You are now in California and the U.S. Home Headline Media Coverage category.

State Panel Backs Extending Life Of Gas-Burning Generator At Huntington Beach Power Plant

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Times by Julia Sclafani

A gas-burning generator at a Huntington Beach power plant could keep firing until as late as 2023, following a state commission’s recent vote.

The AES facility was scheduled to close by the end of next year, but the California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously last week to extend its operating life for up to three additional years.

Pushing back the plant’s retirement would delay remediation of the site, as well as prolong the practice of “once-through” cooling — a process that uses seawater to cool the coastal energy transformers, which can kill fish and other marine life.

Full Story

Climate Whiplash: Wild Swings in Extreme Weather Are on the Rise

/in , , /by /Yale Environment 360by Jim Robbins

From 2011 to 2016, California experienced five years of extreme drought, during which numerous high temperature records were broken. These hot, dry years were followed by the extremely wet winter of 2016 -2017, when, from October to March, an average of 31 inches of rain fell across the state, the second highest winter rainfall on record.

All that rain meant a bumper crop of grasses and other vegetation, which, as hot and dry conditions returned, likely contributed to a combustible mix of fuels that played a role in the severe fires that have swept California in the past two years.

Full Story

Joint Powers Authority Formed To Oversee East County Water Purification Project

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

A government oversight group has been formed to help four local entities keep Padre Dam Municipal Water District’s recycled water treatment plans flowing smoothly.

Earlier this month, representatives from Padre Dam, the city of El Cajon and the County of San Diego took part in the initial formation meeting of the East County Advanced Water Purification Joint Powers Authority. The JPA will serve as the governing body for the recycled water project.

Full Story

What Will Winter Hold? Make a Guess, Win a Ski Weekend

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Robert Krier

San Diego may be riding a precipitation see-saw that’s swinging downward. After a wet year that followed an extremely dry one, rainfall could be scarce again during the 2019-20 rainfall season. It has been so far. Or, the atmospheric patterns that led to a wet and reservoir-renewing winter in California last year could return. There’s a “warm blob” in the Northern Pacific to consider, plus the influence of sea-surface temperatures along the equator. Or perhaps some unseen or poorly understood force will take charge and drive us into a wet — or dry — winter.

Full Story

Spaletta Chosen as FPUD Special Counsel for Santa Margarita Water Rights

/in , /by /Village News (Fallbrook, Calif.)by Joe Naiman

The Fallbrook Public Utility District will use Jennifer Spaletta as FPUD’s special counsel for matters involving Santa Margarita River water rights.

A 5-0 FPUD board vote, Oct. 28, approved the legal services agreement with Spaletta Law. Spaletta replaces Martha Lennihan, who retired.

“We just retained another water rights attorney with a lot of experience and knowledge in the area,” FPUD general manager Jack Bebee said.

Full Story

Pipeline 4 Repairs Completed in North San Diego County

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

In north San Diego County, a testament to the San Diego County Water Authority’s proactive asset management program as Pipeline 4, one of the San Diego region’s major water pipelines, is back in regular service after a leak was repaired. Pipeline 4 resumed normal operations November 10 after nearly two months of modified operation. The leaky section was near Camino Del Rey in Bonsall, in an area with no adjacent homes or businesses.

Full Story

Opinion: The EPA Says We Need to Reuse Wastewater

/in , , /by /Scientific Americanby G. Tracy Mehan, III

On September 10, 2019, at the 34th Annual WateReuse Symposium in San Diego, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a draft National Water Reuse Action Plan for public comment—containing 46 proposed actions, to be accomplished by a mix of federal, state, private, local and private stakeholders, in order to promote 10 strategic objectives. For many in the water sector, this was a welcome recognition—a validation, if you will, of a new movement and set of practices and technologies that will impact drinking water, energy, agriculture and industry throughout the nation.

Full Story

Wind and Solar Can Save the Planet — Can They Save Our Water Supply, Too?

/in , /by /Gristby Emily Pontecorvo

Solar panels and wind turbines are lifelines to any non-apocalyptic version of the future. They’ll help us keep the lights on, the air breathable, and the planet inhabitable. But while the climate and health benefits of wind and solar are well known, they have another, underappreciated feature that could come in handy in our inevitably warmer, drier future: They don’t rely on water.

Full Story

Online Extra: Q-and-A on Sustainable Groundwater Management

/in , /by /AgAlert

Ag Alert: What types of solutions are being built into the plans to bring a basin into sustainability?Ravazzini: As of this date, DWR has not received any plans for review. What DWR is looking for upon submission of the plan is that a GSA (groundwater sustainability agency) has developed a path toward sustainability. How GSAs achieve that goal will differ from basin to basin. One of the state government’s roles is to support these local solutions.

Full Story

New Law Requires California Dams to Have Emergency Plans — But Do They?

/in , , /by /KCRA by David Manoucheri

In the heart of Cameron Park sits a neighborhood of homes with some of the widest streets in the county. The homes all have garages with doors wide enough to let a full airplane park inside. That is what the neighborhood is known for: The streets double as runways and the residents all fly. Jim Bray and his wife moved into their house in March. The couple built a single prop plane together — one he uses to commute to the Bay area. “I fly to Palo Alto three days a week and work from home a couple days a week,” Bray said from the driveway of his home. “So, this is perfect for me.”

Full Story