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E.P.A. Proposes Weaker Standards On Chemicals Contaminating Drinking Water

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Eric Lipton and Julie Turkewitz

After pressure from the Defense Department, the Environmental Protection Agency significantly weakened a proposed standard for cleaning up groundwater pollution caused by toxic chemicals that contaminate drinking water consumed by millions of Americans and that have been commonly used at military bases. Standards released by the agency on Thursday eliminated entirely a section that would have addressed how it would respond to what it has described as “immediate threats posed by hazardous waste sites.” Those short-term responses, known as removal actions, can include excavating contaminated soil or building a security fence around a toxic area.

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Irrigation-Conservation Corner-drought-Water Conservation

Spray Versus Drip Irrigation: Which is Best for You?

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Spray irrigation emits water in an overlapping pattern, while drip irrigation delivers water directly to the roots of plants. How do you decide which meets the needs of your landscaping?

The case for spray irrigation

Spray irrigation can be an efficient way to irrigate large landscapes with groundcover or uniform plant materials like lawns or meadows.

Spray systems apply water in gallons per minute (GPM), so if you know the application rate of each spray head, the distance between the heads, and the pressure of your system, it is relatively easy to figure out how much water is applied every time you run your irrigation.

Low volume spray heads apply water at about one-third the rate of conventional spray heads. Newer spray irrigation heads have improved spray with heavier droplets more resistant to wind. Landscaping with grade changes using spray heads should have check valves installed to prevent water flowing out of the lower point heads.

Challenges of spray irrigation include narrow areas surrounded by hardscape, or irregular patterns. Irregular patterns are particularly challenging, because spray irrigation requires head-to-head coverage to be efficient. Odd-shaped areas may be under or over watered. High-volume spray heads that emit water at a much higher rate than soil can absorb should be replaced.

The case for drip irrigation

Drip systems apply water in gallons per hour (GPH), so they often need to run for longer periods of time than spray systems. But the actual run time must always account for precipitation rate and runoff.

Installing subsurface systems (under at least two inches of mulch) is the most efficient way to irrigate nearly every type of garden area. Since the tubing is flexible, it can accommodate a variety of irregular shaped areas or rectangular areas when laid in a grid pattern, and in rings you can easily expand as trees or shrubs grow.

Challenges of drip irrigation include application of water too quickly for your soil to absorb. This needs to be considered when dripline grids are installed. Drip irrigation operates the most efficiently at low pressure (between 15 and 30 PSI). To achieve optimal performance, pressure regulation either at the valve or at the point of connection of the dripline to the buried lateral lines must be used. It is also essential to install some type of filtering system to keep the emitters from getting clogged.


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.

 

Cal Am Desal Plant Gets Narrow Planning Commission OK

/in , , /by /Monterey Heraldby Jim Johnson

Citing long-running efforts to secure a new Monterey Peninsula water supply and the state-imposed deadline for reducing unauthorized water usage, the county Planning Commission approved California American Water’s desalination plant north of Marina on Wednesday. By a 6-4 vote, the commission backed a use permit for the proposed 6.4 million gallon per day desal plant. The plant is designed to provide about 40 percent of the Peninsula’s planned new water supply to offset the state’s Carmel River pumping cutback order set to take full effect at the end of 2021, as well as reduce pumping from the Seaside basin. The commission’s approval can be appealed to the Board of Supervisors.

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4S Ranch Water Reclamation Facility Wins State Award

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Elizabeth Marie Himchak

Olivenhain Municipal Water District’s 4S Ranch Water Reclamation Facility has won a statewide award. It was named the California Water Environment Association’s 2019 “Small Plant of the Year” at the association’s annual conference on April 12. “OMWD is gratified to have CWEA confirm what we’ve known for years, our 4S Ranch Water Reclamation Facility is second to none,” said Christy Guerin, the district’s director. “The facility produces over a million gallons of recycled water each day through advance treatment processes. Almost every drop of wastewater is reclaimed and converted into a drought-resilient, sustainable water supply.”

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Former Utilities Department Leader Says City Diverted Ratepayer Funds To Unrelated Services

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Lauryn Schroeder

A former Public Utilities Department leader is accusing the city of San Diego of illegally diverting $1 million in water and wastewater funds to other city services and firing her for refusing to conceal the activity, according to a claim she filed with the city on Monday. Susan LaNier, a former deputy director and internal auditor for the utilities department, was one of five utility leaders the city fired in February, following public outcry over billing errors and accusations of mismanagement within the department.

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Disturbing Levels Of Carbon Dioxide Likely To Increase Ocean Acidity Fast, Scientists Say

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Peter Fimrite

Unusually high concentrations of carbon dioxide have been blowing out to sea from Bay Area cities and agricultural areas, raising concerns that the previously unknown infusions could increase ocean acidity faster than climate change experts have predicted, Monterey Bay scientists said this week. The greenhouse gases flowing into the sea could add as much as 25 million tons of carbon dioxide into the ocean every year, roughly 1 percent of the total annual amount from all sources that permeates the sea water, according to calculations by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

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How An ‘Unripe Snowpack’ Will Impact Lake Tahoe This Summer

/in , /by /The San Francisco Gate by Amy Graff

For the third year in a row, Lake Tahoe is expected to fill. This is noteworthy for the sixth-largest lake in the United States that flirted with record-low levels amid a five-year drought that ended in 2017. Even more good news for the West’s water supply: Tahoe’s water level is likely to reach its peak late in the season as a robust snow pack slowly melts through summer, feeding the reservoir and the Truckee River continuously for months to come

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Drilling Down To Defend Against Drought in Atlanta

/in , /by /The Engineering New Recordby Jim Parsons

The 2005-2007 drought that parched the Southeast wasn’t the worst Atlanta has endured since its establishment as a railroad hub in the 1830s. But with a burgeoning population dependent on a single water supply source the Chattahoochee River, fed by Lake Lanier that itself had been crippled by prolonged dry conditions, the drought was bad enough to spur action.

 

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Poseidon Desalination Would Hurt Low Income Ratepayers

/in , /by /The Orange County Breeze

Today Azul released a new report conducted by UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation that looked at potential impacts of Poseidon’s proposed desalination project on disadvantaged households in Orange County. The expert analysis confirmed what equity groups like Azul, Oakview ComUNIDAD and OC Earth Stewards have long asserted: that the plant’s billion dollar price tag would drive up water rates, harming low-income ratepayers without providing any benefit in terms of water reliability or quality.

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Dead Fish Wash Up Near $6.3 Million Passageway Designed To Protect Them. Why Didn’t It Work?

/in , , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler

Dozens of fish carcasses 13 of them Chinook salmon protected by the Endangered Species Act rotted in the sun Tuesday a couple hundred yards from a new $6.3 million structure that state officials built specifically to keep that grisly scenario from happening. Before the winter and spring flood season this year, engineers completed work on the new fish passage along the Fremont Weir, a nearly two mile-long concrete structure atop the Yolo Bypass.

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