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Regulators Clear Path for Largest Dam Demolition in History

/in , /by /AP Newsby Gillian Flaccus

US regulators approved a major milestone Thursday in a plan to demolish four dams on a California river and open up hundreds of miles of salmon habitat that would be the largest dam removal and river restoration project in the world when it goes forward. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission vote on the lower Klamath River dams is the last major regulatory hurdle and the biggest milestone for a $500 million demolition proposal championed by Native American tribes and environmentalists for years.

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Four Things to Know About the Lower Colorado River Basin

/in , , /by /Aspen Journalismby Heather Sackett

Staff and board members from the Glenwood Springs-based Colorado River Water Conservation District, along with other water managers from across western Colorado, this month visited the lower basin states — Nevada, Arizona and California — on what they called a fact-finding trip. The tour took participants by bus from Las Vegas though the green alfalfa fields of the Fort Mohave Indian Reservation, past the big diversions serving the Central Arizona Project and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and to the hot, below-sea-level agricultural expanse of the biggest water user on the river: the Imperial Irrigation District.

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Facing Colorado River Shortage, 30 Urban Suppliers Pledge to Target Decorative Grass

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

With the federal government calling for major cuts in water use to address the historic shortage on the Colorado River, the leaders of 30 agencies that supply cities from the Rocky Mountains to Southern California have signed an agreement committing to boost conservation, in part by pledging to target the removal of one especially thirsty mainstay of suburban landscapes: decorative grass.

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Opinion: Drought Impacts an Entire Agricultural Ecosystem

/in , , /by /Ag Alertby Tim Johnson

This third year of extreme drought is taking a devastating toll on agriculture in California. We see pictures of orchards being removed, dry canals and fields that should be a verdant green now a sunburned brown. The impacts on the farm are easy to see. The effects on our communities and on the wildlife that depend on agricultural lands in production are no less real, even if they are harder to observe.

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Santa Margarita Water District Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony for Ranch Water Filtration Plant

/in , , /by /The Capistrano Dispatchby Collin Breaux

The Santa Margarita Water District is getting started on its first drinking water treatment plant, which will be in Rancho Mission Viejo. SMWD representatives and local officials celebrated the coming new plant with a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 16. The Ranch Water Filtration Plant will be located near the intersection of Ortega Highway and Antonio Parkway, and near the Chiquita Water Reclamation Plant.

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San Diego Approves New Financing Method That’s Expected to Generate Millions for River Park Upgrades

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby David Garrick

The San Diego City Council unanimously approved Tuesday a new funding source to pay for upgrades to the San Diego River, which officials say could become a regional attraction with recreational amenities and riverfront dining. The council voted to create an enhanced infrastructure financing district, which would generate money any time a parcel within half a mile of the river sees its property tax go up in the next 45 years.

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Los Angeles DWP to End Water and Power Shutoffs for Low-income Customers Who Can’t Pay

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hayley Smith

Low-income residents, senior citizens and other eligible customers of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will no longer face shutoffs if they are unable to pay their utility bills, the agency announced Wednesday. Under a motion adopted unanimously by the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners, the DWP must halt the practice of water and power shutoffs as a debt collection tool for residents enrolled in its EZ-SAVE program, which offers discounts for income-qualified residents, as well as those enrolled in the Senior Citizen Lifeline Discount Program.

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‘Pennies From Heaven’ Could Save Sweetwater Water Authority Customers Millions

/in , , /by /NBC San Diegoby Joe Little

They looked down at the water blasting through the Loveland Dam and called it “Pennies from Heaven.”

Sweetwater Water Authority engineers opened a valve at the base of the dam shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday.

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Opinion: Another Step Toward Agreement on California’s Water

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Dan Walters

For at least a decade, off and on, state water managers and local water agencies have pursued the holy grail of a master agreement to improve the environmental health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by increasing its water flows.

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Why California Wildfires Burned Far Less This Year

/in , , /by /Scientific Americanby Anne C. Mulkern

California is enjoying fewer extreme wildfires than it has in years, which experts attribute to a combination of summer rain, calm weather and increased forest management.

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