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City’s Dispute With SDG&E Could Add $48M to the Cost of Pure Water Project

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

In recent months, the city and San Diego Gas & Electric have tussled over the future of energy in San Diego. Now, they’re in a multimillion-dollar dispute over the largest local water project in modern history. The city is working on a $1.4 billion water recycling project, known as a Pure Water. A new water treatment plant will eventually purify enough sewage to provide a third of the city’s drinking water. To build the plant and connect it to the rest of the city’s water system, the city must move some of SDG&E’s equipment.

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Democrats’ House Takeover Could mean Big changes For California Water Policy

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sarah D. Wire

Among the changes ahead when Democrats take control of the House in January, add this one: The switch will upend the balance of power in California’s water wars. In the two years since Republicans’ 2016 election triumphs, party members from the Central Valley led by the current House majority leader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, have gotten several water bills for their area through Congress. Those included the first significant California-specific policy in decades, as part of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, also called the WIIN Act.

 

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As Colorado River Stakeholders Draft A Drought Plan, The Margin For Error In Managing Water Supplies Narrows

/in , /by /Water Education Foundation (Sacramento)by Gary Pitzer

As stakeholders labor to nail down effective and durable drought contingency plans for the Colorado River Basin, they face a stark reality: Scientific research is increasingly pointing to even drier, more challenging times ahead. The latest sobering assessment landed the day after Thanksgiving, when U.S. Global Change Research Program’s Fourth National Climate Assessment concluded that Earth’s climate is changing rapidly compared to the pace of natural variations that have occurred throughout its history, with greenhouse gas emissions largely the cause.

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How Best To Share The Disappearing Colorado River

/in , /by /High Country News (Paonia, Colo.)by Paige Blankenbuehler

As early as 2020, hydrologists forecast that the level of Lake Mead, the largest reservoir on the Colorado River, could drop low enough to trigger the first water shortages in its downstream states of Arizona, Nevada and California. The three states in the river’s Lower Basin have long feared shortages. But the continued decline of Lake Mead reflects a reality they can no longer ignore: Demand for the river’s water, which supports 40 million people from Wyoming to California, has long outpaced the supply.

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California is aiming For 100% Clean Energy. But Los Angeles Might Invest Billions In Fossil Fuels

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sammy Roth

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is leaning toward spending billions of dollars to rebuild three aging gas-fired power plants, even as California aims to eliminate fossil fuels, a goal endorsed by Mayor Eric Garcetti. Consultants hired by the utility say the city should invest those ratepayer dollars in continuing to burn natural gas at the Scattergood, Harbor and Haynes power plants along the coast. The utility’s staff agrees, saying that batteries charged with solar or wind power aren’t yet cheap or reliable enough to replace the gas plants, which are critical to keeping the lights on.

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Farm Bill Offers A Chance At Salton Sea Funding

/in , /by /Imperial - San Diego Currentsby Darren Simon

With the passage of the Federal Farm Bill by both the Senate and House (December 12 and 13 respectively) and hopefully a signature of support to come from the White House soon, another opportunity has arisen to help fund restoration efforts at the Salton Sea. After the failure of Prop. 3 during the November election, which amounts to a $200 million loss for the sea, a spark of positive funding news is good to hear. While there is no guarantee of funding for the sea in the Farm Bill (nor is the sea even mentioned) there is a provision for environmental projects for which the sea could qualify for funding.

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Deal Could Avoid Shutdown, But California Wildfire And Water Measures Have To Wait

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Emily Cadei

Congressional leaders reached a short-term spending deal Wednesday that effectively punts most of the contentious funding decisions into the new year. That includes the question of whether to extend a federal law designed to deliver more Northern California water south, which has become a factor in the Delta water-sharing agreement reached earlier this month. Congressional aides said federal wildfire recovery funding will have to wait until the new year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Wednesday morning that the Senate would vote on a “simple measure that will continue government funding into February.” More precisely, the spending bill will fund the government through Feb. 8.

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OPINION: Peace In California’s Water Wars Is Within Grasp

/in , /by /CALmatters (Sacramento)by Jeffrey Mount and Ellen Hanak

Dare we say it? The outlines of a truce in California’s unending water battles began to come into focus last week, though not everyone is willing to sign the treaty. The State Water Board adopted the first phase of a far-reaching revision to the Water Quality Control Plan for the Sacramento‒San Joaquin Delta and its watershed. This first phase, which has been many years in the making, focuses on the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, and would allocate a greater share of water to the environment.

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Orange County Water Study Updated, Poseidon Desalination Plant Still Scores Low

/in , /by /Orange County Registerby Martin Wisckol

South Orange County is far more at risk for future water shortages than the rest of the county, according to the final draft of a water-needs forecast received Wednesday by the Municipal Water District of Orange County’s board. The Poseidon desalination plant planned for Huntington Beach continues to rank lowest in cost effectiveness, with questions also raised about the need for the $1 billion project. The 261-page report updates MWDOC’s 2016 forecast, reflecting the increased likelihood that the California WaterFix tunnels will improve the reliability of flows imported from northern California.

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Lawsuits Await After California Water Board Adopts Flows Plan, CFBF Reports

/in , /by /Sierra Sun Timesby Christine Souza
 Irrigation districts along three Central California rivers say they will be suing the state of California and—simultaneously, in some cases—negotiating with it, now that the State Water Resources Control Board has voted to redirect significant flows along the rivers in an effort to improve fish populations. The state water board voted 4-1 last week to adopt the first phase of its disputed Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan, which requires districts along the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers to leave 30 to 50 percent of “unimpaired flows” in the San Joaquin River tributaries to help fish.
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