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

OPINION: SB307 Goes Against California’s Water Needs

/in , /by /The Press-Enterprise (Riverside)

California is finishing one of its rainiest winters in decades, which leaves most of us pining for less water rather than more of it. But it wasn’t long ago the state was facing a devastating and persistent drought. Rain comes and goes, but this mostly arid state still has a growing population. There’s continual need for new water resources. That’s why we’re disappointed that Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, and Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, have reintroduced legislation designed to cripple a long-planned water project in the Mojave Desert. Senate Bill 307 prohibits water transfers unless two agencies agree that the transfers do not harm state and federal desert lands.

Full Story

San Jose Water Bills Could Go Up, Despite Years Of Conservation Efforts

/in , /by /Fox KTVU (San Jose)by Kristin J. Bender

When California’s historic drought mandated that residents take shorter showers, cut back on watering their lawns and give up washing their cars, folks in San Jose did their part to save water. At the start of the drought in 2014, then Gov. Jerry Brown set down a 20 percent reduction target (from 2013 levels) for urban water suppliers. San Jose Water Company hit the mark every year from 2015 to 2018. Further, the water company put in place a “critical water reduction plan” in order to meet a 30 percent water-use reduction goal set by the Santa Clara Valley Water District and residents nearly achieved that goal during 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Full Story

Santa Barbara declares End To Drought Emergency

/in , /by /KSBY (Santa Barbara)by Lindsay Zuchelli

The City of Santa Barbara declared an end to its drought emergency Tuesday. The city says the above-average rainfall this winter improved water supplies. Based on current water supply forecasts, the city believes it has enough supply to meet demands through 2021. On Tuesday, the City Council ended its Stage Three Drought Emergency, lifting drought water use regulations. The City Council first enacted the Stage Three Drought Emergency in 2015, requiring 25 percent water conservation initially. According to the city’s website, that conservation number eventually increased to 40 percent. Now that the drought emergency is over, that requirement will be lifted, however, the city will still enforce regulations against irrigation runoff and anyone who fails to repair a leak.

Full Story

Upgrading California’s Water Grid For Future Needs

/in , /by /AgNet West (Fresno)by Brian German

Lawmakers recently heard testimony about the needs of California’s water grid at a recent House Subcommittee meeting on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.  Several experts presented information about the current conditions of western water infrastructure and what will be required going forward. “One of the first priorities is to really think about groundwater as a more active part of this grid; manage it more intensively and actively.  The second piece is fix what’s broken and expand capacity where it’s needed,” Director of the Water Policy Center at the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), Ellen Hanak told the committee.

Full Story

OPINION: California Can’t Save Fish By Diverting More Water From rivers

/in , /by /Napa Valley Register by John McManus

Recent decades have brought the slow collapse of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its salmon runs. A half dozen species face extinction. Lacking natural flushing, the Delta now suffers outbreaks of toxic algae. The salmon fishing industry suffered a shutdown in 2008 and 2009, which cost thousands of jobs. Science points to a clear cause: inadequate flows caused by excessive diversions. In some years, 90 percent of the Tuolumne River is diverted, leaving only 10 percent for salmon and the Bay-Delta. Every Central Valley salmon river also suffers from over diversion in many years.

Full Story

State Wetlands Policy Returns To Original Intent

/in , /by /Ag Alert (Sacramento)by Christine Souza

More than a decade in the making, a new state definition of wetlands will likely take effect early next year—as will procedures intended to protect them from dredge-and-fill activities. The State Water Resources Control Board adopted final amendments to the state wetland policy last week, after including changes that moved it closer to its original intent of limiting its application to agriculture. The California Farm Bureau Federation and other agricultural groups had opposed earlier drafts of the State Wetland Definition and Procedures for Discharges of Dredged or Fill Material to Waters of the State, because they would have unnecessarily harmed farmers’ and ranchers’ ability to manage their land responsibly.

 

Full Story

California May Be Drought Free, But Water Conservation Is Here To Stay

/in , , /by /ABC10 (Sacramento) by Tracy Humphrey

Let’s face it, the 2018-2019 water year has been awesome! The numbers tell the story. Sacramento is more than four inches above average for rainfall and Stockton is more than three inches above average for rainfall since October 1, 2018. Thanks to all the rainfall along with a very impressive snowpack, California is now completely drought free! The last time that happened was December 2011.

Full Story

U.S. Representatives Looking To Rebuild Whitter Narrows Dam Before Catastrophic Flood Occurs

/in , /by /California Water News Daily

Citing the urgent need to repair the 62-year-old Whittier Narrows Dam, U.S. Rep. Grace Napolitano, (D-32 District-El Monte) and U.S. Rep. Linda Sánchez, (D-38th District-Norwalk) have written a letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Resources requesting $100,405,000 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Construction Account’s Dam Safety and Seepage/Stability Correction Program. Within the letter the two representatives identify the Whittier dam’s dire status and the need to be a potential recipient of these federal funds: … Projects such as the Whittier Narrows Dam, CA, which has been recognized as one of the most critical dam safety projects in the nation, could compete for funding in this account.

Full Story

The Last Water In The Valley

/in , /by /Capital Press (Salem, Oregon)by George Plaven

Looking back 40 years, Jeff Stone said the greenhouse and nursery industry was barely a blip on the radar of Oregon agriculture. Now nursery stock is consistently among the state’s most valuable farm commodities, with sales of $947 million in 2017. Stone, executive director of the Oregon Association of Nurseries, said the momentum really took off in the 1980s and 1990s. Based in Wilsonville, about 15 miles south of Portland, the association represents 800 members, including 600 growers. It is a success story driven by the availability of water, along with the Mediterranean climate — cool, wet winters followed by hot, dry summers — and rich soils of the Willamette River Basin.

Full Story

California Central Valley Assembly Member Calls Out Water Board For Claim That Contaminating Drinking Water In Disadvantaged Communities Is Not “Significant”

/in , /by /Sierra Sun Times

Assemblymember Adam C. Gray (D-Merced) ripped the State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday for arguing that the harm caused by the Bay-Delta Plan to the drinking gray adam california assemblymember mercedwater of disadvantaged communities is not “significant”. Gray’s comments came as his legislation, Assembly Bill 637, cleared the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee with bipartisan support. In response to criticism that the Bay-Delta Plan ignores impacts to disadvantaged communities, the State Water Board issued a master response arguing that because the board is not a federal agency it does not have to consider impacts to these communities significant.

Full Story