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California Committee OKs Bill On Desert Water-Pumping Plan

/in , /by /The Associated Press by Kathleen Ronayne

A last-minute effort to require more state oversight of a company’s plan to pump water from underneath the Mojave Desert passed a key committee Tuesday, advancing in the final days of the legislative session. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is running for governor, all urged lawmakers to pass it. At issue is a proposal by the Los Angeles-based Cadiz Inc. to pump water from its wells below the Mojave Desert, transfer it through a 43-mile pipeline to the Colorado River Aqueduct and distribute it to customers in Southern California.

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This NASA Image Shows How California’s Wildfires Are Affecting The Atmosphere

/in , /by /CNBCby Catherine Clifford

As wildfires continue to burn in California, NASA has released a visualization that illustrates one of the ways in which the fires are affecting the atmosphere. NASA’s Earth Observatory, the arm of the space agency that shares with the public images of the Earth and its climate, created the map (embedded above, and below with captions) which shows aerosols in the atmosphere. Aerosols are the solid particles and liquid droplets in the air. “If you have ever watched smoke billowing from a wildfire, ash erupting from a volcano, or dust blowing in the wind, you have seen aerosols,” says a blog post accompanying the image.

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OPINION: State Lawmakers May Ask Us To ‘Donate’ A Monthly Fee To Fund Clean Drinking Water. Bad Idea

/in , /by /The Tribune (San Luis Obispo)

Everyone in California — and everywhere else, for that matter — deserves clean drinking water. But relying on charity to upgrade failing water systems in low-income California communities is not the way to meet a basic human need. Yet that’s essentially what state Sen. Bill Monning is proposing in SB 845. The bill would require water purveyors throughout the state to offer their customers the “opportunity” to pay a monthly fee of 95 cents per household.

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At Water-Starved Lake Mead And Lake Powell, ‘The Crisis Is Already Real,’ Scientists Say

/in , /by /Arizona Central (Phoenix, Ariz.)by Ian James

With Lake Mead dropping to levels that could trigger water cutbacks in less than two years, there’s been a lot of talk lately about negotiating a deal to keep the reservoir from falling even further. But in a new report, scientists say the situation is just as worrisome upstream at Lake Powell. The declines there during the past 18 years, they say, also reflect the Colorado River’s worsening “structural deficit.”

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Expert Views: Managing Wildfires To Protect Water Resources

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

It’s wildfire season in the American West, and this one has already been setting records: the second-most destructive conflagration in Colorado, the largest-ever wildfire recorded in California and the worst air quality on record in smoky Seattle. Multiple fires continue to ravage the region, threatening homes, lives and, in many cases, water supplies.

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OPINION: Persistent Drought, Loss Of Snowpack Behind Extreme Wildfires

/in , /by /Reno Gazette Journal (Reno, Nev.)by Michael Collins

I read with great interest Sam Kumar’s opinion column on the recent California wildfires (“California wildfire prevention needs rational solutions,” Aug. 19). I agree on two points: The wildfires this season are substantially worse than normal, and the drought is to blame for this difficult summer experienced by Nevadans and our neighbors.

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Climate Change Will Be Deadlier, More Destructive And Costlier For California Than Previously Believed, State Warns

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Tony Barboza, Bettina Boxall and Rosanna Xia

Heat waves will grow more severe and persistent, shortening the lives of thousands of Californians. Wildfires will burn more of the state’s forests. The ocean will rise higher and faster, exposing California to billions in damage along the coast. These are some of the threats California will face from climate change in coming decades, according to a new statewide assessment released Monday by the California Natural Resources Agency.

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Climate Change Report: California To See 77 Percent More Land Burned

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

This year’s wildfire season is not the worst that California will see. The number of large fires across the state will likely increase by 50 percent by the end of the century while the amount of land that burns annually will rise 77 percent, according to a new, far-reaching state report that seeks to document the impacts of climate change.

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OPINION: California’s Can’t-Miss Chance To Provide Safe Drinking Water For All

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Kirsten James

The clock is ticking to ensure clean drinking water is available to all in California. Legislators have just five days to help an estimated 1 million Californians access safe and affordable drinking water from their faucets. In the world’s fifth-largest economy, there should be no question about voting “yes” for the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund (SB 844 and SB 845). Stories we’ve heard from around the state make the need all the more compelling.

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OPINION: If Trump Wants Coal, He Can Have It. But California Must Commit To 100 Percent Clean Energy

/in , /by /The Sacramento Bee

By most measures, California is way ahead of the rest of the country when it comes to fighting climate change. We have some of the strictest environmental regulations, more zero-emission cars on the road than any other state and, as of July, are four years ahead of our self-imposed goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to levels not seen since the 1990s. But if this week has proven anything, it’s that now is not the time to rest on our laurels.

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