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During Crisis, Water Treatment Workers Living at Plants

/in , , /by /Water Onlineby Peter Chawaga

Among the many disruptions to working life wrought by the spread of coronavirus has been the outsized pressure put on the world’s essential services. For those ensuring that Americans continue to enjoy clean water in their homes, that has meant living at their places of work.

Across the country, drinking water utility workers have been sleeping at treatment facilities to minimize their exposure to COVID-19 and maintain services as many other Americans self-isolate in their homes.

 

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ConEd COVID-19 Cases Grow Past 350 as Utilities Forced to Adjust Pre-Pandemic Emergency Plans

/in , , /by /Utility Diveby Robert Walton

Utilities responding to the challenges of COVID-19 have adapted practices developed for past emergency situations, but physical distancing requirements of the pandemic response in some instances have forced entirely new ways of approaching safety measures.

Consolidated Edison has been utilizing two sets of command and support staff in separate locations, as more than 350 of its employees have tested positive for COVID-19 and eight have died. In the future, more will be done in advance to determine which employees are essential and to ensure remote-work capabilities, according to Anthony Natale, a member of ConEd’s emergency preparedness team.

For municipal utilities, grid operations have become tightly enmeshed with other critical services like police, fire and health providers, according to Lincoln Bleveans, assistant general manager for power supply at Burbank Water & Power.

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California’s Largest Water Suppliers Must Report Usage

/in , , /by /AP News

California’s largest water suppliers will have to report their monthly use and conservation efforts under a measure approved Tuesday by state regulators.

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California Sues to Stop Federal Water Actions

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Emily Dooley

California wants a federal judge to stop how the Trump administration is managing water supplies in the Golden State, saying protected species like trout and Delta smelt risk imminent and irreparable harm.

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This Year is on Track to be Earth’s Warmest on Record, Beating 2016, NOAA says

/in , , /by /The Washington Postby Andrew Freedman

There is a 75 percent chance 2020 will set a record for the warmest year since instrument records began in 1880, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is projecting, beating out 2016 for the distinction.

This is somewhat unexpected, since there is no declared El Niño event in the tropical Pacific Ocean, which tends to provide a natural boost to global temperatures that are already elevated due to the human-caused buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The NOAA projection, made late last week, is based on statistical modeling now that the first quarter of 2020 is off to a near-record warm start, coming in as the second-warmest January through March period since instrument records began in 1880.

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Bold Investments in Clean Energy and Transportation Infrastructure Will Help Lead Us Out of a Recession

/in , /by /Cal Mattersby Brett Hauser

As our leaders in Washington look to create a jobs program focused on national infrastructure investments to sustain the U.S. economy, their decisions will significantly impact our economic future, including the industries that will — and will not — receive a lifeline through federal stimulus dollars.

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Changes in Snowmelt Threaten Farmers in Western U.S.

/in , , /by /Colorado State Universityby Mary Guiden

For decades, scientists have thought that changes in snowmelt due to climate change could negatively impact agriculture. Now, a new study reveals the risks to agriculture around the world from changes in snowmelt, finding that farmers in parts of the western United States who rely on snowmelt to help irrigate crops will be among the hardest hit in the world by climate change.

In a study published April 20 in Nature Climate Change, an interdisciplinary team of researchers analyzed monthly irrigation water demand with snowmelt runoff across global basins from 1985 to 2015. The goal was to determine where irrigated agriculture has depended on snowmelt runoff in the past and how that might change with a warming climate.

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Opinion: California’s Drought Without End

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Chronicle Editorial Board

Californians tend to regard our droughts in seasonal and annual terms: The winter storms fill reservoirs with rain and mountains with snow, or they don’t, or sometimes, like this year, they do so in the spring. But a new study proposes a broader perspective in which recent years’ shifts from dry to wet to weird are just minor variations within a longer and more extraordinary period of widespread parching.

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150 Ag and Water Groups Call for Water Relief

/in , , /by /AGNet Westby Brian German

A group of 150 agricultural and water organizations is calling on federal officials to provide water relief for the Western United States.  Two separate letters sent to President Donald Trump and members of Congress highlight the importance of providing support for enhancing water management, particularly in light of the tumultuous conditions created by COVID-19.

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California Attorney General Urges EPA to Expand Review and Regulation of Toxic “Forever Chemicals” – PFAS Chemicals

/in , /by /Sierra Sun Times

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today, as part of a coalition of 18 attorneys general, urged the Environmental Protection Agency to broaden and strengthen the review and regulation of per-fluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, collectively known as PFAS.

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