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Meet the Water Baron You (Likely) Haven’t Heard of

/in , /by /The Sun (Central Valley)by Alex Tavlian

Has the San Joaquin Valley reached its Chinatown moment? For farmers who rely on water from the Kings River, the answer winds up as some shade of “yes.” But the players are different. This isn’t the Owens Valley and William Mulholland doesn’t work for the City of Los Angeles. Uneasy about a slowly-marching plan to siphon Valley water for Southern California, farmers and some water managers are worrying about the growing shadow of one of the region’s largest land owners.

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A Quick, Cost-Effective Method to Track the Spread of COVID-19 Through Untreated Wastewater

/in , , /by /Smart Water Magazineby Hokkaido University

A group of researchers have demonstrated that, from seven methods commonly used to test for viruses in untreated wastewater, an adsorption-extraction technique can most efficiently detect SARS-CoV-2. This gives us another tool to detect the presence and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Napa Sanitation District Harvests Napa’s Sewage Sludge for Fertilizer

/in , /by /Napa Valley Registerby Barry Eberling

Dredging is common in navigable waterways, but the project underway at the Napa Sanitation District property in southern Napa County is a little bit different.

The dredging is taking place in a vast sewage treatment pond. And the material being removed is biosolids, which is another way of saying sewage sludge.

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Extreme Heat Waves Almost Always Have ‘Human Fingerprint’ on them Now

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Peter Fimrite

It may not be the biblical end of times, but the searing heat and humidity, rain, thunder and lightning thrashing California could be the beginning of the end of the region’s dry Mediterranean climate and a prelude of more surprises to come, scientists said Monday.

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California Utilities Pay Record Prices for Surplus Power Amid Heat Wave

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein

Electric prices in the West soared to record highs as California consumers prepared for more outages on Monday after the grid operator ordered utilities to cut power over the weekend to reduce system strain during a brutal heat wave.

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‘We’re in a Bind’: California Braces for Rolling Outages as Heatwave Continues

/in , , /by /Utility Dive

The California Independent System Operator is bracing for rolling outages through Wednesday, after a record-breaking heatwave in the Western U.S. strained energy supplies and necessitated power shut-offs that affected hundreds of thousands of customers over the weekend.

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‘The Pie Keeps Shrinking’: Lake Mead’s Low Level Will Trigger Water Cutbacks for Arizona, Nevada

/in , , /by /Arizona Republicby Ian James

Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will again receive less water from the Colorado River next year under a set of agreements intended to help boost the level of Lake Mead, which now stands at just 40% of its full capacity.

The federal Bureau of Reclamation released projections on Friday showing that Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, will be at levels next year that continue to trigger moderate cutbacks in the two U.S. states and Mexico.

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PFAS Issues in California Compounded by Colorado’s PFAS Proliferation

/in , , /by /The National Law Reviewby John Gardella

Every year, nearly 40% of California’s water used for drinking, agriculture, and irrigation comes from groundwater sources located in Northern California. During droughts, as much as 60% of water in California is sourced from groundwater. In addition, large quantities of California’s surface water (water found in lakes, rivers, stream, and reservoirs) provides a resource to citizens and farms in the state. However, since the 1922 Colorado River Compact, California is also able to draw up to 4.4 million acre feet per year from the Colorado River.

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Aqueduct Project Brought Much-Needed Boon to 1930s Banning

/in , , /by /The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Calif.)by Steve Lech

In 1930, while the Great Depression was worsening and the impacts of it were starting to be felt nationwide, the city of Banning received some good news. A major construction project was about to unfold in its backyard, and the city would benefit greatly. The project was the Colorado River Aqueduct of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Starting in the mid-1920s, there had been a series of studies done for bringing water from the Colorado River west to be used in the greater Los Angeles region. In December 1930, the district made the final decision to go with a route that included the San Gorgonio Pass and construction of a major tunnel under Mount San Jacinto.

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US West Faces Reckoning Over Water but Avoids Cuts for Now

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Sam Metz

The white rings that wrap around two massive lakes in the U.S. West are a stark reminder of how water levels are dropping and a warning that the 40 million people who rely on the Colorado River face a much drier future.

Amid prolonged drought and climate change in a region that’s only getting thirstier, when that reckoning will arrive — and how much time remains to prepare for it — is still a guess.

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