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Reused Grey Water Cuts Water Usage, Saves You Some Green

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Beth Decarbo

Every time you take a shower, brush your teeth or do a load of laundry, you’re letting water — one of Earth’s most precious resources — just swirl down the drain. Instead, what if you reclaimed that water and reused it to flush toilets and water the flowers?

Some municipalities, homebuilders and water-recycling manufacturers are increasingly making that a viable option. In the United States, where the average household uses more than 300 gallons of water a day, one of the greatest untapped resources is grey water.

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Drought Jeopardizing California’s $50b Agricultural Sector

/in , , /by /The Hillby Sharon Udasin

California’s farms are the largest food producers in the nation, but ongoing drought conditions are wreaking havoc on this $50 billion sector.

Crop revenue losses, combined with groundwater over-pumping and upstream supply-chain impacts, may have slashed the state’s agricultural revenue as much as $1.7 billion in 2021, according to a new brief published by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Drought conditions last year also contributed to the loss of 14,600 related jobs, amounting to about 3 percent of a sector that employs more than 420,000 people, the authors stated.

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As Drought Hammers Mono Lake, Thirsty Los Angeles Must Look Elsewhere for Water

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Louis Sahagún and Ian James

With a third year of drought shrinking the creeks that cascade down the eastern Sierra Nevada, the level of Mono Lake has fallen so low it has triggered a 72% reduction in the amount of water Los Angeles can divert from area streams this year.

On April 1, Mono Lake’s level measured just under 6,380 feet above sea level — about 1 inch below a threshold set in the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s licenses for diverting alpine runoff from streams that feed the lake east of Yosemite National Park.

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Opinion: Study Targets Stormwater, More Conservation to Sustain California’s Water Supply

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Michael Smolens Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

We conserve, recycle and desalinate water. Is capturing stormwater runoff the next big thing to try to ease California’s water woes?

The idea of putting treated stormwater runoff into the water supply has long been an intriguing notion in California. After all, rain and snow — essentially stormwater — feeds the state’s reservoirs. Runoff in urbanized areas — which is often polluted — doesn’t make it there and ends up flowing into waterways and the ocean, sometimes causing floods along the way.

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In Drought-Stricken West, Officials Weigh Emergency Actions

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Felicia Fonseca

Federal officials say it may be necessary to reduce water deliveries to users on the Colorado River to prevent the shutdown of a huge dam that supplies hydropower to some 5 million customers across the U.S. West.

Officials had hoped snowmelt would buoy Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah border to ensure its dam could continue to supply power. But snow is already melting, and hotter-than-normal temperatures and prolonged drought are further shrinking the lake.

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Study Maps Financial Risks for Calif.’s Water Resilience Planning

/in , , /by /WaterWorld

A new study warns that the benefits of California’s Water Resilience Portfolio Initiative might not be evenly distributed without proper structure to the agreements.

Partnerships between water utilities, irrigation districts and other stakeholders in California will play a critical role in funding new infrastructure under the Water Resilience Portfolio Initiative announced in 2020 by the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.

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LADWP Urges Customers to Step Up Conservation Efforts

/in , , /by /Spectrum News 1

With warmer spring and summer months approaching, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Wednesday urged customers to increase conservation efforts in light of unusually early and rapid snowmelt.

On April 1, the snowpack was 41% of normal, however on Tuesday, less than two weeks later, readings from the DWP’s Eastern Sierra snow measuring stations showed it had melted to 22% of normal, the equivalent of 4.9 inches of water content.

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Does All Snow in the Rockies Turn Into Water for Lake Mead?

/in , , /by /12 Newsby Michael Doudna

Lake Mead mostly relies on snowfall in the Rocky Mountains to refill its water levels.

However, after years of drought and increasing temperatures, is the cycle of snow, runoff, and refill still working?

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‘More Significant Land Fallowing’ Expected This Year with Ongoing Drought

/in , , /by /AgNet Mediaby Brian German

With drought conditions rivaling those experienced in 2015, there are expectations for further agricultural land fallowing this year. As of April 13, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) shows the statewide snowpack at just 23 percent of average. DWR Director Karla Nemeth noted that California’s current water situation has created some difficult circumstances for both rural and urban areas. Water allocations have been drastically curtailed with more action expected in the coming months to affect urban water users as well.

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Climate Action Plan Report Card Has Mixed Reviews for Cities in San Diego County

/in , , /by /KPBSby Erik Anderson Quoted: `

Climate advocates are giving the San Diego region mixed reviews when it comes to developing climate action plans.

Those plans are considered vital roadmaps to slowing the warming of the planet’s climate and steering state and federal climate funding to the region.

More than half of the region’s municipalities have climate action plans (CAPs), and the latest report card singles out three examples of good ones.

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