State data shows more than 300 schools in San Diego County are testing their water for lead, following an NBC7 Investigates series on water quality in schools. A state spokeswoman said more schools are testing in San Diego County, by far, than any other county in the state. At least 17 of schools, across several school districts, have received lab results of lead in school water at levels greater than five parts per billion.
Just a week after Governor Jerry Brown declared the end of the California drought emergency, the northern half of the state logged its wettest year into the record books. But that doesn’t mean California’s water problems are over. On 13 April, rainfall measuring stations in the Sierra Nevada mountains recorded 89.7 inches of water. The previous record set in 1983 was 88.5 inches. In the past 12 months, California has simultaneously dealt with the effects of not enough water and far too much of it.
Recharging underground water supplies through old and new channels and methods may only lead to overconsumption, especially if drought conditions return in a few years. Several water management experts in the central and southern San Joaquin Valley, where painful drought conditions have prevailed for the past five years, are discussing additional channels and choices for putting some of this year’s excess water into underground storage for future use. And they’re considering continuing programs to bolster those pools every year.
When Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana in 2005, cities inland saw an influx of evacuees escaping the storm and its aftermath. Now, a new University of Georgia study predicts that this could happen again as a result of sea-level rise. In a paper published today in Nature Climate Change, researchers estimate that approximately 13.1 million people could be displaced by rising ocean waters, with Atlanta, Houston and Phoenix as top destinations for those forced to relocate.
In response to this year’s wet winter weather and effective water conservation, California Gov. Jerry Brown has declared the Golden State’s more than 5-year-long drought over, for the most part. With the exception of four counties, Brown lifted the official drought emergency on April 7. Even as he did so, however, he emphasized the importance of preparing for future droughts — and dealing with the fallout from the one that just ended. “This drought emergency is over, but the next drought could be around the corner,” Brown said in a statement. “Conservation must remain a way of life.”
Oregon and Washington lead the way in state programs that facilitate environmental water transfers. A new Stanford study concludes Colorado Basin states, including California, have lots of catching up to do. Water transfers are an important way to share a limited resource, especially to help fish and habitats that were historically left with scraps when water rights were parceled out around the West. The water for such transfers usually comes from farmers, who free up water through some kind of conservation measure. By transferring the saved water, a farmer can help imperiled fish and make some money.
Kiewit Corp., a construction giant with extensive experience in dam projects, was awarded the massive repair job at troubled Oroville Dam on Monday. The California Department of Water Resources announced that Kiewit, based in Omaha, Neb., beat two competitors for the job with a $275.4 million bid. Kiewit had the low bid, although its offer was still higher than DWR’s internal estimate that the project would cost $231 million. (DWR said on Saturday that it estimated the project would cost $220 million, but released a corrected estimate Monday.)
Another storm system will pass through the Central Valley on Tuesday, bringing light, scattered showers. Rain will start developing around midnight on Tuesday and will continue into the afternoon. The bulk of the system will pass through between 7 a.m. and noon, said Scott Borgioli, WeatherAg chief meteorologist. Scattered showers will bring less than a quarter-inch of rain. Tuesday’s high temperatures upper 60s, but a warming trend could push the mercury above 85 this weekend.
For years, San Diego Unified has known plumbing was aging at 78-year-old Emerson-Bandini Elementary School in Mountain View. In fact, three times in the past 13 years, Emerson’s plumbing needs were held up to voters as one of the reasons they should approve tax hikes to fund school repairs. Voters approved all three measures, pumping billions of dollars into the district. But the plumbing repairs have yet to happen. In the meantime, school officials found alarming levels of toxic chemicals in the water at Emerson.
Design flaws, construction shortcomings and maintenance errors caused the Oroville Dam spillway to break apart in February, according to an independent analysis by Robert Bea for the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management at UC Berkeley. Bea, a co-founder of the center and retired civil engineering professor, found that in the 1960s, when the dam was being planned, designers did not call for a thick enough concrete spillway floor. Nor did they require the continuous steel reinforcement needed to keep its slabs intact during decades of service.
