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Global warming has made the weather better for most in U.S. — but don’t get used to it, study says

Since Americans first heard the term global warming in the 1970s, the weather has actually improved for most people living in the U.S. But it won’t always be that way, according to a new study.

Research shows Americans typically — and perhaps unsurprisingly — like warmer winters and dislike hot, humid summers. And they reveal their weather preferences by moving to areas with conditions they like best.

A new study in the journal Nature has found that 80% of the U.S. population lives in counties experiencing more pleasant weather than they did 40 years ago.

Garden-Friendly Plant Sale Returns to Encinitas Home Depot

Olivenhain Municipal Water District and Home Depot have once again teamed up to kick off the spring season with the semi-annual Garden-Friendly Plant Sale and Fair on Saturday, April 30 at the Encinitas Home Depot. All area residents are invited to attend this popular event, which runs from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

With California’s historic drought in its fifth year, adjusting landscapes to reduce water consumption is important as ever.

WEATHER: Who’s to Blame for Faulty Local El Niño Predictions?

A rainy season that began with much El Niño-fueled promise is speeding to a dry and disappointing end. And now the blame game is beginning as weather experts try to figure out what went wrong — at least in Southern California.

This week, the National Weather Service posted a 17-minute video addressing the question of why the mysterious climate phenomenon marked by unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean didn’t deliver drenching rain to the region, as expected.

 

Garden-Friendly Plant Sale Returns to Encinitas Home Depot

Olivenhain Municipal Water District and Home Depot have once again teamed up to kick off the spring season with the semi-annual Garden-Friendly Plant Sale and Fair on Saturday, April 30 at the Encinitas Home Depot. All area residents are invited to attend this popular event, which runs from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

With California’s historic drought in its fifth year, adjusting landscapes to reduce water consumption is important as ever. Fair attendees can find tremendous value in consulting landscape industry experts who will be on hand to offer free advice on water-efficient landscape design and irrigation.

You Could Vote on Controversial Delta Water Tunnels Plan in 2018

An Assembly committee gave its approval Tuesday to legislation that would require California voters approve of Gov. Jerry Brown’s $15-billion water plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

“In times of crisis, we shouldn’t reach for the easiest thing,” Assemblywoman Susan Eggman (D-Stockton), the bill’s author, said during the hearing. Eggman’s AB 1713 would set new criteria for the long-debated water plan when it comes to the impact on the delta community. Most notably, though, it would also subject the project to an up-or-down vote at the next statewide election.

BLOG: El Capitan’s operating schedule will change on May 1st

(Media Coverage editor’s note: This blog post previously contained erroneous information about San Diego County Water Authority operational activity at El Capitan Reservoir. The error has since been corrected by the post author.)

The city of San Diego had been drafting water from El Capitan at a rate of a little more than 1 foot per week since March 5th, leaving the lake lower than it had been in over a decade. However, the drafting stopped on April 7th, and the water level has leveled off about 5 vertical feet higher than the minimum operating level for the launch ramp to be usable.

 

Slow Progress on Salton Sea Projects as Time Runs Low

Efforts to limit air pollution and create wildlife habitat at the Salton Sea are inching forward, but critics say the progress isn’t nearly fast enough.

Earlier this month, Bruce Wilcox — Gov. Jerry Brown’s Salton Sea czar — submitted a report to the state Legislature outlining progress on restoration projects. While a few small-scale projects to reduce hazardous dust emissions and create habitat for fish and birds might be finished before the lake’s decline accelerates in 2018, several larger projects probably won’t start construction until 2018 or 2019, according to the report.

 

OPINION: Too Much Water to Waste?

Does California have too much water? Seriously. Because our actions are sending peculiar messages. Even the State Water Board has backed off on conservation targets for some water agencies.

It’s true, rains have replenished much of Northern California’s reservoirs and Governor Brown’s mandated 25% water restrictions made a serious dent in our water binge. A whopping 1.1 million acre-feet of water was saved, or rather, not wasted, thanks to these restrictions.

Corporate Water Users Who Saved the Most — Or Least

The City of San Diego supplied its top 10 corporate water customers with 1.6 billion gallons in the budget year that ended on June 30, 2015.

Counties Fight SoCal Water Giant’s Delta Grab

Political agencies and nonprofits in the Central Valley say the Metropolitan District of Southern California’s $175 million purchase of four islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta may cause significant environmental changes and sued to block the sale.

San Joaquin and Contra Costa counties, Central Delta Water Agency, Contra Costa County Water Agency and Food & Water Watch and the Planning and Conservation League sued the district on April 15 in San Joaquin County Superior Court, seeking a court order blocking Metropolitan District of Southern California’s purchase of 20,369 acres of property — including five delta islands and tracts — until an environmental review is satisfied.