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Experts To Gather To Address Salton Sea Issues In Cabazon

Water experts from across Southern California will convene in Cabazon today to discuss the next steps in resolving issues surrounding the Salton Sea’s receding shoreline, which is causing environmental and public health concerns for both residents and wildlife living in and around the lake. The noontime event at the Morongo Casino Convention Center is one of four major annual events concerning state water issues hosted by the Southern California Water Coalition.

Otay Water District Announces 2018 WaterSmart Landscape Contest Winner

As part of the countywide WaterSmart Landscape Contest, the Otay Water District has selected water conservation class graduate and rebate recipient Rosalba Ponce of Chula Vista as the 2018 winner of its “Best in District” award. Each year, participating water agencies in San Diego County honor residential customers who showcase the best water-efficient features in their yards. This year’s contest committee from Otay determined that Ponce’s landscape best achieved overall attractiveness, a well thought-out design, efficient irrigation methods, and appropriate plant selection and maintenance.

Desalination Plant Brings Relief To Ensenada Residents Struggling With Limited Water Supply

Baja California’s first utility-scale desalination plant has launched operations, supplying 5.7 million gallons a day of converted seawater to municipal water users in the port of Ensenada. The reverse-osmosis facility, which has the capacity to double in size, is seen as a critical piece of infrastructure for Ensenada, whose 390,000 residents have been almost entirely dependent on aquifers for their water supply.

OPINION: State Water Board’s Delta Plan Is No Fix For Fish And Hurts Farms

In announcing its new Bay-Delta Water Quality plan, the California State Water Resources Control Board said it wanted to “change the channel” on California’s water debate. We completely agree it’s time to move away from outdated thinking and embrace new, collaborative, science-based solutions and therefore are puzzled that the board is stubbornly clinging to the same failed approach of the past.

Federal Watchdog Urges Better EPA Oversight After Flint Water Response

A federal watchdog is calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen its oversight of state drinking water systems nationally and respond more quickly to public health emergencies such as the lead-in-the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. In a 74-page report released Thursday, the EPA’s inspector general report pointed to “oversight lapses” at the federal, state and local levels in the response to Flint’s contaminated drinking water.

Heat To Build, Elevate Fire Danger In Southwestern US Next Week

Near-record heat will set the stage for a heightened risk of wildfires in the southwestern United States, including Southern California, next week. While the Southwest is no stranger to intense heat in the summer months, the upcoming pattern is likely to put several decades-old high temperature records to the test. The area of high pressure that has brought record-breaking temperatures to the South Central states will build westward from Sunday into the middle of next week, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Ken Clark.

Here’s How The Largest Dam Removal Project In The U.S. Would Work

No one is popping the champagne corks just yet, but the process to remove four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River just took a big step forward. On June 28, the Klamath River Renewal Corporation released the Definite Plan for the Lower Klamath Project, a 2,300-page detailed analysis of how the reservoirs would be drawn down, the dams removed, the materials disposed of and the formerly inundated land restored.

OPINION: Newsom Most Likely To Stand Up For Our Region In Water Fight

California’s governor is important not just here, but across the nation and even around the world, so it matters whom we choose to lead our great state. At the risk of sounding irredeemably self-centered, it matters even more here in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. That’s because our region of 1 million is under attack by the State Water Resources Control Board. The next governor must not only understand our battle, but be willing to rein in an out-of-control state agency or at least alter the conversation.

OPINION: Deconstructing The Opposition To The California Water Fix

Here we go again.  There’s nothing better than California water politics to prove the sagacity of French writer Alphonse Karr’s immortal quip: “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” (“The more things change, the more it’s the same thing.”) Last week the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) Board voted for a second time to finance the Delta tunnels, aka the California WaterFix.  (Applying an abundance of caution, the Board decided to re-vote to preclude the impacts of a number of unsubstantiated allegations from WaterFix opponents such as purported Brown Act violations and other sundry sins, crimes and misdemeanors).

OPINION: Why A Regional Power Grid Brings Energy Security

Reliable energy infrastructure is a hallmark of a modern world, and affordable power is vital for economic development and social cohesion. Ensuring that electricity is both affordable and reliable are ultimately the responsibility of our state government leaders when they set the ground rules for how electricity is generated and how it is transmitted around the grid.