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OPINION: California’s Water Supply and Conservation

/in , /by /Escondido Times-Advocate by Ed Gallo

Continuing my comments from last week regarding California’s water supply and conservation, I am reminded of a trip to Chico  some 35 years ago. Our family was living through our second drought since moving here in 1973. You may recall a couple of years ago I wrote how this state is subject to recurring droughts roughly every 7 to 10 years. Dry years are nothing new.

We were in Chico in August and it was hot. In San Diego County we had already been warned about water usage and how to conserve. So when I drove around Chico I was shocked to see how many yards were being watered around noon-time. I was a bit unnerved seeing so much water running down curbsides when we down south had to curtail our consumption.

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Rainbow MWD Board Approves Rate, Capacity Fee Increases

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

Two separate 5-0 Rainbow Municipal Water District board votes June 25 approved an increase for water and wastewater rates and an increase in capacity fees. Water rates will increase by approximately 4.5% while wastewater rates will be increased by 13%. The first capacity fee increase in seven years will be 26.4%.

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Californians’ Water Usage is Down 9% and Other Takeaways From the Times’ Updated Water Tracker

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sean Greene

California residents are using about 8 fewer gallons of water per day than they did during the last drought emergency, according to newly released state data. Between April 2023 and last April, urban water users consumed an average of 77 gallons per person per day. That comes out to a 9% decrease since the drought emergency ended in March 2023.

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Hot, Inland California Cities Face the Steepest Water Cuts With New Conservation Mandate

/in , /by /CalMattersby Rachel Becker

Facing a future of shortages, California is entering a new phase of water conservation: Cities and towns must meet new mandates ramping down use over the next 15 years — and some will be hit harder than others.

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California’s Water Supply and Conservation

/in , /by /Escondido Times-Advocateby Ed Gallo

Continuing my comments from last week regarding California’s water supply and conservation, I am reminded of a trip to Chico  some 35 years ago. Our family was living through our second drought since moving here in 1973. You may recall a couple of years ago I wrote how this state is subject to recurring droughts roughly every 7 to 10 years. Dry years are nothing new.

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California Policy Czars Ignore Water-Supply Solutions in Plain Sight

/in , /by /National Reviewby Edward Ring

Chronic water scarcity in California is indeed the new normal, but it’s not because of climate change. Even if the state is destined to experience lengthier droughts and reduced snowpack, most scenarios also forecast an abundance of years when the state is inundated with a series of so-called atmospheric rivers. That diluvian scenario was experienced by Californians this past winter, and even more so in the winter of 2022–23. Yet water remains scarce.

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US Sanctions Alleged Russian Hackers Who Claimed Attacks on Us Water Facilities

/in , /by /CNNby Sean Lyngaas

The US Treasury Department on Friday sanctioned two alleged members of a Russian cybercriminal gang that has claimed responsibility for a slew of hacks against US critical infrastructure providers, including a cyberattack in January that caused a tank at a Texas water facility to overflow.

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Another Round of Relentless, Hazardous Heat Forecast Across the West

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Grace Toohey

Another round of significant heat across California’s interior is expected to bring potentially dangerous conditions back to the state, with weather officials warning of “relentless” heat risk over the Southwest beginning this weekend.

The National Weather Service warned of a mid-July heat wave building across the western United States — including the majority of inland California, most of Nevada and parts of Arizona, Oregon and Idaho — with “hazardous heat” expected from Saturday through at least Tuesday.

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Billions in US Funding Boosts Lithium Mining, Stressing Water Supplies

/in , /by /Energy News Networkby Elyse Hauser

Add lithium to water in a chemistry lab, and you’ll get an incendiary reaction. The same might be said of opening new lithium mines: The prospect can spark conflicts when it comes to water.

Mining companies and the U.S. government are investing in increased extraction for lithium, which is a critical component in some renewable energy technology, especially electric vehicle batteries and large grid-scale storage batteries.

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This Italian Vacation Hotspot is Turning Tourists Away as it Runs Out of Water

/in , /by /CNNby Barbie Latza Nadeau

Set atop a hill on the Italian island of Sicily, Agrigento is a heritage tourist’s paradise. Beneath the archaeological structures and relics of its Valley of the Temples lies an ancient maze-like aqueduct system that still captures water today.

But the aqueduct, and others built in modern times, are running so dry that small hotels and guesthouses in the city and nearby coast are being forced to turn tourists away. They don’t have enough water to guarantee their guests a toilet that flushes or a shower after a day out in the summer heat.

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