Outcry from local environmental groups prompted San Diego officials Tuesday to retreat from plans to merge three longtime advisory boards that are focused on trees, marshland and green energy.
Lake Powell isn’t in Southern Nevada. Rather, it’s about four hours away by car in southern Utah. But some environmentalists say the water consumption of St. George, Utah, and neighboring communities could have a direct and deleterious impact on the Las Vegas water supply.
Like millions of people in the western United States this week, I woke up to deep red, sunless skies, layers of ash coating the streets, gardens, and cars, and the smell of burning forests, lives, homes, and dreams. Not to be too hyperbolic, but on top of the political chaos, the economic collapse, and the worst pandemic in modern times, it seemed more than a little apocalyptic.
Too much of the western United States is on fire, and many areas not suffering directly from fire are enveloped in choking, acrid smoke.
California lawmakers voted Sunday to phase out the sale and use of firefighting foam containing toxic chemicals that have been linked to cancer and have contaminated drinking water throughout the state. The measure, put forward by state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), requires municipal fire departments, chemical plants and oil refineries to gradually stop using the foam, replacing it with alternatives that don’t contain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a class of chemicals commonly known as PFAS.
Health experts say the Salton Sea poses a health risk to the residents who live around it, especially in the age of coronavirus. The lake’s continued evaporation is already making Valley residents sick, and it could make virus patients even sicker. Farmlands in Imperial County use less water from the Colorado River than ever before. Most of the river’s water now goes to cities like San Diego and Los Angeles. That means less irrigation water drains into the Salton Sea. It’s rapidly shrinking.
On July 15, President Trump’s Council on Environmental Quality issued its long-dreaded “final rule,” a comprehensive weakening of the National Environmental Protection Act. NEPA is not only the nation’s most important federal protection against projects that threaten our environment and climate, it is also a cornerstone of our efforts to promote environmental justice, ensuring that projects assess and mitigate the disproportionate adverse impacts that minority and low-income communities often suffer.
New fish-friendly seawater intake pumps recently commissioned at the Carlsbad Desalination Plant are among the most environmentally advanced intake pumps in the world.
The three intake pumps, manufactured by Indar, are part of a broader effort to ensure the long-term health of the marine environment near the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant, which sits on the shores of Agua Hedionda Lagoon.
In its efforts to maintain its critical infrastructure, the Vallecitos Water District undertook a challenging update to a wastewater system pipeline constrained by its precarious location.
The existing eight-inch gravity sewer pipeline conveys wastewater from the intersection of Rock Springs Road and Bennett Avenue west through a greenbelt area to an existing 12-inch pipeline in Rock Springs Road at Lancer Park Avenue. To expand capacity for current and future growth, it was replaced with a new 15-inch PVC pipe west of Matthew Lane and a 12-inch PVC pipe north and east of Matthew Lane.
The location of the affected manhole put equipment and crews close to a SDG&E gas line inside a greenbelt park area. Photo: Vallecitos Water District
The District always prefers to perform work in a street or public right-of-way. Neither were possible for this project due to its greenbelt and park location within feet of residential homes.
“We took every environmental precaution prior to construction,” said Lito Santos, Vallecitos Water District Project Engineer. “We performed a nesting survey, a raptor survey, and we also worked to tunnel under the bridge,” within the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Clear Water Rule.”
San Marcos Woods Homeowners Association board member Ross Fisher acted as a liaison between homeowners and the HOA with the District. Fisher expressed concern about access to the work area by the District’s large combination truck. The original proposal to create a concrete strip to drive over wasn’t feasible.
Due to its incredible strength, the grass-crete and existing lawns can handle the weight of a large service vehicle driving on it without significant damage. Photo: Vallecitos Water District
Working together with Vallecitos Water District engineers, the group chose an alternative material called “grass-crete.” Grass-crete is a green porous paving solution that comes in easy-to-install rolls. It’s flexible, lightweight, durable and provides design versatility to the project. Due to its incredible strength, the grass-crete and existing lawns can handle the weight of a large service vehicle driving on it without significant damage.
Manholes were waterproofed, coated, and sealed as an additional precaution and to extend their longevity. Photo: Vallecitos Water District
Vallecitos Water District engineers also worked with San Diego Gas & Electric to perform its work with enough safety clearance from a 16-inch transmission main artery gas line pressurized at 800 pounds per square inch. The District secured permission to dig within two to three feet from the line instead of the standard five feet.
The work area is also prone to flooding after large rain events, raising the water levels in the nearby creek high enough to infiltrate and inflow into the manholes. The District moved the manholes clear of the creek embankment, and lifted the manholes two feet above ground and clear of the flood plain to prevent runoff intrusion. Manholes were waterproofed, coated, and sealed as an additional precaution and to extend their longevity.
The District moved the manholes clear of the creek embankment, and lifted the manholes two feet above ground and clear of the flood plain to prevent runoff intrusion. Photo: Vallecitos Water District
“Overall Vallecitos left the greenbelt area as good or better when they started,” said Fisher of the HOA. “On a scale of one to ten, I have to give them a 9.5 or a ten. Working with the inspectors and Lito Santos the engineer, everything we asked for was done in a timely manner.”
“The project was a huge success,” said Santos. “Working with the Vallecitos Engineering Team, the Inspection Team and Mr. Fischer, it was not just a Vallecitos highlight but a career highlight.”
A sewage-based coronavirus test could be an “easy win” that would pick up infection spikes up to 10 days earlier than with existing medical-based tests.
Scientists led by UK’s Centre for Ecology and Hydrology are working on a standardised test to “count” the amount of coronavirus in a wastewater sample.
“The earlier you find [a signal], the earlier an intervention can happen,” says lead researcher Dr Andrew Singer.
“That means lives will be made much more liveable in the current crisis.”
As California confronts increasing water challenges, the most equitable statewide solution from a social justice perspective is the single-tunnel project proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, known as the Delta Conveyance Project.
More than 27 million Californians rely on imported drinking water conveyed through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. This imported water also serves millions of acres of local agricultural lands and vital wildlife refuges.
