The California Independent System Operator approved a transmission plan Thursday that includes 23 projects, estimated to cost nearly $3 billion, to cope with the dramatic increase in renewable generation and forecasted load growth in its footprint.
California is progressing toward its goal of achieving 100% renewable and carbon-neutral electricity by 2045, and agriculture may be an integral part of the solution.
Farmers statewide have invested in renewable-energy technologies near vineyards, row-crop farms and atop walnut dryers. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 8% of California farms have an on-site renewable-energy system.
Aaron Barcellos, who farms row crops and trees in Merced and Fresno counties, took advantage of federal tax incentives and invested in constructing two solar systems that total 1.4 megawatts to offset the farm’s energy usage.
For the second time in a single water season, California water officials are preparing to zero out water deliveries to Valley farmers reliant on the State Water Project.
During a Tuesday meeting of California’s State Water Resources Control Board, Department of Water Resources director Karla Nemeth announced her agency would be enacting the cuts on water contractors and preserving resources for health and safety needs only.
Brad Hooker of Agri-Pulse first reported the news.
NOAA issued its U.S. Spring Outlook today and for the second year in a row, forecasters predict prolonged, persistent drought in the West where below-average precipitation is most likely. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center — part of the National Weather Service — is also forecasting above-average temperatures for most of the U.S. from the Desert Southwest to the East Coast and north through the Midwest to the Canadian border from April to June.
Reading the tree rings from Montana to northern Mexico, from Pacific beaches to the Colorado Rockies, a team of scientists led by a UCLA researcher has shown that the current long-term drought in the West is the most severe in 1,200 years.
It’s not just a dry spell — it’s a megadrought.
The rigorous study, aided by NASA, shows all that talk you have heard most of your life, about how the lack of rain in these parts is normal, and about how “we live in a desert anyway” — we don’t; we live in a rare Mediterranean climate — is nonsense.
The Santa Ynez River Valley Groundwater Basin runs from Lake Cachuma off Highway 154 out to the ocean near Lompoc. It’s used for urban water supply in Northern Santa Barbara County and in agriculture for things like wine grapes and vegetables.
Now, water users in the area may be required to comply with sustainable tactics to help manage the basin after years of consistent drought and overuse.
“Many parts of the basin are nearing historical lows,” said Santa Barbara County Water Agency Manager Matt Young.
San Mateo, South San Francisco and San Carlos residents could soon be allowed to water landscaping only two days per week, the California Water Service announced Wednesday.
The water provider said customers in its Bayshore District, which serves roughly 200,000 people in San Mateo County, will enter “stage 2” of the agency’s tiered water conservation plan in light of worsening drought conditions.
Californians have achieved impressive feats of water conservation over the past few decades. But that won’t be enough. While we’re drinking, washing, flushing, and irrigating less, demand for water still outpaces supply. Aging dams and canals need seismic retrofits, and new systems for harvesting and storing runoff water —and reusing wastewater — need to be built.
What’s the hold-up? With care, environmentalist concerns over new water projects can be balanced with the need to provide Californians with an adequate water supply.
The $1.5 trillion omnibus appropriations bill passed last week by the U.S. Congress includes more than $73 million for projects in the greater Bay Area, according to the office of Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California.
“This funding will go to local governments and community organizations that are directly serving our neighborhoods,” Padilla said in a statement. “Federal dollars will support projects to modernize our transportation infrastructure and spur economic growth. We are also investing in projects that will increase California’s capacity to treat patients and deliver mental health services.”
A massive reservoir known as a boating mecca dipped below a critical threshold on Tuesday raising new concerns about a source of power that millions of people in the U.S. West rely on for electricity.
Lake Powell’s fall to below 3,525 feet (1,075 meters) puts it at its lowest level since the lake filled after the federal government dammed the Colorado River at Glen Canyon more than a half century ago — a record marking yet another sobering realization of the impacts of climate change and megadrought.
