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Southern Californians, Here’s How Much Your Water Bills Could rise to Pay for Delta Tunnels

More than 6 million Southern Californian households could pay $3 more a month to help cover the costs of Gov. Jerry Brown’s controversial plan to bore two huge tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. But that’s cheaper than the $5 a month that households in the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s service area were expected to pay under projections released four years ago, Jeffrey Kightlinger, the water district’s general manager, said Thursday.

City-Wide Study Shows How Much Water Urban Landscaping Really Uses

In 2010, Los Angeles used enough water irrigating lawns to meet the needs of nearly a half-million average households for a year. That’s according to a new study by scientists at the University of Utah, who conducted what they say is the first city-scale assessment of water consumed by landscaping. Their findings show that Los Angeles’ landscaping consumed the equivalent of 100 gallons per person each day, with lawns accounting for 70 percent of that. Urban trees, it turns out, consume relatively little water. And by providing crucial shade, trees can actually make lawns less thirsty.

More CalPERS Retirees are Getting $100,000 Pensions, Report Says

The number of retired public employees in the CalPERS system with annual pensions of $100,000 or more grew 63 percent since 2012, according to a report released Wednesday. Riverside County, Long Beach, Anaheim, Torrance and Riverside made the list of the 25 public agencies with the most pensioners receiving six-figure retirement pay, Transparent California reported. Almost 23,000 CalPERS retirees collected pensions of at least $100,000 in 2016, the government watchdog group found. The rise in $100,000 pensions underscores the importance of making public employee pension data public, Robert Fellner, Transparent California’s research director, said in a news release.

Last Winter Not Big Enough to Fill Lake

Big Bear had a big winter. Or at least it felt like it. Yet it’s August and the lake is 13 feet, 2 inches from full. “Even though up north got a lot of precip, we just did not,” said Mike Stephenson, general manager of the Big Bear Municipal Water District. In mid-August of 2016, Big Bear Lake was down 15 feet, 4 inches, according to MWD historical lake levels. Stephenson said the winter and corresponding water loss was better than an average year. “We weren’t unhappy,” Stephenson said. “We wish it would fill, but that’s OK.”

Zinke’s New No. 2 Once Lobbied for CA’s largest Water District

At a hearing last month, Bernhardt testified that he stopped lobbying for Westlands on Nov. 18, 2016, at a time when he was serving on the Trump transition team. But since then, Bernhardt had helped draft two major California water bills and wrote a proposed executive order for Trump on water issues – all at Westland’s behest. Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting’s stories on the issue were based on a trove of Bernhardt’s emails first obtained by the Planning and Conservation League, an environmental group.

County to File Suit to Oppose ‘Twin Tunnels’ Proposal

Butte County plans to file a lawsuit over the plan to bury a pair of tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to move Sacramento River water south. County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to file the suit against the Department of Water Resources over the so-called “California WaterFix,” the largest part of which is the “twin tunnels” proposal. The California WaterFix is technically a Habitat Conservation Plan and Natural Community Conservation Plan, with the stated goal of protecting more than 50 species of fish, wildlife and plants over 50 years.

What it Takes to Recover from Drought

According to a study published August 10 in Nature, the length of drought recovery depends on several factors, including the region of the world and the post-drought weather conditions. The authors, including William Anderegg of the University of Utah, warn that more frequent droughts in the future may not allow time for ecosystems to fully recover before the next drought hits.Drought-stricken areas anxiously await the arrival of rain. Full recovery of the ecosystem, however, can extend long past the first rain drops on thirsty ground.

Panel Weighed Oroville Spillway Failure in 2014 — and Called It Unlikely

Consider a couple of scenarios for big trouble at Oroville Dam: First: The facility’s main concrete spillway suffers serious damage, resulting in erosion of the rock beneath it — and potentially threatening the safety of the dam itself. Second: Water fills Lake Oroville, the gigantic reservoir behind the dam, and begins surging down a steep unpaved hillside that’s meant to serve as an emergency spillway. The slope suffers serious erosion, again potentially threatening the dam’s safety.

Trump Administration Sends Payout for Oroville Dam Crisis. Could More Be On the Way?

Federal disaster officials have agreed to chip in $22.8 million to help California pay the estimated $500 million cost of the Oroville Dam crisis. Victor Inge, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Wednesday that the reimbursement is to cover some costs associated with the emergency as well as for removing the massive pile of debris that washed down from the spillway and plugged the Feather River channel below the dam. Inge said the state’s requests for reimbursement still are being reviewed, and additional payouts could take several more months.

Plan for San Joaquin Valley Reservoir to Recharge Groundwater Draws Concern

California’s Tulare Lake was once the largest body of freshwater west of the Mississippi River. Located at the southern tip of the San Joaquin Valley, it collected snowmelt from dozens of Sierra Nevada streams. Today, the giant lake is long gone: In the decades after the Gold Rush, it was drained and transformed into farmland. Now, in a modern era of water scarcity, some are eager to see even a small bit of the old Tulare Lake restored. It could be an effective way to recharge groundwater that’s been overtapped by those same farms.