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Helix Water District Student Poster Contest Winners Highlight Water is Life

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Helix Water District honored local student artists for their winning Water Is Life posters at an awards ceremony during Helix Water District’s board meeting on May 24, 2022.

Each year, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, one of Helix’s wholesale water providers, holds a regional poster contest for students in kindergarten through eighth grade to increase students’ awareness about water.

Helix promotes the contest to all K-8 schools within its service area. This year, 349 students from 22 schools submitted posters depicting how to use water wisely.

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San Diego Remains Responsive to Water Conservation Calls

/in , , /by /KPBS-FM/TVby Erik Anderson Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

San Diego County residents can expect more calls for water conservation, even as local water officials insist the region has enough.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to cut back water use across the board around the state.

“California is facing a drought crisis and every local water agency and Californian needs to step up on conservation efforts,” said Newsom in a statement this week.

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SD County Prepares for Statewide Drought Regulations

/in , , /by /FOX 5 San Diego by Clara Benitez Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

New drought regulations will go into effect next month as California tries to conserve water before the hot summer months.

California State Water Resources Control Board adopted a new regulation on Tuesday, to ensure a more aggressive approach to save water. Even though San Diego County is not facing a water shortage, residents will still have to comply with the state’s regulations.

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LA Approves Outdoor-Watering Restrictions

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Daily Newsby Margaret Shuttleworth / City News Service

Water conservation measures announced earlier this month by Mayor Eric Garcetti were approved Wednesday by the Los Angeles City Council, confirming that outdoor watering in the city will be restricted to two days per week based on street addresses beginning June 1.

The restrictions, approved by a 13-0 vote, are more lenient than the one-day limit ordered earlier by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California for areas that are dependent on water from the State Water Project.

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With a Third Year of Drought, Southern California Facing a Hot, Dry Summer

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Paul Duginski

Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, is Monday. What’s in store for the upcoming season of beach days and barbecues in Southern California?

To start with, it will be dry. That’s not just because California’s Mediterranean climate means rain mostly falls during a few wet winter months, but because the state is in its third year of drought.

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Desert Farmers Concerned, Prepared for Extreme Drought

/in , , /by /NBC Palm Springsby Carmela Karcher

Currently, no water is running through pipes and canals for some farmers in Northern California.

It’s not even June.

Farmers there have experienced this before, but the concern of that happening is starting to trickle into the Coachella Valley.

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Unprecedented Fire, Wind and Snowmelt in the Southwest

/in , , /by /High Country Newsby Jonathan Thompson

It is mid-May, and a couple of days ago, the Hermits Peak Fire in northern New Mexico reached 299,565 acres in size, surpassing the 2012 Whitewater-Baldy Fire as the state’s largest wildfire on record. At roughly the same time, on the other side of the state, the Black Fire ballooned from about 5,000 acres to 42,000 acres in a matter of hours. Within a few days, it had more than doubled again.

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Opinion: Welcome to the Real Hotel California Where Endless Water Use Is a Mirage

/in , /by /Manteca Bulletinby Dennis Wyatt

Leave the water running while you brushed your teeth this morning?

If you didn’t open the faucet all the way and brushed your teeth thoroughly perhaps you sent a cup or so of water down the drain while you got the job done.

No big deal, right? It is only a cup of water.

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Opinion: Will Gov. Newsom Ever Require Mandatory Water Cuts?

/in , /by /The Mercury News

The problem with empty threats is, after a while, people just stop listening.

When it comes to water usage, Gov. Gavin Newsom is learning that lesson the hard way.

Newsom on Monday urged Californians to cut water consumption or face mandatory water restrictions as the state heads into its third summer of severe drought.

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Delta Water Crisis Linked to California’s Racist Past, Tribes and Activists Say

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

Tribes and environmental groups are challenging how the state manages water in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a major source for much of California, arguing the deterioration of the aquatic ecosystem has links to the state’s troubled legacy of racism and oppression of Native people.

A group of activists and Indigenous leaders is demanding that the state review and update the water quality plan for the Delta and San Francisco Bay, where fish species are suffering, algae blooms have worsened and climate change is adding to the stresses.

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