After two wet winters, 19 counties encompassing most of California’s population have officially emerged from the drought emergency that has afflicted the state for the past three years.
On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the executive order rolling back the restrictions.
Unless a new bill to grow California’s essential water supply, SB 366 (Caballero), is signed into law, our only progress on water supply this year – as this summer’s record temperatures foreshadow potential droughts to come – will be another, dubious conservation mandate, which is a multi-billion-dollar effort for a miniscule volume of water.
SB 366 is where state policy should start: With an overall target for a sustainable, statewide water supply, and a timeline to achieve that target. Our legislators agree: The legislature has done the right thing with the bill passing both the Assembly and Senate without receiving a single “no” vote and now needs only Gov. Newsom’s signature by Sept. 30 to become law.
California lawmakers late Friday approved a massive increase in fines for water scofflaws after ranchers intentionally defied state orders and pumped water from the drought-plagued Shasta River for eight days.
Two years ago, state officials imposed the maximum fine allowed under law — $4,000, or roughly $50 per rancher, causing outrage among tribes and conservationists. The river provides vital habitat for salmon, and California was experiencing its driest three-year stretch on record.
The Aqueous Battery Consortium, comprising Stanford University, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and 13 other institutions, aims to overcome batteries’ major limitations by using water as the primary component of its electrolyte.
On September 3, the US Department of Energy (DOE) selected the Aqueous Battery Consortium as an energy hub research project. Under the DOE’s Energy Innovation Hubs program, the consortium could receive up to $62.5 million over five years.
Trans-Delta System, Peripheral Canal, Bay Delta Conservation Plan, California Water Fix, and now, the Delta Conveyance Project – the idea of a canal to route water around the Delta is certainly not new. It was initially thought of as part of the master plan for the State Water Project but wasn’t included in the initial construction due to cost considerations. In the 1980s, plans were begun to construct such a canal, but it was put to a statewide vote, which was soundly defeated due to concerns about its potential impact on the Delta’s ecosystem and native fish populations.
Despite past setbacks and strong opposition, the idea of constructing a bypass around the Delta was never entirely abandoned. Over the years, it has continued to be a topic of intermittent discussion, with geography playing a significant role in the level of opposition. The most vocal opponents are often found in the northern part of the state, particularly within the Delta itself.
Over the last three decades, California has seen increasing erosion after major wildfires — a phenomenon that not only endangers water resources and ecosystems, but is also likely to worsen with climate change, according to researchers.
A new study from the U.S. Geological Survey documented a tenfold increase in post-fire hillside erosion in Northern California from the late 1980s to the 2010s, with the majority of the largest sediment-producing fires occurring in the last decade.
A career building and maintaining California’s water and wastewater treatment systems may be unglamorous, failing to spring to mind — at least it did for me — when young people contemplate their future careers.
However, the state faces a looming shortage of workers in these critical roles. It is imperative to support local, state and federal policies that help fill them.
The majority of bills churning through this legislative session have to pass the Assembly and Senate by midnight Saturday, Aug. 31, or they die. And there are a slew of water bills racing toward that deadline.
While some may make it to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, no one can say with certainty whether he will sign them, veto them, or ignore them.
The World Health Organization notes that only about 73% of the world’s population have access to drinking water that is both nearby and free from contamination, leaving billions of people who aren’t afforded such a basic luxury. Even worse, at least 1.7 billion people have to drink from a water source that’s contaminated by human waste.
And while there are notable exceptions such as the Flint water crisis, those of us living in the United States have few reasons to worry about such the safety of our drinking water. “In relationship to the risk of illness associated with other countries around the world, our drinking water ranks fairly highly as we use advanced testing measures to ensure that drinking water is safe and free from both chemical and microbial contaminants,” says Rachel Noble, a distinguished professor of marine sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
More than two months after he was placed on leave by the board of California’s largest urban water supplier, embattled General Manager Adel Hagekhalil defended his performance and insisted the accusations against him are unfounded.
The board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California met in closed session Tuesday to discuss the status of investigations into multiple complaints and voted to extend Hagekhalil’s leave of absence until Oct. 23 as the investigation continues. The leave had been scheduled to end in September.
