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Biden Administration Details Plans to Conserve 30% of US Land and Water by 2030

/in , , /by /CNNby Liz Stark

The Biden administration on Thursday outlined in a new report how it aims to achieve its goal of conserving 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030.

Developed by the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture and Commerce, as well as the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the report lays out initial recommendations for a decade-long initiative — described as the “America the Beautiful” campaign — to encourage local conservation efforts.
“The President’s challenge is a call to action to support locally led conservation and restoration efforts of all kinds and all over America, wherever communities wish to safeguard the lands and waters they know and love,” the agencies’ top officials write in the report. “Doing so will not only protect our lands and waters but also boost our economy and support jobs nationwide.”
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Gov. Doug Ducey Signs Historic Water Protection Legislation

/in , , /by /KTAR News Arizona

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a landmark water protection bill Wednesday to ensure clean water in nearly 800 Arizona streams, lakes and rivers that are critical for everyday use.

The legislation will preserve water quality, list protected Arizona waters and develop management practices that will protect the waterways.

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Rainbow Approves Purchase of Emergency Generators and Solar Battery Backup

/in , /by /Village News (Fallbrook)by Joe Naiman

The Rainbow Municipal Water District will be acquiring two emergency generators and a solar-powered battery backup system.

Rainbow’s board voted 5-0 April 27 to authorize general manager Tom Kennedy to execute purchase orders for the two generators and the battery backup system equipment. The purchases will be funded by a state Office of Emergency Services grant, and Kennedy’s $300,000 spending authorization matches that grant amount.

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Wildfires are Contaminating Drinking Water Systems, and it’s More Widespread than People Realize

/in , , /by /The Conversationby Andrew Whelton

More than 58,000 fires scorched the United States last year, and 2021 is on track to be even drier. What many people don’t realize is that these wildfires can do lasting damage beyond the reach of the flames – they can contaminate entire drinking water systems with carcinogens that last for months after the blaze. That water flows to homes, contaminating the plumbing, too.

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FPUD Contract for Ross Lake PRV Project Awarded to Genesis

/in , /by /Village News (Fallbrook)by Joe Naiman

The Fallbrook Public Utility District contract for the Ross Lake pressure reducing valve project was awarded to Genesis Construction.

The Hemet company had the low bid for the FPUD project, and on April 26 the FPUD board voted 5-0 to approve a $51,444 contract with Genesis Construction.

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Reclamation Halts Water Deliveries to Northern Calif. Farmers

/in , , /by /The San Joaquin Valley Sunby Alex Tavlian

More than a month after announcing it was suspending water deliveries to farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, the Bureau of Reclamation delivered equally bad news to farmers north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Their water supplies, tabbed at 5 percent of their contracted amount, were not available for delivery via the Central Valley Project due to limited supply.

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MCCSD: Mendocino Declares Stage 4 Drought

/in , , /by /Mendocino Beacon by Michelle Blackwell

At the monthly Mendocino City Community Services District meeting the board declared a Stage 4 drought. It also discussed the potential ramifications to the community as the surrounding areas and the state suffer through the second year of drought. It is common during dry years for residents within the district to refill their water tanks with water that is hauled in and purchased from the surrounding communities.

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SD County Supervisors OK Sustainability, Native Plant Policies

/in , , /by /KPBS

San Diego County supervisors Wednesday unanimously approved policies focused on environmental sustainability, and offered residents and businesses new tools to expand the natural habitat.

Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer teamed up with board Chairman Nathan Fletcher and Vice Chairwoman Nora Vargas to propose reorganizing county departments around sustainability, including a formal plan, and creating a native plant policy to preserve regional biodiversity.

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Opinion: There is No Drought

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Times by The Times Editorial Board

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency last month in Sonoma and Mendocino counties because of severe drop-offs in the winter rains that once had been counted on to fill reservoirs in the Russian River watershed, north of the San Francisco Bay Area. Like most other California reservoirs, those human-made lakes were built in the 20th century, an unusually wet period when compared with more than a thousand years of climate records reconstructed from studies of ancient tree rings and geological evidence.

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Deepening Drought Holds ‘Ominous’ Signs For Wildfire Threat in the West

/in , , /by /NPRby Eric Westervelt

After one of the most destructive and extreme wildfire seasons in modern history last year, a widening drought across California and much of the West has many residents bracing for the possibility this season could be worse.

Anemic winter rain and snowfall has left reservoirs and river flows down significantly, even as the state experiences its driest water year in more than four decades. Today, wildfire fuels in some parts of California are at or near record levels of dryness.

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