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Opinion: SANDAG’s Voting System Unfairly Disadvantages Small Cities, Stifles Regional Collaboration

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Jim Desmond Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Hasan Ikhrata, the departing CEO of the San Diego Association of Governments, inherited a board plagued by dysfunction when he took office in December 2018. Though not solely the fault of its membership, the dysfunction is due to a change in the voting process of the countywide transportation agency. The new process was passed by Sacramento politicians and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017. The new voting process alienated many of SANDAG members and drove a wedge into the agency that still exists today.

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A Marine Heat Wave Off California Helped Fuel Hurricane Hilary. What’ll it Do Next?

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Susanne Rust

Last week, a massive marine heat wave sitting roughly 60 miles off California’s coast oozed eastward, providing warm water fuel for Hurricane Hilary and its historic trek north. It was a worrisome development for researchers who have monitored this warm mass for nearly a decade — and who are watching a developing El Niño in the equatorial Pacific.

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California Farmers: Glen Canyon Dam a Major Problem in West’s Water Supply

/in , , /by /8NewsNowby Greg Haas

California farmers are putting a big target on Glen Canyon Dam, telling the federal government it’s time to take a serious look at suggestions to stop using the dam to produce electricity. Talk of decommissioning the dam has been on the fringe of criticism of U.S. Bureau of Reclamation management of the Colorado River, but it could gain momentum as public comment is released in the coming days.

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Opinion: Are the Rains Helping Lake Mead? What the Question Says About Our Water Outlook

/in , , /by /azcentralby Joanna Allhands

You can understand our optimism. It hadn’t rained in Phoenix for four months. Other parts of the West were hot and dry. Then came the big one: Hurricane Hilary. While rainfall totals were disappointing in Phoenix, the storm did dump quite a few inches on California and Nevada. Areas near Lake Mead got pelted, leading a bunch of folks to presume that the nation’s largest water reservoir would get a decent boost from the rainfall. But that’s not how it works.

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California is Working on Solutions to Worsening Climate Change. Will They Be Enough?

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Dorany Pineda

In the opening chapter of “The Ministry for the Future,” science-fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson details a calamitous heat wave that kills almost all the residents of a small town. In another chapter, he imagines a catastrophic flood that wipes out Los Angeles.

The late Octavia Butler described a Southern California reeling from years of drought in “Parable of the Sower,” and Paolo Bacigalupi writes about a near-future Southwest that’s also been devastated by drought.

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This Endangered Toad is Experiencing a Resurgence Thanks to Storms Like Hilary and a San Diego Water District

/in , , /by /NBC 7 by Joe Little

An endangered toad in San Diego’s East County is having a bit of a resurgence thanks to a couple of storms like Hilary and a large hole in the bottom of a dam.

“This is perfect habitat for the arroyo toad,” said Sweetwater Authority Biologist Pete Famolaro while standing in a Sweetwater River watershed near the Loveland Reservoir.

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Opinion: Why Assuming the Next Storm Will Be Relatively Mild Like Hilary is Dubious and Dangerous

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

The arrival of Tropical Storm Hilary in the region on Sunday was an ordeal or a huge inconvenience for many people — especially those who struggled with flooding in Tijuana, air travelers dealing with flight cancellations and delays, and drivers using Interstate 8 who only learned the freeway was closed in the Ocotillo area when they came upon massive lines of cars and 18-wheelers.

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California Seeks to Introduce Purified Wastewater to Drinking Supplies

/in , , /by /Spectrum News 1 by Jeremy Lindenfield

Earlier this summer, state water officials introduced draft regulations that, if passed, would allow purified wastewater to be directly introduced to drinking supplies.

Currently, purified wastewater has to be introduced to environmental buffers like groundwater aquifers before being added to drinking supplies, but the new regulations would allow treated water to bypass this step after undergoing additional purification processes.

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Coastal Areas Will Face Record ‘Sunny Day’ Flooding in 2024 — NOAA

/in , , /by /E&E Newsby Christine Mui

Eight locations along the nation’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts experienced a record surge in high-tide flooding days last year, a trend intensified by rising sea levels and weather patterns that El Niño is expected to escalate in 2024, NOAA said Tuesday.

Coastal communities are expected to face three times as many high-tide, or “sunny day,” flooding instances through next April, compared to two decades ago, agency officials said in a press call.

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San Diego County Water Authority Sues Over Fallbrook, Rainbow Possibly Leaving District

/in , , /by /10 News by Natalie Chuck Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

In an “unprecedented” move, the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) is suing a local commission for approving the decision to allow two north county water districts to seek water elsewhere.

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