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Las Vegas Pushes to Become First to Ban Ornamental Grass

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Sam Metz and Ken Ritter

A desert city built on a reputation for excess and indulgence wants to become a model for restraint and conservation with a first-in-the-nation policy banning grass that nobody walks on.

Las Vegas-area water officials have spent two decades trying to get people to replace thirsty greenery with desert plants, and now they’re asking the Nevada Legislature to outlaw roughly 40% of the turf that’s left.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority estimates there are almost 8 square miles (21 square kilometers) of “nonfunctional turf” in the metro area — grass that no one ever walks on or otherwise uses in street medians, housing developments and office parks.

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Otay Water District Offering Art Contest for Kids

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Karen Pearlman

The Otay Water District is looking for young artists to enter its annual “Water is Life” poster contest for students who live in the district’s service area. Students from kindergarten through 12th grade can win prizes for depicting the importance of water through original illustrations on posters. The district will select six winners based on the theme, originality, and visual and word clarity. Otay will also enter those works of art into a second contest held for water agencies throughout Southern California run by the Metropolitan Water District.

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Earth Week Cleanup in San Diego County

/in , , /by /San Diego Community News Group

After its postponement and production of a smaller cleanup in 2020 due to COVID-19, I Love A Clean San Diego County returns its Creek to Bay Cleanup to its traditional annual date during Earth Week on Saturday, April 24.

This year’s environmental event will operate under the decentralized, socially-distanced model introduced last year where volunteers clean up close to their homes. Organizers aim to double the event’s litter removal impact by issuing a 30,000-pound, one-day challenge to all participants. This is an opportunity for all county residents to safely volunteer and cleanup streets, parks, canyons and beaches within their own neighborhoods. Free online volunteer registration opened on April 1 at CreektoBay.org.

 

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Western U.S. May Be Entering its Most Severe Drought in Modern History

/in , , /by /CBS Newsby Jeff Berardelli

Extreme drought across the Western U.S. has become as reliable as a summer afternoon thunderstorm in Florida. And news headlines about drought in the West can seem a bit like a broken record, with some scientists saying the region is on the precipice of permanent drought. That’s because in 2000, the Western U.S. entered the beginning of what scientists call a megadrought — the second worst in 1,200 years — triggered by a combination of a natural dry cycle and human-caused climate change.

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Opinion: How to Save Beaches and Coastlines from Climate Change Disasters

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Times by Michael W. Beck

The frequency of natural disasters has soared in recent decades. Total damage topped $210 billion worldwide in 2020. With climate change, the costs attributed to coastal storms will increase dramatically.

At the same time, coastal habitats such as wetlands and reefs are being lost rapidly. Some 20% of the world’s mangroves were lost over the last four decades. More than half of the Great Barrier Reef was degraded by bleaching in 2020 alone. In California, we have lost more than 90% of our coastal marshes.

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Cadiz Faces New Suit Over Water Pipeline

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Business Journalby Howard Fine

Another legal challenge has been launched against a project by downtown-based water infrastructure company Cadiz Inc. to pump and transport water from its desert aquifer to connect with existing water conveyance systems. This latest lawsuit was filed March 23 against the Bureau of Land Management by the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice and the Sierra Club.

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High Clouds, Cooler Weather Predicted for San Diego County

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

Marginally cooler weather was predicted Sunday for San Diego County, with an expansive shield of high clouds, the National Weather Service said.

The marine layer should be sufficient to generate some sprinkles across the coastal basin Monday night into early Tuesday, and possibly again Tuesday night, with minimal accumulations expected, the NWS said.

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Southern California Water Price Jumps 48% in 3 Weeks as Rainy Season Disappoints

/in , /by /Forbesby Sal Gilbertie

The winter precipitation season generally ends with the month of March, and it looks like California will head into summer with lower water supplies than last year after a second consecutive winter of below normal rain and snowpack. The state’s Department of Water Resources has wasted no time in sounding alarm bells; officials have already announced 50 percent cutbacks from December 2020’s projected water allotments to State Water Project allocations for the 2021 water year. California residents were warned “to plan for the impacts of limited water supplies this summer for agriculture as well as urban and rural water users.”

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San Diego’s Soaring Water Rates Have Avocado, Other Growers Eyeing Break with County

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribueby Joshua Emerson Smith Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Many avocado growers in San Diego have gone out of business in recent years as they struggle with the rising cost of water, says Charlie Wolk as he walks through a recently forsaken grove in Rainbow that he tended for more than a decade.

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Two North County Water Districts Want to Leave San Diego County Water Authority

/in , /by /KUSI-TV by KUSI Newsroom

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – Two North County water districts want to leave the San Diego County Water Authority and start buying their water from a large water agency in Riverside County where they claim they can save millions of dollars.

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