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Long Beach Is Home To The 4th Worst California Beach, According To Heal The Bay 2019 Report

Long Beach’s dirty ocean water at Coronado Avenue, north of Belmont Pier, makes in one of the 10 worst beaches in the state, according the 2018-2019 Beach Report Card released Wednesday by Heal the Bay. It’s the first time the beach has made the group’s “Beach Bummer” list. On the bright side, the report singled out the city’s long-term project to restore Colorado Lagoon North, a “chronic Beach Bummer” — on the 10 worst list until 2012 — but dramatically improving in water quality thanks to the work. Throughout Southern California, 95% of beaches received an “A” or a “B” for water quality in the summer. Of 33 Honor Roll beaches with perfect grades, two were in Los Angeles County and 10 were in Orange County. None were in Long Beach.

Fire-Ravaged Paradise Water Agency Faces State Ultimatum: Fix Your Cracked Dam Spillway

Just months after California’s deadliest wildfire laid waste to the town of Paradise, hillside residents face yet another costly and potentially dangerous problem. State safety officials have downgraded the Magalia Dam on the hill above town to “poor” condition, and have ordered the dam’s owner to make interim repairs by November on the cracked spillway. It’s the latest in problem for the Paradise Irrigation District, which lost most of its revenue base in the Camp Fire and is still struggling to deliver potable water to its remaining customers. The fire tainted the district’s water supply with the chemical compound benzene, forcing almost all of the few thousand people who’ve returned to Paradise to drink bottled water.

Morning Report: Pure Water Up In The Air Amid Labor Dispute

A project that is supposed to eventually provide a third of the city’s drinking water is now held up in court because of a dispute between anti-union contractors and a union-friendly city government.The city was about to open bids from contractors who want to work on the Pure Water project, which will take sewage and make it drinkable.

California Regulators Propose 2 GW New Peak Capacity To Address Reliability Concerns

California regulators have launched a “procurement track” to address potential reliability questions between 2019 and 2024, including whether there are sufficient resources to meet the state’s peak system reliability needs. On June 20, the California Public Utilities Commission issued a commissioner’s ruling that recommends load serving entities (LSE) procure 2 GW of new peak capacity statewide, to come online by Aug. 1, 2021. The procurement track proceeding is a part of the state’s effort to overhaul utility integrated resource planning (IRP). Initial comments are due July 15.

Water Payments Projected To Exceed Cash Reserves By $3.4M

The ag community at a Friday afternoon IID water conservation meeting wanted to know what the IID plans to change with water conservation payments projected to exceed the budget by $11.7 million. IID’s conservation needs under water transfer agreements with the San Diego County Water Authority and others are 303,000 acre feet. Of that, 103,000 acre feet comes from system conservation. The rest comes from on-farm water conservation.

Despite Record Snow Melt, Toxic Algae Continues To Bloom In California Lakes And Ponds

California’s record snowpack is melting into significant runoff this summer, filling the state’s lakes and ponds with cold, fresh water. These flows usually help prevent blue-green algae blooms, which form in waterways and are toxic to humans and can be deadly to pets. But since mid-spring, there’s been reports of the dangerous — and stinky — algae blooms across the state. “It’s interesting — and maybe a bit surprising — that we do see these blooms even after these big winters,” said Keith Bouma-Gregson, manager of the California Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms Program.

Poster Contest Winners Illustrate ‘Water Is Life’

The Sweetwater Authority 2019 “Water is Life” poster contest is one of many educational opportunities the Authority offers. The annual contest gives kindergarten through sixth grade students the chance to demonstrate how water is a precious and essential resource. By creating water-related art, students enhance their understanding of the importance of water. The Authority invests in the education of students in its service area to foster knowledge and appreciation for the value of water, and to bring awareness to the vital service the Authority provides to its customers and community. More than 130 students from 11 different elementary schools participated in this year’s poster contest.

OPINION: The Infrastructure Crisis Lurking In The Shadows

California, like many states, faces an infrastructure crisis, but not just the one affecting the roads we drive on, water systems we rely on, and the electricity that powers our everyday lives. As critical as it is for state and federal policy makers to focus on the resiliency of the state’s infrastructure, we also need to focus on a critical element that often is overlooked: the people who know how to build, maintain and operate the infrastructure we use every day.

Western Senators Introduce Bipartisan Drought Legislation

Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) today introduced the bipartisan Drought Resiliency and Water Supply Infrastructure Act, a bill to improve the nation’s water supply and drought resiliency. The legislation builds on Senator Feinstein’s 2016 California drought legislation that was included in the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act. “The effects of climate change are here to stay, and one enormous effect on the West is more – and more severe – droughts,” said Senator Feinstein. “As California continues to recover from a historic drought, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory now estimates that the Sierra snowpack, a primary source of water for California, will decrease by 79 percent by the end of the century.

Pure Water Day Delivers Pure Family Fun

The City of San Diego held its third ‘Pure Water Day’ Open House at the North City Water Reclamation Plant in the Miramar area, inviting residents to enjoy family-friendly activities and learn about the upcoming project construction. More than 300 people took tours of the five-step water purification process at the Pure Water Demonstration Facility and tasted the purified water produced at the facility following their tour. Residents of University City, Clairemont, and Scripps Ranch learned about Phase 1 of construction scheduled in their neighborhoods.