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Reps. Levin, Peters Urge Congress To Say No Drilling Off California Coast

California Reps. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, and Mike Levin, D-Dana Point, have co-sponsored legislation aimed at blocking a Trump administration plan to sell new offshore oil leases in U.S. coastal waters.

The measure, HR 1941 creates a permanent ban on offshore drilling around the country and it is getting a hearing in the House of Representatives.

Dana Point Deploys More Sand Bags In Emergency Effort To Save Storm Drain, Water Treatment Facility In Battle Against Erosion

Save as much as we can, for as long as we can.

That’s the new motto for Toni Nelson, who heads the community advocacy group Capo Cares, as the Dana Point resident pushes for the continual effort to save Capistrano Beach before it disappears into the sea – much of it has in recent years.

Work kicked off recently to add more than 500 sand cubes to a stretch of Dana Point, an emergency measure to save a city storm drain and water quality treatment facility that also inadvertently is helping a portion of pathway used frequently by walkers, joggers and bikers that is in danger of crumbling

Two Small Agencies Want A Divorce From The Water Authority. It Could Get Messy.

Back in January, the head of an obscure government agency that exists almost entirely to draw the boundary lines of other public agencies had gotten wind of something. Two rural water agencies wanted to bolt from the San Diego County Water Authority so they could start buying cheaper water from Riverside County.

Keene Simonds knew what was in store for his agency, the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission, which oversees things like where a city’s limits end and where water districts can sell water.

UCSD Discovers Surge In Plastics Pollution Off Santa Barbara

UC San Diego researchers say they have discovered an “explosion of plastics pollution” in the seafloor off Santa Barbara, in an area where little of the material appeared to exist before the end of World War II.

The university’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography says the surge may reflect the boom in plastics production that occurred worldwide after the war, largely for use in consumer products, ranging from bottles to clothing.

State Supreme Court Declines To Hear Desal Project Challenge

Without explanation, the State Supreme Court has declined to consider a legal challenge backed by the Marina Coast Water District and city of Marina against the state Public Utilities Commission’s approval of California American Water’s proposed Monterey Peninsula water supply project.

Last week, the state’s high court issued notice that it had denied the petition for review of the CPUC decision in September last year certifying an environmental review document for Cal Am’s water project, including a 6.4-million gallon per day desalination plant north of Marina, and approving a permit for the proposal. The court did not include any rationale for denying the legal challenge and has rarely considered challenges to CPUC decisions.

Dog Deaths Raise Algal Bloom Alarm As States Report More Toxins

A high-profile series of dog deaths has awakened the public to the growing problem of toxic algal blooms, spurred by rising temperatures and pollution.

The blooms are emerging as a national, not just regional, concern, according to preliminary data reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through July. Samples taken from New Jersey to California, and from Texas to Washington state, all show evidence of toxins given off by the blooms.

Since 2018, when the EPA started collecting the latest batch of data, algal blooms have been documented near the intakes of water treatment plants at least 130 times.

City Links Golf Course To Recycled Water

As the deadline for groundwater sustainability approaches in California, one Tulare County city has taken another step toward eliminating its need for landscape irrigation.

At its Aug. 19 meeting, the Visalia City Council approved a notice of completion to replumb the waterlines used to irrigate the Valley Oaks Golf Course to carry recycled water instead of groundwater. The project installed 2-inch potable water lines and 8-inch irrigation lines at four locations throughout the golf course, with backflow preventers and water elevation sensors to separate drinking water from mixing with irrigation water.

How California Wildfires Can Impact Water Availability

In recent years, wildfires in the western United States have occurred with increasing frequency and scale. Climate change scenarios in California predict prolonged periods of drought with potential for conditions even more amenable to wildfires. The Sierra Nevada Mountains provide up to 70% of the state’s water resources, yet there is little known on how wildfires will impact water resources in the future.