Word to the wise: Brace yourself before opening this month’s electric bill.
With Californians spending more time at home and working remotely during the pandemic, household appliances are sucking up way more energy than usual. Couple that with a few wicked heat waves, and you’ve got a recipe for some shocking electric bills.
Temperatures will near triple digits Wednesday in the San Diego County mountains and foothills, as a heat wave that will last through the weekend begins to grip the region.
A ridge of high pressure will continue building over the southwestern United States through Monday, ushering in the scorching heat, according to the National Weather Service.
In Bob Craig’s Mission Beach house, small spiked succulents line his home, garden, and porch. During his work as an architect each day, he leaves his computer to water and check on the tiny plants that he describes as “fragile” in their first year. Looking at the diminutive plants, it is difficult to imagine that in 60 years, they will be the towering trees that make Joshua Tree National Park’s landscape stunning and otherworldly.
A government assessment recently obtained by an environmental group appears to link a well the group says is used in U.S.-Mexico border wall construction to low water levels in wildlife habitats at an Arizona refuge with endangered species.
Vallecitos Water District was among 16 California water agencies honored by the Association of California Water Agencies Joint Powers Insurance Authority with the H.R. LaBounty Safety Award.
Vallecitos won its award for its Confined Space Rescue Training coordinated with several regional fire agencies in November 2019.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued $6,137,000 in grants to assist the California Department of Social Services with identifying sources of lead in drinking water in childcare centers.
“Testing for lead in drinking water is critical for the protection of our children,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator John Busterud. “EPA is pleased to support California in its efforts to detect and reduce lead in drinking water, thereby protecting children’s health at childcare centers and elsewhere.”
Recent conditions across California over the past 3-5 weeks have been pretty typical by mid-summer standards. It has been pretty hot across inland valleys and deserts, relatively cool (and even occasionally chilly) along the immediate coast, with a few instances of afternoon thunderstorms activity the interior mountains. There have not been any major heatwaves recently, which is likely a welcome development for many folks.
The U.S. EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act Loan Program was enacted in 2014 and became operational in 2017. WIFIA has now completed three solicitation rounds over the period 2017-2019, generating 90 competitively selected applications totaling $13.6 billion of loan volume, of which more than $5 billion has been closed.
In his Aug. 2 Herald commentary, Grant Leonard claimed that Cal Am’s proposed Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project would be a win-win for both Castroville, a disadvantaged community, and Carmel, which is on the other side of the economic spectrum. Some things challenge that claim.
The state will suffer dire long-term consequences if lawmakers set aside concerns about rising seas to focus solely on COVID-19, the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office warned Monday.
Sea level rise will likely put at least $8 billion in property underwater by 2050, and could affect tens of thousands of jobs and billions in gross domestic product, according to studies cited by the office.
