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San Jose: New Drought Rules and Water Fees Go Into Effect — What They Mean for Your Bill

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

October storms helped this winter’s rainy season get off to a good start across Northern California. But they weren’t enough to erase the two very dry previous years: 80% of California remains in an extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly federal report.

Reservoir levels are very low and groundwater tables are depleted because the past two years had the least rainfall in Northern California of any two-year period since 1976-77.

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County Supervisors Support More Public Access to Lakes, Reservoirs

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Elizabeth Ireland Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Wednesday to direct the Department of Parks and Recreation to work with outside agencies to keep regional lakes and reservoirs indefinitely open for recreational activities.

Supervisor Joel Anderson, who made the proposal, said keeping such resources open “is vital to the health and wellness of those who live in the Back Country.”

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California, Arizona and Nevada in Talks on New Plan to Save Colorado River Water

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

Two and a half years after signing a deal aimed at averting a damaging crisis along the Colorado River, water officials from California, Arizona and Nevada are discussing plans to take even less water from the shrinking river and leave it in Lake Mead in an effort to prevent the reservoir from falling to dangerously low levels.

Representatives of water agencies from the three states said they are firming up the details of a deal that would leave an additional 500,000 acre-feet of water in the reservoir next year, and the same amount again in 2023 — about double the quantity of water used annually by Las Vegas and the rest of southern Nevada.

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San Diego’s Project Clean Water Wins Gold MarCom Award

/in , , /by /The Coronado Times

Project Clean Water, San Diego County’s initiative dedicated to protecting water quality won a gold award at the MarCom Awards, an international creative competition that recognizes outstanding achievement by marketing and communication. The award is for the “52 Ways to Love Your Water” video that was created as part of the 5-year county-wide public education and outreach initiative around stormwater pollution and water quality.

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As Drought Persists, Californians are ‘Backsliding’ in Effort to Conserve Water

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

State water regulators urged Californians to do more to save water after the latest monthly data showed conservation lagging in September, with statewide water use in cities and towns decreasing 3.9% compared with the same month a year ago.

The reduction in water use was smaller than in August, when Californians used 5% less.

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California Drought: Proposed Ballot Measure Would Fast-track Construction of Dams, Desalination Plants and Other Water Projects

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

California has not built enough new reservoirs, desalination plants and other water projects because there are too many delays, too many lawsuits and too much red tape.

That’s the message from a growing coalition of Central Valley farmers and Southern California desalination supporters who have begun collecting signatures for a statewide ballot measure that would fast-track big water projects and provide billions of dollars to fund them — potentially setting up a major political showdown with environmentalists next year shaped by the state’s ongoing drought.

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$1 Trillion Bill Brings Billions to the Valley. What Are the Projects?

/in , , /by /Greenwireby Bill McEwen

Two Fresno area Democrats who attended the signing of President Joe Biden’s $1 billion infrastructure bill into law on Monday say the package will improve the lives of Valley residents and strengthen the local economy.

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Sonoma County Backs Well Water Regulations, Favoring New Era of Groundwater Oversight

/in , /by /The Press Democratby Guy Kovner

Hailed as a complex and historic step, Sonoma County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously endorsed plans to guide use and governance of groundwater relied on by rural residents, farmers and cities.

The plans, required by a 2014 state law crafted amid California’s past drought, will eventually include well water use fees in three basins underlying the Santa Rosa Plain and Sonoma and Petaluma valleys.

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Tribes Hope Infrastructure Law Means They’ll Finally Get Clean Drinking Water

/in , /by /KPBSby Katia Riddle

Louie Pitt Jr. has a clear memory of a day four years ago when a valve broke on the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon. He was in a meeting with the tribal operations officer when she was interrupted by a phone call.

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Fallbrook Fights for 70 Years to Use Water From Nearby River

/in , , /by /NBC 7 San Diegoby Joe Little Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The Santa Margarita River flows through town but Fallbrook had to fight for 70 years to finally use it.

The narrow river winds its way from Riverside County, through Fallbrook, and eventually onto Camp Pendleton in northern San Diego County where it empties into the Pacific Ocean. For the longest time, the military base did not want to share the river’s water with Fallbrook. The federal government filed a lawsuit against Fallbrook in 1951. Since then, Fallbrook Public Utility District General Manager Jack Bebee said they’ve battled, negotiated, and pleaded with all levels of government.

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