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IB Students Monitor Water Pollution North Of Tijuana

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gustavo Solis

Josh Hill, a marine biology teacher at Mar Vista High School, lost count of the number of times he’s gotten sick from swimming in the ocean at Imperial Beach. “It’s just kind of sad that we have this awesome natural resource that we don’t get to use,” he said. He and a group of students are raising awareness about water pollution by taking weekly water samples of the ocean and publishing their results online. Every Thursday, Hill and his students collect water from the south end of Seacoast Drive and the Imperial Beach Pier.

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Prop. 3 Would Provide Funds For California Water Projects, But Opponents Argue Few Will See The Benefits

/in , /by /Capital Public Radio (Sacramento)by Ezra David Romero

Should a bond for both habitat restoration and water-infrastructure projects be paid for by all Californians or just the groups that would directly benefit? That’s up for voters to decide. Proposition 3 would authorize $8.9 billion in state bonds for water-related infrastructure and environmental projects, including $30 million for repairs along the American River. But with interest it could cost Californians more than $17 billion.

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President Trump Approves Funding For Water Projects That Could Mean More California Reservoirs

/in , /by /Capital Public Radio (Sacramento)by Ezra David Romero

President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan infrastructure bill this week that could lead to raising the Shasta Dam and funding other reservoir projects. The plan is to spend $6 billion throughout the country over 10 years. The president says the funding will go toward ports, reducing flood risk, restorying ecosystems and performing upkeep on waterways — “which are in deep, deep trouble, but they won’t be for very long,” Trump added.

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Oregon, Already Struggling With Drought, May Have Still More to Come

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Matt Weiser

Oregon is known by many as a wet place, with persistent rain and forests enveloped in fog. This year is different. In a matter of just six weeks over the summer, one-third of Oregon was instead enveloped by extreme drought. That figure comes from the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), a branch of NOAA. The results also rank 86 percent of Oregon in severe drought territory, a slightly less severe category.

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Soot-Filled Rivers A Concern Following Wildfires

/in , /by /The Weather Network

During the record-breaking 2018 fire season, the typically clear waters of Cameron Falls in Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta flowed black. But it had nothing to do with the extensive fires that torched much of British Columbia and a small part of Waterton. The carbon came from the remnants of another wildfire that had raced 26 kilometres — from one end of the park to the other — in less than eight hours the year before. Heavy rain from a violent thunderstorm in July 2018 flushed the ash, soot and blackened debris that lay on the forest floor into the Cameron River.

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Will The Doheny Desalination Plant Stay On Track? It Could Depend On The Election

/in , /by /The Orange County Registerby Martin Wisckol

Amid California’s list of contentious desalination proposals, the plant slated for Doheny Beach in Dana Point has had remarkably smooth sailing. Key environmentalist groups battling plans in Huntington Beach and El Segundo have largely taken a hands-off approach to the south Orange County project, recognizing Doheny’s innovative environmental technology and dearth of local water options there. Additionally, a draft countywide analysis earlier this month ranked Doheny well above the Huntington Beach plant proposed by the Poseidon company.

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Otay Water District Executes Successful Bond Sale

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Spring Valley, Calif. – On Oct. 11, the Otay Water District executed a successful bond sale that is expected to close on or about Nov. 1. The water revenue bond will fund $28 million of District’s capital projects during the next three years and will refinance $6.9 million of the District’s 1996 Variable Rate Demand Certificates of Participation (COPs) to a fixed rate of interest. By refinancing its 1996 Variable Rate COPs to a fixed rate, the District has eliminated the risk of increasing costs for customers due to rising interest rates.

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Match your plant choices to the different microclimate areas in your landscaping. A microclimate map helps you make good choices. Photo: Water Authority

Match Your Landscape Plants To Your Microclimates

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A previous Conservation Corner article explained how to map the different types of microclimates present in your landscaping. This information can help homeowners effectively arrange plants in their sustainable landscapes. For the most efficient water use, plants should be grouped together with similar water needs in their favorite microclimate.  

In nature, plants that like lots of water are found along the banks of streams, or grouped together at the base of landscape depressions. Plants that need fast-draining soils so roots don’t rot might be found on hillsides. Plants that love lots of sunshine won’t grow in the shade of a tree.  

Follow the microclimate map  

Look to the Microclimate Map for guidelines on choosing landscape plants. Here is a hypothetical yard with three microclimates:  

  • A front yard in full sun most of the day. 
  • A moist, low-lying area in full sun. (This area will retain moisture more than the rest of the yard, so you may want to use it for rain catchment. Hillside areas surrounding the depression are raised slightly, and drain freely.) 
  • A slightly shady area under the canopy of a neighbor’s large tree, and another one near the front entry to the house. 

Three distinct plant communities 

Selecting plants for the yard in this example will require at least three different groupings:  

  • Sun-loving plants that like their roots dry and thrive in faster-draining soil
  • Sun-loving plants that can tolerate “wet feet” in winter months, and thrive in heavier clay soils
  • Plants that can tolerate dry, shaded areas 

There is another consideration before heading to the local nursery or garden center: How will these plants be irrigated? Check the Plant Factors for each of the plants to make sure their water needs are all similar in each area. Read this previous Conservation Corner story for information about Plant Factors. 

Plants speak Latin 

Low water use plants and succulents

Many plants have similar names. Rely on their Latin names to ensure you are getting the correct plant for your landscaping plan. Photo: Water Authority

Many plants have similar common names in English. Shopping for plants by their common names can lead to confusion between two very different plants. Instead, the best way to shop for plants is to use the Latin name. This reduces surprises in your landscaping.  

 

This article was inspired by the 71-page Sustainable Landscapes Program guidebook available at SustainableLandscapesSD.org. The Water Authority and its partners also offer other great resources for landscaping upgrades, including free WaterSmart classes at WaterSmartSD.org.    

 

 

  

Trump Signs The Water Infrastructure Act

/in , /by /Pacific Standard (Santa Barbara)by Emily Moon

President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan water infrastructure bill into law on Tuesday, authorizing billions of dollars for state-level projects aimed at improving the nation’s rivers, harbors, and drinking water. The law will also defund programs Congress deems “inefficient,” the Hill reports. Provisions that made the cut include funding for studies on wetland restoration and risk management in flood-prone areas, such as Tangier Island, Virginia; extending a program to improve contaminated drinking water in Flint, Michigan; prioritizing lead testing in low-income schools; and requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to appoint at least one employee to serve as a “liaison to minority, tribal, and low-income communities.”

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OPINION: Here’s What Trump Gets Wrong About California’s Water Supply

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

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump fanned the flames of a long-standing debate in California between the state’s environmentalists and farmers. At the White House State Leadership Conference, Trump called California’s dry and fallow fields “one of the most ridiculous things” he saw on the campaign trail in 2016, when the state was still in the midst of a record-setting drought. At a campaign rally in Fresno that year, Trump claimed the government was “taking the water and shoving it out to sea,” and promised to deliver more water to Central Valley farmers.

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