You are now in Home Headline Media Coverage San Diego County category.

Study To Explore New Regional Water Conveyance System

/in , , /by /Water News Network

The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors last week approved a contract to study the viability of a new regional water conveyance system that would deliver water from the Colorado River to San Diego County and provide multiple benefits across the Southwest. The $1.9 million contract was awarded to Black & Veatch Corporation for a two-phase study. The engineering firm conducted similar studies for the Water Authority dating back to 1996 but looked at “single use” in those studies.

Full Story

California May Be First To Force Water Suppliers To Notify Customers Of Myriad Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’

/in , , /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Janet Wilson

The clock is ticking. Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Wednesday to decide on a bill that would make California the first state in the nation to require water suppliers who monitor a broad class of toxic “forever chemicals” to notify customers if they’re present in drinking water. “A decision will come tomorrow,” a spokesman for Newsom said Tuesday. He declined to say what it would be. The PFAS chemicals, which have been widely used in everything from firefighting foam to Teflon pans, Scotchgard products and even some dental floss, have been linked in some research to cancers, developmental problems and thyroid and liver disease. They’re known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment or in human bodies.

Full Story

Study: El Niño Has Outsize Economic Effect On California

/in , , /by /The Washington Postby Mike Branom

Considering it’s been long known that El Niño conditions often bring about flooding precipitation to California, a ripe field for study would be a thorough examination of the damage wreaked. And who knows catastrophic damage better than insurers? Their specialized knowledge prompted a pair of San Diego researchers to compare 40 years of insurance data against climate and water data to quantify the effect of El Niño on flood damage in the western United States. The findings of Tom Corringham and Daniel Cayan, both of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego, confirm the connections between extreme weather events and El Niño, which is the periodic warming of equatorial waters in the Pacific Ocean.

Full Story

Faster Water Cycle Brings Worries Of Increased Drought And Flooding In The United States

/in , , /by /The Weather Channelby Ron Brackett

New calculations of changes in the water cycle over the United States pinpoint several areas that could become increasingly dry over the next few decades, a new study says. They also showed areas that could see more flooding.

The water cycle is the movement of water on the planet — from falling as precipitation, such as rain, ice or snow, to being absorbed in the soil or flowing into groundwater and streams and then being evaporated to start all over again.

Full Story

Wind, Solar, Batteries And Carbon Taxes In California And Texas

/in , , /by /pv magazine by John Weaver

A research paper, The role of energy storage in deep decarbonization of electricity production, by University of Michigan scientists mixes energy storage types and pricing, carbon taxes, unique power grids in Texas and California, and adds 60 gigawatts of wind and solar to to model CO2 reductions and curtailment in economic markets.

The biggest finding of the research suggests that California will much sooner gain benefit from energy storage before Texas will because of a mix of flexible and inflexible generation, and types of renewables deployed. In California, the 60 GW deployed would lower emissions 72% – while in Texas 54%. Adding the carbon taxes and energy storage would make emissions fall 90% in California, but only increase to a 57% drop in Texas.

Full Story

Amid Climate-Linked Drought, Farmers Turn To New Water Sources. Those Are Drying Up Too.

/in , , /by /Forbesby Fiona Burlig and Louis Preonas

Summer is the center of the growing season for many American crops. But as already warm summers start to heat up with climate change, what impact could this have on crops? As one example, without policy changes, two of the most important crops in the United States—corn and wheat— could see yield declines upwards of 80% in the Midwest.

Full Story

San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District Breaks 30-Year Record For Groundwater Storage, At 20 Billion Gallons And Counting

/in , , /by /Inland Empire Community News (Colton, Calif.)

Like money in the bank, local groundwater aquifers have seen record-breaking deposits this year with a staggering 20 billion gallons saved so far and another two months still left in the water year, the San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District announced today. More than 61,000 acre-feet of snowmelt and rainfall has been diverted from Mill Creek and the Santa Ana River by the District and recharged into the groundwater basin for future use by those who pump water from the basin.  Imported water was also used to help supplement the amount of water stored.

Full Story

As Southwest Water Managers Grapple With Climate Change, Can A ‘Grand Bargain’ Work?

/in , , /by /Arizona Public Media by Luke Runyon, KUNC, and Bret Jaspers, KJZZ

Water managers on the Colorado River are facing a unique moment. With a temporary fix to the river’s scarcity problem recently completed, talk has begun to turn toward future agreements to manage the water source for 40 million people in the southwestern U.S.

Climate change, growing urban populations and fragile rural economies are top of mind. Some within the basin see a window of opportunity to argue for big, bold actions to find balance in the watershed. Others say the best path forward is to take small, incremental steps toward lofty goals, a method Colorado River managers say has worked well for them for decades.

Full Story

City Of San Diego’s Water Rates To Increase 4.82% On Sept. 1

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Debbie L. Sklar Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The city of San Diego reminded water customers this month that rates are increasing 4.82% beginning Sept. 1 to help pay for water reliability and infrastructure improvements.

Combined with the 1.46% increase in water rates from the San Diego County Water Authority, the total increase is 6.28%. This is less than the 7% increase originally approved by the City Council for fiscal year 2020.

Full Story

Researchers Explore How To Meet Water Demands In Drought Years

/in , , /by /NOOZHAWK (Santa Barbara)by Harrison Tasoff

Water. It’s perhaps the biggest issue in the American West. It has inflamed passions and driven ambitious projects for the past century.

Now an economist at UCSB has investigated how we might be able to mitigate the stress of droughts by changing the incentives for water storage and use. The results appear in the journal Nature Sustainability.

Humans use water for a variety of different ends, but rivers also need water flowing through them to ensure the survival of fish and other wildlife. In fact, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires a minimum stream flow in certain rivers to protect threatened fish.

Full Story