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Column: You Do Know That, in Most Cases, Bottled Water Is Just Tap Water?

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby David Lazarus

Since the start of the pandemic, thirsty Americans have drowned their sorrow in bottled water. Even before the coronavirus blew into all our lives, bottled water was, and has been for years, the No. 1 beverage in the United States, surpassing soft drinks as the choice of increasingly health-conscious consumers. The COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated things.

According to a recent report from the International Bottled Water Assn., sales of bottled water exploded last year “as consumers stocked up in order to stay home amid the coronavirus crisis.”

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In Search of ‘Lithium Valley’: Why Energy Companies See Riches in the California Desert

/in , , /by /The Guardianby Aaron Miguel Cantú

Standing atop a pockmarked red mesa, Rod Colwell looks out at an expanse of water that resembles a thin blue strip on the horizon. The Salton Sea, California’s largest lake, has come and gone at least five times in the last 1,300 years, most recently in 1905, when floodwaters from the Colorado River refilled its basin.

A mid-century resort destination, the lake has since become an environmental disaster zone.

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A ‘Thirsty’ Atmosphere is Propelling Northern California’s Drought Into the Record Books

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Paul Duginski

Increasing evaporative demand is escalating summertime drought severity in California and the West, according to climate researchers.

Evaporative demand is essentially the atmosphere’s “thirst.” It is calculated based on temperature, humidity, wind speed and solar radiation. It’s the sum of evaporation and transpiration from plants, and it’s driven by warmer global temperatures, which can be attributed to climate change.

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Importing Water for Drought Fix Huge Project

/in , , /by /Arizona Capitol Timesby Obren Manjencich

Importing muddy water from the Mississippi River to save Arizona from drought could be as simple as landing a man on the moon.  

As droughts force local communities to find alternative solutions to water shortages, Arizonans could turn to importing flood water in the future.    

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Drought Forces West to Turn to Fossil Fuels That Helped Cause It

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Tripp Baltz

An unlikely energy sector is emerging as a winner from the West’s megadrought: fossil fuels, whose heavy use has been blamed for creating the conditions causing the drought in the first place.

The drought has slashed the electricity-generating capacity of major hydroelectric dams, forcing buyers to spend millions of dollars to buy extra power from an expensive sellers’ market.

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Banking on Water That Never Came

/in , , /by /Herald and Newsby Alex Schwartz Herald

Nestled below rocky outcroppings dotted with junipers on the eastern shore of old Tule Lake, John Prosser’s 97-acre homestead at Bloody Point is a haven amidst the chaos of the Klamath Basin water crisis.

Prosser, a history buff, purchased the property last fall, its fields having sat largely fallow for years despite the presence of a private irrigation well. By August, the field’s newly planted stand of alfalfa was busy rebounding after its first cutting — a rare sight of green in the Klamath Project this year.

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California Moves on Climate Change, but Rejects Aggressive Cuts to Greenhouse Emissions

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Samantha Young

As California trudges into another autumn marred by toxic wildfire smoke and drought-parched reservoirs, state lawmakers have cast climate change as a growing public health threat for the state’s 40 million residents. But they were willing to push the argument only so far.

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‘Burn Scars’ of Wildfires Threaten Drinking Water in Much of California and the West

/in , /by /Los Angeles Times'/Kaiser Health Newsby Sara Reardon

Colorado saw its worst fire season last year, with the three largest fires in state history and more than 600,000 acres burned. But some of the effects didn’t appear until this July, when heavy rain pushed sediment from damaged forests down mountainsides, causing mudslides that shut down sections of Interstate 70 for almost two weeks.

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La Niña is About to Take the Southwest Drought from Bad to Worse

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Rachel Ramirez

Global scientists reported in August that due to the climate crisis, droughts that may have occurred only once every decade or so now happen 70% more frequently. The increase is particularly apparent in the Western US, which is currently in the the throes of a historic, multiyear drought that has exacerbated wildfire behavior, drained reservoirs and triggered water shortages.

More than 94% of the West is in drought this week — a proportion that has hovered at or above 90% since June — with six states entirely in drought conditions, according to the US Drought Monitor. On the Colorado River, Lake Mead and Lake Powell — two of the country’s largest reservoirs — are draining at alarming rates, threatening the West’s water supply and hydropower generation in coming years.

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Here’s How California’s Drought is Impacting Bay Area Reservoirs

/in , , /by /NBC Bay Areaby Robert Handa

California is running out of water. That’s the harsh assessment by experts who say 90% of the state is dealing with drought conditions with the threat of mandatory statewide water restrictions looming.

The most glaring indications of the drought in the Bay Area are the local reservoirs. The reservoirs during the last drought were relatively full and offered a temporary buffer to a major water shortage. That is not the case this time around.

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