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Opinion: Food Shortages, Rising Prices … We’ve Been Warning About This for Years

/in , , /by /AZ Centralby Paul Orme and Dan Keppen

As the Ukraine war kindles fears of rising food prices, the recognition of a secure domestic food supply – driven in large part by irrigated agriculture in the Western U.S. – is something we need to talk about.

The Family Farm Alliance last month released a report that describes current and projected food shortages resulting from the Russia-Ukraine war. This is nothing new, from our standpoint. The domestic food security issue is a concern that we’ve warned our policy leaders about for more than 15 years.

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The New 5-Million-Gallon Water Tank in Mission Trails You’ll Never See Again

/in , , /by /NBC 7 San Diegoby Joe Little Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

A multimillion-dollar construction project is almost done on a massive water tank in Mission Trails Regional Park. Once construction is complete, it will likely be forgotten because no one will be able to see it.

The San Diego County Water Authority is wrapping up construction on its newest flow regulatory structure on the western edge of the park. Work began in earnest at the beginning of 2021 on the five-million-gallon water tank and it’s expected to wrap up next month.

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Lisa Marie Harris is one of the CFO of the Year Winners

/in , , /by /San Diego Business Journal Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

San Diego County Water Authority Finance Director Lisa Marie Harris is the CFO of the Year in the Public Sector category by the San Diego Business Journal. Harris and the other winners are celebrated in a special section of the publication.

Harris has served as director of finance and treasurer for the Water Authority since May 2014, capping 30 years of experience in both public and private finance.

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Colorado River Named the Most Endangered in the U.S. by Conservation Group

/in , , /by /CPR Newsby Michael Elizabeth Sakas

The Colorado River is the epicenter of the nation’s water and climate crisis, according to an annual report from the conservation group American Rivers that ranked the waterway the country’s most endangered.

“The eyes of the world have been on the Colorado for a couple years now as the system has been quite literally crashing,” said Matt Rice, the group’s southwest regional director.

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Valley Farmers Worried as Groundwater Levels Remain Low

/in , , /by /ABC 30by Dale Yurong

Throughout western Fresno County, fertile land has been taken out of production because the irrigation supply isn’t stable enough to bring a crop to harvest.

Many of Joe Del Bosque’s dry fields in Firebaugh will stay that way this season.

“We pulled out our asparagus and we’re not planting our sweet corn, so we’re down to just two crops – almonds and our melons,” he said.

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Marin District Weighs Permanent Water Use Restrictions

/in , , /by /Marin Independent Journalby Will Houston

Some drought restrictions imposed on most Marin residents last year could become permanent, while others could be repealed in the coming weeks.

On Friday, the Marin Municipal Water District proposed keeping a two-day-per-week sprinkler irrigation limit in place for good but also rescinding some prohibitions to allow residents to wash their cars at home or refill their pools.

The debate on which rules to keep comes after the district and its 191,000 residents nearly faced depleted local reservoir supplies after two dry winters. But heavy downpours in late 2021 saved the county from the emergency by nearly refilling the district’s seven reservoirs.

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California Gives Rivers More Room to Flow to Stem Flood Risk

/in , , /by /ABC Newsby Kathleen Ronayne

Between vast almond orchards and dairy pastures in the heart of California’s farm country sits a property being redesigned to look like it did 150 years ago, before levees restricted the flow of rivers that weave across the landscape.

The 2,100 acres (1,100 hectares) at the confluence of the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers in the state’s Central Valley are being reverted to a floodplain. That means when heavy rains cause the rivers to go over their banks, water will run onto the land, allowing traditional ecosystems to flourish and lowering flood risk downstream.

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How San Diego Stands Out Amid California Drought

/in , , /by /FOX 5by Matt Meyer Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

After the driest first three months of a year in state history, California’s governor sounded the alarm last month, urging residents to use less water.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order asked Californians to tighten their belts and called on local water agencies to aggressively conserve water. But the order came with a caveat: “locally-appropriate actions” — as in, each part of the state can make decisions based on the unique conditions in their region.

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Pumped Storage Is Having a Moment. Will It Shift Renewables?

/in , , /by /EENewsby Miranda Willson Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

A massive clean energy project that doesn’t rely on wind or solar could help solve some of California’s electricity challenges — if it can get built.

Nine years after first proposing the San Vicente Energy Storage Facility, the city of San Diego and the San Diego County Water Authority announced in January that they were in talks with a private developer to advance the hydroelectric pumped storage project, which would be constructed northeast of the city.

The development is an example of what the hydropower industry hopes will be a tipping point for one of the oldest sources of renewable energy, even as some analysts and environmentalists remain skeptical of whether the challenges for water power can be overcome.

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Wet Weather to Provide Drought Relief Across West

/in , , /by /AccuWeatherby Jessica Storm

AccuWeather forecasters say the stormy parade of the northwestern United States is starting up again this week as storms are expected to sweep through the region one by one. This can provide drought relief for the Northwest as rain and snow will fall.

“The Gulf of Alaska will become the jumping-off point for numerous Pacific storms that will impact the northwestern United States with rounds of rain, wind and mountain snow throughout this week and right through next weekend and into early May,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Michael LeSeney.

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