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Marin Water Officials Scrutinize Costs for Bigger Reservoirs, New Pipelines

/in , , /by /Marin Independent Journalby Will Houston

Marin Municipal Water District officials, continuing their quest to boost supply, met this week for a detailed cost assessment on expanding reservoirs and connecting to new sources.

District staff stressed to the board that — unlike other options under review such as desalination and recycled water expansion that can produce a continual flow of water — enlarging reservoirs or building pipelines to outside suppliers does not guarantee water will be available when needed.

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Can Desalination Be a Solution for Drought in SoCal?

/in , /by /KCETby Chris Iovenko

California is currently suffering through its worst drought in over 1,200 years, a fact painfully illustrated by a hot, dry summer, nearly empty reservoirs, and a historically diminished Colorado River. New water restrictions have gone into effect across the state. As California scrambles to conserve water, desalination plants, facilities that use reverse osmosis filters to purify seawater and transform it into drinking water, have increasingly become part of the discussion.

 

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Mono Lake Was Supposed to Have Been Saved From Going Dry. Now, the ‘White Stuff’ Forces a Reckoning

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

The few who live along the shores of Mono Lake are accustomed to the peculiarities of this high desert basin.

Famously strange limestone spires known as tufa towers rise from the water. The lake contains so much salt that it’s barren of fish. In the arid sands beyond, sagebrush thrives, and that’s about it.

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Water Authority General Manager Sandra Kerl Named CUWA Board Chair

/in , , /by /Water News Network Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Sandra L. Kerl is taking the reins as board chair of California Urban Water Agencies (CUWA), a nonprofit corporation that supports development of sound water policy statewide.

The Water Authority is one of 11 member agencies of CUWA that are collectively responsible for serving drinking water to about two-thirds of California’s population. As the united voice for the state’s largest urban water purveyors, CUWA provides a technical perspective to promote common understanding and consensus-based solutions for urban water issues.

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The West’s Most Important Water Supply is Drying Up. Soon, Life for 40 Million People Who Depend on the Colorado River Will Change.

/in , , /by /The Denver Postby Conrad Swanson

White sandstone cliffs create a ring around Lake Powell in contrast to the honey- and red-colored desert rock nearby. Evidence that water once, not all that long ago, filled America’s second-largest reservoir.

Fed by the Colorado River, Lake Powell, in south-central Utah, has seen wet years and dry years over the past two decades. Mostly dry years.

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Despite More Stored Water Than in 2021, California Will Keep Closing Spigots

/in , , /by /Courthouse News Serviceby Kevin Winter

As drought conditions persist and with the potential for another dry winter due to La Niña, some good news: the California State Water Resources Board learned Wednesday reservoirs in the northern and central parts of the state have more water than at this time last year.

State Water Project reservoirs across Northern and Central California remain below historical averages after three consecutive years of drought.

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Shut Out From Talks on Colorado River Crisis, Tribes Want Inclusion and ‘Transformation’

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

Good morning. I’m Ian James, water reporter for The Times, filling in for Sammy Roth, who will be back next week.

It’s crunch time for the Colorado River. The river’s badly depleted reservoirs keep dropping, and the federal government has announced that major water cutbacks need to happen soon to prevent supplies from reaching perilously low levels.

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East Bay City Increases Water Rates

/in , /by /The Mercury Newsby Judith Prieve

Pittsburg water customers will soon see a 5% increase in their water rates for each of the next five years as a result of council action this week.

Paul Rodrigues, city finance director, cited increases in the cost of energy and raw water, and the need to make capital improvements – at a $76.5 million price tag – in the water treatment plant as reasons for the increases. Both commercial and residential customers will be affected, but seniors will pay less, seeing only a 2% increase each year.

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On the Colorado River the Feds Carry a Big Stick. Will the States Get Hit?

/in , , /by /KUNCby Luke Runyon

The seven Colorado River basin states have until mid-August to come up with a plan to drastically cut their water use. Federal officials say the cuts are necessary to keep the river’s giant reservoirs from declining to levels where water cannot be released through their dams and hydropower production ceases. If state leaders fail to devise a plan, they could face a federal crackdown.

But while federal intervention is a key feature of Colorado River governance and management, to cajole stubborn water users into negotiating — it’s rarely tested.

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Crowfoot: State is Expediting Permits for Water Storage, Restoration Projects

/in , , /by /Agri Pulseby Brad Hooker

California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot says the Sites Reservoir Project is “on a pretty good pathway” for advancing through the environmental permitting process.

Speaking at the Agri-Pulse Food & Ag Issues Summit in Sacramento last week, Crowfoot explained that the Department of Fish and Wildlife within his agency has been evaluating potential impacts that the reservoir proposal could have on endangered and threatened species and its adherence to the California Environmental Quality Act.

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