There’s something different about Will Bucklin’s grape vines. At first it’s hard to notice, but a drive through northern California’s Sonoma Valley, past waves of green, manicured vineyards, makes it clear. The black ribbon of PVC irrigation pipe that typically threads the vines is curiously absent here – because Will doesn’t water his crops. Bucklin’s […]
Water supplies in many California public schools have repeatedly exceeded safe drinking standards. The report from the Community Water Center looked at nearly 7,000 public schools around California. It found between 2003 and 2014, up to 24 percent of the schools had water that violated safe standards. “Bacterial and arsenic violations were the most common types […]
California’s attempt to exert tighter control over groundwater use, the purpose of a landmark 2014 state law, was designed to be a compromise between state authority and local oversight. The tension dogged the writing of the law two years ago, and is playing out again as the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) drafts the […]
Thunder and lightning hit the north valley this week and flashing, booming skies could continue through Saturday evening. “There’s an unsettled pattern, we do have a large trough of low pressure over the West Coast right now,” said Karl Swanberg, a forecaster with the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office. “These enhanced features, they just rotate […]
The U.S. Drought Monitor released May 5 shows some minor improvement in California drought conditions. But looking ahead to the dry season shows drought persisting for a fifth consecutive year in the Golden State. In California, some moderate drought was removed in the northern portion of the state. The extreme northwest portion of the state […]
Louie Campos stopped drinking the water from his faucets in Visalia, California, so long ago that it takes him a minute to recall just how many years it has been since he held a glass to the tap and took a swill. By his closest approximation, the plainspoken 43-year-old has ripped through a 24-pack of […]
When in drought: the California farmers who don’t water their crops
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Guardian (San Francisco)by Charlotte SimmondsThere’s something different about Will Bucklin’s grape vines. At first it’s hard to notice, but a drive through northern California’s Sonoma Valley, past waves of green, manicured vineyards, makes it clear. The black ribbon of PVC irrigation pipe that typically threads the vines is curiously absent here – because Will doesn’t water his crops. Bucklin’s […]
Report Finds Unsafe Water May Affect 24 Percent of California Public Schools
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Capital Public Radio (Sacramento)by By Amy QuintonWater supplies in many California public schools have repeatedly exceeded safe drinking standards. The report from the Community Water Center looked at nearly 7,000 public schools around California. It found between 2003 and 2014, up to 24 percent of the schools had water that violated safe standards. “Bacterial and arsenic violations were the most common types […]
BLOG: California Groundwater Regulation Hangs on a Few Words
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Circle of Blue by By Brett WaltonCalifornia’s attempt to exert tighter control over groundwater use, the purpose of a landmark 2014 state law, was designed to be a compromise between state authority and local oversight. The tension dogged the writing of the law two years ago, and is playing out again as the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) drafts the […]
More Thunderstorms Due; Lake Oroville Could Keep Rising
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Chico Enterprise-Recordby By Dan ReidelThunder and lightning hit the north valley this week and flashing, booming skies could continue through Saturday evening. “There’s an unsettled pattern, we do have a large trough of low pressure over the West Coast right now,” said Karl Swanberg, a forecaster with the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office. “These enhanced features, they just rotate […]
Long-Term Drought Persists In California
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Capital Public Radio (Sacramento)by By Ed JoyceThe U.S. Drought Monitor released May 5 shows some minor improvement in California drought conditions. But looking ahead to the dry season shows drought persisting for a fifth consecutive year in the Golden State. In California, some moderate drought was removed in the northern portion of the state. The extreme northwest portion of the state […]
BLOG: Unknown, Unregulated, Undrinkable
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Pacific Standardby Madeleine ThomasLouie Campos stopped drinking the water from his faucets in Visalia, California, so long ago that it takes him a minute to recall just how many years it has been since he held a glass to the tap and took a swill. By his closest approximation, the plainspoken 43-year-old has ripped through a 24-pack of […]