You are now in California and the U.S. Media Coverage category.

Wide Fluctuation In October Water Conservation Numbers

/in , /by /Chico Enterprise-Record

Water conservation numbers for October were announced last week by the Water Resources Control Board, and the savings were all over the place. Statewide, urban water use was down 13.4 percent compared to October 2013, the pre-drought benchmark year. That was down from 14.6 percent in September, but the conservation rate has been pretty static since July. However the Sacramento River watershed, usually one of the more thrifty regions, had savings of just 12.1 percent in October. The conservation rates were higher on the South Coast, 13.1 percent, and in the Bay Area, 14.0 percent.

Full Story

Desal Plant Hits 40B Gallon Mark

/in , /by /The Coast News by Steve Puterski

Three years and 40 billion gallons later the Carlsbad Claude “Bud” Lewis Desalination plant is humming along. The facility is touted as the largest and most technologically advanced in the Western Hemisphere and on Dec. 13, VIPs and various stakeholders gathered in celebration of the plant supplying about 10 percent of drinking water to San Diego County. The desalination plant opened three years ago to much fanfare, and some criticism, as one of the crown jewels for Poseidon Water, which owns the facility. It pumps in about 50 million gallons of water per day and is a source for protection against severe drought.

Full Story

California Utility Regulators Failed To Properly Oversee Water Suppliers, State Audit Finds

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Jeff McDonald

State utility regulators have not provided the public clear information about water-rate increases or made sure that suppliers notified customers about hearings related to those rate hikes, a new state audit has found. The California Public Utilities Commission also failed to conduct audits of private water utilities as required by law, according to findings released Tuesday by the California State Auditor.

 

Full Story

Small Water Systems In LA County Struggle To Provide Clean Water, Report Say

/in , /by /NBC4 (Los Angeles)

Small water systems in Los Angeles County often struggle to provide their customers with clean drinking water at an affordable rate due to groundwater contamination, financial management problems and other issues, according to a report from UCLA Law released Monday. The report’s authors look at the challenges facing L.A.’s small water systems, which have fewer than 10,000 customers but are numerous in the county and service more than 250,000 customers.

Full Story

OPINION: Did Jerry Brown Do Enough On Climate Change?

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Jacques Leslie

Jerry Brown, in the last term of his two-part, 16-year governorship, came close to redeeming his environmental faults. Brown deserves a salute for striving to get out the message that climate change is indeed, in his words, a global “existential crisis” and that we are living in the “new abnormal.” He has been doing what a U.S. president ought to do, finding allies among nations, regions and cities for a crucial struggle — in contrast to President Trump , who abdicated the job.

Full Story

Paper Outlines How L.A. County Can Adapt Its Water Supply For Climate Change

/in , /by /PHYS.orgby David Colgan

The climate is changing, Earth’s population is growing and more people are living in cities. That means urban areas—particularly those in arid or semiarid regions—need to update their water supply systems. The world was reminded of this earlier in the year with the water crisis in Cape Town, South Africa, which has a climate almost identical to that of Los Angeles. At the peak of the crisis, residents were required to limit daily water consumption to 50 liters (about 13 gallons), taking two-minute showers and letting their lawns and gardens dry up.

Full Story

City’s Big Lead Revelation Doesn’t Seem To Be Impacting Schools

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

When schools officials began to find lead in drinking water at several San Diego schools in 2016, parents from across the region scrambled to understand the danger posed to their children by the toxic metal. At the time, we thought the lead was coming from inside schools because the city of San Diego sounded certain that its pipes were no longer made of lead. But it turns out, as we reported last week along with NBC San Diego, the city does not know what 192,000 of its water pipes are made of. Nor does it know what 16,000 pipe fittings are made of.

Full Story

What Caused Nearly 20,000 Quakes At Oroville Dam? Scientists Weigh In On Mystery

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

The earthquakes hit just days after last year’s near-catastrophe at Oroville Dam, when the spillway cracked amid heavy rains and 188,000 people fled in fear of flooding. The timing of the two small tremors about 75 miles north of Sacramento was curious, and frightening. Were the quakes part of a seismic hot spot that caused the giant concrete spillway to tear? Was the weight of the water behind the dam triggering the quakes? Could all of Lake Oroville be prone to slipping?

Full Story

OPINION: Arizona Has No Choice But To Act On The Drought Contingency Plan

/in , /by /The Arizona Republic (Phoenix)

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman has issued an edict to Arizona and the two other lower Colorado basin states: Come up with a drought contingency plan by Jan. 31 or she will step in and do it for us. Burman is right to throw down the gauntlet. The Colorado River is in trouble. A nearly two-decade drought and the ravages of climate change have reduced water levels in Lake Mead, the lower basin reservoir, to record lows. Hydrologists predict water levels in Lake Mead will likely drop below levels that, under the existing multistate agreement, trigger the first tier of mandatory cutbacks in Colorado River water deliveries to lower-basin states.

Full Story

40 Million Americans Depend On The Colorado River. It’s Drying Up.

/in , /by /Mother Jones (San Francisco)by Eric Holthaus

Prompted by years of drought and mismanagement, a series of urgent multi-state meetings are currently underway in Las Vegas to renegotiate the use of the Colorado River. Seven states and the federal government are close to a deal, with a powerful group of farmers in Arizona being the lone holdouts. The stakes are almost impossibly high: The Colorado River provides water to 1 in 8 Americans, and irrigates 15 percent of the country’s agricultural products. The nearly 40 million people who depend on it live in cities from Los Angeles to Denver.

Full Story