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Tree Rings Tell CSUF Students About Droughts And Fires In The Sierra

/in , /by /The Orange County Registerby Wendy Fawthorp

Some students plant trees. Some hug them. This summer, eight Cal State Fullerton students sampled trees. Really, the students were listening to what trees had to say about the droughts and fires they had lived through. Specifically, the students extracted cores from trees in the Sierra Nevada – including some in Yosemite that had burned a few years ago – and are now examining the cores back on campus. A new laboratory, the Cal-Dendro Tree Ring Laboratory, has been set up to conduct research on the cores, which are expected to reveal valuable data going back 500 to 1,000 years.

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California’s Water Wars Heat Up At Sacramento Hearing Over River Flows

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

Central Valley farmers and their elected leaders converged on Sacramento on Tuesday to accuse the state of engineering a water grab that puts the fate of fish above their fields and jeopardizes a thriving agricultural economy. The allegations came at a meeting of the powerful State Water Resources Control Board, which recently unveiled a far-reaching plan to shore up the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the West Coast’s largest estuary and a source of water for much of California.

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OPINION: No, Californians Cannot Be Fined For Using Too Much Water

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Caroline Koch

Following California’s adoption of new water efficiency legislation in May, quite a lot has been written about the implications for urban water providers and their customers. The dominant emerging narrative is that by signing these “draconian measures” into law Gov. Jerry Brown has made it “illegal to shower and do laundry on the same day,” that individuals using more than 55 gallons of water per day will be subject to “hefty fines,” and that state authority over local water utilities has expanded in ways that “amount to tyranny.”

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Sweetwater Authority Approves Water Rate Hikes For Next Five Years

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby David Hernandez Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Water customers in National City, Bonita and western Chula Vista will see more expensive bills over five years under a proposal the Sweetwater Authority governing board approved Monday. The board voted 5-1 to authorize the plan, which allows the agency to increase rates between 2020 and 2024 based on the annual change in consumer prices. Board member Jose Preciado cast the dissenting vote. Board member Steve Castaneda was absent.

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Oceanside’s North River Farms Project Seeks Talks On Water, Sewer, Streets Needs

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Phil Diehl

North River Farms, a proposed development that would bring hundreds of homes, a hotel and commercial properties to a rural area of northeastern Oceanside, returns to the City Council on Wednesday to request a development agreement. Approval of the agreement would allow the developer, Integral Communities, to negotiate the terms of things such as new water and sewer lines, street improvements and affordable housing that the city requires to be included with the project. Further approvals would be required before any construction begins.

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Water Main Break Floods Coronado Intersection, Shuts Off Water To Block Of Homes

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Alex Riggins

A water main broke Tuesday in Coronado, flooding an intersection and shutting off water to a block of homes in an outage that was expected to last until early Wednesday morning. Brown water flooded the roadway near Pomona Avenue and Sixth Street about 3:30 p.m., city officials said. A contractor reportedly hit the line, causing the break. Crews from California American Water “committed to work around the clock until the broken water line is repaired,” city officials said on Facebook. Water service was expected to be restored a few hours after midnight.

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Sustainable Landscapes Takes Root In San Diego

/in , /by /Water News Network

More than 225 San Diego County homeowners have transformed their landscapes into beautiful, climate-appropriate mini-watersheds through the Sustainable Landscapes Incentive Program developed by the San Diego County Water Authority and its partners. Since the program launched in October 2016, more than 354,000 square feet of turf has been removed and replaced with sustainable landscaping. Approximately 100 projects are still under way, though the program isn’t taking new applications.

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Ryan Zinke, Trump’s Interior Secretary, Fires Another Shot At California Water Policy

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Michael Hiltzik

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, stepping up the Trump administration’s attack on California water policy, on Friday issued a memo to his staff demanding a “plan of action” to circumvent state officials. He gave the staff 15 days to develop a proposal and present it to his deputy, a former lobbyist for big water users at odds with the state. Zinke’s memo represents the latest volley in a developing war between the Trump administration and the state over the distribution of water from state and federal projects.

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Sweetwater Authority Board Approves Water Rate Hikes

/in , /by /NBC 7 (San Diego)

The Sweetwater Authority Governing Board voted 5-1 Monday night to raise water rates over the next six years. Rates will increase every year from starting on Jan. 1, 2019 until 2024.  The last time the water authority raised their rates was in 2015. Since then, the cost of water has increased by about 17 percent, the Sweetwater Authority said in a memo to the governing board.

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Environment Report: Doomsday For Colorado River Approaches

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

Within the next two years, federal officials may be forced to declare a water shortage on the Colorado River, an unprecedented situation that would reduce the amount of water available to parts of the southwestern United States and Mexico. The thermometer of the river’s health is Lake Mead, formed behind Hoover Dam. When the lake falls below a certain level, a shortage is declared and people begin to lose access to water based on an arcane priority system. The first to receive cuts are Arizona, Nevada and Mexico.

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