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San Joaquin Valley Communities Seeing Unhealthy Levels of Toxins in Water

/in , /by /ABC 30 by Jason Oliveira

Turning on the tap may seem harmless, but communities throughout the San Joaquin Valley are seeing unhealthy levels of toxins turn up in the water.

Kingsburg City Leaders say most residents could not tell anything was wrong with the drinking water, but years of testing showed unregulated chemicals were found.

“It’s not a sight or a taste or a smell thing,’ says Kingsburg City Manager Alex Henderson. “What it is is that we have to test for a number of chemicals and have for a very long time.”

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IID Candidates Talk Water Rights

/in , /by /KYMA (Yuma, Ariz.) by Alexandra Rangel

Division 2 and Division 4 on the Imperial Irrigation Board are two of the toughest races candidates are facing in the county’s primary.

In public forum moderated by Imperial Valley College students, residents wanted to hear how candidates plan to protect the valley’s land and water rights.

Division 2 incumbent, Bruce Kuhn talked about how he has been fighting to protect the valley’s resources from stakeholders in the Coachella district.

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To Prevent Rail Line Collapse, San Diego Area Spends $10 Million To Repair Del Mar Bluffs

/in , /by /Los Angeles Times by Joshua Emerson Smith

The Del Mar bluffs have been plagued by a series of collapses over the last 18 months that have left residents and officials increasingly concerned about the stability of the busy railroad tracks perched atop the cliffs.

Top transportation officials are now gearing up for the largest bluff stabilization effort in nearly a decade. The San Diego Assn. of Governments and North County Transit District have already dedicated roughly $10 million to repair storm water drainage structures, replace parts of sea walls and install additional steel and concrete support columns to hold back the earth.

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San Diego Plans to Use Drones, Monitors to Reduce Water Main Breaks, Sewer Spills

/in , /by /San Diego Union-Tribuneby David Garrick

SAN DIEGO — San Diego sharply reduced the number of water main breaks and sewer spills across the city last year, saving ratepayers money and helping many neighborhoods avoid significant disruptions.

City officials credited the decreases to ramped-up maintenance and replacement efforts on water mains, sewer lines and pipes, particularly those made of cast iron.

And to further reduce breaks and spills, San Diego officials say they will soon begin using drones and other monitoring devices to look for early warning signs of potential problems.

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Atkins Receives Safe Drinking Water Champion Award

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

California State Senate President pro Tem Toni Atkins of San Diego on Monday received the 2019 Safe Drinking Water Champion Award from the California Municipal Utilities Association in Sacramento.

“The award recognizes Senator Atkins’ leadership to work collaboratively with her colleagues in the Senate, Assembly and Governor’s office in securing funding for communities that do not have access to safe drinking water,” said Danielle Blacet-Hyden, CMUA director for water, as she presented Senator Atkins with the award.

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There’s No Water Under the Bridge in the Feud That Won’t End

/in , /by /Voice of San Diego by John R. Lamb Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Just days before Christmas, Mayor Kevin Faulconer became the first mayor since Jerry Sanders in 2012 to appear before the 36-member board of the San Diego County Water Authority. The city is the largest member agency of the Water Authority with 10 board members.

Faulconer was there to dip a toe into the decade-long courtroom fight between the Water Authority and Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

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UCSD Scientists Will Ride Research Aircraft into Huge Storms to Study Atmospheric Rivers

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

UC San Diego will send airborne scientists into huge offshore storms to deepen their understanding of ”atmospheric rivers,” the plumes of moisture that can bring nourishing rains, and flooding, to the West Coast.

The second of up to 12 winter weather reconnaissance flights is scheduled to take off from Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento on Tuesday, carrying researchers from NOAA and the Air Force. UCSD will add its own researchers to the trips in about a week.

The university is partnering with the government and military on the project, which is being run out of the UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

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San Diego County Water Authority Developing 2020 Urban Water Management Plan

/in , /by /WaterWorld Magazine Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

SAN DIEGO, CA, JAN 27, 2020 – The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors authorized work on the 2020 Urban Water Management Plan last week. The Board approved a contract with the firm Woodard & Curran to provide support services for preparation of the plan, which documents the region’s approach to ensuring a safe and reliable water supply.

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Opinion: California’s Water Department Must Face the Reality of Climate Change and Diverse Needs

/in , /by /Sacramento Beeby Bill Dodd

As we enter a new decade, California faces increasing environmental challenges caused by climate change, creating an uncertain future for our water resources. We need bold leadership to address these impacts. It is time for California’s Department of Water Resources to implement water policy for the state that shores up our precious waterways and diversifies water supplies in the face of these imminent threats.

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Atmospheric Rivers That Hit California Getting a Boost From Melting Arctic Ice

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Peter Fimrite

The fast-melting ice in the Arctic may be the primary cause of extreme weather across the globe, including some of the most violent, damaging storms to hit the Bay Area and California, a Scripps Institution of Oceanography study has found.

The Scripps paper, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first definitive study of the links between melting polar ice and changing climatic conditions reaching to the tropics, a cause-and-effect relationship that scientists had plenty of evidence for but had never precisely documented to this extent.

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