A pair of upcoming North County groundwater studies are expected to shed new light on the hydrogeological conditions of two key water sources in the region.
The Paso Robles Groundwater Basin is one of three basins in the state chosen to participate in a Stanford University study that will deploy state-of-the-art aerial electromagnetic technology to better understand its characteristics.
Environmental groups are calling for increased scrutiny of California’s oil and gas industry after learning that more than 50 million gallons of crude oil flowed out of the ground in an uncontrolled release near a Chevron facility in Kern County over the last 16 years.
If not amended, Senate Bill 1 will perpetuate California’s water and environmental troubles, not help to resolve them, as its proponents claim.
How? As written, SB 1 limits the use of research conducted over the last decade meant to better understand Delta water management and its relationship to fish and wildlife. The State Water Project — funded by ratepayers throughout California, including the Coachella Valley — has spent tens of millions of dollars to improve this understanding.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill (SB 307) that prevents proposals to export desert water without state review. The bill goes into effect on January 1, 2020.
The bill protects federal and state lands, including Mojave National Preserve and Mojave Trails National Monument. It effectively stops the Cadiz Water Project which would extract water from an underground aquifer in the Mojave Desert and export it. Developed by Cadiz Inc., the project proposes to pump 16 billion gallons of water a year from the Mojave Desert aquifer.
Think summertime and the mind usually wanders to warm thoughts of sand, sunscreen, and fireworks. But increasingly summertime fun is being interrupted by algal blooms. From the Atlantic seaboard to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Great Lakes to the Pacific coast, harmful algal blooms are shutting down beaches, killing fish, birds, and other wildlife, and contaminating drinking water. The economic impacts of an algal bloom can be severe, especially if the algae become toxic.
After months of virtual silence, the California Department of Water Resources revealed via its blog on Tuesday that it is pursuing work on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s scaled-back Delta tunnel project. Newsom announced in February that he was dropping former Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to bore two tunnels to transport water from the Sacramento River 30 miles south across the Delta to massive pumps near Tracy.
With water scarcity a growing problem worldwide, University of California, Berkeley, researchers are close to producing a microwave-sized water harvester that will allow you to pull all the water you need directly from the air — even in the hot, dry desert.
Severe weather, traffic incidents and crime disrupt routines and threaten lives. Facebook announced Tuesday that is arming state, city and local government emergency managers with the ability to issue local alerts that will rise to the top of news feeds during dangerous situations.
Potential uses include storm warnings and advisories for extreme temperatures, evacuations, road closures, active shooter situations, bomb threats, missing person reports, water main breaks and more. The aim is to keep its users “safe and in-the-know.”
Another day, another environmental policy skirmish.
California, 17 other states, and Washington, D.C. today challenged a Trump administration plan to limit climate change analysis for major energy and infrastructure projects.
In a statement emailed to reporters, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra called Trump’s plan “reckless” and said it “leads agencies to ignore the climate crisis, the most pressing environmental challenge of our time.”
“We’re reminding President Trump once again: if you try to backslide on the safeguards protecting our nation’s environment and put polluters in the driver’s seat, we will hold you accountable,” he said.
