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Opinion: A Call for Balanced Water Management in California

/in , , /by /Maven's Notebook

The draft environmental impact statement for the long-term operation of the federal Central Valley Project and State Water Project has raised alarm bells for farmers and urban water users who depend on these water projects. Based on the document released July 26 for public review, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service seem to be pushing a regulatory agenda that prioritizes environmental objectives to the detriment of agricultural, municipal and industrial water needs.

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Peters’ Bill to Streamline Permit Renewal for Wastewater Plant Passes in Committee

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Jennifer Vigil

The legislation would simplify the city of San Diego’s permitting process to operate the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant, which will allow the city to move forward with its water-recycling project, Pure Water.

The program will supply half of San Diego’s drinking water by 2035 and help solidify the region’s water security amidst worsening conditions on the Colorado River.

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Ramona Municipal Water District Board to Get New Director

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Julie Gallant

The Ramona Municipal Water District is gaining a new director to replace outgoing Director Gary Hurst.

Hurst has served on the board for nearly four years and has decided not to seek reelection when his term expires in December. His expected replacement to be seated on the board for Division 5 in December is Diane Princess Norman, who is running unopposed.

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California to Implement Direct Potable Reuse

/in , /by /Water World

California’s Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved OAL File No. 2024-0624-02S – the Direct Potable Reuse Regulations – and filed with the Secretary of State on August 6, 2024.

The regulations will take effect on October 1, 2024. This is a step in the evolution of using recycled water as a safe and reliable water supply for Californians.

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California Sites Reservoir Project Hits Troubled Waters in Permitting Process

/in , , /by /Courthouse News Serviceby Alan Riquelmy

The California state water board on Monday formally announced that the Sites Reservoir project failed to get federal approval, a situation they say isn’t permanent and can be rectified.

The rejection by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the latest setback for the estimated $4 billion project in Northern California that would capture water during the rainy season. Officials have said the reservoir would hold up to 1.5 million acre-feet of water, or enough for 3 million homes a year.

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A Decade After Signing of California Groundwater Law, Major Challenges Remain

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

In 2014, Gov. Jerry Brown signed historic legislation establishing a framework for California to begin managing groundwater in an effort to curb widespread overpumping, which had sent aquifer levels into rapid decline, left hundreds of wells dry, and caused the ground to sink in parts of the Central Valley.

The law was based on the idea that groundwater could best be managed at the local level, and it called for newly formed local agencies to gradually adopt measures to address chronic declines in groundwater levels. The legislation laid out an implementation timeline stretching more than a quarter-century, giving many areas until 2040 to address their depletion problems.

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Sierra Club Sues for Changes in Major Water Deal to Protect Salton Sea and Residents

/in , /by /Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

The Sierra Club filed a legal challenge Thursday seeking to halt a huge Colorado River conservation deal between the Biden administration and the powerful Imperial Irrigation District, saying that rare desert wildlife and low-income residents near the shores of the already-fast dwindling Salton Sea would be further harmed if concrete steps weren’t taken immediately.

The environmental group on Thursday filed a request for an injunction in California Superior Court in Imperial County, saying both the water agency and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had violated a tough state environmental law, the California Environmental Quality Act, by rushing through cursory approvals to conserve as much as 900,000 acre feet of water through 2026 — more than the entire state of Nevada receives annually, and enough to potentially supply 2.7 million households.

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How a California County Got PFAS Out of its Drinking Water

/in , /by /NPRby Pien Huang

Yorba Linda is a small, sunny city southeast of Los Angeles. It’s perhaps best known for being the birthplace of President Richard Nixon.

But in the past few years, Yorba Linda has picked up another distinction: It’s home to the nation’s largest per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) water treatment plant of its kind, according to the city.

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California Remains in Puzzling Earthquake ‘Drought’ Despite Recent Shaking

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Rong-Gong Lin II

Despite an unusual number of modest earthquakes this year in Southern California, the state overall remains in the midst of a “drought” of major earthquakes.

There have been no significant damaging earthquakes underneath California’s most populous cities in the last 30 years. That’s a stark contrast to the prior three decades, when earthquakes in suburban or mountainous areas caused catastrophic damage in the urban infrastructure, causing freeway and building collapses and resulting in the deaths of scores of people.

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OPINION: Water for the Future

/in , /by /Patchby Marie Waldron

San Diego County has made great strides to safeguard itself against California’s recurring drought cycle. For example, in 1991, 95% of our water was imported by the Metropolitan Water District (MWD). By 2023, only 14% of our water was imported by the MWD. Diversification efforts included building the Claude “Bud” Lewis Desalination plant in Carlsbad, increased conservation, an agreement to import water from the Imperial Irrigation District, and other measures. By 2045, it’s projected that only 8% of our water will be imported by the MWD.

But it’s a different story statewide. Most of our largest dams and reservoirs were built between 1945 and 1968, when our population was less than half its current size. Voter approval of a $7.5 billion water bond in 2014 has resulted in few, if any new projects. For more than 50 years, California has failed to make necessary investments in water infrastructure.

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