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6 Alarming Facts About America’s Water Industry

/in , , /by /GOBankingRates by Andrew Lisa

America is one thirsty country. The U.S. consumes 322 billion gallons of water every single day, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The most, 133 billion gallons, goes to thermoelectric power. Next is irrigation at 118 billion gallons a day. The last big category is the 39 billion gallons of water that go to personal consumption. That’s the stuff that cooks the pasta and wets the washcloths and cleans the car tires and pours down the drains of millions of showers, sinks and toilets every second of every day. And the following is just one little drop in that great, big bucket.

In the early 1990s, most bottled water came from small, regional companies. In the ensuing years, control of the market has become concentrated among just a few giant corporations. Today, No. 1 Aquafina and No. 2 Dasani each do more than $1 billion in sales.

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Macedo Jr. Gets a Water Authority Spot

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diego by Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego City Council Tuesday appointed Val Macedo Jr. to the San Diego County Water Authority, giving the business representative for the local chapter of LIUNA a leadership role on the regional water board.

That appointment comes just over two years after his father, Valentine Macedo, who we quoted above, had a dispute with other construction union officials over San Diego’s Pure Water project, one of the largest infrastructure projects the city has pursued in its recent history, which is expected to eventually supply 53 million gallons of drinking water to city residents a day.

In late 2018, when the City Council was wrapping up a construction contract on the project, Macedo wrote to the Council taking issue with a provision he opposed, and that other major construction unions support.

“This requirement gets the City Council involved in an ongoing conflict between certain trades,” Macedo wrote.

Kelvin Barrios, then a Council staffer and now a Laborers employee, passed the letter to his boss, and other union leaders. Barrios went on to run for City Council against now-Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera, before dropping out of the race amid a handful of ethical violations, including failing to disclose that he was paid by the Laborers while still working for the city.

Probably unrelated: Elo-Rivera was the only Council member who did not support Macedo Jr.’s appointment this week.

Of note: Officials at the Water Authority nearly didn’t consider the massive Pure Water project in its accounting of the region’s long-term water needs earlier this year.

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Santee Council Gets Update on Padre Dam’s Big Project

/in , , /by /East County Magazineby Mike Allen
Padre Dam Municipal Water District wants to keep everyone in the loop about its massive sewage reclamation project, especially the city where the project is located — Santee.

At its March 24 virtual meeting, the Santee City Council approved a legal agreement to work collaboratively with the joint powers authority that is overseeing the nearly $700 million program called Advanced Water Purification.

Unlike so many other actions taken by the Santee Council, this one (called a memorandum of understanding or MOU), wasn’t required by the state Legislature in Sacramento. Instead, the idea was for the new oversight agency called the East County Advanced Water Purification Joint Powers Authority to be proactive, providing the city with all the information about the project, and how it will unfold.
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Water Shortages and Fires Loom After a Dry Winter

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Vindu Goel and Jill Cowan

Good morning.

The weather forecast today calls for sunshine across the state, with barely a cloud on the horizon for the next week or so.

Pour yourself a nice, cool glass of water — and then think about how you’re going to start conserving it.

The lack of rain and snow during what is usually California’s wet season has shrunk the state’s water supply. The Sierra Nevada snowpack, a crucial source of water as it melts over the spring and summer, is currently at 65 percent of normal. Major reservoirs are also low.

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Southwestern US Experiencing Warmest Weather in Months

/in , , /by /AccuWeatherby Jessica Storm

The warm air that moved into the Southwestern states over the weekend will stick around on Monday, with temperatures soaring to their highest levels since 2020.

Some cities are forecast to come as close as 5 degrees Fahrenheit from record high temperatures.

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Utah is a Leader in Cloud Seeding. Is it Working?

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Zac Podmore

Utah’s winter sports industry may claim the greatest snow on Earth, but for skiers and water watchers alike, there is hardly ever enough powder.

For nearly 50 years, the second-driest state in the nation has been giving natural winter storms an engineered boost to help deepen its snowpack through a program largely funded by state taxpayers, local governments and water conservancy districts.

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Early Indicators of Drought Surface in Santa Cruz County

/in , , /by /The Santa Cruz Sentinelby Hannah Hagemann

As cherry blossoms and calla lilies spring to life, the sun shines and rain showers begin to seem like a distant memory. Spring is here, and with it Santa Cruz County has begun to show early indications of drought, with little reprieve in sight.

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Industry Eyeing EPA’s Hustle to Control ‘Forever Chemicals’

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Pat Rizzuto

Industry attorneys say they’re bracing for a wave of corporate liability and litigation as the Biden administration works swiftly to fulfill a campaign promise to control “forever chemicals.”

The Environmental Protection Agency this month announced it’s working on three water-related regulations for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. It sent a fourth chemical data-collection proposal to the Office of Management and Budget, or OMB, for approval.

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California’s Water Worries May Not Affect San Diego

/in , , /by /KPBS-FM/TVby Erik Anderson Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

California could be facing a dry summer after two dry winters, but there shouldn’t be a huge impact on local supplies.

California water officials have already cut in half the amount of water they expect to deliver from the state water project.

That could be a major cut for central valley farmers and other water users that rely heavily on the Sacramento Delta for their water.

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Sweetwater Authority Reservoirs Provide Safe Public Recreation

/in , , /by /Water News Network

One year into the coronavirus pandemic, San Diego County’s reservoirs and lakes have provided welcome opportunities for safe, accessible outdoor family recreation.

After shutting down in March 2020, facilities began to slowly reopen through the summer months by carefully implementing safety guidelines, including increased sanitation, social distancing, and restricted attendance to allow San Diegans to resume their favorite hiking, fishing, horseback riding, and bird watching activities.

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