Tag Archive for: California

USDA Investing $1 Million in California Water Quality Improvements and Wildfire Mitigation

/in , /by /AgNet West (Gainesville, Fla.)by Brian German

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will be investing more than $1 million in California this fiscal year for wildfire mitigation and improving water quality. The efforts are being made possible through the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership. The Partnership allows the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to work with farmers and landowners in implementing conservation and restoration projects on a substantial scale.

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Driving Water Conservation

/in , /by /Stanford University "Water in the West"by Michelle Horton

As California approaches what could be another drought, water utilities are eager to find new ways of curbing water demand. Stanford researchers have developed a machine learning model that detects unexpected water-use consumption patterns – data water utilities can use to inform resource planning and water conservation campaigns.

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California Scientists Study Climate Change at Bottom of the Ocean

/in , , /by /KPBSby Erik Anderson

California researchers have found that oxygen levels and water temperatures play a key role in the health of deep-sea fish populations. San Diego and Monterey Bay scientists studied fish on the floor of the Gulf of California.

“This is an example of some of the video that we are analyzing for this research,” said Natalya Gallo, a post-doctoral researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

She pointed to footage taken along the seafloor on the Gulf of California near the Mexican coast. The pictures come from a remotely controlled submarine. Researchers use the underwater tool to gauge the impact of a warming ocean on fish.

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Environmental Disaster or a Key to Clean Energy Future? A New Twist on Hydropower

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sammy Roth Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Steve Lowe gazed into a gaping pit in the heart of the California desert, careful not to let the blistering wind send him toppling over the edge.

The pit was a bustling iron mine once, churning out ore that was shipped by rail to a nearby Kaiser Steel plant. When steel manufacturing declined, Los Angeles County tried to turn the abandoned mine into a massive landfill. Conservationists hope the area will someday become part of Joshua Tree National Park, which surrounds it on three sides.

Lowe has a radically different vision.

With backing from NextEra Energy — the world’s largest operator of solar and wind farms — he’s working to fill two mining pits with billions of gallons of water, creating a gigantic “pumped storage” plant that he says would help California get more of its power from renewable sources, and less from fossil fuels.

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California May Need a ‘Miracle March’ to Prevent an Early and Dangerous Wildfire Season

/in , , /by /AccuWeatherby John Roach

A brush fire that grew to 175 acres in Norco, California, on Tuesday was perhaps a preview of what could be an early and dangerous wildfire season in a state that just had its driest February on record. It was the eighth fire incident in 2020, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). That already equals the number of fire incidents before April 1 in the last four years combined.

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Opinion: Poseidon Desalination Would Worsen Environmental Injustice in Orange County

/in , /by /Voice of OCby Adriana Maestas

What would California be without the beach? I grew up in Irvine with an awareness of how fortunate we are to live near the ocean. As a child, my parents and babysitters took me and my brother to Corona Del Mar and Newport Beach frequently during the summer. I have many happy memories of enjoying the waves at “our beaches” while bodysurfing, building sandcastles, and seeing fish, anemones, sandcrabs, dolphins and jellyfish! We also took school field trips to Crystal Cove to learn about the ecosystem. These experiences taught me to respect the ocean and to understand that it is alive, a home for sea life and people.

That’s why it’s upsetting that our regional water board is moving closer to issuing permits for a project near my hometown that will harm our ocean, make us more vulnerable to climate change, and make our drinking water more expensive. The project is a massive ocean water desalination plant being proposed by a global corporation called Poseidon that has its sights on Huntington Beach.

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San Diego’s Sutherland Reservoir in Ramona Reopening to Public on Friday

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewen

The city of San Diego’s Sutherland Reservoir will reopen for boating, fishing, hiking and picnicking three days each week beginning on Friday.

The reservoir, located 45 miles northeast of San Diego, will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from sunrise to sunset, and on the Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day holidays. It’s closed the third Friday of each month.

The recreation area has barbecues, picnic tables and restrooms. Dogs are allowed on leashes. Water activities including boating, canoeing, kayaking, sailboarding and float tubing are allowed on Saturdays and Sundays.

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California Blackouts Boost Power-Storage Demand, Engie Says

/in , /by /Bloomberg Environmentby Francois De Beaupuy

Power cuts during California’s devastating wildfire season have boosted demand for combined solar panels and battery storage solutions as businesses look to mitigate economic damage from future blackouts.

Billions of dollars in economic activity were lost from mass power shutoffs during wildfires in California last year. The blackouts, which were aimed at preventing live wires from sparking more fires during high winds, caused widespread disruption for Californians at the end of last year and forced schools and business to shut.

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Thirsty Crops and Vulnerable Families Vie for California’s Precious Water

/in , /by /High Country Newsby Susie Cagle

When Carolina Garcia’s well began pumping sand and air instead of water in 2016, she didn’t know where to turn.

The Garcias had been living in Tombstone Territory, a quiet four-street community in California’s San Joaquin Valley, for 10 years. In the middle of the state’s historic drought, many of the farms surrounding Tombstone Territory had installed new wells and deepened existing ones. Despite being just two miles from the Kings river, Tombstone was drying up.

Garcia, her husband and four children spent four days without water that first time. They resolved to lower their water pump. It worked for a few months – but then, again, sand and air. When they repaired it again, they were told the new fix would only buy them a couple more years.

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San Francisco Could See Its First Rainfall Since January as a Potentially Wetter California Weather Pattern Takes Shape

/in , , /by /The Weather Channelby Linda Lam

Much needed rain will finally return to California and will likely end a month-plus dry streak in San Francisco and Sacramento. Dry conditions have prevailed across most of California since late January due to the upper-level pattern.  A strong area of high pressure aloft near California has pushed the jet stream and storm track northward into the Pacific Northwest.

The persistence of this pattern has resulted in drought conditions during the wet season. Nearly 70% of the Golden State is abnormally dry, and about a third of the state is in moderate drought, according to the latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

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