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Opinion: Western Water Crisis Solutions Inevitably End With a Lot Less for California Farms

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Jim Newton

A modest proposal for western water: Turn off the spigot to the Imperial Valley and let the farms go fallow. In return, provide a water future for Arizona, Nevada and Southern California.

Sure, there would be a price to pay. California’s Imperial Valley, which sits in the southeastern corner of the state, bordered by Arizona and Mexico, produces alfalfa, lettuce, corn and sugar beets, among other crops. It’s home to more than 300,000 head of cattle. Cutting off the water would end all of that, along with the livelihoods of the farmers and ranchers who produce it and the communities that depend on it.

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EPA Loans $170 Million for Claude “Bud” Lewis Desalination Plant Environmental Upgrades

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Debbie L. Sklar Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has loaned $170 million intended to reduce financing costs for environmental upgrades at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant, it was announced Friday.

Rep. Mike Levin, D-Dana Point, helped secure the funds, which he said will save ratepayers up to $54 million compared to alternate financing strategies.

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Newsom Relaxes California Drought Rules

/in , , /by /Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday relaxed drought rules in California amid a winter season filled with atmospheric river storms, flooding and a massive Sierra Nevada snowpack — soaking conditions that followed three dry, grueling years that had been marked by water shortages, extreme wildfires and heat waves.

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Western Lawmakers Form Caucus to Talk Colorado River in Congress

/in , , /by /KUNCby Alex Hager

Members of Congress from six of the seven states that use Colorado River water are convening a new caucus. The group aims to help rally federal funding for water projects along a river that supplies 40 million people and is shrinking due to climate change.

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San Diego County’s Desal Facility to get $170M Federal Loan to Help with Costly Overhaul

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The desalination plant in Carlsbad will receive $170 million in federal financing to upgrade its facility and meet environmental requirements, officials announced this week.

The low-interest loan is intended to help the plant’s owner, Poseidon Resources, satisfy state regulations for protecting fish and other marine life at the Claude “Bud” Lewis plant. The money, awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is estimated to save ratepayers about $54 million.

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Districts Searching for Lower Water Rates Amid a Potential 14% Hike

/in , /by /NBC 7 San Diegoby Allison Ash Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Talk of a 14% increase in the cost of water is the last straw for the agricultural communities of Fallbrook and Rainbow.

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California Farmers Flood Their Fields in Order to Save Them

/in , /by /Reutersby Michael Roy Blake and Daniel Trotta

When Don Cameron first intentionally flooded his central California farm in 2011, pumping excess stormwater onto his fields, fellow growers told him he was crazy.

Today, California water experts see Cameron as a pioneer. His experiment to control flooding and replenish the ground water has become a model that policy makers say others should emulate.

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California Appellate Judge Confirms State Agency’s Limits on Perchlorate

/in , /by /Courthouse News Serviceby Eric Burkett

An appeals court in Sacramento on Thursday upheld a California environmental agency’s standards for limiting the presence of the chemical perchlorate in the state’s drinking water.

In the appeal brought by plaintiff California Manufacturers and Technology Association, Judge Elena Duarte ruled the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment properly considered iodide uptake inhibition and established its public health goal “at the level at which no known or anticipated adverse effects on health occur, with an adequate margin of safety.”

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Worry and Suspicion Reign as Once-Dry Tulare Lake Drowns California Farmland

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James and Susanne Rust

Sixth Avenue used to cut through miles of farmland. Now, the road has disappeared under muddy water, its path marked by sodden telephone poles that protrude from the swelling lake. Water laps just below the windows of a lone farmhouse that sits alongside the submerged route.

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191% of Normal: Utah Snowpack Breaks 40-Year-Old Record

/in , , /by /Salt Lake Tribuneby Leia Larsen

Records keep piling up across Utah this winter.

Snowpack reached a new high after Thursday night’s storms. The snow water equivalent in Utah, or the amount of water the snow will release when its melts, sits at 26 inches as of Friday morning. That ties with the previous known record of 26 inches set on April 13, 1983, according to Utah Snow Survey data. And with the snow still falling, Friday is likely a new snowpack record.

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