You are now in California and the U.S. Home Headline Media Coverage category.

Tidal Marsh or ‘Fake Habitat’? California Environmental Project Draws Criticism

Southwest of Sacramento, the branching arms of waterways reach into a patchwork of farm fields and pastures. Canals and wetlands fringed with reeds meet a sunbaked expanse of dry meadows.

These lands on the northwestern edge of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta have now been targeted for restoration following the widespread destruction of estuary marsh habitats that began over a century ago.

Tropical Storm Ended Saturday in San Diego With Light Showers

San Diego County got minimal rain Saturday as the last of Tropical Storm Kay passed over the region.

The storm already brought record rainfall to the county on Friday, with around a half-inch near the coast and nearly 2 inches in some mountain areas. Rainfall totals were much lower as the storm dissipated over the Pacific Ocean on Saturday — around 0.01 to 0.03 inch on the coast and around 0.06 inch in the mountains as of 4:30 p.m., said the National Weather Service.

Opinion: Biggest Illusion in California is What Water Use and Development Does and Doesn’t Do

Water is a mirage in California. We tend to see what we want to see. In my case, the biggest illusion was Auburn Dam.

If you were a resident of Placer County in the 1960s to 1980s you viewed it as almost as a birthright that the American River be dammed in the canyon below Auburn.

What’s Causing Beach Pollution Near the San Diego River? Blame Sewer Leaks, Study Suggests

A new study by San Diego State University scientists finds that the bacterial outbreaks in the San Diego River that force frequent local beach closures are caused primarily by leaks in aging sewer pipes, not by homeless encampments or failing septic tanks.

September 2022 La Niña Update: It’s Q and A Time

Ocean and atmospheric conditions tell us that La Niña—the cool phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate pattern—currently reigns in the tropical Pacific. It’s looking very likely that the long-predicted third consecutive La Niña winter will happen, with a 91% chance of La Niña through September–November and an 80% chance through the early winter (November–January).

Tropical Storm Kay Produces Wind Gusts to 109 Mph in San Diego County, Along With Heat, Rain, Traffic Problems

San Diego County is taking a hard and weird hit from Tropical Storm Kay, which generated winds that gusted from 93 mph to 109 mph early Friday in East County and lifted temperatures countywide into the 80s and 90s at the tail end of a long heat wave.

California: Drought, Record Heat, Fires and Now Maybe Floods

Californians sweated it out amid a record-breaking heat wave entering its 10th day Friday that has helped fuel deadly wildfires and pushed energy supplies to the brink of daily power outages.

Mac Dad Builders Given CWA Construction Contract for Dulin Hill Erosion Repair

Mac Dad Builders, Inc., has been given the San Diego County Water Authority construction contract for the Dulin Hill Erosion Repair project.

The SDCWA board vote Aug. 25 authorized CWA general manager Sandra Kerl or her designee to award a $1,965,884 construction contract to Mac Dad Builders, which is based in Irvine. The Dulin Hill Erosion Repair project will repair existing erosion located along the Second Aqueduct on Dulin Hill south of the San Luis Rey River.

Summer is Ending, but Climate Disasters Keep Coming

September marks the start of a new season for meteorologists. It’s the beginning of “climatological fall” in the Northern Hemisphere — and, ostensibly, a transition to milder weather.

But much of the U.S. is still baking, burning, withering or swimming.

Coachella Valley Water Use Continued to Tick Downwards in July, More Conservation Needed

Water use in the Coachella Valley continued to tick downwards in July, but conservation is still falling short of the state’s goal of a 15% reduction compared to 2020, according to data released by the State Water Resources Control Board this week.

But the July water use numbers do continue a trend of reduced water use that began in June, a marked shift from May and other previous months in which local water districts actually increased — rather than decreased — water use compared to 2020 baseline numbers.