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US, Mexico Share Benefits and Burdens in New Colorado River Pact

A new, U.S.-Mexico agreement provides more Colorado River water to both countries, will require both countries to share inevitable river shortages and offers more certainty as to how much river water will be available for both countries. That’s how negotiators, federal officials and Arizona water officials see the upshot of the pact that was signed this week at a Santa Fe, New Mexico, ceremony following years of negotiations. The agreement, known as Minute 323, is aimed at establishing ground rules for managing the river for the two countries through 2026.

A New Fight Over Water In The California Desert, With Echoes of ‘Chinatown’

Beside the winding curves of the Colorado River, the Palo Verde Valley spreads out in a lush plain in the middle of the desert, a farming oasis filled with canals and fields of hay. For 12 years, the valley’s farmers have been participating in a program that pays them to leave some of their lands unplanted and fallow, helping to slake the thirst of Los Angeles and cities across Southern California. The arrangement has been widely praised as a model of how cities and farming areas can work together to stretch water supplies further while keeping agriculture alive.

Humboldt County Records Highest Rainfall on Record Since 1903-04

Humboldt County recorded its third highest rainfall total in the 2016-17 water year since records first began 130 years ago, according to the National Weather Service Eureka. The downpour caused tens of millions of dollars in damage to local infrastructure and seemingly failed to produce the beneficial effects to fish and wildlife on the Klamath River that some were hoping for. Nearly 64 inches of rain were recorded at the weather service’s Woodley Island station from the start of the water year on Oct. 1, 2016, through Wednesday.

This Snap-On Sensor Could Tell Farmers Exactly How Much To Water Their Crops

The system, for which the Penn State Research Foundation has applied for an international patent, features a clip-on unit that contains sensors to detect the thickness and electrical capacitance, or the ability to store a charge, of individual leaves. The array of sensors is connected to a WiFi node, which transmits the data to a central unit that tracks the measurements over time and uses them as indicators of water stress. Eventually, a smartphone app could run the whole system.

BLOG: Whittling Water Worries

In 2015, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation on more than $1 billion in spending for water projects. Hundreds of millions of those dollars are allocated for long-term projects associated with flood control, desalination, water recycling, and conservation. One particular project currently in the water works is Southern California’s plan for desalination by turning 50 million gallons of the Pacific Ocean into potable water per day. The plant opened in December of 2015 as the first in the state to tap an ocean for drinking water. More than a dozen other plants in California are in the planning stages.

Plan to Pump More Water From the Delta Gets Approved

Federal fisheries regulators have approved a controversial plan opposed by environmental groups that would allow for more pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta this fall. On Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed off on a proposal championed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and south state California water interests to ramp up Delta pumping starting next week.

‘Horizontal Hurricanes’ Pose Increasing Risk for California

As increasingly intense hurricanes batter the Southeast and the Caribbean, heightening some of the worst fears about a changing climate, California is facing its own threat of bigger and more destructive storms. Mounting research, much of it done in the wake of the near-record rains that pulled California out of a five-year drought this past winter, shows that seasonal soakers may not come as often as they used to, but could pack more punch when they do arrive.

U.S. and Mexico May be at Odds, But They’ve Reached Agreement on Managing the Colorado River

The United States and Mexico expanded a long-term agreement Wednesday that will allow both nations to continue using the Colorado River while also pushing more conservation efforts to ensure that water is available during droughts. The nine-year deal, which expands on a 1944 water treaty between the two countries, would see the United States spend $31.5 million on conservation efforts in Mexico, according to water agencies that are familiar with the plan.

BLOG:OPINION: What Innovation Looks Like When Water Is A Strategic Resource

Practitioners in the water sector are familiar with the statistics on water management in Israel. An estimated 90 percent of the wastewater generated there is reused, making it the global leader in this practice. For comparison, Spain is second at about 20 percent reuse; the United States reuses about 1 percent of its water. In addition to water reuse, Israel supplies about two-thirds of its domestic water from desalination.

Major Quake Disaster in Southern California Could Cause $300 Billion in Losses

Mexico City’s earthquake disaster is a reminder of the serious risk of Southern California’s “Big One” striking at any time and causing widespread damage that some estimate could approach upwards of $300 billion. Experts say Southern California is long overdue for a major earthquake along the 800-mile San Andreas Fault, which could cause extensive damage and loss of life to the nation’s second-largest city and the region.