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Californians Turn To U.S. For Money That Environmental Groups Say Doesn’t Do Enough

/in , /by /Politicoby Laura Tsutsui

California is one step closer to getting a cut of $2.5 billion over the next decade for its water needs now that the House has passed a bill aimed at funding water research and infrastructure projects. The drought-stricken state has positioned itself as independent of the federal government — most notably, the Trump administration — on issues ranging from immigration to health care coverage. However, it still turns to federal lawmakers when it needs a financial boost for an issue as central to the state as water.

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Dozens Of Water Systems Consolidate In California’s Farming Heartland

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

In California’s San Joaquin Valley, one of the most productive farming regions in the nation, an estimated 150,000 people are stuck living with contaminated drinking water. When they open a tap to fill a cooking pot or take a shower, the water that gushes out is contaminated with nitrates, hexavalent chromium, arsenic and other nasties from polluted wells.

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OPINION: No Denial Here: Solving California’s Water Problems Remains A Top Priority

/in , /by /The Fresno Beeby Jim Costa

In a May 10 column on Temperance Flat Reservoir, Bee columnist Marek Warszawski called out local lawmakers who supported the project and said we were in a “state of denial.” Let me be clear: I am not in denial. California’s water issues are complex and not easy to solve. For more than 30 years, I have worked to improve water supply reliability for the San Joaquin Valley and all of California. I take every opportunity to explore solutions to California’s water woes.

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OPINION: Earth’s Dismal Water Future, Mapped

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Jay Famiglietti

Satellite data and images are provocative, even disturbing. They confront us with a global view that can be at once breathtaking, like a piece of art, and yet, in this era of rapidly changing climate, they paint a picture of the demise of the environment. How and if we will respond to what we see is uncertain. That uncertainty lies at the root of our perilous future.

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Drought-Resistant Water Supply Basin Breaks Ground In Templeton

/in , /by /KSBY (San Luis Obispo)

Construction crews broke ground on a new drought-resistant water supply on Friday in Templeton.  The “Upper Salinas River Basin Conjunctive Use Project” will capture existing wastewater that is currently being released outside of the Atascadero Basin and returns the water to the Meadowbrook Wastewater Treatment Plant. Templeton Community Services District officials say this essentially increases the water supply by an additional 242 acre-feet per year.

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California Drinking Water Tax Dies In Budget Compromise

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler and Adam Ashton

A proposed tax on California’s drinking water, designed to clean up contaminated water for thousands of Californians, was abandoned by Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders Friday as part of the compromise on the state budget. Lawmakers and Brown’s office scrapped the “Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Act,” which would have taxed residents 95 cents a month to raise millions for cleaning toxic wells. Instead, legislative leaders agreed to spend $5 million from the general fund to deal with lead in drinking water at child care centers.

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Water Day Zero Coming To A City Near You

/in , /by /Forbesby Paul Laudicina

The citizens of Cape Town, South Africa are breathing a sigh of relief. “Day Zero,” when water taps for citizens and businesses shut off, had been projected to arrive in April. Restrictions on personal and agricultural water use have bought the city a reprieve. Yet a delay is not a solution. The city’s 4 million people, already constrained to 90-second showers and a meager 13 gallons of water a day, will eventually face a day of reckoning when the taps run dry.

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Judge Tells Feds To Be On Time With Review Of Water Project

/in , /by /Courthouse News Service (Pasadena)by Matthew Renda

A judge denied a request Thursday by a federal water management agency for more time to evaluate the environmental impacts of California’s water transfer program that allows some water rights holders to sell water to parched farms in the southern part of the state. U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence O’Neill ordered the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to come up with its full environmental analysis of a 10-year water transfer program by the end of June.

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OPINION: Why Should California Tax Drinking Water?

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Jay Obernolte

Most Californians agree that clean drinking water is a human right, and that it is a fundamental function of state government to ensure access to safe drinking water. However, there is disagreement in the Legislature on how to pay for it. Some members believe that a new water tax should be passed to fund this effort, as supported by the Bee’s editorial board.

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‘Incredibly Busy Year Ahead’: DWR Works Toward Oroville Spillway Deadline

/in , /by /KCRA (Sacramento)by Vicki Gonzalez

Phase two of Oroville Dam’s primary spillway reconstruction is now underway. The California Department of Water Resources conducted controlled blasts to demolish temporary concrete used so the primary spillway could withstand the wet season. With summer now approaching, structural concrete will be placed on the upper part of the 730-foot spillway and the walls. The emergency spillway will also have roller-compacted concrete, as well as a splash pad at the bottom. DWR said it is on schedule for the primary spillway to be complete by the self-imposed Nov. 1 deadline. The emergency spillway will be completed in early 2019.

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