When California suffers a heat wave, it leans heavily on hydropower from the Pacific Northwest to keep the lights on.
But that hydropower may not always be available when it’s most needed, as climate change is shifting the ground on which the West’s dams sit. Higher temperatures means snowmelt occurs earlier in the year and leaves less water available for power generation during the depths of summer.
The science is in. Dishwashers save water — especially if you run them only when you have a full load.
Experts will also tell you that you don’t even need to pre-rinse the crusty, sticky residue off your dishes before depositing them in the dishwasher. Just scrape the solid food off.
Fire danger is on the rise in California, as warm, dry and windy weather heralds a potentially long and difficult season. For several consecutive years, increasingly extreme, climate-change fueled wildfires have devastated parts of the state.
The area of greatest concern late this week is in Northern California, where strong northerly winds will combine with dry vegetation in the Sacramento Valley, after temperatures soared to 100 degrees on Wednesday afternoon.
For Executive Pastor Mark Spurlock, expanding classroom space at the Twin Lakes Christian School in Aptos has been addition by subtraction. At least when it comes to saving water.
Following development offset rules outlined by the Soquel Creek Water District, the school engineered water-saving solutions to offset the new space they were building including replacing lawn areas with a drought-friendly plaza that catches and diverts water routed from nearby rooftops.
The central and upper Midwest, Texas and Southern California face an increased risk of power outages this summer from extreme heat, wildfires and extended drought, the nation’s grid monitor warned yesterday.
In a dire new assessment, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) described regions of the country pushed closer than ever toward energy emergencies by a combination of climate change impacts and a transition from traditional fossil fuel generators to carbon-free renewable power.
As the drought deepens and an election nears, Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking extra steps to increase pressure—and responsibility—on the Water Commission for the Sites Reservoir Project proposal. During a Senate budget subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said the governor has tasked him with ensuring the commission “isn’t slowing down the progress of getting those [Proposition 1] projects online.”
Mark Twain once said, “Whisky is for drinking, and water is for fighting over!” But what if cooperation yielded more benefit than just going it alone, when it comes to urban water utilities?
A new study of water supply in the North Carolina Research Triangle found that agreements between water utilities can help mitigate their risks.
The agreement between the Rainbow Municipal Water District and Tri Pointe Homes for the Citro development has been amended.
Rainbow’s board voted 5-0 April 26 to approve an amendment to the participation agreement for the Rice Canyon Pipeline facilities which increases the total cost from $5,100,000 to $5,502,373.
The County of San Diego will be replacing the Live Oak Park Road bridge, which will impact two Rainbow Municipal Water District water mains. Hazard Construction was given the county contract for the bridge replacement and, on April 26, the Rainbow board approved an agreement with Hazard to add the water main construction to the Lakeside company’s work.
One hundred years after a landmark agreement divided the waters of the Colorado River among Western states, the pact is now showing its age as a hotter and drier climate has shrunk the river.
The flow of the Colorado has declined nearly 20% since 2000. Reservoirs have dropped to record low levels.
