You are now in California and the U.S. category.

Weather Gets Weird As Record Rainfall Follows Record Drought

/in /by /Bloomberg (New York)by Brian K. Sullivan
  • Texas struggled through its driest year in history in 2011. Four years later was its wettest ever. The Mississippi River rose to all-time-high flood levels in 2011. In 2012, its second-lowest. After a six-year drought that made agricultural irrigation a political hot potato, Northern California experienced nearly double the normal rainfall this year, beating the old mark set in 1983. As the planet warms, a less ballyhooed new normal is emerging in weather extremes. With deluge following dust, the record book is becoming increasingly difficult to rely on for those who study the weather.

 

Full Story

OPINION: July 6: Letters to the editor

/in /by /Rancho Santa Fe Reviewby Mark Muir

When the San Diego County Water Authority filed its initial rate case lawsuit in 2010 against the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, we knew it would be a marathon. Seven years later, we passed another important marker in the long-running litigation when a June 21 ruling by the state Court of Appeal sided with the Water Authority and the San Diego region on several significant issues. The decision includes a few key takeaways: The Water Authority has a right to significantly more water from MWD than MWD had credited.

Full Story

The Next Crisis For California Will Be The Affordability Of Water

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Michael Hiltzik

The price of almost everything is on the rise, but we tend to shrug off inflation in goods and services we can cut back or do without. Not water, the rising cost of which is looming as a defining economic problem in coming years. In California and across the nation, concern about water affordability has been spreading, with good reason. Few basic commodities are under as much cost pressure.

 

Full Story

Couple Traded Lawn For More Nature-Friendly Landscape

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Chris Ross Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

In spring of 2014, Wendy and Lee Hadovski decided it was time to do their part and save water. They had two motivations: One was to reduce their water bill, and the other was their concern about California’s severe drought. At the time, their front yard in San Diego’s El Cerrito neighborhood was 80 percent grass, along with some plants that needed too much water to maintain. Plus, the yard’s sprinkler system was not efficient. The couple signed up for a four-class WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Series sponsored by the San Diego County Water Authority.

Full Story

Bill Would Curb Massive Cadiz Desert Water Project

/in /by /The Press-Enterprise (Riverside)by David Danelski

The battle over plans by a Los Angeles company to sell water pumped from aquifers underneath Mojave Desert conservation areas heated up again this week when state legislation was amended to require a new round of state reviews. The legislation’s new language, by Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, would stop major pumping until state land and wildlife officials determined that groundwater extractions would not harm wildlife or cultural resources. The legislation is in response to the Cadiz desert water project that has been prioritized by the Trump administration. Cadiz officials called the legislation a flawed attempt to further delay the project.

Full Story

Do Tribes Have Special Groundwater Rights? Water Agencies Appeal To Supreme Court In Landmark Case

/in /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Zoe Meyers and Jay Calderon

The U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled on whether Indian tribes hold special rights to the groundwater beneath their reservations, and the court will now have a chance to settle the question in a case that could redraw the lines in water disputes across the country. The case revolves around whether the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has a federally established “reserved right” to groundwater on its reservation in Palm Springs and surrounding areas in the desert.

 

Full Story

Like Drought Never Happened: Budget Omits Funds for Water

/in /by /Fox & Hounds Dailyby Aubrey Bettencourt

A few weeks ago, the governor and other state politicians ran victory laps proclaiming their passage of California’s new record budget. The behemoth budget — the largest spending plan in our state’s history — provides $183 billion to fund many diverse programs and projects deemed necessary to the people and government of California. Their speeches forgot, however, to mention a crucial item the Senate, Assembly and Governor Brown left out: funding to addresses California’s chronic water deficit. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

Full Story

Here’s Why a UC Riverside Climate Researcher Says To Expect More Rain In California

/in /by /The Press-Enterprise (Riverside)by Mark Muckenfuss

UC Riverside climate researcher Robert Allen says California should get ready for more rain. Unlike other recent work in the field, Allen has just published a study that says rainfall in the state will increase in the coming years if the planet continues to warm at its current pace. Allen, 42, is a professor of earth sciences and has been studying climate issues for two decades. He came to UCR six years ago. His study projects that by 2100, precipitation in California will rise 12 percent. But Southern California rainfall won’t change much.

Full Story

The Drought Is Over, So Now What Is The Plan For Local Water Agencies?

/in /by /Fontana Herald-Newsby Michael Nutt

As the worst drought in California’s recorded history fades from memory, and mandatory water conservation cutbacks become a thing of the past, California water agencies are left to grapple with the question: What do they do now? About 80 representatives of Inland Empire water agencies gathered at a symposium at the Chino Basin Water Conservation District (Chino Basin) headquarters in Montclair on June 29 to discuss that and many other topics, ranging from climate change to wastewater recycling to desalination.

 

Full Story

Get The Lead Out: California Lawmaker Wants To Require Schools To Test For Lead

/in /by /Sacramento News & Reviewby Michael Mott

How much lead should kids be able to drink at school? That’s question state lawmakers are considering this week. Assembly Bill 746, a bill by San Diego-area Assembly woman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher , would require schools to test for lead in drinking water fountains for the first time. If too much lead is detected, schools would be forced to shut down their water systems, notify parents within seven days and provide information on how to get their children tested by physicians. Most schools in California aren’t required to test their drinking water for lead.

Full Story