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Once Again, Lake Oroville and Other Reservoirs are at Drought Emergency Levels

/in , /by /SFistby Jay Barmann

If you were around here in 2014 or 2015, you were likely inundated with images of dried up reservoirs that looked like dirt canyons with little ponds in them, when a punishing drought forced the state to institute restrictions on water usage. Well, we’re likely headed for another summer of dried-up lawns (and wildfires) if Mother Nature continues to withhold the rain and snow that we need to make up for a super-dry November, December, and February.

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Welcome to the Board: Kimberly Thorner, Olivenhain Municipal Water District

/in , , /by /Water News Network Mentioned: Water News Network

Kimberly Thorner was seated on the San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors on January 6, 2021, representing the Olivenhain Municipal Water District. Director Thorner serves on the Administrative and Finance, Audit and Engineering and Operations committees.

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California May Regulate ‘Forever’ Chemicals in Water Before EPA

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Emily C. Dooley

California water suppliers could face state limits on the concentration of two so-called “forever chemicals” before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets national standards. Maximum contaminant levels for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) are on track to be in place in California in 2023, Darrin Polhemus, deputy director for drinking water programs at the State Water Resources Control Board, said during a board meeting Tuesday about agency priorities for the year.

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8 States are Tweaking the Weather (and it Might Not Work)

/in , , /by /E&E Newsby Chelsea Harvey

The mountaintops rumble to life unnaturally each year as snow clouds darken the sky across the West.

Open flames burst from the throats of metal chimneys, mounted on squat towers nestled among the peaks. With a low hiss, puffs of particles belch from their mouths into the air, where the wind catches them and whisks them away.

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Public Input Requested for San Diego Water Plan

/in , , /by /The Coast News Group

San Diego is seeking input from the public on a new water plan introduced by Mayor Todd Gloria. Under the 2020 Urban Water Management Plan, the city would develop more than half of the city’s water locally by 2045.

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New Threat To Humboldt County Drinking Water Prompts State Action

/in , /by /Jefferson Public Radioby Daniel Mintz

Of concern is potentially migrating dioxins from pentachlorophenol, a wood preservative that was used at the mill site before being banned in the mid-1980s. In response, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control has hired an engineering firm to do a new round of testing at the site.

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PG&E Settles Lawsuit Over Century-Old Gas Plant Pollution

/in , /by /Courthouse News Serviceby Nicholas Iovino

Pacific Gas and Electric will pay to remove soil possibly tainted by century-old gas plants and investigate groundwater contamination in a San Francisco shoreline area under the terms of a deal announced Monday.

The agreement represents the third and final settlement reached in a lawsuit filed in 2014 over pollution from manufactured gas plants operated by PG&E in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

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Sewage-Handling Robots Help UCSD Team Predict Coronavirus Outbreaks in San Diego

/in , , /by /La Jolla Lightby Heather Buschman

In earlier days of the COVID-19 pandemic, before diagnostic testing was widely available, it was difficult for public health officials to keep track of the infection’s spread or predict where outbreaks were likely to occur. Attempts to get ahead of the coronavirus that causes the disease are still complicated by the fact that people can be infected and spread the virus even without experiencing symptoms themselves.

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Opinion: As Drought Alarms Sound, is California Prepared?

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Jeffrey Mount and Caitrin Chappelle

We’re facing another very dry year, which follows one of the driest on record for Northern California and one of the hottest on record statewide.

The 2012-16 drought caused unprecedented stress to California’s ecosystems and pushed many native species to the brink of extinction, disrupting water management throughout the state.  Are we ready to manage our freshwater ecosystems through another drought?

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Utah Water Legislation Concerns Colorado River Basin States

/in , , /by /KJZZ Arizonaby Ron Dungan

Drought has forced several states to rethink how they use the Colorado River, but Utah is trying to figure out how to get more water out of it. Utah’s plan to build a pipeline from Lake Powell to the St. George area has raised eyebrows from the six other Colorado River Basin states. In September, those states wrote a letter reminding Utah of their history of collaboration. It concluded by saying that the pipeline could result in litigation. Utah’s response was to create a new water board.

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