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The Deceptively Simple Plan to Replenish California’s Groundwater

/in , , /by /National Geographicby Alejandra Borunda

From afar, the rows of knobby grapevines blend into the landscape of pink-blossomed almond trees and fragrant citrus. But get up close and you’ll see something strange: The trunks of the vines are standing in several inches of glistening, precious water.

These grapes, at the Kearney Agricultural Research Center in California’s San Joaquin Valley, are part of a grand experiment that many hope will help solve the state’s deepening water crisis.

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New EPA Regional Administrator Tackles Water Needs with a Wealth of Experience and $1 Billion in Federal Funding

/in , , /by /Western Water (Water Education Foundation)by Douglas E. Beeman

Martha Guzman recalls those awful days working on water and other issues as a deputy legislative secretary for then-Gov. Jerry Brown. California was mired in a recession and the state’s finances were deep in the red. Parks were cut, schools were cut, programs were cut to try to balance a troubled state budget in what she remembers as “that terrible time.”

She now finds herself in a strikingly different position: As administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 9, she has a mandate to address water challenges across California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii and $1 billion to help pay for it. Guzman called it the “absolutely greatest opportunity.”

Guzman talked with Western Water about how her past experiences are informing her work at EPA, some of the top priorities in EPA Region 9 and how the federal bipartisan infrastructure funding law is providing a unique opportunity to address the region’s water needs, including for tribal nations and disadvantaged communities.

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LADWP Water Conservation Rebates Increase Amid Drought

/in , , /by /NBC 4by City News Service

Amid a historic drought in California, water conservation rebates were increased by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Thursday, offering residential customers $500 rebates for high-efficiency clothes-washer purchases and $250 for water-efficient toilet purchases.

The rebates were previously $400 for high-efficiency washers, which use up to 55% less water than standard ones. According to the DWP, the more efficient appliances can reduce water use by more than 11,000 gallons per year.

DWP’s rebates for water-efficient toilets were previously $150. Rebate eligible toilets use more than 30% less water than standard models.

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State Allocates Another $29.8 Million to Friant-Kern Repairs

/in , , /by /The Porterville Recorder

On Thursday, the State Department of Water Resources, DWR, announced it second round of allocation for the ongoing repairs of the Friant-Kern Canal, this time allocating $29.8 million.

In November of last year, DWR announced an initial allocation of $39.2 million for the Friant-Kern Canal repairs. The funds being allocated by DWR were included in the state budget.

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Climate Change is Intensifying the Global Water Cycle

/in , , /by /Discoverby Theo Nicitopoulos

Human-induced climate change is warming the planet and, in turn, enabling our atmosphere to hold more moisture. The magnitude and extent of this shift are challenging to see on a global scale, but its effects on local weather are much more noticeable: Greater evaporation in some regions and increased precipitation in others has already driven more frequent and intense droughts and rainfall — with the risk of more extreme weather events looming in the near future.

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Legal Aspects of Groundwater Recharge: Do We Need a Groundwater Recharge Ethic?

/in , /by /Maven's Notebook

Groundwater is one of the world’s most important natural resources, but groundwater management has traditionally been governed by lax and uneven legal regimes which tend to focus on the extraction of groundwater or groundwater quality, rather than groundwater recharge.

In a January 2022 webinar from Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment, Dave Owen, professor at UC Hastings School of Law in San Francisco, discusses the many human activities that can affect groundwater recharge, the existing legal doctrines that affect groundwater recharge, occasionally by design but usually inadvertently; and how more intentional and effective systems of groundwater-recharge law can be constructed.

 

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S.F. Residents, Like Many in California, Face Water-Rate Hike — but There’s One Way to Avoid a Bigger Bill

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

San Francisco residents are about to see another downside of drought: higher water rates.

Like a growing number of water agencies in California, the city’s water department has been losing millions of dollars as households and businesses, doing their part in a third dry year, conserve more and fork over less money to the utility.

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Shifts in El Niño May Be Driving Climates Extremes in Both Hemispheres

/in , , /by /Inside Climate Newsby Bob Berwyn

The record-breaking heat wave last week in East Antarctica, the coldest region on Earth, saw temperatures surge as much as 85 degrees Fahrenheit above average, bringing readings near freezing and unexpected surface melting instead of the usual sub-zero conditions.

The heat wave adds to a quickly growing list of previously “unthinkable” climate events, and puts an exclamation point on an Austral summer that included brutal heat waves and record-high intensity wildfires in Argentina and Chile and flooding caused by record-setting rains in eastern Australia that killed more than 20 people and left thousands homeless.

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As Drought Worsens, Water Officials Urge Property Owners to Replace Grass With Drought-Friendly Native Plants

/in , , /by /Kake.com

World Water Day is on Tuesday, so water officials are calling on Californians again to conserve more water in the face of a worsening drought.

One of the best ways to conserve water is to reduce outdoor watering, so Metropolitan Water District held a news conference at the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers & Native Plants to encourage Angelenos to use native plants that are more acclimated to Southern California’s dry weather and require much less water than grass.

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PWD OK’s Entry Into Water Transfer Program

/in , /by /Antelope Valley Pressby Allison Gatlin

The Palmdale Water District Board of Directors approved the District’s entry into a program to transfer water for State Water Contractors during dry years, such as this one.

The program allows State Water Contractors, such as Palmdale Water District, to purchase water allocated to fallow rice farms in Northern California.

District officials estimate it possibly will need to purchase an additional 1,000 acre-feet of water to meet its supply needs this year, according to the staff report.

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