Tag Archive for: Water

Maximizing Use Of Water Stored In Soil Could Result in Savings For Farmers

/in , /by /UCDavis by Amy Quinton

As California faces more frequent and severe droughts, agriculture, which relies on irrigation from surface water and groundwater, could become expensive and unsustainable. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, looked at using a “free” resource rain water stored in the soil and found that optimizing its use could go a long way to help meet demand for five California perennial crops. Their findings appear in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

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See The Captivating Flux Of Western Alkaline Waters

/in , /by /High Country Newsby Aya Okawa

Two million years ago, as glaciers carved much of North America, torrential rains flooded what is now the Western United States, forming vast lakes across the region. The only remnants of that era are millions of saline ponds, some so small that over a hundred can be concentrated into a square kilometer. These lakes are now quickly shrinking. With less runoff from snowpack, and more water being diverted for agriculture, the lakes’ levels are rapidly decreasing, becoming even higher in salt content.

 

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Newsom Says He Has A Fresh Approach To California’s Longtime Water Woes

/in , /by /The Los Angeles Timesby George Skelton

At first blush, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest action on water seems fanciful and naive. But it has logic and conceivably could work. Newsom wants to reexamine practically everything the state has been working on   meaning what former Gov. Jerry Brown was doing and piece together a grand plan for California’s future that can draw the support of longtime water warriors.

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Lawsuits Are A Weapon In Major Water Conflicts

/in , , /by /The Voice of San Diego by Ry Rivard

In court, the California Environmental Quality Act is a familiar obstacle to projects large and small — housing developments, solar projects, even bike lanes. It’s also lately become a weapon in the state’s major water conflicts. Last week, the Imperial Irrigation District filed a CEQA lawsuit trying to block a deal among seven states that could lead to further rations of the Colorado River in the near future.

 

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California Native Gardens Offer Surprising Results With Little Water

/in , /by /Pasadena Star-Newsby Joshua Siskin

This spring’s flowers  there are just so many of them cannot be compared to those of any spring in recent memory. Perennial plants native to dry climates and most of those in our gardens come from Mediterranean lands and the arid parts of South Africa and Australia, too  are especially prone to flowering more after heavy rains. With their roots luxuriating in moist earth, dry climate plants “know” the soil will stay wet long enough for them to continue to absorb water through their roots and so remain fully hydrated to the tips of their shoots for an extended period. This “knowledge” encourages them to make scads of flowers in whose ovaries seeds are formed.

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Despite Warnings Of Contaminated Water, Some Paradise Residents Are Moving Back

/in , /by /KQED News (San Francisco)by Kirk Siegler

Six months after the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, the town of Paradise remains a disaster zone. Only 6 percent of the debris from last November’s Camp Fire has been hauled away. Burned-out skeletons of cars, piles of toxic rubble and blackened old-growth pine trees can still be seen everywhere. Before the wildfire, the population of Paradise was about 26,000. Today, it’s in the hundreds. The extent of the latest crisis unfolding in Paradise is yet unknown: The deadly fire may also have contaminated up to 173 miles of pipeline in the town’s water system with cancer-causing benzene and other volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.

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For Long Term Water Supply, U.S. Officials Look to Mexico

/in , /by /The Voice of San Diego by Ry Rivard

An increasing number of solutions to California and Arizona’s long term water problems now involve Mexico. Some of the ideas are seemingly far-fetched, like a pipeline to bring water from the Gulf of California to the Salton Sea in Imperial County. Some are already happening, like Mexico agreeing to reduce its water use in the event of a Colorado River shortage.After decades of warnings, officials who rely on the Colorado River which provides water to 40 million Americans and Mexicans  have begun to reckon with the long-known fact that cities and farms are expecting to receive more water from the river than the river usually holds.

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A Dry Desert With Its History Surrounded By Stories Of Water

/in , /by /The Desert Sunby Tracy Conrad

Despite its designation as a desert, the Coachella Valley is blessed with water. The very names associated with the most prominent places and businesses in the desert, such as the Oasis Hotel, Mineral Springs Hotel, Deep Well, Indian Wells, Palm Springs, Snow Creek, and Tahquitz River Estates, all conjure up pretty images of water. But the early story of desert water is more utilitarian than picturesque: it quite literally can be seen as a history of ditches.

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Plan Unveiled To Cut Borrego Springs Water Consumption By 75 Percent

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union Tribune by Harry Jones

For years, the desert town of Borrego Springs has been living on borrowed time, drawing more water from the ground than its rains replace. But a reckoning is near. In March, a nearly 1,000-page draft report was released outlining how the community must and will reduce its water use by a staggering 74.6 percent between now and 2040. Borrego Springs is completely dependent on groundwater for survival because there is no economically feasible way to bring water via aqueduct or pipes to the remote area in the center of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the largest state park in California.

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Helix Water District Logo Square officers for 2021

Helix Water District High School Photo Contest Winners Highlight Water in Everyday Life

/in , /by

La Mesa, Calif.—Local high school students were honored for their winning photos at an awards ceremony during Helix Water District’s special board meeting on March 20, 2019. Seventy-four students from four schools entered the annual high school photo contest, highlighting the importance and beauty of water in everyday life.

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