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Council OKs Contract For Wastewater Study

/in , /by /Escalon Timesby Marg Jackson

Escalon City Council members on Monday night unanimously awarded a contract to Pace Advanced Water Engineering out of Fountain Valley for a comprehensive study at the city’s wastewater treatment plant. The goal of the study is multi-faceted, aimed primarily at finding ways to improve the efficiency at the plant and determine if its capacity can be expanded. The bid price was $72,180 and council members had several pages of detailed ‘scope of work’ information to review provided by the firm prior to making their decision.

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Wildfire Burn Zones Depleting Snowpack Across West, Which Fuels More Fires And Snow Loss, Research Shows

/in , /by /Reno Gazette Journal by Benjamin Spillman

Wildfires that increasingly plague the American West are contributing more than previously known to the deterioration of the region’s snowpack, according to newly published research. The effect of wildfires on snowmelt is more widespread and longer lasting than people thought and has ramifications across the region, where cities such as Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Reno and Salt Lake rely heavily on melting snow to replenish water supplies.

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Finally, California And IID Reach Agreement On Salton Sea Access And Liability

/in , /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Janet Wilson

The Imperial Irrigation District board of directors voted Tuesday to allow access across its lands for critically needed state wetlands projects at the Salton Sea, designed to tamp down dangerous dust storms and give threatened wildlife a boost. In exchange, California will shoulder the maintenance and operations of the projects, and the state’s taxpayers will cover the costs of any lawsuits or regulatory penalties if the work goes awry. Tuesday’s vote clears a key hurdle to constructing 3,700 acres around the heavily polluted New River at the south end of the lake, implementing what’s known as the Species Conservation Habitat plan.

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As U.N. Warns Of Widespread Extinction, California Is Already Losing Species

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Anna M. Phillips

Many are imperiled by loss of habitat, rising ocean temperatures and rural and urban areas’ demand for ever-increasing amounts of fresh water. Worldwide, the U.N. assessment found that of an estimated 8 million plant and animal species, about 1 million are on the brink of extinction because of the damage humans are inflicting on the Earth through global warming, logging, farming, mining and other activities. It was compiled by 145 expert authors from 50 countries. The full report won’t be made public until later this year, but a summary released Monday offered a damning assessment of human impacts over the last five decades.

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Ample Water Supply Expected This Summer After Snowpack Survey

/in , /by /Hanford Sentinelby Julissa Zavala

Just in time for summer, when water demand is at its highest, water officials are predicting an ample amount of water supply to people and farms this year based on Sierra Nevada snowpack levels. “2019 has been an extremely good year in terms of snowpack,” said Jon Ericson, chief of the Division of Flood Management for the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). “Based on our surveys, we are seeing a very dense, cold snowpack that will continue to produce run-off into late summer.” Thursday, the DWR conducted the fifth and final snow survey of 2019 at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada, just off Highway 50 near Sierra-at-Tahoe.

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Gavin Newsom’s $209 Billion Budget Calls For New Taxes. Can He Get Them Passed?

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Sophia Bollag

Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed new taxes and fees to fund health care subsidies, clean drinking water and tax credits for low-income families. But state revenue outpacing even his most optimistic predictions could present a challenge for him as he attempts to raise taxes. Last month, corporate taxes came in at $3.4 billion, much higher than the Newsom administration’s estimated $2.6 billion. Income taxes also came in ahead of projections, making up for a shortfall earlier in the year, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

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In Trump VS. California, The State Is Winning Nearly All Its Environmental Cases

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ann M. Phillips

California’s lawsuits have targeted the administration’s policies on immigration, healthcare and education. But nowhere has the legal battle had a greater impact than on Trump’s agenda of dismantling Obama-era environmental and public health regulations. In its rush to delay, repeal and rewrite rules it considers unduly burdensome to industry, the administration has experienced significant setbacks in court. Federal judges have sided with California and environmental groups in cases concerning air pollution, pesticides and the royalties that the government receives from companies that extract oil, gas and coal from public land.

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San Lorenzo Valley Water District Criticized Over Proposed Environmental Budget Cuts

/in , /by /Santa Cruz Sentinelby Jessica A. York

As budget season approaches, a valley water district’s board has come under fire for its proposed cost-cutting measures. Felton resident Larry Ford on Thursday asked San Lorenzo Valley Water District board leaders for some “smart innovation” in cost effective operational budgeting, as an alternative to cutting funding to several of its standing environmental programs in the coming year’s budget. “The challenge to us it to take the cost management goal, which I think is admirable if not heroic, and turn it into one that can support all of these community cot this time.”

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Many Large Northern California Reservoirs Nearly Full

/in , /by /ABC10by Rob Carlmark

We’ve made it through most of the prime water season and have had a few blockbuster winter storms. For many large reservoirs in California the mission for reservoirs switches from flood control to water storage and there isn’t much room left for storage. All major Northern California Reservoirs are more than 90 percent full and many will reach capacity in a month or so.

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Hundreds Of California Species At Risk Of Extinction, United Nations Report Says In Addition To Millions Globally

/in , /by /Capital Public Radioby Ezra David Romero

More than a million species are at risk of extinction globally, including hundreds in California. That’s what the United Nations revealed on Monday.“The rate of global change in nature during the past 50 years is unprecedented in human history,” the authors wrote in a summary of the report, which compiled of thousands of scientific papers. In California, there are around 300 species at risk and 346 species in California, Nevada and Southern Oregon combined. A handful of plants and animals have already disappeared from the state, such as the Santa Barbara song sparrow and the the California subspecies of the Grizzly Bear.

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