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Treated Waste- Water To River Being Sought

/in , /by /The Manteca Bulletin (Manteca, Calif.)by Jason Campbell

The City of Lathrop has taken another step towards achieving the long-awaited goal of being able to discharge tertiary treated wastewater into the San Joaquin River. With the approval of the Lathrop City Council, the city is now in a contract with Ascent Environmental to initiate the environmental documentation necessary to acquire the permit to discharge of water from the city’s water treatment plant into the river – a move that could pay sweeping dividends to the city in the future.

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India Is Hitting The United States With More Tariffs

/in , /by /CNNby Rishi Iyengar

India just increased tariffs on US exports, dealing another blow to fragile global trade. The tariffs on 28 US products, announced on Saturday by India’s Finance Ministry, went into effect Sunday. The goods targeted include American apples — which will be hit with a 70% tariff — as well as almonds, lentils and several chemical products. India first announced plans to impose new tariffs a year ago in retaliation for increased US import duties on Indian steel and aluminum. But it repeatedly delayed imposing them while the two sides held a series of trade talks.

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Can California Better Use Winter Storms To Refill Its Aquifers?

/in , , /by /PHYS.org (Los Angeles)by Felicity Barringer

The general long-term forecast for California as climate change intensifies: more frequent droughts, intermittently interrupted by years when big storms bring rain more quickly than the water infrastructure can handle. This bipolar weather will have profound implications for the state’s $50 billion agriculture industry and the elaborate network of reservoirs, canals, and aqueducts that store and distribute water. A system built for irrigation and flood protection must adapt to accommodate more conservation. “The effects of climate change are necessitating wholesale changes in how water is managed in California,” the state Department of Water Resources wrote in a June 2018 white paper.

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Los Olivos Board Presents Options For Sewage Treatment

/in , /by /Santa Ynez Valley Starby Raiza Giorgi

All options are still on the table in developing a wastewater treatment system in Los Olivos, but the community needs to pick one quickly — before the state takes over the decision, according to the Los Olivos Community Services District. In a special meeting May 30, the LOCSD board presented a range of wastewater treatment options after spending the last year meeting with the California Regional Water Quality Control Board and Santa Barbara County Environmental Health Services.

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Hurtado Secures $15M For Area Drinking Water Projects

/in , /by /The Porterville Recorder (Porterville, Calif.)

State Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) announced Monday she has secured a $15 million one-time investment of General Funds for the southern Central Valley. The funds will address failing water systems that deliver safe clean drinking water to California’s most vulnerable communities. “Access to clean drinking water is one of the main reasons why I chose to run for office,” said Senator Melissa Hurtado. “One million-plus people don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water and this issue disproportionately affects my community, often keeping me up at night.”

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OPINION: California Legislature Must Act To Protect Environment From Trump’s Assaults

/in , , /by /CALmatters (Sacramento)by Terry Tamminen

California is facing an unprecedented and reckless assault by the federal government on our water quality, air quality, worker safety, fish and wildlife and public lands. Existing federal protections in those areas keep California a special place and keep Californians healthy. But those protections are threatened. Our state government is fighting back, but the past two years have revealed where state law must be strengthened. For decades, state regulators have relied on federal protections for endangered species to meet California’s independent state legal requirement to protect imperiled species like Northern California’s spring run Chinook salmon.

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Reclamation Gives Westside Farmers Another Nudge For Water

/in , /by /The San Joaquin Valley Sun

The Bureau of Reclamation once again revised its allocation for westside farmers in the San Joaquin Valley, announcing Friday it would provide 75 percent of its contracted amount of water. The announcement is an increase of five percent from late May. Since February, the Bureau’s water allocations for agricultural use in the Central Valley Project have more than doubled – first starting at 35 percent. However, sustained rainfall into the month of May perpetually forced revisions akin to Friday’s announcement.

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OPINION: It’s Time To Finally Adopt A Russian River Plan

/in , /by /The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.)

Here’s a safe prediction: Generations to come will be thankful for everything done today to protect the Russian River. Here’s another: Restoring and preserving the river’s health will become more challenging and expensive each time action is delayed. As reported in The Press Democrat by Staff Writer Mary Callahan, delay has been a central feature of the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board’s efforts to adopt a plan to protect and improve the Russian River’s water quality. The delay so far has been excusable — earlier drafts of the plan needed refinements, and California’s water quality regulations have changed — but now it’s time to move forward. The third iteration since 2015 of the regional water board’s staff report and draft action plan for the Russian River are now out for review and comment.

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State Agencies Seek Input On Creating Climate-Resilient Water System

/in , , /by /YubaNet (Nevada City, Calif.)

State agencies are asking Californians to help shape a roadmap for meeting future water needs and ensuring environmental and economic resilience through the 21st century. The effort seeks to broaden California’s approach on water in the face of a range of existing challenges, including unsafe drinking water, major flood risks that threaten public safety, severely depleted groundwater aquifers, agricultural communities coping with uncertain water supplies and native fish populations threatened with extinction. Input from the public will help the Natural Resources Agency, California Environmental Protection Agency, and Department of Food and Agriculture craft recommendations to Governor Gavin Newsom to fulfill his April 29 executive order calling for a suite of actions to build a climate-resilient water system and ensure healthy waterways.

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The U.S. Isn’t Nearly As Dry As It Was A Year Ago

/in , , /by /The Weather Channelby Linda Lam

The United States isn’t nearly as dry as it was a year ago, as demonstrated by massive spring floods, and one area of the West has seen the most dramatic improvement. About only 4 percent of the contiguous U.S. was experiencing drought conditions on June 11, compared to just under 28 percent a year ago, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. T​he greatest improvements have been in parts of the Southwest, Great Basin and Rockies, and most of the U.S. is expected to remain drought-free this summer. Last June, over 9 percent of the contiguous U.S. – including parts of the Southwest, southern Rockies and Plains – was in extreme or exceptional drought.

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