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Nevada County’s Water Board To Talk Rate Hike, Raw Water Master Plan

/in , /by /The Union (Grass Valley, Calif.)by Liz Kellar

Nevada County’s water district is taking baby steps in its effort to build a more inclusive community input process for determining its water needs over the next 50 years. The Nevada Irrigation District board of directors last fall hired a consultant to lead the stakeholder process to update its Raw Water Master Plan, to the tune of $800,000. But pushback from the public and cost-conscious directors led to terminating that contract and starting over.

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The US Is Only Decades Away From Widespread Water Shortages, Scientists Warn

/in , /by /ScienceAlert

Much of the United States could be gripped by significant water shortages in just five decades’ time, according to predictions made in a new study. From the year 2071 on, scientists say the combined effects of climate change and population increases are projected to present “serious challenges” in close to half of the 204 watersheds covering the contiguous US.

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DWR Set To Appeal Oroville Funding Denials

/in , /by /Farm Progress (St. Charles, Ill.)by Tim Hearden

California’s state water agency is set to appeal a federal determination that some of the Oroville Dam’s reconstruction costs are ineligible for reimbursement. The Federal Emergency Management Agency last week approved an additional $205 million for the project, on top of the $128.4 million it sent last year, according to the state Department of Water Resources.

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Environment Report: The Wet Weather Is In San Diego’s DNA

/in , /by /The Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

San Diego has been gloomy — cold, cloudy and rainy — pretty much since Christmas Day. Communities in North County — Vista and Ramona — just had their coldest February on record, according to the National Weather Service. So far, it’s rained three inches more than normal for this time of year in San Diego. “People who are doing construction are sending me text messages saying, ‘When is it going to stop?’” said Alex Tardy, a weather service meteorologist.

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California Agencies Dispute Colorado River Drought Plan

/in , /by /The Associated Press by Felicia Fonseca and Jonathan J. Cooper

A major Southern California water agency is trying to push the state through a final hurdle in joining a larger plan to preserve a key river in the U.S. West that serves 40 million people. Most of the seven states that get water from the Colorado River have signed off on plans to keep the waterway from crashing amid a prolonged drought, climate change and increased demands. But California and Arizona have not, missing deadlines from the federal government.

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OPINION: Groundwater Law Is Critical, But Will Be Baffling

/in , /by /Chico Enterprise-Record

A process is underway that’s extremely important, and likely to be way over most of our heads. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act was passed in 2014, which set deadlines for local agencies to come up with plans to manage the water beneath them “… without causing undesirable results.” Undesirable results include things like water quality deterioration, land subsidence and big drops in the water table. The state left it up to the local agencies to determine what their undesirable results were, but Sacramento reserved the right to reject plans that it felt were inadequate and impose their own.

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Using devices like this rain chain can help you slow and store rainfall for later use. Photo: Contraption/Flickr-Creative Commons License

Catch the Rain By Slowing and Storing It

/in , /by

If rain gutters are installed on your house, water will be directed into downspouts, where it can move with great force and speed. This is especially true in a large storm. Instead of allowing downspouts to discharge directly on hard surfaces like a driveway, path, or patio, think about ways to redirect downspout water into vegetated landscape areas. 

One option is to replace downspouts with “rainchains” to slow down the water so it can be more easily absorbed when it reaches your landscape areas. Add a rain barrel or cistern at the bottom of downspouts or rainchains and let it overflow into the garden. 

If rain gutters are not installed, water shears off roof surfaces and can cause erosion damage. Areas under the eaves may be covered in permeable groundcovers such as pea gravel, mulch, or rocks to reduce the compacting force of water falling on bare soil. Spreading fresh leaf and wood chip mulch throughout the garden will slow down water. Healthy soil can withstand even the strongest rain.   

Ways of storing rainfall  

Rainwater can also be harvested and stored. Storage vessels include rain barrels and cisterns directly connected to downspouts  

Stored water can be released gradually into the landscaping between winter rainstorms, building up the soil sponge and ensuring that native plants get adequate water during the winter months when they need it most. If you need water in the summer and capture enough of it during the winter, you may be able to use your cistern water for irrigation  

Both rain barrels and above–ground cisterns can be relatively inexpensive to purchase and easy to install. Mosquitos are kept out using screens. With minimum maintenance and common sense, the water can be kept safe. If you plan to store rainwater, make sure the “first flush” is diverted directly into the landscaping before capturing the rainfall that follows.  

Properly placed trees also are excellent landscaping features to help capture rainfall, allowing it to be released slowly over time into the soil.  

 

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. 

  

 

 

Local Agencies Respond Faster Than Federal Agencies To Request For Public Records

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Lauryn Schroeder Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

While some public agencies in San Diego County delay or outright fail to turn over public documents, a San Diego Union-Tribune review found they’re far more responsive than federal agencies, which have more freedom to delay or under weaker public records laws. In January U-T Watchdog sought six months’ worth of email records that contained four phrases — “off the record,” “off record,” “on background” and “deep background” — from nearly 100 public agencies. The phrases refer to reporters’ and sources’ agreements to confidentially share information.

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A Wet Winter Will Likely Lead To A Whale Of A Year For Hydro In California

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Rob Nikolewski

Plenty of snow in the Sierra and lots of rain just about everywhere else in California have helped alleviate drought conditions across the state. But there’s also another positive byproduct of the wet winter — a likely boost in the amount of hydroelectricity in California’s energy mix. “I’m looking at the reservoirs in the state and I see almost all of them at the historical average in terms of storage,” said Ghassan Alqaser, chief of the State Water Project Power and Risk Office at the California Department of Water Resources. “With that, we expect an above average hydro year.”

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Rain Brings 2nd California Super Bloom In 2 Years

/in , /by /AP News by Julie Watson

It started with the desert lilies in December. Since then a wave of wildflower blooms has been crescendoing across Southern California’s Anza-Borrego desert in a burst of color so vivid it can be seen from mountain tops thousands of feet above. Two years after steady rains followed by warm temperatures caused seeds dormant for decades under the desert floor to burst open and produce a spectacular display dubbed the “super bloom,” another winter soaking this year is expected to create possibly an even better show by Mother Nature.

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