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Top ten water wise trees for San Diego

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

It’s something that’s in the news a lot these days: Water-wise landscaping. But what exactly does that mean for San Diegans and how do you know what plants will work for this kind of gardening?

Recently, the San Diego County Water Authority updated its informative brochure, “Nifty 50 Plants for WaterSmart Landscapes,” which is packed with information about a variety of plants and trees that will work in San Diego’s drought environment. The best part is that the brochure is available for free at watersmartsd.org.

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Water Restrictions Easing, but the Idea of “Green” Has Changed for Some

/in /by /The Orange County Registerby By Denisse Salazar

Just in time for hot summer days, the Yorba Linda Water District is easing up on watering restrictions.

State officials have scraped the emergency conservation mandates that had forced the district to cut water use by 36 percent. For months, customers have faced unprecedented restrictions and “administrative penalties” for over use. In response to the state’s step back, the district is allowing customers to increase watering from two to three days a week. Filling swimming pools will no longer be prohibited, district spokesman Damon Micalizzi said.

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Newport Moves Toward Allowing a Third Day of Watering Per Week

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hannah Fry

Newport Beach water customers soon may be allowed to irrigate outdoors three days a week instead of two, but still will be required to conserve.

The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to take initial steps to move the city to Level 2 of its water conservation plan, which restricts outdoor watering to before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. but allows ratepayers to irrigate their lawns three days per week from April through October. Outdoor watering from November through March would be restricted to one day per week.

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California Water Projects to Receive WaterSMART Grants for 2016

/in /by /Association of California Water Agenciesby Emily Allshouse

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has awarded more than $25.6 million in WaterSMART Water and Energy Efficiency Grants to support projects that increase water and energy conservation and efficiency, protect endangered species or address climate-related impacts on water.

A total of 53 projects in 11 states will receive the FY 2016 grants. Those states include California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

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Floating Solar: A Win-Win for Drought-Stricken Lakes in U.S.

/in /by /Yale Environment 360by Philip Warburg

The Colorado River’s two great reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are in retreat. Multi-year droughts and chronic overuse have taken their toll, to be sure, but vast quantities of water are also lost to evaporation. What if the same scorching sun that causes so much of this water loss were harnessed for electric power?

Installing floating solar photovoltaic arrays, sometimes called “floatovoltaics,” on a portion of these two reservoirs in the southwestern United States could produce clean, renewable energy while shielding significant expanses of water from the hot desert sun.

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The Future of Water Utilities: Exciting and Unfunded

/in /by /Bloomberg BNAby David Schultz

Hello, and welcome to another episode of our environmental policy podcast, Parts Per Billion. This is where we chat with reporters and newsmakers to bring you the stories behind our stories.

Today we bring you the first of a two-part conversation between George Hawkins, head of the local water utility here in Washington, and Bloomberg BNA water policy reporter Amena Saiyid.

 

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Are Dead Trees a Threat?

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Chad Hanson

There are now 66 million dead trees in California’s forests due to several years of drought and native bark beetles, creating a “catastrophic” wildfire threat – or so claims U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. While Vilsack’s assertion may resonate with many in the general public because it makes intuitive sense, it simply isn’t true.

Among scientists, there is an overwhelming consensus that weather (hot, dry, windy conditions) determines how wildland fires behave, not the density of dead trees or “snags.”

 

 

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Shasta water release plan has no cutbacks to farmers – for now

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow and Michael Doyle

After weeks of uncertainty and pressure from members of Congress, federal officials on Wednesday announced a plan for managing water releases from California’s largest reservoir this summer in a manner that will not involve cutbacks in farm water deliveries – at least if all goes as hoped.

For more than a month, federal agencies have battled behind the scenes over how to balance the needs of California farms and two endangered fish species whose populations have been decimated by years of drought and environmental decline.

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How the early, record heat could affect your ability to make Fourth of July guacamole

/in /by /The Los Angeles Timesby Gillian Ferguson

Last week’s triple-digit heat wreaked havoc on Southern California avocado farms, leaving some growers with burnt trees and unsellable fruit just two weeks before the Fourth of July holiday, when avocado sales generally spike.

Growers in Fallbrook, De Luz and Temecula reported record temperatures between 110 and 117 degrees, as well as 30-mile per hour winds – a potentially devastating combination for avocado groves planted in sandy soil where the fierce winds can wick away moisture faster than the trees can absorb it.

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Deadly California Wildfires Spark Debate About Development

/in /by /The Associated Press (As Published by KPBS)

A speeding wildfire in California that turned hundreds of homes near Lake Isabella to piles of twisted rubble has forced a conversation about how to minimize destruction in the most populous state experiencing the effects of climate change.

Wildfires in the last years have killed several people in California, a drought-prone state experiencing a five-year dry spell.

Weather is one factor, but more critical is the state’s exploding population, spawning communities in the once sparsely inhabited ranch and timberland regions long known to burn, experts say.

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