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Turf Removal Funding Increased To $2 Per Square Foot

/in , /by /Valley News (Fallbrook, Calif.)

Eastern Municipal Water District customers are eligible to receive $2 per square foot when they remove grass at their homes and businesses after regional funding opportunities were recently doubled. The popular turf removal program funded by The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California – of which EMWD is a member agency – began providing funding of $2 per square foot as of April 1. In addition to the increased funding, the program has undergone administrative changes to assist customers.

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What The Latest Eastern Sierra Snowpack Measurement Means For The LA Aqueduct

/in , /by /NBC 4 Los Angelesby Jonathan Lloyd

The final snowpack measurement in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains showed levels well above average after winter’s unrelenting storms in California. The snowpack is an important measurement for water managers who determine how much water Southern California can expect to received from the Los Angeles Aqueduct, a system of channels and tunnels that stretches hundreds of miles from the eastern side of the 400-mile long Sierra Nevada Mountain range to Los Angeles. Snow in the mountains melts in spring, running off into the aqueduct and other water delivery systems around the state.  Based on the snowpack survey, the Los Angeles Aqueduct will flow at or near full capacity for much of the year.

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DWP Measures Snowpack At 171 Percent Of Normal

/in , /by /Sierra Wave (Bishop, Calif.)

On April 5, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) hydropgraphers performed the final snowpack survey for the season, which helps determine the amount of water available for Los Angeles’ water supply. This year, the snowpack measured at 171 percent of normal, which translates to a well above average year. In comparison, the snowpack registered at 66 percent of normal in 2018, a dry year, and 203 percent in 2017, the second wettest year on record. Snowpack measurements help determine how much water supply LADWP can expect from the LA Aqueduct and how much it will need to purchase from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD).

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Napa County Passes Contentious Water And Tree Protection Provision

/in , /by /Forbesby Liza B. Zimmerman

After close to a year of non-stop debate about how to protect agriculture and support commerce, the Napa County Board of Supervisors (BOS) passed the final ordinance on Water Quality and Tree Protection last Tuesday April 9th. It was adopted by a vote of 5-0, with provisions for it to take effect in 30 days. Brad Wagenknecht, a supervisor at the Napa Valley BOS, shares in a recent interview that, “the Board has worked on this for such a long time.” He adds that, as a result, “I think you will be able to recognize the Napa Valley in 50 years.”

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What State Has The Greatest Percentage Of Beginning Farmers?

/in , /by /Farm Progress (St. Charles, Ill.)

The 2017 Census of Agriculture was released April 11. Here’s a few findings from the report. Alaska ranks first in the percent of producers who are beginning farmers, followed by Georgia and Maine. Beginning farmers have 10 or fewer years of farming experience. In 2017, 27% of all U.S. producers classified as beginning farmers. Their average age was 46.3, and their farms were smaller than average in both acres and sales. The average age of all U.S. producers in 2017 was 57.5 years, up 1.2 years from 2012, when the last Census was conducted. This continues a long-term trend. Producers had been on their current farm an average of 21.3 years. On average, producers are older in southern states and younger in Midwestern states.

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Bonita Museum To Display Winners Of Sweetwater Authority’s Photo Contest

/in , /by /San Diego Union-Tribuneby David Hernandez

The images capture water in everyday life. One shows the reflection of a mural in a puddle. Another captures rain drops on a sunroof. The photographs are among a dozen images taken by high school students in South Bay who won a contest put on by the Sweetwater Authority, which provides water for about 190,000 customers in National City, Bonita and western and central Chula Vista. The water district’s photo contest yielded more than 85 entrees, each of which included a short essay about the images and the tie-in to the the theme (“Water in Daily Life”). The contest included two categories: color and black and white.

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The Big Dig: Trampas Canyon Reservoir To Serve As South County’s Largest Water Project

/in , , /by /The Capistrano Dispatch (Orange County)by Fred Swegles

On 177 acres situated between San Clemente’s Talega community and Ortega Highway, mountainous earthworks are taking shape. Santa Margarita Water District, which provides water and sewer services to Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Coto de Caza, Las Flores, Ladera Ranch, Rancho Mission Viejo and Talega, is building a 1.6-billion-gallon reservoir. When completed in 2020, Trampas Canyon Reservoir, less than a half-mile north of Talega, will be able to store recycled wastewater collected from as many as five South Orange County treatment plants.

 

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David Bernhardt Confirmed As Interior Secretary Despite Ethics Concerns

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Anna M. Phillips and Bettina Boxall

David Bernhardt, President Trump’s pick to the lead the Interior Department, was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday amid persistent ethical concerns and doubts about his independence from the energy and water industry groups he long represented as a lobbyist. Senators voted 56-41 in favor of Bernhardt’s confirmation. Several Democrats crossed party lines to support the nominee, including Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico. Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, also voted for confirmation.

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$250 PG&E Bill: Utility’s Customers Will Pay 50 Percent More If Wildfires Erupt Again, Report Warns

/in , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by George Avalos

PG&E bills would rocket 50 percent higher if wildfire disasters caused by the embattled utility descend on northern or central California again, according to a report that’s being circulated in Sacramento ahead of a crucial announcement Friday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. An array of catastrophes loom if state officials fail to find a fix for California’s utility-caused wildfire woes, according to the report from Steven Weissman, a lecturer with UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. “Rates would skyrocket, on average by 50 percent in the first year, to keep up with new fires,” Weissman wrote in his report to the governor’s office. “It’s simple math.”

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Faulconer Budget Drawing Praise, But Council Democrats Want Closer Look

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby John Gibbins

The proposed budget that Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer unveiled Thursday is getting praise for avoiding major cuts to key programs, but City Council Democrats say they are eager to analyze the spending plan more closely. Faulconer is touting his $1.57 billion budget, which would cover the fiscal year that starts July 1, as a proposal that reflects priorities shared by residents across San Diego.

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