U-T Watchdog made an unusual records request to mark Sunshine Week, a nationwide push to raise awareness of government transparency issues. We asked local agencies to search official employee email accounts for 19 phrases that might indicate trouble is afoot(“Yekes,” “OMG,” “what a disaster”). The costs quoted to fulfill the requests varied widely.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and two other western water agencies will take part in a federal program that solicits ideas for water-saving devices and technologies and awards grants to develop them, officials announced Wednesday.
Also taking part in the innovative Conservation Program — a project of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — are the Central Arizona Project and Southern Nevada Water Authority. Southern California Gas Co. also participates in the program.
Rising sea levels and soaring temperatures caused by climate change could exacerbate California’s water shortage and increase stress on its most important natural resources, according to a federal report released Tuesday.
Climate change could raise average temperatures in the Sierra Nevada mountain range by more than 5 degrees by the late 21st century and sea water is likely to intrude further into California’s vital freshwater holding tank – the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta – according to predictions by the Bureau of Reclamation. The study says global warming could cause a median sea level rise of 36 inches and flood the delta with salt water.
NASA scientists have a new eye-in-the-sky to help them measure El Nino.
The Jason-3 satellite has been up and running for a few weeks now and already it is snapping important images of the wet weather pattern’s effects around the globe.
From 800 miles away, the equipment has the ability to measure the height of the oceans within an accuracy of one inch.
For Southern Californians who thirst for more rain in the drought-stricken region, scientists caution not to call El Nino a flop just by what they’ve seen in their own backyards.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and two other western water agencies will take part in a federal program that solicits ideas for water-saving devices and technologies and awards grants to develop them, officials announced Wednesday.
Also taking part in the innovative Conservation Program — a project of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — are the Central Arizona Project and Southern Nevada Water Authority. Southern California Gas Co. also participates in the program.
The board for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power passed an ordinance Wednesday setting up a mechanism to fine major water users who don’t cut back their consumption. The mechanism would provide for monthly fines of $1,000 to $40,000 for “unreasonable usage.”
The board also added additional penalties for minor water violators that increase on a sliding scale depending on the severity of drought conditions.
Although Southern California has experienced several recent storms, including one just last week, such is simply a drop in the bucket when it comes to the state’s ongoing drought, experts say.
In Northern California, the snowpack is 110 percent of what it usually is this time of year. Everywhere else, it is 75 percent.
With those numbers, though, some are wondering whether it’s time to start easing up on the state’s water conservation measures.
Not so fast, says CBS2 Chief Meteorologist Josh Rubenstein.
The revelation was as shocking as it was incomprehensible: Someone in Bel-Air used 11.8 million gallons of water in a single year. Appalled officials had no choice but to react when they found out last fall. Councilman Paul Koretz called the consumption “a slap in the face to neighbors” who had conserved during four years of drought and demanded that the Department of Water and Power explain how it planned to deal with such “irresponsible” users.
Now, more than five months later, the city’s water utility has unveiled its plan to punish its most wasteful residents with hefty fines.
Ever since a series of winter storms began dumping rain and snow in Northern California last year, officials have been looking for tangible signs that all those storms were making a dent in the state’s four-year drought.
This week delivered some pretty powerful evidence. The latest storms over the weekend pushed California’s biggest reservoir past its historical average for mid-March and put the second-largest one at its historical average, officials said. The rising reservoirs, along with growing snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, are important because both are key sources of water for California.
Four months after increasing water rates, the San Diego City Council on Tuesday approved a program to help poor water customers pay their bills. The program, branded Help to Others, or H2O, would solicit tax-deductible donations from ratepayers through their water bills. That money would subsidize the water bills of low-income San Diegans.
The program has to be voluntary because of a state law that requires utilities to charge their customers no more than the actual cost of service.
