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Climate Change Could Cost Millennials Trillions of Dollars in Lifetime Income

Americans in their 20s and 30s could lose trillions of dollars in potential lifetime earnings as climate change disrupts the global economy and weakens U.S. productivity, according to a new report by NextGen Climate said. If countries fail to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit the amount and pace of global warming, a 21-year-old college graduate today could lose $126,000 in lifetime wages and $187,000 in long-term savings and investments, the report found. This would outrank the lost income due to student debt or wage stagnation.

OPINION: Climate Change is Real to Farmers in California

Many farmers regard themselves as the original land stewards. For us, it is especially stressful to watch the planting and harvesting seasons change, for reasons out of our control. In 2015, drought and irregular weather brought my pistachio crop nearly to disaster. It’s clear that for us to remain resilient in the face of uncertain new weather patterns, we need to invest in new systems that will alleviate drought, heat and severe storms. Already, California makes a suite of programs available to the state’s farmers through existing climate policies.

 

Poseidon Working on Interagency Agreement to Streamline Permitting for Huntington Beach Desalination Project

Poseidon Water has announced it is working on an agreement with state permitting agencies to streamline the approval process for the proposed Huntington Beach Desalination Project. The Coastal Commission originally planned to consider the Project’s Coastal Development Permit on September 9; however, Poseidon and Commission staff agreed to defer consideration of the Project’s CDP in order for an interagency agreement clearly defining the remaining permitting process to be finalized.

 

California Professor Launches Study on Drought’s Health Impact

The California Drought is now in its fifth year, but we still know little about how it has affected public health. A half-million acres of farmland were fallowed in 2015, leaving thousands of agricultural workers jobless. More than a thousand families saw their drinking water wells go dry. Many more were forced to ration water, either because their well production slowed down, or because a local agency imposed rationing. Many lakes and ponds are experiencing toxic algae blooms, which can lead to sickness in people and pets.

Delta Fishermen Gear up for Another Fight

The latest controversial proposal to weaken protections for the striped bass, a popular Delta sport fish, is scheduled to be heard on Thursday by the California Fish and Game Commission.Water users mostly south of the estuary asked the commission earlier this year to allow more of the fish to be caught, in order to reduce their numbers. The water users argue that stripers — which were introduced to the Delta in the late 1800s — chomp down on native fish species, which in turn reduces the amount of water that can be pumped south.A similar proposal was rejected in 2012. Now the battle is on again. State officials say they have received nearly 3,500 comments opposing the changes, and fishermen are expected to attend Thursday’s meeting in large numbers.

California’s Salton Sea becoming a toxic witches’ brew, Boxer warns

Governments often take actions — or fail to act — in ways that would be treated as crimes if committed by an individual or a company. Take the scandalous U.S. Education Department’s Teach Grant program that defrauds idealistic young teachers.

Or compare the way federal and California agencies treated Volkswagen’s use of emission cheaters with the way they treat their own lack of action to head off a public health and environmental disaster, one that affects millions of Southern California consumers and could be much more harmful than the emissions from a few hundred thousand cars.

 

‘Climate change is water change’ — why the Colorado River system is headed for major trouble

There’s good news and bad news for the drought-stricken Colorado River system, according to projections just released in a new federal report from the Bureau of Reclamation, manager of dams, powerplants and canals.

The report predicts that Lake Mead — the river system’s largest reservoir, supplying water to millions of people in Nevada, Arizona, California and Mexico — will narrowly escape a shortage declaration next year. But a shortage is looking imminent in 2018, and water experts are growing ever more worried about the river system’s future.

Water-use disclosure bill sinks in California Senate

A measure to expand public disclosure of commercial, industrial and other institutional water uses in California fell far short of passage in the state Senate on Friday.

Assembly Bill 1520, which would have removed exemptions to the Public Records Act for business customers of local water agencies, garnered only 15 votes on the floor, well below the 21 it needed to advance. The proposal, by Assemblyman Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley, was opposed by a long list of agricultural and business groups, including winemakers, car washes and restaurants.

In California, Who Owns the Water?

Santa Barbara County may be one of the wealthiest areas in California but when it comes to water, the residents are just like anyone else in the state — wondering if the day will come when nothing flows out of the tap.

California is in its fifth year of an historic drought with mandated state and local water cutbacks to avoid rationing. So when the county’s Goleta Water District discovered that a neighboring ranch was planning on drawing water out of its underground aquifers to benefit a celebrity enclave, things got testy.

 

California Homeowner Drought Relief Bill Passes Senate

A bill to let drought-stricken homeowners seek state grants or low-interest loans for water and wastewater projects has passed the state Senate and is now in the Assembly.

Assembly Bill 1588, authored by Assemblyman Devon Mathis, R-Visalia, passed the Senate unanimously on Wednesday. “This is an important measure for the Central Valley and I greatly appreciate the bipartisan support it has received,” Sen. Andy Vidak, R-Hanford, said in a statement. The bill now goes back the Assembly, where it passed 76-0 in June, for a concurrence vote following amendments to the bill.