SACRAMENTO — State Senate energy committee chair Ben Hueso said Thursday he will drop
legislation that would have boosted a hydropower project near his San Diego district.
Hueso told supporters of the project Wednesday night that he, the city of San Diego and the San
Diego County Water Authority, agreed to table CA SB597 (19R), according to an email Hueso’s
office provided to POLITICO.
When lawmakers in the House of Representatives approved the Trump administration’s new trade deal with Mexico and Canada last month, they authorized $300 million to help fix failing sewer systems that send raw sewage and toxic pollution flowing into rivers along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The decision could bring an infusion of funding to help clean up the badly polluted New River, Tijuana River, and other rivers that flow across the border into the U.S.
Farm organizations welcomed a new water planning document from state agencies while they analyzed the document’s proposed strategies.
Titled the California Water Resilience Portfolio and released last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration described the document as an effort to guide water management in a way that works for people, the environment and the economy.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year will include an additional $220 million for the Salton Sea Management Program, a 10-year plan to reduce the environmental and public health hazards plaguing the communities that surround the fast-drying body of water.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year will include an additional $220 million for the Salton Sea Management Program, a 10-year plan to reduce the environmental and public health hazards plaguing the communities that surround the fast-drying body of water.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors adopted a plan on Tuesday meant to maintain groundwater and keep users from pumping too much from underground basins.
The supervisors adopted plans for two areas connected to the Delta-Mendota subbasin. Officials throughout the San Joaquin Valley have been required by the state to adopt a plan by the end of the month.
State regulators stepped in during 2014 after a U.S. Geological Survey in the previous year showed so much water was being pumped out of the ground in the Valley that the land was sagging. The process – called subsidence – could damage roads, dams, railroads, pipes and bridges.
California will impose new limits on water usage in the post-drought era in the coming years — but a claim that residents will be fined $1,000 starting this year if they shower and do laundry the same day isn’t true.
It wasn’t true when the state’s new conservation laws were enacted in 2018, and it isn’t true now — despite a recent report on a Los Angeles television station that riled up conservatives on social media and prompted the state Department of Water Resources to issue a statement debunking the claim.
California’s ambitious renewable energy targets helped drive a substantial drop in greenhouse gas pollution that propelled the state past its 2020 climate change goals early, according to a non-partisan analysis released this week. Yet one California lawmaker confirmed Tuesday he wants to put a stop to the mandate, for now.
Most of the carbon pollution that California scrubbed from its economy over the past ten years disappeared from the state’s electricity sector.
California has its eye on “forever chemicals,” and is taking a closer look at safer alternatives in common consumer products, including stain-resistant coatings for boots and food packaging items.
The state this year could require rug and carpet makers to come up with safer alternatives for their stain- and water-resistant products. After-market treatments with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that help consumers protect their boots, clothes, and other textiles from rain, snow, and grease could also face the same fate.
A wet December has left its mark in the mountains, and many of the state’s reservoirs remain at or above average storage levels as 2020 begins.
The state Department of Water Resources took its first snow survey of the year at Phillips Station in El Dorado County last week, and found 33.5 inches of snow and a snow-water equivalent of 11 inches, about 97% of average for the location. Statewide, DWR found a snow-water equivalent of 9.3 inches, or 90% of average.
The California Legislative Analyst’s Office released a report Monday on how well the state’s energy policies are working in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The analysis found that the state requirement that utilities continually increase the amount of renewable energy they provide has been a “significant” driver in curbing emissions.
The LAO, however, was not able to determine exact figures for how much the cut in emissions is attributable to state law versus other factors, and the agency cited as problematic a lack of specific research that evaluates California climate policy.
