Across the U.S., cities and towns are being forced to throw more money at solving blockages as consumers buy (and flush) more wipes than ever. Even before the pandemic, Americans were already flushing far too many wipes into the sewer system. After a year of staying at home, the pipe-clogging problem has gotten worse.
The past year has shown Arizonans how critical water is to all we hold dear. It’s a pillar of public health, a precious and finite resource, and the lifeblood of our economy and food production.
Water is essential for life, and climate change is shrinking already scarce supplies. Fortunately, we also know what we can do now to help safeguard our water.
A national moratorium on water shutoffs could have prevented almost half a million Covid infections and saved at least 9,000 lives, according to new research. Good hygiene is essential to preventing the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus. Amid pressure from public health experts and rights groups, hundreds of utilities and states suspended disconnections for overdue bills to ensure households kept running water for hand-washing and sanitation.
An extra dry summer with potential for water shortages – that’s what state and federal officials are telling Californians to prepare for.
Predictions for 2021 are bleak. Lake levels are low and the Sacramento region is not getting the spring showers many hoped for.
Sewer rates for San Diegans in single-family homes would increase nearly 19 percent next year and a total of 28 percent over the next four years under a new city proposal.
Landscaping plants have different water needs. The water requirement of each plant in your landscaping can be determined by gathering information about the plant and then comparing it to the amount of water needed by the cool-season grass growing in your climate zone.
San Diego County Water Authority crews recently replaced two pickup truck-sized valves at the agency’s Pressure Control and Hydroelectric Facility in central San Diego – each valve weighing about 35,000 pounds. The pressure-control facility is a key piece of the Emergency and Carryover Storage Project, which ensures water is available around the region if imported water deliveries are disrupted.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has awarded three San Diego County water agencies a total of $2,788,500 in 2021 WaterSMART Water and Energy Efficiency Grants. A total of $42.4 million in grants was given to 55 projects across 13 states to improve water reliability and efficiency, conserving more 98,000 acre-feet of water per year.
The rainy season is nearly over, there’s been no “March miracle” and the possibility of parched lawns and fallowed farm fields is growing.
State and federal officials issued remarkably bleak warnings Tuesday about California’s summer water supplies, telling farmers and others to gear up for potential shortages.
The Department of Water Resources, in a rare turnabout, actually lowered its forecast of the deliveries it expects to make to the cities and farms that belong to the State Water Project. In its new forecast, the agency said its customers can expect just 5% of contracted supplies. In December the expected allocation was set at 10%.
While a supermajority of Americans finally believe we are warming the world, a 2020 Yale Climate Opinion survey shows that most people still aren’t very worried about it. “Climate change is abstract to them,” says UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain. “They don’t connect it to their personal lives.”
