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Heat Wave Expected to Keep Deserts and Inland Valleys Hot All Week

/in , /by /KPBS-FM-TVby City News Service

Temperatures could reach triple digits Monday in the San Diego County deserts, and the mercury will be on the rise all week throughout the region, according to the National Weather Service.

Conditions will be relatively mild west of the deserts Monday, but building high pressure will cause temperatures to rise throughout the county until Friday, forecasters said. By midweek, high temperatures could be 15-20 degrees above average in most areas, forecasters said.

The NWS issued a heat advisory that will be in effect from 10 a.m. Tuesday to 9 p.m. Friday in the western valleys.

An excessive heat watch will also take effect Tuesday morning and last until Friday evening in the county deserts.

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Billions in Coronavirus Aid will go to Farms. But Farmers say it’s Not Enough to Keep Them Afloat

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Manuela Tobias

Ryan Indart says he may have to kill off some of the sheep at his east Clovis ranch this fall. With restaurants shuttered amid the coronavirus pandemic, he has no market for his animals. When a new flock arrives in October, he won’t have enough space in his pasture if his current flock is still there.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday a $3.6 million program to help farms and food banks stay afloat, coupled with a philanthropy pledge of $15 million. That promise came on the heels of a much larger federal aid package of $19 billion for farmers and ranchers across the country.

Farmers across the San Joaquin Valley echoed Indart’s concern.

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Southern California Edison Wants its New, Huge 770 MW Battery Storage Procurement Online Fast

/in , , /by /pv magazineby Eric Wesoff

Southern California Edison signed seven contracts for a total of 770 megawatts of lithium-ion battery-based energy storage — to enhance the regional grid’s reliability and replace four large coastal once-through cooling plants.

It’s one of the nation’s largest energy storage procurements and an indication of utility acceptance of massive-scale battery storage. Late last year, the California Public Utilities Commission urged California’s power providers and community choice aggregators to procure 3.3 GW of storage and PV-plus-storage systems to solve grid congestion and to compensate for gas and coal plant retirements.

Remarkably, SCE wants these energy storage resources online by August 2021, an aggressive timeline unthinkable for any type of fossil fuel project of this size.

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Blue-Ribbon Panel to Evaluate Hazards to Wastewater Workers During Pandemic

/in , /by /Treatment Plant Operators magazine

To ensure the protection of wastewater workers during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond, the Water Environment Federation is convening a blue-ribbon panel of experts to evaluate information on biological hazards and safety precautions.

The panel is comprised of a diverse array of experts involved in water operations, science, health and safety, and will provide input to U.S. government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the World Health Organization.

“The top priority of the Water Environment Federation is always to ensure the safety and health of the frontline people in the water workforce, who protect our communities not just during the coronavirus pandemic but every single day,” says WEF President Jackie Jarrell. “In keeping with the WEF tradition of educational and technical excellence, the blue-ribbon panel will make certain that our information on hazards and safety and the guidance of organizations such as the WHO, CDC, OSHA and EPA are based on the latest evidence and absolute best science.”

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Lawsuits Fly Amid State, Federal Changes in California Water Delivery and Use

/in , , /by /Engineering News-Recordby Mary B. Powers

California Environmental groups on April 29 challenged in court the state Dept. of Water Resources decision not to include a proposed 40-mile tunnel in its most recent environmental assessment needed to reauthorize long-term operation of the State Water Project—a 700-mile system of dams and aqueducts that moves water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to areas in the south.

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Season’s Last Snowpack Survey Confirms Dry Winter. California Inching Toward Statewide Drought

/in , , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

The last Sierra Nevada snowpack measurement of the season on Thursday confirmed what California officials have feared for months: The state has suffered through a dry winter.

The state Department of Water Resources announced that the snow was just 1.5 inches deep at its traditional measuring spot at Phillips Station, a vast field off Highway 50 near Echo Summit. The “snow water equivalent” was just a half an inch, or just 3 percent of average for this time of year.

The Phillips measurement was an outlier. A broader measurement taken by 130 electronic sensors throughout the Sierra revealed an average snow water equivalent of 8.4 inches, or 37 percent of average for this time of year.

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Calif. Agencies Sue State as Irrigation War Escalates

/in , , /by /E&E Newsby Jeremy P. Jacobs

California water agencies yesterday sued the state over endangered species protections they claim threaten their ability to provide water to more than 25 million residents and thousands of acres of farmland.

The lawsuit is an extraordinary step, underscoring that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) now has multiple crises on his plate: the coronavirus pandemic and a rapidly devolving water war.

At issue is water shipped from California’s water hub, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta east of San Francisco, south via the State Water Project, a massive system of dams, canals and aqueducts.

California recently issued a new permit for the project under the state’s endangered species law.

The water agencies that get their water from the project — which include the country’s largest water provider — are challenging it in court, saying the terms of the permit would increase their costs by $22 million annually.

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California, 15 Other States Sue Over New Rule Diluting Protections for Nation’s Waterways

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Peter Fimrite

A coalition of 16 states led by California and New York sued the Trump administration Friday over a law that eliminated Obama-era protections for wetlands and streams across the United States.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, accuses President Trump and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of illegally exposing waterways to pollution and development by rolling back a key provision of the Clean Water Act.

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Latest Survey of California Snow Pack Measures Below Normal

/in , , /by /AP

The last seasonal survey of snow in the Sierra Nevada confirms that California had a dry winter that will leave much-needed runoff levels below normal, authorities said Thursday.

The snow was only 1 ½ inches deep at the traditional manual measuring site at Phillips Station in the range east of Sacramento, and the water contained in it was equivalent to just a half-inch, which is 3 percent of the May average for the location, according to the state Department of Water Resources.

Sierra snow melt typically provides about 30% of the state’s water supply.

More broadly, 130 electronic snow sensors scattered throughout the Sierras indicated that California’s snow pack water equivalent is 37 percent of the May average.

Readings for April also were well below average.

“March and April storms brought needed snow to the Sierras, with the snow pack reaching its peak on April 9, however those gains were not nearly enough to offset a very dry January and February” and the last two weeks of higher temperatures have rapidly reduced the snow pack, said Sean de Guzman, chief of the department’s Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecast Section.

The snow measurements help in predicting runoff into reservoirs that will help meet California’s water demand in the summer and fall, the water agency said.

At the moment, reservoirs are in good shape, with the six largest close to or even above their historical averages. Lake Shasta, California’s largest surface reservoir, is currently more than 80% full, authorities said.

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250,000-plus Moreno Valley Residents, Others Asked to Halt Using Outdoor Water After Pipeline Fails

/in , /by /The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Calif.)by Brian Rokos
More than 250,000 customers in Moreno Valley and other communities have been asked to halt outdoor watering until a state-operated pipeline that leaked is fully repaired.

The leak has been stopped, and there is no danger from flooding, said Roxanne Rountree, a spokeswoman for the Eastern Municipal Water District.

But until work is completed, customers in Moreno Valley, Lake Mathews, Orangecrest, Mission Grove, Woodcrest, Air Force Village West, Hillcrest and Lake Hills and on the on March Air Reserve Base were asked to help ensure reserves are not eaten up.

The request was made by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Eastern, Western and Temescal Valley water districts.

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