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Plan Unveiled To Cut Borrego Springs Water Consumption By 75 Percent

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union Tribune by Harry Jones

For years, the desert town of Borrego Springs has been living on borrowed time, drawing more water from the ground than its rains replace. But a reckoning is near. In March, a nearly 1,000-page draft report was released outlining how the community must and will reduce its water use by a staggering 74.6 percent between now and 2040. Borrego Springs is completely dependent on groundwater for survival because there is no economically feasible way to bring water via aqueduct or pipes to the remote area in the center of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the largest state park in California.

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Olivenhain Tries Desalinating Groundwater

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

Construction starts this month on a $1.5 million test well to show whether desalinated groundwater could supplement the drinking water supply for 86,000 customers of the Olivenhain Municipal Water District. The district serves parts of Encinitas, Carlsbad, San Diego, San Marcos, Solana Beach and neighboring communities, and relies almost entirely on water imported from the Colorado River and Northern California. Like agencies throughout Southern California, it’s looking for ways to diversify its water supply.

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California’s Emergency Alert System Has Been A Disaster. A Statewide Fix Is Planned

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Joseph Serna

In Mendocino County, emergency staffers waited for a supervisor to show up before they warned residents of a growing fire siege in 2017. In Santa Barbara County, officials hesitated to issue blanket evacuation orders before mudslides ripped through Montecito in 2018 because they worried they might trigger a panic. And in Butte County in November, whole neighborhoods in Paradise were never told to evacuate as the Camp fire swept toward town. In each case, local emergency preparedness agencies failed to adequately warn communities that death was approaching. Experts say the failures point to an approach to emergency management — administered by individual counties — that has proved outdated in an era of massive, fast-moving wildfires and other extreme weather events.

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River Levels Rise As More Water Released From Keswick And Oroville Dams

/in , /by /ABC7 (Los Angeles)by Kelli Saam

Water levels will rise on the Sacramento and Feather Rivers as federal and state authorities release more water from Keswick and Oroville Dams. Thursday morning by 10 a.m., the Bureau of Reclamation will increase releases below Keswick Dam from 20,000 cubic feet per second to 30,000 cfs. Sacramento River levels are expected to increase downstream of Keswick Dam. The increased releases are necessary to meet flood space regulatory requirements within Shasta Reservoir.

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A California Tax To Clean Up Toxic Drinking Water Has Lawmakers Jumpy

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby George Skelton

The ghost of Josh Newman haunts the state Capitol, sending shivers through certain politicians’ spines at the mere mention of the scary word “tax.” The former lawmaker’s fate will make it difficult for the Legislature — even with supermajority Democratic control — to pass one of Gavin Newsom’s top priorities: a so-called water tax. The governor says the tiny tax is needed to raise enough money to clean up toxic drinking water throughout California, particularly in low-income farmworker communities of the San Joaquin Valley.

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Water Wise: Fair Shows Ways To Use Less Water And Help Native Plants

/in , /by /Hi-Desert Star (Yucca Valley, Calif.)by Jené Estrada

Water-wise planting, pool safety and groundwater pollution — the Joshua Basin Water District’s annual Water Education Day focused on a crucial aspect of desert living: the Basin’s relationship with water. Public outreach consultant Kathleen Radnich helped greet locals as they made their way into the biggest Water Education Day yet. “It’s been a very good turnout,” she said. “One of our big draws is our native plant sale and that has over 460 plants this year.” The water district’s native plants are grown with the help of Joshua Tree National Park. While harvesting is illegal within the park borders, harvested plants from outside of the park can be nurtured within the park’s nursery and distributed.

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‘We’re Rolling’: Irrigation Season Begins For Klamath Project

/in , /by /Herald and News (Klamath Falls, Ore.)by Holly Dillemuth

Water rushed forth into the A Canal in Klamath Falls Tuesday afternoon as Fritz Frisendahl and Scott Cheyne of the Klamath Irrigation District opened the headgates via the control panel. Between 20- and 40-cubic feet per second of water is now traveling through the canal, about as much water to fill about 20 bathtubs per second, according to Gene Souza, manager of the Klamath Irrigation District. Frisendahl, who helped turn on the headgates, has been through some tough water years in the Klamath Basin, including the 2018 drought.

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Costa Mesa High School Environmental Science Students Collect Samples, Data In The Back Bay

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Lilly Nguyen

After months of research, Costa Mesa High School environmental science students returned to the Newport Beach Back Bay Science Center Tuesday to gather final data in their examinations of biodiversity in and along the estuary. The Advanced Placement students formed teams of three to five and in October began researching water quality, mud invertebrates, avian migration and other subjects. Though teachers provided a list of potential topics, students were given the opportunity to “[find] their way toward something that interests them,” said Cristen Rasmussen, an AP environmental science teacher at the high school.

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Farmers Welcome Federal Agencies’ Suits On Flows Plan

/in , , /by /Ag Alert (Sacramento)by Christine Souza

Now that the federal government has filed its own lawsuits against an unimpaired-flows plan for San Joaquin River tributaries, farmers and other parties to the lawsuits wait to learn where they will be heard–and prepare for a lengthy court battle. The U.S. departments of Justice and Interior filed suits in both federal and state courts last week, against the plan finalized last December by the State Water Resources Control Board. The plan would redirect 30 to 50 percent of the flows in the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers in an attempt to increase fish populations.

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OPINION: California Can’t Save Fish By Diverting More Water From Rivers

/in , /by /CALmatters (Sacramento)by John McManus

Recent decades have brought the slow collapse of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its salmon runs. A half dozen species face extinction. Lacking natural flushing, the Delta now suffers outbreaks of toxic algae. The salmon fishing industry suffered a shutdown in 2008 and 2009 which cost thousands of jobs. Science points to a clear cause: inadequate flows caused by excessive diversions. In some years, 90 percent of the Tuolumne River is diverted, leaving only 10 percent for salmon and the Bay-Delta. Every Central Valley salmon river also suffers from over diversion in many years. Recent proposals from water users fall far short of what is needed by salmon and required by the law.

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