The future water supply of the Monterey Peninsula got a big boost Sept. 30 when Anne Simon, an administrative law judge appointed by the California Public Utilities Commission, issued a proposed decision that, if approved by the CPUC next month, would authorize an expansion of the Pure Water Monterey recycled water project.
In a move that activists hope could shift how water regulators statewide manage dwindling groundwater basins, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors this week banned the drilling of all new wells for six months countywide while they draft a set of longer-lasting rules on using groundwater.
Almost two months ago, the seven Colorado River Basin states blew past a federal deadline to negotiate significant cuts to their water usage.
There’s finally some concrete action. Water managers in California, which uses more Colorado River water than any other state, have agreed to reduce their usage by one-tenth in 2023.
The Fish and Wildlife Service proposed Endangered Species Act protections Thursday for a crucial population of the longfin smelt, an unassuming California fish that has pit farmers against environmentalists and could end up redirecting the future course of the state’s water.
Reversing earlier calls made during both the Obama and Trump administrations, FWS said the San Francisco Bay-Delta distinct population segment of longfin smelt should be added to the list of endangered species.
With the Colorado River in crisis and reservoir levels continuing to decline, California water agencies that depend on the river are planning to significantly reduce their use of water from the river starting next year. As a result, officials with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California said they plan to endorse mandatory conservation measures next year to begin rationing water for cities and local agencies that supply 19 million people across six counties.
Facing demands from the federal government, California water agencies offered today to cut back the amount of water they import from the Colorado River starting in 2023.
After months of negotiations, water agencies wrote to federal agencies today offering to reduce California’s water use by 400,000 acre-feet every year through 2026. That amounts to 9% of the river’s water that California is entitled to under its senior rights.
Avocado growers in San Diego County are facing tough times as a result of the soaring cost of water coupled with ongoing drought and heatwaves.
The crop generated just $82.8 million throughout the region last year, down from $152.9 million in 2020, according to the county’s annual crop report. It was the first time the fruit generated less than $100 million a year since 1996.
As the South Coast Water District prepares to present its proposed desalination plant to the California Coastal Commission next week, the San Clemente City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday night, Oct. 4, to publicly back the project.
The council will send a pre-written letter of support to the Coastal Commission, which will consider on Oct. 13 whether to approve SCWD’s application to construct the proposed Doheny Ocean Desalination Plant.
Lake Mead is America’s largest reservoir, supplying water for 25 million people across the southwest. It’s also drying up — a kind of poster child for the ongoing drought in the West. But upstream, a much larger but lesser known source of stored water is also disappearing: mountain snow.
This is how climate change is throwing one of the United States’ most critical sources of water out of whack.
California water agencies that use Colorado River water indicated Wednesday they’d be willing to cut 400,000 acre-feet of water use annually starting next year and running through 2025 — a move a top Upper Basin water official cast as a promising development in the negotiations over the future of the river.
