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45 Day Moratorium On Drilling Of Certain Oil Wells Passes

/in , , /by /Ventura County Starby Kathleen Wilson

County supervisors have outlawed drilling of certain new oil wells in the vicinity of a major aquifer for 45 days in light of water-safety questions. The decision Tuesday by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors came a couple of months after scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey reported that they had found petroleum-related gases in wells supplying irrigation water on the Oxnard Plain.The moratorium applies to the drilling of new wells and the re-drilling of existing ones near the Fox Canyon Aquifer, which is described as a major source of drinking quality groundwater.

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San Diego Ranks 6th Among Most Polluted Cities In US

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union Tribune by Lauryn Schroeder

Greater San Diego has the sixth worst ozone pollution in the country for the fifth year in a row, a report released Wednesday by the American Lung Association says. Local officials said it’s time to take action and protect the communities most affected.San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher and officials from the American Lung Association and local environmental groups held a press conference at Cesar Chavez Park in Barrio Logan to discuss the annual air quality report, which estimates more than 40 percent of Americans live with unhealthy air quality.

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Will San Diego Aquaculture Bring Back Abalone?

/in , /by /San Diego Readerby Sheila Pell

Port officials looking to expand local aquaculture heard some good news this month. A two-year project by federal scientists that mapped the potential for aquaculture in the U.S. found ample promise in San Diego. And zeroing in on those spots is getting easier. “We think this is the most exhaustive analysis ever done at the estuary scale in the U.S.,” said James Morris, a marine ecologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who presented the results to the Port.

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Groundwater Policy Still Muddled Until Supreme Court Rules

/in , , /by /E&E Newsby Ellen M. Gilmer

A new EPA policy addressing pollution that moves through groundwater was intended to clarify the scope of the Clean Water Act but may serve to further complicate matters, at least in the near term.

Trump appointees released the memo last week, declaring that any pollutants that travel through groundwater before reaching a surface waterway are beyond the purview of the bedrock environmental law.

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Cooperation Preserves Pauma Valley Groundwater

/in , /by /Water News Network

Instead of waiting for Yuima Valley’s precious groundwater supplies to dry up, the Yuima Municipal Water District and local farmers are working cooperatively to create a sustainable long-term strategy for maintaining the region’s economy and quality of life by proactively managing the valley’s aquifer. To the east in Borrego Springs, the chronically water-short community offers a warning about over-tapping groundwater. Borrego Springs expects to face a 75 percent reduction in water supplies by 2040. The current plan is to let 3,800 acres of agriculture go fallow because farms use 80 percent of the community’s groundwater. Yuima farmers also have relied on groundwater supplies for decades. Crops such as citrus and avocado flourish in the valley, nestled between Palomar Mountain and Valley Center.

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Oregon Directs Utilities To Show Plans For Accelerating Transportation Electrification

/in , /by /The Ulility Diveby Robert Walton

Oregon has aggressive clean transportation goals to go along with its renewable portfolio standard, but the state’s utilities will need to do some work in order to meet them. According to GEO, electric vehicles in Oregon are growing about 35% annually tHE which puts the state on pace to reach “just over 40,000 registered by 2020.” That means reaching 50,000 EVs in the next couple of years will require developing fast charging corridors along busy routes, developing “charge-ready” buildings and homes, and leaning heavily on utility partnerships, the group says.

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OPINION: Newsom Offers A New Approach To California’s Water Issues

/in , /by /CALmatters (Sacramento)by Don Nottoli and Bill Dodd

By rejecting the twin tunnels proposal, Gov. Gavin Newsom has sent an important message that new thinking is required to address California’s complex water issues. The Delta Counties Coalition is committed to supporting a more thoughtful process. The Delta Counties Coalition represents more than 4 million residents whose livelihoods and way of life are grounded in a healthy Delta economy. The coalition serves to protect the largest estuary on the west coast of the Americas from unwarranted intrusion that could destroy the precious Delta ecosystem and hurt our region’s economy.

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Spring Cleaning: Ways To Keep San Diego’s Water System Clean

/in , , /by /NBC 7 San Diegoby Ashley Matthews

All water leads to a recycling center so even it’s going down the drain, there are some things San Diegans can do to ensure our region’s water is as clean as possible. Water is always in high demand in California, so it’s necessary to take care of it in any way possible. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department says one easy thing to protect the county’s waterways is to avoid dumping perscription pills. Tossing prescription medication down the drain or toilet contaminates the water system, which can cause bigger problems when it drains back into the ocean and threatens the environment, SDSO said.

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California Has Farmers Growing Weeds. Why? To Capture Carbon

/in , , /by /KQED News (Sacramento)by Lauren Sommer

California’s climate change efforts can be spotted all over the Bay Area in the growing number of electric cars and solar panels. But now, California is enlisting people from a more conservative part of the state  even if they don’t think climate change is much of a concern. California’s farmers are receiving millions of dollars to pull carbon out of the atmosphere, something the state says is crucial for meeting its ambitious climate goals.

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Paradise Resident ‘Forced’ To Move Home After Wildfire Without Access To Safe Water

/in , /by /The ABC Newsby Allie Yang

In the wake of the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history, the residents of Paradise are slowly returning and rebuilding. But even though one Paradise resident’s home survived the wildfire, her family’s saga of returning to a normal life is far from over. While the structure of resident Kyla Awalt’s home is still intact, she said it has no access to running water a widespread problem in the area after the historic fire but her insurance company has ruled that the water issue isn’t covered by her home insurance policy.

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