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No Longer a ‘Boys Club’: In the World of Water, Women are Increasingly Claiming Center Stage

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

The 1992 election to the United States Senate was famously coined the “Year of the Woman” for the record number of women elected to the upper chamber. In the water world, 2018 has been a similar banner year, with noteworthy appointments of women to top leadership posts in California — Karla Nemeth at the California Department of Water Resources and Gloria Gray at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

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OPINION: We’d Prefer a Deal. But We’ll Fight to Protect our Rivers if That’s What it Takes

/in , /by /The Modesto Bee

Five appointed state regulators can do an enormous amount to help salmon and the state’s most-altered water system on Dec. 12. Or they can guarantee that water lawyers will stay busy for decades to come. The State Water Resources Control Board’s five members – including one added Thursday – are scheduled to vote on implementing the Bay-Delta Plan’s Substitute Environmental Document. If unchanged, the SED will require 40 to 50 percent of the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers to flow unimpaired to the Delta, for the sake of salmon. It would also require vast amounts of water be left in cold storage behind the region’s three dams to help salmon in an ever-warming environment.

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Mudslides Offer A Preview Of What Could Be A Wet Winter In Southern California

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hannah Fry, Rong-Gong Lin II, Hailey Branson-Potts, Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Richard Winton

As heavy rain pelted Hollywood Burbank Airport on Thursday morning, the pilot of Southwest Flight 278 out of Oakland came over the intercom with a warning: The runway was short and wet. It was going to be a bumpy landing. Paris Organist, a 31-year-old Oakland resident sitting in the front row, put up his foot to brace himself as the plane rolled off the end of the runway just after 9 a.m., its landing gear plowing into a concrete barrier designed to stop airplanes that overshot their mark. Mud splattered on the plane’s windows.

 

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New Digital Map Shows Which Community Water Systems Have Lead

/in , /by /Paso Robles Daily News

A new digital map that highlights which community water systems have reported the presence of lead pipes and fixtures is the latest legislatively-mandated action to target the health risks of lead in drinking water and set a timetable to replace the potentially hazardous hardware. Released this week, the map uses State Water Board data from nearly 3,000 community water systems throughout California and places the information on an easy-to-read, color-coded document that is expected to change as testing continues statewide.

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San Diego’s Wildfire Danger Plunges After Back-To-Back Storms

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins

The second major storm of December dropped far more rain than expected in San Diego County, greatly reducing a wildfire threat that was dangerously high barely a month ago. University Heights received 3.23’’ of rain and Oceanside got 2.82” Both figures are more than twice as high as precipitation projected by the National Weather Service. During a 12 minute period on Thursday night, San Diego International Airport got 0.84”. The airport has now received 4.18” since the rainy season began on October 1st. The average for this time of year is 1.79”.

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Colorado River Drought Plan ‘Gaining Momentum’ As CAP Board Signals Support

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

The agency that manages the Central Arizona Project canal signaled its support for the latest outline of a Colorado River drought plan in a vote that could lay the groundwork for a deal aimed at preventing Lake Mead from reaching perilously low levels. Board members of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District passed a motion Thursday saying they support “key provisions” of the plan, which they’re calling Arizona’s implementation plan for the proposed three-state Drought Contingency Plan.

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Farm Bureau President Says Water Rights Will Be Priority In 2019

/in , /by /The Daily Democrat (Woodland, California)by Jim Smith

For months, the Santa Clara Valley Water District has been preparing for its annual flood awareness campaign. Our multi-language poster full of flood safety tips is hitting mailboxes in areas located in or near flood-prone zones. You may hear or see our new flood awareness ads, with the theme “Climate Changed.” The timing of this message could not be more fitting. The newly released Fourth National Climate Assessment shows that the effects of climate change are already being felt all over the country, including more frequent and intense extreme weather and climate-related events.

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OPINION: How Santa Clara Valley Water District Is Preparing For Flood Season

/in , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by Richard Santos

For months, the Santa Clara Valley Water District has been preparing for its annual flood awareness campaign. Our multi-language poster full of flood safety tips is hitting mailboxes in areas located in or near flood-prone zones. You may hear or see our new flood awareness ads, with the theme “Climate Changed.” The timing of this message could not be more fitting. The newly released Fourth National Climate Assessment shows that the effects of climate change are already being felt all over the country, including more frequent and intense extreme weather and climate-related events.

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$56M In Water, Wastewater Upgrades Planned For Calexico

/in , /by /Imperial Valley Pressby Julio Morales

The city of Calexico is planning to spend more than $50 million on improvements for its outdated water and wastewater infrastructure as part of its five-year capital improvement plan. The monies will come from a combination of recently approved — and controversial — water and sewer rate changes, as well as the anticipated sale of up to $50 million in bonds.

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One Of California’s Most Important Assets Is Off To Great Start This Year

/in , /by /The Weather Channelby Jonathan Belles

California’s Sierra Nevada, the state’s increasingly crucial reservoir, is off to a well-above-normal snowpack to begin the wet season. Many of the peaks are seeing double the normal amount of snowpack compared to early-December averages. Several systems, including the disturbance that became Winter Storm Carter, have dumped feet of snow in the Sierra since late November. Snowfall totals ranged from three to five feet of snow in Carter alone. You can see the difference between a rather wimpy late November snowpack and the early December blanket of slow from the Sierra eastward below.

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