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San Dieguito River Conservancy Cleaning Up Watershed

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Deborah Sullivan Brennan

The San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy is eradicating invasive weeds from the river course, and replacing them with native plants, in order to control fire risk and and improve the natural habitat. The restoration project covers almost 95 acres, and takes place along a 2.5-mile stretch of the San Dieguito River between Fairbanks Ranch and Rancho Santa Fe. That area is part of an ongoing revegetation program to improve the streamside environment.

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OPINION: California Water Tax Plan Is Back — And Newsom’s Version Is The Worst Yet

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune

Two years ago, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board opposed a bill that would add a maximum 95-cents fee to the monthly bills of all but low-income water customers to help pay for water infrastructure improvements in some 300 communities with about 1 million residents. These residents, clustered in agricultural areas in the Central Valley, have to rely on unsafe water supplies.

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Reservoir Releases Shift From Flood Control To Storage

/in , , /by /KCRA (Sacramento)by Vicki Gonzalez

Water managers are shifting from flood control to water storage at reservoirs across the California. Folsom Lake is at roughly 70 percent capacity, with about twice the amount of inflow as outflow. “We can kind of buffer up and down — give or take — to try and get that target,” said Todd Plain with Bureau of Reclamation. “That target, as time goes on, is moving up as we fill. So, it’s OK to be to be a little bit above average right now.”

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As Trump Tries To Roll Back Clean Water Rules, California Seeks Stronger Protections

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

When grower Brad Goehring looks across his rows of grapes, he can’t help but see a pool of murky water that breaks the rhythm of his vines, which otherwise stretch steadily into the Sierra foothills. The pool is relatively small, maybe half an acre, but vital, according to environmental regulators. They say it helps to clean the runoff from Goehring’s fields and provides a home for critters such as marsh birds. And by law, it can’t be disrupted, which is what makes this mini wetland a headache for Goehring.

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Environment Report: What The Super Bloom Says About Backcountry Development

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

People are scrambling to find the so-called “super bloom” flowers in the far reaches of Southern California. People have taken off for the Anza-Borrego Desert or, less exotically, parked along the shoulder of Interstate 15 to photograph themselves serenely sitting in a flower patch by a six-lane highway. Getting out there is a healthy reminder that so much of San Diego County – 4,200 square miles of it – is undeveloped. It’s a bit amazing to stand in the dusty, often barren Anza-Borrego only to look up at the mountains and realize that 90 miles west is the country’s eighth-largest city and the world’s largest ocean.

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Threat For Flooding, Heavy Snow Renewed Throughout California Through Midweek

/in , , /by /Accuweatherby Faith Eherts

Another round of soaking winter weather is on the horizon for the West Coast, with a series of storms expected to impact the region through midweek. Dry weather has been rare for much of California over the past week, with Sunday acting as a brief respite before more rain arrived overnight. “Unsettled weather will continue across the West Coast this week as more rain and mountain snow targets Northern California, Oregon and Washington,” according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Max Vido.

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A Local Water Board Paid An Employee Not To Work There. Now He’s On The Board.

/in , /by /The Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

Five years ago, the Sweetwater Authority paid one of its engineers $175,000 to drop a lawsuit against the water district if he agreed to never work there again. Now, the engineer, Hector Martinez, is one of seven board members in charge of running the district. He also has ties to a former board member who, years earlier, was paid in exchange for leaving the district’s board. In 2014, the district paid to settle a racial discrimination lawsuit Martinez filed against Sweetwater, which provides drinking water to National City and parts of Chula Vista. Martinez claimed the district didn’t give him a promotion in 2008 because he is Hispanic.

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Heavy Sierra Snow, Valley Thunderstorms And Hail Possible Wednesday As Storm Peaks

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Michael McGough

The heaviest rain, heaviest snow and highest probability of thunderstorms accompanying the current storm will pass through Northern California at varying times Wednesday. Early morning showers were scattered, dropping heavier precipitation in the northern half of the Sacramento Valley while Sacramento stayed mostly dry as of 6 a.m., as National Weather Service radar images show. Rain in Sacramento will likely begin later Wednesday morning.

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How California Is Defying Trump’s Environmental Rollbacks

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Bettina Boxall

California is building walls at its borders — they’re just not the kind President Trump has in mind. As the Trump administration continues its assault on environmental regulation, state officials are throwing up legal barriers to some high-stakes attacks. They are preparing to strengthen safeguards for waterways that are about to lose federal protections in a major rollback of the Clean Water Act. They are refusing to issue permits the federal government needs to build a controversial dam project that would drown portions of a Northern California river renowned for its wild trout fishery.

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Water Authority Projects Pinched By Labor Shortage, Rising Cost Of Construction Materials

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Toni McAllister Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

A shortage of construction workers coupled with higher prices for materials used in construction are driving up costs for San Diego County Water Authority’s infrastructure and maintenance projects, the agency is warning. During a Water Authority Board of Directors’ Engineering and Operations Committee meeting held earlier this month, Gary Bousquet, the agency’s deputy director of engineering, told attendees: “The Water Authority will monitor market trends and adjust individual project budgets as required. Our planning process includes prioritizing projects and evaluating the timing or need and scope of projects. We will adjust our project cost estimates to meet changing market conditions.”

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