California’s ambitious plan to build two giant water tunnels under the West’s largest estuary has been deemed too expensive by some of the water utilities that would have to pay for it. As a result, attention is turning back to a cheaper option: One tunnel instead of two. On October 17, the board of directors of the Santa […]
Picture a beach next to a blue lake under the bright California skies, its water twinkling as the sun catches gentle waves, and birds cruising on the thermals above. As you walk towards the lake, you see that the water levels are low, leaving behind cracked and dry brown mud below the white beach. When […]
Chris Clarke remembers a billboard on the side of highway 15 outside of Barstow, on the way to Las Vegas: “The Boredom Ends in 150 Miles.” Clarke, a former journalist who now works for the National Parks Conservation Association, could never understand it. What’s so interesting about a place filled with people and money and […]
The California Department of Water Resources says crews are pouring the last bit of concrete on the bottom sections of the new Lake Oroville main spillway project. Erin Mellon with DWR says that Wednesday is the deadline for the major work to be completed. “The work that will continue past Nov. 1 on the main […]
The controversial water infrastructure proposal from California Governor Jerry Brown, billed as a solution to the state’s significant water challenges, has hit some snags in recent weeks. “In a landmark vote closely watched across California, Silicon Valley’s largest water agency on Tuesday rejected Gov. Jerry Brown’s $17 billion plan to build two giant tunnels under […]
Hydrologist Mark Hanna stood on the North Broadway Bridge recently and gazed out on an industrial vista of treated urban runoff flowing down the Los Angeles River channel between graffiti-marred concrete banks and train trestles strewn with broken glass. The forlorn scene is in marked contrast to the vision city officials and environmentalists long imagined […]
Could A Simpler Delta Tunnel Solve Years Of California Water Conflict?
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Water Deeply (New York)by Matt WeiserCalifornia’s ambitious plan to build two giant water tunnels under the West’s largest estuary has been deemed too expensive by some of the water utilities that would have to pay for it. As a result, attention is turning back to a cheaper option: One tunnel instead of two. On October 17, the board of directors of the Santa […]
The $383 Million Plan To Save California’s Artificial Desert ‘Sea’
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Mental Floss (Tampa, Fla.)by Starre VartanPicture a beach next to a blue lake under the bright California skies, its water twinkling as the sun catches gentle waves, and birds cruising on the thermals above. As you walk towards the lake, you see that the water levels are low, leaving behind cracked and dry brown mud below the white beach. When […]
A Controversial Plan to Drain Water From the Desert? Go for It, Trump Administration Says
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /LA WeeklyChris Clarke remembers a billboard on the side of highway 15 outside of Barstow, on the way to Las Vegas: “The Boredom Ends in 150 Miles.” Clarke, a former journalist who now works for the National Parks Conservation Association, could never understand it. What’s so interesting about a place filled with people and money and […]
DWR Set To Finish Major Work On Lake Oroville Main Spillway Project
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Capital Public Radio News (Sacramento)The California Department of Water Resources says crews are pouring the last bit of concrete on the bottom sections of the new Lake Oroville main spillway project. Erin Mellon with DWR says that Wednesday is the deadline for the major work to be completed. “The work that will continue past Nov. 1 on the main […]
California Delta Tunnels Project Hits Snags
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Water OnlineThe controversial water infrastructure proposal from California Governor Jerry Brown, billed as a solution to the state’s significant water challenges, has hit some snags in recent weeks. “In a landmark vote closely watched across California, Silicon Valley’s largest water agency on Tuesday rejected Gov. Jerry Brown’s $17 billion plan to build two giant tunnels under […]
Inflatable Dams and a Water Wheel: Latest Plan to Revitalize the L.A. River
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Los Angeles TimesHydrologist Mark Hanna stood on the North Broadway Bridge recently and gazed out on an industrial vista of treated urban runoff flowing down the Los Angeles River channel between graffiti-marred concrete banks and train trestles strewn with broken glass. The forlorn scene is in marked contrast to the vision city officials and environmentalists long imagined […]