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Data Gone Missing: Farm Water Information Falls Through The Cracks During California Drought

/in , /by /The Natural Resources Defense Council (New York)by Laura West

California irrigation districts that supply water to farms are required by state law to annually report to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) the amount of water actually delivered to farmers’ fields. However, as of 2017, only 12 percent of the state’s largest irrigation districts had turned in all of the required reports, and 28 percent never turned in any report. What’s more, DWR has not monitored or enforced compliance with this reporting requirement. There is effectively no accurate or complete documentation of drought response from the agricultural sector during California’s driest consecutive years in the historical record, stretching from 2012 to 2016.

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Could West Sacramento Be Forced To Pay Up If The River Floods? Mayor And Residents Disagree

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Kellen Browning

West Sacramento’s recent decision to accept greater responsibility for maintaining levees and drainage systems along the Sacramento River has some residents worried that the city could be swamped financially if the area floods. The West Sacramento City Council voted 4-1 last month to begin a process that would convert an independent district in charge of levee management into a subsidiary of West Sacramento, and allow the council to replace the district’s board of directors with appointees or the council members themselves. Reclamation District 900 has operated independently since 1911, managing 13.6 miles of levees that provide flood protection along the Sacramento River.

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‘Water Tax’ Debate Continues After California Budget Passage

/in , /by /Capital Public Radio (Sacramento)by Ben Bradford

The California budget doesn’t include it, but Gov. Jerry Brown is not done pushing for a new charge on water users, which would fund clean drinking water in rural areas of the state that currently have unsafe tap water. About a dollar a month for most users would help pay for clean tap water for 200,000 Californians in such communities. Passage of the charge would require approval by two-thirds of state lawmakers.

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Heat Wave Will Bring 90-Degree Temperatures to East County by Friday

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein

After a period of cooler weather, the San Diego region is poised to warm up later this week with 90-degree temperatures expected in much of East County. The National Weather Service office in San Diego issued an excessive heat warning for the San Diego County deserts, with temperatures forecast to range from the high 100s to low 110s.

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Coastal Homes May Be Flooded Out By 2045

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

That oceanfront property in Stinson Beach you’ve dreamed about may not be so perfect after all. A report published Monday finds that nearly 4,400 homes in Marin County might not make it beyond a 30-year mortgage because of encroaching seawater. According to the publication by the Union of Concerned Scientists, Marin County leads the state in the number of parcels that could literally be underwater by 2045 because of climate-driven sea level rise. Across California, more than 20,000 homes are at risk.

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At A Meeting About Brown Water Pouring From Taps, Congresswoman Says People Were Paid To Speak Out In Favor Of Water District

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ruben Vives and Adam Elmahrek

At a town hall Monday, Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán alleged that people were paid to pose as residents to speak out in support of an embattled water district, marking a strange twist in the ongoing controversy over discolored water pouring out of taps in Compton and Willowbrook. The Sativa Los Angeles County Water District serves about 1,600 ratepayers in a half-mile area of Compton and Willowbrook. Residents have been complaining about brown-colored water with a foul odor.

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Fire Officials To Southern California: Get Ready For Daily And ‘Difficult’ Wildfire Calls

/in , /by /The Press-Enterprise (Riverside)

Southland fire officials issued dire warnings Thursday about the upcoming fire season, saying they are preparing for daily outbreaks of vegetation blazes and calling on residents to act now to clear brush around homes and other structures. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby and fire officials from the Inland Empire to Orange County also reminded residents that they need to do their part to prevent fires from erupting.

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New Tool Will Help Save Water By Measuring Plant Health From Space

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Matt Weiser

Next week, A new instrument designed to measure plant stress will be plugged into the International Space Station. Once operating, the device will deliver unprecedented data about drought conditions and water conservation all over the planet. The device was designed and built by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. It’s scheduled for launch on June 29 aboard a SpaceX rocket as part of a resupply mission for the space station.

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They Are Building 11,000 New Homes In Folsom. But Will There Be Enough Water?

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler, Ryan Sabalow and Tony Bizjak

It’s like a new city springing to life: 11,000 homes and apartments, seven public schools, a pair of fire stations, a police station, a slew of office and commercial buildings and 1,000 acres of parks, trails and other open space. Expected population: 25,000. But will it have enough water? As construction begins this month on the first model homes at Folsom Ranch, a 3,300-acre development in the city of Folsom south of Highway 50, state regulators continue to have questions about the project’s water supply.

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OPINION: Ted Kowalski: Longterm Solutions Needed To Keep Our Water Flowing

/in , /by /Arizona Daily Starby Ted Kowalski

Earlier in May, Brenda Burman, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation within the Department of the Interior, urged water managers in the Colorado River Basin to adopt Drought Contingency Plans (DCPs) in light of the very dry year we have experienced in 2018, and some new projections, which paint a discouraging future for the Colorado River Basin.

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