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As the Colorado River Shrinks, Water Managers See Promise in Recycling Sewage

/in , /by /KUNCby Alex Hager

In the parched Colorado River basin, water managers are turning over every stone looking for ways to keep the taps flowing. Now, they’re finding more water in some unusual places – shower drains and toilet flushes.

At a sprawling sewage treatment plant in Carson, California, the occasional breeze delivers a pungent whiff of a reminder of how used water becomes “reused.” Here, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is planting the seeds for a massive new facility, where a multi-billion-dollar installation could help recycle wastewater and keep drinking supply flowing for the agency’s 19 million customers.

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Solvang to Consider Construction Moratorium Due to Drought Conditions

/in , , /by /Santa Ynez Valley Newsby Jennifer Best

Solvang City Council members Monday requested a construction moratorium in the face of drought conditions. The issue will be placed on their agenda for the Oct. 10 meeting for public input and council action.

“You’ve heard already here, and if you’ve been listening to the planning commission you’ve probably been getting e-mails, that maybe we should consider a construction moratorium until we get out of this drought. We are forcing everybody to take rather large cutbacks in water, and then you want to add in a hotel or apartments or whatever else,” Council Member Mark Infanti said.

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Opinion: Can We Save the Diminishing Colorado River?

/in , /by /The Hillby Bruce Yandle

Years of hot, dry conditions and population growth across the Southwest have brought painful reductions in Colorado River water flow allocations to Arizona, California, Nevada and Mexico. Based on a 1920s multi-state pact, the Department of the Interior sounds an alarm when the river’s reservoirs fall to extremely low levels, leaving states with no choice but to severely cut their water use, limiting consumption by agriculture, industry and citizens.

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Farming, Water and Wall Street On Colorado’s Western Slope

/in , /by /AP Newsby Chris Outcalt

Under the blazing afternoon sun, Joe Bernal navigates a shiny-green John Deere tractor onto a dirt road a few miles north of downtown Fruita. Bernal is headed to cut hay in a field a few hundred feet down the road. On his way, he points out the land his family has acquired over the years. His grandparents had 150 acres over there. His parents bought this land here. His great grandparents, who showed up in 1925, lived in a house right there.

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The Mad Rush for Groundwater in the Central Valley

/in , /by /KQEDby Saul Gonzalez, Attila Pelit and Katrin Snow

Most Californians are feeling the effects of the drought. But in areas of the state where people rely on groundwater, such as the San Joaquin Valley, the pain of this drought is especially severe. Wells are going dry and there’s intense competition to find and pull more water from underground.

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California Drought: On Patrol With The Celebrity ‘Water Police’

/in , /by /BBC Newsby Regan Morris

In a blistering third year of drought, Californians have been asked to limit their indoor water usage to 55 gallons (208 litres) per person per day. It takes about 30 gallons to fill a bathtub, so forget about a deep Jacuzzi experience.

Yet in the gated communities of Calabasas and Hidden Hills – exclusive enclaves in the Santa Monica Mountains above Malibu – lush lawns and filled swimming pools and koi ponds make it clear that some are ignoring the rules.

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Opinion: Water Woes Will Only Get Worse for California

/in , /by /Antelope Valley Press

We are so technologically advanced, that we can send messages to people thousands of miles away in mere seconds; we have access to a world of knowledge with a few computer keystrokes, cars can drive themselves and phones are mini computers that we carry in our pockets. 

Despite all the strides the human race has made to make life more convenient, we still struggle with things like drought, climate change and water shortages.

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California Utility Set to Test Whether Covering Canals With Solar Panels Can Save Water

/in , /by /91.5 KJZZby Mark Brodie

A California utility is set to test out whether covering canals with solar panels can save water by preventing evaporation, among other benefits.

Project Nexus is being run on a small stretch of canals operated by the Turlock Irrigation District in central California. The idea is based on an academic paper, which suggested doing this could also generate solar energy on land that wouldn’t have to be disturbed.

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California Water Pipeline Hits Legal Setback

/in , /by /E&E Newsby Michael Doyle

A controversial Southern California water pipeline project has hit another snag, with a federal judge’s ruling that allows the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw key approvals granted during the Trump administration.

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A Rare Third Year of La Niña is on Deck for California, Forecasters Say

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hayley Smith

Californians should brace for another year of La Niña as the stubborn climate pattern in the tropical Pacific is expected to persist for a third consecutive year, forecasters say.

The latest outlook, published Thursday by the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center, has increased the chances of La Niña sticking around through November to 91%, a near certainty. The pattern may also linger into winter, with an 80% chance of La Niña from November to January and a 54% chance from January to March.

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