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New Report Highlights Acquisition Trends In The U.S. Water Market

/in , /by /Water Finance and Management

The U.S. municipal water landscape is undergoing a transformation as critical infrastructure services — water, gas, and electricity — converge under single investor-owned utility banners. This trend is highlighted by the growing roster of diversified infrastructure service providers owning water and wastewater utilities in the U.S., according to a new report from Bluefield Research. The recent report, “U.S. Private Water Utilities: Drivers, Competitive Landscape and Acquisition Trends, 2019,” provides in-depth analysis of investor-owned water utility strategies and of 517 water and wastewater system acquisitions from 2015 through 2018, including Eversource Energy’s $1.68 million (USD) for Aquarion Water, NW Natural’s roll-up of smaller systems in the Pacific Northwest, and Aqua America’s $4.3 billion (USD) acquisition of People Gas.

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Near-Record ‘Dead Zone’ Forecast Off U.S. Gulf Coast, Threatening Fish

/in , /by /Reutersby Rich McKay

A near record-sized “dead zone” of oxygen-starved water could form in the Gulf of Mexico this summer, threatening its huge stocks of marine life, researchers said. The area could spread to about 8,717 square miles (20,577 square km), scientists at Louisiana State University said on Monday, or about the size of the state of New Hampshire, and larger than the 5-year average of 5,770 square miles. Experts blamed unusually high rainfall across the U.S. Midwest this Spring that washed farm fertilisers along streams and rivers through the Mississippi River Basin out into the Gulf.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom Abandons Water Tax, Rejects Some New Spending In California Budget Deal

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby John Myers

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic legislative leaders announced Sunday the broad outlines of a new state budget, one that provides a boost for California’s low-income adults and children but excludes a controversial tax to pay for clean water in distressed communities. The details of key parts of the agreement were unveiled during a late afternoon hearing in which legislators from both houses met to approve the proposal. Though it does not signal the end of the budget process — legislators cited numerous places where the plan includes placeholder language, thus leaving the details to be determined later — the action brought to an end principal budget negotiations at the state Capitol, the first for Newsom since taking office this year.

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On Stressed Colorado River, States Test How Many More Diversions Watershed Can Bear

/in , , /by /KUNC (Greeley, Colo.)by Luke Runyon

The Colorado River is short on water. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at a slate of proposed water projects in the river’s Upper Basin states of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. The river and its tributaries provide water for 40 million people in the Southwest. For about the last 20 years, demand for water has outstripped the supply, causing its largest reservoirs to decline.

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Blue-Green Algae Treated At Lake Skinner Near Temecula, As Other Lakes Recover From Blooms

/in , /by /The Press-Enterprise (Riverside)by Ryan Hagen

The season of toxic algae blooms is here. A helicopter crew spread copper sulfate over Lake Skinner near Temecula on Thursday, June 6, to combat a cyanobacteria bloom — also known as blue-green algae — that had been producing some cyanotoxins and unpleasant tastes and odors. The bloom doesn’t endanger water that will be delivered to customers, and swimming at the lake was already prohibited, but signs now warn visitors not to let pets drink the water or swim in the lake, to throw away fish guts and clean fillets with tap or bottled water before cooking, and not to use lake water for cooking, Metropolitan Water District spokeswoman Rebecca Kimitch said.

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Utah Presses Forward With Pipeline Plans Despite Colorado River Basin Constraints

/in , /by /KUER (Salt Lake City)by Judy Fahys

The drive behind a massive water development project in southwestern Utah, the Lake Powell Pipeline, shows no signs of slowing even after the Colorado River Basin states signed a new agreement this spring that could potentially force more conservation or cutbacks. Despite the risk that the river resource is overcommitted and it is shrinking, four Upper Basin states — Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico — are pushing forward with dams, reservoir expansions and pipelines like the one at Lake Powell that will allow them to capture what they were promised under the 1922 Colorado River Compact. The Lower Basin states of Arizona, Nevada and California have been using that water downstream for nearly a century.

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Big Boost Of Water Is Headed To Ventura County’s Overstressed Groundwater Basins

/in , /by /Ventura County Starby Cheriann Carlson

In a first-of-its-kind move, the Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency agreed to pay up to $3 million to help recharge overstressed groundwater resources in Ventura County. The money will buy roughly 15,000 acre-feet of water, which started spilling out of Santa Felicia Dam at Lake Piru Monday. From there, the water rushes down creeks and the Santa Clara River past Fillmore and Santa Paula to Freeman Diversion off Los Angeles Avenue near Oxnard. Its destination: Spreading ponds near Oxnard and Camarillo. Then, the water will start slowly seeping into the ground and recharging the aquifer – relief sorely needed after a years-long drought, said Jeff Pratt, the county’s public works director.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom’s First California Budget Deal Is Near. Here’s What To Watch For

/in , , /by /Capital Public Radio (Sacramento)by Ben Adler

The first California budget deal under Gov. Gavin Newsom is just days away. Newsom and legislative leaders must finalize their spending plan for the coming fiscal year this weekend for lawmakers to meet their June 15 constitutional budget deadline. Democrats had hoped to close out the joint Senate-Assembly budget conference committee by Friday — likely with a late night hearing — in hopes of a budget passing the full Legislature next Thursday, two days ahead of next Saturday’s deadline. But it now appears that talks between Newsom, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) and Senate President pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) aren’t gelling as fast as hoped.

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UC San Diego Study Shows Large Levels Of Micro-Plastics In Deep Ocean Environment

/in , /by /ABC10 (San Diego) by Jared Aarons

A new study by a UC San Diego Assistant Professor says there is more plastic pollution in the deepest parts of the ocean than previously thought. Assistant Professor Anela Choy spent the last three years studying water samples off the Monterey Bay coast and found the highest concentration of micro-plastics at levels 200-600 meters below the surface. “It’s a great problem,” Choy says. “Tt’s pervasive and we’re just starting to understand the sources.” Choy worked with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute to test water samples at varying depths. They also took readings of micro-plastics in the digestive systems of animals at different depths.

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CWA Authorizes Water Audit Contract With Mission RCD

/in , , /by /Village Newsby Joe Naiman Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority authorized a contract with the Mission Resource Conservation District to administer the SDCWA’s WaterSmart Field Services Program. The May 23 CWA board action authorized CWA acting general manager Sandra Kerl to enter into a three-year contract with the Mission RCD which will pay $260,000 for administration of the WaterSmart Field Services Program through June 30, 2022. The authorization also includes an option for a two-year extension which can be ratified administratively rather than by CWA board approval. The WaterSmart Field Services Program includes residential surveys, landscape audits, irrigation checkups and follow-up irrigation controller visits.

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