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Seizing the Water Infrastructure Moment Nationally and Locally

/in , , /by /Brookingsby Joseph W. Kane and Andy Kricun

Aging and undersized sewers, contaminated drinking water, and lead-tainted pipes imperil millions of households and communities nationally. At the same time, more severe flooding and drought conditions have exacerbated the nation’s water infrastructure deficit. Decades of inaction and underinvestment—particularly at a federal level—have multiplied these and other water infrastructure challenges, but the recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) holds promise to address them via an infusion of more than $57 billion to states and localities over the next five years.

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Can California’s Agriculture Survive Extreme Drought? Should It?

/in , , /by /KQED`by Alexis Madrigal

California is in its third year of extreme drought. Given that, is it time to rethink California’s role as the breadbasket of the country? Agriculture brought in $49.1 billion to the state, nearly half of which was money made from exporting crops. But agriculture also uses 80% of the state’s water. Last year the industry lost 87,000 jobs, and crop land totaling an area bigger than Los Angeles went unplanted.

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Opinion: California Needs to Update Water Conservation Standards

/in , /by /East Bay Timesby Bob Hertzberg and Tracy Quinn

With Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent executive order calling on local water systems to start conserving more water, we find ourselves in an all-too familiar cycle.

When signs of drought abound, we hope for miraculous storms to parch the land’s thirst. Hope starts to fade, and our agencies pivot into crisis mode, cutting water use in ways that likely won’t impact daily life but will ensure our faucets keep flowing. But what happens if the faucets stop flowing?

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US Taps $420 Million to Boost Water Supplies Hit by Climate Change

/in , /by /AP Newsby Susan Montoya Bryan

Federal officials slated millions of dollars for rural water projects in several states, with the Biden administration looking to shore up infrastructure needs made more urgent by long-term drought conditions that have been exacerbated by climate change.

The U.S. Interior Department announced Thursday that $420 million will be spent on projects in New Mexico, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa.

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Newsom Urged Californians to Cut Water Use by 15%. In February They Saved Less Than 1%

/in , , /by /Ian Jamesby Los Angeles Times

Total water usage in California cities and towns decreased by just half a percent in February compared to the same month in 2020, a far cry from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s goal of reducing urban water use by 15%.

Figures released this week by the State Water Resources Control Board showed that even during a third year of drought, Californians have been slow to step up conservation efforts.

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Punishing Bay Area Drought Prompts Calls for Major Water Rethink

/in , , /by /KQEDby Ezra David Romero

Each morning for months, Amelia Morán Ceja has peered out her window, searching Sonoma’s wine country for dark clouds or the residue of rain on the leaves of her grapevines.

Her searching has proved futile, and now she’s worried as California faces its third consecutive summer with drought.

The dry conditions threaten her thirsty vines at Ceja Vineyards and elevate the risk from fire and heat waves. The triple threat is a “perfect storm during harvest,” she said.

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Manteca Water Use Soars 14.6% as Drought Deepens

/in , , /by /Manteca Ripon Bulletinby Dennis Wyatt

Manteca’s per capita water use surged 14.6 percent in March as the city’s consumption continued to grow significantly over 2020 even after making adjustments for population gain.

The double-digit gain in year-to-year use comes nine months after Governor Gavin Newsom asked Californians to voluntarily cut water usage by 15 percent based on 2020 consumption levels. So far water use on average in California jurisdictions is down by 6 percent although Manteca clearly isn’t one of them.

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Report to California Legislature: Prepare for Sweeping Effects of Climate Change

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Rachel Becker and Julie Cart

Painting alarming scenes of fires, floods and economic disruption, the California Legislature’s advisors today released a series of reports that lays out in stark terms the impacts of climate change across the state.

The typically reserved, nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office outlined dire consequences for Californians as climate change continues to alter most aspects of daily life. Much of the focus of the six-part series is detailing the economic cost as the changing climate alters where and how Californians build, grow food and protect the most vulnerable residents.

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NASA Finds New Way to Monitor Underground Water Loss

/in , /by /NASAby Jane J. Lee

Scientists have produced a new method that holds the promise of improving groundwater management – critical to both life and agriculture in dry regions. The method sorts out how much underground water loss comes from aquifers confined in clay, which can be drained so dry that they will not recover, and how much comes from soil that’s not confined in an aquifer, which can be replenished by a few years of normal rains.

The research team studied California’s Tulare Basin, part of the Central Valley. The team found that the key to distinguishing between these underground sources of water relates to patterns of sinking and rising ground levels in this heavily irrigated agricultural region.

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Despite Cutbacks to the Rest of the State, Some Ag Districts Get Full Allotment of Water

/in , /by /The Fresno Beeby Jesse Vad

Even as most agricultural water supplies are being cut to the bone, with California descending into a third year of extreme drought, the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractor districts will apparently receive 650,000 acre feet — 100% of their “critical year” allotment.

The move is just one of the quirks in California’s byzantine world of water rights.

The federal Bureau of Reclamation has increased the amount of water coming out of the Friant Dam above Fresno to help satisfy its contract with the Exchange Contractors.

 

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