• Friday’s top of the scroll: Winter storm brings rain and threat of flooding; more on the way

    Updated: 2012-11-30 15:15:45
    From the National Weather Service in Sacramento: Storms continue for Northern California, bringing significant rainfall and windy conditions with it. Mud and debris flows are possible, and some tree branches are likely to break off causing possible power outages. High reservoir capacity will mitigate major main stem river flooding concerns, though the Upper Sacramento River [...]

  • San Diego County Water authority approves desalination contract

    Updated: 2012-11-30 15:02:51
    From the U-T San Diego: “After more than a decade of deliberations, the San Diego County Water Authority voted Thursday to buy desalinated water from a $984 million project planned in Carlsbad. Officials hailed it as a historic step on the path to water self-sufficiency for the region. The vote, under which authority members’ voting [...]

  • Press release: San Diego County Water Authority Board approves landmark seawater desalination project; Carlsbad plant expected to produce first water in 2016

    Updated: 2012-11-30 15:01:53
    From the San Diego County Water Authority, this press release: “The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors on Thursday voted to approve a landmark agreement to purchase up to 56,000 acre-feet of water annually from what will be the nation’s largest seawater desalination plant in Carlsbad, Calif. The plant is expected to start [...]

  • Press release: Comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan to be conducted

    Updated: 2012-11-30 14:51:22
    From the State Water Contractors, this press release: “The California Natural Resources Agency announced today that a cost-benefit analysis of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) will be conducted to provide a more complete picture of the project’s costs and economic benefits. More than 25 million people rely on the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta for [...]

  • Valley Economy blog: Initial thoughts on the latest BDCP economic analysis presentation

    Updated: 2012-11-30 14:48:17
    From the Valley Economy blog: “I attended David Sunding’s presentation at the BDCP Finance Working Group Meeting this morning, and some people have asked me to blog my reactions. Overall, I would say he did very well, and the presentation reflects substantial improvement for the Economic Analysis of the BDCP. It was certainly much improved [...]

  • Fact sheet; BDCP: A 21st century strategy

    Updated: 2012-11-30 14:47:53
    A new fact sheet comparing the BDCP with the peripheral canal planned in the 80s is now available online: click here.

  • Alex Breitler’s blog: ‘We’re not there yet’

    Updated: 2012-11-30 14:46:02
    From Alex Breitler’s blog: “Deputy Secretary for Natural Resources Jerry Meral said today that officials are not yet ready to publish the draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan (peripheral tunnels), originally expected in October. … “ Continue reading from Alex Breitler’s blog by clicking here.

  • Dan Bacher: Environmental Water Caucus slams Bay Delta Conservation Plan

    Updated: 2012-11-30 14:44:02
    From Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org: “Nick Di Croce, one of the facilitators for the Environmental Water Caucus, took a few verbal swipes at the controversial Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) during a public meeting in Sacramento on November 29. Di Croce indicated that most of the environmental organizations that make up the Caucus are opposed [...]

  • NRDC Switchboard blog: Off the cliff, and into deep water? Cutting clean air and clean water programs could incur heavy costs

    Updated: 2012-11-30 14:43:50
    From Peter Lehner at the NRDC Switchboard blog: “The health cost of power plant pollution is an estimated $100 billion each year, nationwide, when people get sick or die from breathing dirty air. When polluted water makes swimmers sick, the additional public health costs in just two southern California counties has been estimated at $21 [...]

  • Long-time public television personality Huell Howser retiring

    Updated: 2012-11-30 14:41:11
    From ACWA’s Water News: “Producer and long-time public television personality Huell Howser is retiring after nearly 20 years of bringing unique California stories to life. Howser produced and hosted ACWA’s popular “California’s Water” series, a first-of-its kind public television series launched in 2006. A total of 26 segments of “California’s Water” have aired on public [...]

  • Study finds Americans willing to pay more for water

    Updated: 2012-11-30 14:38:25
    From Forbes: “It’s a classic business conundrum: Investors and companies are eager to invest in technologies related to water conservation, reuse, and purification, but not until higher water costs make those technologies more lucrative. According to the Value of Water report, released last week by global water technology and equipment provider Xylem, that day may [...]

  • How do you build a beach?

    Updated: 2012-11-30 14:36:27
    From National Geographic’s News Watch: “For decades, communities facing shoreline erosion—and especially ones that rely heavily on tourism—have conducted a simple calculation: The wider and sandier a beach is, the more towels fit on it. For San Diego, that idea turned into a $28.5 million project this fall to rejuvenate the county’s beaches. From Imperial [...]

  • Spider Island, slough cleanup complicated

    Updated: 2012-11-30 14:31:33
    From the Tehama Daily News: “Just past the black metal fence that divides the Durango RV Resort from the Sacramento River stands a station for considerate dog walkers to pick up after their pets. It’s the final reminder of sanitary conditions before embarking on a trail that wraps around a sand slough under the Antelope [...]

  • Mokelumne on tap: New plant lets Lodi use river water for first time

    Updated: 2012-11-30 14:29:35
    From the Stockton Record: “Lodi Deputy Public Works Director Larry Parlin twisted the tap to the new Surface Water Treatment Plant’s 3 million gallon tank and filled a cup full of freshly treated Mokelumne River water on Thursday morning. “Most people won’t be able to tell a difference,” he said. “But, it’s better than well [...]

  • San Diego County: Scientists gauge viability of water source

    Updated: 2012-11-30 11:30:05
    From the Coast News: “To help wean the region off of its reliance on outside water sources, scientists Monday directed a drill to plunge nearly 1,200 feet into the earth at the San Elijo Lagoon to determine the quality and quantity of water underground. Initial tests of the groundwater have been encouraging, showing considerably less [...]

  • With drought looming, Colorado River Basin needs solutions

    Updated: 2012-11-30 11:21:35
    From National Geographic’s News Watch: “If early forecasts pan out, the Colorado River Basin could be in for yet another year of intense drought. On NOAA’s seasonal drought outlook map for mid-November to late February, the entire basin is shaded in dark brown, signaling the anticipated persistence of drought conditions through most of the winter. [...]

  • China wants to get fracked

    Updated: 2012-11-30 07:11:24
    Everyone knows that oil and gas are more important than water. Right? If fracking takes off in China as planned, it will likely exacerbate the nation’s existing water crisis. “Most of the nation’s shale gas lies in areas plagued by water shortages,” the report says. With about 20 percent of the world’s population and only [...]

  • News Feed: Dilley fracking company fined by OSHA - WOAI

    Updated: 2012-11-30 04:34:23
    read more

  • News Feed: Fracking in Michigan: UM Researchers Study Potential Impact on Health ... - Green Building Elements

    Updated: 2012-11-30 02:43:13
    read more

  • DWR Announces Initial Water Delivery Estimate for 2013; 30 Percent Projection Expected to Increase with additional Storms

    Updated: 2012-11-30 02:31:22
    From the Department of Water Resources: The Department of Water Resources (DWR) today announced an initial allocation of 30 percent of requested deliveries to State Water Project (SWP) contractors in calendar year 2013. The initial allocation – or water delivery estimate – is always conservative because it is made early in the storm cycle. The [...]

  • Increases on Wealthy Would Run Government 8 Days

    Updated: 2012-11-30 01:48:18
    Better make them count READ MORE...

  • Studying Einstein’s Brain

    Updated: 2012-11-30 01:38:58
    Who do I have to talk to if I want to donate my brain to science? READ MORE...

  • Feds Wanted to Nuke the Moon in 1950s

    Updated: 2012-11-30 00:57:16
    What could have possibly gone wrong? READ MORE...

  • Santa Clarita Valley could weather disruption in state water supply, officials say

    Updated: 2012-11-30 00:10:48
    From SCVNews: “A 66-page report from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. detailed the massive impact that could take place if local water supplies are impacted, but local water officials were quick to allay concern. “Part of the reason (the LAEDC conducted the study) is to keep the populace aware that water is an [...]

  • Disruption of water delivery could devastate L.A. County economy

    Updated: 2012-11-30 00:07:51
    From the Los Angeles Times: “An earthquake that shuts down water deliveries from Northern California for a year could devastate the Los Angeles County economy, costing $55 billion and wiping out a half-million jobs, according to a new study. The research by a team of economists attempts to gauge the effects of a major earthquake [...]

  • The Santa Ana River: How it shaped Orange County

    Updated: 2012-11-30 00:05:55
    From KCET: “On the banks of the Santa Ana River — at nearly 100 miles, the longest in Southern California — the interplay between nature and culture becomes visible. Since the first humans arrived in Southern California several millennia ago, people have maintained a complicated relationship with the Santa Ana River, accepting its life-giving water [...]

  • Property owners to pay for urban runoff clean-up?

    Updated: 2012-11-30 00:03:48
    From KCET: “If Harry Potter had Lord Voldemort, water quality managers and environmentalists have urban runoff and untreated stormwater, a toxic soup of pollutants that routinely make its way from the city’s roadways and rooftops down to our waterways and oceans each time it rains. Like He Who Must Not Be Named, urban runoff is [...]

  • News Feed: Fracking Companies Embrace Solar to Cut Carbon Emissions: Energy - Businessweek

    Updated: 2012-11-29 22:36:14
    read more

  • Thursday’s top of the scroll: Prepare for more rain: Storm one is through – others on track

    Updated: 2012-11-29 15:29:12
    From the National Weather Service in Sacramento: “More storm systems are on their way to Northern California, bringing significant rainfall and windy conditions with it. Mud and debris flows are possible, and some tree branches are likely to break off causing possible power outages. High reservoir capacity will mitigate main stem river flooding concerns, though [...]

  • Huge California desalination plant faces key test

    Updated: 2012-11-29 15:16:33
    Today is the day the the San Diego County Water Authority will vote on the Poseidon desalination contract.  I’ll post results today when they come in.  Meanwhile, from the AP via the Santa Cruz Sentinel: “An effort to build the Western Hemisphere’s largest seawater desalination plant faces a key test as San Diego’s regional water [...]

  • San Joaquin River milestone; Release of salmon part of complex, $800M restoration project

    Updated: 2012-11-29 15:12:06
    From Stockton Record: “California’s second-longest river once teemed with salmon that swam from San Francisco Bay to spawn near Fresno. But that was before the Friant Dam diverted the San Joaquin River to serve agriculture needs 62 years ago. On Wednesday, biologists released two chinook salmon 30 miles below the dam, a milestone in one [...]

  • Public Policy Institute of California: California’s water market, by the numbers, update 2012

    Updated: 2012-11-29 15:00:37
    From the Public Policy Institute of California: “This report provides a check-up on California’s progress with two innovative water management tools: water marketing and groundwater banking. These tools are part of a modern approach that will enable California to manage its scarce water resources more flexibly and sustainably. … “ Click here to download a [...]

  • Bay Delta Conservation Plan blog: BDCP: A 21st Century Solution

    Updated: 2012-11-29 14:43:11
    From the Bay Delta Conservation Plan blog: “In 1980 the California Legislature directed the California Department of Water Resources to build a new canal around the Bay Delta for the state and federal water projects, the so-called “Peripheral Canal”. Placed before voters in 1982 via the referendum process, the legislation was defeated. The emergence of [...]

  • Water management strategies help state deal with dry times, says commentary

    Updated: 2012-11-29 14:41:06
    From the Sacramento Bee, this commentary by senior policy fellow Ellen Hanak, and policy associate Elizabeth Stryjewski, at the Public Policy Institute of California: “Two innovative water management tools – water marketing and groundwater banking – can help California manage its scarce water resources more flexibly and sustainably. California’s experience with them shows both their [...]

  • Water Food Environment blog: Managing water for multiple beneficial uses

    Updated: 2012-11-29 14:35:06
    From the Water Food Environment blog: “In looking at opportunities for improved water management in California, it is important to start from a full understanding that the current hydrologic system is managed for multiple benefits. In very basic terms, the same drops of water serve multiple purposes and thus are reused many times as they [...]

  • Video: California agriculture booming but water fixes needed now

    Updated: 2012-11-29 14:24:45
    From the California Economic Summit: “No matter how you look at it, the numbers don’t lie-California’s economy is slowly recovering. The Golden State’s unemployment rate dropped to 10.1 percent in October, a slight decrease from September’s 10.2 percent. The business and professional services industry is leading the way. Information technology jobs are also driving job [...]

  • “Working Families” is an Obnoxious Term

    Updated: 2012-11-29 03:03:51
    Redistribution rhetoric that has been around for years READ MORE...

  • Let’s End ‘Dumbed-Down Conservatism’

    Updated: 2012-11-29 02:20:05
    Are higher housing prices really a 100% good thing? READ MORE...

  • Wait a Sec: Americans Chose a Republican House

    Updated: 2012-11-29 02:14:23
    Just because Obama was reelected, doesn’t mean the House GOP should rollover: Americans kept their congressmen, predominantly Republican, in power READ MORE...

  • Obama Gives $6 Billion to Indonesia, Brunei

    Updated: 2012-11-28 03:01:31
    Green energy grants have failed in the States, so why is the White House funding Solyndras of the Far East? READ MORE...

  • LA Times on Egypt’s Morsi

    Updated: 2012-11-28 02:55:13
    “Apparently, ‘moderation’ in the Middle East has been defined down to not wanting to wage war on Israel right now.”—Jonah Goldberg READ MORE...

  • Homicide at Chicago Funeral

    Updated: 2012-11-28 02:46:44
    Mayor Emanuel, should the country really do things “the Chicago way?” READ MORE...

  • Washington Feasting on the Rest of the USA

    Updated: 2012-11-27 01:13:21
    “Are we living in the Hunger Games?” READ MORE...

  • Feds Planning to Regulate Hydraulic Fracturing Despite State Successes

    Updated: 2012-11-26 14:57:37
    Hydraulic fracturing allows for the production of oil and natural gas in shale rock that tightly holds oil and natural gas resources. To hydraulic fracture the shale, water, sand, and chemicals are pumped underground to break apart the shale rock …

  • The amazing red mound

    Updated: 2012-11-16 04:24:05
    The happy talk on future production is crazier than ever in the latest IEA World Energy Outlook, but there are also some stunningly pessimistic predictions buried inside. Wild! For instance: The US will become number one oil producuh again and rediscover our lost oil-producing prowess with about 11 million barrels/day (Yay!) — which must mean [...]

  • IEA: U.S. to Become the World’s Largest Oil Producer

    Updated: 2012-11-14 16:25:47
    The International Energy Agency (IEA) is telling us what we already know[i]: the shale oil boom will make the global energy picture with the United States as the top oil and natural gas producer. According to the IEA, …

  • Obomney wants to export U.S. natural gas

    Updated: 2012-11-03 06:29:48
    “We are confident that either one would be supportive of LNG exports,” Cooper told Rigzone. U.S. LNG imports, which peaked at nearly 2.4 billion cubic feet per day in 2007, have fallen substantially as the growth in North American gas production due to shale gas, according to an Oct. 18 report by RBAC Inc., a [...]

Current Feed Items | Previous Months Items

Oct 2012 | Sep 2012 | Aug 2012 | Jul 2012 | Jun 2012 | May 2012