The Biden administration has announced that Southern California’s plan to build the largest wastewater recycling plant in the nation will be supported by $99.2 million in federal funds, an investment that officials said represents a down payment toward making the region more resilient to the effects of climate change.
Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior Laura Daniel-Davis announced more than $520 million from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to revitalize aging water delivery systems across the western U.S.
State water officials say a controversial plan to build a tunnel to take water from the north end of California to its southern regions is worth the costs, risks and protests from environmental organizations.
When Noah Williams was about a year old, his parents took him on a fateful drive through the endless desert sagebrush of the Owens Valley — which the Nüümü call Payahuunadü — in California’s Eastern Sierra. Noah was strapped into his car seat behind his mother, Teri Red Owl, and his father, Harry Williams, a Nüümü tribal elder with a sharp sense of humor who loved a teachable moment.
In a normal year, about 40% of California’s water supply is stored groundwater, and more than 80% of Californians use it, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
Groundwater is the water that is a buffer in the years the state is in drought. For the first time since 2019, the agency reports groundwater storage increased during the 2023 water year, which is great, but the state’s groundwater is still in deficit.
The U.S. government is dedicating $60 million over the next few years to projects along the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico and West Texas to make the river more resilient in the face of climate change and growing demands.
EVERY DROP COUNTS: California had (is still having, amazingly) a really good water year. But all the rain and snow is doing almost nothing to lubricate the state’s perpetual conflicts between fish and farms.
Twelve years after California became the first state in the nation to declare a “human right to water,” achieving this basic societal goal of securing clean water for all 39 million state residents is more daunting than ever.
We’re all in hot water.
Sometimes there’s not enough water, sometimes too much. Either way, water costs for San Diegans will increase to sticker-shock level and maybe beyond, if that’s possible. And using less won’t help much.
Residents in Cardiff will see their sewer fees increase by 15 percent for each of the next four years, while central Encinitas sewer customers will see their rates go up by 19 percent for each of the next five.
The Encinitas City Council gave its initial approval to both sets of substantial price increases Wednesday, but said the increases will be revisited on an annual basis to determine if they are still warranted.
