California Gov. Gavin Newsom today unveiled a broad strategy for bolstering the state’s water supply that includes targets to recycle more water, expand reservoir storage and collect more data on the amounts farmers use.
Newsom warned that new strategies are essential because California’s water supply will shrink by 10% as climate change brings warmer, drier conditions throughout the state.
With California enduring a historic drought amplified by global warming, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday released a new plan to adapt to the state’s hotter, drier future by capturing and storing more water, recycling more wastewater and desalinating seawater and salty groundwater.
The governor’s new water-supply strategy, detailed in a 16-page document, lays out a series of actions aimed at preparing the state for an estimated 10% decrease in California’s water supply by 2040 due to higher temperatures and decreased runoff.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday said California must do more to expand its water supplies by building new reservoirs, desalination plants and recycled water facilities to address worsening droughts and water shortages from climate change.
Newsom released a 19-page plan that directs state agencies to accelerate permitting and offer increased financial assistance to local water projects as the state struggles with its eighth year of drought in the past 11 years.
Californians in a new statewide survey cite drought and water supply issues as their chief environmental concern for the third year in a row.
Thirty percent of respondents ranked water as the most pressing issue — topping wildfires and climate change, which garnered 13 percent and 11 percent, respectively, in the poll, released by the Public Policy Institute of California.
California lawmakers representing the state’s Delta area are calling for Gov. Gavin Newsom to cancel his plan for an underground tunnel that would reroute water from Northern to Southern California.
Representatives John Garamendi, Josh Harder, Jerry McNerney and Mike Thompson, all Democrats, released a joint statement in response to the draft environmental impact report for the project.
Leasing for new oil and gas drilling on federal land in central California is temporarily blocked under a settlement announced Monday between the state and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
The deal, which still needs court approval, centers on more than 2,500 square miles (6,475 square kilometers) of land and subsurface mineral rights owned by the federal government in California’s Central Valley, a hub for oil and gas activity.
Governor Gavin Newsom convened local water leaders this past Friday, for the second time in recent months, to call for their continued action to drive down urban water use and help Californians make permanent changes to adapt to a hotter and drier future.
Preliminary numbers that reflect 95 percent of the population show that Californians cut back on water use by 7.5 percent overall in June this year compared to June 2020. The increase in conservation comes a month after Governor Newsom directly called on local water leaders to step up their work to ensure all Californians are doing their part to save water.
Starting next month, residents served by Coachella Valley Water District will see higher water bills if they fail to reduce their monthly outdoor water use. It is the latest action by local water districts aimed at reducing water use during the state’s historic drought.
The Coachella Valley Water District Board of Directors voted Tuesday to adopt financial penalties for residents who don’t reduce their monthly outdoor water use to 10% below their Tier 2 outdoor water budget.
In his time at the California State Water Resources Control Board, Max Gomberg has witnessed the state grapple with two devastating droughts and the accelerating effects of climate change.
Now, after 10 years of recommending strategies for making California more water resilient, the board’s climate and conservation manager is calling it quits. The reason: He no longer believes Gov. Gavin Newsom and his administration are willing to pursue the sorts of transformational changes necessary in an age of growing aridification.
Californians are starting to save water, but not enough to meet Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call for conservation in the face of one of the worst droughts in recorded history.
Urban water use fell 3.1% in May compared to the 2020 baseline set by the governor, according to figures released Friday by the State Water Resources Control Board.
While that’s well short of the 15% call issued by Newsom last July, it does show that Californians are beginning to heed the governor’s call for reduced consumption. Water use actually rose in March and April, according to water board data.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
