Water providers that have struggled in recent months to meet conservation targets could soon get some relief under the modified drought rules unveiled Friday by state regulators.
The proposed changes to California’s emergency drought regulation reward water districts for investing in new local supplies and allow for adjustments to savings goals based on a district’s climate and population growth.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled Friday that the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California must release the names and addresses of recipients of millions of dollars in turf replacement rebates.
The L.A. Department of Water and Power sued MWD in late July to block the release of the data to the San Diego Union-Tribune, a sister newspaper of the Los Angeles Times. Three other agencies — West Basin Municipal Water District, Foothill Municipal Water District and Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District — later joined the DWP suit.
California Governor Jerry Brown warned on Thursday of near-apocalyptic water shortages if his $15 billion plan to divert water from a Northern California River for use elsewhere gets bogged down in political and environmental disputes.
The plan to remove water north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the fragile source of much of the state’s drinking water, is opposed by many environmentalists, but Brown insisted it was crucial in shoring up water supplies in the drought-plagued state.
As California begins a new year and a hectic legislative session in Sacramento, a new Golden State Poll conducted by the Stanford University-based Hoover Institution finds California’s voters most concerned with the ongoing drought and the state’s economic recovery.
“California’s electorate is, in a word, adult,” said Hoover Institution research fellow Bill Whalen, who follows California politics and policy. “Despite the distractions of an election year and surplus revenue to spend in Sacramento, it expects lawmakers to act responsibly and sensibly.”
Gov. Jerry Brown released an update to his plan Thursday for how to manage California’s water. The update includes pushing ahead with more dams, reservoirs and a pair of tunnels underneath the Delta.
Facing uncertain financing and a ballot measure threatening his $15.5 billion Delta water plan, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday called the project a “fundamental necessity” and said he is confident “we’ll get it done.”
Brown’s remarks, following a speech to water officials in Sacramento, came as the fourth-term governor tries to secure federal approvals and funding from water users for his plan to build two tunnels to divert water under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the south.
The San Joaquin Valley floor has been sinking for decades. So much water has been pumped out of wells in this arid agricultural zone that the land’s surface has caved downward almost 30 feet in places. As groundwater pumping continues amid the ongoing drought, it’s still sinking as rapidly as two inches per month. On the surface, the subsidence is causing roads and canals to crack as the earth collapses. Below the surface, much of the aquifer space is being lost and can never be recovered.
Water managers, federal and state regulators and public health experts will convene in Long Beach, Calif., Jan. 25-27, at the first International Symposium on Potable Reuse to discuss advanced technologies that purify wastewater and ultimately turn it into high quality drinking water.
The event is hosted by the American Water Works Association, the world’s largest association of water professionals.
Federal forecasters say an “atmospheric river” is headed for the soggy North Bay.
Following an inch of rain overnight Wednesday, the El Nino forecast calls for bands of rain Thursday, Friday and Saturday before a “super soaker” that amounts to a “firehose pointed at the North Bay” moves in late Sunday or early Monday.
National Weather Service forecaster Steve Anderson said it will be “an atmospheric river … a long, continuous string of moisture” Sunday and Monday that could alone dump 3 inches or more, doubling rainfall over the previous several days. “It will be a big shot of rain.”
The now-distant December of 1988 was a big month for California water lawsuits that would last a generation and eventually land in Congress’ lap, where their ripples linger to this day.
Each of the two major lawsuits, introduced within weeks of each other 27 years ago, offers enduring lessons – in law, in politics and in the long, long time it takes to get things done in Washington.
