San Francisco-based water reuse technology company Epic Cleantec announced that a luxury residential building in San Francisco now hosts the city’s first approved and operational onsite greywater reuse system. The system can recycle up to 7,500 gallons of greywater per day, or 2.5 million gallons per year. The building, Fifteen Fifty, is owned by Related California, an affiliate of Related Companies.
As California trudges through its second year of intense drought, forcing local communities to raid contingency funds to pay sky-high retail prices for water supplies, Federal lawmakers are revisiting a deal with the City of San Francisco deemed to be “too-good-to-be-true.” A new bill, introduced by Rep. Connie Conway (R-Tulare), seeks to bring some equity back to one of California’s oldest and biggest water storage deals between the Federal government and the state’s historic big city.
As the Interior Department continues to delay implementing a program to reduce water consumption from the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin, tensions are thickening between the seven states with stakes in the watershed. Now, lawmakers in Congress are fanning the flames as Capitol Hill looks ahead to must-pass, biennial water legislation.
Finally, the ball is rolling to force action on a plan to save the Colorado River. But will it come in time to make a difference? The seven states that rely on the river have been unable to voluntarily stop using enough water to keep a rapidly tanking Lake Mead and Lake Powell on life support. The feds stepped back from a threat this summer to force action if states couldn’t agree, preferring to rely on voluntary actions instead.
The effects of climate change are already quite prevalent in the state, as seen by the all-time record-high temperatures and devastating wildfires experienced in recent years. A new report, released by California state scientists, shows that the effects of climate change are rapidly accelerating in California. The report from the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment found that since 1895, annual average air temperatures have increased by about 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit statewide and cases of heat illness have tripled in the past 30 years.
Pure Water Monterey, the Monterey Peninsula’s recycled potable water project, was one of 11 projects receiving a national award for outstanding engineering achievement — a project heralded as a key part of the state’s portfolio of water supply projects. “To be recognized alongside high-profile national projects is truly a great honor,” said Mary Ann Carbone, the chair of Monterey One Water’s board of directors and the mayor of Sand City, in a news release.
The City of Paso Robles is proposing to gradually phase in water rate increases over the next five years to support water system operating and maintenance expenses, fund the city’s share of debt service for the Nacimiento Water Project, and provide funding for capital improvements needed to support safe and reliable service. All city water customers are receiving notices in the mail to announce a public hearing that will be held on the proposed water rate increases on Dec. 20, at 6:30 p.m., at Paso Robles City Hall.
Wildfires, drought, extreme heat and other effects of climate change are rapidly accelerating and compounding in California, according to a report from state scientists.
The fourth edition of “Indicators of Climate Change in California,” released Tuesday, paints a stark picture of the escalating climate crisis and documents how global reliance on fossil fuels has had wide-ranging effects on the state’s weather, water and residents.
Running out of time and options to save water along the drying Colorado River, federal officials said they’re considering whether to release less water from the country’s two largest reservoirs downstream to Arizona, California and Nevada. Without enough snow this winter, the water level at Lake Powell — the country’s second-largest reservoir — will drop below a critical level by next November, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
The City of Ripon’s new watering schedule went into effect on Tuesday. The winter schedule calls for a once-a-week schedule, from Nov. 1 to Feb. 28. Manteca, by contrast, still allows watering twice a week in the winter as California enters its fourth year of drought.
