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Trump’s Pending Rules On California Water Marked By Missing Documents And Hurried Reviews, Say Scientists

/in , , /by /KQEDby Lauren Sommer

Independent scientists have raised serious concerns about a Trump administration plan to divert more water to California farmers, according to documents obtained by KQED.

In their analyses, they write that the plan poses risks to threatened fish; that the process is rushed; that they didn’t receive enough information to provide a complete scientific review; and that the Trump administration may be skewing the science to make the environmental impact look less serious.

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Water Authority Board Adopts $1.7 Billion Two-Year Budget

/in , , /by /San Diego Metroby Manny Cruz

The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors adopted a $1.7 billion budget for fiscal years 2020 and 2021. The new budget is up 5 percent from the current two-year budget, due largely to increasing costs for water supply, supply reliability and infrastructure improvements.

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Contractors See Pure Water Case As A Test For Big Projects Across The Region

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

Scientists suspect hydrogen first met oxygen and formed water amid interstellar clouds as the earliest stars began to die, a billion years after the creation of our universe. With that perspective in mind, the city of San Diego’s plan create a third of the city’s drinking water from recycled sewage isn’t taking that long. But it is definitely delayed. That’s thanks to a dispute between non-union contractors and the city. In November, the City Council required builders looking to work on a big part of the water recycling project, known as Pure Water, to agree to union-friendly contracts.

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How Did California’s Rainfall Season Measure Up? Good, But Not Great

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Paul Duginski

Sunday is the end of the 2018-19 rainfall season in California, and you may have heard that the season’s precipitation totals were extraordinary. The figures show that the season was good — above normal — but not in the top 20% of wettest seasons. With the exception of a brief, early-June heat wave, Southern California has been relatively cool and moist with a thick marine layer through most of the month. The heat wave was more pronounced in Northern California, where the Bay Area experienced record heat, and those records will lift the state to warmer-than-average status for June 2019.

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Surf, Jousting And Rock ‘N’ Roll: Switchfoot’s Bro-Am Festival Celebrates 15 Years

/in , , /by /San Diego Union-Tribuneby Phil Diehl

Success has hardly gone to the heads of the San Diego rock band Switchfoot, as they showed Saturday at their 15th annual Bro-Am surf and music festival at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. The musicians mingled with youngsters flown in from across the country by the nonprofit Challenged Athletes Foundation, and with guests and lifelong friends, including professional surfer Rob Machado, a co-sponsor of the event. “It’s the best day of the year,” said Chad Butler, the band’s drummer. “We grew up here. Music and surfing kept us out of trouble. We wanted to give something back to the community that we love.”

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Cal Am Desal Project Appeal Headed To Coastal Commission Next Month

/in , /by /Monterey Heraldby Jim Johnson

A Coastal Commission hearing on whether California American Water and others can appeal the Marina city denial of a key permit for the proposed desalination project is set for July 11 in San Luis Obispo. Cal Am, two members of the Coastal Commission and two local appellants are challenging the Marina city Planning Commission’s March 7 denial of a coastal development permit for the $329 million desal project, including seven slant source water wells and associated infrastructure proposed for the CEMEX sand mining plant, and segments of a source water pipeline to the desal plant and transmission main pipeline from the desal plant located inside both the city’s jurisdiction and the Coastal Zone under the Coastal Commission’s jurisdiction.

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Records Set As California’s Water Year Comes To A Close

/in , /by /ABC10 (Sacramento) by Monica Woods

The 2018-19 California water year will close with some good and some great news. June 30, 2019, marks the end of the California water year, which began July 1, 2018. The water year got off to a slow start, but then ramped up around January and February throughout California. In particular, the Sierra Nevada mountains saw a big increase in snow during February. The snowpack is an important part of the California water cycle, serving as our above ground savings account for water. During the warmer months, this snow melts providing water downstream to the rest of the state.

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Water Authority Marks 75th Year, Approves $1.7 Billion 2020-21 Budget

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority officially celebrated it 75th year at a board meeting Thursday, while also approving a record $1.7 billion, two-year budget. On June 9, 1944, San Diego voters approved the Water Authority’s formation. Three years later, water from the Colorado River began arriving to support the growing post-war population of San Diego. “It is a pleasure to celebrate the San Diego County Water Authority’s 75th anniversary. We share a common history and a common vision for water-supply reliability that has been essential to the economic vitality and prosperity to all San Diegans.

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Judge Halts Pure Approved Water Construction Contracts

/in , , /by /KUSI News (San Diego)

In a recent ruling, Superior Court Judge John S. Meyer awarded an injunction against the City of San Diego after the City Council, last year, voted to exclude non-union contractors from bidding on the Pure Water project.  In his ruling, Judge John S. Meyer, rightfully stated that the City’s action “is puzzling because it appears to be an attempt to amend or repeal SDMC 11.4401 (Prop A), et seq., which is precluded under the Ordinance. ‘This Ordinance shall not be amended or repealed except by a majority vote of the voters of the City of San Diego.”

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OPINION: California Needs Clean Water

/in , , /by /Bloomberg

In 2012, former California governor Jerry Brown signed into law the Human Right to Water Act, recognizing that “every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water.” At least 1 million Californians are still waiting to exercise that right, according to Brown’s successor, Governor Gavin Newsom, who has called the state’s water crisis a “moral disgrace and a medical emergency.”

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