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OPINION: Is There Enough Water For Us In The Desert? Water Agencies Work To Keep It Flowing.

/in , /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Joseph K. Stuart

Is there enough water in our desert? I am often asked this question. Everywhere you look new homes, hotels and master-planned developments are appearing. It is wise to ask whether we have enough water for these future desert residents and visitors. Permits for new projects are under the jurisdiction of cities or the county — not under the purview of water agencies. Water agencies are tasked with supplying the water. Balancing growth and water supplies is nothing new to desert communities. It has always been a fact of life in our desert and is one of Desert Water Agency’s most important responsibilities.

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Region Awarded $500K For Water-Related Research Projects

/in , /by /The Daily Transcriptby Mark Armao Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) recently awarded $500,000 in grant funding to three San Diego projects designed to advance the development of a locally controlled, reliable water supply. The San Diego County Water Authority submitted the region’s proposal in partnership with the city of San Diego, Padre Dam Municipal Water District and Olivenhain Municipal Water District. In August, MWD offered $3.5 million in Future Supply Action Program grants, with a $500,000 cap for each of its member agencies. The San Diego region proposal garnered the maximum amount of funding.

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Arizona Lawmakers Under Pressure To Approve Seven-State Colorado River Drought Plan Before Federal Deadline

/in , /by /The Colorado Sun (Denver)by Jason Blevins

Years of drought planning between the seven Western states that rely on the overtaxed, climate-withered Colorado River comes down to Arizona lawmakers in the next two-and-half weeks. With a federal deadline of Jan. 31 for the states to forge a collaborative Drought Contingency Plan, Arizona remains the lone holdout. The plans for each of the states — California, Arizona and Nevada in the Lower Basin, and Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming in the Upper Basin — outline strategies for reducing demands on the Colorado River before water storage in the already record-low Lake Mead and Lake Powell drop to catastrophically low levels.

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Trump Tempers Talk Of Emergency At Border, But Eyes California Projects For Wall Funds

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sarah D. Wire

As the federal government’s partial shutdown became tied on Friday for the longest one ever, President Trump tempered his talk of declaring a national emergency on the southern border that could free him to spend money on a wall there. The president insisted on his power to make the declaration, which could allow him to divert federal funds for other purposes to a wall. Yet after days of resistance from some congressional Republicans, he no longer sounded notes of urgency about taking such action.

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In This Water-Starved California Town, One Citrus Farmer Is Trying To Hold On

/in , /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Ian James

Citrus groves spread out in rows across the desert in Borrego Springs, forming a lush green oasis against a backdrop of bone-dry mountains. When the grapefruit and lemon trees bloom on Jim Seley’s farm, the white blossoms fill the air with their sweet scent. His father founded the farm in 1957, and Seley has been farming here since 1964. He and his son, Mike, manage the business, and they hope to pass it on to the next generation of Seleys. But the farms of Borrego Springs, like the town and its golf courses, rely completely on groundwater pumped from the desert aquifer.

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A simple, quick test will tel you how well your soil drains. Photo: Greywater.org landscape soil

Take a Soil Percolation Test

/in , /by

In the San Diego region, rainfall can be unreliable and insufficient to sustain landscaping without careful planning and a little help. An alternate water source, such as irrigation, may be required.  

To make choices about the best, most efficient irrigation system for your landscape, it’s important to learn how well your soil drains.  

How does your drainage perform? 

Assessing how well water drains through your soil involves a simple percolation or drainage test. Follow these four steps: 

1) Dig a hole the size of a one-gallon plant, about 12 inches deep and 12 inches wide. 

2) Fill the hole with water and wait. Time how long it takes the hole to drain completely. This is needed to saturate the soil. 

3) Once the water has drained and none is visible in the hole, fill the hole with water again.  

4) Lay a stick or a shovel handle across the top of the hole, and measure the distance from the top of the hole at the handle or stick to the top of the water once every hour until it drains completely the second time. You may want to set a timer so you don’t forget to make your measurements. 

Percolation and soil quality 

If your soil drains more than four inches per hour: You have sandy soil. You need to add organic matter to improve the soil.

If your soil drains less than one inch per hour: Your soil needs extra help to drain. Try sheet mulching (link to page 19) 

If your soil drains from one to four inches per hour: Good news, your soil is a sponge and drains well. This is the goal.    

It isn’t difficult to build healthy, well-draining soil. Get our tips on how to create health soil here.

 

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. 

 

 

 

San Francisco Sues State Over Potentially Drastic Water Reductions

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

The city of San Francisco is not standing down in California’s latest water war, joining a lawsuit against the state on Thursday to stop it from directing more of the Sierra Nevada’s cool, crisp flows to fish instead of people. City officials contend the State Water Resources Control Board is overreaching with a new, sweeping plan to restore California’s depleted river system by limiting draws on such water supplies as San Francisco’s Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite. The plan, according to city estimates, will force Bay Area households to cut water use by 20 percent or more.

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OPINION: Choose Desalination Over Water Tunnels

/in , /by /Ventura County Reporterby John P. MacHarg and Ted Kuepper

There is a connection between the proposed $20 billion Sacramento Delta Water Tunnels, the proposed mining/pumping of water from the Mojave Desert, Central Valley farmers lacking the water resources to maximize food production, and the Sacramento River and fishing stocks suffering from inadequate water flows. That connection is the State Water Project (SWP), which pumps water to Southern California and reduces the river water needed for fisheries, farmers, and the Sacramento River, itself.

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Arizona Drought-Plan Issues Remain As Federal Jan. 31 Deadline Nears

/in , /by /Arizona Daily Star (Tucson)by Tony Davis

Four key issues remain unsettled as negotiators for a Colorado River drought-adaptation plan wrap up discussions and prepare to send a complex package of water-saving proposals to the Arizona Legislature. Farmers, developers and officials of the $4 billion Central Arizona Project said Tuesday they still aren’t satisfied with various provisions in a proposed drought contingency plan aimed at propping up imperiled Lake Mead. Because of that, negotiations over details will probably have to continue even when the Legislature starts debating the plan next week.

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Scientists Are Using Bacteria To Remove Harmful Contaminants From Our Water. Here’s How.

/in , /by /Environmental Health Newsby Hannah Thomasy

John Coates’ laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, hums with activity. Negative 80-degree freezers whirr, liquid nitrogen bubbles, grad students meticulously measure and mix complicated concoctions. But all of this is nothing compared with the commotion going on at a microscopic level.  The Coates lab is growing many different kinds of bacteria, multiplying in petri dishes at mind-boggling rates. But these bacteria aren’t out to harm people or animals. In fact, quite the opposite — they’re hard at work breaking down a dangerous chemical that pollutes waterways across the United States.

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