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Feds Order Water Release Changes After Trump Tweets On California Wildfires

/in , /by /CBS Sacramentoby Kyle Buis

Despite firefighters saying there is no need for more water to fight California’s wildfires, the Commerce Department is paving the way for more water pumping. The move comes after President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday and Monday that California’s water rules were leaving firefighters without enough water, a statement Cal Fire officials say isn’t true. The president appears to have confused firefighting efforts in California with the state’s water rights system and how water allotments are meted out to farmers and water agencies throughout California. Firefighters are able to draw water from nearby reservoirs and ponds if necessary.

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“Crucial Milestone” Met At Oroville Dam With Structural Concrete Placement

/in , /by /Chico Enterprise-Recordby Risa Johnson

Crews have begun to place the final layer of concrete this week on the upper portion of the Oroville Dam spillway chute. This marks a “crucial milestone,” said Tony Meyers, project manager for the recovery project for the state Department of Water Resources, in a moderated media call on Wednesday. The top layer of the spillway consists of structural concrete slabs, which are designed to be erosion-resistant. The first two structural concrete slabs were placed Monday on the upper chute.

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OPINION: The Bullet Train Has (Almost) Nothing On Brown’s Twin Tunnels

/in , /by /The Orange County Registerby Susan Shelly

If you thought the bullet train was a boondoggle designed to lift money from your wallet while delivering nothing, wait until you hear what’s next. The state of California is building a time machine. That’s how Gov. Jerry Brown and the Department of Water Resources intend to pay part of the cost of the $17 billion twin-tunnel project known as WaterFix. They have to get voters to approve the costly undertaking so property taxes can be raised to pay for it. Here’s the catch: The voters have to approve it in 1960.

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California Water Regulators Help Target Black Market Marijuana Farmers

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

After Riverside County deputies raided an unlicensed cannabis farm in the small, unincorporated community of Aguanga, they found nearly 3,000 plants growing scattered between the brush. The tip that led Sgt. Tyson Voss and his team to that illicit farm last month came from a source you might not expect: the Cannabis Enforcement Unit of the California State Water Resources Control Board. The state water agency created a pilot cannabis team four years ago to investigate marijuana growers in Northern California who divert or pollute waterways in their effort to profit via cannabis.

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OPINION: Block Outrageous Effort To Lock In Delta Tunnels Water Grab

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

Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration is now trying to jam through a political deal that would enable construction of his $17 billion Delta twin-tunnels project, the biggest public works project in state history, without the approval of the state Legislature, the voters or ratepayers who would be footing the bill. Brown’s state Department of Water Resources suddenly plans to extend State Water Project contracts, with amendments, for another 50 years. Fifty years! That would allow water contractors backing the twin-tunnels project to lock in water contracts for the Delta tunnels project before Brown leaves office at the end of this year.

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Delta Breezes Are Dying And That Could Be Bad News For An Imperiled Fish

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Tom Philp

As a 27-year Sacramentan, it’s pretty easy to detect that there are fewer winter moments of dense, bone-penetrating valley fog than before. Winter used to mean days on end without seeing a sun in the sky. But how many of us are just as aware that the blessed Delta breeze also isn’t what it used to be? (It sure abandoned us in July.) Or how this ebbing of the wind has shifted the ecology of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta itself?

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Fire Officials To Trump: No, California Didn’t Worsen Wildfires By Dumping Water Into Ocean

/in , /by /The Washington Postby Kristine Phillips

As fires grow to historic sizes in California, President Trump tweeted that the state is “foolishly” diverting “vast amounts of water from the North” into the Pacific Ocean instead of using them to fight its wildfires. The state’s “bad environmental laws” are to blame, he added. The tweets baffled state officials, who quickly pointed out that water supplies are not the problem. “Let’s be clear: It’s our changing climate that is leading to more severe and destructive fires,” said Cal Fire spokesman Mike Mohler. Scott McLean, also a Cal Fire spokesman, said he doesn’t understand the president’s comments.

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As Storms Worsen, America’s Aging Dams Overflow

/in , /by /CBS Newsby Ed Leefeldt

More than 80,000 people in the mountain community of Lynchburg, Virginia, were at risk, and 120 families evacuated, when rising waters from nearby College Lake reecently threatened to overflow its outdated dam. Although calamity was averted when the water receded, the incident was a frightening reminder of the growing risk facing millions of Americans. The average age of the 90,580 dams located across the U.S is 56 years, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Worryingly, more than 15,000 of them are considered “high hazard” and – like the Lynchburg dam built in the 1930s – need to be repaired or replaced.

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Smoke Prompts Sacramento County Health Alert: Limit Outdoor Activity Through Friday

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Hannah Holzer

The smoky air blanketing the region from wildfires prompted a statement Monday from Sacramento County air quality and health officials urging residents to take precautions and limit outdoor activities through Friday. If you smell or see smoke, officials said, here’s what you should do: Minimize outdoor activities, even if you’re healthy. In particular, children, the elderly and people with respiratory or heart conditions should avoid exposure when air quality is poor.

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Trump Says California’s Water Policies Are Making The Wildfires Worse. Is He Right?

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

President Donald Trump recently broke his silence on California’s wildfire disasters by blaming the state’s environmental and water laws, saying the state has exacerbated its fire problems by letting large amounts of water flow out to the Pacific Ocean. Trump’s remarks, which he posted in a pair of tweets Sunday and Monday, drew immediate criticism from fire experts in the state.

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