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Erosion threatens scenery and real estate along iconic California coastline

/in , /by /CBS Newsby Jonathan Vigliotti

This is supposed to be a beautiful beach, but instead it looks like a disaster area because a sea wall built about a decade ago to protect homes has failed. Now property owners are spending millions to fix it.

From Mexico to Oregon, the iconic California coastline runs more than 3,400 miles. “CBS This Morning” correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti drove just over 600 of those miles to see how the state is getting ready for what scientists say is the inevitable future.

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Los Angeles Still Has A Feed-In Tariff. And It’s Growing

/in , /by /PV Magazineby Christian Roselund

It’s odd to be writing about an active feed-in tariff (FiT) in 2019. The policy which accelerated Germany into a 7 GW+ market annually and kick-started the global solar market had its heyday nearly a decade ago, with feed-in tariffs being introduced across Europe and Asia. This led to spectacular market growth but also dramatic crashes when the ambition of the market created exceeded these policies’ political support.

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Bill to Blunt Trump Environment Policy Vetoed in California

/in , /by /Associated Pressby Adam Beam

Engaged in environmental battles with the Trump administration on multiple fronts, California Gov. Gavin Newsom angered some allies on Friday by vetoing a bill aimed at blunting federal rollbacks of clean air and endangered species regulations in the state.

The bill would have made it easier for state regulators to counter the Trump administration’s efforts to change enforcement of the federal Endangered Species Act and other environmental pillars — at least in California.

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‘Farming the Sun:’ As Water Goes Scarce, Can Solar Farms Prop Up The Valley?

/in , /by /Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

On the Changala family farm in Tulare County, the past and future are separated by a dirt road and a barbed-wire fence.

On the south side sits a wheat field. On the north, a solar farm, built three years ago, sending electricity to thousands of Southern Californians. Alan Changala sees little difference between the two.

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Often Short of Water, California’s Southern Central Coast Builds Toward a Drought-Proof Supply

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

The southern part of California’s Central Coast from San Luis Obispo County to Ventura County, home to about 1.5 million people, is blessed with a pleasing Mediterranean climate and a picturesque terrain. Yet while its unique geography abounds in beauty, the area perpetually struggles with drought.

Indeed, while the rest of California breathed a sigh of relief with the return of wet weather after the severe drought of 2012–2016, places such as Santa Barbara still grappled with dry conditions.

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Black & Veatch to create digital twin for Anglian Water

/in , , /by /WWTby Robin Hackett

The utility’s ‘future water company, today’ initiative uses the Newmarket region of its operating area as a proving ground for innovations promising the greatest benefits.

As part of this, Black & Veatch is creating a digital representation of the region’s water treatment and distribution infrastructure and embedding Hybrid Adaptive Real-time Virtual Intelligence (HARVI) – an artificial intelligence (AI) provided by its strategic partner EMAGIN – into the digital twin.

This enables predictive capabilities and intuitive decision support and intervention.

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EPA to California: You’re Also ‘Failing’ to Meet Water Pollution Standards

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Alexa Diaz and Anna M. Phillips

The Trump administration warned California officials Thursday that the state is “failing” to meet federal water quality standards, the latest move in the president’s escalating political feud with the state’s liberal leaders.

In a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler threatened possible enforcement action if the state did not improve the way it deals with lead, arsenic and human waste in its water.

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A New California Fight Against Trump Over Water, Fish, The Delta And The Environment

/in , , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

California is fighting a plan by President Donald Trump’s administration to push more water through the Delta – a move state officials say would harm endangered fish species and deprive millions of Southern Californians of water.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife, in a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, said the federal plan would harm the nearly-extinct Delta smelt and other species. The state said the plan would also hurt the mostly urban water agencies that belong to the State Water Project, which might have to surrender some of its supplies to compensate for the federal plan.

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Report Details Extent Of Water Contamination In California

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Adam Beam

Chemicals used for carpets and anti-stain products have been found in water sources for 7.5 million people in California, detailing the extent of the problem as state regulators work to develop safety levels for the contaminants that have been linked to cancer.

A report released Wednesday by the Environmental Working Group found variants of the chemicals known as PFAS in 74 community water systems between 2013 and 2019, according to data from state and federal regulators. More than 40 percent of the systems had at least one sample that exceeded the health advisory level set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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USDA Invests In California Infrastructure Improvements

/in , , /by /Oakdale Leader (Oakdale, Calif.)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development California State Director Kim Dolbow Vann on Monday, Sept. 23 announced more than $5 million in investments for three infrastructure improvement projects in California.

“We know that in order for California’s rural communities to continue to prosper, it is essential they have safe, reliable infrastructure,” said Vann. “USDA’s programs are addressing those needs and today’s investments will help improve water or wastewater systems in three communities.”

Funding is provided through USDA Rural Development’s Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant program, and can be used for drinking water, storm water drainage and waste disposal systems for rural communities with 10,000 or fewer residents.

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