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Clean Energy, Water Projects Get Boost in Spending Bill

/in , /by /E&E Newsby Jeremy Dillon and Hannah Northey

House Democrats’ $56.3 billion fiscal 2023 Energy-Water spending bill released last night seeks to bolster a host of Biden administration clean energy and water infrastructure deployment goals that are running into funding limitations this year.

In total, the bill’s topline number would represent an increase of $3.4 billion above the fiscal year 2022 level, including $48.2 billion for the Department of Energy, $8.9 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers and $1.9 billion for the Bureau of Reclamation.

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Why Summer Fires in California Are So Dangerous

/in , /by /The New York Timesby Soumya Karlamangla

It’s almost July, which is typically the beginning of California’s fire season.

You’ve probably heard that wildfires in the Golden State have increasingly become a year-round danger, no longer limited to a few months a year. But even still, the start of the traditional summer-and-fall fire season brings a slew of heightened risks for us to contend with.

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A Major California Reservoir Has Hit Its Peak for the Year at Just Over Half Full

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Grace Toohey

Lake Oroville, the largest reservoir in a state system that provides water to 27 million Californians, has already reached its peak level for the year, barely surpassing half of its capacity, according to the Department of Water Resources.

Officials had warned the lake — key to the roughly 700-mile State Water Project, which pumps and ferries water across the state for agricultural, business and residential use — was at “critically low” levels on May 8.

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7 States Must Figure Out How to Conserve an Unprecedented Amount of Water

/in , , /by /KUNC/NPRby Alex Hager

Water managers in the western U.S. are facing a monumental task. Federal officials have given seven states an August deadline to figure out a plan to conserve an unprecedented amount of water. Without major cutbacks in water use, the nation’s two largest reservoirs are in danger of reaching critically low levels.

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Orange County Cities Wrestling With Southwest Drought Look to Conservation Policies

/in , , /by /Voice of OCby Angelina Hicks

In the face of a regional drought, many Orange County cities are trying to cut back on water consumption by rolling out conservation policies – echoing efforts from the previous drought that ended a few years back.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in October 2021 based on the state’s drought condition. In May, the State Water Board adopted regulations that require all local water suppliers to heighten water conservation policies.

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Tear Out Your Lawn, Check. Drought-Tolerant Plants, Check. Next Up: Recycled Water

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Jeanette Marantos

Tearing out our lawns is a good start toward wiser water use in Southern California, but it’s not enough.

To do the job properly, we must also be ready to collect the rain that will someday fall out of the sky, advocates say. And these people have a vision that not only stores increasingly precious rainwater, but puts it to use for everything from drip irrigation to aquaculture to waterfalls surrounded by lush plantings and the soothing music of running (albeit recycled) water.

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What La Niña Means for California’s Summer

/in , , /by /KTLAby Alix Martichoux

While the lingering La Niña climate pattern is expected to bring soaking storms and strong hurricanes to parts of the U.S., it’s a different story here in California.

La Niña is favored to stick around through the end of the year, according to the latest outlook from the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center. While La Niña – and its opposite, El Niño – are characterized by the temperature of the Pacific Ocean, they have major impacts on the weather we experience on land.

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A Tale of Two Coastlines: Desalination in China and California – New Security Beat

/in , /by /Future News For You Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The port city of Tianjin is in desperate need of water. The surface and groundwater supplies of this sprawling northeast Chinese metropolis have shrunk to dangerously low levels due to decades of reduced rainfall and overexploitation of the Hai River that flows through the city. According to the Tianjin Environmental Protection Bureau, the city’s per capita water resources are one-twentieth of China’s national average, far below the UN benchmark for a water-stressed region.

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Desert Water: How Secure Is Our Water Supply? Better Off Than You Might Think

/in , , /by /News Channel 3by Jeff Stahl

An I-team investigation reveals that despite the statewide drought declaration and additional water restrictions, the Coachella Valley’s water supply is dramatically better off than most other areas of California right now.

It’s not the message you’re hearing from state leaders, but experts say our local water supplies are plentiful and well-managed as they have been for decades.

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Skies Are Sucking More Water from the Land

/in , /by /Scientific Americanby Ula Chrobak

Drought is typically thought of as a simple lack of rain and snow. But evaporative demand—a term describing the atmosphere’s capacity to pull moisture from the ground—is also a major factor. And the atmosphere over much of the U.S. has grown a lot thirstier over the past 40 years, a new study in the Journal of Hydrometeorology found.

Evaporative demand can be thought of as a “laundry-drying quotient,” says Nevada state climatologist Stephanie McAfee, who was not involved in the study.

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