You are now in California and the U.S. Media Coverage category.

A Look Back At The Specifics Of A Wild, Wet And Snowy Winter In California And The Southwest

/in , /by /Accuweatherby Brian Thompson

Following a pretty dry 2017-18 season, the storms came back with a frenzy this season across the Southwest, helping to propel many places to above-average precipitation. It was a fast transition in California in November from the destructive Camp and Woolsey fires in the first half of the month to storms, flooding and mudslides by the end of the month. December had extended dry periods, and most places ended up with below-average precipitation for the month. As a stormier pattern led to frequent storms and atmospheric river events as 2019 started, the heavy precipitation events caused flooding, mudslides and heavy snow.

Full Story

E.P.A. Proposes Weaker Standards On Chemicals Contaminating Drinking Water

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Eric Lipton and Julie Turkewitz

After pressure from the Defense Department, the Environmental Protection Agency significantly weakened a proposed standard for cleaning up groundwater pollution caused by toxic chemicals that contaminate drinking water consumed by millions of Americans and that have been commonly used at military bases. Standards released by the agency on Thursday eliminated entirely a section that would have addressed how it would respond to what it has described as “immediate threats posed by hazardous waste sites.” Those short-term responses, known as removal actions, can include excavating contaminated soil or building a security fence around a toxic area.

Full Story

Cal Am Desal Plant Gets Narrow Planning Commission OK

/in , , /by /Monterey Heraldby Jim Johnson

Citing long-running efforts to secure a new Monterey Peninsula water supply and the state-imposed deadline for reducing unauthorized water usage, the county Planning Commission approved California American Water’s desalination plant north of Marina on Wednesday. By a 6-4 vote, the commission backed a use permit for the proposed 6.4 million gallon per day desal plant. The plant is designed to provide about 40 percent of the Peninsula’s planned new water supply to offset the state’s Carmel River pumping cutback order set to take full effect at the end of 2021, as well as reduce pumping from the Seaside basin. The commission’s approval can be appealed to the Board of Supervisors.

Full Story

Disturbing Levels Of Carbon Dioxide Likely To Increase Ocean Acidity Fast, Scientists Say

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Peter Fimrite

Unusually high concentrations of carbon dioxide have been blowing out to sea from Bay Area cities and agricultural areas, raising concerns that the previously unknown infusions could increase ocean acidity faster than climate change experts have predicted, Monterey Bay scientists said this week. The greenhouse gases flowing into the sea could add as much as 25 million tons of carbon dioxide into the ocean every year, roughly 1 percent of the total annual amount from all sources that permeates the sea water, according to calculations by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

Full Story

How An ‘Unripe Snowpack’ Will Impact Lake Tahoe This Summer

/in , /by /The San Francisco Gate by Amy Graff

For the third year in a row, Lake Tahoe is expected to fill. This is noteworthy for the sixth-largest lake in the United States that flirted with record-low levels amid a five-year drought that ended in 2017. Even more good news for the West’s water supply: Tahoe’s water level is likely to reach its peak late in the season as a robust snow pack slowly melts through summer, feeding the reservoir and the Truckee River continuously for months to come

Full Story

Drilling Down To Defend Against Drought in Atlanta

/in , /by /The Engineering New Recordby Jim Parsons

The 2005-2007 drought that parched the Southeast wasn’t the worst Atlanta has endured since its establishment as a railroad hub in the 1830s. But with a burgeoning population dependent on a single water supply source the Chattahoochee River, fed by Lake Lanier that itself had been crippled by prolonged dry conditions, the drought was bad enough to spur action.

 

Full Story

Dead Fish Wash Up Near $6.3 Million Passageway Designed To Protect Them. Why Didn’t It Work?

/in , , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler

Dozens of fish carcasses 13 of them Chinook salmon protected by the Endangered Species Act rotted in the sun Tuesday a couple hundred yards from a new $6.3 million structure that state officials built specifically to keep that grisly scenario from happening. Before the winter and spring flood season this year, engineers completed work on the new fish passage along the Fremont Weir, a nearly two mile-long concrete structure atop the Yolo Bypass.

Full Story

California’s New Natural Resources Secretary Takes On Challenge Of Implementing Gov. Newsom’s Ambitious Water Agenda

/in , , /by /The Water Education Foundation by Gary Pitzer

One of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first actions after taking office was to appoint Wade Crowfoot as Natural Resources Agency secretary. Then, within weeks, the governor laid out an ambitious water agenda that Crowfoot, 45, is now charged with executing. That agenda includes the governor’s desire for a “fresh approach” on water, scaling back the conveyance plan in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and calling for more water recycling, expanded floodplains in the Central Valley and more groundwater recharge.

Full Story

Beware Of Cold Water Hazards During Snowmelt In California

/in , /by /The Daily Newsby Red Bluff

With the exceptional California snowpack melting as temperatures rise, rivers and streams are full of dangerously cold and swift moving water this spring. PG&E encourages water enthusiasts to take extra precautions when in or near rivers, especially around hydroelectric facilities and dams, where water flows can change rapidly. Anglers are encouraged to take precautions as trout season opens April 27 for most California rivers.

Full Story

Harder Unveils Bill Funding Valley Water Projects, Including Reservoir Near Patterson

/in , , /by /The Modesto Beeby Ken Carlson

Rep. Josh Harder, D Turlock, thinks there is a better way to find water solutions for California’s Central Valley and to stop squandering water in wet years that’s needed in dry years. His bipartisan water legislation unveiled Wednesday promises federal support for storage and innovation projects to address shortages that too often plague Valley agriculture and communities. Representatives from water districts, agriculture, local and state government and other groups joined the freshman congressman on the Tuolumne River bank in Modesto to announce the bill.

Full Story