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

With Water in The West Scarce, Some Tomato Farmers Look To Hydroponics

/in , , /by /Marketplaceby Caleigh Wells

On Scott Beylik’s 4-acre farm about 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles, rows of tomato vines climb wires strung from the beams of his greenhouses. There’s no soil, so the roots are submerged in little bags with water. Every drop of water he uses goes directly to the plant.

s the drought in the West drags on, the future of water-loving crops like tomatoes hangs in the balance. Hydroponic farming — the technique Beylik farms with — uses as little as 10% of the water traditional systems use to grow tomatoes and other field crops.

Full Story

California Expands Largest US Illegal Pot Eradication Effort

/in , /by /AP Newsby Don Thompson

With California’s four-year-old legal marijuana market in disarray, the state’s top prosecutor said Tuesday that he will try a new broader approach to disrupting illegal pot farms that undercut the legal economy and sow widespread environmental damage.

The state will expand its nearly four-decade multi-agency seasonal eradication program — the largest in the U.S. that this year scooped up nearly a million marijuana plants — into a year-round effort aimed at investigating who is behind the illegal grows. The new program will attempt to prosecute underlying labor crimes, environmental crimes and the underground economy centered around the illicit cultivations, said Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Full Story

New Water Restrictions in Sacramento Start Next Month. Here’s What This Means For You

/in , /by /Sacramento Beeby Hanh Truoung

The fall season is settling into Sacramento, which means watering rules for the city will change soon.

As a part of a water conservation ordinance from 2017, the city of Sacramento set up restrictions on when businesses and residents water their lawns.

From Nov. 1 to Feb. 28, individuals can only water their landscape one day per week, on Saturday or Sunday, at any time of day. Watering on a weekday is not allowed.

Full Story

Key Vote for Doheny Desalination Plant Coming Thursday

/in , , /by /The Orange County Register by Brooke Staggs

The California Coastal Commission is slated to vote Thursday on a crucial permit for a project that would draw ocean water through the sand off the coast of Dana Point, purify it and use it to help bolster water supplies for communities throughout Southern California.

A dozen desalination plants are permitted to turn ocean water into drinking water in California today, from as far south as Carlsbad to as far north as Monterey Bay. A year ago, three new desalination projects were pending in Southern California alone. But only one still remains viable: the Doheny Ocean Desalination Plant, which is being developed by South Coast Water District.

Full Story

California’s Opening Bid Won’t Solve the Colorado River Crisis Alone

/in , , /by /Politicoby Annie Snider

California’s offer to conserve some of its share of Colorado River water over the next few years won’t solve the looming water and power crisis in the West — but it might be enough to kickstart negotiations among the states on a deal that could.

The biggest hurdle to striking an agreement that would sharply curtail water use among the seven states that share the river has been the impasse between the two thirstiest states — California and Arizona — over which should shoulder the brunt of the cuts as climate change fuels the deepest drought in the region in 1,200 years.

Full Story

Tempe Plans to Reopen Long Dormant Water Reclamation Plant Amid Grinding Drought

/in , , /by /Arizona Public Mediaby Cole Januszewski

The Kyrene Water Reclamation Facility, built in the late 1980s and closed by budget cuts in 2010, is being brought back online as a part of Tempe’s response to the ongoing drought. The plant will collect and recycle wastewater, used mainly to recharge aquifers beneath the city.

The announcement comes as Arizona experiences abnormally dry conditions, with 23% of the state in severe drought, a term used to describe conditions where water and feed are inadequate for livestock, fire danger is high and little forage remains for wildlife, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System. In fact, the drought that has gripped Arizona since 2000 has been the driest in more than 1,200 years, and it’s expected to persist in the near future, according to a study by Nature Climate Change.

Full Story

Hyatt Powerplant Not Expected to Go Offline This Year

/in , , /by /Chico Enterprise-Recordby Staff

Back in 2021 the Hyatt Powerplant was taken offline because of historically low water levels.

DWR announced that the plant is expected to stay online through 2022. On Monday, the lake level was at 693 feet elevation whereas the level had dropped to 628 in September 2021.

The plant is capable of generating 714 megawatts when the lake is at full capacity.

Full Story

CAISO Calls For Near-Term Power Procurement, Even With Possible Diablo Canyon Extension

/in , , /by /Utility Diveby Ethan Howard

The California Public Utilities Commission should reject calls to delay adding new power supplies in the state even though the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant’s impending retirement may be put on hold, according to the California Independent System Operator.

CAISO also supports a recommendation from the CPUC’s Public Advocates Office that the commission authorize immediate procurements to address system needs from 2026 through 2030, the grid operator said in comments it filed at the commission on Thursday.

Full Story

Opinion: Restore California’s Salton Sea to its Role in the Ecosystem

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Brent M. Haddad and Robert Glennon

California’s largest inland body of water is in trouble. Inflows to the Salton Sea have decreased, salinity is growing, the ecosystem is collapsing, and neighboring communities are suffering high rates of respiratory illnesses caused, many believe, by contaminants in dust blowing off the exposed former seabed.

It’s not possible to import enough water quickly enough to save the ecosystem and cover the contaminants. The solutions must be more practical: Fixing the salinity will be the key to saving this crucial habitat. A targeted approach can also reduce dust.

Full Story

Opinion: Climate Change Forces California to Make Long-Term Adjustments, Immediate Water Cuts

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Michael Smolens

Internationally, the polar bear may be the climate-change canary in a coal mine.

Locally, it could be the avocado.

The fruit so identified with San Diego County agriculture has been on the decline for years. Severe weather, water availability and rising water prices — at least in part attributed to climate change — have reduced the yield of the crop and the revenue it generates.

Full Story