Environmental and community groups have sued a California county after the prime oil-drilling region approved a plan to fast-track thousands of new wells in a state that’s positioned itself as a leader in combating climate change.
Today marks the anniversary of the deadliest man-made disaster in California history. It’s a largely forgotten event which killed hundreds of people in Ventura County. On March 12th, 1928, the St. Francis Dam collapsed, sending a wall of water more than 50 miles from the Santa Clarita area through the Santa Clara River Valley. More than 400 people died.
The Arizona Legislature has taken up a range of water-related measures this year, but some bills that would strengthen the state’s water rules to protect declining groundwater and desert streams have run into opposition and have failed to move forward.
Republican and Democratic legislators introduced several bills that would establish some groundwater rules in unregulated rural areas where there are no limits on pumping and where water levels are dropping.
The Biden administration announced on Wednesday that it is delaying the implementation of a Trump administration update to a rule governing lead and copper in drinking water. The rule in question is expected to quicken the speed at which cities need to notify people who may have been exposed to lead but gives utilities a longer timeline to replace lead-tainted service lines. A new statement from the Environmental Protection Agency said that it is extending the date that the rule becomes effective, delaying it until at least June 17. It was originally expected to go into effect next week.
Hearings have been scheduled to resume in April for Poseidon Water’s controversial proposed Huntington Beach desalination plant. Last April the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Region was expected to vote on renewing a permit for the proposed $1 billion project but the workshop was canceled due to COVID-19. A hearing scheduled for September was also delayed so Poseidon could have more time to address water board concerns.
As persistent drought and climate change threaten the Colorado River, several states that rely on the water acknowledge they likely won’t get what they were promised a century ago.
But not Utah.
Republican lawmakers approved an entity that could push for more of Utah’s share of water as seven Western states prepare to negotiate how to sustain a river serving 40 million people. Critics say the legislation, which the governor still must sign, could strengthen Utah’s effort to complete a billion-dollar pipeline from a dwindling reservoir that’s a key indicator of the river’s health.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has awarded a $1 million grant for the first phase of construction of the Loma Alta Slough wetlands enhancement project. The work, which could begin in late 2022, will restore and enhance six acres of coastal wetland and upland habitat along the Loma Alta Creek near Buccaneer Beach in south Oceanside. Plans include more than 1,500 feet of nature trails with educational signs and connections to nearby facilities such as Buccaneer Park.
More San Diego farmland will be eligible for an agricultural conservation program under new rules the San Diego County Board of Supervisors has approved. San Diego has lost much of its farmland over the past decade. Since 2009, about 60,000 acres — 20 percent of San Diego County’s agricultural land — has been converted to other uses. The county has tried to stem that decline through the Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement, which is called the PACE program.
Healthy, living soil is full of oxygen, water, and life to support your plants. This is the food your plants need to consume for good health. Creating healthy soil in layers is referred to as soil sheet mulching, or “soil lasagna.” It isn’t too much different than cooking a pan of lasagna in your kitchen.
Vice President Kamala Harris was right on point last year when she said that clean water is a fundamental human right. President Biden has put those words into action by signing an executive order establishing a White House council on environmental justice.
