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Water Plant Cyberattack Is Wake Up Call, 20 Years in the Making

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Jake Holland and Bobby Magill

A cyberattack on a Florida water treatment plant underscores the need for strong security protections at the municipal level, attorneys and industry professionals say.

A hacker gained access to an Oldsmar, Fla. city computer on Feb. 5 and changed the level of sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, local authorities said. It isn’t yet known whether the breach originated from the U.S. or from outside the country. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is working with local authorities.

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Colorado’s Water Plan has Made Progress Toward Ensuring Supply, but the Work’s Far From Done

/in , /by /The Colorado Sunby Sarah Kuta

In the five years since Colorado’s Water Plan took effect, the state has awarded nearly $500 million in loans and grants for water projects, cities have enacted strict drought plans, communities have written nearly two dozen locally based stream-restoration plans and crews have been hard at work on improving irrigation systems and wastewater treatment plants. But there are big challenges ahead — drought, population growth, accelerating climate change, budget cuts, wildfires and competing demands for water, among others.

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Hack Exposes Vulnerability of Cash-Strapped US Water Plants

/in , /by /AP Newsby Frank Bajak, Alan Suderman and Tamara Lush

A hacker’s botched attempt to poison the water supply of a small Florida city is raising alarms about just how vulnerable the nation’s water systems may be to attacks by more sophisticated intruders. Treatment plants are typically cash-strapped, and lack the cybersecurity depth of the power grid and nuclear plants.

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Batteries Emerge as a ‘Cleaner Alternative’ for Re-Energising the Grid at California Gas Plant

/in , /by /Energy Storage Newsby Andy Colthorpe

When turbines at a natural gas power plant in California go offline, battery energy storage will be used as a ‘much cleaner alternative’ to diesel or other fossil fuels in getting them up and running again.

Siemens Energy has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to deploy large batteries at Marsh Landing Generating Station owned by US infrastructure investor Clearway.

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Diversifying Water Supplies Includes Aquifer Recharge

/in , /by /AgAlertby Christine Souza

Bracing for potentially a second consecutive year of dry conditions, California water officials, farmers and researchers participating in an irrigation conference discussed recharging aquifers with stormwater and increased water efficiency among ways to diversify the state’s water supply. The 59th annual California Irrigation Institute conference was held virtually last week, in time for the year’s second manual snow survey by the California Department of Water Resources.

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In Florida City, a Hacker Tried to Poison the Drinking Water

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Frank Bajak

A hacker gained entry to the system controlling the water treatment plant of a Florida city of 15,000 and tried to taint the water supply with a caustic chemical, exposing a danger cybersecurity experts say has grown as systems become both more computerized and accessible via the internet.

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Marin Water Suppliers Consider Drought Restrictions

/in , , /by /Marin Independent Journalby Will Houston

Marin County water districts are weighing the need for mandatory conservation actions in the face of abnormally low rainfall and what could be another prolonged drought.

Marin’s two largest suppliers — the Marin Municipal Water District and the North Marin Water District — plan to begin with voluntary conservation measures before considering more restrictive options such as rationing and irrigation bans similar to those of the 2014 drought.

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The Colorado River Crisis is a National Crisis

/in , , /by /The New Republicby Nick Martin

The Colorado River supports over 40 million people spread across seven southwestern states, 29 tribal nations, and Mexico. It’s responsible for the irrigation of roughly 5.5 million acres of land marked for agricultural use. Local and regional headlines show the river is in crisis. The nation mostly isn’t listening.

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Fresno-Area Utility Providers Face Financial Crisis. Can They Keep the Water Running?

/in , , /by /The Fresno Beeby Monica Vaughan

Unpaid water bills are piling up during the pandemic, as small water providers in the central San Joaquin Valley teeter toward a financial crisis that could affect drinking water quality and affordability.

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States Clash With Pentagon on PFAS Water Limits, Polluted Sites

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Emily C. Dooley

Six states with drinking water standards for so-called “forever chemicals” are now wrestling with what those limits mean when water contamination from Department of Defense sites seep into their communities.

Members of Congress from both parties are starting to vent their frustration at military foot-dragging even as the states take different paths to address the contamination. One state is suing. Another must wait years for an investigation to end. A third is keeping a watchful eye on the Biden administration.

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