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More Reservoirs May Run Dry and the Great Salt Lake Will Continue to Decline, State Officials Warn

/in , , /by /FOX 13 Salt Lake Cityby Ben Winslow

More reservoirs across Utah may run dry and the Great Salt Lake will continue to decline, state officials warned lawmakers on Wednesday.

During a briefing before the Utah State Legislature’s Natural Resources Interim Committee, lawmakers were told that 99% of Utah remains in severe or extreme drought. That’s actually an improvement over last year, when a huge chunk of the state was in “exceptional” drought — the worst category.

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Hurtado Calls for a Crackdown on Water Profiteering

/in , /by /The Porterville Recorderby Charles Whisnand

On Wednesday, State Senator Melissa Hurtado, D-Sanger joined her colleague, Democratic State Senator Dave Cortese in sending a letter to United States Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting an investigation into possible drought profiteering and water rights abuses in the Western states.

The Senators said they’re concerned about the increasing amount of water rights being purchased by hedge funds, their potential anti-competitive practices and the devastating impact that could have on water security.

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Vast Swath of US at Risk of Summer Blackouts, Regulator Warns

/in , /by /Bloombergby Naureen S Malik and David R Baker

A vast swath of North America from the Great Lakes to the West Coast is at risk of blackouts this summer as heat, drought, shuttered power plants and supply-chain woes strain the electric grid.

Power supplies in much of the US and part of Canada will be stretched, with demand growing again after two years of pandemic disruptions, according to an annual report. It’s among the most dire assessments yet from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a regulatory body that oversees grid stability.

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UN Floats Plan to Boost Renewables as Climate Worries Mount

/in , /by /AP Newsby Jamey Keaten

The United Nations chief on Wednesday launched a five-point plan to jump-start broader use of renewable energies, hoping to revive world attention on climate change as the U.N.’s weather agency said greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat, sea-level rise, and ocean acidification reached record highs last year.

“We must end fossil fuel pollution and accelerate the renewable energy transition before we incinerate our only home,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. “Time is running out.”

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California’s Drought, Relentless and Inexorable, Takes its Toll

/in , , /by /California Weeklyby Will Shuck

With the rainy season come and gone, drought’s withered hand remained firmly fixed on California this month, as it has been, with few exceptions, for the last decade.

Woes pile up. Rain didn’t save us, the snowpack is all but gone, the Coastal Commission says no desalinating sea water, and urban-interface fires have already begun.

It’s almost summer in the Golden State.

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Gov. Newsom Pushes Need for Conservation During Visit to SoCal Water Recycling Facility

/in , , /by /ABC 7

Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging Californians to find ways to reduce their water use in an effort to combat the historic drought and said upcoming conservation mandates are a priority.

The governor visited a water recycling facility Tuesday afternoon in Carson.

It was originally built as a demonstration project to recycle household wastewater and replenish groundwater supplies.

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North Bay Agencies Seek $83 Million to Expand Water Recycling Amid Drought

/in , , /by /The Press Democratby Guy Kovner

Petaluma, one of the driest corners of Sonoma County during the past two years of drought, is making a multimillion-dollar advance into recycled water.

Operator of a wastewater treatment plant that serves about 65,000 people and treats about 5 million gallons of effluent a day, Petaluma is seeking grants for four projects with a total cost of $42 million.

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Farmers Across State Face New Water Cuts, California Farm Bureau Reports

/in , , /by /Sierra Sun Timesby Christine Souza

With 60% of the state now in extreme drought conditions, state officials are warning water-right holders that they should expect more curtailments during peak irrigation season in June and July.

In a statement last week, the state Division of Water Rights said “curtailments are expected to increase progressively through the spring and summer and continue through the early fall until significant precipitation occurs.”

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California’s Snowpack, Groundwater Keep Dropping

/in , /by /NBC Bay Areaby Jeff Ranieri

New numbers continue to show California Sierra snowpack is dropping along with the state’s groundwater but why is that important? Check out this image below and you’ll see all of the ways we use snowpack.

That Spring snowmelt not only fills our streams, reservoirs and lakes, we also use it for agriculture, household, ecology and hydropower. In total providing one-third of the state’s water supply.

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FERC’s Glick Says He’s ‘Bullish’ on Energy Storage, Aims to Prioritize Regulations for Hybrid Projects

/in , /by /Utility Diveby Iulia Gheorghiu

Amid other regulatory priorities, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Richard Glick would have the agency look into energy storage participation in wholesale markets via hybrid projects with wind and solar, he said on Tuesday during the CLEANPOWER 2022 conference in San Antonio, Texas.

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