The drought rules were relaxed, but Californians didn’t open the spigots.The state’s urban residents are continuing strong water conservation, cutting water use 21.5 percent in June compared with June 2013, the baseline year, despite state officials easing mandatory drought targets earlier this year. The new data was released Tuesday morning by the State Water Resources Control […]
Harmful plumes of algae in waterways have been much in the news lately, in California and nationally. We talked to James Cloern, a senior scientist at the US Geological Survey and a member of the PPIC Water Policy Center’s research network, about this pressing water quality issue. PPIC: What are algal blooms, and how big a […]
Sacramento is considering scrapping the lowest bidder requirement in its water meter installation program, a step it says could get meters put in faster and reduce customer complaints. The change could also allow contracting bias in a program that has weathered setbacks and scandals, including the recent finding by the city auditor that its onetime […]
In three years, California’s largest utilities could be slashing their use of fossil fuels by swapping homegrown solar energy for Rocky Mountain wind power in a sprawling Western electricity grid. Or a newly expanded grid could provide a profitable market to revive out-of-state coal plants that would otherwise face a harder time complying with California’s aggressive […]
In Colorado, rivers flow not only down mountain slopes but beneath them, across them, and through them. Nearly four dozen canals, tunnels, and ditches in the state move water out of natural drainages and into neighboring basins. Some snake across high passes. Others pierce bedrock. All manmade water courses, meant to supply farming, manufacturing, or household use, […]
Global heat, greenhouse gases and sea levels all climbed to record highs last year, making 2015 the worst in modern times across a range of key environmental indicators, international scientists said Tuesday. A dire picture of the Earth’s health is painted in the State of the Climate report, a peer-reviewed 300-page tome that comes out once […]
California Drought: Residents Cut Water Use 21.5 Percent in June Despite Relaxed Drought Rules
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /East Bay Times (Walnut Creek)by Paul RogersThe drought rules were relaxed, but Californians didn’t open the spigots.The state’s urban residents are continuing strong water conservation, cutting water use 21.5 percent in June compared with June 2013, the baseline year, despite state officials easing mandatory drought targets earlier this year. The new data was released Tuesday morning by the State Water Resources Control […]
How Green is my Water?
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Public Policy Institute of California (San Francisco)by Lori PottingerHarmful plumes of algae in waterways have been much in the news lately, in California and nationally. We talked to James Cloern, a senior scientist at the US Geological Survey and a member of the PPIC Water Policy Center’s research network, about this pressing water quality issue. PPIC: What are algal blooms, and how big a […]
Sacramento Poised to Scrap Lowest Bidder Requirement in Troubled Water Meter Project
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Anita ChabriaSacramento is considering scrapping the lowest bidder requirement in its water meter installation program, a step it says could get meters put in faster and reduce customer complaints. The change could also allow contracting bias in a program that has weathered setbacks and scandals, including the recent finding by the city auditor that its onetime […]
Will Connecting California’s Power Grid with Western States Help Fight Climate Change?
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /FutureStructure (Folsom)by Adam AshtonIn three years, California’s largest utilities could be slashing their use of fossil fuels by swapping homegrown solar energy for Rocky Mountain wind power in a sprawling Western electricity grid. Or a newly expanded grid could provide a profitable market to revive out-of-state coal plants that would otherwise face a harder time complying with California’s aggressive […]
Colorado River’s Tale of Two Basins
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Circle of Blue (Traverse City, Mich.)by Brett WaltonIn Colorado, rivers flow not only down mountain slopes but beneath them, across them, and through them. Nearly four dozen canals, tunnels, and ditches in the state move water out of natural drainages and into neighboring basins. Some snake across high passes. Others pierce bedrock. All manmade water courses, meant to supply farming, manufacturing, or household use, […]
Global Heat, Sea Level Hit Record Highs in 2015
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Yahoo Newsby Kerry SheridanGlobal heat, greenhouse gases and sea levels all climbed to record highs last year, making 2015 the worst in modern times across a range of key environmental indicators, international scientists said Tuesday. A dire picture of the Earth’s health is painted in the State of the Climate report, a peer-reviewed 300-page tome that comes out once […]