You are now in California and the U.S. Home Headline Media Coverage category.

Lithium Fuels Hopes for Revival on California’s Largest Lake

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Elliot Spagat

Near Southern California’s dying Salton Sea, a canopy next to a geothermal power plant covers large containers of salty water left behind after super-hot liquid is drilled from deep underground to run steam turbines. The containers connect to tubes that spit out what looks like dishwater, but it’s lithium, a critical component of rechargeable batteries and the newest hope for economic revival in the depressed region.

Demand for electric vehicles has shifted investments into high gear to extract lithium from geothermal brine, salty water that has been overlooked and pumped back underground since the region’s first geothermal plant opened in 1982. The mineral-rich byproduct may now be more valuable than the steam used to generate electricity.

Full Story

Opinion: Priced Out and Shut Off: Tackling Water Affordability

/in , , /by /The Hillby Michael Mcafee and Susana De Anda

Right now, Congress is debating needed investments in our water system decades in the making. While the Senate’s compromise bill passed earlier this month includes billions for lead pipe replacement and helping communities prepare for future drought and floods, the bill falls short of ensuring all families can turn their tap on and access safe, affordable water.

Infrastructure spending isn’t enough. We must pair new water spending with bill assistance to ensure the water flowing through our upgraded pipes serves all households in America. This is especially true as the country faces another rise in COVID-19 cases.

Full Story

‘Forever Chemicals’ Found in Groundwater Near Military Bases

/in , , /by /AP Newsby John Flesher

High levels of toxic, widely used “forever chemicals” contaminate groundwater around at least six military sites in the Great Lakes region, according to U.S. Department of Defense records that an environmental group released Tuesday.

The Environmental Working Group said PFAS, an abbreviation for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, have oozed into the Great Lakes and pose a risk to people who eat fish tainted with the chemicals.

Full Story

Madera County Residents and Farmers Face Groundwater Challenge of a Lifetime

/in , /by /The Fresno Beeby Danielle Bergstrom

Madera County is running out of time as groundwater levels plummet to new depths.

Wells are going dry everywhere. Drillers have months-long waitlists. Residents are scrambling for water tanks. And farmers will soon face a reckoning after agriculture’s footprint, particularly nut trees, has more than doubled in the past 50 years — far outpacing irrigation supplies.

There’s growing consensus among farmers, county officials and residents that Madera’s groundwater problem will be solved mainly by cutting water demand, not by waiting for more dams to be built or even recharging excess water into the aquifer.

Full Story

Federal Judge Throws Out Trump Administration Rule Allowing the Draining and Filling of Streams, Marshes and Wetlands

/in , , /by /The Washington Postby Dino Grandoni and Brady Dennis

A federal judge Monday threw out a major Trump administration rule that scaled back federal protections for streams, marshes and wetlands across the United States, reversing one of the previous administration’s most significant environmental rollbacks. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Márquez wrote that Trump officials committed serious errors while writing the regulation, finalized last year, and that leaving it in place could lead to “serious environmental harm.”

Full Story

Running Out of Water, Drought-stricken Communities Find Creative Ways to Conserve

/in , , /by /KSBYby Amanda Brandeis

As unprecedented drought conditions plague much of the West, reservoirs are running dry. Communities reliant on these sources for drinking water are tightening restrictions to preserve adequate supplies.

“This is the first time it’s been this severe,” said Tom Colbert of Healdsburg, California. “It’s disheartening. We’ve had friends move out of California because of the drought and the wildfires.”

Full Story

Southern California Desert Farmers Will Earn Millions to Fallow Fields, Save Colorado River Water

/in , , /by /Palm Springs Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

California farmers near the Arizona border with the oldest rights to Colorado River water will reap $38 million over three years to not plant some of their fields and leave extra water in the rapidly declining Lake Mead reservoir.

Located roughly halfway between Los Angeles and Phoenix, growers near the City of Blythe in Riverside County have first priority to the river water. They hold rights that stretch back to 1877, superseding 40 million customers in eight states who also depend on it.

Full Story

Water-Starved Colorado River Delta Gets Another Shot of Life From the River’s Flows

/in , , /by /Water Education Foundationby Gary Pitzer

Water is flowing once again to the Colorado River’s delta in Mexico, a vast region that was once a natural splendor before the iconic Western river was dammed and diverted at the turn of the last century, essentially turning the delta into a desert.

In 2012, the idea emerged that water could be intentionally sent down the river to inundate the delta floodplain and regenerate native cottonwood and willow trees, even in an overallocated river system.

Full Story

Opinion: How to Make Your Voice Heard on the Future of the Threatened Salton Sea

/in , , /by /Palm Springs Desert Sunby Chuck Parker

The 22-year-long drought in the Colorado River Basin is growing more severe. The levels of Lake Mead and Lake Powell are lower than they have ever been. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has ordered mandatory cutbacks of water deliveries in 2022 with more cuts predicted in the following two years.

Experts are acknowledging that the river has changed fundamentally: “No doubt climate change is real. We’re seeing it on the Colorado River every day,” as an official quoted in an Aug. 17 Desert Sun article said.

Full Story

Opinion: The Colorado River Is Sending Us a Message

/in , , /by /The Pagosa Springs Sunby Gary Wockner

It feels like an apocalypse in the southwest — wildfires, floods, drought, heat, smoke. This was not the norm when I moved to Colorado 35 years ago. Climate scientists may have predicted the arrival of these extreme events, but many admit their predictions have come true faster than they expected.

One outcome they pinpointed was the impact of heat and drought on water flows in the Colorado River. For the last 20 years, this new climate, combined with booming human population growth, has parched landscapes, drained reservoirs and incited talk of water wars across the region. Lake Powell on the Colorado River and Glen Canyon Dam, which creates the reservoir, have become casualties of this strained environment.

Full Story