Barely any rain and it’s already mid-December? Malibu is experiencing drought conditions—but a drought it is not. That’s a key difference: a “drought” can actually only be declared by the Governor of California; his declaration releases key relief funding for several agencies. “Drought conditions,” on the other hand, is a classification that marks a series of factors that could lead to a drought down the line.
Marlene Martinez, Senior Geographical Information System Analyst, is the Valley Center Municipal Water District Manager’s Award winner for 2020. Martinez, a 13-year district employee, was recognized for her outstanding work in developing and expanding the District’s GIS program capabilities.
If U.S. Rep. Debra Haaland is confirmed as interior secretary, the Native American from New Mexico could make a huge difference to Arizona and the West when her background and outlook are translated into policy. Experts in Native American affairs and Democratic Party congressional leaders including Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Tucson and Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico offer predictions for how Haaland’s tenure could affect federal lands and waters: Water rights.
The city of Ventura has refinanced most of Ventura Water’s $104 million debt, resulting in nearly $16 million in savings that are expected to lower planned rate hikes for customers, city officials said.
Refinanced was $97.4 million of the debt total, said Michael Coon, the city’s finance and technology director.
The rate on the refinanced debt was lowered from 4.8% to 2.47%, resulting in the $15.95 million savings, he said.
Just a short paddle up the Elkhorn Slough, kayakers can spot Hester Marsh. Degraded by decades of diking and draining, and threatened by rising sea levels, the marsh is now being lifted out of the muck.
Labeled the Tidal Marsh Restoration Project, the restoration will ensure Hester Marsh outlasts the drowning of most other Elkhorn salt marshes, projected to occur within 50 years.
These marshes provide vital natural habitat and play a critical role in fighting climate change, experts say, through their ability to capture and store large amounts of atmospheric carbon.
California’s first snow survey of the 2020-21 season is happening Dec. 30 at the Phillips snow course in the Sierra Nevada.
The Department of Water Resources will conduct five of these surveys through May by plunging a long steel tube into the snow. This will measure the snow’s depth and give an estimate of its water content.
The Helix Water District board of directors has agreed to supply water over the next 20 years for a controversial sand-mining project in the El Monte Valley in Lakeside. The board will now send a letter to county planners confirming they can meet the needs of the project should it win approval.
This year brought one of the biggest marine heat waves on record in the Pacific Ocean, and it’s one of several record-setting spikes in ocean water temperatures over the last six years.
The string of warm water events has scientists wondering if this is actually the new normal for the Pacific Ocean.
A series of heat waves started in 2013 with what was nicknamed “the blob,” which brought water temperatures up to nearly 7 degrees Fahrenheit higher than normal across a 1,000-mile stretch of the West Coast.
San Diego Gas & Electric will utilize 600 additional radios as part of the Regional Communications System.
A 5-0 San Diego County Board of Supervisors vote December 8 authorized the execution of an agreement to add the radios for SDG&E, which will pay the county an estimated $5,086,620 for the additional participation, and authorized the county Sheriff to execute amendments, extensions, or revisions which do not materially impact the program or funding level.
Water bills would help fix subsidence damage: A package of water bills passed Congress this week that could offer hundreds of millions to improve San Joaquin Valley water deliveries. Folded into the same bill that will be offering COVID relief was the government’s annual spending bill that included funding approval for key local canals and dams. Significantly it includes $206 million to rebuild 33 miles of the Friant Kern Canal and monies for the repair of the westside’s California Aqueduct and Delta Mendota Canal — all facing reduced capacity due to subsidence- the sinking of land caused by vigorous water pumping nearby over the years.
