When enemies are in face-to-face combat, they’re often blind to an obvious path to potential compromise. That’s certainly true of water warriors, who have been battling over California’s most valuable and limited resource since statehood. Fights don’t get any more ferocious than over water in this state. Agriculture just won a major battle over environmentalists in Congress because of an alliance between House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

 

When the nation’s largest seawater desalination plant started commercial production last December, it was a historic victory for San Diego County and an entire drought-weary state. One year later, the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant has produced nearly 15 billion gallons (57bn liters) of drinking water, representing the best of our collective efforts in California to solve complex and sometimes confounding water challenges.

In perhaps his most fiery comments since Donald Trump won the presidency, Gov. Jerry Brown said on Wednesday California will push back against any effort to stop or reverse policies fighting global climate change. “We’ve got the scientists, we’ve got the lawyers and we’re ready to fight,” Brown said to applause during a speech to the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

 

Directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California on Tuesday agreed to help offset the costs of two Orange County projects that will save enough water to supply more than 1,600 families a year.

With the recommendation from the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC), recycled-water projects in the El Toro (ETWD) and Santa Margarita (SMWD) water districts will receive funding under MET’s Local Resources Program (LRP), which helps offset the costs of water-saving projects.

 

A rain storm is expected to pass through Southern California starting Thursday afternoon that will last through Friday.

Some areas are expected to receive up to 2 inches of rainfall, with potentially significant episodes of heavy downpour mainly on Thursday night in Ventura and L.A. counties, Carol Smith with the National Weather Service told KPCC. The San Gabriel Mountains are expected to see up to 3 inches. “It’s certainly not a drought-breaker, but it is going to be a good rain event with periods of heavy rain,” Smith said.