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Interior Department Official with Key Role in Colorado River Talks is Stepping Down

/in , , /by /APby Suman Naishadham and Felicia Fonseca

A senior Interior Department official who has had a key role in negotiations over the shrinking Colorado River plans to step down from the job next week.

Tanya Trujillo told the department of her intention to resign as assistant secretary for water and science about six weeks ago and her last day is Monday, she told The Associated Press. Trujillo, who has served in the role since June 2021, said it made sense to leave now as the Biden administration gears up for a reelection campaign.

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California Takes Big Step to Boost Use of Purified Sewage Water to Combat Drought

/in , , /by /LAistby Erin Stone

California has taken a big step towards boosting how much sewage water local governments can purify and reuse for drinking — a process known as water recycling. On Tuesday, the state proposed draft regulations to expand recycling by introducing new purification standards and processes.

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20,000 Residents to See Water, Sewer Bills Jump 88% Over 5 Years

/in , , /by /Times Standardby Sage Alexander

The Board of Directors of Humboldt County Services District voted Tuesday for water and sewer rate increases, with two of five directors dissenting. Rates would eventually increase over the next five years by a total of 88% and start increasing Aug. 1.

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Opinion: Ending Mono Lake Diversions to Los Angeles Would Help the Environment but Hurt the Climate

/in , /by /Cal Mattersby Jim Newton

California’s effort to secure water supplies is a struggle older than the state itself.

It played out during the Gold Rush, and it defines modern San Francisco and Los Angeles. It has created divisions between north and south as well as east and west.

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Humans’ Impact On the Earth Began a New Epoch in the 1950s Called the Anthropocene, Scientists Say

/in , , /by /Associated Pressby Seth Borenstein

From climate change to species loss and pollution, humans have etched their impact on the Earth with such strength and permanence since the middle of the 20th century that a special team of scientists says a new geologic epoch began then.

Called the Anthropocene — and derived from the Greek terms for “human” and “new” — this epoch started sometime between 1950 and 1954, according to the scientists. While there is evidence worldwide that captures the impact of burning fossil fuels, detonating nuclear weapons and dumping fertilizers and plastics on land and in waterways, the scientists are proposing a small but deep lake outside of Toronto, Canada — Crawford Lake — to place a historic marker.

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Las Vegas Water Use Down 25% This Year, But a Hot Summer Looms

/in , , /by /Las Vegas Review-Journalby Colton Lochhead

A wet and cool start to 2023 helped Southern Nevada consume 25 percent less water from the drought-stricken Colorado River through the first five months of the year.

From January through May, the region’s consumptive use from the river was just under 61,000 acre-feet of water, Warren Turkett, a natural resource analyst for the Colorado River Commission of Nevada, told commissioners Tuesday. That’s down from nearly 82,000 acre-feet of water consumed during the same time period last year, which was near the same amount the valley consumed in 2021 (84,489 acre-feet) and 2020 (80,885 acre-feet).

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Lake Mead and Lake Powell Water Levels Have Risen, But Runoff Slowing Down

/in , , /by /KLAS Las Vegasby Greg Haas

Lake Mead has risen more than 3 feet over the past month, and nearly 13 feet since Jan. 1.

The lake, which supplies 90% of the water used in the Las Vegas valley, is bucking the trend of the past five years. Lake Mead typically drops beginning around April, following a seasonal pattern.

As snow melts upstream in the Upper Colorado River Basin, water is held back in dams all along the way to prepare for higher consumption during the hot summer months. Water eventually reaches Lake Powell before flowing through the Grand Canyon and into Lake Mead.

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Biden Administration Announces $660 Million To Plug Abandoned Wells

/in , /by /Gristby Lylla Younis

Over the past century, the fossil fuel industry has made a habit of letting others clean up their messes. Today, the U.S. is dotted with millions of “orphaned wells,” crevices in the earth that companies once used to extract oil and subsequently abandoned once they were no longer considered profitable. But additional help appears to be on the way: This week, the Biden administration announced it would make nearly $660 million in funds from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law available to states to plug more of these polluting fissures.

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Newsom Signs Bills to Speed up Infrastructure Projects

/in , , /by /Courthouse News Service by Natalie Hanson

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills Monday aimed at streamlining the construction of solar and wind farms, reservoirs, bridges, railways and other infrastructure projects in the Golden State.

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Deadly Flooding is Hitting Several Countries at Once. Scientists Say This Will Only Be More Common

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Isabella O'Malley, Brittany Peterson, and Drew Costley

Schools in New Delhi were forced to close Monday after heavy monsoon rains battered the Indian capital, with landslides and flash floods killing at least 15 people over the last three days. Farther north, the overflowing Beas River swept vehicles downstream as it flooded neighborhoods. In Japan, torrential rain pounded the southwest, causing floods and mudslides that left two people dead and at least six others missing Monday.

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