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Toilet-to-Tap or the Future of California Water?

/in , , /by /JD Supraby Alexander Van Roekel

If there is one truism in California water, it is that there is not enough of it. In part to try to help address that issue, on December 19, 2023, the California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) adopted the state’s first direct potable reuse (DPR) regulations. As detailed in the State Water Board’s press release, the new regulations represent the “most advanced standards in the nation,” provide a “climate-resilient water source,” and “add millions of gallons of additional drinking water.” However, is the picture quite that rosy?

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California Snowpack Is Below Average, a Complete Turnaround from Last Year

/in , , /by /KPBSby Erik Anderson

California’s first snowpack measurement of 2024 is underwhelming with levels well below normal for this time of year. It is quite a change from a year ago when Phillips Station near Lake Tahoe was buried under 4 1/2 feet of snow. This year there were brown patches poking through the snow as the meager snowpack failed to completely cover the ground.

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Water Increasingly at The Center of Conflicts from Ukraine to the Middle East

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

Six months ago, an explosion ripped apart Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine, unleashing floods that killed 58 people, devastated the landscape along the Dnipro River and cut off water to productive farmland.

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Dramatic Before-and-After Images Show How Much Water California Reservoirs Have Accumulated

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Terry Castleman

With the winter storm season ramping up, rainfall across the state has begun to refill reservoirs. By Tuesday, water reservoirs were at about 64% capacity, well above the 30-year average of 55% for the month of December. After last year’s historically wet winter, many of California’s largest water stores were at or near capacity during the summer months of 2023.

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OPINION -Don’t Flee the American Southwest Just Yet

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Tom Zoellner

This summer, when the temperature hit 110 degrees Fahrenheit or above in Phoenix for 31 straight days, many were fretting about the Southwest’s prospects in the age of climate change. A writer for The Atlantic asked, “When Will the Southwest Become Unlivable?” Bloomberg wondered, “How Long Can We Keep Living in Hotboxes Like Phoenix?”

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Newsom Defies Environmentalist Opposition To Build Badly Needed Water Tunnel

/in , , /by /Reasonby Steven Greenhut

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the West Coast’s largest estuary, an awe-inspiring area of wetlands with 700 miles of waterways and 1,100 miles of levees nestled between the San Francisco Bay and the Central Valley south of Sacramento. It’s one of the most magnificent places in California—a refuge of orchards, marinas, tin-roofed shacks, plantation homes and tiny historic towns that feels more Deep South than Golden State.

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‘Forever Chemicals’ Were Everywhere In 2023. Expect More Litigation In 2024

/in , , /by /Reutersby Clark Mindock

Lawsuits accusing major chemical companies of polluting U.S. drinking water with toxic PFAS chemicals led to over $11 billion in settlements in 2023, with experts predicting that new federal regulations and a growing awareness of the breadth of PFAS contamination in the U.S. will spur more litigation and settlements in the year ahead.

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Spying on Beavers From Space Could Help Save California

/in , , /by /Wiredby Ben Goldfarb

For the first time in four centuries, it’s good to be a beaver. Long persecuted for their pelts and reviled as pests, the dam-building rodents are today hailed by scientists as ecological saviors. Their ponds and wetlands store water in the face of drought, filter out pollutants, furnish habitat for endangered species, and fight wildfires. In California, Castor canadensis is so prized that the state recently committed millions to its restoration.

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Iranian-Linked Hacks Expose Vulnerabilities of US Water System

/in , , /by /Insurance Journalby Jamie Tarabay and Katrina Manson

In late November, an Iranian-backed hacking group attacked Israeli-made digital controls commonly used in the water and wastewater industries in the US, affecting multiple organizations across several states.

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How America’s Diet Is Feeding the Groundwater Crisis

/in , , /by /Yahoo!Newsby Christopher Flavelle and Somini Sengupta

America’s striking dietary shift in recent decades, toward far more chicken and cheese, has not only contributed to concerns about American health but has taken a major, undocumented toll on underground water supplies.

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