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Federal Watchdog Urges Better EPA Oversight After Flint Water Response

/in , /by /USA Todayby Carlos Osorio

A federal watchdog is calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen its oversight of state drinking water systems nationally and respond more quickly to public health emergencies such as the lead-in-the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. In a 74-page report released Thursday, the EPA’s inspector general report pointed to “oversight lapses” at the federal, state and local levels in the response to Flint’s contaminated drinking water.

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Here’s How The Largest Dam Removal Project In The U.S. Would Work

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Tara Lohan

No one is popping the champagne corks just yet, but the process to remove four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River just took a big step forward. On June 28, the Klamath River Renewal Corporation released the Definite Plan for the Lower Klamath Project, a 2,300-page detailed analysis of how the reservoirs would be drawn down, the dams removed, the materials disposed of and the formerly inundated land restored.

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OPINION: Newsom Most Likely To Stand Up For Our Region In Water Fight

/in , /by /The Modesto Bee

California’s governor is important not just here, but across the nation and even around the world, so it matters whom we choose to lead our great state. At the risk of sounding irredeemably self-centered, it matters even more here in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. That’s because our region of 1 million is under attack by the State Water Resources Control Board. The next governor must not only understand our battle, but be willing to rein in an out-of-control state agency or at least alter the conversation.

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OPINION: Deconstructing The Opposition To The California Water Fix

/in , /by /Fox and Hounds

Here we go again.  There’s nothing better than California water politics to prove the sagacity of French writer Alphonse Karr’s immortal quip: “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” (“The more things change, the more it’s the same thing.”) Last week the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) Board voted for a second time to finance the Delta tunnels, aka the California WaterFix.  (Applying an abundance of caution, the Board decided to re-vote to preclude the impacts of a number of unsubstantiated allegations from WaterFix opponents such as purported Brown Act violations and other sundry sins, crimes and misdemeanors).

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Fresno, Clovis Plan To Mix Recycled Sewer Water For Drinking

/in , /by /Valley Public Radio (Clovis)by Marc Benjamin

If you’ve been to Disneyland, Cambria, many parts of Los Angeles, then you most likely had a swig of highly treated recycled water. Recycled water meaning, yes, it was once in a sewage treatment plant. For many years this recycled water has helped Orange County meet the needs of its growing population and reduce the toll on its declining aquifers. Soon, the same kind of water may be coming to Clovis and Fresno’s drinking water.

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Delta Tunnels Get ‘Real’ as Backers Seek $1.6B Loan From Trump Administration

/in , /by /Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow And Dale Kasler

Critical permits and legal challenges are still pending, and some farming groups still haven’t committed to paying for part of Gov. Jerry Brown’s controversial $17 billion Delta tunnels project.

But even with the uncertainty, backers of the project are poised to ask the Trump administration for a $1.6 billion federal loan that millions of Californians ultimately would have to repay through increases in their water bills.

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Santa Clara Valley Water a Step Closer to Building $1 Billion Dam at Pacheco Pass Reservoir

/in , /by /San Jose Insideby Barry Holtzclaw

The Santa Clara Valley Water District is moving forward with plans to build a new Pacheco Pass reservoir in Santa Clara County, which the district describes as a “game-changer” to ease the impact of future droughts in the Bay Area.

If $485 million in state funds are approved this month, supporters they could raise the rest of the $969 million project budget from federal grants and increased water rates to build the largest reservoir constructed in the Bay Area in the past 20 years.

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Officials Hope Oroville Dam Spillways Will Be In Use Nov. 1

/in , /by /ABC 7 San Franciscoby ABC 7 Staff

Progress has been made at the Oroville Dam after several issues and infrastructure problems, the emergency and main spillways may be ready to use by Nov. 1.

The Department of Water Resources hopes to have them ready to use, if needed, by Nov. 1.

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Interior Secretary Zinke to Visit California as GOP Steps Up Fight Over State’s Water

/in , /by /McClatchy News Serviceby Emily Cadei and Kate Irby

With little clout in Sacramento, Republicans are trying to use their power in Washington to reshape California’s water policies.

Less than two weeks after state regulators announced sweeping new water allocation limits, the GOP-controlled House is expected this week to pass spending legislation that would block federal funding for that allocation plan. It also includes measures that would bar legal challenges to major water infrastructure projects in the state.

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OPINION: We Must Take Action On The Nation’s Coming Water Supply Crisis

/in , /by /The Hillby Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) and Dr. Michael Shank

Most Americans take water for granted. It’s a resource that people assume will always be accessible, available, and consumable. For most people in this country, whether they’re at a public drinking fountain, a restaurant or at home, water is a commodity considered to be at our constant beck and call – but for how much longer? America’s water supply is in crisis and, if we don’t act now, we face an imperiled future. The news this week that California is facing record-shattering heat waves, and already on the verge of yet another drought, illustrates this point powerfully.

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