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The California Drought Isn’t Over, It Just Went Underground

/in /by /High Country News (Lander, Wyo.)by Mark Grossi

Evelyn Rios wept in 2014 when the well went dry at her home of 46 years – the home where she and husband Joe raised five children on farm-worker wages.They cannot afford another well, so they do without. Her angst only grew as California’s five-year drought dragged on. Finally, after one of the wettest winters on record, Gov. Jerry Brown announced in April that the drought had ended. But situation remains grim, says Rios, 80, who lives in rural Madera County in California’s San Joaquin Valley. She thought she was being hooked up to the city of Madera’s water system.

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Sen. Kamala Harris Talks Water With California Farmers

/in /by /KQED (San Francisco)by Vanessa Rancano

Sen. Kamala Harris took time out during the congressional recess this month for a listening tour through California. On Wednesday, she visited the Central Valley, where the freshman senator toured a citrus-packing facility on the outskirts of Fresno. After sampling a mandarin orange and proclaiming it “delicious,” Harris sat down with two dozen people connected with the Central Valley’s multibillion-dollar agricultural industry to get their take on the federal farm bill and learn about other issues concerning them. Water was top-of-mind for many of the speakers. Jason Phillips runs the Friant Water Authority.

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San Diego Switching To Conservation-Friendly ‘Smart’ Water Meters

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune by David Garrick

Smart water meters, which make conservation easier for customers, will replace outdated meters for all San Diego water customers by early 2020, city officials say. A successful pilot program last year, during which 11,500 such meters were installed, has prompted the city to revamp another 85,000 meters so they can handle transmitters that will enable the new technology. Once those are fully upgraded, the city’s remaining 185,000 meters will also be revamped so smart meters can be installed during the next three years.

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California Bill Takes Aim At Mojave Desert Groundwater Project With Ties To Trump Nominee

/in /by /Hispanic Access Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

A new bill in the state Legislature would require California to review the environmental impacts of a company’s proposal to pump groundwater from beneath the Mojave Desert and sell it to Southern California cities — a controversial plan that was slowed down by President Obama, but which appears to have the backing of the Trump administration. Cadiz Inc. hopes to pump 16.3 billion gallons of groundwater annually in the heart of the desert, about 75 miles northeast of Palm Springs, on land surrounded by Mojave Trails National Monument and near Mojave National Preserve.

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Perseverance Pays Off In Rate Case Ruling

/in /by /Valley Roadrunner (Valley Center)by Mark Muir Quoted: 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.

 

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Farmers Seek Help From Sen. Kamala Harris. What Did They Want Most? Hint: Starts With ‘W’

/in /by /The Modesto Beeby Robert Rodriguez

Agricultural leaders and farmers pressed their case for a reliable water supply, immigration reform and their fair share of the Farm Bill during a roundtable discussion with Sen. Kamala Harris on Wednesday. Harris is the former attorney general who won election last November in the race to replace outgoing Democrat Barbara Boxer. Harris is touring California this week, made good on her promise to visit the Valley to get a better understanding of the region’s needs, including its most powerful economic engine, agriculture.

 

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‘Worst Is Over’ For Snowmelt, Officials Say

/in /by /California Farm Bureau (Sacramento) by Christine Souza

Even though there’s still plenty of snow in the Sierra and plenty of warm weather ahead, the California Department of Water Resources says it believes the annual snowmelt has peaked and should now decline. The observation came after a week in which landowners in some low-lying areas coped with flooding that resulted from a record-setting mid-June heat wave.

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Waterwise: State Budget Includes Funds For Water Projects

/in /by /Visalia Times-Delta

California’s 2017-2018 fiscal year budget includes $17 million in allocations to tackle the Golden State’s drinking water crisis’ immediate needs, the Community Water Center reported. The drinking water advocacy group also called for state officials to seek long-term, sustainable funding sources for the state’s water systems. In a separate announcement, the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation announced seven grants for projects around California, including one in the Central Valley.

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OPINION: Water, Water, Everywhere But Not A Drop For Trees

/in /by /Times of San Diegoby Colleen O'Connor

With great fanfare, Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced the planting of 500 new trees in San Diego’s Balboa Park last week. Meanwhile, pepper trees in Old Town, jacaranda and pine trees in Point Loma, and even more precious trees and plants in the birthplace of California—Presidio Park—are allowed to wither and die, or be cut down, due to “the drought.” And that is just a few of the public park areas dying from neglect for want of a little water. Even the admirable attempt by the county to create a downtown waterpark falls short—lots of water bursts–but, negligible trees.

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OPINION: Lies, Damned Lies & Twin Tunnels

/in /by /Ceres Courier (Turlock)by Dennis Wyatt

In the Ohlone Wilderness south of Pleasanton is a 220-foot-tall reminder that the past may catch up with California. Calaveras Dam – built by the City of San Francisco 92 years ago – sits next to an active earthquake fault. Downstream are Fremont and other communities along Alameda Creek where 300,000 people live who are considered at risk in a major quake. The dam’s base is comprised of loose earth from a previous dam that had failed earlier in the 20th century. It was back in the day when quake knowledge was just barely out of the Stone Age.

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