The California Supreme Court is set to issue a ruling Thursday that could add millions of dollars to the cost of the governor’s $15.7 billion plan to build two giant water tunnels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. At issue is whether California officials must pay landowners to access thousands of acres of private property to conduct preliminary environmental and geological tests for the project. California officials insist no payments are needed because the tests would not significantly interfere with or damage the land, which is mostly used for farming, cattle ranching and recreation.
You are now in California and the U.S. category.
Federal Department: Arizona’s Excess Water Safe From California
California will not be able to take Arizona’s unused water in Lake Mead. That was the take home message in a letter from a federal water official to Sen. Jeff Flake on Wednesday. As the drought on the Colorado River has lingered on, Arizona has voluntarily foregone some of its water and left it in Lake Mead instead. By 2017, that will total more than 300,000 acre feet. The goal is to keep enough water in the reservoir to stave off much more severe cutbacks for Arizona in the next year or so.
California needs better account of groundwater
California’s prolonged drought has driven home the need to improve our balance sheet for water – determining how much there is, who has claims to it and what is actually being used.
Our research, which was released Wednesday, has identified major gaps in the collection, management and use of water information. Compared to 11 other western states, Australia and Spain – places that also struggle with water scarcity – California’s systems have significant room for improvement.
Plan to Save Delta Smelt Faces Tough Road
When a coalition of California and federal agencies announced a new Delta Smelt Resiliency Strategy last week, the ambitious plan to save the region’s nearly extinct fish grabbed headlines.
But whether most, or even parts, of the comprehensive program can realistically put in place the changes needed to rescue this endangered native species is another question.
Accelerating Innovation in the Urban Water Sector
Climate change and population growth are rapidly increasing stress on our water systems, challenging their ability to deliver critical services. To respond to this, we need more than simple course adjustments in how we manage our water – we need entirely new paradigms that will improve resource efficiency and support more sustainable urban water systems.
Considerable work is being done to develop new visions for sustainable water infrastructure. Actualizing these visions, however, is another battle, one that requires increasing innovation in the urban water sector.
The Unforgiving New Landscape for Water Utilities
Local officials are judged on how well their governments provide basic services from transportation to trash collection. So it has been with drinking water: if the water was safe to drink and reliably delivered, water managers were doing their job. Moreover, when water managers thought about long-term planning, the answer was always the same: increase supply.
Climate change, new economic realities and population growth in the Sun Belt (from California to Florida) has made water management much more complex.
VIDEO: Mail Print More County to Establish Groundwater Sustainablilty Agency
County supervisors took action this morning to officially file a notice of intent with the state to establish a groundwater sustainability agency.
It’s more of a technical maneuver than anything else. GSAs are starting to pop up in Kern County, to comply with state law that mandates a statewide effort to balance demand for our groundwater with supplies.
The city of Bakersfield has joined with Kern Delta Water District to form their own GSA.They both draw water from the Kern River.
Sites Reservoir likely years down the road
Don’t expect to see a reservoir built in the hills west of Maxwell anytime soon.
Plans to build the Sites Reservoir have been in the works since 1957, and if it is eventually approved, work on the project probably would not be complete for another 10 to 12 years, according to Jim Watson, the Sites Reservoir Project general manager.
“Sites is not for us. Sites is for our grandchildren,” said Nadine Bailey, chief operating officer for the Family Water Alliance in Maxwell.
Bill seeks to use renewable energy to boost water supplies
As the state slogs through its fifth year of drought, many water agencies are increasingly turning to alternative water sources to boost supplies — source like seawater, brackish groundwater and recycled wastewater.
But those need a lot of energy to treat. Now a local state senator wants to use California’s growing renewable energy supply to help meet that demand. “In the old days I remember we had this thing called Flex Your Power,” said state Senator Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys).
