You are now in California and the U.S. Media Coverage category.

Water Usage Down 36% in Claremont, La Verne and Three Valleys Municipal Water District

/in , /by /Daily Bulletinby Javier Rojas

A month after water restrictions were placed on communities in the San Gabriel and Inland valleys, many are meeting required conservation goals.

Customers in the Three Valleys Municipal Water District are using 36% below the maximum amount of water currently allotted, according to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The latest figure, which reflects data for the month of June, surpasses the 20% reduction residents were asked to meet beginning June 1.

Full Story

How Scottsdale’s Drought Plan Has Reduced the City’s Water Footprint

/in , , /by /KJZZby Katherine Davis-Young

In front of the Granite Reef Senior Center in Scottsdale, there’s a parking lot on one side, and off to the other side, there’s a space for the Scottsdale Trolley to stop. Between those areas is a patch of gravel and drought-tolerant desert plants. Six months ago, the senior center’s little xeriscape garden was about 3,000 square feet of turf. But it wasn’t intended as a sports field or a picnic area, it was really just a decorative space to divide two sides of the parking lot.

Full Story

Desalination: Should California Use the Ocean to Quench Its Thirst?

/in , /by /Capitol Weeklyby Aaron Gilbreath

As the state’s water supplies continue to dwindle during this drought, it’s always worth weighing the pros and cons of desalinization to meet the state’s water needs

Groundwater keeps shrinking, reservoirs keep drying. Is it time for California to use desalinization to increase its depleted water supplies?

Here we are again: California is enduring another punishing drought, this one only a few years after the last one ended, which was the most severe drought in the state’s nearly 500 years of recorded history.

Full Story

‘It Is What It Is’: Sacramento Residents Step Up Water Conservation Efforts as State Mulls Drought Measures

/in , , /by /CBS Sacramentoby Andrew Haubner

Water conservation numbers are strong in the capital region, but is it enough to satisfy statewide water restrictions?

We’re getting answers on how local counties are making conservation worth it for the people who live there.

As California’s drought worsens, local water agencies have been given level two regulations with the intention of cutting water usage by twenty percent. Residents are answering the call but it still may not be enough as Gov. Gavin Newsom mulls the idea of a statewide mandate.

Full Story

How Much Can At-Home Conservation Impact Arizona’s Water Shortage?

/in , , /by /KJZZby Robert Dungan

The Southwest’s ongoing drought has put the spotlight on water conservation. Experts agree it’s an important part of the solution. But what does conservation mean to the average Arizonan? Shorter showers? No more grass lawns?

What really matters might surprise you.

Let’s say you’re standing at the kitchen sink with an empty peanut butter jar. You want to put it in the recycling bin, but you’re going to rinse it out first. Is it worth the water?

Full Story

California’s Department of Water Resources Plans for Future Drought With Salinity Barrier Study

/in , , /by /KCRAby Heather Waldman

On Monday, California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) released a draft Environmental Impacts Report, which looked into the benefits and potential negative impacts of repeated use of a temporary drought salinity barrier in the delta.

This drought barrierCalifornia’s Department of Water Resources is in the West False River. It is a wall of earth that helps to keep salt water from the Bay Area from infiltrating into the freshwater delta system during times of severe drought.

Full Story

Arizona to Spend $1.2 Billion on Water Security

/in , , /by /Western Farm Pressby Robert Medler

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed B1740 yesterday, investing $1.2 billion over three years to fund projects that will bring additional water to the state to secure Arizona’s water future, improve existing water infrastructure and implement effective conservation tools.

The projects will help ensure that Arizona families, businesses and agriculture continue to have adequate long-term water supplies.

Full Story

Oregon State, Yurok Tribe Partner to Study Klamath River After Dam Removal

/in , /by /Herald and Newsby George Plaven

On the precipice of the largest dam removal project in U.S. history, researchers at Oregon State University are partnering with a northern California tribe to envision what lies ahead for the Klamath River.

Demolition of the J.C. Boyle, Copco 1, Copco 2 and Iron Gate dams could begin as early as next year, though federal energy regulators are still reviewing plans submitted by the Klamath River Renewal Corp. to decommission and raze the structures.

Full Story

Californians Are Using Less Water. But Drought Conservation Still Misses Newsom’s Target

/in , , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

Californians are starting to save water, but not enough to meet Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call for conservation in the face of one of the worst droughts in recorded history.

Urban water use fell 3.1% in May compared to the 2020 baseline set by the governor, according to figures released Friday by the State Water Resources Control Board.

While that’s well short of the 15% call issued by Newsom last July, it does show that Californians are beginning to heed the governor’s call for reduced consumption. Water use actually rose in March and April, according to water board data.

 

Full Story

Property Owners and Officials Find Ways Around Century-Old Laws as the West Runs Out of Water

/in , , /by /CNNby Stephanie Elam

With a megadrought draining water reserves in the West, states are looking for alternatives to handle water rights, many of which were set more than 100 years ago when water supplies were far more abundant.

Back then, just posting a sign next to a water diversion was enough to be considered a right, one which could still be honored now. But the climate crisis is now straining those rights. There just isn’t enough water in California to satisfy what’s been allotted on paper.

Full Story