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Few California School Districts Have Tested Water for Lead, Even Though It’s Free

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Jill Tucker

As students head back to class across California this month, many will sip water from school fountains or faucets that could contain high levels of lead.

That’s because two-thirds of the state’s 1,026 school districts have not taken advantage of a free state testing program to determine whether the toxic metal is coming out of the taps and, if so, whether it exceeds federal standards. Among the 330 districts that have started or completed testing, more than half identified at least one school where levels exceeded the federal standard, according to data submitted to the state by June 1.

The testing by local water utilities has been available to every public and private school in the state for more than 18 months. Exposure to high levels of lead can cause irreversible neurological and brain damage, including lowering a child’s IQ.

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OPINION: The Observer: Keeping Both Eyes on Statewide Drinking Water Tax

/in , /by /Ukiah Daily Journalby Jim Shields

With the state legislature returning from summer recess, the proposal to impose a statewide tax on drinking water could return before the end of the current legislative year on August 31.

The proposed tax on drinking water was introduced in 2017 by Sen. Bill Monning (SB 623). The primary purpose of the bill was to fund solutions in some disadvantaged communities without access to safe drinking water, which are primarily located in rural areas in the Central Valley. In September of 2017, the Assembly Appropriations Committee moved the bill to the Assembly Rules Committee, where it currently remains as a two-year bill. The proposal would have generated roughly $110 million per year through a 95-cent monthly fee on home water bills as well as taxes on businesses of up to $10 per month. Another $30 million would come from higher fees on agricultural and dairy businesses, industries whose chemicals contribute to the problem of contaminated groundwater.

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How Ranchers Are Getting By With Less Water Across The West

/in , /by /Water Deeplyby Cassidy Johnston

In the summer, all we talk about is rain. Walk into a diner or a barn, or just run into someone at the store, and the first question anyone asks – even before, “How are you?” – is, “Did you get any rain?” It’s the same in New Mexico as in Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona and California. Everyone is concerned because, as ranchers, we know the health of our cattle depends on the amount of water that falls out of the sky. And this year, it hasn’t been a lot.

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Millions to be Spent Protecting SF Bay Shoreline From Sea Level Rise

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby John Wildermuth

A decades-old plan to protect Alviso and surrounding South Bay areas from devastating floods has moved closer to reality with $177 million in federal funds to begin work on a 4-mile-long levee and wetlands restoration.

The combination of flood control and environmental improvements will be a model for the rest of the country, Sam Schuchat, executive officer of the state Coastal Conservancy, said Friday at an event celebrating the project at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Alviso.

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OPINION: California Plays a Leading, Effective Role in Confronting Climate Change

/in , /by /Sacrqamento Beeby Carl Guardino
Our state – our planet – is running a fever. Climate change is directly impacting our lives, our economy and our residents.

The fires raging across California are causing devastation on an unprecedented scale. Currently, 14,000 firefighters are battling 16 major fires, which have destroyed more than 2,000 homes and killed at least 10 people.

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July Was The Hottest Month On Record In California, Record-Wettest In Mid-Atlantic

/in , /by /The Weather Channelby Bob Henson

California experienced its hottest single month in 124 years of recordkeeping, according to NOAA’s monthly summary of United States climate released Wednesday. For the contiguous U.S. as a whole, it was the 11th-hottest July on record, with almost every state coming in warmer than average. The national average of 75.5 degrees Fahrenheit was 1.9 degrees above the 20th-century norm, said NOAA. In addition, several communities in California and adjacent Nevada had their all-time hottest single month.

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Trump Administration Moves To Open 1.6 Million Acres To Fracking, Drilling In California

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

Ending a five-year moratorium, the Trump administration Wednesday took a first step toward opening 1.6 million acres of California public land to fracking and conventional oil drilling, triggering alarm bells among environmentalists. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said it’s considering new oil and natural gas leases on BLM-managed lands in Fresno, San Luis Obispo and six other San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast counties. Meanwhile, activists in San Luis Obispo are pushing a ballot measure this fall to ban fracking and new oil exploration in the county.

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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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