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OPINION: Lawmakers Pump the Brakes After Gov. Jerry Brown Goes Full Throttle on Pet Projects

/in /by /Los Angeles Times

Gov. Jerry Brown’s two very pricey legacy projects took hits in the Legislature last week. They were light jabs, and he didn’t even flinch.

But the fact that some fellow Democrats had the temerity to challenge the popular governor was a sign of growing legislative — and public — skepticism about these highly controversial pet projects. One legislative committee advanced a bill that would force the Brown administration to be more open and candid about the $64-billion, zigzagging bullet train.

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San Diego County Used 17% Less Water In March

/in /by /KPBS Quoted: Mark Weston and Bob Yamada

San Diegans used 17 percent less water last month than in March 2013, beating the state-mandated goal of a 13 percent reduction, the San Diego County Water Authority announced Monday.

March was the first month in which lowered conservation targets were in effect. The former goal was 20 percent, but the state eased its orders for agencies in the San Diego region after the desalination plant in Carlsbad began production.Since the mandates went into effect last June, the cumulative reduction has been 21 percent, the water authority reported.

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California Weighs Sharing ‘Pain’ of Colorado River Cuts

/in /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by By Ian James

With the Colorado River tapped beyond its limits and the level of Lake Mead in decline, representatives of California, Arizona and Nevada say they’ve been making progress in negotiating an agreement for all three states to share in water cutbacks in order to stave off a more severe shortage.

Officials who have been involved in the talks over the past several months cautioned that the details have yet to be finalized, and said difficult negotiations remain between water districts and among the states.

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San Diegans Beat Water Reduction Goal in March 2016

/in /by /ABC10 (San Diego) Quoted: Mark Weston and Bob Yamada

San Diegans used 17 percent less water last month than in March 2013, beating the state-mandated goal of a 13 percent reduction, the San Diego County Water Authority announced Monday.

March was the first month in which lowered conservation targets were in effect. The former goal was 20 percent, but the state eased its orders for agencies in the San Diego region after the desalination plant in Carlsbad began production. Since the mandates went into effect last June, the cumulative reduction has been 21 percent, the SDCWA reported.

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California Water Board Denies Bias Claims in Delta Tunnels Dispute

/in /by /The Sacramento Bee by By Ryan Sabalow

On Monday, State Water Resources Control Board Chair Felicia Marcus and board member Tam Doduc said there was no merit to a claim filed last month by the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority that accused them of having already made up their minds about a critical issue that could translate into less water delivered to south state water agencies that depend on water pumped from the Delta.

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A Group That Was Happy With El Nino This year? Surfers and the Big Wave Awards

/in /by /Orange County Registerby By Laylan Connelly

It was a wave-riding year for the record books. Surfers gathered in Anaheim on Saturday to celebrate this El Niño season that produced massive waves around the world and allowed big-wave surfers to make history. The Big Wave Awards, in its 16th year, celebrates an elite crop of surfers who take on building-size waves – a feat few in the world can achieve.

San Clemente’s Greg Long was crowned World Surf League Big Wave Tour Champion. It’s Long’s second time earning the title; the first was secured in 2012.

 

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In Owens Valley, They’re Skeptical of Angelenos Bearing Gifts, Including New Artwork

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby By Louis Sahagun

Los Angeles insists that it had the best of intentions as it erected the monument of granite and sculpted earth that is now rising from a dry bed of Owens Lake 200 miles to the north.

Department of Water and Power officials saw it as a gesture of reconciliation for taking the region’s water more than a century ago. The interactive artwork, to be unveiled this week, features a public plaza with curved granite walls inspired by the wing shapes of shorebirds. Sculptures of earth and rock have been made to resemble whitecaps. Scenic gravel trails wind throughout.

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OPINION: Water Releases Need to be Better Managed for all Wildlife

/in /by /Redding Record Searchlight by By Jeannette Carroll

I have only lived six years in Redding along a branch of the Sacramento River and feel extremely fortunate to be able to view and enjoy the abundant wildlife that lives in and along its waters.

The personnel who regulate the amount of water released from Keswick and Shasta Dams have a great responsibility and must take many factors into account. They must guard the public against possible flooding so public safety is a huge concern. Water in the lakes for recreation is important as is water needed for agriculture. All of this must balance and is very difficult with California drought problems.

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Snowpack is Melting Fast, Despite April Storms

/in /by /High Country News (Paonia, Colo.)by By Paige Blankenbuehler

Throughout late March and into April, much of the West experienced unseasonably warm days. Then, in late April, temperatures plummeted in Southwest Colorado’s San Juan Mountains and more than 2 feet of wet, heavy spring snow fell. Suddenly, ski boots were out again and for a day or two, it felt like winter was back.

But those storms have only helped a small fraction of the West, with much of the moisture buoying snowpack levels along the Eastern Rockies in Colorado and Wyoming. Meanwhile, the rest of the region is on the opposite trajectory, losing snowpack at record-breaking rates.

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Cities Look for New Ways to Meet Demand for Water Supplies

/in /by /The Wall Street Journal Quoted: Robert Yamada and Maureen Stapleton

A quarter-century ago, San Diego and its suburbs imported 95% of their water supplies. Thanks to investments in desalination and other efforts to boost supplies, that figure has already dropped to 57% and is projected to fall to just 18% sometime in the next two decades.

San Diego has gone from being one of the most vulnerable areas of California during drought to one of the best prepared—and in so doing has become a model for the future of water use in cities.

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