Since the early 1920s, the Long Valley plains east of Yosemite have inspired comparison to a rustic Western paradise — an idyllic frontier where sparkling creeks meander through lush pastures, waters teem with feisty trout and sage grouse make ostentatious displays of romance.
Groundwater keeps the San Joaquin Valley’s orchards, vineyards and fields vibrant and supports a multibillion-dollar agricultural economy. But that bounty has come at a price. Overpumping of groundwater has depleted aquifers, dried up household wells and degraded ecosystems. Now, hundreds of agencies in California have the task of making things right in their respective groundwater basins – no easy task considering the enormity of the problem and the need to protect both the farm economy and the drinking water for vulnerable communities. Western Water examined how two San Joaquin Valley groundwater sustainability agencies are striving to find that balance.
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors approved an $11.4 million construction project to improve drinking water supply reliability in North County Thursday.
The Hauck Mesa Storage Reservoir project will begin in February. It includes demolition of an abandoned steel tank, building a 2.1 million-gallon storage reservoir connected to the Valley Center Pipeline, and construction of an isolation vault and an underground flow-control facility.
A drenching storm that brought California much-needed rain in what had been a dry winter wound down Friday after washing out Highway 1 near Big Sur, burying the Sierra Nevada in snow and causing muddy flows from slopes burned bare by wildfires.
The atmospheric river weather system that barreled ashore in Northern California early in the week rolled quickly through Southern California overnight and was moving east before dawn. Remnants unleashed occasional downpours and hail.
An atmospheric river — a plume of moisture that has been likened to a river in the sky — has brought heavy precipitation to the Central Coast. Now it will sag southward and bring rain and mountain snow to Southern California on Thursday night into Friday morning, the National Weather Service said.
Bay Area water agencies, starved for snow and rain, are encouraged by this week’s storm system.
But managers say it’s too early to say if it will have a lasting impact.
A major construction project to improve drinking water supply reliability in North San Diego County will start in February after the San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors Jan. 28 approved an $11.4 million contract for the work to Pacific Hydrotech Corporation of Perris, Calif.
There is an adage in California that goes, “Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over.”
But instead of fighting, the California Water Commission is looking for opportunities to hear from local agencies on water infrastructure projects.
The CWC recently wrapped up a series of public workshops intended to determine the opportunity for a state role in financing water conveyance projects that meet the challenges of a changing climate.
The Biden administration is swinging the pendulum of repeated changes to water regulation back to expanding after those regulatory powers contracted under President Donald Trump.
But the swing isn’t likely to be permanent, legal scholars say.
A Monterey County Superior Court judge has set aside the county’s approval of California American Water’s desalination plant project over its rationale for why the project’s benefits would outweigh environmental impacts in a lawsuit brought by the Marina Coast Water District.
