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As yellow jackets and bees darted above, an environmentalist asked those interested in preserving the eastern Mojave to call elected officials in support of a bill that would block a controversial plan to sell groundwater. “This is a way for Californians to say they are not going to allow the Trump Administration to force destructive projects on the state without environmental review,” Chris Clarke, California Desert program manager of the National Parks Conservation Association, told 35 people gathered Tuesday night near the front porch of the Pioneertown Mountains Preserve Ranger Station.

When the Carlsbad desalination plant opened in December 2015, regional water officials gushed about how reliable it would be. San Diego could now drink from the endless Pacific Ocean rather than be stuck depending on rain and snowmelt to come from hundreds of miles away. So far, though, the plant has not been as reliable as promised. Over the last year, the privately owned plant failed to deliver nearly a fifth of the water the San Diego County Water Authority ordered from it.

The heat wave hitting Southern California isn’t going away. The National Weather Service says the Southland will continue to swelter well into next week, bringing triple digit temperatures to inland valleys along with elevated fire danger and the potential for power outages. An excessive-heat warning will be in effect through Friday night, but the heat wave is likely to persist until the following Thursday, according to the weather service. Palmdale, Lancaster and Woodland Hills are facing the brunt of the heat: All three locations are forecast to stay in the triple digits through Labor Day.

According to a study by the city’s Office of Public Accountability/Ratepayer Advocate, it could be as little as $1.73 per month. But project opponent cite an independent study concluding the cost could be more than $7 a month. The California Water Fix is an $18 billion to $26 billion proposal pending in the state legislature to build giant underground tunnels to route Sacramento River water under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The water would flow into the California Aqueduct for use by farms and homes to the south.

Each day, a vast majority of homes, schools and businesses in California receive a safe and reliable water supply delivered by a responsible public water provider. But some who live in rural, low-income communities experience unreliable service or a water supply that fails to meet state and federal standards for public health. Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) fully recognizes the challenges disadvantaged communities face in obtaining access to clean, safe drinking water. In 2016, EMWD and neighboring public agencies completed a years-long process to consolidate a failing private water system in Riverside County.