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Drinking Water of Almost a Million Californians Failed to Meet State Requirements

/in , /by /Cal Mattersby Rachel Becker

Almost 400 water systems serving nearly a million Californians don’t meet state requirements for safe and reliable drinking water supplies — and fixing them would cost billions of dollars.

More than two-thirds of these failing water systems serve communities of color, and more than half are in places struggling with poverty and pollution, according to an annual assessment released today by the State Water Resources Control Board.

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Cost of Bringing Clean Drinking Water to California Communities Estimated at $11.5 Billion

/in , /by /Los Angeles Times by Ian James

California has made significant progress helping small communities address problems of contaminated drinking water, but the costs of bringing safe tap water to hundreds of communities over the next five years will run more than $11.5 billion, according to a new state estimate.

In a newly released report, the staff of the State Water Resources Control Board estimated that at the start of this year approximately 913,000 Californians depended on public water systems that are failing to comply with drinking water regulations, while an additional 1.5 million people depended on water systems that are determined to be “at-risk.”

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Groundwater Declines in the U.S. Southwest

/in , /by /NASA Earth Observatoryby James R. Riordon

Record snowfall in recent years has not been enough to offset long-term drying conditions and increasing groundwater demands in the U.S. Southwest, according to a new analysis of NASA satellite data.

Declining water levels in the Great Salt Lake and Lake Mead have been testaments to a megadrought afflicting western North America since 2000. But surface water only accounts for a fraction of the Great Basin watershed, which covers most of Nevada and large portions of California, Utah, and Oregon. Far more of the region’s water is underground. That has historically made it difficult to track the impact of droughts on the overall water content of the Great Basin.

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Adel Hagekhalil: Southern California’s Embattled ‘Water Doctor’

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

As general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Adel Hagekhalil has overseen a public agency that’s responsible for supplying the water that 19 million people drink. And he has been playing a leading role in efforts to transform how Southern California manages water, one of the most consequential issues the region faces as climate change continues to upend the water cycle.

His influence in this critical sphere currently hangs in the balance. Earlier this month, the water district’s board placed Hagekhalil on leave as it investigates harassment allegations by his chief financial officer that he denies. With him sidelined, some of his supporters are concerned the policies he has been pursuing could be affected.

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California Judge Grants Injunction in Water Conveyance Project

/in , /by /Courthouse News Serviceby Alan Riquelmy

A Sacramento County judge on Thursday ruled in favor of several water districts and local governments over California’s planned delta tunnel project that would divert water from Northern California to the south of the state, saying that exploratory work can’t continue until the state completes a necessary certification process.

The decision by Superior Court Judge Stephen Acquisto is a win for the groups that had argued the state Department of Water Resources hadn’t completed all documentation required by the California Environmental Quality Act and complied with the Delta Plan.

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Nevada Leads as 40-year Low is Reached in Colorado River Water Use

/in , /by /Las Vegas Review Journalby Alan Halaly

Efforts to stretch the overused Colorado River appear to be working: The total amount of water used across Nevada, California and Arizona is the lowest it’s been in 40 years.

The reduction is the result of several factors, including a good snowpack year allowing for more use of groundwater, increased conservation efforts and millions of dollars in Inflation Reduction Act funding to incentivize farmers to use less water.

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OPINION: In rain, Snow and Drought, California’s Fights Over Water Rights, Supplies Persist

/in , /by /Cal Mattersby Dan Walters

Legal rights to use water — particularly those obtained prior to 1914 — lie at the heart of California’s perpetual wrangling over the allocation of increasingly limited water supplies.

For years state officials have been trying, with limited success, to reduce farmers’ diversions, increase river flows and restore declining numbers of fish, particularly salmon, and other wildlife.

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El Niño Makes an Exit, but La Niña Could Bring Dry Conditions Back to California

/in , /by /Los Angeles Times by Hayley Smith

After a year of dominance, El Niño’s wrath has come to end — but its climate-churning counterpart, La Niña, is hot on its heels and could signal a return to dryness for California.

El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation, sometimes referred to as ENSO. The climate pattern in the tropical Pacific is the single largest driver of weather conditions worldwide, and has been actively disrupting global temperatures and precipitation patterns since its arrival last summer.

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‘Collaboration for the Sake of Success’ is Critical to Water Resilience

/in , /by /AgNet West Radio Network by Lauren McEwen

In a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on May 8, Westlands Water District, Metropolitan Water District, and Friant Water Authority agreed to improve collaborations on surface, groundwater, transfers, and exchanges of water from the San Joaquin Valley to Southern California.

Furthermore, a second MOU was signed between Metropolitan and Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley, a coalition that aims to advance water accessibility across the state. The MOU intends to identify, develop, and initiate water projects for the Central Valley to solidify water resilience.

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As California Water Agency Investigates Top Manager, Some Worry Progress Could Be Stymied

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

In the three years that Adel Hagekhalil has led California’s largest urban water supplier, the general manager has sought to focus on adaptation to climate change — in part by reducing reliance on water supplies from distant sources and investing in local water supplies.

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