Tag Archive for: environment

Friant-Kern Canal Fix Gets Over Major Hump

/in , , /by /The Sun Gazetteby Reggie Ellis

The plan to fix subsidence in the Friant-Kern Canal and restore water deliveries to farmers in southern Tulare County and Kern County got over a major hump last week. On Sept. 18, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which owns the Friant-Kern Canal, released final environmental documents for its plan to repair a 33-mile stretch of canal between Lindsay and McFarland. The final environmental impact report represents a significant milestone in beginning work to restore flows to the lower third of the 153-mile long canal running along the Valley’s east side.

Full Story

Reservoir-Release Pilot Project in Colorado Begins this Week to Test Possible Compact Call

/in , , /by /The Aspen Timesby Heather Sackett

Beginning Wednesday, Front Range water providers will release water stored in Homestake Reservoir in an effort to test how they could get water downstream to the state line in the event of a Colorado River Compact call. Aurora Water, Colorado Springs Utilities and Pueblo Board of Water Works will each release 600 acre-feet from Homestake Reservoir, which is near the town Red Cliff, for a total of 1,800 acre-feet that will flow down Homestake Creek to the Eagle River and the Colorado River.

Full Story

Teichert Ponds Fish Dying Due to Ash, Poor Air Quality and Lack of Oxygen

/in , , /by /Enterprise Recordby Justin Couchot

Over the last week the city of Chico has received several calls from nearby residents informing staff members of dead fish floating in Teichert Ponds near Highway 99 in Chico. The Park and Natural Resource Manager for Chico and Butte County Linda Herman confirmed the dead fish being reported are on the back side of the pond near the fresh water area, saying the fish have succumbed to lack of oxygen in the water due to a thick layer of ash that has formed atop many parts of the pond.

Full Story

Microsoft’s Latest Environmental Pledge Tackles Water Scarcity

/in , , /by /The Verge (VOX Media)by Justine Calma

Microsoft plans to address dwindling water resources in its latest environmental pledge. Microsoft made a new commitment to replenish even more water than it uses for its global operations by 2030, making the company “water positive.”

Full Story

Opinion: Three Lessons for California’s Water Funding Challenges in Today’s Recession

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Ellen Hanak and Jelena Jezdimirovic

California’s water managers have had their hands full keeping our water systems safe and operational during the COVID-19 pandemic. But their work on addressing the fiscal consequences of the deep economic recession is just beginning. Three lessons from the Great Recession of 2007-09 could guide more effective policy responses today.

Full Story

Rancho San Diego Landscape Earns Award for Colorful, Waterwise ‘Room with a View’

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union Tribuneby Karen Pearlman Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

While Patricia Wood celebrates a top award in landscaping presented by her local water providers, there are probably more than a few disappointed gophers that are not singing her praises. Wood and a team of landscapers spent 2018 and 2019 transforming her 3,850-square-foot lawn, located along a cul-de-sac near Valhalla High School in Rancho San Diego, into drought-tolerant landscaping.

Full Story

20-Mile Replacement Canal is Preferred Fix for the Sagging Friant-Kern Canal

/in , , /by /SJV Waterby Lois Henry

A rapid-fire review of potential fixes to the Friant-Kern Canal favors building a replacement canal for 20 miles alongside the existing canal where land subsidence has caused it to sag, severely restricting water flow, according to final environmental documents released Friday.

Full Story

Panel to Probe Toxic Wasteland in Calif. Lake

/in , , /by /E&E Newsby Jeremy P. Jacobs

A House committee will meet Thursday to discuss the deteriorating public health crisis at a Southern California lake. The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife will review federal and state efforts to address problems at the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea is California’s largest lake at about 350 square miles, fed by runoff from the crop fields of the Imperial Valley, an agricultural powerhouse.

Full Story

Water Company Withdraws Desalination Proposal as Battle over Environmental Justice Heats Up

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Rosanna Xia

Amid mounting controversy and concerns over environmental justice, California American Water on Wednesday withdrew its application for a desalination project in the small Monterey Bay town of Marina.

The proposal had become one of the most fraught issues to come before the California Coastal Commission, which was set to vote Thursday. The decision would have been the first major test of the commission’s new power to review not only harm to the environment when making decisions but also harm to underrepresented communities.

Full Story

Conservationists Split Over Poseidon Desal Project’s Potential to Help Bolsa Chica Wetlands

/in , /by /Voice of OCby Brandon Pho

Along a Huntington Beach coastline dotted with oil rigs and a power plant, one of California’s largest remaining saltwater marshes has been a source of pride for local environmentalists.

But the marsh, known as the Bolsa Chica Wetlands, is endangered despite a years-long struggle to pull together sufficient public funding for its upkeep.

Nearby, the Poseidon Water Co., which has been in a decades-long, controversial fight to build a seawater desalination plant next to the AES energy station at the south end of the city, has justified its project partly with a promise to finance the wetlands’ conservation.

Full Story