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Tightening Water Restrictions in Sacramento

Leaders in one Northern California ity want to tighten rules for water use despite the end of the state’s drought. People who live in Sacramento have been limited to watering two days a week since the drought started. City leaders are now looking into a plan to make that permanent. The new rules could be approved at a city council meeting Aug 15. Landscaped areas that are open to the public would be exempt from the rules. Those areas includes parks, sports fields and golf courses.

Small, Self-Sufficient Water Systems Continue to Battle a Hidden Drought

California’s drought appears over, at least above ground. As of April 2017, reservoirs were around 2 million acre feet above normal with record breaking snowpack . This is great news for the 75% of Californians that get their drinking water from large, urban surface water suppliers. Groundwater, however, takes longer to recharge and replenish. What does this mean for the more than 2,000 small community water systems and hundreds of thousands of private well-reliant households that rely on groundwater?

Oroville Dam: Six Months After Disaster, a Race to Repair Before Next Winter

Six months ago, relentless winter storms dumped nearly 13 inches of rain in four days on the Sierra Foothills, tearing an enormous hole in the spillway at Oroville Dam, the nation’s highest, and leading to an unprecedented emergency that prompted the evacuation of 188,000 people from nearby towns. Today, what could have been ground zero for America’s worst dam disaster is now a hotbed of construction activity.

OPINION: Local Conference Reminds of America’s Failing Infrastructure—and What Can Be Done to Fix It

Arizona’s infrastructure received a “C” rating from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 2015. However, the state is faring better on its report card than the country overall. The group recently graded the nation’s infrastructure a D+. This week, ASCE is hosting a pipelines conference in Phoenix, providing an important forum for experts in pipeline and utilities infrastructure to gather and share innovative ideas to meet industry challenges. Given the embarrassing shape of our country’s current infrastructure, the conference is a symbol of hope for the future.

OPINION: All-Out Effort To Get Twin Tunnels Passed Must Be Stopped

Gov. Jerry Brown’s cheerleading squad was in high-spirits recently with the latest news that his twin tunnels project in the Delta inched a step closer to reality. The state Department of Water Resources gave its approval to the tunnels by certifying the environmental reviews for the project. Really, what did you expect? The DWR answers to Brown and Brown wants to build those four-story tunnels to funnel north state water from the Sacramento River, under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, to farmers and cities in the south.

Emergency Repairs Begin Along Feather River Downstream Of Oroville Dam

Construction is now underway along the Feather River Parkway where nearly 3 miles of levees need emergency repairs. “We saw some alarming distress. So, this was deemed a critical repair project,” Sutter Butte Flood Control Executive Director Mike Inamine said. The repairs will include filling sinkholes and boils. Water seepage was evident on the levees after increased water was released from the Oroville Dam spillways in February and into Feather River. Officials said the levee damage posed a direct threat to Yuba City and Sutter County.

Government Claim Filed Against Department Of Water Resources For Damages From Spillway Flooding

On August 2,2017, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, a law firm specializing in mass damages, submitted a Government Claim Form to the State of California, Department of General Services, on behalf of JEM Farms and Chandon Ranch. JEM Farms and Chandon Ranch operate a walnut farm on approximately 2,000 acres in Butte County. The farm runs on the East and West sides of the Feather River, downstream from the Oroville Dam spillway.

Governor’s Delta Tunnels Opposed By 3 Million-Member Group

Recreational Boaters of California (RBOC), a non-profit organization serving the boating community, has come out in opposition to the massive Delta water tunnels project pushed by the governor. The massive construction project could seriously impact boaters’ access to the Delta for years to come, RBOC says. “RBOC has, for decades, been at the forefront of opposing proposals that would impair the ability of boaters to access to the 1,000 miles of waterways in the Delta,” says Peter Robertson, president of the 3 million member organization. “We successfully opposed permanent barriers that would have blocked navigation to popular Delta destinations.”

BLOG: California’s Biggest Drought Success Story Came With A High Cost

When her well went dry in 2014, Yolanda Serrato had just begun the fight of her life against breast cancer. Her world had already been turned upside down – then it went sideways. Through chemotherapy and radiation, she often carried buckets of water from a 300-gallon tank outside so she could cook food for her family. She heated water on the stove for sponge baths. She even needed a bucket of water to use the toilet.

Despite Best Efforts, Years Of Drought Leave State Little Room For Error

Arizona’s top water official told a congressional committee Wednesday that even though the state has done a lot right, years of drought still threaten to push the region into a water emergency in the next few years. Tom Buschatzke, the director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, said his office needs better coordination with other states and federal agencies and expressed concern that proposed cuts in federal funding for state could force agencies like his to do “more with less.”