More than half off all beaches in Southern California could disappear by the end of the century due to sea-level rise, according to a study published Monday in the Journal of Geophysical Research. As a result of sea-level rise, up to 67 percent of beaches from Santa Barbara to San Diego could be completely eroded back to sea cliffs or coastal infrastructure by 2100, according to the report from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers will soon be able to recover their money from a landmark class-action settlement. Starting this week, ratepayers will receive packets in the mail that detail what types of refunds and damages may be claimed from the settlement. The DWP has been plagued by a faulty computer billing system launched in 2013 that overcharged tens of thousands of customers while failing to bill others at all. Ratepayers filed a class-action lawsuit against the utility and the city; all sides reached a tentative settlement that was approved in December.
Two fault zones that were thought to be separate actually make up one continuous fault system running through San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles counties, according to new research. If all the offshore and onshore segments of the so-called Newport-Inglewood/Rose Canyon fault system were to rupture at once, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake could seize the region.
Jason Tucker’s job title is facility manager at the Glen Canyon Dam. But you could also say he’s also a kind of banker. Colorado River water flows into his bank – the reservoir behind the dam. He can then loan it out to create electricity. Some even call the dam here a kind of “savings account,” tapped as needed to replenish Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, which lie past the Grand Canyon to the west.
Local water officials working to better manage groundwater in the Santa Clarita Valley’s water basin, are also working to better manage the salt in that basin. Members of the Castaic Lake Water Agency board approved a recommendation Wednesday to pay their salt-studying consultants more money for extra work in light of new salt demands handed down recently by regional water regulators.
Rising seas are eating away at ocean-front sand at a pace that could leave Southern California with few usable beaches by the end of this century, scientists announced Monday. Research based on information from the U.S. Geological Survey’s newly created computer model, the Coastal Storm Modeling System, shows that with little human intervention up to 67 percent of the beaches in Southern California could erode completely in less than 100 years, according to a paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.
California is home to many of the world’s most advanced and innovative technology companies. Yet, while Silicon Valley and up-and-coming Silicon Beach are cutting-edge, another critical component of California’s economy – agriculture – is hobbled by outdated systems, particularly when it comes to how water is delivered and used.
California’s top water manager said Monday that the problem-plagued Oroville Reservoir will have a new spillway in place to prevent potentially dangerous outflows of water in time for the next rainy season. The pledge follows concern that the reservoir’s concrete main spillway, which fractured in February, would require more than the dry summer and fall months to fix because of the extent of damage.
By every wet indication, California is about to lift the drought state of emergency order imposed in January 2014. So we thought this would be a good time to talk to Felicia Marcus, the chairwoman of California’s Water Resources Control Board (you can call her the Water Czar.) This interview has been edited and condensed. Do you think these past three years have produced permanent changes in how Californians use water?
Local civic and business leaders have launched a “Stop the Spending” campaign when it comes to water rates. The agency is calling on one of its main suppliers – the Metropolitan Water District – to stop unnecessary water rate increases. San Diego gets 41 percent of its water from the Metropolitan Water District, but the city has been working on increasing local water supplies.
