Newsom Signs Dodd’s Water Management Bill
Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, announced Monday that Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed his legislation to help California oversee its water.
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Army Corps of Engineers Speaks On Dam Failures
The history of dam safety and the lessons learned from previous failures was the topic of a presentation to the Kern River Valley Historical Society during their monthly meeting last week.
Anthony Burdock, Project Manager for the Isabella Dam Safety Modification Project, presented a program outlining catastrophic dam failures and how those failures were used to mold the dam safety regulations that now govern the nation’s dams, including Isabella Dam.
Trump Administration Surrenders to California, Backs Off On Delta Water Fight
The Trump administration has retreated on a plan to push more water through the Delta this fall after protests from California officials on the harmful impacts on endangered Chinook salmon and other fish.
State officials had been worried that the proposed move, by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, also would have meant less water for Southern California cities that rely on supplies pouring out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
California Adopts 22 New Laws Taking Aim At Wildfire Danger
California is adopting nearly two dozen laws aimed at preventing and fighting the devastating wildfires that have charred large swaths of the state in recent years and killed scores of people.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that he had signed the 22 bills, saying several also will help the state meet its clean energy goals.
The measures largely enact key recommendations from a June report by a governor’s task force and build on $1 billion in the state budget devoted to preparing for wildfires and other emergencies, Newsom said.
Coastal Cities Plan For Sea Level Rise
In Pacifica, beachfront properties and houses on worn-down cliffs are devalued and could ultimately be destroyed by flooding and erosion. In Half Moon Bay, properties sit farther away from the ocean due to zoning that largely designates bluffs as open space. One thing the two cities have in common: As sea levels rise in San Mateo County, Highway 1, beaches, trails and important infrastructure are threatened.
Both municipalities are in the process of revising their local coastal programs in response to sea level rise. Pacifica approved a draft to send to the California Coastal Commission on Monday.
Paso Completes Water Treatment Facility
On Tuesday, Sept. 17, Paso Robles Wastewater Division Manager Matt Thompson informed the City Council of the completion of the City’s Tertiary Treatment Facility, one of the largest infrastructure projects in the City’s history.
“The City has a master plan to capture wastewater it has disposed to the Salinas River for many decades and turn it into a new supplemental source of water we call recycled water,” Thompson said in his presentation to the City Council.
Palm Springs Saw 8.84 Inches of Rain in the Last 12 months — That’s 154% of Normal
It was a wet and stormy year in the Coachella Valley and there may — or may not — be more on the way as the National Weather Service’s rainfall year began anew on Tuesday, a forecaster said.
California’s water year starts with a large increase in reservoir storage. Here’s why
California is enjoying an increase in average water reserves due to increases in snowfall and precipitation, according to the Department of Water Resources.
Statewide, the reservoir is at 128 percent of average, which is about 29.7 million acre-feet. Some of the biggest increases include Lake Oroville, which is currently at 102 percent of its average, compared to 62 percent this time last year; Shasta Lake is at 126 percent (88 percent in 2018) and San Luis Reservoir is at 132 percent (117 percent last year).
DWR Reports ‘Good Water Year’ For California
During this past winter, FOX40 met people who moved up the mountains for the snow — and then got sick of it. Many homes were completely buried in snow and the region saw heavy downpours of rain that tested storm drains and levees.
But from a Water Resources perspective, it was “a good water year,” according to spokesman Chris Orrock.
Orrock said California had above-average precipitation, with around 30 atmospheric rivers during the 2018-2019 water year, which ends on the last day of September.
Storage Bill Expanding Utility Rate Recovery Options for Battery Projects Clears Senate Committee
With bipartisan support, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week advanced a comprehensive energy storage package, reported as an amendment to the Better Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Act.
Introduced by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the BEST Act would require the federal government to support energy storage research and demonstration projects. Along with the attached bills, it would open a standardized path for utilities to recover storage costs in federal rate proceedings.
