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New Water Restrictions in Place for Thousands in Diamond Bar, Pomona, Walnut

/in , , /by /CBS Los Angelesby CBSLA Staff

The WVWD Board of Directors declared a level 2 water shortage, which calls for a 20% drop in water use.

The Walnut Valley Water District has about 100,000 customers in parts of Diamond Bar, Walnut, the City of Industry, Pomona, West Covina and an unincorporated area of Rowland Heights.

Under the restrictions, residents are limited to watering their lawns only three days per week. There is also no watering between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

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People Haven’t Just Made the Planet Hotter. We’ve Changed the Way It Rains.

/in , , /by /USA TODAYby USA TODAY Staff

You probably noticed a lot of weird weather in 2021.

From record-breaking deluges and tropical storms to drought-stricken landscapes that erupted in wildfire, the nation seemed to lurch from one weather-related disaster to the next.

You’re forgiven if you dismiss these events as unrelated, albeit unfortunate, phenomena. But they actually share a common bond – they’re all part of a new climate reality where supersized rainfalls and lengthening droughts have become the norm.

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Busting Water Limits Won’t Cost You in Marin County: Penalties Canceled as Rain Fills Reservoirs

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Danielle Echeverria

After recent reservoir-boosting rainfall, Marin County’s largest water district decided Tuesday to repeal recently established financial penalties for excessive water use.

In September, the Marin Municipal Water District board adopted an ordinance that established financial penalties for exceeding certain water use limits it set in April as drought conditions worsened across the Bay Area and California.

In the September ordinance, the district set penalties for going over “tier 1” water usage, which, for single family households, is 65 gallons of water per person, per day. Penalties would range from $5 to $15, depending on how much customers went over that limit.

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UN Report: the World’s Farms Stretched to ‘a Breaking Point’

/in , , /by /Yale Climate Connectionsby Dana Nuccitelli

Almost 10% of the 8 billion people on earth are already undernourished with 3 billion lacking healthy diets, and the land and water resources farmers rely on stressed to “a breaking point.” And by 2050 there will be 2 billion more mouths to feed, warns a new report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

For now, farmers have been able to boost agricultural productivity by irrigating more land and applying heavier doses of fertilizer and pesticides. But the report says these practices are not sustainable: They have eroded and degraded soil while polluting and depleting water supplies and shrinking the world’s forests.

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COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance Shows San Diego’s Case Surge is Slowing

/in , , /by /KPBS-FM/TVby Matt Hoffman and Nicholas McVicker

COVID-19 wastewater data now shows that the record spread of the virus in San Diego is beginning to fall.

“We’re coming off the surge for sure,” said UC San Diego Professor Rob Knight. “However, it’s possible that cases will continue to rise or maybe peak around now.”

Knight leads the project that has been analyzing San Diegans sewage from the Point Loma treatment plan over the last two years. He said wastewater is a leading indicator of the virus’ spread, with data typically three weeks ahead of confirmed cases.

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New Video Highlights Olivenhain Municipal Water District Achievements in 2021

/in , , /by /Water News Network

In its ongoing effort to keep ratepayers and the community informed, the Olivenhain Municipal Water District produced its first “Year In Review” video report for 2021.

The video showcases key achievements of the District, using an accessible digital video format to share details, images, and key facts with ratepayers through a familiar, trusted online platform posted to the District’s YouTube channel.

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California Drought: January Is a Rainfall Bust. How Big of a Problem Is That?

/in , , /by /Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

Sunny skies. Balmy temperatures. Walks on the beach. Umbrellas back in the closet.

After a soaking wet December that ended fire season, delivered more 15 feet of snow to the Sierra Nevada, and boosted hopes that California’s severe drought might be coming to and end, dry weather is back, in a big way.

Like a baseball player stuck in a hitting slump, it hasn’t rained significantly in the Bay Area for 14 days, since Jan. 4. Although reservoirs received a nice boost from big storms in December and late October, they still remain well below normal levels in most parts of the state.

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In Wealthy LA Enclave, Harsher Penalties for Wasting Water

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Kathleen Ronayne

In a wealthy enclave along the Santa Monica Mountains that is a haven for celebrities, residents are now facing more aggressive consequences for wasting water.

The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District northwest of Los Angeles hopes to spur water savings by making it easier to fine households that go over their allotted “water budgets” and threatening to vastly limit water flow to customers who repeatedly fail to conserve.

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Opinion: Proposed Ballot Measure Would Create Water Infrastructure

/in , , /by /Cal Mattersby Edward Ring

Silicon Valley is known for its startup culture where so-called angel investors provide financing to launch companies that aspire to change the world.

Innovations spawned in Silicon Valley have indeed changed the world, and in the process, made the San Francisco Bay Area home to thousands of near-billionaires and billionaires.

With wealth like that comes social responsibility and political power, and many of the individuals wielding this wealth have stepped up. Powerful individuals from Silicon Valley are changing the destiny of the world.

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After Rain Burst, California Salmon Reclaim Old Spawning Grounds

/in , , /by /Reutersby Nathan Frandino

The heavy rains that soaked California late last year were welcomed by farmers, urban planners – and endangered coho salmon.

“We’ve seen fish in places that they haven’t been for almost 25 years,” said Preston Brown, director of watershed conservation for Salmon Protection And Watershed Network (SPAWN).

California received more precipitation from October to December than in the previous 12 months, according to the National Weather Service.

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