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Opinion: Farms Don’t Need Dangerous Chemicals to Grow Food. Let’s Cut Our Dependence On Them

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Brian Leahy

Forty years ago, farm neighbors told my surprised family that our wildlife friendly farming practices were organic – which doubled the value of our rice crop. Our farming methods evolved after my father-in-law’s return from World War II. Like many peers, he tried new technologies – chemical pesticides and synthetic nitrogen fertilizer – and saw them kill the wildlife he loved and the soil he relied on. He sensed that a food system based on toxic chemistry was a dead end. Instead, he developed an approach that incorporated wildlife – instead of fighting it.

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KRRC: Dam Removal Project is ‘On Track’ and Within Budget

/in , , /by /Taft Midway Driller

The Klamath River Renewal Corporation announced on Monday that they have submitted requested documentation to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that demonstrates that they have sufficient funds to complete the removal of four dams on the Klamath River. Last week, KRRC announced that they’ve hired a company to ensure all the various phases of the project run smoothly and “in concert with one another.” KRRC selected McMillen Jacobs Associates to provide what is referred to as “owner’s representation services.”

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Lawmakers Angle for a Seat at the Table in Colorado River Drought Negotiations

/in , , /by /Casper Star-Tribuneby Nick Reynolds

CHEYENNE – For nearly a century, the Colorado River Compact has practically been seen as scripture for states from Wyoming all the way down to the Mexican border.

The compact – written in the years populations in the American Southwest first began to explode – has been the code by which life along the Colorado River Basin has been granted, a strict allocation of the snowmelt from the highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains to the Arizona desert and the parched reaches of the expansive fields of Southern California.

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Sutherland Reservoir reopens for recreation in 2020 on Friday, March 6. Photo: City of San Diego

Sutherland Reservoir Opens For Recreation

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The City of San Diego’s Sutherland Reservoir is now open to the public three days a week. The reservoir will be open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from sunrise to sunset, allowing access for boating, fishing, hiking and picnicking.

It will also open on Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day and is closed the third Friday of each month.

The reservoir is about 45 miles northeast of San Diego at 22018 Sutherland Dam Road in Ramona.

People can hear an updated recorded message detailing current activities, schedules, fishing and hunting results at Sutherland Reservoir and other City of San Diego lakes by calling 619-465-FISH (619-465-3474).

Family activities include picnicking, fishing, and boating

Recreational activities at Sutherland Reservoir including boating, fishing, and picnicking. Photo: City of San Diego

Recreational activities at Sutherland Reservoir including boating, fishing, and picnicking. Photo: City of San Diego

Viviana Castellon, the City of San Diego’s reservoir maintenance supervisor,  said her team opened a little early this morning.

“The environment is beautiful, flora and fauna are raging,” said Castellon. “It’s a healthy environment biologically. It’s a backcountry reservoir, very inviting and relaxing. Depending on what you want to do, we have ADA accessibility. We expect people to have a great time at Sutherland,” said Castellon.

A bonus for spring visitors, Sutherland Reservoir is the midst of raptor mating season.

“Eagles are soaring, and we have peregrine falcons,” she said. “If people bring their binoculars, they’ll hear and see quite a bit.”

The recreation area features barbecues, picnic tables, and restrooms. Self-contained gas barbecues are allowed in the picnic area.

Water activities at Sutherland Reservoir include boating, canoeing, kayaking, sailboarding, and float tubing. Those activities are only allowed on Saturdays and Sundays. Leashed dogs are allowed. Turkey hunting at the reservoir is by reservation only, starting this year on March 30.

One of the most popular activities at Lake Sutherland is fishing. The lake contains largemouth bass, catfish, crappie, sunfish, and carp. Bowfishing is permitted for carp only, in compliance with California Department of Fish and Wildfire regulations. Special conditions apply and are listed on the City of San Diego’s website.

Swimming, ground fires, glass containers, and camping are not permitted. Take precautions to avoid rattlesnakes and poison oak, both of which are present at Sutherland Reservoir.

Maile Guerrero of La Mesa was honored for her photo of Sutherland Reservoir in the Water Authority's "Brought to You By Water' photo contest in 2018.

Maile Guerrero of La Mesa was honored for her photo of Sutherland Reservoir in the San Diego County Water Authority’s 2018 “Brought to You By Water” photo contest.

Construction on Sutherland Dam began in 1927, but it was not completed until 1954. The reservoir is operated and maintained by the City of San Diego’s Public Utilities Department and is part of the city’s drinking water system.

For additional information about Sutherland Reservoir, including boating, fishing, and hunting rules, required permits, as well as details about the City’s other reservoirs, go to sandiego.gov/reservoirs-lakes.

Sweetwater Authority Logo 2019Sweetwater Authority Logo 2019

Earn Up To $75 For Fixing A Leak During The Entire Month Of March

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To assist customers with costs typically associated with leak repairs and to help conserve our most precious resource, Sweetwater Authority (Authority) is offering rebates of up to $75 for repairs made in March 2020. The special month-long rebate is in celebration of the national Fix a Leak Week, which serves as an annual reminder to check household plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems for leaks.

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California Scientists Study Climate Change at Bottom of the Ocean

/in , , /by /KPBSby Erik Anderson

California researchers have found that oxygen levels and water temperatures play a key role in the health of deep-sea fish populations. San Diego and Monterey Bay scientists studied fish on the floor of the Gulf of California.

“This is an example of some of the video that we are analyzing for this research,” said Natalya Gallo, a post-doctoral researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

She pointed to footage taken along the seafloor on the Gulf of California near the Mexican coast. The pictures come from a remotely controlled submarine. Researchers use the underwater tool to gauge the impact of a warming ocean on fish.

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Opinion: The Dam Truth About the Colorado River

/in , /by /The Salt Lake Tribuneby Gary Wockner

The latest research about the Colorado River is alarming and also predictable: In a warming world, snowmelt has been decreasing while evaporation of reservoirs is increasing. Yet no politician has a plan to save the diminishing Colorado River. If you followed the news about the Colorado River for the last year, however, you’d think that a political avalanche had swept down from Colorado’s snow-capped peaks and covered the Southwest with a blanket of “collaboration” and “river protection.”

I won’t call it fake news, but I will point out errors of omission. First, the Colorado River is not protected. The agreement that was reached — called the “Drought Contingency Plan” — does not protect the river nor its ecological health. The agreement protects the federal government’s, the states’, the cities’, and the farmers’ ability to 100% drain the river bone dry every single year.

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Environmental Disaster or a Key to Clean Energy Future? A New Twist on Hydropower

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sammy Roth Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Steve Lowe gazed into a gaping pit in the heart of the California desert, careful not to let the blistering wind send him toppling over the edge.

The pit was a bustling iron mine once, churning out ore that was shipped by rail to a nearby Kaiser Steel plant. When steel manufacturing declined, Los Angeles County tried to turn the abandoned mine into a massive landfill. Conservationists hope the area will someday become part of Joshua Tree National Park, which surrounds it on three sides.

Lowe has a radically different vision.

With backing from NextEra Energy — the world’s largest operator of solar and wind farms — he’s working to fill two mining pits with billions of gallons of water, creating a gigantic “pumped storage” plant that he says would help California get more of its power from renewable sources, and less from fossil fuels.

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Utah House Reaffirms Intent to Develop Colorado River Water

/in , , /by /Deseret Newsby Amy Joi O'Donoghue

Utah’s booming population growth and rapid economic development means the need for more water, a higher level of conservation and wise development of water supplies, which are not infinite.

With that in the backdrop, the Utah House of Representatives on Tuesday passed HCR22, which makes clear to neighboring states and policymakers that Utah will someday develop its unused portion of the Colorado River.

The Colorado River, termed the hardest working river in the West, serves 40 million people in the Southwest, including a large population in Utah through a diversion system.

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California May Need a ‘Miracle March’ to Prevent an Early and Dangerous Wildfire Season

/in , , /by /AccuWeatherby John Roach

A brush fire that grew to 175 acres in Norco, California, on Tuesday was perhaps a preview of what could be an early and dangerous wildfire season in a state that just had its driest February on record. It was the eighth fire incident in 2020, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). That already equals the number of fire incidents before April 1 in the last four years combined.

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