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As California Gets Its Final Winter Rains, Drought Is Setting Up a Water Battle

/in , , /by /PBSby Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado

On a recent day in the San Joaquin Valley, the rain falling outside was cause for celebration for Aaron Fukuda.

“For us, water is a mood,” Fukuda, president of the Tulare Irrigation District, said over the phone.

As a third consecutive dry year sets in on California, drought has become a source of stress and anxiety for farmers and communities. But rain brings happiness. If only the rain came more often, Fukuda stated.

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Californians Settle Lawsuits Against Binational Water Commission

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer

On Tuesday, Californians settled three lawsuits against the International Boundary and Water Commission or the IBWC, the binational agency that treats a portion of the sewage-laden water rolling into the U.S. from Tijuana under a treaty between the two countries.

At the crux of the many complaints by the city of Imperial Beach, Surfrider Foundation, and San Diego’s Regional Water Quality Control Board and others was general frustration that the IBWC, which runs an international wastewater treatment plant at the border, wasn’t doing enough to prevent and monitor Tijuana wastewater entering the Tijuana River and the valley on the U.S. side.

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California Could Shrink Water Use in Cities by 30% or More, Study Finds

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

Green lawns, old appliances and leaky pipes all consume significant amounts of California’s water, and researchers have calculated in a new study that the state could reduce water use by more than 30% in cities and suburbs by investing in measures to use water more efficiently.

The study by the Pacific Institute, a water think tank in Oakland, also found big untapped potential for urban areas to reduce strains on overused rivers and aquifers by investing in local projects to recycle more wastewater and capture more stormwater.

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Lawn Watering Crackdown Coming to Santa Clara County as Drought Worsens?

/in , , /by /Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

Concerned about diminishing water supplies this summer and a failure of the public to hit conservation targets, Santa Clara County’s largest water agency is moving forward with plans to ask the county’s 2 million residents to water landscaping no more than two days a week, down from the current three days.

Last June, the Santa Clara Valley Water District declared a drought emergency and asked the public to cut water use 15% compared to 2019 levels. But in February, amid record-dry conditions, South Bay residents ignored that request, cranking up sprinklers and increasing water use countywide by 23%.

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CVWD to Consider Ban on Daytime Spray Irrigation, Other Water Conservation Measures

/in , , /by /Desert Sunby Erin Rode

The Coachella Valley Water District will consider implementing several water conservation measures on Tuesday, including a ban on outdoor water use for spray irrigation during daytime hours, requiring restaurants to only serve water upon request, and increasing the turf rebate amount.

The meeting comes as the state is in a deepening drought after one of the driest starts to spring in decades. Almost all of California and much of the Western U.S. is in severe to extreme drought, according to U.S. drought monitor.

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High Tech, High Stakes: How Vulnerable to Cyberattacks is U.S. Water Infrastructure?

/in , /by /Water Finance & Managementby Andrew Farr

According to government officials, security experts and persistent media reports, all signs indicate that cybersecurity is an issue that is here to stay and puts U.S. infrastructure squarely in the crosshairs of hackers and foreign governments. Recently the issue has been heightened by the war in Ukraine and has increased concerns about a potential Russian retaliation to U.S. sanctions that may come in the form of a cyberattack.

But whether it’s Russia, China, another foreign government or an independent hacker, concerns about how cyberattacks could impact infrastructure in the United States have been elevated – and a look at how they could affect the water industry is fascinating.

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California, Utah and Other Western States Face Scary Wildfire Season

/in , , /by /Desert Newsby Amy Joi O'Donoghue

Northern California is suffering when it comes to extreme drought conditions, very little snow and a wildfire season predicted to start much earlier.

Last year, more than 2.5 million acres burned in that state, and officials fear it could be as bad this year, if not worse.

An Axios report noted that already this year, the Sacramento office of the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for wildfires.
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Farms, Fish on Dry California-Oregon Border See Scant Water

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Gillian Flaccus

Farms that rely on irrigation from a depleted, federally managed lake on the California-Oregon border, along with a Native American tribe fighting to protect fragile salmon, will both receive extremely limited amounts of water this summer as a historic drought and record-low reservoir levels drag on in the U.S. West.

More than 1,000 farmers and ranchers who draw water from a 257-mile-long (407-kilometer) river that flows from the Upper Klamath Lake to the Pacific Ocean will have access to roughly one-seventh the amount they could get in a wetter year, a federal agency announced Monday. Downstream salmon will receive about half the water they’d get if the reservoir was full.

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As Drought Persists, Government Says Klamath Farmers Will Be Allocated Limited Water

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

As severe drought persists in Northern California and southern Oregon, the federal Bureau of Reclamation announced Monday that farmers and ranchers will be allocated a limited amount of water in the Klamath River Basin this summer.

Water is at the center of bitter disputes between growers, the federal government and tribes over how much should be allocated for food production, flows in the Klamath River and the health of threatened fish.

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IID Forms Committee to Keep Eye on Colorado River Negotiations

/in , , /by /The Desert Reviewby Betty Miller

Imperial Irrigation District formed the Colorado River Committee at the April 12 meeting after debate on the need for another committee and the pre-appointments by Board President Jim Hanks of himself and Director JB Hamby.

Director Javier Gonzalez said he would not support the formation of another committee as with all the others, never is one reported on back to the board.

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