Using meteorology and chemistry to help prod Mother Nature, water officials have begun seeding storm clouds throughout the Santa Ana Watershed to boost regional water supplies by enhancing the rain and snowfall produced during storms.
Camp Pendleton leaders on Monday sent a public notice to thousands of service members and civilians who live and work on the base’s north end alerting them that recent testing revealed their drinking water contained a higher-than-desired level of PFAS, a potentially carcinogenic chemical that has been found in much of Southern California’s groundwater supply.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluorinated substances, can be found in cleaning products, water-resistant fabrics, grease-resistant paper and non-stick cookware, as well as in products such as shampoo, dental floss and nail polish.
Recent rains have distinguished this winter as one of the wettest to hit California in years. But experts say it won’t erase the damage of the many years of drought the state has suffered.
Rains in the state have caused floods, forced road closures and initiated evacuation warnings. And the state has reached about 95% of its average water storage for February compared to the 70% range for the same month in each of the past two years.
The Orange County Water District said it’s grateful for all the rain this year.
Adam Hutchinson, recharge planning manager for OCWD said in the past, there’s been years when they’ve had almost no storm water to collect.
He said it is crucial to retain as much of it as possible when we have it.
Orange County is home to the world’s largest water purification system for indirect potable reuse—and it’s only getting bigger. The Groundwater Replenishment System, a joint project between Orange County Water District and Orange County Sanitation District, just finished its final expansion. We spoke to OCWD General Manager Mike Markus and the group’s recent president, Steve Sheldon, to learn more about this revolutionary facility.
California’s recent storms have provided a big boost to Orange County’s water supply, with so much rain falling that it’s exceeding the county’s ability to capture all of it.
With a forecast of more rain coming this weekend, some of the captured water will actually have to be released briefly into the Pacific Ocean, county officials say.
The storms are keeping the Orange County Water District busy, as the agency collects rain water to help supply northern and central OC.
The state of California on Thursday sued the manufacturers of a class of chemicals known as “forever chemicals” that are found in a variety of consumer items including food packaging and cookware and are linked to cancer and other illnesses. The chemicals at the heart of the lawsuit are perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as PFAS. They are resistant to environmental degradation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency, and hundreds of scientific studies.
The largest water recycling plant in the world can be found in Fountain Valley, California, and work is underway to make it even bigger.
According to the Orange County Water District, its Groundwater Replenishment System takes about 110 million gallons of wastewater from the county’s sanitation district every day that would normally be dumped in the Pacific Ocean.
Among the many complex arguments over water in California, one particularly heated debate centers on whether the state should seek more drinking water from a plentiful but expensive source: the Pacific Ocean.
The debate has reached a critical stage in Huntington Beach, where Poseidon Water has been trying for more than two decades to build one of the country’s largest desalination plants. The California Coastal Commission is scheduled to vote next month on whether to grant a permit to build the plant.
Less than a month before Poseidon Water was expected to appear before the California Coastal Commission in hopes of moving forward with its controversial desalination plant in Huntington Beach, the company asked that the scheduled March 17 hearing be postponed to give its staff more time to thoroughly review documents.
“In order to accommodate the California Coastal Commission’s staff and their diligent review of our application, Poseidon Water made the decision to voluntarily delay the hearing on the Coastal Development Permit until later this spring,” Jessica Jones, Poseidon director of communications, said in a statement issued this week.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
