Tag Archive for: California

California Seeks to Introduce Purified Wastewater to Drinking Supplies

Earlier this summer, state water officials introduced draft regulations that, if passed, would allow purified wastewater to be directly introduced to drinking supplies.

Currently, purified wastewater has to be introduced to environmental buffers like groundwater aquifers before being added to drinking supplies, but the new regulations would allow treated water to bypass this step after undergoing additional purification processes.

I Love My Lawn. Can I Keep It Without Feeling Guilty?

Rip it all out, she said. Every blade of grass, frontyard and back. As soon as my wife heard the city was offering a rebate, she wanted to replace our lawns with bark mulch and bunchgrass.

As Threat of El Niño Winter Looms, Newsom Signs Order to Hasten Levee Repairs

As forecasters sound the alarm about another potentially wet California winter fueled by El Niño, Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking urgent but controversial measures to prevent a repeat of the devastating floods that befell the state earlier this year.

An executive order signed by the governor this month will streamline levee repairs and debris removal to help protect and prepare communities for another potential inundation.

Colorado River Drought Behind Rural-Urban Tensions in the Centennial State

Western Colorado rancher Bill Fales said he thinks that California will come for Colorado’s water someday soon.

A Relentless Heat Wave That Refuses to Let Up Brings Danger to California, Southwest

For nearly a month, millions of people across the American Southwest have sizzled, sweated and sweltered under a heat wave that refuses to let up.

Day after day, residents from Fresno to Phoenix have endured triple-digit temperatures and hot, restless nights that have offered little relief.

How Much Snow Still Covers California’s Mountains This July?

In a typical year, California mountains are largely snow-free at this stage in the summer, with some exceptions at higher elevations. This, however, has not been a typical year. In the last couple of weeks of July, large swaths of the Sierra continued to be covered in snow, making for tricky and in some cases treacherous hiking conditions.

Low-Income LADWP Customers’ Bills Are About to Rise. What Help is Available?

As Angelenos wither under another hot summer, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is shrinking a discount program that helped low-income families pay their bills.

The utility has no choice; the subsidies that funded the DWP’s discounted water rates were declared illegal by a Superior Court judge in May. That discount will disappear Thursday, although others will remain in place, the DWP said in a letter to customers.

California Lawmakers, Gavin Newsom Hammer Out $311 Billion Budget — Without Major Water Project

California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom agreed on a $310.8 billion budget deal Monday, a compromise reached by dropping the governor’s proposal to move forward with a 45-mile Delta water tunnel that would pump water from the Sacramento River to other parts of the state.

Legislators released a series of bills Saturday and Sunday showing the broad outlines of a spending plan that includes more money for public transit, child care, prison reform and Medi-Cal. The measures also reflected the challenges of closing the state’s estimated $31.5 billion budget gap.

Opinion: California Must Modernize its Water System to Avoid Extremes of Drought to Flood

Most of California exists under dueling states of emergency. Since February, storms have caused emergency-level flooding and damage in 47 of the state’s 58 counties, yet most of California only recently exited a drought emergency.

One rainy season can’t supplant years of drought, but images of flooded cities and towns — and the injuries and deaths caused by these disasters — are made more painful when we hear that our state is running out of water nevertheless. The question that water managers and state policymakers must address is how to adapt our water system to eliminate the dual states of emergency.

Opinion: California’s Regulated Water Utilities Work Constantly to Provide Safe, Clean Water

Water is a precious resource, essential to life and requires our utmost care. As drought, climate change, wildfires and other natural disasters become more impactful, it is more important than ever that we are meeting our everyday and emergency water needs.