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Lithium Will Fuel the Clean Energy Boom. This Company May Have a Breakthrough

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sammy Roth

Gaze across the Salton Sea, a sparkling oasis in the California desert, and you’ll see white plumes of steam rising against the hazy Chocolate Mountains.

The steam comes from 11 geothermal power plants, nestled between the accidental lake and the verdant farm fields of the Imperial Valley. The area has been churning out climate-friendly geothermal energy since the 1980s, long before solar panels and wind turbines became cheap and abundant.

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California Needs a 21st Century Electric Grid

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicle by Gregory Wetstone

Our electric grid is outdated. For those of us in the renewable sector, this is not a new concept, and it is a national problem, not just one here in California. But unfortunately, the ramifications of an antiquated grid have now been felt by millions of Californians plunged into darkness by these forced power outages. Today, the world is watching to see how California, a historic leader when it comes to environmental initiatives and energy policy, overcomes this potentially recurring problem.

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East Bay Water District Considers Buying Giant Cattle Ranch That Straddles Four Counties

/in , , /by /East Bay Times by Joseph Geha

The Alameda County Water District is considering shelling out $72 million for a fourth-generation, 50,500-acre cattle ranch — touted as the largest potential land sale in the state — to preserve water quality, officials say.

Much of the property lies in watersheds that feed into critical water supply facilities for millions of Bay Area residents, including Lake Del Valle, Calaveras Reservoir and Alameda Creek.

While no final decisions have been made, district officials and experts say the rare opportunity to buy such a wide swath of undeveloped upstream land — and preclude any future development that could degrade potable water — must be seriously weighed.

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The Next Fight In California’s Water Crisis Is Over Salt, Pollutants

/in , , /by /The Fresno Beeby Michael Claiborne and Arnold D. Sowell Jr.

When it comes to drinking water in California — safety, supply and reliability — we can never rest. None of us. For those who think it’s a crisis that only impacts rural communities in our state, you are wrong. Children in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego and other urban communities are drinking lead-contaminated water from their drinking fountains, and nearly all of California’s 58 counties include communities with tainted water.

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Tests Of California Water Supplies Reveal Widespread PFAS Contamination

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

A class of toxic chemicals linked to cancer, known as PFASs, are present in numerous wells used for drinking water across California, according to new state tests performed on a fraction of California’s many well water supplies.

The test samples, released Monday by the State Water Resources Control Board, represent California’s fledgling effort to get a handle on contaminants that until recently haven’t been well tracked and regulated.

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State Water Officials To Vote On Valley-Wide Plan To Reduce Nitrate And Salt

/in , /by /Valley Public Radioby Kerry Klein

Later this week, the State Water Resources Control Board will vote on a long-anticipated plan to reduce some of the pollutants flowing into Central Valley water. However, not everyone agrees on the details.

The program is called Central Valley Salinity Alternatives for Long-Term Sustainability, or CV-SALTS. It aims to provide cleaner water for drinking and irrigation by reducing the nitrate and salt that are discharged into ground and surface water.

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Wastewater Project Could Create Drought-Proof Drinking Water for 500,000 Homes

/in , /by /Orange County Registerby Martin Wisckol

In its effort to establish a new, drought-proof source of water that could serve a half-million Southern California homes, the Metropolitan Water District on Thursday, Oct. 10 unveiled a $17 million pilot plant that will bring wastewater to drinkable standards.

Water from the trial project in Carson will not be piped to customers – it will be put back with regularly treated wastewater and pumped into the ocean.

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EPA Announces Proposed Changes to Lead and Copper Rule

/in , , /by /WaterWorld

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed rule that significantly improves the actions that water systems must take to reduce lead in the nation’s drinking water. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the proposal at an event in Green Bay. This action represents the first major overhaul of the Lead and Copper Rule since 1991 and marks a critical step in advancing the Trump Administration’s Federal Action Plan to Reduce Childhood Lead Exposures.

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This is What Adapting to Climate Change Looks Like

/in , , /by /The Atlanticby Robinson Meyer

California has always promised Americans a glimpse of the future. But this week, the Golden State is forecasting a future that nobody wants to live in. Millions of people across California lost their power this week, after the local utility Pacific Gas and Electric intentionally shut off electrical lines to avoid starting wildfires in dangerously dry and windy conditions.

The outage—termed a “public-safety power shutoff”—stretched hundreds of miles across the state’s northern half, dousing the lights in affluent Bay Area suburbs, on Sacramento Valley ranches, and in large coastal cities such as Eureka.

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Recharging Depleted Aquifers No Easy Task, But It’s Key to California’s Water Supply Future

/in , , /by /Water Education Foundationby Gary Pitzer

To survive the next drought and meet the looming demands of the state’s groundwater sustainability law, California is going to have to put more water back in the ground. But as other Western states have found, recharging overpumped aquifers is no easy task.

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