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Fighting Denial in the Face of Water Shortages, Wildfires and Rising Seas

“We’ve been in denial for a long time,” a water official said about Borrego Springs residents coming to terms with a looming water shortage. Those desert folks aren’t alone. Denial about changes and limits in the natural world is running into harsh reality, whether it’s regarding water supply, wildfires or sea-level rise. A cold snap back East or rain in California doesn’t change any of that. While the politically charged debate over climate change rages at high levels, states and local communities are having to deal with its effects. Consensus on solutions is hard to find because, invariably, there are big economic and quality-of-life issues at stake.

Evacuations Ordered, Roads Closed in California as Flooding Rain Arrives

Heavy rain and mountain snow is spreading across California and will bring the risk of flooding, mudslides and travel delays into Friday. Measurable rain is expected in the state’s largest cities, including in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento. Mandatory evacuations have already been issued for people living near the Holy Fire burn scar due to the potential for flooding and mudslides, while those in Malibu near the Woolsey Fire burn scar have been put on alert for potential evacuation.

Judge Hears Arguments on DCP Injunction

Imperial County Superior Court Judge L. Brooks Anderholt could rule as early as today on whether to grant an injunction that would stop Imperial Irrigation District from taking part in a plan to prevent shortages on the drought-plagued Colorado River. The plaintiff, local farmer Mike Abatti, says a previous ruling by Anderholt that favored Abatti over IID and its equitable distribution plan precludes the district from entering into any new contracts that have to do with water because water rights are tied to the land and are a property right of the agricultural user. That case is currently under appeal by IID.

OPINION: Borrego Springs’ Water Dilemma Demands County Response

The tiny, remote dot in northeastern San Diego County known as Borrego Springs and its several thousand residents face a daunting task: To survive, they need to ensure they use the same amount of water as the town has in its sole aquifer, which provides declining supplies. Officials expect to have 75 percent less water available by 2040, and they say the town must allow most of its 3,800 acres of citrus and other farms — which use 70 percent to 80 percent of all the community’s groundwater — to fallow. The narrowly defeated Proposition 3, the $8.8 billion state water bond, would have provided $35 million to fallow the farms, which would then become part of adjacent Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Now there’s talk of pursuing a new water bond or seeking help from the Legislature to fallow farms and retrain about 60 farm workers for other jobs.

Project to Build Deeper Lake Mead Water Intake Passes Key Milestone

After a three-year battle to keep their underground job site from flooding, the construction crew at Lake Mead is ready to let the water win. Sometime late next week, workers plan to shut off the pumps keeping the water out and allow it to fill the cavern they have carefully excavated more than 500 feet beneath the shore. The move will mark the latest milestone for the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s low-lake-level pumping station, a $650 million safety net for a community that draws 90 percent of its drinking water from Lake Mead.

Imperial Valley Judge Warns Fight Over Water Rights Could Head To Congress Or The U.S. Supreme Court

A group of powerful Imperial Valley farmers and their irrigation district need to work together for the benefit of the region, according to Superior Court Judge L. Brooks Anderholt. He warned a fight between the two sides over rights to Colorado River water and the need to address a prolonged drought across the Southwest could spur action by Congress, or end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Emergency Preparedness Pays Off For Fallbrook PUD

When residents in De Luz were forced to evacuate about 100 homes during the Rock Fire in July, an emergency generator installed by the Fallbrook Public Utility District proved its value by providing water to help firefighters extinguish the blaze. The generator was installed about a year ago at the Donnil Pump Station at a cost of about $140,000. Since then, several fires have sparked in the hilly backcountry community north of Fallbrook.

 

Pacific Storm To Bring Rain, Mountain Snow To California

California will see widespread rain and heavy Sierra Nevada snowfall through midweek, potentially bringing travel problems and raising the risk of damaging runoff from wildfire burn scars, forecasters said Tuesday. The wet pattern from a deep atmospheric fetch of Pacific moisture marks a significant change in the weather following conditions that contributed to disastrous and deadly wildfires up and down California, where hundreds of thousands of acres have burned this year.

 

Dry And Getting Drier: Southwestern Water Scarcity The New Norm, Climate Study Says

The effects of climate change are not far off problems for future generations. They are existential problems for everyone alive today. That’s one big takeaway from the U.S. federal government’s latest roundup of climate science, the National Climate Assessment, now in its fourth iteration. Released the day after Thanksgiving, the newest report is unequivocal. In heavily footnoted, short declarative sentences it urgently tells readers that climate change is happening, it’s human-caused, and it could make life in the Western U.S. increasingly difficult.

EPA Gives $614-million Loan To San Diego For Pure Water Project Development

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer accepted a nine- figure loan from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday to help the city finance phase one of the Pure Water San Diego water recycling program. Faulconer joined EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler to formally claim the $614 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan. The city estimates that the first phase of the program will cost roughly $1.4 billion, including funding from the loan.