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The Fault Line And The Dams

/in , , /by /East Bay Express (Oakland, Calif.)by Erin Banks Rusby

The earthquakes that rocked Kern County in early July are a potent reminder of the East Bay’s own seismic risk. Last year, the U.S. Geological Survey imagined what could happen during a 7.0 quake on the Hayward Fault, which stretches 74 miles from north San Pablo Bay past San Jose. This so-called “HayWired Scenario” envisioned 800 people dying, 18,000 more being injured, and widespread damage occurring to property and infrastructure. The study also predicted that the surface of the earth would rupture in places “where the fault is currently creeping.” Some fault lines, which mark the edge of plates in the earth’s crust, only move during earthquakes.

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California Set To Authorize $1.3 Billion Safe Drinking Water Program

/in , /by /Bloomberg Environment (New York City, N.Y.)by Emily C. Dooley

The more than 1 million Californians without access to safe, affordable drinking water may soon see money flowing for water districts to regionalize, consolidate, install treatment, or take other actions to improve water quality. California’s State Water Resources Control Board is set to vote Aug. 20 on authorizing a safe and affordable drinking water program that would provide $1.3 billion over 10 years for those efforts and allow the hiring of 23 employees to help the state fund short- and long-term solutions. Arsenic, lead, nitrates, and other contaminants are present in water systems from the Mexican border to the…

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A Report Shows Trump’s Water Plan Would Hurt California Salmon. The Government Hid It

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Bettina Boxall

Federal officials suppressed a lengthy environmental document that details how one of California’s unique salmon runs would be imperiled by Trump administration plans to deliver more water to Central Valley farms. The July 1 assessment, obtained by The Times, outlines how proposed changes in government water operations would harm several species protected by the Endangered Species Act, including perilously low populations of winter-run salmon, as well as steelhead trout and killer whales, which feed on salmon. But the 1,123-page document was never released.

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Flows Proposals: Sacramento River Water Agencies Aim For Certainty

/in , /by /Ag Alert (Sacramento, Calif.)by Christine Souza

As negotiations continue, representatives of Sacramento Valley water agencies say they’re hopeful voluntary agreements will serve as an alternative to state-mandated “unimpaired flows” plans being drafted by the State Water Resources Control Board. A proposal affecting Sacramento Valley tributaries would be the second phase of the water board’s Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan. The board adopted the first phase of the plan late last year, requiring water users in San Joaquin River tributaries to leave 30% to 50% of unimpaired flows in the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers to help fish populations, unless voluntary agreements on the three tributaries can be reached and adopted instead.

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Monterey County Community Organizes For Clean Tap Water

/in , /by /90.3 KAZU (Pacific Grove, Calif.)by Krista Almanzan

A lot of money will soon be flowing into California communities with contaminated drinking water thanks to the new Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund. Today at its meeting, the State Water Board will talk about how to implement that $1.4-billion program. One community that could use the help is north of Moss Landing. That’s where Ignacio Garcia lives with his family. At his house, it’s easier to get fresh eggs than a glass of fresh, clean water. Here the chickens roam freely. But the drinking water doesn’t come from the tap. Garcia has to buy it at the grocery store. “We’re for sure spending I think about $380, $400 a month on water,” says Garcia in Spanish. His interview was later translated into English.

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Judge Won’t Reconsider Ruling In Agua Caliente Tribe’s Water Case

/in , /by /Palm Springs Desert Sunby Risa Johnson

A U.S. District Court judge has denied a motion from the federal government to reconsider a ruling on the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians’ lawsuit against two Coachella Valley water agencies. The court previously ruled that the federal government and tribe had failed to provide evidence of injury “to the Tribe’s federally reserved water right.” Since the motion to reconsider was denied, a hearing set for Monday was cancelled. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal called the motion to reconsider a “thinly veiled attempt to relitigate the summary judgement motions.”

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Marina Coast Sues Monterey County, Cal Am Over Desal Plant Approval

/in , /by /The Monterey County Herald (Monterey, Calif.)by Jim Johnson

Arguing that Monterey County officials improperly ignored new groundwater impact information and a viable, even preferable recycled water alternative, Marina Coast Water District has sued the county and California American Water over the county’s narrow approval of Cal Am’s desalination plant permit. On Thursday, Marina Coast filed suit in Monterey County Superior Court seeking to halt the start of construction on the desal plant project through a writ of mandate and injunctive relief. The suit asks the court to order the county to rescind its approval of a combined development permit for the project until full compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act, water code, and planning and zoning law.

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California Could See A Slew Of Prop 65 Lawsuits Related To PFAS

/in , /by /Northern California Recordby Chris Adams

With California’s addition of two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) – to its Proposition 65 list, the state may have potentially paved the way for an explosion of lawsuits. “It confirms our … concern all along,” said Luke Wake, an attorney with the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Legal Center in Sacramento. “We’ve continually raised concerns about Prop 65 as really creating open season for these plaintiffs’ … controlling attorneys, basically.” Proposition 65 is also known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act and was passed in 1986. PFOA and PFOS were added to the Proposition 65 list in 2017 and warnings were required on products as of November 2018, according to a report in JD Supra.

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‘We Can’t Waste A Drop.’ India Is Running Out Of Water.

/in , /by /The Wall Street Journalby Bill Spindle

The Ladakh region of northern India is one of the world’s highest, driest inhabited places. For centuries, meltwater from winter snows in the Himalayan mountains sustained the tiny villages dotting this remote land. Now, like many other places in India, parts of Ladakh are running short of water. A tourism boom has sent the summer population soaring, and the region’s traditional system of conserving water is breaking down. Water crises are unfolding all across India, a product of population growth, modernization, climate change, mismanagement and the breakdown of traditional systems of distributing resources. India is running out of water in more places, in more different ways, putting more people at risk, than perhaps any other country.

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DEWA To Use Solar To Power New Pumped-Storage Project

/in , /by /pv magazine Internationalby Emiliano Bellini Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The Dubai Water and Electricity Authority will use energy from the gigawatt-scale Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park to provide a new hydropower plant with pumped storage capacity. The state-owned utility has announced a number of innovations for the project in recent months, including plans for hydrogen and large-scale storage capacity. The Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) has revealed it will use output from its 5 GW Mohammed bin Rashid Maktoum Solar Park to provide energy for a newly tendered 250 MW pumped-storage hydroelectric power station at Hatta, an inland exclave of the emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

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