The construction of new recycled water pipelines in North County is expected to begin next week, according to the Olivenhain Municipal Water District. Thanks in part to about $900,000 in grants from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources, the district will begin work on extending several underground pipelines in Encinitas and Carlsbad.
On the heels of two wet winters, it’s easy to forget how close some parts of California came to running out of water a few short years ago. But this climate amnesia will not help us prepare for the next inevitable drought. Since before the state’s founding, the boom-and-bust of drought and flood have shaped our landscapes.
March is a notoriously fickle month for California precipitation, but the storm door remains open for the Golden State, where precipitation has been plentiful for a second straight year. The month began with a severe blizzard, and it looks like it will close with a solid dose of Sierra snow — and a potentially significant rainstorm in Southern California.
Sacramento and cities across California caught a break from the state’s water regulator this week after the agency faced criticism that its water conservation rules were too complicated and costly to meet.
California farmers could save massive amounts of water if they planted less thirsty — but also less lucrative — crops instead of almonds, alfalfa and other water-guzzling crops, according to new research by scientists who used remote sensing and artificial intelligence.
Vallecitos Water District, led by General Manager James Gumpel, has been serving the San Marcos community since 1955. As a local government entity, they provide essential water, wastewater, and reclamation services to various areas in North San Diego County.
The California State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday approved new regulations for direct potable reuse, AKA “toilet to tap” — that’s when purified water is piped directly from a sewage treatment plant to your home.
Hydropower generation in the U.S. West plunged to a 22-year low last year — dropping 11 percent from the year before, according to a new federal data analysis. The total amount produced in the region amounted to 141.5 million megawatt-hours, or about 60 percent of the country’s total hydroelectricity output in the 2022-23 “water year,” per the data published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Cyber criminals affiliated with Iran and China are targeting critical water sector infrastructure in the United States. In a letter to governors, the Environmental Protection Agency’s administrator, Michael Regan, and the president’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, said disabling cyberattacks are striking water and wastewater systems throughout the United States.
Even following a water year like 2023 and historic flooding events in recent months, California continues to see the need to conserve water. A water year, or a “wet year,” according to the United States Geological Survey, is defined as a 12-month period in which precipitation levels are measured.
