Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 3 into law in October to expand due process protections for those unable to pay their bills and ensure access to safe sources of water.
Existing water protection laws, such as the Water Shutoff Protection Act of 2018, created a 60-day grace period to cover past debt as well as established a payment system for those served by water companies with 200 or more customers.
Thanks to a stormy winter and spring, Lake Shasta’s water level is almost a third higher than it usually is in mid-October.
The state’s largest reservoir at Shasta Dam, nine miles north of Redding, was 71% full on Monday, according to the California Department of Water Resources. That’s 130% of what the lake usually holds on that date, according to the state.
A new report released Thursday by the Bureau of Reclamation shows the wealth of public feedback officials received as they begin the process of developing new guidelines for the Colorado River, which provides water to about 40 million people in the U.S. Southwest.
Escondido City Council on Wednesday voted 4-1 to increase the water rate over the next five years.
City leaders say it was needed to keep the utility department financially stable.
While the earthquake that struck near Isleton Wednesday morning wasn’t strong, the location did raise questions about the possible risk to an area that is critical to the state’s water supply.
The Delta region in Sacramento County relies on more than 1,000 miles of aging levees to protect local farms and communities that could be vulnerable in a more powerful quake.
States that use water from the Colorado River are drawing nearer to an important deadline for negotiating the river’s future. A new report from the federal government shows states are aiming to agree on a plan to cut back on water, but still remain divided about how to share the shrinking supply that flows to tens of millions across the Southwest.
As the Biden administration kicks off a years-long negotiation process to divvy up the shrinking water supply of the Colorado River, there are finally some signs of optimism after several bleak years.
A record-breaking winter snowpack last year halted a precipitous downward spiral on the river and raised water levels at the nation’s two largest reservoirs, Lakes Mead and Powell.
Escondido City Council approved new water rate increases set to begin Jan. 1 and will increase each year for the next five years.
Residents had been outspoken about the possibility of a nearly 20% increase next year alone.
“It is by far the highest hike proposed over the past 12 years,” Sandra Otteson said.
The halfway point is in the rear view for the Colorado River Drought Task Force. Now it’s crunch time.
Task force members have until December to take their ideas on how to address Colorado’s top water issues and turn them into a written recommendation to the Colorado General Assembly.
Arizona, stressed by years of drought, has declared its housebuilding boom will have to be curbed due to a lack of water but one of its fastest-growing cities is refusing to give up its relentless march into the desert – even if it requires constructing a pipeline that would bring water across the border from Mexico.
