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New General Manager Dives Into Work At Water District

/in , /by /Del Mar Times by Joe Tash Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Albert Lau has spent his entire professional career of more than two decades in the water industry, focused on issues related to bringing safe, affordable drinking water to the public.

“I got the water bug in college,” said Lau, 51, a resident of Olivenhain, who earned an undergraduate degree in civil engineering, and water resources and treatment, at Cal Poly Pomona. He later earned graduate degrees in engineering and business at the University of Colorado and San Diego State University, respectively.

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Newsom Plans To Veto Bill That Would Have Blocked Trump’s Rollback Of Endangered Species Protections

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune by Phil Willon

Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to veto a bill passed by California lawmakers that would have allowed the state to impose strict endangered species protections and water pumping restrictions for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Newsom’s intentions, confirmed by his spokesman on Saturday, comes less than 24 hours after state lawmakers passed the sweeping legislation.

 

The overall intent of the bill was to shield California from the Trump administration’s rollbacks of environmental laws and workplace protections, but Newsom said the legislation fell short of that promise.

 

 

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Pure Water Monterey Recycled Water Project Delays Continue

/in , /by /Monterey Heraldby Jim Johnson

Completion and operation of the much-anticipated Pure Water Monterey recycled water project have been delayed again and it is now expected to miss another key water delivery deadline set for the end of this year.

But an accelerated proposed timeline envisions California American Water starting to extract water banked in the Seaside basin from the recycled water project by February or March, before the current six-month waiting period.

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California Steps Up Multimillion-Dollar Battle To Eradicate Nutria From State Wetlands

/in , /by /CBS by Wilson Walker

There’s no certain answer as to how the nutria population re-emerged after being declared eradicated in California decades ago but the population is spreading and causing serious concern. The Department of Fish and Wildlife was recently awarded $10 million to wipe out the large, invasive rodents and that effort is now well underway.

“There are amazing little wetlands scattered throughout the state that people have no idea are even present,” says Greg Gerstenberg, senior wildlife biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “That’s exactly where they thrive.”

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San Diego Leaders, Environmental Group Call For Full Permanent Funding Of Land And Water Conservation Fund

/in , /by /ABC10by Mimi Elkalla

An environmental group and several San Diego community leaders rallied Friday in an effort to highlight the need to pass legislation to protect an important federal land conservation program.

The Surfrider Foundation’s San Diego chapter and local leaders gathered to throw their support behind H.R. 3195 , a bill Rep. Mike Levin is supporting that would permanently and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

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OPINION: How Do We Sustain The Colorado River Past 2026? Here’s How Arizona Intends To Find Out

/in , , /by /azcentral.by Tom Buschatzke and Ted Cooke

It didn’t take long for the completion of the Drought Contingency Plan to create value to Arizona and the Colorado River Basin. Its focus on stabilizing Lake Mead and creating incentives to “bank” water in the reservoir already are paying dividends.

DCP is providing a safe harbor while we work on important issues leading up to 2026, when the existing guidelines for the operation of the Colorado River system expire.

We now have an opportunity to build on the successful Arizona process that led to the DCP signing. Arizona is Stronger Together. And that will serve us well as we work toward the next step – maintaining a stable, healthy Colorado River system as we face a hotter and drier future.

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Camarillo Officials Celebrate Groundbreaking For Long-Planned Desalter Plant

/in , , /by /VC Starby Jeremy Childs

In a dusty empty lot on the edge of town, Camarillo public officials picked up shovels and broke ground Wednesday to commence the construction of a long-awaited desalter plant.

The groundbreaking ceremony was decades in the making for the North Pleasant Valley Groundwater Desalter Plant, which aims to convert brackish water from the Calleguas Creek watershed into potable water for the city of Camarillo.

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OPINION: Farms, The Environment, And The Future Of Water

/in , , /by /CALmatters (Sacramento)by Maurice Hall

In the middle of July, I was surprised to find myself trudging through a couple feet of snow while hiking south of Lake Tahoe. It was a striking contrast to the long walks I took on the dry lakebed of Folsom Reservoir near my home during the historic drought just five short years ago.

That crisis led our state leaders to approve the most sweeping change in water law in a century: the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Gov. Jerry Brown signed it into law on Sept. 16, 2014.

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OPINION: Everyone Wants To Solve California’s Water Problems. Senate Bill 1 Is Not The Answer

/in , /by /Fresno Beeby William E. Hembree

In their Fresno Bee op-ed (Sept. 8), Reps. Jim Costa and TJ Cox opined the remedies they suggested would improve Senate Bill 1 enough to make it possible for Gov. Newsom to sign the bill.

You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.

Unfortunately, SB1 is so flawed that if it is signed by the governor, it will set back progress towards excellent solutions to California’s infamous water woes by decades.

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Could “Black Swan” Events Spawned By Climate Change Wreak Havoc In The Colorado River Basin?

/in , /by /Water Education by Gary Pitzer

The Colorado River Basin’s 20 years of drought and the dramatic decline in water levels at the river’s key reservoirs have pressed water managers to adapt to challenging conditions. But even more extreme — albeit rare — droughts or floods that could overwhelm water managers may lie ahead in the Basin as the effects of climate change take hold, say a group of scientists. They argue that stakeholders who are preparing to rewrite the operating rules of the river should plan now for how to handle these so-called “black swan” events so they’re not blindsided.

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