Orange County is home to the world’s largest water purification system for indirect potable reuse—and it’s only getting bigger. The Groundwater Replenishment System, a joint project between Orange County Water District and Orange County Sanitation District, just finished its final expansion. We spoke to OCWD General Manager Mike Markus and the group’s recent president, Steve Sheldon, to learn more about this revolutionary facility.
Cross-border infrastructure and environmental conservation topped the itinerary during U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar’s visit to the Imperial and Mexicali valleys on Friday, Feb. 3.
Salazar started his visit with a tour of the Calexico West and Mexicali I ports of entry with Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Avila, according to a U.S. State Department press release.
As Shawntrel McCoy closes out his 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, he’ll be spending his last six months pursuing his passion for environmental science in the SkillBridge Program at the San Diego County Water Authority. The program is helping military veterans transition to career-track training opportunities, including work in the water and wastewater industry.
California has awarded the wholesaler San Diego County Water Authority $3 million to help financially strapped households install high-efficiency toilets and upgrade irrigation systems, state officials announced last week.
The money comes from the Department of Water Resources as part of $46 million in grants doled out across six counties in the state. Projects include recycling efforts, flood risk and groundwater management, pipeline construction and turf rebates.
The ongoing dispute over Colorado River water comes down largely to math: How much water should each state and region lose as reservoir levels continue to decline?
California has one interpretation of how to divvy up the cuts, and six other states that depend on the river have a different formula.
The Arctic is seeing a rapid decline in sea ice even during the cold winter months when it should be recovering from the summer melt. Scientists say that one often-overlooked factor is playing a bigger role than previously thought: Atmospheric rivers.
These long, narrow bands of moisture in the atmosphere transport warm air and water vapor from the tropics. They can extend for thousands of miles and dump rain and snow when they make landfall.
The Consulate of Mexico in Calexico hosted a presentation Thursday, February 2 announcing a collaborative effort with the Imperial Irrigation District to raise awareness about the risk of the All-American Canal involving undocumented and illegal border crossings.
IID General Manager Henry Martinez opened by welcoming all in attendance and introducing dignitaries.
The powerful storms that clobbered California for weeks in December and January dropped trillions of gallons of water, flooding many communities and farms. But throughout the state, the rains have done little to nourish the underground supplies that are critical sources of California’s drinking water.
Thousands of people in the San Joaquin Valley have seen their wells go dry after years of prolonged drought and overpumping of aquifers. And a two-week deluge — or even a wet winter — will not bring them relief.
As rain clouds swelled over Fort Stockton, Texas, last summer, a little yellow plane zipped through the sky. It was on a mission.
Equipped with tanks of water and special nozzles on its wings, the craft soared beneath the gray-white billows. Then, at just the right moment, it released a spray of electrically charged water particles into the cloud.
What happens after you flush your toilet? For 2.6 million county residents, the answer to that question can be found at a 110-acre plant in Fountain Valley operated by the Orange County Sanitation District.
The industrial site, along with a similar setup in Huntington Beach, is where approximately 185 million gallons of sewage is treated in a complex process that essentially digests biologic material into its basic components.
