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Bright Ideas Bring Padre Dam MWD Landscape Contest Winner to Life

/in , , /by /Water News Network

Santee homeowners removed grass, replaced the turf with a colorful, WaterSmart landscape, and won a landscape makeover contest too.

Melissa and Josh Perrell’s new landscaping at their Santee home is bursting with bright colors. Vibrant pink, orange, purple and red succulents are interspersed among lush rosemary and lavender bushes. Even more impressive, it didn’t take a single drop of irrigation over the past year to keep it thriving. The Perrells makeover project was selected by Padre Dam Municipal Water District as its 2020 Landscape Makeover Contest winner.

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Local Congressional Delegation Introduce Border Water Restoration Act in House

/in , , /by /KPBS-FM/TVby City News Service

Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, and other local Congress members introduced the Border Water Quality Restoration and Protection Act of 2020 Friday to address pollution along the U.S.-Mexico border and improve the water quality of both the Tijuana and New rivers.

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In Colorado’s Climate-Change Hot Spot, the West’s Water is Evaporating

/in , , /by /The Seattle Timesby Juliet Eilperin (The Washington Post

On New Year’s Day in 2018, Paul Kehmeier and his father drove up Grand Mesa until they got to the county line, 10,000 feet above sea level. Instead of the three to five feet of snow that should have been on the ground, there wasn’t enough of a dusting to even cover the grass.

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Poseidon’s Desalination Plan for Huntington Beach Delayed Again

/in , , /by /Orange County Registerby Martin Wisckol

After years of bureaucratic hurdles and increasing regulatory requirements, Poseidon Water was dealt yet another delay Friday, Aug. 7, in its pursuit of a controversial desalination plant in Huntington Beach.  The Regional Water Quality Control Board concluded three days of hearings on the project’s next permit by telling Poseidon it must return with a more robust, more detailed mitigation plan to offset the environmental damage the project will cause.

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Utilities Want to Use EPA Chemicals Law to Protect Drinking Water

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Pat Rizzuto

A pair of water associations are teaming up to urge the EPA to use all its regulatory tools to safeguard drinking water as it decides whether to allow new chemicals into U.S. commerce.

The Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA), which represents state, tribal, and territorial water agency officials, recently joined the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, which represents publicly owned metropolitan drinking water suppliers, to routinely flag their concerns about new chemicals to the Environmental Protection Agency.

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Decline in Hydropower Hampered by Drought Will Impact Utility Costs

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Jesse Kathan

Hydroelectric power from dams usually provides about 15% of California’s electricity needs. But in 2015, at the zenith of the worst drought in California’s recorded history, it supplied only 6%.

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SCW Given Contract for North River Road Sewer Repairs

/in , , /by /Fallbrook Village Newsby Joe Naiman

SCW Contracting Corporation was awarded the Rainbow Municipal Water District contract for the first phase of the North River Road Land Outfall pipeline repairs.

The July 28 Rainbow board meeting included a 5-0 vote to award the work to SCW, which is based in the town of Rainbow. The contract will be for $474,000.

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Opinion: San Diego’s Iconic Beaches Deserve Our Support to End Plastic Pollution

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Lori Mendez

From our shared border with Mexico to our county’s northernmost point, with the Pacific Ocean as our backyard, San Diego is known for its beautiful beaches. Yet, there is something insidious happening.

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Water Officials Push Back Decision on Huntington Beach Desal Project Yet Again

/in , , /by /Voice of OCby Brandon Pho

State regional water officials have again delayed a decision on a controversial seawater desalination plant in Huntington Beach, instead placing further requirements on the project’s company to reckon with the facility’s anticipated environmental damage.

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Opinion: The LA Sequel to Owens Valley: The Tunnel to destroy Northern SJ Valley

/in , , /by /Manteca/Ripon Bulletinby Dennis Wyatt

It wasn’t my finest moment.

I was hiking the Owens River Gorge in mid-July. Usually that would be as smart as planting your hands on a stove burner turned to high.

Severe thunderstorms in the eastern Sierra above Bishop prompted a last minute change in plans. And given that the temperature in the Owens Valley that day was predicted to be 20 degrees cooler than the previous day’s high it was the perfect opportunity to take a hike in an area where the heat makes it a seriously insane proposition between June and September.

Before Los Angeles got is claws into Owens Valley to divert snowmelt and draw down the high desert water tables to essentially bleed Eastern California and stunt its economic growth all so the City of Angels could prosper beyond the means of its water basin, the gorge carried water tapped into by farmers and ranchers working the land.

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