Rosa will spread the risk of life-threatening flash flooding over the interior Southwest, while a non-tropical storm spreads soaking rain into much of California this week.
Millions of people in the United States drink water contaminated with nitrates from agricultural runoff, which can have adverse effects on human health. For decades, cities and towns in California and the Midwest, where much of this pollution is concentrated, have tried to clean up their water—for a high price. Now, an Environmental Working Group report has found that the brunt of this cost falls on small, rural communities, where a disproportionate amount of residents are living in poverty.
The beginning of the eighth year of drought conditions in Santa Barbara should be a red-alert for water managers, but the crisis is being managed. A multi-part plan is being used to slow down the water use and preserve what’s in the local storage sites both above and below the ground.
In January of this year, a state law went into effect that requires public schools throughout California to test their drinking water for lead by July of 2019. Lawmakers enacted the regulation in an effort to improve water quality at schools. And while thousands of water districts have now tested their water for lead, a special report out of the education news website EdSource found many ways in which the law is lacking.
Rain showers moved across Northern California on Tuesday after months of extremely dry weather. “What’s that on the radar? Yep, it’s rain!” the Sacramento National Weather Service office tweeted. Showers were reported from the coast inland to the state capital and the San Joaquin Valley, but rainfall rates varied greatly. The 0.01 inch (0.25 millimeter) of rainfall received in Fresno by early afternoon was enough to crow about.
In parched, drought-stricken California, where water is considered liquid gold, the politics of power and wealth are playing out in real-time.
The California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) recent decision to allow the California American Water Company (Cal-Am) to proceed with its Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project desalination plant is great news – that is, if you live in Carmel, Pacific Grove or Monterey.
California began a new water year Monday with some rain falling or in the immediate forecast after 12 months of below-average precipitation. The Department of Water Resources said the Oct.1-Sept. 30 water year that ended Sunday was marked by hot and dry conditions, except for sporadic significant precipitation. During the period, the statewide snowpack was just 58 percent of average by April 1, a dramatic reversal from the previous water year in which the pack reached 159 percent of average.
The remnants of Hurricane Rosa are forecast to bring heavy rain and the threat of flash flooding to the Southwest over the next few days. The now-tropical storm – which had been as strong as a Category 4 hurricane – is poised to make landfall along Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula on Monday evening, where heavy rain was already being reported.
Flint, Mich., isn’t the only place where tap water is poisonous. Shockingly, more than 1 million California residents are exposed to unsafe tap water each year in our homes, schools and public buildings. Latino and low-income communities are suffering the most. At the same time, longer droughts and shrinking Sierra snowpack endanger the water supplies of millions more Californians, and threaten extinction for salmon and other wildlife. More extreme storms have exposed vulnerable old dams and canals that need maintenance to protect us from floods and deliver water to homes and farms.
What’s being sold as commonality between Republicans and Democrats on environmental concerns based on support for Proposition 3 is a false premise. Prop. 3 is not what it appears to be. There are several bad ideas incorporated in this $8.9 billion bond statewide bond measure. A shift of the fiscal burden for water delivery systems from corporate agriculture and water agencies to the general public. How? The bonds would be repaid out of the state’s general fund, thus all taxpayers, not just the project beneficiaries, would foot the bills. Another good deal for large, well-connected water interests, and one more bad deal for the average taxpayer.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
