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Water Fountain At Birney Elementary School Has Levels Of Lead Above State Guidelines

/in /by /NBC 7 San Diegoby Steven Luke, R. Stickney

Parents are being notified that a source of drinking water on the campus of a San Diego-area elementary school has tested positive for lead above the state guidelines.The drinking fountain near the lunch area of Birney Elementary School was one of the sources sampled in the San Diego Unified School District’s effort to test all schools for lead levels in drinking water. City of San Diego employees sampled water from the fountains on May 2 before students were on campus, as per district protocol.

 

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What Broke The Safe Drinking Water Act?

/in /by /Politico (Arlington, Va.)by Annie Snider

It was 1997 when Californians began to worry in earnest about a chemical called perchlorate. For decades, the ingredient in jet fuel had been seeping from missile factories and rocket testing sites into groundwater across the state and, thanks to a new testing method, it was suddenly clear it had reached hundreds of drinking water wells. Soon, researchers discovered that the toxic chemical had reached Lake Mead, the picturesque reservoir that supplies water to 25 million people in the American Southwest and irrigates the fields that grow the lion’s share of the nation’s winter produce.

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BLOG: Beyond the Drought: Building Water Conservation Consciousness

/in /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Elizabeth Doughtery Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

In California, the five-year drought had some stunning silver linings, notably a more acute personal awareness of water use. The impacts of drought and climate change yielded scarce water flows and depleted groundwater supplies that focused people’s attention on cutting back on water use. During the drought, the media, water agency mailings and signs on the roadways all pointed over and over to the need to conserve. Local listserves (mailing lists) and cafes filled up with conversations about water costs, water quality, water failures and what water-saving programs were available through local water agencies.

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Why California Can’t Go Back to ‘Normal’ After Drought

/in /by /News Deeplyby Matt Weiser Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

California’s five-year drought was officially declared to be over in April. By many measures, it was the worst drought in the state’s recorded history. And it was brought to an end by one of the wettest single winters ever. As a result, most water agencies across the state have dropped their emergency water conservation rules. And, presumably, life will get back to normal in that interface between people and water. But is the drought really over? And even if it is, should we allow life to return to “normal”?

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San Diego Will Recycle Sewage Into Drinking Water, Mayor Declares

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

Within five years, San Diegans will be sipping and bathing in water recycled from sewage, city officials declared Wednesday. A deal between local environmental groups and city officials to pursue a plan known as Pure Water San Diego, in lieu of upgrades to an aging wastewater treatment facility, seems to be coming to fruition after more than two decades of brainstorming, formal planning and small-scale testing of water purification technologies. Both projects carry hefty price tags: at least $3 billion for the water-recycling system and roughly $2 billion for the facility overhaul.

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REPORT: CA Ninth Worst In Nation For Drinking Water Violations

/in /by /East County Magazineby Suzanne Otter

May 8, 2017 (Sunnyvale, Calif.) – Water systems in California have the nation’s ninth-worst record for violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act, according to a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Researchers pored over Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data from 2015 and found more than 1,900 violations in 832 different water systems that together serve 2.5 million people – in the Golden State alone. Erik Olson, a report coauthor and director of the NRDC’s Health Program, said many of the violations are for water conditions that can make people sick, and listed a few of the concerns.

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New Valley PBS Documentary Miniseries Looks At Water In California’s Central Valley

/in /by /Valley Public Radio (Clovis)by Ezra David Romero & Joe Moore

Earlier this month Valley PBS launched a documentary miniseries called “Tapped Out: The History and Battle over Water in California’s San Joaquin Valley.”  The four-part series examines the history of water in California. Each episode delves into a different part of the history and future of water in the region and includes the voices of farmers, water leaders and environmentalists.

 

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Padre Dam Receives Conceptual Approvals, $116.2M for Water Purification Program

/in /by /WaterWorld

Padre Dam Municipal Water District received regulatory conceptual approvals for the East County Advanced Water Purification Program from the California State Water Resources Control Board Division of Drinking Water. Additionally, the State Water Resources Control Board awarded Padre Dam $116.2 million as part of the Proposition 1 (Prop 1) Water Recycling Funding Program. The conceptual approval will allow the program to use either Lake Jennings and/or and the Santee Groundwater Basin as an environmental buffer in compliance with existing groundwater recharge regulations and draft regulations on surface water augmentation.

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U.S. Drought at Lowest Level in Nearly Two Decades

/in /by /Salon Media Group

After years of intense, record-setting drought across the U.S., particularly in the Great Plains and California, the country is now experiencing its lowest level of drought in the 17 years since the U.S. Drought Monitor began its weekly updates. Less than 5 percent of the U.S. was in some stage of drought as of May 4, the most recent update, compared to the 65 percent mired in drought in September 2012.

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End Of California Drought Doesn’t Bring Relief For Produce Prices

/in /by /CBS Sacramentoby Lemor Abrams

From “farmageddon” to good fortune. Five years after the drought, farmers across California’s Central Valley say produce is finally plentiful, but that doesn’t mean better prices. When the water ran out, farmers let go of their land. But after five years of California’s devastating drought, farmers markets are ripe for business. “The quality is exceptional this year,” said Missy Gotelli of Gotelli Farms. And fans know it. But perfection doesn’t come cheap. Alex Moreno at JJ Farms charges $5 a pound for cherries at local markets.

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