but on this cool winter day, a plume of steam in the distance caught his eye.

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OPINION: San Diego’s Summer Tourism Boom Was Brought To You By Water

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Joe Terzi and Kerri Kapich Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Three months ago, we predicted then that this would be one of the most successful summers for tourism in our county — and the season didn’t disappoint. More than 11 million people visited the county over the past three months, spending $3.5 billion and boosting our local economy. While it may not seem obvious, record-breaking tourist activity is only possible with access to a safe and reliable water supply. Every hotel stay, beach day and theme park visit bolsters the tourism industry’s annual economic impact of $17.9 billion. Take Comic-Con: 130,000 pop-culture fans attended the convention in July, generating a regional economic impact of $147.1 million.

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Congress Must Move to Renew Federal Fund Vital For Watershed Protection

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Jay Ziegler

FOR MORE THAN 50 years, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) has protected national parks and open spaces in every corner of the United States. In many ways, it is the most important conservation and recreation program in the U.S. But it will expire at the end of this month, unless Congress acts to reauthorize it prior to that. We need the LWCF to protect iconic outdoor places, increase public access to public lands for hunting, fishing, hiking and other outdoor activities, and create parks for our communities.

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A Guide To Drought-Friendly Aloes

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Karen Dardick

Debilitating droughts, fierce fires, water shortages — all are contributing to some people getting rid of their gardens. However, people can enjoy colorful plants while conserving water by changing their plant choices. Consider succulent plants. Succulents are defined as any plant storing water in leaves, stems or roots to withstand drought. (Cactuses are succulents, but botanists set them apart in their own category of Cactaceae.) Botanists have categorized succulent plants into many different genera. The most widely used in home gardens are aloes, agaves, aeoniums, kalanchoe, sedums, echeveria, euphorbia and crassula.

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California’s Plan To Store Water Underground Could Risk Contamination

/in , /by /KQED (San Francisco) by Amanda Heidt

As California begins handing out $2.5 billion in state funds for several new water management projects, a shift is taking place in the ways officials are considering storing water. To contend with the likelihood of future extreme droughts, some of these new strategies rely on underground aquifers — an approach far removed from traditional dam-based water storage.

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Congressman Garamendi Says Delta Tunnels Letter Is Full Of Misrepresentations

/in , /by /The Reporter News (Vacaville)by Melissa Murphy

Congressman John Garamendi’s office (D-Solano) confirmed Wednesday he sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler describing the “misrepresentations” present in the Delta Conveyance Finance Authority (DCFA) Letter of Interest (LOI) for the Delta Tunnels project known as California WaterFix. The DCFA submitted a Letter of Interest to the EPA’s Water Infrastructure, Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan program seeking $9.5 billion in funding for the Delta Tunnels. The total estimated project cost is $19.8 billion.

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New Tool For Water Managers Untangles CA’s Groundwater Management Act

/in , /by /Environmental Leader (Fort Collins, Colo)by Jennifer Hermes

Sustainably managing groundwater is one of the most important and complex challenges that California will face in coming decades, water experts in the state believe. Now, water managers have a new tool to help them understand California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA): the Groundwater Exchange, a free, collaborative online platform that offers tools and resources to support successful implementation of SGMA.

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The Salton Sea Is Shrinking Even Faster, And California Still Hasn’t Done Much To Fix It

/in , /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Sammy Roth

In November 2015, there was a rare celebration at the Salton Sea. More than 100 people gathered on a dry stretch of dirt at Red Hill Bay, where the lake’s shoreline was receding quickly. They were there to break ground on the Salton Sea’s first major restoration project, which would create hundreds of acres of habitat for migratory birds and help keep lung-damaging dust out of the air. Several public officials  — including state lawmakers Eduardo Garcia and Ben Hueso — grabbed shovels and posed for a photo scooping dirt out of the ground, with a bulldozer in the background.

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Local Water Officials Discuss 50-Year Extension Of State Water Project Contract

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sara Cardine

Water officials discussed Monday extending the supply contract for the State Water Project, a program that provides water for 25 million people and irrigates more than 750,000 acres of California farmland, for a 50-year period. Members of the Board of Directors for Foothill Municipal Water District — which distributes water imported from Metropolitan Water District to customers of the La Cañada Irrigation District, Valley Water Co. and the Crescenta Valley and Mesa Crest water districts, among others — considered the matter in a regular board meeting.

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