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San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy Gets $10,000 Grant From REI

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Linda Mcintosh

The nonprofit San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy received a $10,000 grant for its Next to Nature program (N2N) from the REI Co-op. The program shows residents how to create sustainable landscapes that are beneficial for the environment. To show people how to develop eco-beneficial areas around their homes or businesses, the conservancy is working with locally based production company Condor Visual Media to put out six free webinars focusing on Landscape Site Design, Sustainable Gardening, Urban Green Infrastructure, Wildfire Risk Reduction, Water Management and Conservation and Landscape Material and Energy Management.

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Water District Director Gary Hurst Named a Delegate to County Water Authority Board

/in , /by /Ramona Sentinelby Julie Gallant Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Ramona Municipal Water District directors unanimously agreed May 11 to appoint Director Gary Hurst as a delegate to the San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors.

Hurst will replace the water district’s former general manager, David Barnum, in that role. Barnum had served as the district’s representative to the County Water Authority for several years before he retired in March 2021.

The County Water Authority is the regional wholesaler and sole provider of water to the Ramona water district. Currently, The water district has 1.5 percent of the County Water Authority voting rights.

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San Diego County Mitigation Efforts Aid in California Drought Battle

/in , , /by /10 News (KGTV) San Diegoby Zac Self Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

As the drought deepens throughout California, San Diego County has postured itself to make it through dry spell conditions as a result of planning and mitigation efforts.

After experiencing a severe drought in the early 1990s, San Diego County officials went to work on diversifying its water supply. At the time, the region was hit with 50% supply reductions because it relied almost entirely on a single source. Since then, however, the San Diego County Water Authority has taken a varied approach. According to the authority, the region has added a new transfer of conserved agriculture water from Imperial Valley and completed the All-American and Coachella Canal lining projects to receive conserved water from the Colorado River.

“The Water Authority’s draft 2020 Urban Water Management Plan shows that regional investments in a ‘water portfolio approach’ to supply management and a sustained emphasis on water-use efficiency mean that San Diego County will continue to have sufficient water supplies through the 2045 planning horizon – so the region’s residents and economy remain safe even during multiple dry years,” the authority told 10News.

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Lake Shasta is Facing its Worst Season in 44 years. Here’s What That Means for Those Who Rely On It.

/in , , /by /Redding Record Searchlightby Damon Arthur

Lake Shasta this summer is facing possibly its lowest level in at least 44 years, and that could be bad news for the people who rely on it for drinking and irrigation water, as well as endangered salmon that depend on it to survive. Dam operators have to go all the way back to 1977 to compare how bad this year’s water situation is shaping up to be, said Don Bader, area manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the dam.  “It’s dry. It’s second worst, so far. It’s probably going to exceed ’77. But the kicker is in ’77 we didn’t have all the requirements that we have now,” Bader said.

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Irrigation Districts Look to Transfers as Water Dwindles

/in , , /by /AgAlertby Christine Souza

With very little water to spare this drought year, water districts struggling with limited or no supplies look to their counterparts in other districts to negotiate water transfers to add whatever flexibility they can.

Districts on the west side of the Central Valley, both north and south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, face the prospect of receiving no water from the Central Valley Project.

“Water transfers are absolutely critical to preventing a disaster on the west side of the Sacramento Valley this year. Other than groundwater, it’s the only water many of our folks have,” said Jeffrey Sutton, general manager of the Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority; the TCCA, a joint powers authority, serves 17 water districts in Tehama, Glenn, Colusa and Yolo counties.

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Central Valley Water Districts Get OK to Sue Dow, Shell Over Groundwater Pollution

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Bob Egelko

A state appeals court has upheld California’s cleanup standards for a cancer-causing chemical that was added to pesticides and has polluted groundwater in the Central Valley, rejecting challenges by manufacturers that may have to pay the costs.

The State Water Resources Control Board’s 2017 mandate for removing nearly all TCP (1,2,3-trichloropropane) from drinking water was contested by the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, representing Dow Chemical Co. and Shell Oil, which included the chemical in worm-killing fumigants widely used by farmers through the 1980s. They argued that the board’s criteria were not “economically feasible,” as required by state law.

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Opinion: The Future of Water Is Recycled Sewage, And We’ll All Be Drinking It

/in , , /by /https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-19/toilet-waste-to-tap-water-welcome-to-the-future-of-recycled-sewageby Amanda Little

More than a few dystopian fantasies depict a future in which humanity’s water supply derives from recycled human waste. As Frank Herbert imagined it in his 1965 novel “Dune“ — now a much-anticipated fall 2021 blockbuster — the humans inhabiting a dessicated, rainless planet must wear “stillsuits”— a rubbery second skin that captures sweat, urine and feces and recycles them into drinking water.

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Wildfires Threaten River Networks in the Western U.S.

/in , /by /PHYS.ORGby Kim Delker

A new study conducted by researchers from The University of New Mexico has found that wildfires—which have been increasing in frequency, severity and extent around the globe—are one of the largest drivers of aquatic impairment in the western United States, threatening our water supply. The research, “Wildfires increasingly impact western U.S. fluvial networks,” was published recently in Nature Communications.

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Silent No More: Klamath Tribes Gather to Protect Fish, Homelands

/in , , /by /Herald Newsby Alex Schwartz

A group of protesters gathered at Sugarman’s Corner in downtown Klamath Falls on Saturday, preparing to welcome a 25-car caravan of mostly Klamath Tribal members calling for solutions to the Klamath Basin’s water crisis.

A man walked by the demonstrators, eyeing their signs with statements like “Peace and Healing in the Klamath Basin,” “Water Justice is Social Justice” and “Undam the Klamath.”

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Sentate Confirms Radhika Fox to EPA Office of Water

/in , /by /Water & Waste Digestby Bob Crossen

The U.S. Senate confirmed Radhika Fox, former US Water Alliance CEO, as EPA Office of Water Assistant Administrator during a confirmation hearing May 12. With the confirmation, Fox became the first woman of color and first individual of Asian heritage to be both nominated and confirmed to lead the EPA Office of Water. Fox has been appointed to the Office of Water after President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January. Since that time, she has spearheaded a roundtable discussion with utility leaders in water and wastewater for feedback on the American Jobs Plan, Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan, and has lead the office as the EPA delayed the Lead & Copper Rule Revision effective date and published the Unregulated Contaminants Monitoring Rule 5, which targets per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

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