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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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Hackers Try to Contaminate Florida Town’s Water Supply Through Computer Breach

/in , , /by /Reutersby Christopher Bing

Hackers broke into the computer system of a facility that treats water for about 15,000 people near Tampa, Florida and sought to add a dangerous level of additive to the water supply, the Pinellas County Sheriff said on Monday.

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Colorado River Outlook Darkens Dramatically in New Study

/in , , /by /Tuscon.comby Tony Davis

In the gloomiest long-term forecast yet for the drought-stricken Colorado River, a new study warns that lower river basin states including Arizona may have to slash their take from the river up to 40% by the 2050s to keep reservoirs from falling too low. Such a cut would amount to about twice as much as the three Lower Basin states — Arizona, California and Nevada — agreed to absorb under the drought contingency plan they approved in early 2019.

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Newsom Promised to End California’s Water Wars. Now that Trump is Gone, Can He Do It?

/in , , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler and Ryan Sabalow

Shortly after taking office two years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to deliver a massive compromise deal on the water rushing through California’s major rivers and the critically-important Delta — and bring lasting peace to the incessant water war between farmers, cities, anglers and environmentalists.

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High-Tech Forecasting Model Scores Scientific Win at Lake Mendocino, Showing Promise for Western Reservoirs

/in , , /by /The Press Democratby Guy Kovner

Sandbars are spreading across rain-starved Lake Mendocino, the reservoir near Ukiah that is 35 feet lower than it was a year ago, a grim wintertime sight for the second major source of water for more than 655,000 people in Sonoma, Mendocino and Marin counties. But the situation would be considerably worse without the payoff from a six-year, $50 million project applying high-tech weather forecasting to management of the reservoir behind Coyote Valley Dam built on the East Fork of the Russian River in 1958.

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