santa cruz Archives

Opinion: Balance Pain of Drought on Farmers and Fishermen Equitably

May 21, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /CalMattersby John McManus

In the first week of May a young salmon boat captain struggled to keep his boat stable and fishing while getting bashed by an unruly spring wind storm near the San Mateo-Santa Cruz county line. Far offshore, where the continental shelf drops off and a huge volume of marine nutrients circulate from the ocean bottom to the surface, salmon gathered. So did borderline gale force winds on top of a 10-foot swell. It looked like the scene at the end of the movie, “The Perfect Storm.”

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Something was Killing Baby Salmon. Scientists Traced it to a Food-Web Mystery

January 27, 2021/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /Los Angeles Timesby Susanne Rust

The biologists working in a fish hatchery near Shasta Dam grew increasingly concerned last year when newly hatched salmon fry began to act strangely — swimming around and around, in tight, corkscrewing motions, before spiraling to their deaths at the bottom of the tanks.

Certain runs of chinook salmon in California are imperiled; the hatcheries and the fry raised there are the federal government’s last-ditch effort to sustain these ecologically and economically vital fish populations.

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Plastic Pipes are Polluting Drinking Water Systems After Wildfires – It’s a Risk in Urban Fires, Too

December 15, 2020/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /The Conversationby Andrew J. Whelton, Amisha Shah, Kristofer P. Isaacson

When wildfires swept through the hills near Santa Cruz, California, in 2020, they released toxic chemicals into the water supplies of at least two communities. One sample found benzene, a carcinogen, at 40 times the state’s drinking water standard.

Our testing has now confirmed a source of these chemicals, and it’s clear that wildfires aren’t the only blazes that put drinking water systems at risk.

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Scientists with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Deploy Wave Buoy Off Westcliff

December 9, 2020/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /Santa Cruz Sentinelby Hannah Hagemann

Scientists with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography will soon have a deeper insight into how Santa Cruz waves impact local flood events, thanks to a coastal buoy installed on Sunday. The wave buoy will track wave height, direction, speed, as well as water and air temperature.

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‘These Mountains Could Turn Into Jelly.’ Above Santa Cruz, Residents Fear Devastating Mudslides

December 8, 2020/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Los Angeles Timesby Susanne Rust

The fire that rampaged through the San Lorenzo Valley in August and September burned hotter and destroyed more acreage than anyone in these rugged, rural and breathtaking mountains can remember.

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Torched Towns Beset by Poisoned Water

September 24, 2020/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /E&E Newsby Hannah Northey

After a wildfire ripped through central California last month, residents in the Riverside Grove neighborhood in the Santa Cruz Mountains discovered another danger: contaminated water coursing through their pipes.

Benzene, a chemical tied to cancer, leukemia and anemia, was detected in the town’s drinking water after 7 miles of plastic water piping was torched in the CZU Lightning Complex Fire south of San Francisco. Plastic pipes are used for their flexibility in earthquake-prone California. Today, about 450 homes there remain under a “do not drink” advisory.

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San Lorenzo Valley Water District Rebuilds After ‘Most Expensive Disaster in History’

September 11, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /Santa Cruz Sentinelby Nicholas Ibarra

Emergency repairs are underway after a historic fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains wreaked havoc on the San Lorenzo Valley’s water infrastructure

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Santa Cruz Water Quality at Risk from Wildfire Damage

September 10, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /Santa Cruz Localby Kara Meyberg Guzman

The CZU Lightning Complex Fire’s threat to water quality in Santa Cruz came into sharper focus Tuesday as a Cal Fire emergency watershed response team neared completion of a damage study.

The most pressing risk is debris that could clog the San Lorenzo River near River Street and Highway 1 where water enters the city’s system, said Santa Cruz Water Director Rosemary Menard. The San Lorenzo River is the city’s largest water source. It represents about 45% of the water supply.

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