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‘Digitizing Is The Future’: California’s Water Rights System Needs to be Brought Into the 21st Century

/in , , /by /ABC 10 News (Sacramento)by Brenden Mincheff

In the Records Room of the CalEPA building in Sacramento are some of the most important documents in the entire state of California. Some date back to 1914. “Our files are organized in ascending order,” explained Matthew Jay, an analyst with the State Water Resources Control Board. “The oldest documents are at the bottom and so you can see that some of the stuff is all typewritten and in a lot of cases, handwritten.”

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Alameda County Water District Drops Drought Surcharge After Wet Winter

/in , /by /CBS Bay Area

The Alameda County Water District announced Wednesday that surcharges prompted by years of drought will be dropped in April, following one of the wettest winters on record.

At a special meeting held Tuesday, the agency’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to end the surcharges, which were put in place after a water shortage emergency was declared.

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Alameda County Water District Proposes Rate Increases

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Martha Brennan

It seems like everything is going up in price these days, especially bills, and for residents in Fremont, Newark and Union City, water is no exception. Households in these areas could start paying 4% more for the commodity beginning next March, and another 4% on top of that in March 2024. The increases are being proposed by the Alameda County Water District, which will hold a public hearing on the rate hikes in February.

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East Bay Water District Considers Buying Giant Cattle Ranch That Straddles Four Counties

/in , , /by /East Bay Times by Joseph Geha

The Alameda County Water District is considering shelling out $72 million for a fourth-generation, 50,500-acre cattle ranch — touted as the largest potential land sale in the state — to preserve water quality, officials say.

Much of the property lies in watersheds that feed into critical water supply facilities for millions of Bay Area residents, including Lake Del Valle, Calaveras Reservoir and Alameda Creek.

While no final decisions have been made, district officials and experts say the rare opportunity to buy such a wide swath of undeveloped upstream land — and preclude any future development that could degrade potable water — must be seriously weighed.

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