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DWR Releases Final California Water Plan Update 2018

/in , , /by /California Department of Water Resources

On Tuesday, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) released the Final 2018 Update to the California Water Plan. Update 2018 presents a vision for greater collaboration and alignment among water sectors and institutions, sound strategies, and long-term investments needed for the sustainable management of the California’s water supply.

As directed by California Water Code, DWR publishes an update to the California Water Plan every five years that incorporates the latest information and science, serving as the comprehensive strategic plan for how water is managed throughout the state.

 

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Earth Just Had Its Hottest June On Record, On Track For Warmest July

/in , , /by /The Washington Post by Jason Samenow and Andrew Freedman

Boosted by a historic heat wave in Europe and unusually warm conditions across the Arctic and Eurasia, the average temperature of the planet soared to its highest level ever recorded in June.

According to data released Monday by NASA, the global average temperature was 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit (0.93 Celsius) above the June norm (based on a 1951-to-1980 baseline), easily breaking the previous June record of 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.82 Celsius), set in 2016, above the average.

The month was punctuated by a severe heat wave that struck Western Europe in particular during the last week, with numerous all-time-hottest-temperature records falling in countries with centuries-old data sets.

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Off-The-Charts Heat To Impact Millions Across The U.S., Report finds

/in , /by /The San Diego Union Tribune by Joshua Emerson Smith

Dangerous and potentially lethal bouts of heat — driven by the unabated burning of fossil fuels — could fast spread to parts of the United States unaccustomed to such blazing hot conditions.

That’s according to a new report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Research Communications. According to the findings, if humanity doesn’t dramatically rein in greenhouse gas emissions by midcentury, more than 6 million people from California to Louisiana to Kansas could regularly experience what experts call “off the charts” heat.

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Bureau of Reclamation Awards $5.1 Million In Research For New Ways To Desalinate Water

/in , /by /EurekAlertby Alex Stephens

The Bureau of Reclamation announced that 30 projects will receive $5.1 million from the Desalination and Water Purification Research Program to develop improved and inexpensive ways to desalinate and treat impaired water.

“We are awarding grants to a diverse group of projects to reduce the cost, energy consumption and environmental impacts of treating impaired or otherwise unusable water for local communities across the country,” said Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman. “This funding is a direct result of the Trump Administration’s commitment to increase water supply and delivery through improved technology.”

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New Technology Could Help Salmon Swim Over Hydroelectric Dams

/in , , /by /Komo News by Abby Acone

A Seattle company called Whooshh Innovations has developed a creative way for fish to swim over hydroelectric dams. This product creates a pressure difference around the salmon, sucking the fish up a long tube and releasing it at the top of the dam.

“We do introduce a little bit of water to keep them moist and keep their gills moist and all those kinds of things for the few seconds it takes them to get through the system,” said Mike Dearan, Whooshh’s chief engineer.

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‘Greywater’ Could Help Solve Colorado’s Water Problems. Why Aren’t We All Using It?

/in , , /by /CPR News by Michael Sakas

Your shower, sink and laundry machine account for more than half of indoor water use. Since the wastewater that circles the drain doesn’t come from the toilet, it’s safe to reuse on things like your garden.Those hip to reuse call it greywater. To state and local governments, it’s graywater. However you spell it, it’s an idea that everyone agrees will save water — but not everyone agrees on how it should be done.

Colorado was the last Western state to legalize greywater usage in 2013. Officials say that by 2050, our water supply could fall short for over one million people. Climate change makes the future of Colorado water even more uncertain.

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OPINION: California Refuses To Enlist Clean, Cheap Hydropower In Fight Against Climate Change. It Makes No Sense

/in , , /by /CALmatters (Sacramento)by Adam Gray

Is the cleanest, greenest electricity in the world green enough for California? For years, the people of the Northern San Joaquin Valley have been trying to get hydropower recognized for what it is: the original source of clean electricity. Our efforts have been stymied by people who feel entitled to decide what is, or isn’t, green enough. That’s why I have begun the process of modifying our state Constitution to recognize safe, abundant, carbon-free hydropower as a reliable source of renewable energy in our fight against climate change. I have authored Assembly Constitutional Amendment 17 to place this question before California’s voters.

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Ties Between The Delta And Groundwater Sustainability In California

/in , , /by /California Water Blogby Jay Lund

Groundwater overdraft is a major problem globally and has been a persistent and growing problem in California for decades. This overdraft is predominantly driven by the economic value of water for agricultural production and cities. Spurred by the recent drought, California passed legislation requiring the elimination of groundwater overdraft by 2040. To explore potential water supply effects of ending long-term groundwater overdraft in California’s Central Valley, we compared several water policies with historical and warmer–drier climates, employing a statewide hydroeconomic optimization model, CALVIN, in our new paper.

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How 1,500 Nuclear-Powered Water Desalination Plants Could Save The World From Desertification

/in , , /by /Forbesby James Conca

About 20% of the world’s population has no access to safe drinking water, and this number will increase as the population continues to grow and global freshwater sources continue to decline. The worst-affected areas are the arid and semiarid regions of Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. UNESCO has reported that the freshwater shortfall worldwide will rise to 500 trillion gallons/yr by 2025. They expect water wars to break out in the near-future. The World Economic Forum says that shortage of fresh water may be the primary global threat in the next decade.

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Climate Change Threatens California Freshwater Fish. We Can Do Something About It, Experts Say.

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Caroline Ghisolfi

Fish die-offs in freshwater lakes are an increasing threat in California, and experts say climate change is to blame. Researchers from UC Davis and Reed College in Portland, Ore., found a strong link between fish deaths in freshwater lakes in Wisconsin and hot summers. They predict that fish die-offs will double by 2050 and quadruple by 2100 in Wisconsin. Andrew Rypel, a UC Davis wildlife, fish and conservation biology researcher, said we should expect similar effects in California. He told The Bee in an interview that California lakes may be even more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than those in Wisconsin, because they host many sensitive cold-water species.

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