U.S. electric utilities and other energy companies are preparing to have key personnel remain at power plants and operations centers to ensure the facilities remain online during the coronavirus pandemic. The federal government considers power plants part of the nation’s critical infrastructure.
Two lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s authorization of plans to increase water pumping from the Sacramento and San Joaquin watersheds will be moved from the Northern District of California to the Eastern District of California, a federal judge ruled.
Highlighting the threat that coronavirus poses to basic public health systems around California and the nation, a worker at San Jose’s wastewater treatment plant — a facility that treats the sewage from 1.5 million people in San Jose and seven other cities — has tested positive for COVID-19.
Water suppliers across the region — from local cities to community service districts — are suspending shutoffs for nonpayment in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting widespread business closures.
San Diego closed its beaches, parks, boardwalks and trails on Monday after those areas were crowded on the weekend despite social distancing orders to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The announcement by Mayor Kevin Faulconer came after the county officials warned that parks and beaches will be closed if local law enforcement cannot ensure social distancing.
As of Friday, 10 workers are quarantined inside the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant for the next three weeks, monitoring and adjusting gauges and switches, watching for leaks, and doing whatever is needed to safeguard San Diego County’s only significant local source of drinking water.
The San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies said Wednesday they have increased regional coordination to ensure the coronavirus pandemic does not impact water service in the region.
“In these unprecedented times, the region’s water agencies are collaborating in complete solidarity to perform our vital mission of providing safe and reliable water supplies,” said Sandra L. Kerl, general manager of the water authority. “We are taking strategic, precautionary steps to ensure the region’s water security.”
Floods and other dangerous weather extremes are only getting more intense and more frequent as our climate warms. Historically, we’ve always been able to predict these extremes by looking at how often they occurred in the past. But a new study published Wednesday in Science Advances reveals just how many of those forecasts actually fall short. In just a decade, the findings suggest, the climate has shifted so drastically that the frequency of past extreme events is no longer a reliable predictor.
More rain and mountain snow will move through the West, including communities in worsening drought, in the early part of the week ahead. This wet pattern began when an area of low pressure moved into the California coast on Sunday. It brought more than an inch of rain to much of the Los Angeles area.
The islands of the western Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are sinking as the rich peat soil that attracted generations of farmers dries out and decays. As the peat decomposes, it releases tons of carbon dioxide – a greenhouse gas – into the atmosphere. As the islands sink, the levees that protect them are at increasing risk of failure, which could imperil California’s vital water conveyance system.
