Residents in Earlimart, California, lost water service when a 50-year-old well on Mary Ann Avenue failed in late May.
When it came back on, the main source of drinking water for more than 8,000 residents became a well contaminated with a chemical from banned pesticides. And most residents didn’t know.
U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) on Tuesday announced the introduction of the Water for Tomorrow Act, legislation that ensures the nation’s water supply is safe and sustainable. The threat of climate change, which has a disproportionate impact on low-income communities and communities of color, will continue to intensify water scarcity and extreme weather conditions, particularly in California and the West. The Water for Tomorrow Act combines the water sustainability measures from Sen. Harris’ Water Justice Act with key measures from the FUTURE Drought Resiliency Act, led in the House of Representatives by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA).
The Sacramento region is preparing for the long term impacts of the climate crisis when it comes to water supply. Central to the plan is a groundwater storage program with two to three times the space of Folsom Lake.
As the climate warms it’ll likely become harder to fill up reservoirs, because the snowpack could be small for multiple years. Think of the nearly empty reservoirs across California during the most recent drought.
The California Department of Water Resources has announced the latest funding awards for several water resilience projects throughout the state. A total of $83.9 million grant funding has been issued to communities in San Diego, San Joaquin, Sacramento, Sierra and Central Coast regions. The funding is aimed at supporting projects to address infrastructure needs, depleted groundwater levels, flood control issues, and other water issues of critical importance.
The Engagement Committee of the Salton Sea Management Plan (SSMP) met June 17 on Zoom, though participating community members were neither seen or heard; they could only write comments and questions.
About 90% of the meeting consisted of management reporting on small plans to control dust and build habitat that still require federal permits, which will delay construction for another year. Also, the SSMP has approved a $19 million dollar pilot project for the North Lake.
In the ongoing struggle over management of water supplies in the Sacramento-San Joaquin river system, farmers who rely on deliveries from the federal Central Valley Project have earned an initial victory from a federal judge, pending further legal action later this year.
The Democratic-led House Appropriations Committee on Monday proposed a funding bump for the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency, soundly rejecting cuts proposed by President Trump.
Central Arizona has been booming – more people, more houses, more need for water. There’s also a long-term drought and less water to buy from the Central Arizona Project canal system. It’s leading Phoenix exurbs to cast about, looking for new buckets.
Bay Area scientists have signed off on a series of fracking permits in western Kern County, allowing the well-completion technique to proceed after Gov. Gavin Newsom put in place new, time-consuming review procedures prompted by environmental concerns and regulatory conflict-of-interest accusations.
If you want to know what climate change means for California’s water supply, consider the last two Februaries. In 126 years of statewide record-keeping, you can’t find a drier February than the one we just experienced. But February 2019 was the third-wettest on record.
