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State rallies on drought water conservation

/in /by /The San Diego Union~Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith Quoted: Bob Yamada

Water conservation in San Diego County and across the state bounced back substantially in March after a weak showing during several previous months.

On average, California’s urban water users saved a robust 24.3 percent in March as compared with just 12 percent the month before. The savings are measured against corresponding months in 2013, the benchmark year set by Gov. Jerry Brown’s emergency drought order.

Water suppliers in San Diego County saved an average of about 17 percent in March. That was a significant improvement from February, when many districts didn’t conserve any water or increased their consumption.

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Water Officials Outline Outlook for 2016, Beyond

/in /by /Ag Alert (Sacramento)by By Cecilia Parsons

What if 2017 is a dry year? “There are no predictions yet, but we have to be prepared,” said Jeanine Jones, resources manager for the state Department of Water Resources.

Jones and other state and federal water officials outlined the challenges faced in meeting water demands and the limiting factors to delivery, during a Water Education Foundation seminar held in Fresno. The event addressed concerns about the possibility of a return to more severe drought conditions after an “average-ish” year, current surface and groundwater conditions, and related topics.

 

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EPA sued over fracking waste-disposal rules amid worry over earthquakes

/in /by /McClatchyDC (Washington D.C.)by Curtis Tate

Environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday to force new regulations on the disposal of waste generated by hydraulic fracturing.

The injection of hundreds of millions of gallons of wastewater from fracking into underground wells has been linked to numerous earthquakes in Kansas and several other states.

The suit calls for the EPA to update waste disposal rules that are decades old and precede the recent oil and gas boom made possible by fracking and horizontal drilling techniques.

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Felicia Marcus: Controlling the Spigot in California

/in /by /Roll Call (Washington, D.C.) by By Joanna Anderson
As chairwoman of the California Water Resources Control Board, Marcus has the unenviable task of trying to please an array of competing interests in a state that has battled drought. She says she has tried to be “sensitive to what the legitimate interests were of the other people in the circle.” 

Someone who likes to make enemies would be hard-pressed to find a more perfect job than running the agency that tells folks in parched California that they can’t water their lawns.

 

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Groups Battle Nestlé Water Bottling in California

/in /by /Pocono Record (Stroudsburg, Pa.)

Eldred Township is not the only place where people are protesting a proposed Nestlé bottled water extraction project. If approved, the beverage company would withdrawal some of 200,000 gallons of water per day at the site in Monroe County.

More than 280,000 members of the California-based Courage Campaign Institute, The Story of Stuff Project, Food and Water Watch, Care2, CREDO, SumOfUs and the Daily Kos have submitted comments to the U.S. Forest Service requesting the Forest Service not approve Nestlé’s new permit for water bottling in the San Bernardino National Forest, a press release from the groups said.

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OPINION: Temperance Flat is Answer to Environmental Groups’ Doubletalk

/in /by /The Modesto Bee by By Aubrey Bettencourt

As described in The Bee’s April 25 story “Lawsuit claims Delta fish harmed by relaxed water standards,” the Natural Resources Defense Council, Bay Institute and Wildlife Defenders are shopping for a federal court decision that would strip California of having the final say about its water resources.

The groups have a long history of talking out of both sides of their mouths. As lead plaintiff in 2006, the NRDC famously reneged on the San Joaquin River settlement. It first agreed not to seek modification of the settlement’s terms, then was caught simultaneously suing to overturn it.

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Rain to Return to Southern California Through the Weekend

/in /by /The Sun (San Bernardino) by By Doug Saunders

Another bout of rainy weather is expected to drench the Southland beginning late Wednesday. According to the National Weather Service, a low pressure system will bring rounds of showers and thunderstorms into Southern California over the next few days.

Weather experts have forecast drizzle on Wednesday growing to a 40-percent chance of showers Thursday evening and increasing through Sunday across the San Bernardino area and the Inland Valley, according to the NWS website. “A few thunderstorms could occur… especially Friday when the system is overhead,” according to an NWS report.

 

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After an Average April, Chance of Rain in Cards Again in Sacramento

/in /by /The Sacramento Bee by By Bill Lindelof

After another warm spring day expected on Tuesday, the next several days could have lots of rain or none at all.

A slight chance of showers is predicted for Wednesday through Saturday as an approaching storm system heads toward California. With chances of precipitation at only around 20-30 percent, it could be that Sacramento gets only a drop or two. However, if afternoon thunderstorms develop, rain could come in buckets.

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The Data Center Powering California’s Water Management

/in /by /GCN (Vienna, Va.)by By Amanda Ziadeh

In California, water management is a big deal, and the IT infrastructure at the California Department of Water Resources needed a major refresh.

Managing the state’s entire water delivery system requires CDWR to coordinate data across federal, state and local government organizations, run environmental impact studies and provide customer service. CDWR, however, had limited data sharing and recovery abilities, which affected security and operational and decision making processes.

 

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As Lake Mead Sinks, States Agree to More Drastic Water Cuts

/in /by /High Country News (Paonia, Colo.)by By Sarah Tory

Three years ago, state hydrologists in the Colorado River Basin began to do some modeling to see what the future of Lake Mead — the West’s largest reservoir — might look like. If the dry conditions continued, elevations in Lake Mead, which is fed by the Colorado River, could drop much faster than previous models predicted.

For decades, the West’s big reservoirs were like a security blanket, says Anne Castle, the former assistant secretary for water and science at the Interior Department. But the blanket is wearing thin. Under normal conditions, Lake Mead loses 1.2 million acre-feet of water every year to evaporation and deliveries to the Lower Basin states plus Mexico, which amounts to a 12-foot drop.

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