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To Avoid Blackouts, California May Tap Fossil Fuel Plants

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Kathleen Ronayne

Looking to avoid power blackouts, California may turn to the one energy source it’s otherwise desperate to get rid of: fossil fuels.

A sweeping energy proposal Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Thursday puts the state in the business of buying power to ensure there’s enough to go around during heat waves that strain the grid. But some critics say the method of getting there is at odds with the state’s broader climate goals, because it paves the way for the state to tap aging gas-fired power plants and add backup generators fueled by diesel.

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What Do Increased Releases From Folsom Dam Mean For Region’s Water Levels?

/in , , /by /CBS Sacramentoby Steve Large

Rising river levels? It’s been a surprising sight in recent days for people out along the American River.

California is in year three of a severe drought and people are being asked to conserve, but water releases from Folsom Dam are being dramatically increased this week.

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California Lawmakers Pass Major Plastic-Reduction Measure After Years of Thwarted Attempts

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Dustin Gardiner

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a sweeping plastic-reduction measure that aims to dramatically shrink the amount of disposable packaging and food ware that Californians use in their daily lives.

The bill, SB54, is the result of a breakthrough legislative deal between some environmentalists, business groups and waste haulers, a last-minute compromise that led proponents to withdraw an anti-plastic waste initiative from the November ballot.

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Mountain View Orders Water Cutbacks but Even Tougher Drought Measures Elsewhere in California

/in , , /by /KTVU FOX 2by Mark Sayre

Mountain View is the latest Bay Area city to approve new water restrictions as California deals with dry conditions for its third consecutive year.

As Bay Area residents deal with newly announced restrictions seemingly by the week the restrictions are even more severe in southern California and around the southwest.

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California Farmers Preparing for State Water Curtailment Orders

/in , , /by /The Paso Robles Pressby Camille DeVaul

Farmers up and down California are once again facing an uncertain season ahead of them as a state water curtailment order issued in August 2021 continues to take its toll on farming and ranching families.

In July 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order calling a drought emergency and asking for water conservation. Soon after, farmers and ranchers in California received curtailment orders from the California Water Board (CWB) to either immediately or prepare to suspend their senior water rights.

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Extreme Heat, Drought Will Permanently Scar California and Its Social Fabric

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

Unprecedented dryness across the western United States is meeting with increasingly warm temperatures to create climate conditions so extreme that the landscape of California could permanently and profoundly change, a growing number of scientists say.

The Golden State’s great drying has already begun to reduce snowpack, worsen wildfires and dry out soils, and researchers say that trend will likely continue, along with the widespread loss of trees and other significant shifts.

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Water Deal to Keep Taps Flowing in Bakersfield Even as Lake Isabella Levels Continue to Drop

/in , , /by /SJV Waterby Lois Henry

Bakersfield City water managers learned from California’s last “epic” drought – don’t wait to make a deal.

In 2015,  city water managers scrambled to keep taps flowing for more than 20,000 Bakersfield residents as the Kern River ran so low the city had zero water entitlement coming down the river.

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Lack of Water Access Costs U.S. $8.6B Each Year

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Leah Willingham

At least 2 million Americans don’t have running water or a working toilet at home, a crisis that costs the U.S. economy $8.58 billion each year, according to a report released Tuesday by nonprofit DigDeep.

These water access issues disproportionately impact Indigenous tribes, people of color, immigrants, low-income people and those living in rural areas — communities that have been largely excluded from past investments in water infrastructure, according to the report.

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Grass Is a Water Hog. Here’s How to Create a Drought-Tolerant Yard.

/in , , /by /The Washington Postby Laura Daily

With numerous municipalities and states considering or enacting strict limits on residential grass, you may have considered ditching your home’s turf. Xeriscaping — or designing a landscape that needs little irrigation to survive — is no longer a radical idea, even if you don’t live in an area where lawns are being restricted. Traditional lawn grasses are thirsty.

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The West Just Experienced an Aspect of the Climate Crisis That Scientists Have Warned of for Years

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Rachel Ramirez and Brandon Miller

The West saw an aspect of the climate crisis play out this month that scientists have warned of for years.

In the middle of a prolonged, water shortage-inducing megadrought, one area, Yellowstone, was overwhelmed in mid-June by drenching rainfall and rapid snowmelt that — instead of replenishing the ground over a matter of weeks or months — created a torrent of flash flooding that ripped out roads and bridges and caused severe damage to one of the country’s most cherished national parks.

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