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California Adopts 22 New Laws Taking Aim At Wildfire Danger

/in , , /by /APby Don Thompson

California is adopting nearly two dozen laws aimed at preventing and fighting the devastating wildfires that have charred large swaths of the state in recent years and killed scores of people.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that he had signed the 22 bills, saying several also will help the state meet its clean energy goals.

The measures largely enact key recommendations from a June report by a governor’s task force and build on $1 billion in the state budget devoted to preparing for wildfires and other emergencies, Newsom said.

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Coastal Cities Plan For Sea Level Rise

/in , , /by /Half Moon Bay Review by Ashlyn Rollins-Koons

In Pacifica, beachfront properties and houses on worn-down cliffs are devalued and could ultimately be destroyed by flooding and erosion. In Half Moon Bay, properties sit farther away from the ocean due to zoning that largely designates bluffs as open space. One thing the two cities have in common: As sea levels rise in San Mateo County, Highway 1, beaches, trails and important infrastructure are threatened. 

Both municipalities are in the process of revising their local coastal programs in response to sea level rise. Pacifica approved a draft to send to the California Coastal Commission on Monday. 

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Paso Completes Water Treatment Facility

/in , /by /Paso Robles Pressby Mark Diaz

On Tuesday, Sept. 17, Paso Robles Wastewater Division Manager Matt Thompson informed the City Council of the completion of the City’s Tertiary Treatment Facility, one of the largest infrastructure projects in the City’s history. 

“The City has a master plan to capture wastewater it has disposed to the Salinas River for many decades and turn it into a new supplemental source of water we call recycled water,” Thompson said in his presentation to the City Council. 

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Rainfall Contest Winner’s Prediction Was Good To The Last Drop

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Robert Krier

As September and the rainfall year wound down, Michael Candra needed a perfect storm — a perfectly light, minor storm.

Early Saturday morning, San Diego’s season total stood at 12.83 inches. At that point, Candra was in fifth place in the Union-Tribune’s 17th annual Precipitation Prediction Contest, which drew more than 500 entrants. Each year, we ask the locals to predict how much rain San Diego will receive from the start of the water year Oct. 1 to the end on Sept. 30.

Candra, 41, had predicted of 12.89 inches. Two people had predicted 12.85, one had 12.86 and another 12.87.

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New Water Year Kicks Off With Surplus: California Has Greater Reservoir Storage Than Last Year

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Times by Hannah Fry

California has more water stored in its reservoirs than it did a year ago after a marathon wet winter that pounded the state with rain and blanketed its mountain ranges with snow.

Statewide reservoir water storage is 128% of average, which amounts to about 29.7 million acre-feet of water for California, the Department of Water Resources announced Tuesday.

One of the largest reservoir increases is at Lake Oroville, which is at 102% of average, compared with 62% of average this time last year. In addition, Shasta Lake is at 126% of average compared with 88% of average in 2018.

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Four Lessons From the Front Lines of California’s Water Wars

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diego by Ry Rivard Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Were San Diego on its own, there wouldn’t be enough water to go around. Only about 5 percent of urban San Diego’s water comes from local rainfall, an almost meaningless amount that wouldn’t support our region’s 3 million residents.

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Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Receives Water Efficiency Award

/in , , /by /Water News Network Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority today presented its 2019 Water Innovation & Efficiency Award to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar for significantly reducing its overall potable water use.

The reduction was achieved through a successful water conservation program and new infrastructure for distributing reclaimed water. The award was announced at the Industrial Environmental Association’s 35th Annual Environmental Conference at the San Diego Convention Center.

The award is part of the Water Authority’s Brought to You by Water outreach and education program, and an effort to recognize water-efficiency investments among the region’s top industries and organizations in conjunction with the IEA.

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Gov. Newsom Signs Bill Addressing Water Quality Issues in Tijuana River Valley

/in , , /by /KUSI Newsby Dan Plante

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law new legislation to further prevent the exposure of harmful chemicals and sewage into the Tijuana River Valley.

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Water Vending Businesses Tap Into Customer Fears Over Water Quality

/in , /by /Voice of San Diego by Ry Rivard

People flock to a Chula Vista parking lot to fill up jugs with water from a colorful kiosk owned by Colorado-based Watermill Express.

The company is one of several competing for customers suspicious of city tap water and fed up with buying bottled water.

Watermill, which runs a few dozen water vending machines across San Diego County, typically pays about $4,000 for the water that comes into its machines – city tap water that must meet state and federal water quality standards to begin with.

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Palm Springs Saw 8.84 Inches of Rain in the Last 12 months — That’s 154% of Normal

/in , , /by /Palm Springs Desert Sunby Keith W. Kohn

It was a wet and stormy year in the Coachella Valley and there may — or may not — be more on the way as the National Weather Service’s rainfall year began anew on Tuesday, a forecaster said.

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