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Sunpin Solar Launches Construction Of 98- MW Solar Project In California

US developer Sunpin Solar on Friday held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction of the 98-MW Titan Solar 1 project in California.

Commissioning is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The solar park will be built on 569 acres (230.3 hectares) between the Salton Sea and Anza Borrego Desert State Park in California’s Imperial County. With over 260,000 panels installed, Titan Solar 1 is set to produce more than 218,000 MWh per year, or enough power for over 26,900 homes annually, the California-based solar developer said.

Legislature Plans to Address Groundwater Crisis in Rural Arizona

State legislators plan to tackle widespread problems of groundwater overpumping in rural Arizona this session, proposing bills that would make it easier to limit well-drilling in farming areas where residents have asked for help from the state to safeguard their dwindling water supplies.

At least four bills have been filed or are planned to strengthen groundwater rules and oversight in rural areas where there are no limits on pumping and where water levels have fallen dramatically. More bills are expected to be introduced in the coming days.

Why San Diego Farmers Worry About Water

Valley Center farmers aren’t alone when it comes to the high cost of water. But it could get lonelier and costlier if two neighboring water districts unyoke from the Water Authority to get a fresh start in Riverside.

In December, the boards of the Fallbrook Public Utility District and the Rainbow Municipal Water District voted to begin detachment from the San Diego County Water Authority in order to join Riverside’s Eastern Municipal Water District.

Will those left behind pay more as others tap new supplies? Questions are flying in Valley Center, where farms are the main customers, even as avocado turf keeps shrinking

Is Climate Change Showing Up In The Daily Weather Forecast? It’s Complicated

Early this month, scientists announced a surprising discovery: The “fingerprint” of climate change is now detectable in everyday weather. In fact, evidence of global warming can be found in the planet’s weather every day, minute, and second since 2012.

But wait —you, a person who actually paid attention in your high school atmospheric science class, say — weather and climate are not the same! Right you are, dear reader. Weather is what happens in the moment (rain passing through, or the current temperature outside). Climate is average weather over time.

Cold, Fast-Moving Storm Bringing Rain, Snow To Southern California

A cold, fast-moving storm out of the Gulf of Alaska worked its way Tuesday toward Southern California, where it was poised to hit Thursday and generate between three and five hours of moderate rain but is not expected to trigger mud slides or debris flows in burn areas, National Weather Service forecasters said.

In the San Gabriel Mountains, 4 to 8 inches of snow will fall above 5,500 feet and between 1 and 4 inches between 3,500 and 5,500 feet, said NWS meteorologist Rich Thompson in a telephone interview from his base in Oxnard in Ventura County.

 

Officials Seeking FEMA Funds To Repair Problem Shasta County Dam

Officials in Shasta County are preparing to apply for federal emergency management funds to repair a dam from which they can no longer release water, that officials say is in danger of flooding during a major storm event.

Twenty miles west of Redding, near the communities of Igo and Ono, the Misselbeck Dam holds back the Rainbow Lake reservoir. In 2018 the Carr fire burned up the vegetation surrounding the 12-acre reservoir.

 

2019 Was A Record Year For Ocean Temperatures, Data Show

Last year was the warmest year on record for the world’s oceans, part of a long-term warming trend, according to a study released Monday.

“If you look at the ocean heat content, 2019 is by far the hottest, 2018 is second, 2017 is third, 2015 is fourth, and then 2016 is fifth,” said Kevin E. Trenberth, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and an author on the study

Forever Litigated ‘Forever Chemicals’: A Guide To PFAS In Courts

Court dockets are ballooning with litigation over PFAS, a vexing family of chemicals used in many consumer and industrial products.

Some types of the man-made per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are called “forever chemicals,” a shorthand for their ability to build up and stick around indefinitely in people and the environment.

Health risks of some types of PFAS have become clearer in recent years, prompting a rush to the courtroom by people exposed to the chemicals, utilities dealing with contamination, and shareholders facing the financial risks. Lawyers have compared the legal onslaught to litigation over asbestos, tobacco, and lead paint.

Snow Levels Dipping And Widespread Rain Is On Tap For Southern California This Week

Break out the umbrellas and hang onto those heavy coats because the region’s first significant winter storm of 2020 is expected to unleash rain and snow Thursday.

After what has been a mostly dry January, a chilly winter storm is expected to move into the northern portion of the state Tuesday before making its way down the coast to Los Angeles County by late Thursday morning.

Study Shows Droughts Affecting So Cal Water Sources Six Times A Century

The University of Arizona recently announced results from a study that studied the annual growth rings of trees to reconstruct a long-term climate history and examine the duration and frequency of “perfect droughts” in Southern California’s main water sources. According to the research, severe droughts happened simultaneously in the regions that supply water to Southern California almost six times per century on average since 1500.