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OMWD and City of Encinitas Announce Neighborhood Meeting on September 17 about Pipeline Replacement Project and Lane Restriping along El Camino Real Corridor

Encinitas, Calif.—Residents and business owners are invited to attend a public meeting on September 17 to learn about two important projects taking place along the North El Camino Real Corridor in the coming months.

OPINION: Farms, The Environment, And The Future Of Water

In the middle of July, I was surprised to find myself trudging through a couple feet of snow while hiking south of Lake Tahoe. It was a striking contrast to the long walks I took on the dry lakebed of Folsom Reservoir near my home during the historic drought just five short years ago.

That crisis led our state leaders to approve the most sweeping change in water law in a century: the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Gov. Jerry Brown signed it into law on Sept. 16, 2014.

OPINION: Everyone Wants To Solve California’s Water Problems. Senate Bill 1 Is Not The Answer

In their Fresno Bee op-ed (Sept. 8), Reps. Jim Costa and TJ Cox opined the remedies they suggested would improve Senate Bill 1 enough to make it possible for Gov. Newsom to sign the bill.

You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.

Unfortunately, SB1 is so flawed that if it is signed by the governor, it will set back progress towards excellent solutions to California’s infamous water woes by decades.

Could “Black Swan” Events Spawned By Climate Change Wreak Havoc In The Colorado River Basin?

The Colorado River Basin’s 20 years of drought and the dramatic decline in water levels at the river’s key reservoirs have pressed water managers to adapt to challenging conditions. But even more extreme — albeit rare — droughts or floods that could overwhelm water managers may lie ahead in the Basin as the effects of climate change take hold, say a group of scientists. They argue that stakeholders who are preparing to rewrite the operating rules of the river should plan now for how to handle these so-called “black swan” events so they’re not blindsided.

Trump Administration To Repeal Waterway Protections

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday announced final plans to redefine and thus shrink the waterways that must be protected under the law, a move likely to be swiftly challenged legally by environmentalists.

The final plans to repeal the 2015 Obama-era Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule would stymie the federal government’s capacity to regulate pollutants in wetlands and tributaries that feed into large rivers.

Senator Melissa Hurtado’s Bill To Provide Relief For Families Without Reliable Access To Water Heads To Governor’s Desk

Senate Bill 513, authored by Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger), is headed towards Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk for approval. The bill, which received bi-partisan support, will provide relief for families without reliable access to water by delivering a temporary alternative source of water supply.

“Today, water shortage in the southern Central Valley continue to impact thousands of families who face limited access to clean drinking water,” stated Sen. Hurtado

School Programs Are Cultivating Interest in Gardening

Children and gardens have been a common theme throughout literature. From “Jack and the Beanstalk” to “Alice in Wonderland,” “The Secret Garden” to “The Lorax,” our storytellers have found beautiful and fantastical ways of emphasizing the connection between children and things that grow.

In a more real way, strengthening that connection between youngsters and the green world continues today in the blank spaces of school play yards that have been turned into school gardens.

Agreement Close On Buena Vista Lagoon Restoration

A proposal to keep deeper, more open water at the western end of the Buena Vista Lagoon is part of modifications that could make a proposed restoration at last palatable to all the property owners involved.

“It would still remove the weir, but would also protect the St. Malo open areas, as well as create some critical areas of deeper water,” said Keith Greer, regional principal planner for the San Diego Association of Governments, in a presentation Tuesday to the Carlsbad City Council.

 

Unquenchable Thirst: Groundwater Bill Could Shift State’s Water Management Approach

The latest salvo is California’s long-running water wars, SB307, has the potential to emerge as one of the most important pieces of water regulation in recent years. Although its target was narrow — it was designed to undercut the capacity of Cadiz, Inc. to pump annually upwards of 16 billion gallons of groundwater in eastern San Bernardino County and sell it to ever-thirsty Southern California — the legislation may prove to be far-reaching in its consequences.

San Diego Region Leaders To Visit White House Following Latest Beach Closure From Tijuana River Sewage

Imperial Beach shorelines remain closed after nearly 100 million gallons of sewage-tainted runoff recently poured over the border from Mexico.

Local officials plan to visit the nation’s capital in coming weeks to urge lawmakers to fund an U.S. EPA blueprint released this summer for capturing sewage-tainted flows in the Tijuana River.

The planned visit, spearheaded by Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina, comes after his city experienced its latest beach closure from water pollution streaming over the Mexico border.