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Toxic Groundwater Lies Beneath Phoenix, And A Cleanup Has Been Delayed For Years

/in , , /by /The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Ariz.)by Andrew Nicla

The water beneath a large swath of Phoenix isn’t fit to drink. A plume of toxic chemicals has tainted the groundwater for decades, and it’s now at the center of a bitter fight over how the aquifer should be cleaned up and what should happen to the water in the future. At issue are questions about why the cleanup has proceeded slowly, which government agency should lead the effort, and whether the polluted water, which isn’t flowing to household faucets, is releasing chemicals into the air at levels that may pose health risks for people in the area.

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Storms, Floods Cause $1.2B Damage To Public Infrastructure

/in , , /by /Associated Press

Storms and flooding have caused significant damage throughout the U.S. during the first half of 2019. The Associated Press tallied about $1.2 billion of damage in 24 states based on preliminary assessments of public infrastructure categories established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The tally includes damage to roads and bridges, utilities, water control facilities, public buildings and equipment, and parks. Each state must meet particular damage thresholds to qualify for federal aid based on their populations. Most, though not all, of the damage costs tallied by the AP will be eligible for federal aid. Figures for some states include updated damage costs provided to the AP by state agencies after their initial reports to FEMA.

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Reclamation Offering Grant Funding To Prepare For Drought Resiliency Projects In 2020 And 2021

/in , , /by /California Water News Daily

Extended, multi-year droughts have become more the norm in the exception throughout the western United States and the Bureau of Reclamation is keenly aware of the situation. Consequently, Reclamation recently announced that it is making grant funding opportunities available to assist communities in building long-term resilience for future droughts. This funding opportunity is part of the WaterSMART Drought Response Program for projects in 2020 and 2021. Up to $300,000 per agreement is available for a project that can be completed within two years. Up to $750,000 per agreement is available for a project that can be completed within three years. Recipients must match the funding with a minimum of 50 percent non-federal cost-share.

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California Will Check On ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Drinking Water. What You Need To Know

/in , , /by /KQED News (San Francisco, Calif.)by Molly Peterson

Over 75 years, a billion-dollar industry has grown up around a group of toxic chemicals that helps keep carpets clean, makes water roll off of camping equipment, and stops your food from sticking to frying pans. There are nearly 5,000 of these chemicals in a class called PFAS, for perfluoralkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. We’re just beginning to understand the risk they pose. What chemists know is that the tough carbon-fluorine bonds in these “forever chemicals” make them break down very slowly in the environment — posing a persistent risk to water supplies.  The Centers for Disease Control has profiled PFAS, which has been studied in people and in animals. Studies have linked to it developmental problems, thyroid disease, harm to the immune system, and impaired liver function.

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Environment Report Out On New $1 Billion Dam Proposed For Santa Clara County

/in , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)by Paul Rogers

A plan to build a huge new $1.1 billion dam and reservoir near Pacheco Pass in southeastern Santa Clara County is taking a significant step forward with the release of hundreds of pages of environmental studies. The project, which would be the first new large dam built anywhere in the Bay Area since Los Vaqueros Reservoir in Contra Costa County in 1998, grew out of California’s recent five-year drought. Environmentalists have raised concerns about the project’s costs, and the fact that it would submerge 1,245 acres of oak woodlands on the north side of Highway 152 near Casa de Fruta — an area equal to about 943 football fields.

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OPINION: Farmers Don’t Need To Read The Science. We Are Living It.

/in , /by /The New York Timesby Alan Sano

Many farmers probably haven’t read the new report from the United Nations warning of threats to the global food supply from climate change and land misuse. But we don’t need to read the science — we’re living it. Here in the San Joaquin Valley, one of the world’s most productive agricultural regions, there’s not much debate anymore that the climate is changing. The drought of recent years made it hard to ignore; we had limited surface water for irrigation, and the groundwater was so depleted that land sank right under our feet. Temperatures in nearby Fresno rose to 100 degrees or above on 15 days last month, which was the hottest month worldwide on record, following the hottest June ever.

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Directors To Consider Revising Untreated Water Rate Increases

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Julie Gallant

Ramona Municipal Water District (RMWD) Board of Directors will consider adjusting its rates for general untreated water at a Sept. 10 public hearing set for 2 p.m. at the Ramona Community Center, 434 Aqua Lane. RMWD directors already approved four types of rate increases at their July 9 meeting. The increases apply to treated and untreated water rates and fees, sewer service charges, capacity fees and connection fees, and emergency services fees. Increased water rates and fees were approved by the board on a 3-2 vote with President Jim Robinson and directors Thomas Ace and Bryan Wadlington in favor, and directors Jim Hickle and Jeff Lawler opposed. The recently approved rate for general untreated water was set to increase from $4.88 to $5.46 per unit — the equivalent of 748 gallons — beginning Aug. 1. Subsequent general untreated water increases were expected to follow effective July 1 of each year for the next four years. Those rates per unit are $5.85 in 2020; $6.26 in 2021; $6.70 in 2022; and $7.17 in 2023.

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OPINION: Common Ground Must Be Reached On Border Sewage Spills

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Serge Dedina

Over the past several months, and with his recent inflammatory comments on immigration, President Donald Trump has made the United States-Mexico border a point of contention in American political discourse. Yet while the nation focuses on the immigration battle at the Southern border, constituents in California are more concerned about pressing environmental issues that affect them every day. Over the past 30 years, the blue-collar beach town of Imperial Beach has battled a pollution crisis that poses a significant economic and public health threat to residents, visitors and communities on both sides of the California-Mexico border.

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Brown And Caldwell Begins Work On Allen-McColloch Pipeline Rehab For Metropolitan Water District Of Southern California

/in , /by /Water World Magazine

Brown and Caldwell, a leading environmental engineering and construction firm, was selected by Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan) to provide engineering design services for the rehabilitation of the prestressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP) portion of the Allen-McColloch Pipeline. Metropolitan is a regional wholesaler that provides water to 26 member public agencies that, along with their retail providers, serve 19 million people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura counties. Metropolitan’s mission is to provide its service area with adequate and reliable supplies of high-quality water to meet present and future needs in an environmentally and economically responsible way.

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New OCWD Director’s Poseidon Alternative

/in , , /by /Surf City Voice (Huntington Beach, Calif.)by John Earl

Kelly Rowe of Costa Mesa stunned the Poseidon underworld when he soundly defeated two-term Orange County Water District board-member Shawn Dewane in the 2018 election. Since 2013, Dewane and OCWD directors Cathy Green, Steve Sheldon, and Denis Bilodeau have fought hard for Poseidon Resources to build a $1 billion ocean desalination plant in Huntington Beach and sign a water purchase agreement with OCWD. Rowe will try to end that obsession by refocusing OCWD’s efforts. The remaining members of Poseidon’s coterie still obsess over Poseidon’s proposed desal deal: buy 56,000 AF of desalinated water every year for 30 years, regardless of need, at 3 or more times the price of imported water sold by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MET) for groundwater basin refills.

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