Intensifying California Drought Promises ‘Very Concerning’ Fire Season
But the outlook is poor at this time, given deepening drought, abundant dry fuels and hot early-season temperatures.
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Opinion: Water Board Choice is Key to Providing Clean Water For All
California’s drought highlights the importance of an appointment sitting on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk – filling the final seat on the State Water Resources Control Board. This is a critical agency appointment at a critical time.
The drought highlights many inequities in California water policy.
Disadvantaged communities in Stockton face the prospect of a drought summer plagued by harmful algae blooms in Delta rivers. Those algae outbreaks, which can harm children and kill pets, are caused by excessive nutrients and inadequate freshwater flow. Think what it means for a parent to be afraid for their child’s health if they swim in a river on a hot summer day.
NorCal Conservationists Float Emergency Water Plan To Save Salmon
After years of drought, salmon in Northern California are facing extinction. Conservation groups in the region have drafted a water management plan that, if adopted, would send less water to Central Valley farmers and keep more cold water for fish.
Last week, fishery advocates in Northern California submitted their temperature management plan to the State Water Resources Control Board. They want to change water operations in the Shasta, Trinity, Sacramento and Lower Klamath Rivers so the region’s salmon runs have enough cold water to survive.
Microclimate Matching in Your Landscaping Plan
Earlier in our Conservation Corner series, we described how to map the different types of microclimates present in your landscaping. Using this information helps homeowners arrange plants in a new sustainable landscape. For the most efficient water use, plants should be grouped together with similar water needs according to their preferred microclimate.
In nature, plants that like lots of water are found along the banks of a stream, or grouped together at the base of a depression. Plants that need fast-draining soils so roots don’t rot might be found on hillsides. Plants that love lots of sunshine won’t grow in the shade of a tree.
Poway City Council to Review 2021-22 Budget
The Poway City Council will review the proposed fiscal year 2021-22 operating budget and capital improvement program at its 7 p.m. meeting on Tuesday.
The council will be asked to hold a public hearing, receive a report from the Budget Review Committee, consider committee recommendations and adopt the budget resolutions.
Water Authority Congratulates New MWD GM Adel Hagekhalil
On June 8, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Board of Directors voted to approve Adel Hagekhalil as the next General Manager replacing Jeff Kightlinger, who announced his retirement. Hagekhalil is scheduled to meet with the San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors at its June 24 board meeting.
The San Diego County Water Authority issued the following statement by Board Chair Gary Croucher:
“It is with great pleasure that I congratulate Chairwoman Gloria Gray and the MWD Board of Directors on the selection of Adel Hagekhalil to serve as the district’s next General Manager. Adel is exactly the kind of person and visionary leader Southern California needs, especially as we experience another period of sustained drought, to help guide MWD as it faces important near- and long-term planning decisions impacting its water supply resources and water rates and charges.
After a Bitter Fight, Southern California’s Water Kingpin Has a New Leader
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has hired Adel Hagekhalil as its next general manager, following a bitter power struggle over the future of an agency that delivers hundreds of billions of gallons each year from the Colorado River and Northern California to a region that otherwise wouldn’t have nearly enough water to support 19 million people.
Hagekhalil was previously second in command at the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, where he helped develop strategies for cutting the city’s use of imported water — and therefore its reliance on Metropolitan. He said he’ll bring a shift in focus to the agency, putting more emphasis on recycling sewage water, capturing rainwater and cleaning up groundwater aquifers.
Pulling Out Trees, Trucking Water For Cows: California Farmers Take Drastic Measures in Drought
Normally, the biggest vegetable grower in Sonoma County, Humberto Castañeda Produce, grows heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, watermelons and other crops on 180 acres outside of Santa Rosa. But this year, Humberto Castañeda and his son, Gabriel, are farming only 17 acres after receiving a fraction of their normal allotment of water from the city of Santa Rosa.
“I could plant the whole farm and have water that might last me for a month,” said Gabriel, 27, who is managing the farm Humberto founded in the 1980s for the first time this season. “After that the plants are going to die.”
With New Law, Las Vegas Water Agency Bets On ‘Aggressive Municipal Water Conservation Measure’ To Remove Decorative Turf, Conserve Colorado River Supply
The backdrop for the legislation was set hundreds of miles away from Carson City, where the Colorado River meets Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam outside of Las Vegas.
Over the past two decades, Lake Mead, which holds nearly all of Las Vegas’ water, has dropped more than 100 feet amid drought and overuse. In response, federal regulators expect to declare the first-ever shortage for the Colorado River next year, triggering cuts to Arizona and Nevada’s allocations.
Abatti Responds to IID’s Supreme Court Filing
Imperial Valley grower, landowner and former elected official Michael Abatti has responded to the Imperial Irrigation District’s official filing in his U.S. Supreme Court petition. The official response was filed sometime Monday, June 7. In March, Abatti filed for a “writ of certiorari” with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District’s decision in Abatti v. Imperial Irrigation District, to which the district was ordered by the High Court to provide a formal response last month.
