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County Water Agencies Coordinate Operations to Protect Drinking Water

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies said Wednesday they have increased regional coordination to ensure the coronavirus pandemic does not impact water service in the region.

The water authority has activated its emergency operations center to ensure a coordinated response to any water supply problem that emerges. But officials stressed that there’s no evidence that the virus is transmitted through treated water.

“In these unprecedented times, the region’s water agencies are collaborating in complete solidarity to perform our vital mission of providing safe and reliable water supplies,” said Sandra L. Kerl, general manager of the water authority. “We are taking strategic, precautionary steps to ensure the region’s water security.”

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We Can No Longer Rely on Historical Data to Predict Extreme Weather

/in , , /by /Popular Scienceby Ula Chrobak

Floods and other dangerous weather extremes are only getting more intense and more frequent as our climate warms. Historically, we’ve always been able to predict these extremes by looking at how often they occurred in the past. But a new study published Wednesday in Science Advances reveals just how many of those forecasts actually fall short. In just a decade, the findings suggest, the climate has shifted so drastically that the frequency of past extreme events is no longer a reliable predictor.

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Active Pattern to Bring Rain and Snow to the West in the Week Ahead

/in , , /by /The Weather Channelby Jonathan Belles

More rain and mountain snow will move through the West, including communities in worsening drought, in the early part of the week ahead. This wet pattern began when an area of low pressure moved into the California coast on Sunday. It brought more than an inch of rain to much of the Los Angeles area.

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Can Carbon Credits Save Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Islands and Protect California’s Vital Water Hub?

/in , , /by /Water Education Foundationby Gary Pitzer

The islands of the western Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are sinking as the rich peat soil that attracted generations of farmers dries out and decays. As the peat decomposes, it releases tons of carbon dioxide – a greenhouse gas – into the atmosphere. As the islands sink, the levees that protect them are at increasing risk of failure, which could imperil California’s vital water conveyance system.

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Americans Coping With the Coronavirus Are Clogging Toilets

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Michael Levenson

Sewage systems and toilets are backing up as consumers clean their homes with disinfectant wipes and turn to paper towels, napkins and baby wipes to cope with the lack of toilet paper.

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It’s Official: Two North County Districts Want Out of County Water Authority

/in , , /by /San Diego Union-Tribuneby J. Harry Jones Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The water agencies that serve the Fallbrook and Rainbow areas of North County have officially filed applications to detach from the San Diego County Water Authority, an unprecedented move with potential financial implications for almost all water customers in the county.

The Fallbrook Public Utility District and the Rainbow Municipal Water District filed “reorganization” applications with the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) on Wednesday. The filing has been expected for months and will likely trigger a lengthy process that could culminate, should the Water Authority have its way, with a vote of all customers served by any of the 24 water districts that belong to the umbrella water agency.

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Low on Toilet Paper? Here’s What Not to Flush Down Your Toilet

/in , , /by /CBS8 (San Diego)by Shannon Handy

Something you may not be thinking about during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is what you’re flushing down the toilet. Plumbers say a lack of supplies is causing some major backups.

A lack of toilet paper means a lot of people have been putting other things down their toilets. The experts at Bill Howe Plumbing say that is a terrible idea.

With toilet paper flying off the shelves, some people are scrambling for alternatives. Turns out, you should really think twice about what you’re putting down there.

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‘March Miracle’ Continues as Several Storms Queue Up for California

/in , , /by /AccuWeatherby Alex Sosnowski

After an absence of major storms for much of the winter, the ‘March Miracle,’ in terms of wet weather, seems likely to continue next week in California.

The storm that brought drenching rain and yards of snow to the Sierra Nevada early this week was still lingering as of Wednesday night but will diminish over the next couple of days.

A lull in storms is forecast late this week to this weekend, but a new series of storms is destined to impact much of the West next week with more rain and mountain snow from Monday to Wednesday.

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Water District Has Plans in Place for Nightmare Scenario

/in , /by /Valley Roadrunnerby David Ross

“This is an out-of-the-box situation that I’ve never dealt with before,” admitted Valley Canter Municipal Water District Gen. Mgr. Gary Arant at Monday’s board meeting, which, due to the evolving coronavirus crisis (is there any other kind now?) was held with one director teleconferencing and all of the staff and directors “social distancing” by maintaining at least six feet away from each other in the board room.

At the meeting Gaby Olson, VCMWD’s Safety and Regulatory Supervisor, gave an overview of the district’s Pandemic Response Plan, which is how the district will respond to what has become the nightmare scenario of the decade, if not the most serious crisis since 9-11.

The plan recognizes a stark fact of life: even in the midst of a crisis where people may be sheltering in place and most commerce has ground to a halt, no matter how many employees are out sick, you can’t stop delivering water to the public. You must do whatever must be done to keep the water flowing from the tap.

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California Pilot Plant Could be Churning out ‘Sustainable’ Lithium as Early as 2023

/in , /by /Energy Storage Newsby Andy Colthorpe

Following recent reports that newly accessed geothermal power resources in California could also provide access to lithium as a valuable by-product, a pilot facility is now in development.

Resource developer Controlled Thermal Resources recently signed a power purchase agreement for 40MW of geothermal energy with Imperial Irrigation District, a water – and energy – provider in Southern California.

CTR is also now creating Hell’s Kitchen Co, facilities for lithium extraction and chemical processing at its geothermal plant at Imperial Valley’s shallow, saline Salton Sea. CTR has now partnered with technology provider Lilac Solutions, which has its own proprietary ion exchange technology, to open up a pilot plant to extract lithium from the run-off geothermal brine

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