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OPINION: Delta Tunnel Project will Protect California’s Vital Water Supply

/in , /by /The Mercury Newsby David Bini and Tim McRae

California’s history is defined by building great and innovative infrastructure projects that improve our quality of life and set our state up for continued economic prosperity. From the Golden Gate Bridge to interstates 5 and 80, these projects are symbols of how major infrastructure investments can drive incredible economic growth. Though the creation of these projects was seemingly impossible to many at their inception, they quickly became an essential part of our critical infrastructure fabric that sustains our economy and way of life.

We are at a similar crossroads in building reliable water infrastructure to deliver water to two-thirds of Californians through the Delta Conveyance Project. This proposed project has been studied, refined, redesigned and rerouted due to extensive public input and thoughtful improvements by Gov. Newsom’s administration.

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Bakersfield Water Bills Going Up. How Much? That’s a Little Murky

/in , /by /SJV Waterby Lois Henry

Bakersfield customers of California Water Service could be paying 34.5% more each month to fill their tubs and flush their toilets in coming years.

That’s how much the water company is seeking to boost rates over 2026, 2027 and 2028, subject to approval by the California Public Utilities Commission. If approved at the requested amounts, Bakersfield residents who use 8,977 gallons a month would see a bill of $47.87 go to $56,58 in 2026, then $61.02 in 2027 and $66.20 in 2028.

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OPINION: California Dam Raise Would Take More Delta Water. Why Are Environmentalists Silent?

/in , /by /The Fresno Beeby Marek Warszawski

Fresno drivers headed to the Bay Area via Pacheco Pass on Highway 152 can’t help but take note of a sprawling inland sea that seemingly appears out of nowhere among the yellowed, oak-dotted foothills.

This is San Luis Reservoir, essentially a 2 million acre-foot holding tank built to irrigate San Joaquin Valley farms and supply drinking water to Silicon Valley. Its construction was considered such a significant addition to California’s water supply that President John F. Kennedy turned out in 1962 to push the dynamite plunger.

 

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July was California’s Hottest Month Ever, as Climate Warms to Dangerous New Extremes

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Grace Toohey

The month of July kicked off with a dire warning: A rare, long-duration heat event was forecast to bring extreme heat risk across the West, with triple-digit temperatures and dangerous fire conditions expected in much of California for days on end.

That outlook quickly proved accurate — and would end up defining almost the entire month in the Golden State, which would see little relief from unrelenting heat.

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Drought-Related Water Pollution Disproportionately Affects California Latino Communities: Study

/in , /by /The Hillby Sharon Udasin

Drought-driven drinking water contamination is disproportionately affecting members of California’s Latino communities, a new study has found.

Among the pollutants plaguing these water systems are arsenic and nitrate, which are linked to an increased risk of a variety of diseases, according to the study, published Wednesday in the American Journal of Public Health. Some such illnesses include cancers, cardiovascular diseases, developmental disorders and birth defects.

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Arrowhead Water Bottler Ordered to Stop Operations in California Mountains

/in , /by /Fox 5/KUSIby Cameron Kiszla

The federal government has backed up California state regulators in ordering the company that bottles Arrowhead water to stop drawing from the San Bernardino Mountains.

Though BlueTriton Brands draws from springs in the mountains that have been used for bottled water since 1906, environmental activists have claimed the removal of that water is harming wildlife, particularly Strawberry Creek.

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Some California Drinking Water Disproportionately Contaminated by Nitrate, Arsenic—an Issue Worsened by Drought

/in , /by /Food Safety Magazine

A new study has uncovered a disparity between the safety of drinking water in certain regions of California—serving majority Latino communities—and water from community water systems in other areas of the state. Led by University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara) researchers, the study uncovered that some drinking water systems have higher nitrate and arsenic contamination levels, and that the contamination is exacerbated by droughts, which may become more frequent with climate change.

Long-term exposure to contaminants such as arsenic and nitrate in water is linked to an increased risk of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, developmental disorders, and birth defects in infants. According to the study, in the U.S., there is an acknowledged disparity in exposure to contaminants in tap water provided by community water systems. Scientific literature demonstrates that, oftentimes, systems distributing water with higher contamination levels exist in areas that lack adequate public infrastructure or sociopolitical and financial resources.

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OPINION: How to Achieve Water Abundance in California

/in , /by /California Globeby Edward Ring

A study released in May, The Magnitude of California’s Water Challenges, anticipated annual statewide water supply losses in the coming decades as follows: ending groundwater overdraft 2-3 million acre-feet (MAF), less from the Colorado River 0.5-0.8 MAF, climate change 1-3 MAF, and increases to required environmental flows 1-2 MAF. The total losses? 4.6 to 9 MAF per year. It’s easy enough to quibble over these estimates, but a more productive response is to propose ways we can sustainably harvest more water in California. So that’s what we have done.

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How Have California’s Water Issues Changed in the Past Thirty Years?

/in , /by /Public Policy Institute of California

Back in 1994, Ace of Base and Boys II Men were chart-topping artists, “The Lion King” was the year’s most popular movie…and the Public Policy Institute of California drew its first breath. A lot has changed in California since then, so we sat down with key PPIC Water Policy Center staff to discuss what’s changed—and what hasn’t—in the California water world since the year the White House launched its first webpage.

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Senate Passes California Water Infrastructure and Ecosystem Restoration Priorities

/in , /by /PublicCEO

Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife, announced that he secured several top water infrastructure priorities for California through the unanimous Senate passage of the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024. The legislation includes provisions Padilla fought for to address the Tijuana River transboundary sewage crisis, to invest in salmon recovery and habitat restoration around the Sacramento River Basin, and to provide the Army Corps of Civil Engineers with enhanced drought and flood control authorities.

The Senate and House of Representatives have each passed their respective versions of WRDA, which will now be conferenced to produce final legislation.

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