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The World’s Supply Of Fresh Water Is In Trouble As Mountain Ice Vanishes

/in , , /by /National Geographicby Alejandra Borunda

This water will flow thousands of miles, eventually feeding people, farms, and the natural world on the vast, dry Indus plain. Many of the more than 200 million people in the downstream basin rely on water that comes from this stream and others like it.

But climate change is hitting those high mountain regions more brutally than the world on average. That change is putting the “water towers” like this one, and the billions of people that depend on them, in ever more precarious positions. New research published Monday in Nature identifies the most important and vulnerable water towers in the world.

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How PFAS Negotiations Fell Apart

/in , , /by /E&E News by Ariana Figueroa

Before Democrats managed to secure provisions to address a class of toxic chemicals in an annual defense measure, negotiations fell apart at the hands of their own members.

For months, Democrats pushed to attach provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act that would designate a class of 5,000 toxic chemicals, known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), as hazardous.

Doing so would spark federal cleanup standards. Democrats also wanted EPA to set a strong drinking water standard.

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Supreme Court Won’t Review States’ Rights For Water Permits

/in , /by /Bloomberg by Ellen M. Gilmer

The Supreme Court won’t review a long-running legal debate over the extent of states’ water permitting authority for major pipelines, hydroelectric dams, and other projects.

The justices on Dec. 9 declined to take up California Trout v. Hoopa Valley Tribe, a case focused on Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, which calls on states to ensure that proposals that require federal permits meet water quality standards within their borders.

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California Threats Jump From Fires To Floods As Wet Season Hits

/in , , /by /Bloombergby Brian K. Sullivan

California’s climate threats could soon be jumping from wildfires and blackouts to floods and mudslides as the wet season kicks into gear.

About half the water that falls in the state in any given year does so in the 90 days between Dec. 1 and the end of February. Too much rain has at times meant catastrophic floods and dangerous mudslides. Too little threatens agriculture with drought, and potentially creates a tinderbox effect in the year ahead.

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Opinion: Keeping Our Water On When The Power Goes Off

/in , /by /Capitol Weekly by Cynthia Koehler

During last month’s PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoffs, like so many across California, my family lost electricity for four days. We couldn’t turn on the lights, access the internet or charge our phones.

But we didn’t lose water for a moment, thanks to the steps our water provider had taken to prepare for this kind of emergency. I sit on the board of that utility, and am proud to say that, while 95 percent of our customers lost power that week, virtually none lost water.

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San Diego Among Nation’s Innovation Hotbeds

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune by Mike Freeman

San Diego ranked among the top five hotbeds for innovation nationally over a 12 year period, according to a new study that suggests tech clustering has contributed to a growing economic and political divide in the country.

The Case for Growth Cities report from Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program and the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation calls for a massive federal effort to transform eight to 10 “heartland” cities into tech hubs.

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Huntington Beach Desalination Plant Eyes Approval, But Foes Turn Out In Force

/in , /by /The Orange County Register by Martin Wisckol Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

With Poseidon Water’s plans for a Huntington Beach desalination plant approaching the homestretch, critics were as adamant as ever at a Friday workshop, where dozens complained the proposal is environmentally flawed, unneeded and would jack up water rates.

The meeting of the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board was called to review a draft permit and solicit public comment in advance of a scheduled April 3 vote on the final permit.

Approval rides on whether the board determines the drought-proof project will “use the best available site, design, technology and mitigation measures feasible to minimize the intake and mortality of all forms of marine life.”

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Amid A Snow-Capped Backdrop, Southern California Will Dry Out This Week

/in , /by /Los Angeles Times by Alex Wigglesworth

Southern California will get a chance to dry out this week after a string of storms dumped rain and snow across the region over the last few weeks.

“Basically, we’ve got an area of high pressure moving in from the West, and it’s deflecting the storms to the north,” said David Sweet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

The weather is expected to stay dry through at least Sunday, forecasts show. Temperatures are also expected to warm up later in the week, with highs in the mid-60s to lower-70s on Friday and Saturday, according to the weather service.

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VCMWD Reservoir Project Receives National Recognition From EPA

/in , /by /Valley Roadrunnerby David Ross Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Valley Center Municipal Water District has been advised by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) that its Cool Valley Reservoir Cover Replacement Project was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency’s new AQUARIUS Program as an “Exceptional Project,” among only 10 identified as such nationwide.

Each year, EPA’s Aquarius Program recognizes one Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) project from each of its 10 Regions nationwide for “exceptional focus on sustainability, protection of public health” while demonstrating a high level of innovation. 

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County Approves Special Agricultural Water Program

/in , , /by /The Daily Transcriptby Daily Transcript Staff Reporter Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority board recently approved a permanent, special agricultural water rate structure that offers lower rates to farmers in exchange for lower water supply reliability.

Unlike the current, temporary program, the new program will let new participants join as a way to strengthen the region’s multi-billion-dollar agriculture industry.

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