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Reclamation Awards $16.98M To Five Water Recycling And Reuse Projects In California, Hawaii and Texas

/in , /by /Water World

The Bureau of Reclamation will provide a total of $16.98 million to five communities in California, Hawaii and Texas to help plan, design and construct congressionally authorized Title XVI Water Reclamation and Reuse Projects. Title XVI is part of Reclamation’s WaterSMART Program that focuses on improving water conservation and helping water-resource managers across the West to make sound decisions about water use

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West Wrestles With Colorado River “Grand Bargain” As Changing Climate Depletes Water Governed By 1922 Compact

/in , /by /The Denver Postby Bruce Finley

Rocky Mountain water managers worried about climate-driven depletion across the Colorado River Basin are mulling a “grand bargain” that would overhaul obligations among seven southwestern states for sharing the river’s water. This reflects rising concerns that dry times could turn disastrous. An enshrined legal right of California and lower-basin states to demand more Colorado River water could imperil half of Denver’s water supply. The grand bargain concept arose from increasing anxiety in booming Colorado and the other upper-basin states — New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — about their plight of being legally roped into sending more water downriver, even if dry winters, new population growth and development made that impossible without shutting faucets.

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Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors Welcomes Compton City Councilwoman Tana McCoy

/in , /by /California Water News Daily

Compton City Councilwoman Tana L. McCoy has been appointed to the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California Board of Directors as the city’s representative to the 38-member board. She succeeds Janna Zurita, who served on Metropolitan’s board since November 2015. In seating McCoy on the board MWD Board Chairwoman Gloria Gray said, “I welcome Tana McCoy to the board and I look forward to working with her.” McCoy has a lengthy history of public service. Prior to accepting a unanimous appointment to represent Compton’s District 3 on the City Council McCoy had been a 40-year city employee before retiring in 2016. She was elected in the city council 2017 for a full term.

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California Drought: Looking To Australia For Answers To Water Woes

/in , , /by /Australian Broadcasting Corporationby Kristy O'Brien

The U.S. state of California is facing the biggest water reforms in its history after crippling drought exposed major failings in the water management behind the mighty food bowl.

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FPUD Considering Affiliating With EMWD Rather Than CWA

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

The Fallbrook Public Utility District has been part of the San Diego County Water Authority since SDCWA was formed in 1944, but FPUD is now investigating the possibility of detaching from the CWA and becoming part of the Eastern Municipal Water District. FPUD general manager Jack Bebee gave a presentation on the possibility at FPUD’s July 22 board meeting. “We just provided an update on the process and where we stand,” Bebee said. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the CWA began delivering water to San Diego County in 1947. MWD’s San Diego Aqueduct conveys water to a delivery point 6 miles south of the Riverside County line.

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CWA Pipeline Repairs Completed Under Budget

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

The San Diego County Water Authority repairs to Pipeline 5 were completed under budget. The SDCWA board approved a notice of completion July 25, which releases the remaining funds to the contractor. Although J.F. Shea Construction, Inc., bid the project at $25,304,375, the Walnut-based company was able to work with CWA staff to reduce the cost and the final cost of the work was $24,748,135.61. “The project was completed on time and within budget,” said CWA senior construction manager Gary Olvera. The CWA has an asset management program which uses both an acoustic fiberoptic monitoring system as well as internal inspections during aqueduct shutdowns to detect and monitor deterioration of CWA aqueduct facilities.

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City Approves Framework For Potential Water Transfer Agreement With SMWD

/in , /by /The Capistrano Dispatch (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)by Shawn Raymundo

The city’s plans to annex its utilities department took another step forward Tuesday, Aug. 20, as councilmembers approved a framework that will be the basis for a potential agreement to have Santa Margarita Water District take over water and sewer services in San Juan Capistrano. With Councilmember Derek Reeve absent from the meeting, the council unanimously voted in favor of certifying the Memorandum of Understanding that outlines the major deal points of what will eventually be part of an official annexation agreement and application for approval by the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).

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California Lowers Reporting Level For Nonstick Chemicals (1)

/in , /by /Bloomberg Environment (New York City, N.Y.)by Emily C. Dooley

California’s main water agency lowered the level of “forever chemicals” detected in water that would trigger notification requirements. The updated State Water Resources Control Board guidelines change notification levels for two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, fluorinated chemicals that persist in the environment and have become ubiquitous in water supplies. Water agencies will have to notify their governing board—whether it’s their own board of directors or local government legislators—if they detect concentrations of the chemicals in their water sources. The state guidelines lower the notification trigger from 14 parts per trillion for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) to 5.1 parts…

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Local Concerns Are Threatening San Diego’s Global Climate Priorities

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

Carefully chosen words, tedious negotiations, lines in the sand. At stake: the continued release of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change. But this isn’t diplomacy at the United Nations we’re talking about, it’s San Diego politicians struggling to work together to buy and sell green energy. Last fall, the city of San Diego decided to start its own utility to buy and sell power. That’s because the city’s “climate action plan” says all electricity sold to city residents must come from renewable sources within the next two decades.

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State Tightens Contamination Levels; SCV Water Sets Up Testing

/in , , /by /The Santa Clarita Valley Signalby Jim Holt

SCV Water Agency officials are expected to begin testing their wells for smaller amounts of a non-stick chemical suspected of being carcinogenic, after state officials announced Friday they were lowering the allowable levels set for that chemical. Over the last few months, the State Water Resources Control Board has been trying to figure out what constitutes a safe level for a chemical called PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances) in drinking water, since one of its component chemicals is a suspected carcinogen. Although there are many industrial uses for PFAS, it’s perhaps most commonly known as the non-stick component that went into making Teflon useful in non-stick pans.

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