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Daily Business Report: Water Authority Saves Nearly $18 million With Bond Refunding

/in , /by /San Diego Metro Magazine

The San Diego County Water Authority on Tuesday secured nearly $18 million in savings on future debt payments for the region’s water ratepayers by refinancing bonds used to build a major pipeline connected to the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant. Savings achieved this week topped earlier projections of $13.6 million through June 2046 on a net present-value basis due to strong demand for the $185 million issuance. Forty-five investors made orders for the bonds that totaled nearly $2 billion. The Water Authority benefitted from having one of the only deals of its kind on the market this week – after waiting for more than a year for market conditions to improve – and ongoing investor interest in the Carlsbad project.

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Warming Winters And Dwindling Sierra Nevada Snowpack Will Squeeze Water Resources In Parts Of California, NOAA Reports

/in , /by /Sierra Sun Timesby Michon Scott

Snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada Mountains provides roughly 75 percent of California’s agricultural water, and 60 percent of Southern California’s water resources. Warm winters can cause snow droughts in the Sierra Nevada, both by nudging precipitation in the direction of rainfall rather than snowfall, and by melting snow sooner. A new study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, uses historical records and modeling to understand how the Sierra Nevada snowpack may respond to rising temperatures. Based on the new study, this figure shows how the snowpack could fare in the Sierra Nevada with a 1°C (1.8°F) increase in average winter air temperature.

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A Larger Issue Looms Over Short-Term Colorado River Plan: Climate Change

/in , /by /The Arizona Republic (Phoenix)by Ian James

With the water level in Lake Mead hovering near a point that would trigger a first-ever official shortage on the Colorado River, representatives of California, Arizona and Nevada are trying to wrap up a plan to prevent the water situation from spiraling into a major crisis. The plan is formally called the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan. But at an annual Colorado River conference this week, many water managers stressed that it’s merely a stopgap plan to get the region through the next several years until 2026.

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Map Your Microclimates

/in , /by /Water News Network

Every garden has areas where plants flourish, and other areas where plants struggle. Structures, walls, fences and other plants can affect the amount of sun and shade in a garden. Every garden is completely different, even if it is located in the same general climate zone. There may be hills and hollows in your front yard that collect cold air. Or, if your property is sloped, you may not get frost when your neighbors do. The first step to a new or renovated landscape is walking around your property during the day and observing it closely.  

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OPINION: Farms, Food Producers Taking Strides To Save Water – And The Climate

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Kirsten James

Water and agriculture go hand in hand. Growing food for the planet’s people consumes 70 percent of its freshwater sources. Therefore, water is not only life-giving, it is life-sustaining. Yet with climate change, population growth and development on watersheds, an estimated 2 billion people globally face limited access to clean water. And demand for water is expected to grow by 30 percent globally by 2050.

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California Ends Another Dry Water Year

/in , /by /CBS Sacramento

California began a new water year Monday with some rain falling or in the immediate forecast after 12 months of below-average precipitation. The Department of Water Resources said the Oct.1-Sept. 30 water year that ended Sunday was marked by hot and dry conditions, except for sporadic significant precipitation. During the period, the statewide snowpack was just 58 percent of average by April 1, a dramatic reversal from the previous water year in which the pack reached 159 percent of average.

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California Had Its Own Climate Summit. Now What?

/in , /by /The New York Timesby Brad Plumer

For years, presidents and prime ministers have been the public face of the fight against climate change, gathering at United Nations summit meetings and pressuring each other to reduce emissions. The results have often been lackluster. A climate conference in California this week tried something different. The meeting, organized by the state’s governor, Jerry Brown, had far fewer national leaders present. Instead, an array of governors, mayors and business executives from around the globe met to promote their successes in cutting greenhouse gas emissions locally and to encourage one another to do more.

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Updated California Climate Tracker Tool Provides More Than 120 Years Of Climate Data

/in , /by /PHYS.org

Scientists from the Western Regional Climate Center (WRCC) at the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Reno, Nev. are pleased to announce the release of a long-awaited update to a climate mapping tool called the California Climate Tracker. Originally launched in 2009, the California Climate Tracker was designed to support climate monitoring in California and allows users to generate maps and graphs of temperature and precipitation by region. The 2018 upgrade incorporates substantial improvements including a more user-friendly web interface, improved accuracy of information based on PRISM data, and access to climate maps and data that go back more than 120 years, to 1895.

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OPINION: Next California Governor Must Focus On Climate Adaptation

/in , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by Jim Wunderman and Jonathan Parfrey

California’s efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions have made the state an icon in the fight against climate change, a status validated by Gov. Jerry Brown hosting the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco next month. Yet despite its success, California is only slowly beginning to take action to help communities adapt to the brutal changes in our climate already well underway. California’s next governor should focus on climate adaptation as an urgent priority to protect California’s businesses and residents — particularly the elderly and the poor — from the ravages of climate change.

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