What’s in the Federal Stimulus for Californians?
State officials estimated that California and Californians would get $150 billion. Here’s a closer look at where the money is expected to go.
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New Curriculum Approaches Water Conservation Through Indigenous Lens
Local tribes, schools and nonprofits have developed a new high school curriculum that seeks to encourage environmental advocacy through an Indigenous lens. The advocacy and water protection curriculum meets state standards in science, social studies, health, history and language arts and seeks to bolster “culturally informed education” in the classroom.
We’re About to Drink Recycled Water But Don’t Know What’s in it
I’ve been writing a lot about the broken sewage system in Tijuana causing spills into San Diego. Part of the concern, San Diego officials told me, is that Mexico lacks a system to monitor whether businesses are dumping toxic waste into the sewer system.
That’s part of the reason why it’s risky to reuse any of that river water because, if we don’t know what’s in the water, we can’t be sure how to best treat it.
Water Authority’s Plan for Local Supply
San Diego County Water Authority Water Resources Manager Jeff Stephenson talks to ABC 10News about the area’s water supply following the release of the draft 2020 Urban Water Management Plan. The plan was released for public review March 8.
Water World: After Nearly 40 years, Peter MacLaggan Leaves a Liquid Legacy
Every time someone turns on the tap in San Diego County, out flows the work of Peter MacLaggan.
MacLaggan was the point man in the construction of the Carlsbad desalination plant, a nearly $1 billion public-private partnership that since 2015 has supplied nearly 10 percent of the potable water consumed in the county.
Desalination relies on the virtually unlimited supply of water in the Pacific Ocean. It provides a safe, reliable source of local water in a region that for many years relied on supplies from hundreds of miles away and was subject to mechanical breakdowns, seasonal shortages and the whims of nature.
Water Authority Plan Shows Sufficient Supplies Until 2045
Since 1991, San Diego County ratepayers have conserved more than 1 million acre-feet of water, and per capita potable water use in the region decreased nearly 60 percent between fiscal years 1990 and 2019, according to the San Diego County Water Authority.
The findings are part of the Water Authority’s draft 2020 Urban Water Management Plan, which was released Monday for public review.
The report concludes that as a result of conservation and billions of dollars in infrastructure, San Diego should have sufficient water supplies through 2045.
“Thanks to decades of regional investments (and conservation) the draft plan shows that we don’t need to secure more regional supply sources for the foreseeable future,” Water Authority general manager Sandra Kerl said in a statement. “Instead we are focused on helping our member agencies develop local supplies, and looking for other ways we can continue to ensure supply reliability at a reasonable cost.”
California’s New Drought
As March begins to drag on with little precipitation in the forecast and few weeks left in California’s traditional wet season, we are in another dry year. This is California’s second dry year in a row since the 2012-2016 drought. Statistically, California has the most drought and flood years per average year than anywhere in the US. This statistical fact seems to becoming increasingly extreme, as predicted by many climate change models.
Reduced Water Flow Prepped at Lake Powell
Scientists and boatmen with the United States Geological Survey are preparing for a busy week on the Colorado River as engineers at Glen Canyon Dam prepare to reduce the water flowing out of Lake Powell substantially.
In order to conduct maintenance on the concrete apron downstream of the dam, engineers will be limiting the water that runs through the dam’s turbines starting Monday and continuing through the rest of the week.
Premature or Precautionary? California is First to Tackle Microplastics in Drinking Water
California is poised to issue the world’s first guidelines for microplastics in drinking water despite no data on how plentiful they are in the state, no scientific agreement on how to test water for them and little research on their health risks.
The pieces of plastic — smaller than an ant, some so tiny they can be seen only with a microscope — have contaminated wildlife and human bodies through their food, air and water.
California Gets Another Round of Late-Winter Rain and Snow
Another March storm moved through California on Monday, bringing snow to the Sierra Nevada, rain showers elsewhere and gale conditions offshore.
A mix of winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories stretched the length of the Sierra and southward into mountain ranges of Southern California that were just coated with snow last week.
Caltrans recommended motorists traveling through the Sierra check for chain requirements.
