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USDA Invests In California Infrastructure Improvements

/in , , /by /Oakdale Leader (Oakdale, Calif.)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development California State Director Kim Dolbow Vann on Monday, Sept. 23 announced more than $5 million in investments for three infrastructure improvement projects in California.

“We know that in order for California’s rural communities to continue to prosper, it is essential they have safe, reliable infrastructure,” said Vann. “USDA’s programs are addressing those needs and today’s investments will help improve water or wastewater systems in three communities.”

Funding is provided through USDA Rural Development’s Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant program, and can be used for drinking water, storm water drainage and waste disposal systems for rural communities with 10,000 or fewer residents.

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UCLA Forecast: Strong California Economy Faces Slowdown By End Of 2020

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein

California’s economy is continuing to outperform the nation as a whole, but thanks to anticipated economic slowing in the United States and globally, the state will likely start seeing some negative impacts by the end of next year, according to a UCLA Anderson Forecast released Wednesday.

In his report on the state, UCLA Anderson Forecast Director Jerry Nickelsburg wrote that California’s unemployment rates remain “extremely low,” particularly in the largest job markets. And while the U.S. gross domestic product has slowed, California’s has been growing at a 4% annual rate.

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Washington Farmers Urged To Contact Wildlife Officials Before Turning Off Irrigation Systems To Help Save Fish

/in , /by /King 5 News (Seattle, Wash.)by Hannah Everman

Farmers pump water from streams through irrigation canals and fish can also end up in those canals. When the irrigation season is over, fish are often left stranded.

Before farmers and other irrigators shut down their irrigation systems this year, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife says to call them to ensure fish are not left stranded.

Farmers divert or pump water from streams through irrigations canals to water crops and livestock, but fish also end up in those canals. Experts said when the irrigation system is shut off, fish often end up stranded in the empty canals.

 

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EPA Slams California Again, This Time On Raw Sewage Of Homeless

/in , , /by /Bloomberg by Jennifer A Dlouhy and David Schultz

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rapped California for allowing “piles of human feces” and other pollution tied to the state’s “homelessness crisis” to foul nearby waterways, opening a new front in a Trump administration battle with the nation’s most populous state.

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler demanded California outline its plans for tackling the problem in a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday.

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Newsom Will Announce New Plans For A Satellite To Track Climate Change

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Tara Luna

Former Gov. Jerry Brown famously said last year that California would launch its “own damn satellite” to track climate change in defiance of the Trump administration. On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom will announce a new approach and way to pay for it.

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A River Runs Through Them

/in , /by /The Siskiyou Daily Newsby Barry Kaye

It starts in a valley and ends in the mountains. Water temperatures at its source are warmer than when it meets the Pacific Ocean 257 miles away. It begins as a chemical stew and terminates teeming with life. It is the second largest river in California. And now one of the most controversial.

A plan to remove four dams – one of the most ambitious river restoration projects ever attempted – is either mocked or praised depending on the audience. It will expand salmon habitat or destroy a fishery. The only certainty is that lives will change forever.

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California Farmers Fear ‘Catastrophic’ Water Restrictions. Can They Adapt to Survive?

/in , , /by /The Fresno Beeby Dale Kasler

It was 2015 and, as far as John Konda knew, farming still had a viable future in the San Joaquin Valley. So he expanded.

The Tulare County grower planted 75 acres of pistachios, adding to a farm he’s owned since 2003. Two years later, in order to augment his water supply, he drilled two new groundwater wells.

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California Starts Among Largest Community Solar Projects In U.S.

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Environmentby Emily C. Dooley

The Imperial Irrigation District and the non-profit Citizens Energy Corp. powered up a 30-megawatt community solar project near California’s Salton Sea that will provide thousands of low-income customers in the region with discounted renewable energy.

The $46 million project is one of the largest community solar installations in the country and uses 107,000 photovoltaic panels on 200 acres, Imperial Board President Erik Ortega said Sept. 25.

With the flipping of the switch low-income customers will be able to say they are part of California’s clean energy revolution, Ortega said.

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Water Year 2019 Leaves Reservoirs With Good Storage

/in , , /by /Ag Alertby Kevin Hecteman

As water years go, 2019 was all wet. With the new water year beginning Oct. 1, farmers and forecasters hope for more of the same. Tulare County farmer Zack Stuller described 2019 as a “fantastic year” for water.

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San Diego Leaders Meet With Trump Administration to Ask For Fix to Tijuana River Sewage Pollution

/in , , /by /San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith

Elected leaders from around the San Diego region met with the Trump administration on Tuesday to ask for help stopping the sewage-tainted water that regularly flows in the Tijuana River across the border with Mexico.

Specifically, regional leaders tried to persuade federal authorities to fund a more than $400-million plan to capture and treat the pollution — which has shuttered shorelines in Imperial Beach on more than 200 days this year alone.

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