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OPINION: How Do We Sustain The Colorado River Past 2026? Here’s How Arizona Intends To Find Out

/in , , /by /azcentral.by Tom Buschatzke and Ted Cooke

It didn’t take long for the completion of the Drought Contingency Plan to create value to Arizona and the Colorado River Basin. Its focus on stabilizing Lake Mead and creating incentives to “bank” water in the reservoir already are paying dividends.

DCP is providing a safe harbor while we work on important issues leading up to 2026, when the existing guidelines for the operation of the Colorado River system expire.

We now have an opportunity to build on the successful Arizona process that led to the DCP signing. Arizona is Stronger Together. And that will serve us well as we work toward the next step – maintaining a stable, healthy Colorado River system as we face a hotter and drier future.

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Camarillo Officials Celebrate Groundbreaking For Long-Planned Desalter Plant

/in , , /by /VC Starby Jeremy Childs

In a dusty empty lot on the edge of town, Camarillo public officials picked up shovels and broke ground Wednesday to commence the construction of a long-awaited desalter plant.

The groundbreaking ceremony was decades in the making for the North Pleasant Valley Groundwater Desalter Plant, which aims to convert brackish water from the Calleguas Creek watershed into potable water for the city of Camarillo.

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OPINION: Farms, The Environment, And The Future Of Water

/in , , /by /CALmatters (Sacramento)by Maurice Hall

In the middle of July, I was surprised to find myself trudging through a couple feet of snow while hiking south of Lake Tahoe. It was a striking contrast to the long walks I took on the dry lakebed of Folsom Reservoir near my home during the historic drought just five short years ago.

That crisis led our state leaders to approve the most sweeping change in water law in a century: the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Gov. Jerry Brown signed it into law on Sept. 16, 2014.

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Senator Melissa Hurtado’s Bill To Provide Relief For Families Without Reliable Access To Water Heads To Governor’s Desk

/in , , /by /The Sentinel

Senate Bill 513, authored by Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger), is headed towards Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk for approval. The bill, which received bi-partisan support, will provide relief for families without reliable access to water by delivering a temporary alternative source of water supply.

“Today, water shortage in the southern Central Valley continue to impact thousands of families who face limited access to clean drinking water,” stated Sen. Hurtado

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Agreement Close On Buena Vista Lagoon Restoration

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union- Tribune by Phil Diehl

A proposal to keep deeper, more open water at the western end of the Buena Vista Lagoon is part of modifications that could make a proposed restoration at last palatable to all the property owners involved.

“It would still remove the weir, but would also protect the St. Malo open areas, as well as create some critical areas of deeper water,” said Keith Greer, regional principal planner for the San Diego Association of Governments, in a presentation Tuesday to the Carlsbad City Council.

 

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Unquenchable Thirst: Groundwater Bill Could Shift State’s Water Management Approach

/in , , /by /KCET by Char Miller

The latest salvo is California’s long-running water wars, SB307, has the potential to emerge as one of the most important pieces of water regulation in recent years. Although its target was narrow — it was designed to undercut the capacity of Cadiz, Inc. to pump annually upwards of 16 billion gallons of groundwater in eastern San Bernardino County and sell it to ever-thirsty Southern California — the legislation may prove to be far-reaching in its consequences.

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San Diego Region Leaders To Visit White House Following Latest Beach Closure From Tijuana River Sewage

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

Imperial Beach shorelines remain closed after nearly 100 million gallons of sewage-tainted runoff recently poured over the border from Mexico.

Local officials plan to visit the nation’s capital in coming weeks to urge lawmakers to fund an U.S. EPA blueprint released this summer for capturing sewage-tainted flows in the Tijuana River.

The planned visit, spearheaded by Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina, comes after his city experienced its latest beach closure from water pollution streaming over the Mexico border.

 

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Trump Administration To Finalize Rollback Of Obama’s Clean Water Protections

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Times

The Trump administration plans to revoke an Obama-era regulation that provided federal protection to many U.S. wetlands and streams, according to two Environmental Protection Agency officials with knowledge of the plan.

The rule defined which waterways are subject to federal regulation. The administration plans to replace it with its own version, according to the officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the decision and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

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Desalination ‘Only Option’ For Resilient, Reliable Water Supply — Expert

/in , , /by /The Jordan Timesby Hana Namrouqa Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

In Jordan, desalination is major component in meeting rising demand for water.

 Seawater desalination is the “only option” for countries seeking to become more resilient and have reliable water supply, according to an expert in water resource management, who stressed that water facilities should seek diversification of their water supplies.

While acknowledging that desalination of seawater is an expensive, highly technical and long process, the water resource management expert said that “… in some areas you have to make that investment because you just do not have the other sources of supply or resources that you can tap into.”

 

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OPINION: Farmers Are Not To Blame For Valley Subsidence, But They Can Help Solve It With Water

/in , , /by /The Fresno Beeby Kristi Diener

Why do farmers pump the water under their land (which California law clearly states belongs to them) in the first place? Unfortunately, you’ll rarely read the answer to this question in the press, but it is the most important part of the story.

Farmers pump groundwater because for more than 25 years, an innumerable myriad of Endangered Species Act-related laws, mandates, opinions, rulings and settlements have resulted in less and less surface water allocations for agriculture — even though all of these directives have failed to produce a rebound of endangered fish. When food producers receive the 0% and 5% water allocations like we saw in 2014, 2015, and 2016, they have no choice but to exercise their lawful property rights and to use water under their land.

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