January 2021

Eastern Municipal Water District To Receive $25M In Federal Funds

January 6, 2021/in Home Headline, Media Coverage, San Diego County /by Chelsea Campos /Patch.comby City News Service

The Eastern Municipal Water District will receive $25 million in federal funds over the next several years to expand its desalination program, increasing fresh water stocks and reducing dependence on water imports, the agency announced Tuesday. The Perris-based EMWD was selected to receive the additional funding under the recently approved federal Water Resources Development Act, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be responsible for distributing the funds.

Full Story

Why the American West is Fighting for Water Protection

January 6, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /Voxby Laura Bult

Since the Clean Water Act passed in 1972, the assumption has been that all waterways are protected from pollution — meaning that rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands are, by law, shielded from industrial and agricultural waste through a strict permitting process via the federal government.

Full Story

Coffee Is Growing, Thriving In San Diego’s North County

January 6, 2021/in Home Headline, Media Coverage, San Diego County /by Chelsea Campos /KPBSby Jacob Aere

Coffee is typically grown in tropical regions and was previously considered an unviable crop in the continental United States. But along the state Route 76 corridor in San Diego’s North County, farmers are growing California coffee. Singer-songwriter Jason Mraz owns one of those farms in East Oceanside, in the South Morro Hills community. Five years ago he became one of the first farmers in the region to plant coffee trees.

Full Story

Communities Concerned As Private Companies Buy Colorado River Water Rights

January 6, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /KJZZby Steve Goldstein

The old axiom goes, “Whiskey’s for drinkin’ and water’s for fightin'” — it reflects the never-ending horse-trading that involves distribution of water in the arid Southwest and the tug of war between the region’s agricultural communities and the ever-growing urban centers, including Las Vegas, Phoenix and areas of Southern California. Traditionally, water rights have been brokered by state and local governments, as well as regional water districts.

Full Story

New Avocado Study Outlines Costs/Returns of High-Density Plantings

January 6, 2021/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /California Ag Todayby Pam Kan-Rice

Growers considering producing avocados in San Diego County with high-density plantings now have help to determine the economic feasibility. A new study on the costs and returns of establishing and producing avocados in San Diego County has been released by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Cooperative Extension, UC Agricultural Issues Center and the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

Full Story

Nathan Fletcher Selected Chair of County Board of Supervisors

January 6, 2021/in Media Coverage, San Diego County /by Chelsea Campos /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Warth

The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously selected as their new chair Nathan Fletcher, who quickly outlined a more-progressive agenda than those followed by past boards. “As the new chair of the board, I will work tirelessly for a county with more opportunity, more fairness, more equity and more justice,” he said.

Full Story

Four U.S. Water Stories to Watch in 2021

January 5, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /Circle of Blueby Brett Walton

Now that the calendar has flipped to January 2021, it’s time to say goodbye to the mess of the past year, yes? The baggage from 2020 was discarded, left behind at the station when the clock struck midnight, right? Appealing as that might be, the answer is no. Far from being in the rearview, the upheaval of the last year will set the stage for the next 12 months and beyond.

Full Story

January Outlook: Wetter & Warmer for Most of the Nation

January 5, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /WeatherNationby Tom Di Liberto

Happy new year! We all know keeping New Year’s resolutions is often a fruitless endeavor, but here’s hoping that Mother Nature will make—and keep—a resolution for a less bonkers climate year in 2021. To kick start 2021 in the United States, the January outlook from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center favors wetter- and warmer-than-average conditions for much of the country, which is particularly good news across drought- and wildfire-stricken parts of northern California.

Full Story

FEMA Ranks Los Angeles County as Riskiest in the Nation; Riverside, San Bernardino Counties in Top 10

January 5, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /CBS Los Angeles

Los Angeles County is the riskiest county in the country according to a new risk index – and Riverside and San Bernardino counties are not far behind.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index looked at 18 kinds of natural disasters, such as coastal flooding, drought, landslides, tsunamis, earthquakes, wildfires, strong winds, volcanic activity and heat and cold waves. The ranking also takes into account economic damage and the community’s ability to recover from a disaster.

Full Story