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Judge Refuses to Halt Delta land Sale to Southern California Agency

/in /by /The Sacramento Bee by By Dale Kasler

A judge has refused to block a Southern California water agency’s controversial purchase of five islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Judge Barbara Kronlund in San Joaquin Superior Court declined to grant a temporary restraining order Friday to officials from San Joaquin and Contra Costa counties, who sued two weeks ago to keep the Metropolitan Water District from completing its $175 million purchase of the five islands.

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San Diego County is Divided Over Proposed Half-Cent Tax for Transportation Projects

/in /by /Los Angeles Times by By Joshua Emerson Smith

A battle is raging over one of the most fundamental aspects of San Diego County’s future: how folks get around.

Will commuters overwhelmingly continue to drive their cars to work, as they’ve done for decades? Or will lawmakers fashion a public transportation system — consisting largely of bus, trolley and train lines — that’s efficient and sexy enough to appeal to millennials and perhaps their parents?

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City Tacks Parking, Library Fines Onto Late Water Bills

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby By Jeff McDonald

San Diego public utility officials shut off customers’ water with no warning and have no specific policy outlining how to restart service or adjudicate complaints, local consumer advocates say. The city also piles on unnecessary fees and penalties — even adding years-old parking tickets and library fines to the balances due — before agreeing to restore water service, the Utility Consumers’ Action Network says.

 

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Ted Cruz Has a Delta Smelt Plan: Disco Ball, a Little Barry White

/in /by /The Sacramento Bee by By Christopher Cadelago

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, speaking at the state Republican Party Convention, dug into the state’s complex water policies Saturday, suggesting that it might be possible to replenish the Delta smelt population with a little romantic music and a disco ball.

More than a trillion gallons of fresh water have been dumped into the Pacific Ocean “because of a little three-inch bait fish,” Cruz said, saying the state’s environmental policies have overreached in protecting it.

 

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OPINION: State Officials Must Maintain Smart Water Policies

/in /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)

Coachella Valley water agencies are again making the case that the state should ease its drought restrictions, especially for those here in the desert.

Officials argue that this region’s unique circumstances – the hot climate, a varying tourist season/year-round population mix that distorts actual per capita usage and access to groundwater as well as surface water sources – should be considered in the decision-making process rather than following a more one-size-fits-all approach statewide.

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Weighing the Pros and Cons of Keeping Your Lawn Green

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune by By Pat Setter

With the drought continuing in California despite El Niño, more and more homeowners are considering alternatives to thirsty lawns. But before pulling up the turf, consider your options and their advantages and disadvantages.

Grass typically uses about 60 gallons of water per week for every 10-by-10-foot area. That can add up in a hurry. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 30 to 60 percent of a household’s water usage goes toward landscape irrigation.

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OPINION: Inevitable Changes in California’s Water Supply

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby By Jay Lund

California faces major changes in its water supply. The sooner everyone realizes these changes are coming, the better the state will be able to cope with what lies ahead.

Today’s changes are driven by efforts to end groundwater depletion, by sea level rise and loss of snowpack, salts and nitrate accumulating in groundwater, new invasive species, population growth and California’s globalized economy and agriculture.

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Water Authority Plan Forecasts 14% Lower Water Use in 2020

/in /by /Times of San Diego by By Chris Jennewein Quoted: Bob Yamada

Thanks largely to conservation efforts, the San Diego County Water Authority’s latest water management plan envisions the region will use 14 percent less water in 2020 than originally forecast.

The latest draft of the 2015 Urban Water Management Plan was released for public review on Friday. It is available online. The water authority estimates that future water demands will be about 14 percent lower in 2020 and 15 percent lower in 2035 compared to projections in the 2010 plan.

 

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Why California’s New Groundwater Management Law is a Game Changer for Mine Operators

/in /by /JD Supra Business Advisor (Sausalito) by By Thomas Henry

Ready or not, California’s new Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (“SGMA”) is here and mine operators should be vigilant in monitoring and actively participating in developments under the law. Previously, the use of groundwater was largely unregulated.  Now local agencies are in the driver’s seat when it comes to addressing a very complex problem: managing groundwater to ensure sustainability.

Earlier this week, environmental consultant Bob Anderson, of Geosyntec and Stoel Rives attorneys Wes Miliband and Tom Henry hosted a webinar about the implications of SGMA for mine operators.

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Court Rejects Lawsuit to Drain Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

/in /by /San Jose Mercury News by By Paul Rogers

A judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to force the city of San Francisco to drain Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, a key part of the water system for 2.6 million residents of Bay Area cities stretching from Hayward to San Jose to San Francisco.

The ruling, by Tuolumne County Superior Court Judge Kevin Seibert, is the latest setback for Restore Hetch Hetchy, an Oakland-based group that says construction of the reservoir in Yosemite National Park 93 years ago was a grievous crime against nature that can be undone, restoring the submerged valley.
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