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Toilet-to-Tap or the Future of California Water?

/in , , /by /JD Supraby Alexander Van Roekel

If there is one truism in California water, it is that there is not enough of it. In part to try to help address that issue, on December 19, 2023, the California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) adopted the state’s first direct potable reuse (DPR) regulations. As detailed in the State Water Board’s press release, the new regulations represent the “most advanced standards in the nation,” provide a “climate-resilient water source,” and “add millions of gallons of additional drinking water.” However, is the picture quite that rosy?

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California Snowpack Is Below Average, a Complete Turnaround from Last Year

/in , , /by /KPBSby Erik Anderson

California’s first snowpack measurement of 2024 is underwhelming with levels well below normal for this time of year. It is quite a change from a year ago when Phillips Station near Lake Tahoe was buried under 4 1/2 feet of snow. This year there were brown patches poking through the snow as the meager snowpack failed to completely cover the ground.

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Rebate Program Helps HOAs Become Grand-Scale Water Savers

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Caron Golden Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The bowl-shaped common space at the Mall III Homeowners Association property in Lake San Marcos was once a pricey, turf-heavy problem for its HOA board. After a water-smart landscape upgrade, it’s now a point of pride that’s easier on the budget.

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Water Increasingly at The Center of Conflicts from Ukraine to the Middle East

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

Six months ago, an explosion ripped apart Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine, unleashing floods that killed 58 people, devastated the landscape along the Dnipro River and cut off water to productive farmland.

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New Underwater Pipeline Being Installed at Miramar Reservoir

/in , , /by /Fox 5 San Diegoby Amber Coakley

Installation of a new “pure water” pipeline has officially began at Miramar Reservoir, the City of San Diego announced Thursday. The project, as explained by city officials, is part of a program that will provide half of the city’s drinking water by year 2035. Called the Pure Water Program, this initiative uses “proven water purification technology to “clean recycled water to produce safe, high-quality drinking water.”

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Dramatic Before-and-After Images Show How Much Water California Reservoirs Have Accumulated

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Terry Castleman

With the winter storm season ramping up, rainfall across the state has begun to refill reservoirs. By Tuesday, water reservoirs were at about 64% capacity, well above the 30-year average of 55% for the month of December. After last year’s historically wet winter, many of California’s largest water stores were at or near capacity during the summer months of 2023.

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OPINION -Don’t Flee the American Southwest Just Yet

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Tom Zoellner

This summer, when the temperature hit 110 degrees Fahrenheit or above in Phoenix for 31 straight days, many were fretting about the Southwest’s prospects in the age of climate change. A writer for The Atlantic asked, “When Will the Southwest Become Unlivable?” Bloomberg wondered, “How Long Can We Keep Living in Hotboxes Like Phoenix?”

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