California Regulator Adopts Safe Drinking Water Plan
California’s top water regulator adopted a plan Tuesday that will guide the state in identifying and helping communities that don’t have access to safe drinking water.
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Opinion: How to Waste $1 Billion in Less than a Minute
Why would a public agency support an unnecessary and risky billion-dollar desalination plant and let a private utility profit hundreds of millions of dollars at the public’s expense? Here’s the story.
Coronavirus Could Worsen Death Toll of Summer Heat Waves, Health Officials Warn
As summer descends on the U.S., public health experts are warning that the coronavirus could make intense heat waves deadlier, adding to the devastating death toll the country has suffered.
Opinion: Now, More Than Ever, We Need Tribes at the Water Negotiating Table
A study recently published in the journal Science found that global warming and climate change have led to an emerging “megadrought” in the western U.S. – and that the drought we’ve been experiencing over the last 20 years is as bad or worse than any in 1,200 years.
Delta Blues: The Battle over Water has been Fought to a Standstill
The state had been wrestling with the problem for 15 years, and there were hopes it was about to get pinned to the mat. A decade and a half of meetings, lawyerly and political negotiations, and massive public input had led the State Water Resources Control Board to the brink of a momentous decision: California must leave a lot more water in its rivers and streams in order to save the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay.
Plumbers Warn Small Business Owners to Run Water Before Reopening
When small businesses are closed it means appliances haven’t been running inside; a problem that could be putting customer’s health at risk but also damaging the plumbing.
Is It Safe to Come Out of Lockdown? Check the Sewer
Wastewater could provide early, painless and localized data about the rise or fall of coronavirus levels.
Latest Raw Sewage Testing at Special Districts Facilities Does Not Detect Virus That Causes COVID-19
The latest testing of raw sewage at Lake County Special Districts’ four treatment facilities found no presence of the virus that causes COVID-19 at any of the plants late in April, despite the fact that samples earlier in the month confirmed its presence.
Special Districts Administrator Jan Coppinger reported Friday that she received the latest test results from Biobot, a Massachusetts firm that is offering the testing as part of a pro bono program it’s conducting along with MIT, Harvard and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
The tests are used to detect the presence of SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The virus is shed in the stools of infected people.
Sewage testing also has successfully tracked the poliovirus and consumption of drugs such as opioids, according to Dr. Mariana Matus, chief executive officer and cofounder of Biobot.
Biobot is seeking to use wastewater testing to proactively detect outbreaks and help governments and communities to get ahead of public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Farmers Hijack Community Water Access Despite Groundwater Act, Activists Say
When a fire started on the property next door to Ray Cano’s home, the neighbors used Cano’s hose and well to fight the flames. Running the pump at full throttle, they managed to control the blaze until the fire department arrived. Then, the well’s pump sputtered to a stop.
Amid Pandemic, U.S. Renewable Power Sources Have Topped Coal for 40 Days
Electricity generated by renewable sources like solar, wind and hydro has exceeded coal-fired power in the United States for a record 40 straight days, according to a report based on U.S. government data released on Monday.
