The impacts of climate change in central California’s agriculture hub are causing such drastic increases in irrigation demands that annual water use over the past decade now matches the volume of the region’s biggest reservoir, a new study has found.
Staying hydrated is a tried and true tip for staying focused and healthy. But how much does your water source matter? More specifically, is tap water safe to drink? If you just refilled your Stanley with sink water for the second time today, the good news is that in general, the answer is yes.
Hastings, Minnesota, is staring down a $69 million price tag for three new treatment plants to remove PFAS chemicals from its water supply, ahead of new US federal regulations limiting the amount of so-called forever chemicals in public drinking water — which could come as early as this month.
Facing criticism over their ambitious plan to curb urban water use, California’s regulators today weakened the proposed rules — giving water providers more years and flexibility to comply.
In California and across the country, household water rates have been rising as utilities invest to upgrade aging infrastructure, secure future supplies and meet treatment standards for clean drinking water. As monthly water bills continue to increase, growing numbers of customers have been struggling to pay.
For Nevadans at the forefront of the West’s water crisis, snowpack in the Rocky Mountains that eventually trickles down to Lake Mead is always front of mind. Following an incredibly wet year that brought the Colorado River basin a brief reprieve, early signs point to a less impressive snowpack this time around, said Paul Miller, a hydrologist at the National Weather Service’s Colorado Basin River Forecast Center in Salt Lake City.
The recent rains which drenched Southern California over the last several months were a very good thing, said Adel Hagekhalil, the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, as he addressed the Pasadena City Council Monday, but he added, “We can’t be victims to hydrology. We can’t be victims of climate change. What we need to do is prepare for it.”
California’s snowpack is above average this winter following a series of storms that replenished one of the state’s most crucial water supplies, but still far behind where it stood during last year’s especially wet winter.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power captured nearly 14 billion gallons of stormwater last month, an 8.4 billion-gallon increase over the rainwater captured in February of 2023, Mayor Karen Bass announced.
California is beginning to identify places to store storm water after concerns that groundwater supplies are decreasing. The California Department of Water Resources has recently announced its new groundwater mapping project that will “provide critical information” about the underground water supply, it said in a statement.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
