The Fallbrook Public Utility District will be repeating the bid process for granular activated carbon treatment system equipment. A 5-0 FPUD board vote Oct. 27 rejected both bids submitted earlier in the month and directed district staff to readvertise the procurement of the treatment equipment for bid.
Residents of the Santa Ynez and Lompoc Valleys may see an unusual sight in the skies this November, and it won’t be a UFO.
It will be a low-flying helicopter carrying a large hexagonal frame. This unique equipment is part of a project to map aquifers and improve the understanding of groundwater in the area. The project is being conducted by Santa Barbara County and the Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District in cooperation with the local water agencies that comprise the three Groundwater Sustainability Agencies in the Santa Ynez River Valley Groundwater Basin.
A carpet of green, new grass covered the rolling hills, southwest of Maricopa, near New Cuyama. In the distance, the coastal mountain range was capped by white, full clouds and blue sky.
California celebrated the passage of historic legislation six years ago when Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, written to achieve sustainable groundwater management for basins throughout the state.
In the midst of the last drought, California took its first step to regulate how the state uses groundwater. But advocates worry the new rules have favored big agricultural users over small communities, particularly in areas like the San Joaquin Valley.
Sitting as the Ceres Financing Authority, members of the Ceres City Council last week unanimously approved the sale of $22 million in bonds to finance the surface water project as an interim measure. The cities of Ceres and Turlock have formed a joint powers authority, called the Stanislaus Regional Water Authority, with the Turlock Irrigation District to build and run a plant to siphon water out of the Tuolumne River, filter it and pipe it to homes. The water will be stored in a large above ground tank at Ceres River Bluff Regional Park and comingled with groundwater.
As local groundwater agencies throughout California consider how to implement the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, two lawsuits against a Kern County groundwater sustainability agency show the potential implications for agriculture and other businesses with historic, overlying water rights. The cases involve the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority, a groundwater sustainability agency overseeing a critically overdrafted aquifer that covers part of eastern Kern County and parts of Inyo and San Bernardino counties.
A new report by the U.S. Geological Survey shows that efforts by Coachella Valley Water District to replenish local aquifers in the Coachella Valley have been effective, leading to stable land surface elevations in most of the Coachella Valley. Areas with land subsidence identified in prior studies are now stable, uplifting, or experiencing substantial slowing of subsidence. CVWD partners with Coachella Water Authority, Desert Water Agency, Indio Water Authority, and Mission Springs Water District to manage groundwater in the Coachella Valley.
Researchers at the University of California San Diego report in a new study a way to improve groundwater monitoring by using a remote sensing technology (known as InSAR), in conjunction with climate and land cover data, to bridge gaps in the understanding of sustainable groundwater in California’s San Joaquin Valley.
An innovative process that uses naturally occurring bacteria to remove nitrate from contaminated groundwater has received approval from California’s State Water Board as a treatment method.
The validation stems from a recent pilot study of the Hall BioProcess™ by MIH Water Treatment, Inc. and the San Antonio Water Company in Upland, California.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
