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3 Water Districts Funding Delta Tunnel Project Form Oversight Agency

/in , /by /CBS Los Angeles

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and two other water districts that agreed to fund the California Waterfix tunnel project announced today the formation of a public agency that will be charged with its design and construction. The MWD, which serves as a major supplier of water to the Los Angeles region, along with the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the Zone 7 Water Agency in the Bay Area, formed the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Joint Powers Authority, or DCA, which will hold its first meeting on Thursday.

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WaterWorld Weekly Newscast: Another Water District Commits To California WaterFix Project

/in , /by /WaterWorld (Tulsa, Okla.)

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works introduced water infrastructure legislation last week aimed at increasing water storage, providing flood protection, increasing local stakeholder input, deepening ports, and maintaining the navigability of inland waterways across the country. Additionally, America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 would invest in the maintenance and construction of water and wastewater infrastructure and the development of a strong water utility workforce. The $2.8 billion legislation would also authorize and deauthorize a number of specific water infrastructure projects across the country.

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Massive $17 Billion Delta Water Tunnels Project Moving Forward

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

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and two other water districts that agreed to fund the California Waterfix tunnel project announced Monday the formation of a  public agency that will be charged with its design and construction. The $17 billion project is designed to divert water from the Sacramento River as it enters the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and carry it to existing federal and state pumping stations in the southern part of the delta through one or two 35-mile tunnels.

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Head Of Federal Water Agency Overseeing Efforts To Combat Tijuana Sewage Steps Down

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith

The top United States official at the international agency charged with overseeing efforts to stem ongoing water pollution in the Tijuana River Valley stepped down on Friday. The departure of Edward Drusina, former commissioner of the U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, or IBWC, comes as the agency continues to face legal attacks from South Bay cities that routinely shutter beaches due to pollution from south of the border.

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Dismal Western Snowpack Is A Climate “Warning Sign”

/in , /by /Scientific Americanby Chelsea Harvey

It’s only May, and it’s already shaping up to be a stressful summer for many western states. Low mountain snowpack is a big part of the problem. Both the mighty Rio Grande and the Colorado River are experiencing low flow in places, prompting concerns about everything from water shortages to the plight of suffocating fish. U.S. officials have already launched rescue missions for an endangered minnow in New Mexico, where parts of the Rio Grande have already started to run dry—an unusual event so early in the season.

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Can A Truce Hold Off Another Water Rebellion?

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

The last time water was this scarce in the Klamath Basin, a rugged agricultural area straddling the California-Oregon border, farmers clashed with U.S. marshals and opened locked canal gates with blowtorches so they could irrigate. Nearly 10,000 agriculture activists from around the U.S. later converged on the region to hold symbolic “bucket brigade” protests. Months of unrest ended after then-Vice President Dick Cheney personally intervened and worked behind the scenes to have water delivered to the growers – a decision that tribal fishing communities downstream blamed for killing 68,000 salmon in the fall of 2002.

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San Diego Fighting Alone For $400,000 To Cover Water Testing For Lead At Schools

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby David Garrick

San Diego is the only city in California seeking state reimbursement for testing the toxic lead levels in water at local schools, which has cost the city’s water agency more than $400,000. The city has done tests at 256 schools since early 2017, but must test another 45 schools over the next six weeks. State legislation requires water agencies to test every public school, regardless of whether the agency gets a request, by July 1. Significantly more schools in San Diego County have been tested than in any other county in California since the state requirement began.

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Shrinking Glaciers, Bigger Fires And Hotter Nights: How Climate Change Is Altering California

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Tony Barboza and Joe Fox

California may be a leader in the fight against climate change, but the state is increasingly hard hit by symptoms of the unrelenting rise of greenhouse gases, a new state assessment finds. As global warming accelerates, California is getting hotter and drier. Trees and animals are moving to higher ground. Air conditioning is an increasing necessity. More winter precipitation is falling as rain and there’s less spring snowmelt to satisfy the water demands of farms and cities.

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November Water Bond Promises $8.7 Billion Towards Securing California’s Future

/in , /by /The Planning Report (Los Angeles) Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

California voters are being presented with two upcoming water bond propositions in the June and November elections. In June, Prop 68 will present voters with a $4 billion Parks and Water Bond, and in November the Water Supply and Water Quality bond will present voters with an $8.7 billion bond. Recently, TPR sat down with Jerry Meral, official proponent of the November Water Bond and director of the California Water Program at the Natural Heritage Institute.

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What If People Were Paid To Use Less Water?

/in , /by /City Lab (Washington, DC)by Zachary Burt

From Sao Paulo and Cape Town to Beijing and San Diego, water demand in cities around the world is outstripping supply. Urbanization, developing economies, and shifting precipitation patterns are some of the causes, all with the same result: diminishing water availability in cities all over the world. We need a global rethink, one that starts with turning markets upside down.

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