State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said Thursday that California public schools built before 2010 must test for lead in drinking water. The requirement comes several months after Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 746, which requires community water systems statewide, beginning Jan. 1, to complete lead testing in these older schools by July 1, 2019.
Nine individuals or entities from Yuba-Sutter are suing the California Department of Water Resources for more than $27 million in damages suffered as a consequence of the Lake Oroville spillway crisis last February. The action is part of a larger lawsuit involving more than 40 individuals or groups from around the North State that reportedly suffered more than $100 million in damages from the ordeal.
The City of Antioch’s plan to build a brackish water desalination plant on the San Joaquin River received a boost from the State Department of Water Resources, which is recommending a grant of $10 million in Proposition 1 Water Bond funds to the city for construction of the project. “I am pleased to see the hard work we put into passing the Water Bond paying off on a local project that will improve the quality and reliability of fresh water for Antioch residents,” said Assemblymember Jim Frazier, D-Discovery Bay.
The dry winter stemmed back to much of the last six or more months, weather that is more typical of spring than mid-winter, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Temperatures have been well above average, which tends to dry out vegetation, soils, and water resources, tying in to the growing risk of wildfires, according to the report. The National Weather Service noted that temperatures in the Santa Clarita Valley for this weekend will be in the mid 80’s with wind speeds of up to 20 miles per hour.
The latest reckoning of the tab for the Oroville spillway crisis — the first update in many months — revealed an astonishing figure and proved how much the state has been trying to downplay the preventable disaster from the start. It almost provides a “we-told-you-so” moment. Lake Oroville’s regular spillway started falling apart almost a year ago, on Feb. 7. By Feb. 11, the lake was spilling over the top and running down a never-used emergency spillway.
Many Western reservoirs are full, and downpours have triggered floods and deadly mudslides in parts of California. But all that water isn’t enough to save the West from another drought. Most of the region has slipped back into the drought conditions that have plagued it on and off for the past two decades—alarming water managers across several states. The dry conditions are fueling wildfires, threatening agriculture and hurting ski resorts.
Citing the need for more deliberation, California regulators delayed publication of a report that will outline their preferred plan to fund and manage a statewide program to help poor residents pay their water bills. As water rates increase in the United States, governments and utilities are exploring new forms of financial aid. Some utilities run water bill assistance programs, but California is marking unexplored territory. It would be the first state in the nation to operate a state-funded program for water.
The dry times are back. Drought has returned with a vengeance across much of the United States, with the worst conditions across southern and western parts of the nation. As of Thursday, 38.4% of the continental U.S. is in a drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. That is the highest percentage since the 40% recorded in May 2014.
The torrential rains that ripped through the state earlier the state earlier this year and created the destructive and deadly mudslides in Montecito may make California’s drought seem like ancient history. But much of California has, in reality, suffered through an unusually hot — and somewhat dry — winter. A heat wave baked Southern California this week, breaking temperature records across the region. And officials say it has been warm in Northern California, too, causing much of the area’s precipitation to fall as rain instead of snow.
It’s a tantalizing pot of money, $2.7 billion for new dams and reservoirs approved by California voters during the worst of the drought. But is the state willing to spend it? The California Water Commission, the obscure state agency in charge of allocating the money, stunned the California water world recently by giving a decidedly lukewarm response to the 11 applications it received for funding. Farm irrigation districts and municipal water agencies applying for the money fear that the commission has raised the bar so high that few if any reservoir projects will qualify for the dollars.
