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State Allocates $39.2 Million for Friant Kern Canal Repairs

On Monday, the State Department of Water Resources allocated $39.2 million to the repairs of the Friant-Kern Canal.

The $39.2 million is part of $100 million that was included in this year’s state budget for the repairs of four of the state’s major water resources: the California Aqueduct, the San Luis Canal, the Delta-Mendota Canal and the Friant-Kern Canal. A total of $37 million was allocated to both the California Aqueduct and San Luis Canal and $23.8 million was allocated to the Delta-Mendota Canal.

Camarillo’s Next Wave of Water Unveiled With Long-Awaited Desalter Facility

Camarillo’s long-awaited desalter plant will soon begin treating previously unusable groundwater to convert into drinkable water for residents and businesses.

The city unveiled the $66.3 million North Pleasant Valley Groundwater Desalter, located at 2727 Somis Road, at a ribbon cutting before a crowd of about 100 people on Tuesday.

Camarillo’s long-awaited desalter plant will soon begin treating previously unusable groundwater to convert into drinkable water for residents and businesses.

The city unveiled the $66.3 million North Pleasant Valley Groundwater Desalter, located at 2727 Somis Road, at a ribbon cutting before a crowd of about 100 people on Tuesday.

More Than 400 Toxic Sites in California Are At Risk Of Flooding From Sea Level Rise

When Lucas Zucker talks about sea level rise in California, his first thoughts aren’t about waves crashing onto fancy homes in Orange County, nor the state’s most iconic beaches shrinking year after year.

What worries him most are the three power plants looming over the Oxnard coast, and the toxic waste site that has languished there for decades. There are also two naval bases, unknown military dumps and a smog-spewing port. Just one flood could unleash a flow of industrial chemicals and overwhelm his working-class, mostly Latino community.

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Marty Miller to Serve as San Diego County Water Authority Delegate to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

Vista, Calif. — Vista Irrigation District division 1 director, Marty Miller, has been appointed as a delegate to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The San Diego County Water Authority board approved the appointment of Miller to replace Mike Hogan as a director to the Metropolitan board. Miller joins Jerry Butkiewicz, S. Gail Goldberg and Tim Smith as Water Authority delegates to Metropolitan.

“I am honored to join the Metropolitan board and to work together with the other delegates to serve the San Diego region,” said Miller. “I look forward to the hard work of ensuring our customers, community and San Diego region maintain reliable and economical local and imported water supplies now and well into the future.”

Vista Irrigation District-Marty Miller-MWD delegate

Marty Miller has represented Vista Irrigation District division 1, which stretches from Gopher Canyon Road to Vale Terrace Drive in Vista, since 2008. Miller has led the Vista Irrigation District board as president two times and has served as chair of the district’s fiscal policy, public affairs, water sustainability and Warner Ranch committees. Miller has actively represented the district’s best interests through his dedicated service as the district’s representative on the Water Authority board since November 2011. Photo: Vista Irrigation District

Snowpack in California’s Sierra Nevada Could Disappear in Just 25 Years

As the climate continues to warm, more and more of the snow falling on California’s mountains will be replaced by rain. Already in recent decades, the snow season has shrunk by a month, according to one estimate, while snow levels have moved upward by 1,200 feet, according to another.

Scientists and water managers say that at some point California’s snowpack could simply disappear. This would leave the state without the crucial spring and summer melt-off that fills rivers and streams, nourishes plants and animals, and provides a huge chunk of the water supply. It would also be devastating for the ski industry.

 

New San Diego County Water Authority Director Joins Metropolitan Board

Community leader and Vista Irrigation District board member Marty Miller has been seated as one of four delegates representing the San Diego County Water Authority on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

Miller took his seat during a special board meeting last Tuesday (Nov. 23). He replaced outgoing director Michael Hogan, who served on Metropolitan’s 38-member board since 2013. Elected to the VID board in 2008, Miller represents Vista, a community in northeast San Diego County. He has twice served as VID’s board president, as well as chair of its fiscal policy, public affairs, water sustainability and Warner Ranch committees.

Denver Still Without Snow but Climatologists Say They’re More Concerned by Snowpack Levels Out West

With each passing, snowless day, Denver extends its new record of the latest date at which the first measurable snow falls, busting through the old record of Nov. 21, set in 1934.

Climatologists are watching as the record climbs, estimating Denver’s dry spell could last until early December. But that’s not nearly as worrisome as the lagging snowpack levels in southwest Colorado, they say, specifically in the Sangre de Cristo, San Juan and San Miguel mountains.

Opinion: Drought Has Big Impacts on California Agriculture

As California experiences a second year of drought, with no end in sight, the effects on California’s largest-in-the-nation agricultural industry are profound and perhaps permanent.

State and federal water agencies have cut deliveries to some farmers to zero while others, thanks to water rights dating back more than a century, still have access to water.

Water Restrictions Coming to Bakersfield to Address Drought

Bakersfield’s two largest water providers will soon implement new restrictions to head off the potentially dire impacts of an extended drought.

On Dec. 14, the city of Bakersfield and California Water Service plan to limit the days customers can use water for outdoor landscaping. Other restrictions, like no longer automatically serving drinking water at restaurants, will also go into effect as officials attempt to meet or exceed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call to reduce water usage by 15 percent.

California Remains in Precarious Water Predicament

October was a welcome water wonderland, but November was pretty much a dry bust for the Golden States. Was California’s wet October a sucker punch to the state’s all important reservoirs?

“Historically, 1976, which was historically dry, started off with a wet October, so we’re not counting our chickens yet,” said East Bay Municipal Utilities District Public Information Officer Andrea Pook.