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Could the Answer to Groundwater Resources Come From High in the Sky?

/in , , /by /Berkeley Labby Christina Procopiou

Groundwater makes up 30 to 50 percent of California’s water supply, but until recently there were few restrictions placed on its retrieval. Then in 2014 California became the last Western state to require regulation of its groundwater. With deadlines starting this year, for the first time water managers in the nation’s premier agricultural region – the state’s Central Valley – are tasked with estimating available groundwater. It’s a daunting technological challenge.

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Oral Arguments in IID’s Abatti Appeal Set for Friday

/in , , /by /Imperial Valley Pressby Michael Maresh

A three-member Fourth Appellate District Court of Appeals panel at 9 a.m. Friday will listen to oral arguments in the Imperial Irrigation District’s appeal of a 2017 Superior Court ruling in favor of former IID director and local farmer Mike Abatti on water rights.

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Understaffed and ‘Struggling,’ Central Valley Water Board Trims Programs

/in , , /by /Agri Pulseby Brad Hooker

The State Water Resources Control Board and its regional branches are facing an uncertain time, and farmers could see the fallout.

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Tahoe’s Average Clarity Decreases by 8 Feet In 2019

/in , /by /Sierra Sunby Justin Scacco

Lake Tahoe’s famed clarity has long been used to gauge the health and changing conditions of Big Blue. Unlike in recent years when researchers were able to point to a dominant factor affecting lake clarity like drought or higher-than-average precipitation, 2019 saw a range of influences on Tahoe, including lake mixing for the first time in several years, sediment, algae, and climate warming.

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Green Infrastructure Can Be Cheaper, More Effective than Dams

/in , /by /Scientific Americanby Daniel Cusick

Hundreds of studies on nature-based solutions to extreme events show that “green infrastructure” is often cheaper and more effective than engineered projects like dams, levees and sea walls, according to a new analysis.

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California Assembly Passes Expedited Dam Safety for Silicon Valley Act

/in , , /by /Engineering News-Recordby Tim Newcomb

In an effort to move forward a $576 million Anderson Dam Seismic Retrofit Project, the California State Assembly passed AB 3005 on June 8, the Expedited Dam Safety for Silicon Valley Act, facilitating the construction of the project.

Assemblyman Robert Rivas (D-Hollister, Calif.), who wrote the bill, says the overwhelming vote of bipartisan support shows the importance in fixing the dam. “The clock is ticking on a catastrophic dam failure in case of a large earthquake,” he says, “and we can’t allow bureaucratic delay to increase risks to public safety, water security and environmental protections.”

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90% Clean Power by 2035 is ‘Challenging but Feasible’

/in , , /by /PV Magazineby William Driscoll

A 90% clean grid by 2035 would be cost-effective, says a report from UC Berkeley and GridLab; a companion policy paper calls for a federal renewables mandate to get there.

Under a 90% clean grid, wholesale electricity would cost less than it does today. And although a 55% clean grid in 2035 would have even lower electricity prices, when environmental and health damages from fossil fuel use are counted, the 90% clean grid would cost less.

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Water’s Not the Issue

/in , /by /East Bay Expressby Alastair Bland

As the coronavirus creeps through the human population, causing social and economic turmoil, farmers discard vast quantities of food that they are abruptly unable to sell in the upended economy. The waste has been widely reported as one heartbreaking impact of the Covid-19 crisis. Part of the problem seems to be that, with restaurants closed, vegetable farmers, as well as producers of milk, eggs and meat, wound up with no one to buy their goods.

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Delta Dispute Casts Shadow on Water Supplies

/in , , /by /Ag Alertby Christine Souza

With supplies curtailed from California’s largest water projects, farmers have been reducing acreage, water districts have been working to secure additional supplies, and everyone has been keeping an eye on the continued dispute between state and federal governments on managing the delta.

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PFAS Cleanup Backers Face Unexpected Foe: Water Utilities

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Christina Brady

After decades of inaction, the federal government has gotten serious about cleaning up PFAS, a class of compounds known as “forever chemicals” that have been linked to health problems and inhabit the bloodstream of nearly every American.

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