You are now in California and the U.S. category.

OPINION: Twin Tunnels Project Jeopardizes Stability of Your Water Rates

One of the most monumental and potentially devastating decisions in California’s water history is currently being considered and the health and sustainability of the backbone of California’s water system and affordability of your water rates are at stake. Over the next month or two, a number of public water agencies will decide on whether to fund construction of two massive, 35-mile long tunnels through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to ultimately deliver water to Southern California. The state will be asking your water agency to make a financial commitment to invest in this project.

First Step In Implementing California Groundwater Law Successful

California was one of the last states in the West to pass a law to manage groundwater. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act into law in 2014. The first major hurdle under the law was determining who would manage groundwater basins. The law required the formation of local governing agencies, known as “Groundwater Sustainability Agencies” or GSA’s. Landowners, public agencies, counties or other groundwater users in the basin could form GSA’s. They had until June 30 to complete the process.

State’s June Water Savings Down to 17.4 Percent

Statewide water savings slipped in June to 17.4 percent of that in the same month in 2013, the state Water Resources Control Board announced Tuesday. That’s the lowest monthly conservation rate since February 2016, which saw savings of 11.9 percent compared to the benchmark pre-drought year. Local districts did much better than the state average, ranging from 25-40 percent water use reductions compared to June 2013. The Del Oro Water Co. saw the biggest savings at 40.2 percent. That was the fourth best conservation rate in the state. Daily per capita water use was 84 gallons.

 

Company’s Plan to Sell Mojave Desert Groundwater Opposed by L.A. Water Officials

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is opposing a company’s proposal to pump groundwater in the Mojave Desert and sell it to Southern California cities. The L.A. water utility’s board weighed in against the project on Tuesday, recommending to Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City Council that they support a bill in the state Legislature requiring California to review the environmental impacts of the proposal.

California May See More Rainfall Over the Next Century

After undergoing five years of drought, many Californians may fear a future with less rainfall thanks to climate change. However, research carried out at the University of California, Riverside, suggests precipitation across the state may actually increase over the next hundred years. The paper, published in the journal Nature Communications, looked at several different California climate models and aggregated the results. However, not every model is good at predicting factors like precipitation. So, rather than simply aggregating the findings, Robert Allen, a climatologist at the University of California, Riverside, and the lead author on the paper, was picky.

Drone Video Shows Repairs Progressing at Oroville Dam

Drone video released by the California Department of Water Resources shows how repairs are moving along at the Oroville Dam’s main spillway, which crumbled during the extremely wet winter and forced the evacuation of 180,000 people. The video of crews laying down and compacting concrete (set to soothing music) was posted to the department’s YouTube page, where it regularly shares updates on the construction progress.   Reconstruction of the main spillway is on track to be completed by Nov. 1, 2017, in time for California’s rainiest months. Since the spillway’s erosion in February, crews have been working to remove and rebuild 2,270 feet of the spillway.

Trump Rolled Back This Environmental Rule. California May Replace It With A Stronger One

President Donald Trump’s administration gave California land developers and farmers a reason to cheer when the White House last month rolled back controversial regulations for wetlands imposed during the Obama presidency. They may want to hold off on the celebration. A powerful California water agency is poised to adopt its own regulations that could protect more of the state’s wetlands from being plowed, paved over or otherwise damaged. Environmental groups are pressuring the State Water Resources Control Board to push back against Trump’s decision and adopt a wetlands policy that’s even stricter than former President Barack Obama’s.

Delta Tunnel Project Passes Next Test

The California Department of Water Resources announced Friday that it has certified the environmental analysis of the California WaterFix, which has as its core the “twin-tunnels” project through the Delta. DWR Acting Director Cindy Messer said the certification is “an important benchmark in moving California towards a more reliable water supply.” “With this certification, our state is now closer to modernizing our aging water-delivery system in a way that improves reliability and protects the environment,” she added.

OPINION: Sites Reservoir is a good idea coming to pass

Today’s news that Sites Reservoir is likely to be built is proof you can’t keep a good idea down, although clearly you can delay it a heck of a long time. Work on the current version of the reservoir west of Maxwell began more than 20 years ago, when the federal government realized it needed more water to meet the requirements of the Endangered Species Act in California. There was only one large untapped source of surface water in the state, and that was the Sacramento Valley downstream from Shasta Dam.

OPINION: There’s Light at the End of the Delta Tunnels, So What’s Next for California Water Policy?

Deciding how to give people water to drink and grow food — and to do so without damaging the state’s economy or the environment — shouldn’t have been this hard. For the last dozen years and more, California has been entangled in heated debate over updating the state’s water system. But now we’re closing in on a resolution to that question. That, in turn, opens the way to considering future water policy in a very different political landscape.