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Opinion: A Desalination Plant Can Transform The Monterey Peninsula And Help Avert A Water Crisis

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Jeff Davi

Nobody likes to look out to the Pacific Ocean and see oil derricks on the horizon. That’s why California wisely banned new offshore oil drilling 50 years ago.

But in Monterey County, coastal views are limited by a relic of a bygone era: a giant, industrial sand plant right on the dunes between Highway One and the ocean.

In 2017, the California Coastal Commission reached an agreement with the sand plant for operations to shut down by 2020 and for all buildings and equipment to be removed by 2023.

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Fecal Bacteria In California’s Waterways Increases With Homeless Crisis

/in , , /by /California Healthlineby Anna Almendrala

President Donald Trump, a self-described germophobe, has made no secret of his disgust with California’s growing homeless problem, which he has called a “disgrace” and “inappropriate” and equated to “living in hell.”

“We should all work together to clean up these hazardous waste and homeless sites before the whole city rots away,” Trump tweeted about San Francisco on Oct. 26. “Very bad and dangerous conditions, also severely impacting the Pacific Ocean and water supply.”

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Thais Asked to Shower Less as Drought Worsens

/in , , /by /Reutersby Panarat Thepgumpanat and Patpicha Tanakasempipat

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Tuesday urged people to turn off taps and shower less to cope with a drought afflicting northern and central Thailand.

Last week, Bangkok’s water authority said the capital’s tap water was becoming saline as seawater pushed up the depleted Chao Phraya river, a source of much of central Thailand’s water.

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Water-Use Targets To Be Implemented In 2023

/in , /by /KSRO Sonoma

Californians have been speculating whether they can get fined for taking a shower and doing laundry on the same day. The Association of California Water Agencies clarified information last week about water-use targets placed by California Senate bills that went into effect in May 2018. The association says there aren’t any statewide laws that require household to meet specific water-use targets.

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A 3-Decade-Long Water Dispute Heads To The Supreme Court

/in , , /by /NPR by Debbie Elliott

For three decades, Georgia and Florida have been battling over how to share a precious resource: water. Georgia has it, and Florida, which is downstream, says it’s not getting its fair share. The dispute is once again headed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Florida wants the justices to cap Georgia’s water use. But a court-appointed special master recently rejected that idea.

More than 6 million people depend on water that starts at Lake Lanier, a reservoir northeast of Atlanta. It generates hydropower as its water is released from a dam into the Chattahoochee River.

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Study: Dam Removal Would Cost $2.3B, Jeopardize Regional Economies

/in , /by /The Daily News by Mallory Gruben

A new study commissioned by an association of river commercial groups says removing the four Lower Snake River dams to improve salmon runs would cost $2.3 billion over the next 30 years, boost state carbon emissions and jeopardize already fragile local and regional economies.

“Dam breaching extremists talk about how easy and inexpensive it would be to compensate Washington, Oregon and Idaho businesses and residents if the lower Snake River dams were removed,” PNWA Executive Director Kristin Meira said Monday.

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Will Californians Be Fined for Showering and Doing Laundry the Same Day?

/in , /by /Good Day/CW31 (Sacramento, Calif.)

Can you get fined for taking a shower and doing laundry on the same day? Not so, according to an association representing California water agencies.

In a statement issued Thursday, the Association of California Water Agencies shared clarifying information about water-use targets set forth by California Senate Bill 606 (Hertzberg) and Assembly Bill 1668 (Friedman), which was signed into effect in May 2018.

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Biochar Offers Possible Solution to Cut Ag Water Usage | Ross Clark, Earth Matters

/in , /by /Santa Cruz Sentinelby Donald Fukui

California has adopted new laws, set new policies and allocated significant funding (through voter-approved water bonds) that encourages regional groups to address the state’s numerous water challenges. New programs are encouraging regional water agencies, stormwater districts, resource managers and environmental organizations to work together to find “integrated” approaches to manage water.

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Facts About California’s Water Legislation and What it Means for South Lake Tahoe

/in , , /by /SouthTahoeNOW.comby Paula Peterson

No, you’re not going be fined for taking a shower and doing laundry on the same day. A news story by a Los Angeles area television station and carried through the internet on New Year’s Day wrongly stated just that as an effect of upcoming water efficiency laws.

KTLA has since taken that story down, but not before people across the state shared it, stating each person in the state could only use 55 gallons of water a day before being fined starting January 1.

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Trump Rule Would Exclude Climate Change in Infrastructure Planning

/in , /by /The New York Times by Lisa Friedman

Federal agencies would no longer have to take climate change into account when they assess the environmental impacts of highways, pipelines and other major infrastructure projects, according to a Trump administration plan that would weaken the nation’s benchmark environmental law.

The proposed changes to the 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act could sharply reduce obstacles to the Keystone XL oil pipeline and other fossil fuel projects that have been stymied when courts ruled that the Trump administration did not properly consider climate change when analyzing the environmental effects of the projects.

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