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

Court Throws Out Federal Approval Of Cadiz Water Pipeline

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Bettina Boxall

A federal judge has struck down Trump administration decisions that cleared the way for Cadiz Inc. to build a water pipeline across public land in the California desert. The ruling is a blow to the company’s decades-long effort to pump groundwater from beneath its desert property 200 miles east of Los Angeles and sell it to urban Southern California. Cadiz wants to use an existing railroad right of way across federal land to pipe supplies from its proposed well field to the Colorado River Aqueduct. In 2015, during the Obama administration, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said Cadiz couldn’t use the right of way and would therefore have to obtain federal permission to run the proposed pipeline across surrounding federal land.

Full Story

How Is Climate Change Affecting Oceans? Check The Tide Pools

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Nick Rahaim

On a sunny afternoon in mid-April, Professor Eric Sanford crouched in a tide pool off Bodega Bay and turned over algae-covered rocks in search of a chocolate porcelain crab, a dime-size crustacean with blue speckles. The creature has been spotted in small numbers around Bodega Bay for decades. But five years ago a severe marine heat wave, dubbed “the blob,” caused a sharp increase in its numbers north of the Golden Gate, says Sanford, a marine ecologist who researches climate change and coastal ecosystems at UC Davis’ Bodega Marine Lab. “I look at how organisms adapt to climate change,” says Sanford, who regularly publishes articles in scientific journals on how life between the Northern California tides is changing.

Full Story

California Bill On PFAS Chemicals Advances, But In Watered Down Form

/in , /by /KQED (San Francisco)by Hannah Hagemann

A California Senate committee has voted in favor of a bill requiring that water providers notify their customers if they detect a class of chemicals called PFAS in drinking water. The Environmental Quality Committee passed AB 756 on Wednesday, 6-0. The bill now heads to the Appropriations Committee. If it passes there, the full Senate will vote on it.  PFAS, which stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are waterproof, grease-repellent, and heat-resistant chemicals that are fairly ubiquitous, found in popcorn bags, firefighting foams, nonstick pans, makeup, and even food like ground beef. Scientists estimate there are 4,700 PFAS, some of which have been linked to cancer, infertility, developmental disorders, increased cholesterol and weakened immunity.

Full Story

State Water Project Allocations Increase To 75 Percent

/in , , /by /Lake County News (Lakeport, Calif.)

The California Department of Water Resources announced Thursday that it will increase the 2019 State Water Project allocation to 75 percent from 70 percent. This is the final allocation for the calendar year. The initial allocation in November 2018 was 10 percent. The 2019 allocation of ­­75 percent amounts to 3,145,105 acre-feet of water. “This winter’s robust storms resulted in above average snowpack and reservoir levels bringing California a much-improved water year from last year,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “The full reservoirs will provide a healthy buffer for if we return to drier conditions next year.”

Full Story

San Diego Water Authority’s Jim Madaffer Named To Colorado River Board

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Ken Stone Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Jim Madaffer of the San Diego County Water Authority has been named to the Colorado River Board of California, which represents the state in talks with other states and federal agencies regarding management of the Colorado River.

The appointment was announced Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. Madaffer, 59, is a former San Diego councilman who has been president of Madaffer Enterprises since 2009. Now the chair of the county Water Authority board of directors, he’s a former Jerry Brown appointee to the California Transportation Commission, but resigned in January after becoming chair of the water authority.

Full Story

$30 Million Salton Sea Bill Passes U.S. House

/in , , /by /KESQ (Thousand Palms, Calif.)by Sam Benson Smith

The United State House of Representative has passed H.R. 2740, an appropriations bill in support of a federal agreement to allot $30 million for projects which would address the environmental and health crisis at the Salton Sea. Included in the Bill is an amendment from Representative Raul Ruiz, M.D. (D – Palm Desert) which would dedicate an added $2 million to stymie the decline of California’s largest lake. “This bill reflects the all-hands-on-deck approach we must take to mitigate and manage the decline of the Salton Sea by investing in our local environment and the health of our children, seniors, and families,”read a statement from Ruiz’s issued in a news release from his office.

Full Story

Feds Can’t Duck Claims Of Shoddy Review For Desert Water Pipeline

/in , /by /Courthouse News Service (Pasadena, Calif.)by Martin Macias Jr.

A federal judge indicated Thursday he will advance conservation groups’ claims that a proposed 43-mile groundwater pipeline in a Southern California desert was approved abruptly and without proper environmental review by a federal agency. The Cadiz groundwater pipeline project would move nearly 45 million gallons of water daily for 50 years from an underground aquifer in the Mojave Desert and to cities across Southern California. The Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety accuse Cadiz of trying to evade federal laws protecting the fragile desert by planning to build its pipeline along a railroad track that was established under the General Railroad Right-of-Way Act of 1875.

Full Story

Top 10 Tips For Saving Water This Summer

/in , /by /Water News Network

The start of summer brings the hottest, driest months of the year in San Diego County and a good time to remind residents of the Top 10 tips for using water more efficiently.Check it out. Inspect irrigation equipment to eliminate overspray. Monitor soil moisture using a spade or soil probe, and only water if the top inch of soil is dry. Irrigate turf if it doesn’t spring back when stepped on. Better yet, upgrade to a “smart” irrigation controller that automatically adjusts water times based on weather conditions.

Full Story

Paying The Toll On Sea Level Rise

/in , /by /The San Diego Union Tribune by Deborah Sullivan Brennan

Defending San Diego County against rising seas would cost about $1 billion, according to a new study that estimated that the cost of coastal armoring would be at least $22 billion for California, and more than $400 billion for the United States as a whole. And that’s just a “minimum down payment for short-term defense against rising seas in California,” says the study released today by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Climate Integrity and the environmental engineering firm Resilient Analytics.

 

 

Full Story

Port of Hueneme Installs Seabin To Clean The Ocean Of Unwanted Litter

/in , /by /The Logby Devon Warren-Kachelein

Port of Hueneme is taking action to keep their waters clean. The port, over Memorial Day weekend, installed a revolutionary new device, known as a Seabin, to collect trash in the ocean. The Port of Hueneme announced on its official Twitter page: “The Seabin started operation this weekend at the Port – a “trash skimmer” installed in a water body and acting as a floating garbage bin skimming the surface of the water by pumping water into the device. Keeping our waters clean and our environment green!’

Full Story