The U.S. national drought early-warning information system, called NIDIS, gave a rundown Thursday on when much of the Southwest will experience conditions that heighten the potential for wildfire.
Drought is one of the main drivers because less water means drier soils, drier plants and drier air, all conditions that fuel wildfire.
A major electric vehicle manufacturer has inked a 10-year deal with a company operating at the south end of the Salton Sea for battery-grade lithium hydroxide, a huge boost for nascent production in an area that has long struggled with unemployment and pollution.
Controlled Thermal Resources’ Hells Kitchen project has signed a binding agreement with Stellantis N.V. to supply the product for use in Stellantis’ North American electrified vehicle production.
Water restrictions began Wednesday for 6 million residents in Southern California, as the state enters its third year of severe drought and what water officials say is the state’s driest year on record.
Residents and businesses must limit their outdoor watering to one or two days per week or to a set volume of water, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California announced.
The East County Advanced Water Purification Program broke ground, marking an important milestone for the project, East San Diego County, the region and the entire water industry.
Program representatives, elected officials and water industry leaders gathered at the future site of the treatment facility in Santee to celebrate the Program that will create a new, local, sustainable and drought-proof drinking water supply using state-of-the-art technology to purify East San Diego County’s recycled water.
This summer, some will be taking shorter showers and lawns will turn yellow as Southern Californians try to conserve water during the drought.
While it mostly affects the Los Angeles area, all Californians are being asked to save water.
Last month — when the state water board approved rules that went into effect on Wednesday — Governor Gavin Newsom said in part, “These conservation measures are increasingly important as we enter the summer months. I’m asking all Californians to step up because every single drop counts.”
Managers of California’s most overdrawn aquifers were given a monumental task under the state’s landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act: Craft viable, detailed plans on a 20-year timeline to bring their beleaguered basins into balance.
It was a task that required more than 250 newly formed local groundwater agencies – many of them in the drought-stressed San Joaquin Valley – to set up shop, gather data, hear from the public and collaborate with neighbors on multiple complex plans, often covering just portions of a groundwater basin.
Altogether, they submitted plans for 20 basins for review by the California Department of Water Resources in January 2020. Earlier this year, DWR rendered its verdict: Most of the basin plans were incomplete.
Earlier this year, DWR rendered its verdict: Most of the basin plans were incomplete. Now groundwater agencies responsible for 12 of the 20 basins are racing to meet a late July deadline to submit revised plans that meet SGMA’s requirements or risk the state stepping in to manage their groundwater basins.
With unprecedented water restrictions now in place across Southern California, many are questioning how life will change and whether residents can actually conserve.
Here are 10 things to consider as the new restrictions — most notably limiting outdoor watering to one or two days a week — set in.
Millions of Angelenos awoke Wednesday to a new, more arid future as unprecedented water restrictions went into effect across Southern California.
For some, the sweeping limitations on outdoor watering felt like déjà vu from the last time the state was in a significant drought, when lawns turned brown and short showers became the norm. For others, the rules were a frustrating reminder of how little has changed.
While the state of California is in its third year of drought, the Sacramento City Council has approved the sale of up to $5 million worth of water from the Sacramento and American Rivers.
Carlos Eliason, spokesperson for the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities, said there is about 16,500 acre feet of surface water on our rivers. The city council approved to drop the 10,000 acre feet of input, or about 3.26 billion gallons of water, and divert it to state contractors and the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
The Biden administration unveiled a plan Thursday to undo Trump-era rule changes to a key section of the Clean Water Act, essentially giving states, territories and tribes more say on fossil fuel or industrial projects that could pollute their watersheds.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule centers on Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, a longstanding provision that gives states more authority to certify or deny federal permits that are necessary for certain projects, including oil and gas pipelines.
