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Scientists Are Using Bacteria To Remove Harmful Contaminants From Our Water. Here’s How.

/in , /by /Environmental Health Newsby Hannah Thomasy

John Coates’ laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, hums with activity. Negative 80-degree freezers whirr, liquid nitrogen bubbles, grad students meticulously measure and mix complicated concoctions. But all of this is nothing compared with the commotion going on at a microscopic level.  The Coates lab is growing many different kinds of bacteria, multiplying in petri dishes at mind-boggling rates. But these bacteria aren’t out to harm people or animals. In fact, quite the opposite — they’re hard at work breaking down a dangerous chemical that pollutes waterways across the United States.

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California Water Board Outlines $606M Bill Assistance Program

/in , /by /Circle of Blueby Brett Walton

To subsidize drinking water bills for poor households, California regulators recommend new taxes on bottled water and incomes above $1 million a year, according to a draft proposal released by the State Water Resources Control Board. If the $606 million proposal, or an alternate version, is accepted by the Legislature, California would be the first state in the country to run a water bill assistance program. With the affordability of water and sewer service a hot topic nationally and utility aid programs either underfunded, non-existent, or handcuffed by state laws, other states will be watching the outcome.

 

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OPINION: In California, The Demise Of The Grassy Lawn

/in , /by /Undark (Cambridge, Mass.)by Aleksandra Appleton

On the first Saturday of December in a northeast neighborhood of Fresno, California, Jeff Collins and his neighbors were putting up their Christmas decorations: strings of lights along identical gable roofs, animated reindeer, and inflatable snowmen. But for Collins, the task involved an extra step — laying down tarps to help the inflatables stay upright in his grass-free yard. Collins had had the lawn ripped out in 2015, at the peak of one of the worst recorded droughts in state history.

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Storm Poised To Slam Sierra, Dump Another 2 Feet Of Snow

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

Get ready for round two. After a fierce storm blasted the northern Sierra Nevada over the weekend, another system is slated to batter the mountain range straddling California and Nevada late Tuesday night into Wednesday. The National Weather Service reports, “This storm will not be as potent as the system that moved through Sunday,” but travelers should still be prepared for winter driving conditions with chain control in effect on Highways 80 and 5o. The NWS issued a winter weather advisory warning of slippery roads, reduced visibility and travel delays between midnight Tuesday and midnight Wednesday.

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Newsom Inherits A ‘Whole Bunch Of Headaches’ Despite Last-Minute Water Deals By Brown

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

As his term as governor drew to a close last month, Jerry Brown brokered a historic agreement among farms and cities to surrender billions of gallons of water to help ailing fish species. He also made two big water deals with the Trump administration — one to shore up support for his struggling Delta tunnels project, the other to transfer some of urban California’s water to Central Valley farmers whom the White House supports. It added up to a dizzying display of deal-making over an issue that confounded Brown during much of his four terms in Sacramento.

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These $2,000 Solar Panels Pull Clean Drinking Water Out Of The Air, And They Might Be A Solution To The Global Water Crisis

/in , /by /Business Insiderby Aria Bendix

The global water crisis has wreaked havoc on communities around the world, from homes in Flint, Michigan, to megacities like Tokyo and São Paulo. The United Nations estimated that 2.1 billion people live without safe drinking water in their homes — a situation with severe health implications that can also limit economic prosperity. Citizens with access to clean water have a better chance of escaping poverty, fending off disease, and pursuing an education.

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State’s Retiring Snow Guru Talks Snowpack Tech And California Water

/in , /by /KQED (San Francisco)by Craig Miller

Frank Gehrke says that back in Missouri, where he was raised, snow was “something to be plowed.” He would soon take a very different view. In December, Gehrke retired as chief snow surveyor for the California Department of Water Resources. He spent much of his 31 years with the department on skis and snowshoes, in remote corners of the Sierra Nevada, measuring the “frozen reservoir” that ultimately provides about a third of California’s water supply

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State Reservoirs Nearing Historical Averages For This Time Of Year

/in , /by /KRON 4 News (San Francisco) by Charles Clifford

After several weeks of dry weather, heavy rain returned to California and the Bay Area, giving our reservoirs and snow pack a needed boost. As of early Monday morning, the seven reservoirs used by the East Bay Municipal Utility District are holding a total of just over 600,000 acre feet of water — that’s about 78 percent of full capacity. The Lafayette Reservoir is currently 69 percent full. In the South Bay, the Santa Clara Valley Water District reservoirs are on average about 28 percent full.

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Storms Produce Drier Than Average Snow In Sierras

/in , /by /Mountain Democrat (Placerville, Calif.)by Dawn Hodson

The first snow survey of 2019 measured almost 2 feet of snow at Phillips Station, although the snow is drier than normal for that location. Those results are better than last January when a paltry 0.3 inches of snow were to be found. Conducted on Thursday, Jan. 3 by staff from the Department of Water Resources (DWR), the manual survey recorded 25.5 inches of snow and a snow water equivalent of 9 inches, which is 80 percent of average for Phillips Station. However, that is better than the statewide average, which is at only 67 percent of average. The results confirm that despite early winter storms, Sierra water content is below average for this time of year.

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Our Current Drought Is Worse Than Most Megadroughts, New Study Says

/in , , /by /Arizona Daily Star (Tuscon)by Tony Davis

Tucson’s drinking water supply — carries nearly 20 percent less water than in 2000. Bark beetles are chomping away at our forests and killing off ponderosa pines. Wildfires are rapidly growing in intensity. These problems have been linked to a drought that has stretched 19 years with no respite. Now, a team of researchers concludes that the ongoing drought across the western U.S. rivals most past “megadroughts” dating as far back as 800 A.D. — and that this region is currently in a megadrought.

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