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Framework for Agreements to Aid Health of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is a Starting Point With An Uncertain End

/in , , /by /Western Water (Water Education Foundation, Sacramento)by Gary Pitzer

Voluntary agreements in California have been touted as an innovative and flexible way to improve environmental conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the rivers that feed it. The goal is to provide river flows and habitat for fish while still allowing enough water to be diverted for farms and cities in a way that satisfies state regulators. But no one said this would be easy.

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Droughts Exposed California’s Thirst for Groundwater. Now, the State Hopes to Refill its Aquifers

/in , , /by /Science Magazine (American Association for the Advancement of Science) by Erik Stokstad

California’s Central Valley — one of the richest agricultural regions in the world — is sinking. During a recent intense drought, from 2012 to 2016, parts of the valley sank as much as 60 centimeters per year. “It isn’t like an earthquake; it doesn’t happen, boom,” says Claudia Faunt, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. But it is evidence of a slow-motion disaster, the result of the region’s insatiable thirst for groundwater.

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Wave of Spring Storms Wipes Out Drought in All of Southern California

/in , , /by /NBC 4 Los Angelesby Jonathan Lloyd

Spring storms that included five consecutive days of soaking rain last week knocked out drought conditions in Southern California, according to this week’s U.S. Drought Monitor report.

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Study: Warming Makes US West Megadrought Worst in Modern Age

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Seth Borenstein

A two-decade-long dry spell that has parched much of the western United States is turning into one of the deepest megadroughts in the region in more than 1,200 years, a new study found.

And about half of this historic drought can be blamed on man-made global warming, according to a study in Thursday’s journal Science.

Scientists looked at a nine-state area from Oregon and Wyoming down through California and New Mexico, plus a sliver of southwestern Montana and parts of northern Mexico. They used thousands of tree rings to compare a drought that started in 2000 and is still going — despite a wet 2019 — to four past megadroughts since the year 800.

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Opinion: California Water Policies Inhibit Food Production by Valley Farmers

/in , , /by /CalMattersby William Bourdeau

Over the past several weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has created images Americans never expected to see in this country: Empty supermarket shelves and people lined up outside of markets waiting to enter to purchase food.

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106,000 American Clean Energy Jobs Were Lost in March

/in , /by /pv magazineby Tim Sylvia

The dramatic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic have hit every sector of the U.S. economy hard, with renewable energy being no exception. Today, BW Research released an analysis of unemployment data that shows more than 106,000 clean energy workers lost their jobs in the month of March.

Those 106,000 job losses represent a 3% loss in employment across the clean energy industry. In 2019, the clean energy industry added more than 70,000 jobs for a 2.2% growth rate, one which outpaced the U.S. workforce as a whole. The renewable energy generation sector alone lost 16,500 jobs.

The analysis, coupled with forecasts from industry trade groups and companies, led BW Research to the conclusion that, if no actions are taken quickly to support the industry, up to 500,000 jobs could be lost — or almost 15% of the clean energy workforce.

Broken down by state, California experienced the largest number of layoffs, losing 19,900 jobs, which equates to more than 3.5% of its clean energy workforce.

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Opinion: For California’s Water, a Tale of Two Letters

/in , /by /The Sunby Wayne Western

Two weeks after the State of California rolled out its plan that spells the end of coordinated distribution of the state’s water resources from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California Democrats in Congress have finally spoken out, sort of.

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Power Shutoff Bans Amid Pandemic May Require Cost Recovery for Utilities

/in , , /by /Utility Diveby John Funk

More than 100 members of Congress, including 15 senators, are pressing the House and Senate leadership to include language in the next COVID-19 funding package prohibiting utilities from disconnecting customers who may not be able to pay their bills now or immediately after the crisis that has closed businesses and thrown millions out of work.

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Industry Survey Indicates Revenue Challenges for U.S. Water Utilities

/in , , /by /Circle of Blueby Circle of Blue

A rising number of water utilities expect that the coronavirus pandemic will result in financial repercussions. Two-thirds of water utilities say that changes in water demand and customer payments during the coronavirus pandemic will cause cash flow problems within the next two months or more.

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Opinion: Wastewater Treatment Kills Most Pathogens, Including COVID-19 Virus

/in , , /by /PPICby Lori Pottinger

Californians reuse treated wastewater as a water supply, to irrigate crops, and to support freshwater ecosystems. To get answers to questions about managing the new coronavirus in the “sewershed,” we talked to two experts: Kara Nelson, an expert in waterborne pathogens at UC Berkeley; and Adam Link, executive director of the California Association of Sanitation Agencies.

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