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Los Angeles Receives $224 Million Loan From EPA For Water Recycling Project

/in , , /by /CBS Los Angeles

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has granted a $224 million loan to the City of Los Angeles. The loan will be used to fund a project that aims to purify wastewater and replenish the depleted San Fernando Basin.

The project, called The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA), aims to purify 15.5 million gallons of the city’s wastewater every day, a move that would replenish both the basin and its aquifers – a body of rock that can contain or transmit groundwater.

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Charts Show Where California Reservoir Totals Stand After the Atmospheric River

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

This weekend’s atmospheric river brought record-breaking amounts of rain to drought-plagued California. But they didn’t give the state’s water supply much of a boost, data shows.

The state Department of Water Resources compared the amount of water in select reservoirs across the state as of midnight Oct. 25 to the capacity of each reservoir and to historic levels for the same date. The data shows that, even after all of Sunday and Monday’s rainfall, many of California’s largest reservoirs are still holding less water than the historic level for this time of year.

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Recent Northern California Storms Made a Dent in the Drought. But Will It Be Enough?

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

The parade of storms that blasted California over the past week marked a strong start to the rainy season. Some parts of the state, including Napa, Santa Rosa and Sacramento, received half the rain in 24 hours that they got in all of the past year.

But with California locked in one of its worst droughts in modern history, and some areas short two years’ worth of water, a lot more wet weather is needed to mend the state’s water woes.

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Helix Water District Adds New Assistant General Manager Position

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Karen Pearlman
Helix Water District has added a new tier of management to help oversee its more than 277,000 East County customers.

The district’s five-person board last week approved the creation of an assistant general manager position, bringing the number of employees to 151 in the district, which has an $80 million budget.

District spokesperson Mike Uhrhammer said Helix created the new position as part of its succession plan following the anticipated retirement of current general manager Carlos Lugo.

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Water News Network is Best Public Website for 4th Consecutive Year

/in , , /by /Water News Network Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The Water News Network was awarded first place as the Best Public Service or Consumer Advocacy Website in the 48th annual San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. It’s the fourth consecutive year the WNN website has won first place in that category. The award was announced during a virtual ceremony on October 25. Last year the California Public Information Officers Organization, or CAPIO, named the WNN the “Best Website” among California public agencies.

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Opinion: The Southwest Must Fight for its Water and its Future

/in , , /by /The Hillby Jonathan Overpeck

For over 30 years, I’ve been a climate scientist who has focused intensely on the causes and consequences of drought and climate change. I’ve done my research all over the planet, but my No. 1 focus has been on interactions of drought and climate change in the Southwest United States and on how drought and climate change are impacting the Colorado River. Seven states in the U.S. and Mexico depend on the Colorado River for water, yet I worry most about one state: Arizona.

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The West Needs a Lot of Snow to Escape Drought. This Year, That’s Unlikely

/in , , /by /KUNCby Alex Hager

When you’ve been coming to the same place for decades, it’s easy to notice changes. On this ranch near Steamboat Springs, Colorado, the tell-tale signs of drought are everywhere. Todd Hagenbuch stands beside a silent, dusty creek bed, where golden grasses and scrub are beginning to reclaim the thin channel.

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Marin Municipal Water District Tightens Usage Restrictions

/in , , /by /Marinijby Will Houston

Most Marin County residents will be prohibited from turning on their sprinklers and drip irrigation systems under new drought restrictions starting in December.

The Marin Municipal Water District board voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt an ordinance that bans residents from using outdoor irrigation systems including overhead sprinklers and drip irrigation from Dec. 1 through May 31. Hand spot watering using a hose and spray nozzle or a watering can is still allowed.

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California May Soon Impose New Water Restrictions. Here’s What That Means in San Diego.

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith

San Diegans could be forgiven for not knowing how seriously to take California’s current drought.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency last week, reiterating a desire that urban water users from San Diego to Sacramento voluntarily cut consumption by 15 percent. That would bring water use back down to roughly where it was in 2016, after then-Gov. Jerry Brown issued the state’s first-ever mandatory drought restrictions.

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Drought-Stricken California Pounded by Massive Storm

/in , , /by /AP News

A massive storm barreled toward Southern California on Monday after flooding highways, toppling trees, cutting power and causing rock slides and mud flows in areas burned bare by wildfires across the northern half of the state.

Drenching rains and strong winds accompanied the weekend arrival of an atmospheric river — a long plume of Pacific moisture — into the drought-stricken state.

Rainfall records were shattered and heavy snow pounded high elevations of the Sierra Nevada. The National Weather Service issued numerous flash flood warnings.

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