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What Drought? Many Californians no Longer Required to Curb Water Use

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Matt Stevens

After a year of mandatory water conservation that shortened showers and faded lawns, millions of drought-weary Californians will no longer be required to aggressively cut back their use.

In order to comply with the state’s latest emergency regulation, local water providers this week submitted documents intended to demonstrate whether their agencies have enough supply to meet customers’ demands for another three severely dry years.

 

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Water Rates to Increase in San Diego County

/in /by /SD Metro Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors on Thursday adopted rate increases of 6.4 percent for untreated water and 5.9 percent for treated water in 2017, near the low end of projections and similar to the increases adopted by the Board of Directors for 2016.

Rates adopted by the board are primarily driven by higher costs from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, though they also incorporate higher costs for drought-proof water supplies from the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant. They also were impacted by state-mandated reductions in water use that decreased sales more than earlier projections.

 

 

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LADWP Sees No Need For State-Mandated Water Conservation

/in /by /89.3 KPCC (Pasadena)by Emily Guerin

Los Angeles has enough water to make it through three more years of drought without continuing state-mandated water cuts.

That’s the finding of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s “stress test,” which was due to the State Water Resources Control Board this week. Under a complex calculation handed down by state water officials, local agencies have to project future water supplies given the assumption that California won’t receive any more rain and snow in the next three years than it did over the previous three.

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California Lawmakers Propose $3 Billion Parks Bond For November Ballot

/in /by /Capital Public Radio (Sacramento)by Ben Bradford

California voters could have yet another decision to make on an already-packed November ballot. The state Assembly voted today to add a three billion dollar bond measure for state and local parks.

Democratic Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia said a lack of funding has caused parks to fall into disrepair. “It’s been close to 14 years since this body has last approved a substantial funding measure designed to improve and expand park and outdoor infrastructure in the state of California,” says Garcia.

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Judge Bumped From OID Fallowing Lawsuit

/in /by /The Modesto Beeby Garth Stapley

Board member Gary Osmundson, sued along with the Oakdale Irrigation District, had a judge removed from the case after the judge sided against the district in a pretrial ruling.

In other action related to the lawsuit on OID’s stalled fallow-for-money program:

  • The board majority voted Tuesday to alter legal action against two of its own members, at least one of whom is the target of a leak investigation.
  • In an unusual move, the board publicly released a confidential memo that answers some nagging questions about the fallowing program.
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Nuclear Plant Closure Will Benefit California Marine Species

/in /by /Natural Resources Defense Council (New York)by Elizabeth Murdock

The California State Lands Commission is scheduled next week to consider a joint proposal from Pacific Gas & Electric, NRDC, Friends of the Earth, and others to begin an orderly closure of the giant Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, located along California’s majestic central coast that also is home to abundant and unique sea life, marine plants, and animals.

 

 

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Judge Throws Put Delta Plan, Twin Tunnels for Now

/in /by /Chico Enterprise-Record

Barbara Vlamis, director of Chico-based AquAlliance.net, was dancing on the grave of the Delta Plan Thursday.

Her group was a among a coalition that challenged the environmental review of the plan, which includes plans for the hotly-contested twin tunnels. However, a judge’s decision in May, and a clarification this week, invalidated the plan because it did not meet the laws passed by the state legislature in 2009. Because the plan was invalidated, the questions about compliance with environmental review laws don’t apply, Judge Michael Kenny stated in a six-page document released Thursday.

 

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Despite Recent Rains, California Faces Brutal Fire Season

/in /by /Capital Public Radio (Sacramento)by Ben Adler

Any hope of a wet winter dousing California’s fire season is quickly going up in flames.

It seems that California just can’t catch a break. Sure, the state got its highest precipitation in years – at a critical time. But “for the brush and trees,“ says CAL FIRE’s Daniel Berlant, “the amount of rain we received this winter was not enough to really make up for the now five years of lack of rainfall.”

 

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Proposals Could Further Limit Water Flows

/in /by /AgNet West (Fresno)

The Western Agricultural Processors Association held their annual meeting in Monterey. The Association had several speakers including California Farm Water Coalition President and CEO Mike Wade. Wade gave an update on the state’s water outlook which has been relatively bad news for the last five years.

Wade says on top of challenging water conditions, the coalition was shocked to see two new proposals that look to limit even more of the available water that could be moved south. “Yeah, unusual proposals we are seeing this year from the national fisheries agencies and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),”

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BLOG: Bill to Aid Water Supply by Restoring Forests

/in /by /Water Deeply (New York)

It has been estimated that more than 60 percent of California’s freshwater comes from mountain storm runoff and snowmelt. Yet these mountain watersheds have never been officially recognized for their role in delivering and filtering this enormous share of the state’s vital water supply.

That may change soon. A bill in the state Legislature, AB 2480 (authored by Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica), would officially recognize five critical Sierra Nevada and Cascade watersheds as important pieces of the state’s water infrastructure.

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