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Coronavirus Pandemic has Affected State’s Food, Agriculture and Environment

/in , , /by /Daily Democrat (Woodland, Calif.)by Pam Kan-Rice

COVID-19 continues to affect parts of California agriculture in different ways. A new report from agricultural economists at the University of California examines the current and long-term impacts on California’s leading agricultural industries.

Profiles in the report illustrate the different ways the pandemic has impacted dairy, beef and produce — industries that have scrambled to repurpose products from foodservice to retail — and tree nuts, an industry that saw a temporary spike in sales as consumers hoarded storable goods. The report includes expert assessments of what the future holds for California’s cattle, dairy, produce, strawberry, tomato, tree nut and wine industries.

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Water District Calls on Coastal Commission to Deny Cal Am’s Desalination Permit.

/in , , /by /Monterey County Weeklyby Asaf Shalev

To a large extent, the fate of several multi-million dollar water projects on the Monterey Peninsula is in the hands of the California Coastal Commission. The question is whether the commission will grant a development permit for a desalination plant proposed by California American Water—or will the commission deny the permit and implicitly endorse a smaller project that would provide new water to the area by expanding the regional wastewater recycling facility. A vote is expected at the August 12-14 meeting of the commission.

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In Protecting Endangered Fish, Muddy River flows, State Regulators Find Little Water Left In Basin Eyed by Coyote Springs

/in , /by /The Nevada Independent by Daniel Rothberg

The state’s top water regulator issued a ruling Monday that is likely to have a significant effect on any future development in a large area northeast of Las Vegas, including the construction of Coyote Springs, a proposed master-planned community.

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Cooper’s Hawk Chick Gets Special Handling near Pipeline 5 Project

/in , , /by /Water News Networkby Ed Joyce Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

A Cooper’s hawk chick and its nest received special attention after being discovered recently near a San Diego County Water Authority construction project.

Environmental surveyors spotted the nest on March 27 south of Gopher Canyon Road during the Pipeline 5 repair project in Moosa Canyon in North San Diego County.

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Water’s Long Journey to Your Faucet

/in , , /by /NBC 7 San Diegoby Joe Little

Most people take it for granted. You turn the faucet on, and water comes out.

But it isn’t that simple. In fact, it’s far more complicated to fill a glass with clean drinking water.

That’s one of the reasons why the City of San Diego’s Public Utilities Department is mailing residents the annual Drinking Water Quality Report this week.

“A lot of people just think that when you turn the tap water on, it’s just coming from the lakes and the streams,” said Michael Simpson, the Senior Water Operations Supervisor at the Alvarado Water Treatment Plant near Lake Murray.

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Major Ocean Research Effort Centered in San Diego

/in , , /by /KPBS-FM/TVby Erik Anderson

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego will host a major research initiative funded by the federal government.

UC San Diego will host the Cooperative Institute for Marine, Earth and Atmospheric systems, and it will get up to $220 million in funding for research over a five-year period.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is making the investment locally after a competitive bidding process.

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For Now, No Border Wall For Arizona Tribe’s Colorado River Stretch

/in , , /by /KUNC Coloradoby Alisa Reznick

President Trump’s wall now stretches along 200 miles of U.S.-Mexico borderland. Progress hasn’t slowed during the coronavirus pandemic; in some places it’s even accelerating. But there’s a tiny swath of tribal land on the Colorado River where that’s not the case.

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A Key Player on Colorado River Issues Seeks to Balance Competing Water Demand’s in the River’s Upper Basin

/in , , /by /Water Education Foundationby Gary Pitzer

Colorado is home to the headwaters of the Colorado River and the water policy decisions made in the Centennial State reverberate throughout the river’s sprawling basin that stretches south to Mexico. The stakes are huge in a basin that serves 40 million people, and responding to the water needs of the economy, productive agriculture, a robust recreational industry and environmental protection takes expertise, leadership and a steady hand.

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Justices Reject Clean Water Act Plea in Blow to Miners

/in , /by /E&E Newsby Pamela King

Supreme Court justices today declined to consider whether moving — but not adding — rocks, sand and other debris within a regulated waterway is subject to Clean Water Act restrictions. The court’s decision not to take up the Eastern Oregon Mining Association’s petition came as a disappointment for operators that use suction dredge mining, an industrial process similar to panning for gold in a river.

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Opinion: Arizona’s Groundwater Management Act Was Groundbreaking, But It Needs An Update

/in , , /by /Arizona Centralby Kim Mitchell and Christopher Kuzdas

Rural communities are grappling with the challenge other parts of Arizona faced in the past: the need to conserve groundwater for future generations.

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