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Trump Administration Sends Sacramento $1.8 Billion For Flood Protection

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

Even after years of drought, Sacramento’s biggest worry over water is flood risk. The city is widely considered the second-most flood-prone major city in America, after New Orleans. Sacramento’s efforts to fight flooding got a major boost Thursday. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Rep. Doris Matsui’s office announced that the region has been allocated nearly $1.8 billion to strengthen levees and raise Folsom Dam. The federal money also will be spent widening the Sacramento Weir, a mechanism north of the city that acts as a safety valve by channeling flood waters into the Yolo Bypass.

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Temperatures To Surpass 100 Degrees During Weekend Heatwave

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

The mass of hot, humid air that produced oppressive weather earlier this week in New England, the Midwest and the Rockies was flowing into Southern California on Thursday, where it will generate the first major heat wave of summer in one of the driest regions of the country. The heat wave will peak on Friday when temperatures reach117 in Ocotillo Wells, 114 in Anza Borrego State Park, 113 in Valley Center, 111 in Santee and Ramona, 109 in Campo, 105 in Escondido, 99 in Julian and 87 on Coronado, according to the National Weather Service.

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VIDEO: Spillway Repairs Have Lake Oroville Hovering Near 800 Feet

/in , /by /CBS (Sacramento)

The Department of Water Resources recently released water from Lake Oroville so spillway repairs could continue.

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A Changing Climate At Mono Lake Could Mean More Dust Storms In The Eastern Sierra — Or Less Water For L.A.

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Louis Sahagun

When dust storms began rising off the dry bed of Owens Lake, authorities in the Eastern Sierra blamed Los Angeles’ thirst. The city had, after all, drained the lake in the 1920s to serve its faucets. Now, as dust kicks up from Mono Lake, authorities in the Eastern Sierra are once again blaming that water-craving metropolis about 350 miles to the south.

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OPINION: The Best Place For California’s Water Is Underground

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Jacques Leslie

Here’s a suggestion for decision-makers on the California Water Commission who are now finalizing the distribution of $7.5 billion in bond money for storage projects: Look underground. The state should give up — at last — on dated, expensive, environmentally destructive dams and instead put funds toward infrastructure and programs that would help us store more water in aquifers, where there’s plenty of room.

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Does Your School Have Lead In Its Drinking Water?

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Lauryn Schroeder and Morgan Cook

Eleven schools in San Diego County had unsafe levels of lead in drinking water last year, according to new data from the California State Water Resources Control Board, and more test results are expected soon as schools adhere to new legislation. Gov. Jerry Brown in October signed a law that requires community water systems to test drinking water for lead in all public schools that serve kindergarten through 12th grade by July 2019. It took effect in January 2017. So far, more than 500 schools in the county have been tested.

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Klamath Dam Removal Project In Final Approval Stage

/in , /by /KRCR News (Redding)by Julia Avery

A plan to remove four dams on the Klamath River is now just one step away from final approval, which would make it the largest dam removal project in U.S. history. The Klamath River Renewal Project includes four separate dams on the Northern Portion of the Klamath River near the California Oregon border.

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In The U.S. Southwest, ‘Drought’ Doesn’t Tell The Whole Story

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Emily Benson

In early June, more than 1,000 people near Durango, Colorado, had to leave their homes as the 416 Fire swept across the landscape. Following a dismal snowpack, the region experienced a spring so hot and dry that the U.S. Drought Monitor labeled conditions “exceptional drought,” the worst category. Colorado wasn’t alone. An irregular bull’s eye of dryness radiated outward from the entire Four Corners region, where Colorado meets New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.

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California Revives 100-Percent Carbon-Free Energy Bill

/in , /by /Associated Press by Johnathan J. Cooper

California lawmakers on Tuesday revived a long-stalled proposal to set a goal of generating 100 percent of the state’s energy from carbon-free sources. With other controversial and high-stakes energy legislation also moving forward, California lawmakers face an array of decisions with vast implications for the Western energy grid, the future of renewable power and consumers’ electric bills. A state legislative committee sent the 100 percent clean energy bill to the full Assembly, setting up a vote later this year.

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Report: Camp Pendleton Officials Skipped Water Radiation Tests

/in , /by /Military.comby Amy Bushatz

Officials on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, failed to test base water for radiation over the final two quarters of 2017, according to a water report obtained by Military.com. Although never considered at an unsafe level, the base’s water supply had been found to contain radiation levels three points above the acceptable contaminant level in early 2017, an official with the state Water Boards told Military.com.

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