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Is Help On The Way For Californians Whose Tap Water Is Tainted?

/in , /by /CALmatters (Sacramento)by David Gorn

Karen Lewis knows about water problems. The 67-year-old lives in Compton, where the water coming out of her tap is tinged brown by manganese, a metal similar to iron, from old pipes. The water is supplied by the troubled Sativa Los Angeles County Water District. The district has been plagued by administrative scandal and charges of mismanagement, and it hasn’t been able to generate the money needed to fix the brown water. Lewis has sat through innumerable community meetings and heard years’ worth of explanations, and she’s had enough. “Nothing’s been changed,” she said. “They’re not going to change.”

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Is Your Drinking Water Dangerous? In Some Parts Of California, It Could Be

/in , /by /San Gabriel Valley Tribuneby Kurt Snibbe

Five years ago, California became the first state in the nation to recognize the human right to safe, clean, affordable and accessible water. Today, we look at how the state is working to ensure that right and where the biggest concerns for Californians are. The California Water Resources Control Board’s records show more than 266 water suppliers were not in compliance with drinking-water standards as of May 2018. Most of the violations were in the rural agricultural regions of the state.

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Groundwater Banking: A Likely Solution To Achieve Greater River Flows

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Patrick Koepele

A proposal by the California Water Resources Control Board to require additional water to be left in the Tuolumne River and other San Joaquin River tributaries has prompted strong negative opinions, including from some newspapers serving the region, such as the Modesto Bee. Regrettably, what has received little attention in this debate are the opportunities for improving water management to meet the agricultural and environmental demands placed on these rivers.

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OPINION: Stop Gov. Brown’s Sleazy Last-Minute Delta Tunnels Bid

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

In what would be the sleaziest maneuver of Jerry Brown’s tenure, a legislative committee suddenly has rescheduled a hearing for Thursday morning that would allow the state to move forward with the governor’s $19.9 billion Delta tunnels water grab. Without a vote of the Legislature, without a vote of the people, and without legislative oversight.

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Brown Tries To Jam Delta Water Hearing Through Legislature

/in , /by /Tracy Pressby Michael Ellis Langley

An innocuous sounding hearing tomorrow morning for lawmakers on the Joint Legislative Budget Committee at the State Capitol may lock taxpayers into paying for the California WaterFix for the next half century. The informational hearing, called “Department of Water Resources: Proposed Water Supply Contract Extension & Amendments,” will commit 50 years of funding to the WaterFix, the state’s plan to build two tunnels to siphon water from the Delta and send it south.

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Drought-Stricken Western Ventura County May Need More Than Planned $45M Pipeline As A Fix

/in , /by /Ventura County Starby Cheri Carlson

Heading into an eighth year of drought, Ventura County water agencies teamed up to try to import water into Ventura. But a fix — a proposed seven-mile pipeline from Camarillo to Ventura — will still leave gaps in water supplies. “I think it’s very important that this area begin to look at its next step for sustainable water supply,” said Steve Wickstrum, general manager of Casitas Municipal Water District, which supplies drinking water to much of the Ojai Valley and parts of Ventura.

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OPINION: California’s Energy Future: Are We Ready For 100?

/in , /by /Capitol Weekly (Sacramento)by Patrick Hayes

Imagine a California powered solely by renewable energy – it may be within reach as the California Legislature considers Senate Bill 100, which would put the state on the path towards 100% fossil-fuel free electricity by 2045. On Tuesday, the bill passed the state Assembly, and it now heads to the state Senate for a final vote before reaching Gov. Brown’s desk by the end of the week. The likely passage of SB 100 has sparked a statewide debate around one question: Are we ready for 100?

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California Assembly Advances 100% Clean Energy Bill

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Liam Dillon

California would set some of the nation’s strongest clean energy goals under legislation that cleared a key vote in the Assembly on Tuesday, bringing the state a step closer to ending its reliance on fossil fuels by phasing out their use to generate electricity. The bill, which would require California to obtain 100% of its power from clean sources by 2045, has been debated by lawmakers for nearly two years as it faced cost and feasibility concerns. This week, high-profile state and national politicians gave the cause a push by arguing the plan would strengthen California’s leadership on the environment.

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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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