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Colorado, 5 Other States Promise Lawsuits if Feds Fast-Track Approval of Utah’s Lake Powell Pipeline Project

/in , , /by /9News and Colorado Sunby Jason Blevins

For more than 20 years, negotiations among the seven states that rely on the Colorado River have avoided lawsuits, even as drought and population growth threaten the river’s flows.

That may change as a promise to rush the environmental review of a diversion project between the Colorado River’s upper and lower basins has six states suggesting lawsuits challenging the project could topple years of agreements.

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Is Climate Change Worsening California Fires, or is it Poor Forest Management? Both, Experts Say

/in , /by /San Francisco ChronicleIs climate change worsening California fires, or is it poor forest management? Both, experts sayby J.D. Morris

Long before climate change severely parched California, priming it to burn at a record scale, federal foresters made an inventory of trees in the southern Sierra Nevada. The year was 1911, and the goal of the fledgling U.S. Forest Service was to document the amount of timber in the area. More than a century later, however, the historical data set proved invaluable to researchers with a far different purpose: assessing how much the forest, and the inherent threat of fires within it, had evolved.

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Dow, Shell, Other Companies Implicated in California TCP Suit

/in , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Bobby Magill

A California water utility has sued Dow Chemical Co., Shell Oil Co., four other companies and hundreds of yet-to-be discovered polluters for allegedly contaminating its drinking water supply with a toxic industrial solvent.

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Fallbrook Public Utility District changes the painted numbers on its Rattlesnake Tank to reflect the year incoming seniors at Fallbrook High School will graduate. Photo: Fallbrook Public Utility District

Fallbrook Rattlesnake Tank Artwork Honors High School Seniors

/in , /by

Each year, the Fallbrook Public Utility District’s water storage tank uphill from South Mission Road is painted with new numbers. There’s a story about local Fallbrook history behind the fresh design on the “Rattlesnake Tank.”

The Fallbrook Public Utility District changes the painted numbers on the tank to reflect the year incoming seniors at Fallbrook High School will graduate. Staff recently painted over the “20,” changing it to “21” to welcome the graduating class of 2021.

The reason for the annual external makeover dates back 35 years. Before painting the tank, Fallbrook High seniors took on a longstanding dare. They would climb up the hill in the middle of the night, scale the tank and then paint it themselves.

“Since it’s a long way down, our staff of more than 35 years ago became concerned for their safety,” said Fallbrook PUD’s Noelle Denke. “So we installed a fence around the tank.”

But it didn’t deter the energetic students. Instead, they began jumping the fence in the middle of the night. So the District struck a deal with the students. If they would stop risking their safety for the dare, the district would safely paint the tank every year to commemorate them.

“And we’ve been doing it ever since,” said Denke.

Safely saluting seniors with 25-foot high signage

Fallbrook Public Utility District utility workers Colter Shannon and Bryan Wagner do the honors changing the painted numbers on Rattlesnake Tank for the Class of 2021. Photo: Fallbrook Public Utility District

Fallbrook Public Utility District utility workers Colter Shannon and Bryan Wagner do the honors of changing the painted numbers on Rattlesnake Tank for the Class of 2021. Photo: Fallbrook Public Utility District

It takes District staff about eight hours to paint the 25-foot-tall numbers onto the 3.6 million-gallon tank. Since the tank shares the space with several cell towers, the Fallbrook Public Utility District makes arrangements with the owners to power down their towers. Then crews safely hoist themselves up to the tower and get to work painting.

Rattlesnake Tank was built in the early 1950s and is one of Fallbrook’s oldest and most visible water tanks.

FPUD Staff Receives Bebee’s Performance Bonus

/in , , /by /Fallbrook Village Newsby Joe Naiman

Jack Bebee, general manager of Fallbrook Public Utility District, earned his performance bonus but will not receive that money.

A 5-0 FPUD board vote, Aug. 24, gave the $5,000 that Bebee would have received to the rest of FPUD’s staff. Each staff member will receive a $75 stipend.

“Instead of paying me a performance bonus this year, we divided the money that was set aside,” Bebee said. “My recommendation to the board was to do that. They’re incurring more challenges during this period that I am.”

When all staff positions are filled, FPUD has 67 employees including Bebee. Three positions are currently vacant, so 63 FPUD employees will receive a stipend.

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After the Blazes: Poisoned Water and ‘a Flood on Steroids’

/in , /by /E&E Newsby Hannah Northey

Historic wildfires raging from California to Colorado are weakening watersheds and setting the stage for deadly mudslides and flooding and, in some places, threatening to poison critical water supplies.

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FPUD to Refinance Debt for Wastewater Treatment Plant

/in , , /by /Fallbrook Village Newsby Joe Naiman

The Fallbrook Public Utility District will be refinancing its debt for the wastewater treatment plant.

A 5-0 FPUD board vote, Aug. 24, approved the development of a financing plan and debt documents. FPUD expects to reduce its payments by $1.1 million over a 15-year period, or approximately $73,000 annually.

“With the current low interest rate environment, we had the opportunity to save a substantial amount of money,” Jack Bebee, FPUD general manager, said.

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Fourth Grade Artists Win Water Awareness Poster Contest

/in , , /by /Water News Network

Three fourth grade student artists were honored by the Olivenhain Municipal Water District Board of Directors at its September 9 meeting as the winners of the District’s 2020 Water Awareness Poster Contest. This year’s theme asked students to illustrate how they “Love Water, Save Water.”

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Southwest Contracted for North River Road Sewer Repairs

/in , /by /Fallbrook Village Newsby Joe Naiman

Southwest Pipeline & Trenchless Corp. was given the Rainbow Municipal Water District contract for the second phase of the North River Road Land Outfall pipeline repairs.

A 4-0 Rainbow board vote Aug. 25, with Helene Brazier abstaining, awarded Southwest the contract for the company’s bid amount of $608,968. That phase will line high-priority sections with cast in place pipe. Approximately 9,000 feet of pipe will be included in that rehabilitation.

“It’s an important project to ensure the reliability of our wastewater service,” Tom Kennedy, Rainbow general manager, said.

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Mexican Water Wars: Dam Seized, Troops Deployed, at Least One Killed in Protests About Sharing with U.S.

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Times by Patrick J. McDonnell

Mexico’s water wars have turned deadly.

A long-simmering dispute about shared water rights between Mexico and the United States has erupted into open clashes pitting Mexican National Guard troops against farmers, ranchers and others who seized a dam in northern Chihuahua state.

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