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Extended California Heat Wave Brings Extreme Health, Fire Risk; Power Shutoffs Likely

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Grace Toohey

Authorities are warning of extreme health and wildfire risks across California this week, as the longest heat wave of the year is set to kick off Tuesday, bringing triple-digit temperatures, with little overnight cooling, to the vast majority of the state.

“This is really just a long-duration heat event that will provide little to no overnight [temperature] relief,” said Antoinette Serrato, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Hanford, Calif. The heat wave is expected to bring dangerous temperatures through the Fourth of July holiday and into early next week in many areas, particularly across Northern California, the Central Valley and southwestern deserts, she said.

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Canned Water Made Using Solar-powered ‘Hydropanels’ to Hit US Stores Soon

/in , /by /Interesting Engineeringby Ameya Paleja

Bottled water extracted from the air using sunlight as a power source will soon be available for purchase in US stores. The sustainable solution, dubbed SKY WTR, is a product of Source, a Scottsdale, Arizona, based company.

Bottled water is a  US$350 billion industry that relies on harvesting water from under the ground. Estimates suggest that in the past three decades, 2,150 gigatons of groundwater have been pumped out from Earth.

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Two Congressmen Request Review after Times Report on Central Valley Water Heist

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Jessica Garrison

Two members of Congress have asked the Government Accountability Office to review how vulnerable the Bureau of Reclamation is to water theft following a Los Angeles Times report on an audacious and long-running heist from a federal canal in the Central Valley.

The facts related in the story “raise serious concerns about how widespread water theft is and what Reclamation can do to prevent water theft in the future,” Reps. Jarred Huffman (D-San Rafael) and Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) wrote in their letter requesting the review.

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California’s $10B Climate Bond Breaks Through Political Gridlock

/in , /by /KQEDby Ezra David Romero

Days before the final deadline, California lawmakers have settled on language for a $10 billion climate bond that will be presented to voters for approval in November.

The primary focus of the bond is “to respond to challenges wrought by climate change by investing in natural and built infrastructure,” according to an overview of the bond. It also includes some funding for programs cut from the state’s budget. At least 40% of the bond must help vulnerable and disadvantaged communities with a median household income of less than 80% of the area average or less than 80% of statewide median household income.

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A Look at How Far Away Some of Southern California’s Water Needs to Travel

/in , /by /The Orange County Registerby Kurt Snibbe

Southern California relies on most of its water coming from a long way away. Here’s a look at several of the aqueducts that keep our taps flowing year-round. California receives 75% of its rain and snow in the watersheds north of Sacramento. However, 80% of water demand comes from the southern two-thirds of the state.

About 25% of the water used in Southern California comes from the Colorado River. Another 30% originates in the northern Sierra. The remaining 45% comes from a mix of what are considered local supplies, which include Los Angeles’ Eastern Sierra deliveries as well as recycling, desalination and groundwater supplies.

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REPORT SUMMARY: The Magnitude of California’s Water Challenges

/in , /by /Maven's Notebook

California is on the brink of a water crisis, with projections showing a potential decrease in water availability by 4.6 to 9 million acre-feet yearly.  Despite conservation efforts, scarcity is inevitable, according to a new report titled “The Magnitude of California’s Water Challenges.”

Commissioned by the California Municipal Utilities Association and written by Jay Lund at UC Davis, Josue Medellín-Azuara at UC Merced, and Alvar Escriva-Bou with UCLA, the report outlines the state’s water management issues and predicts future water losses.  These estimates aim to guide public policy and investment choices in addressing California’s pressing water concerns.

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California’s Water Innovation: Technologies Driving Sustainability in the Golden State

/in , /by /San Diego Community Newspaper Group

Water is critical to California’s economic development, supporting environmental preservation as well as extensive agricultural, industrial, and recreational activities. The high demand for water, particularly in the hot summer months when prolonged droughts and water shortages are common, is fueling growing conflict between different user groups and regions over water availability.

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The Water War Between the US and Mexico

/in , /by /The Week USby Devika Rao

The U.S. and Mexico are experiencing another border dispute, and this one is about water. The conflict stems from an 80-year-old treaty where the countries agreed to share water from the Colorado River and the Rio Grande. However, because water is in more demand but scarcer than ever, sharing has not been going to plan.

The U.S. and Mexico signed a treaty in 1944 stipulating that Mexico send 1.75 million acre-feet of water to the U.S. every five years from the Rio Grande, and the U.S. send 1.5 million acre-feet of water to Mexico from the Colorado River each year. But water levels are lower than ever, and Mexico has “sent only about 30% of its expected deliveries, the lowest amount at this point of any four- or five-year cycles since 1992,” said Reuters.

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America’s Drinking Water is Facing Attack, with Links Back to China, Russia and Iran

/in , /by /CNBCby Trevor Laurence Jockims

The city of Wichita, Kansas, recently had an experience that’s become all too common — its water system was hacked. The cyberattack, which targeted water metering, billing and payment processing, followed the targeting of water utilities across the U.S. in recent years.

In going after America’s water, hackers aren’t doing anything special. Despite rising fears of AI use in cyber threats, the go-to criminal way into systems remains preying on human foibles, be it via phishing, social engineering, or a system still running on a default password — “old school” cyberattacks, according to Ryan Witt, vice president of cybersecurity firm Proofpoint.

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Agencies in California are Recycling Wastewater into Drinking Water as Demand Grows

/in , /by /CBS News Chicago

Every day, 130 gallons of treated wastewater, normally draining into the Pacific Ocean, undergo a three-step purification process, including microfiltration, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet light.

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