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OPINION: State Water Project: Our Most Important Infrastructure

/in , /by /Capitol Weekly (Sacramento, Calif.)by Jennifer Pierre

Ask me what tops the list of California’s most critical infrastructure, and I’ll tell you it’s the State Water Project. It’s hard to argue with the fact that water is a prerequisite for all life and a healthy economy. That’s why financing the operation and maintenance of the State Water Project in a responsible, cost-effective manner should be common sense — not a political volley that puts California’s lifeline at risk and threatens ratepayers with a surge in water rates that is easily avoidable.

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California To Go 100 Percent Carbon-Neutral

/in , /by /CBS Newsby Irina Ivanova

California Gov. Jerry Brown is aiming for the state to be carbon-neutral by 2045. Brown signed an executive order Monday announcing the goal to eliminate carbon emissions in the state within 27 years. He also signed a bill, SB100, making the state’s electricity completely emissions-free by 2045. The bill represents an ambitious move by the world’s fifth-largest economy. “It’s impossible to overstate how significant it is for a state as large and influential as California to commit to 100 percent clean energy,” the Sierra Club said in a statement.

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Drought Contingency Plan To Ease Pain Of Water Shortage

/in , /by /Mohave Valley Daily Newsby DK McDonald

Current weather patterns and Colorado River water management will result in a drought by the year 2020, affecting communities and farms along the entire Lower Basin, according to officials. Arizona’s water stakeholders, led by Arizona Department of Water Resources and Central Arizona Project, have been engaged for more than two months in crafting Arizona’s approach to the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan in an effort to protect Lake Mead, the reservoir formed by Hoover Dam, from falling to critical levels.

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Saving Troubled Water Systems Requires Flexible Solutions, Not Mandates

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Michael Kiparsky and Nell Green Nylen

During the hot summer months of 2014, East Porterville, Calif., became a poster child for vulnerable drinking water. Hundreds of shallow wells in this unincorporated Tulare County community ran dry in the midst of statewide drought. Some families had to wait years to have running water again, when their homes were finally connected to the city of Porterville’s municipal water supply. While East Porterville’s experience made headlines around the country, the serious drinking-water problems facing other communities across California are just beginning to receive much-needed attention.

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Water Conservation Is Only Part Of The Solution

/in , /by /Ventura County Starby Susan Mulligan

After reading the Ventura County Star’s Aug. 12 editorial, “Conserving water still our best bet,” as general manager of the Calleguas Municipal Water District, which is responsible for meeting the potable water demands for 75 percent of Ventura County’s residents, I felt compelled to set the record straight. The editorial indicated that the entire county’s water supplies are deficient and urged water users to “up their game” with respect to conservation. While we agree that water should always be used efficiently, we do not agree that conservation is the only tool needed to manage water supplies, or that the water supply condition across the county is uniform.

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Delta Caucus Urges Postponement Of Tunnel Hearings

/in , /by /East County Today

Assemblymember Jim Frazier (D-Discovery Bay), co-chairman of the California Legislative Delta Caucus, Friday sent the attached letter from the Caucus to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, urging postponement of a hearing scheduled Tuesday morning on State Water Project contract extensions and amendments, which has implications for the proposed Delta tunnels project. “The timing of this hearing and lack of adequate notification is deeply disturbing, an example of backroom dealing that causes Californians to distrust their elected leaders. There is no good reason to hold these hearings now. These contracts don’t expire until 2023, five years from now. This is another attempt by proponents of the Delta tunnels to push this project through. I am disappointed the Joint Legislative Budget Committee couldn’t see that this hearing is unnecessary at this time.”

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OPINION: California’s WaterFix Was Always A Dangerous Deal. Now The Trump Administration Is Making It Worse

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Eric Wesselman and Robert Wright

There are many reasons to oppose the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta water tunnels project, now called the California WaterFix. The Trump administration has just added a few more. The WaterFix is the most controversial and expensive water project in California history. It would install two huge tunnels, at a cost of at least $20 billion, revamping the way the state diverts water from the Sacramento River and the delta to farms and cities to the south. The earlier “peripheral canal” version of this project was voted down in a statewide referendum by a 2-to-1 margin in 1982.

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Water Agencies, Farmers Fret Over California’s Move To Regulate Wetlands

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Matt Weiser

The State of California is working on a new regulatory program to oversee protection of wetlands and other ephemeral water bodies, such as seasonal streams. It comes in response to the Trump administration’s plan to roll back federal protection of such waters, which are critical for wildlife habitat, flood protection, groundwater recharge and water quality. Water Deeply explored the state’s proposal in detail in an article published this week. But what would this broad new California regulatory program mean to the water industry and developers in the state?

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Fire, Water And Trump’s Tweets

/in , /by /Capitol Weekly (Sacramento, Calif.)by Scott Soriano

On Aug. 6, President Donald Trump made his first Twitter statement on California’s summer fire season, which started on June 1. Unlike his statement on last year’s Wine Country fires, when the president tweeted condolences to victims of the fires and support for the firefighters, Trump used these latest natural disasters to troll California with nonsense. At 10:43 a.m., Trump tweeted, “Governor Jerry Brown must allow the Free Flow of the vast amounts of water coming from the North and foolishly being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. Can be used for fires, farming and everything else. Think of California with plenty of Water –Nice! Fast Federal govt. approvals.”

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Why Some Water Managers Are Unprepared For Climate Change

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Lindsay Abrams

Water Utility Managers in California are far from unified in their use of climate change science to guide decisions, according to a recent study from the University of California, Davis. And as a result, they may be putting water supplies at risk. The study’s authors were interested in finding out what was happening on the ground, right at the local utility level. They interviewed 61 water managers across the state, ultimately dividing them into three groups based on how they engage with climate information.

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