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El Nino, A No-Show So Far, Losing Steam

/in , /by /Capital Press (Salem, Oregon)by Don Jenkins

The weather has yet to be influenced this winter by a warmer Pacific Ocean and likely won’t be impacted in a major way, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports. Federal climatologists reduced the chances that an El Nino will form in January or February to 82 percent, down from 96 percent a month ago. If an El Nino does occur, it will be weak, according to NOAA. “Significant global impacts are not anticipated during the remainder of the winter, even if conditions were to form,” the agency stated, in its monthly outlook on sea-surface temperatures along the equator.

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Sonoma Valley Water Users Can Get Smart About Water Use

/in , /by /Sonoma Index-Tribune by Christian Kallen

“Have you ever wondered how you can save money on your water bill?” So begins, in a perky female voice, the 1-minute video overview of the new WaterSmart online tool being offered by the Valley of the Moon Water District. It promises instant cell-phone alerts of high water use, upcoming bills, track leaks and costs, and recommendations on ways to reduce water use and achieve lower water bills. That’s the promise of the WaterSmart “customer water portal” now offered by VOMWD, characterized as “an online tool for customers to look at their water use information,” according to interim VOMWD general manager Matthew Fullner.

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Santa Clara Valley Water District Files Suit Challenging State Plan To Divert Water For Fish

/in , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by Emily DeRuy

In an attempt to block the state’s plan to divert more water toward the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and away from the Bay Area, the Santa Clara Valley Water District has filed a lawsuit arguing the project could significantly reduce the local water supply. If the plan advances, the water district might have to spend millions of dollars to obtain alternate water supplies and pull up more groundwater.

 

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OPINION: The Delta is California’s heart. Gavin Newsom must save it

/in , /by /CALmatters (Sacramento)by Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla

The confluence of California’s two great rivers, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, creates the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas. Those of us who live here call it, simply, the Delta. It is part of my very fiber, and it is essential to California’s future. That’s why we must save it. In the early 1800s this estuary teemed with salmon migrating to and from the rivers of the Sierra Nevada. Salmon were, as documented in photographs, so plentiful that you could harvest them from the river with a pitchfork.

 

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Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey Defies Political Divisions In His 2019 State Of The State Address

/in , /by /The Arizona Republic

In a New Year’s Day essay in this newspaper, Valley attorney and scholar Grady Gammage, Jr. argued that 2018 may have been a watershed year in Arizona, as the people of this state broke habit and showed up at the polls in droves. “…They made discerning judgments,” wrote Gammage. “A pragmatic Republican governor was reelected by a wide margin, and yet, those same voters chose a Democrat for United States Senate: A Democrat who said she wanted to ‘get stuff done.’ “Maybe this means electoral politics is becoming more moderate, more focused on results than on scoring philosophical points.”

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Storm Onslaught To Bombard California With Flooding Rain, Mountains Of Snow Through Thursday

/in , /by /Accuweather by Kristina Pydynowski

The threat for flooding and mudslides is expected to ramp up across California as the train of storms with heavy rain, mountain snow and gusty winds persists this week. There will be no day through at least Thursday when a significant part of California is not being affected by a storm rolling in from the Pacific Ocean. Each storm will bring an increasing risk of flooding and mudslides as snow further buries the mountains, making travel increasingly difficult.

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Intake, Discharge Criteria To Be Revised

/in , /by /Global Water Intelligence

California’s Water Code gives the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) the responsibility of protecting its ocean water quality by controlling waste discharges and the intake of seawater. It also requires that the California Ocean Plan be reviewed every three years to guarantee that the current standards are adequate and not allowing marine species degradation or posing a public health threat. The plan was last amended to address desalination facility intakes and brine discharges in May 2015, and went into effect in January 2016.

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People Will Be Saying ‘Atmospheric River’ A Lot On Wednesday. Here’s What That Means.

/in , /by /SFGate.com (San Francisco)by Amy Graff

A so-called “atmospheric river” is poised to barrel into the Bay Area Wednesday afternoon, delivering a drenching of rain that forecasters say could add up to 3 to 6 inches in the hills and 1 to 3 inches in the valleys in a matter of two days. “The city is likely to see in excess of two inches,” says Ryan Walbrun, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Monterey. “Even places like Livermore where you don’t usually get heavy rain will likely receive more than an inch, so it’s going to be a good soaking for everybody.”

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Gov. Newsom Proposes Tax On Drinking Water

/in , /by /10 News (San Diego)by Zac Self

Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing a tax on drinking water to help communities clean up contaminated water systems. The plan, according to the Sacramento Bee , is an attempt to revive an idea that didn’t pass the Legislature in 2018. An 2018 investigation showed that at least 360,000 Californians get water that doesn’t meet state standards, according to the Bee. Drinking water advocates praised the proposal while the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association said the state should dip into its massive surplus instating new taxes.

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Gavin Newsom Budget Calls For Drinking Water Tax To Help Poor Communities

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

Tackling what promises to be a controversial issue, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a tax on drinking water Thursday to help disadvantaged communities clean up contaminated water systems. Newsom’s plan for a “safe and affordable drinking water fund,” included in the new governor’s first budget proposal, attempts to revive an idea that died in the Legislature last year. A McClatchy investigation last year showed that at least 360,000 Californians rely on water that does not meet state standards for toxins. McClatchy also found that 6 million Californians have water providers that have violated state standards at some point since 2012.

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