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

Opinion: Yes, Southern California, We Have a Water Shortage Emergency Too

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Times Editorial Board

So Southern Californians didn’t decrease their water usage in July, despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s request for a voluntary 15% cutback?

Well, of course not. The dusty lake beds, the dry spigots, the serious water-use cutback orders and the most frightening wildfires (so far, anyway) have been in Northern California, and that’s where Newsom focused his most dire warnings. He declared a drought emergency in Mendocino and Sonoma counties in April, expanded it to 41 counties in May, and then to 50 counties in July — but not Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Diego, Riverside or San Bernardino counties. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California warned of unprecedented shortages in Lake Mead and has launched an advertising campaign calling for increased conservation. But the MWD is the victim of its own success, in that it has done a superb job over the decades supplying enough water so that residents generally don’t think about shortages.

Full Story

A Tiny Piece of Plastic Is Helping Farmers Use Far Less Water

/in , /by /Bloomberg Businessweekby Elizabeth G. Dunn

On the bone-dry western flank of Arizona, where the Colorado River Basin meets the Mojave Desert, sit 11,000 acres of alfalfa, sorghum, wheat, and Sudan grass belonging to the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT), all destined to be harvested and sold for animal feed. For anything to grow here, irrigation is a must. Less than a quarter inch of rain has fallen so far this year, according to Josh Moore, who manages the farm on behalf of his tribe.

Full Story

Supes Boost Water Reuse Requirements for New Buildings

/in , /by /San Francisco Examinerby Bay City News

New buildings will need to collect and reuse much more water than what is required for existing buildings, after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved new regulations Tuesday.

The ordinance more than doubles the amount of water that new large buildings will be required to collect and reuse on site, said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, its author. He said it also directs the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to come up with a plan for expanding The City’s supply and use of recycled water.

Full Story

Contamination a ‘Huge Challenge’ For Affordable Drinking Water in California

/in , /by /Capital and Mainby Dan Ross

Francisco Diaz remembers when the water piped to his home in the Central Valley community of Monterey Park Tract made everything smell rotten, including himself.

“We had to take our clothes and go to the city and wash it over there because if you had washed it here and put it on, you’d stink,” said Diaz, who heads the Monterey Park Tract Community Service District, a form of specialized local government. “We couldn’t even take showers.”

Unsurprisingly, the water was undrinkable. Agricultural run-off, heavy in potentially toxic nitrates, had contaminated both wells that supplied water to Monterey Park Tract, nestled amid the crop fields and dairy farms of Stanislaus County.

Full Story

Despite Newsom’s Call to Cut Water Use, L.A. and San Diego Didn’t Conserve in July

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

Despite an appeal by Gov. Gavin Newsom for all Californians to voluntarily cut water use by 15%, Southern California has lagged in conservation efforts and even increased water consumption slightly in Los Angeles and San Diego, according to newly released data.

More than two months after Newsom stood by a depleted reservoir in San Luis Obispo County to make his plea, figures released Tuesday by the State Water Resources Control Board show that conservation efforts have varied widely from north to south.

Full Story

Southwest U.S. Drought, Worst in a Century, Linked by NOAA to Climate Change

/in , , /by /Reutersby Steve Gorman

Human-caused climate change has intensified the withering drought gripping the Southwestern United States, the region’s most severe on record, with precipitation at the lowest 20-month level documented since 1895, a U.S. government report said on Tuesday.

Over the same period, from January 2020 through August 2021, the region also experienced the third-highest daily average temperatures measured since record-keeping began near the end of the 19th century, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) drought task force

Full Story

As California’s Drought Deepens, Water Use Drops Only 1.8%

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Rachel Becker

Californians reduced their water use at home by a meager 1.8% statewide in July compared to last year, even after Gov. Gavin Newsom urged residents to conserve 15% and drought continues to spread across the state.

Officials today warned water providers south of the Delta who rely on state water allocations — already slashed to 5% this year — to brace for the possibility of zero supply next year.

Full Story

Newsom Asked Californians to Conserve Water in the Drought. It’s Been a Slow Start

/in , , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

In the first test of their willingness to cut back on water use during the drought, Californians reduced residential consumption by just 1.8% in July compared to a year earlier — well short of what Gov. Gavin Newsom has been seeking.

The statistics released Tuesday by the State Water Resources Control Board suggest Californians haven’t been enthusiastically embracing Newsom’s appeal for 15% reductions, at least in the early going.

Full Story

California Water Agencies Resolve Colorado River Dispute

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Felicia Fonseca

Two major California water agencies have settled a lawsuit that once threatened to derail a multi-state agreement to protect a river that serves millions of people in the U.S. West amid gripping drought.

The Imperial Irrigation District, the largest single recipient of Colorado River water, sued the Metropolitan Water District twice in the past two years. The agencies announced Monday they have reached a settlement that resolves both lawsuits.

Full Story

Agencies Seek Private Partner to Develop 500-MW San Vicente Energy Storage Project

/in , , /by /Hydro Reviewby Elizabeth Ingram Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority has issued a request for proposals seeking a full-service private partner capable of developing the 500-MW San Vicente pumped energy storage project, planned jointly by the Water Authority and the City of San Diego.

The partner agencies aim to maximize the value of the existing San Vicente Reservoir for on-demand energy generation to support the state’s clean energy goals.

Full Story