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Hundreds Of Customers Are Still Without Power As Hot And Angry Angelenos Fume At The DWP

Before the scorching heat descended on Los Angeles last week, the Department of Water and Power assured residents it had “adequate resources” to meet the electrical demands of their air conditioners and refrigerators as temperatures rose. It did, in fact, have enough power to go around, utility officials said Monday, after tens of thousands of people had suffered outages. But officials said that in many neighborhoods, its aging infrastructure could not handle the surging demand for electricity as Angelenos ran their air conditioning day and night.

Record Heat Put Thousands Of Californians In The Dark Friday. Scientists Predicted This From Climate Change.

Temperatures shot up over 110 degrees in Southern California on Friday, obliterating all kinds of long-standing heat records, and the lights went out for tens of thousands of customers. Californians were powerless, without air conditioning, in the hottest weather many had ever experienced. Climate scientists have known this was coming, and it may only be the beginning.

Environment Report: It’s So Hot That Even Low Temps Are Setting Records

It’s been hot. That isn’t news. But the heat is, more than ever, unrelenting. When we talk about heat, we tend to think of how hot it is will get at the hottest point in the day. The National Weather Service and others are starting to point out something that’s gotten less attention: Even the lows are record-setting because they aren’t that low.

Water Authority Offers Incentive To Replace Grass

San Diego County residents can receive money to replace their grass with sustainable landscaping through a new program. The San Diego County Water Authority and Metropolitan Water District of California will offer $2.75 per square foot. The idea is to create climate-appropriate yards that save water, reduce stormwater runoff, and lessen green waste. The Landscape Transformation Program includes requirements for grass removal, irrigation modification, and water retention or filtration to support reuse of rainwater.

Water Fosters Innovation Economy In San Diego County

San Diego’s regional economy depends on cutting-edge industries such as life sciences, technology, aerospace, academia – not to mention the vibrant brewing sector. Together, those industries help drive economic prosperity countywide, and they share a basic need: reliable access to water. It may seem obvious, but newly released numbers reveal just how vital a safe and reliable water supply is to the region’s economy. Those five water-dependent industry clusters – life sciences, technology, aerospace, academia and brewing – collectively support daily business sales of nearly $30 million, according to a new report from the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp.

Ventura Moves To Increase And Diversify Its Water Supply

To increase its water supply and ensure it has sufficient backup during times of trouble, Ventura has been moving toward connecting to the State Water Project and embarking on a large-scale recycling system. On Monday, the City Council will hear an update on both projects.

California Has A New Plan For Allocating Its Water, And It Means Less For Farmers

State regulators proposed sweeping changes in the allocation of California’s water Friday, leaving more water in Northern California’s major rivers to help ailing fish populations — and giving less to farming and human consumption. By limiting water sent to cities and farms and keeping more for fish, the proposal by the State Water Resources Control Board’s staff likely will ignite a round of lawsuits and political squabbles. Critics immediately pounced on the plan, saying it will take some of the nation’s most fertile farmland out of production and harm the Central Valley economy.

Cal Am Desal Project In “Home Stretch” At CPUC

More than six years after being formally proposed to the state Public Utilities Commission, California American Water’s desalination project is in crunch time. A CPUC proposed decision on the proposal is less than a month away. It will be a precursor to the commission’s consideration of project permit approval and certification of the project’s environmental impact document, likely to occur some time in September just before a critical Carmel River cutback order milestone deadline. All this as Cal Am faces a second public takeover campaign and ballot measure led by Public Water Now this summer and fall.

Falling Lake Mead Water Levels Prompt Detente In Arizona Feud

Arizona is the odd state out in agreeing to dramatically curtail water use from the Colorado River, raising tensions in the Southwest as extreme drought conditions return. At issue are falling water levels at the West’s biggest reservoir, Lake Mead. Having already dropped by more than 150 feet over the past two decades to 1,077 feet, the Nevada reservoir is two feet shy of falling below a federal threshold that can trigger mandatory cutbacks by U.S. officials.

OPINION: The Blithering Idiocy Of California’s Water Crisis

It’s not new that most of the rainfall in California is in the north and most of the people and farms using water are further south. It’s not new that California has wet years and dry years, or that the state is at risk of both flooding and drought, sometimes simultaneously. What’s new is that earlier generations of California politicians solved water problems, while the current generation intentionally creates them. We are the beneficiaries of monumental achievements in water infrastructure that made modern California possible.