You are now in California and the U.S. Home Headline Media Coverage category.

When Life Dries Up

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

Nowhere has California’s dry winter hit harder than the state’s far north.

In a handful of counties along the rural Oregon border, where late-season rains have done little to sate the parched forests and dusty plains, hundreds of farmers are at risk of having their irrigation water shut off — and watching their crops wither in the field.

The Klamath Project, a U.S. government-operated waterworks that steers runoff from the towering Cascades to more than 200,000 acres of potatoes, alfalfa, wheat, onions and other produce on both sides of the state line, is running low on supplies. The local water agencies served by the project say they may not have water to send to farms beyond next month.

Full Story

City Attorney Blasts SDSU Sale Plan; Says Ambitious Wastewater Plans in Danger

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Sara Libby and Jesse Marx

Friday, the San Diego City Council is set to review and give final approval to the historic deal to transfer the city’s Mission Valley land to San Diego State University. But late Friday, City Attorney Mara Elliott sent around another list of concerns this time focused on the city’s long-term plans to recycle wastewater. Elliott’s deputies wrote that city would face  “dire consequences in the future” if the deal goes forward as SDSU has sketched out in its final purchase and sales agreement.

If you have some quarantine time to kill, you can read the full memo, which includes background and explanation of the dilemma. The land is largely owned by the city in its Water Utility Fund and a large groundwater aquifer that the city could use to store water in the future.

The city plans to recycle water to such an extent that someday it will make up about a third of the city’s water source. It’s called the Pure Water project.

Full Story

Scorching Temperatures Expected In San Diego County Deserts This Week

/in , , /by /KPBS San Diegoby City News Service

Temperatures will soar well into the triple digits in the San Diego County deserts Tuesday and the blazing conditions are not expected to let up until this weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

Full Story

Thousands of Run-Down US Dams Would Kill People If They Failed, Study Finds

/in , , /by /The Guardianby Emily Holden

More than 15,000 dams in the US would likely kill people if they failed, and at least 2,300 of them are in poor or unsatisfactory condition, according to recent data from the federal government’s National Inventory of Dams.

Full Story

UCSD Says Climate Change Helped Produce San Diego’s Huge Ocean Heat Wave in 2018

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins

UC San Diego researchers have confirmed that climate change helped produce the historic 43-day ocean heat wave that drew big crowds to San Diego beaches during the summer of 2018.

The finding was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, in a paper that says the phenomenon could not be solely attributed to natural variations in the weather.

Full Story

‘Expect More’: Climate Change Raises Risk of Dam Failures

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Henry Fountain

Engineers say most dams in the United States, designed decades ago, are unsuited to a warmer world and stronger storms.

Full Story

Opinion: Ripple Effect – When Politics Ignores Science, it Jeopardizes Local Clean Water

/in , , /by /The Hillby Nathan Murphy

Nine states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency for “trying to use the current public health crisis to sweep environmental violations under the rug,” according to California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

Full Story

After 30 Years and $330 Million Spent, Water Agency Shelves Las Vegas Pipeline Plan

/in , , /by /Reno Gazette Journal by Benjamin Spillman

Citing conservation gains and a third straw to the bottom of Lake Mead, the Southern Nevada Water Authority on Thursday voted to shelve a proposal for a multi-billion pipeline that would have moved water from Northern and Eastern Nevada to Las Vegas.

Full Story

Oceanside Stream Restoration Grant Awarded

/in , , /by /Patch (Oceanside-Camp Pendleton)

The California Department of Water Resources has awarded a $275,800 grant to the City of Oceanside to design a comprehensive riparian habitat and streambank restoration project for a segment of Buena Vista Creek in southeast Oceanside. The planning work will identify a feasible restoration design, conduct community outreach and complete preliminary environmental documentation for future restoration work.

Full Story

Dexter Wilson Engineering to Design Rainbow’s Rice Canyon Transmission Line

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

Dexter Wilson Engineering, Inc., will be providing design services for a transmission pipeline from the Rainbow Municipal Water District’s Rice Canyon Water Tank.

A 3-0 Rainbow board vote April 28, with Michael Mack and Helene Brazier not able to participate in the meeting, authorized Rainbow general manager Tom Kennedy to execute a design services contract with the Carlsbad company for up to $190,880 and found that the design itself is categorically exempt from California Environmental Quality Act review although environmental review will be required for the construction.

Rainbow’s Rice Canyon Water Tank obtains potable water from Connection 10 on the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s First Aqueduct, which conveys treated water through Pipelines 1 and 2.

Full Story