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Sacramento River Report Adds To Water Concerns

/in /by /AgAlert (California Farm Bureau Foundation)by Christine Souza

California farmers and ranchers say they’re drowning in proposals, regulations, plans and deadlines affecting the future of water supplies. The latest wave came in the form of a “draft science report” from the State Water Resources Control Board that would potentially require dedication of more Sacramento River water to fish. The draft scientific report for fisheries and flows in the Sacramento River and Bay-Delta represents part of what the board calls Phase 2 of its update to the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan.

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OPINION: Fresh Water Is Not Renewing Fast Enough For Human Consumption

/in /by /The Record (Buffalo, N.Y.)by Edwin J. Viera

Transportation is one of the most vital assets to all people. Getting around allows us to get to work, run errands, and so on. What gets most of us out and about is oil and gasoline. For years, this was one of the driving forces behind the war in Afghanistan. Since America is dependent on oil in the Middle East. This crisis has seemingly evolved from oil to something a little more important… water. 75 percent of the Earth is water, yet the majority is completely undrinkable due to its salt content.

 

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What Will Happen After The ‘Big One’ Hits SoCal?

/in /by /KCET (Burbank)by Albert Sabaté

Over a decade has passed since Hurricane Katrina brought destruction to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, leaving 1,245 dead and $108 billion in property damage. More than a million people were displaced and communities destroyed. The region has come a long way since then, but it will never be the same. Katrina remains the country’s worst natural disaster. Here in Southern California, earthquakes, rather than hurricanes, pose risks to our lives, health, and socioeconomic futures. The risks are more pronounced in dense areas — places where there are more people and infrastructure that can be affected.

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California Weather Changes Affect Power Supply

/in /by /CBS Sacramentoby Lisa Meadows

The state of California has set big goals for switching over to green energy within the next decade. The difference with these energy source, they depend on the weather. Water (hydro energy), wind (wind turbines), and sun (solar energy) are the key components to generating renewable energy. In California, lawmakers have set high standards for how green we want to be in the next 10 to 20 years. The goal is to have switched over 33% of the state to renewable energy sources by 2020 and half of the state by 2030.

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As the Salton Sea’s decline looms, a rush to cover up dry lakebed

/in /by /The Desert Sun

On the bottom of what used to be a shallow bay, bulldozers and excavators are clawing into the dry lakebed.

Over the past decade, the shore of the Salton Sea has receded more than a mile at Red Hill Bay, leaving a dusty plain of salt-laden soil that crunches and crumbles underfoot.

Workers have been using machines to dig down to a clay layer, starting to build berms so the area can be flooded and transformed into more than 500 acres of wetlands.

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Deal slashes water use rates

/in /by /The Lake County Record Bee (Lakeport))by Jason Morash

After more than a decade of dead lawns, vacant storefronts, and failed community action, District 3 Supervisor Jim Steele’s report of a significant decrease in future water rates took a while to sink in with residents Tuesday at the Northshore Community Center in Lucerne.

In fact, he had to ask them for a response.

The audience erupted in applause. Finally, some cheer in a town that recently has had little reason to celebrate, at least when it came to the water bill.

“This is fantastic news for everyone,” 26-year resident William Becker said. “The best I’ve heard in a long time.”

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Remembering a ‘Forgotten Flood’

/in /by /Appeal Democrat (Marysville)by Rachel Rosenbaum

It doesn’t matter how old you are, or if you weren’t even born at the time: Most residents know about the great floods of the area from 1955, 1986 and 1997.

One flood residents may not know about, though, is the “Forgotten Flood” of 1940 that devastated 780 square miles of Sutter, Butte, Tehama, Glenn and Colusa counties.

Sutter County Public Information Officer Chuck Smith said every October as the rainy season approaches, the county takes measures to educate residents about the area’s flood history, the steps that have been taken for better protection and the risks that still remain.

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Soil moisture, snowpack data could help predict ‘flash droughts’

/in /by /WHNT19 News (Huntsville, Alabama)by Jake Reed

New research suggests that “flash droughts” – like the one that unexpectedly gripped the Southern Rockies and Midwest in the summer of 2012 – could be predicted months in advance using soil moisture and snowpack data.

Researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) analyzed the conditions leading up to the 2012 drought, which ultimately caused $30 billion in economic losses, looking for any warning signs that a drought was on the way.

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Is Sacramento slacking when it comes to saving water?

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

Sacramentans are still saving water, but their conservation efforts have slipped compared with a year ago, suggesting that the relaxation of statewide drought mandates is prompting more consumption.

The Sacramento Regional Water Authority reported Wednesday that area residents reduced water consumption in September by 15 percent compared with the September 2013 baseline.

A year ago, when stiff conservation rules were in effect, the savings rate hit 27 percent. The results are in line with statewide figures, which show Californians have been using more water since the statewide mandates were lifted June 1.

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In Yorba Linda, the race for water district board is getting ugly

/in /by /89.3 KPCC (Pasadena)by Kevin Ferguson

It’s not often that a local utilities board election sets off angry confrontations between neighbors, candidates’ faces plastered on Old West-style “wanted” posters and even a current board member hung in effigy.

But races for four seats on the Yorba Linda Water District’s board of directors have defied stereotypes of sleepy local elections, stirring up intense outrage and anger – and opening a broader debate about California’s water future. The air in Yorba Linda, the suburban Orange County city known mostly as the birthplace of Richard Nixon, has gotten tense.

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