California’s safe drinking water standards require a multistep
treatment process that includes filtration and disinfection. This
process removes and kills viruses, including coronaviruses such
as COVID-19, as well as bacteria and other pathogens.
Flushing disinfecting wipes — even so-called “flushable” wipes
– as well as paper towels and similar products down toilets
will clog sewers and cause backups and overflows at wastewater
treatment facilities. This could create an additional public
health risk in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Watch a short video by
our partners at Project WET to learn how to ‘home-school’ your
toddlers on water. We are the California coordinator of Project
WET, an award-winning program that facilitates and promotes
awareness, appreciation, knowledge, and stewardship of water
resources for K-12 students and others
Join the Water Education Foundation, an impartial
nonprofit, in its mission to create a better understanding
of water issues and help resolve water problems through
educational programs.
The islands of the western
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta release tons of carbon dioxide — a
greenhouse gas — into the atmosphere as the rich peat soil that
attracted generations of farmers dries out and decays.
An ambitious plan now in the works could halt the decay,
sequester the carbon and — just as important — help protect
California’s vital water conveyance system by offering farmers
and landowners an incentive to change how they use their land.
The
latest article in Western Water explores how the
plan would work, looks at the concerns of some in agriculture,
and talks with one farmer who’s willing to give it a try.
Weave through the nation’s
breadbasket and gain a better understanding of water issues
and challenges in the San Joaquin Valley on the Foundation’s
Central Valley Tour
April 22-24.
This tour visits farms and major infrastructure, such as
Friant Dam near Fresno and San Luis Reservoir, the nation’s
largest off-stream reservoir near Los Banos and a key water
facility serving both the State Water Project and the federal
Central Valley Project.
The rules take the form of a state Fish and Wildlife Department
permit that will govern State Water Project deliveries from the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta… But the permit does not
explicitly control the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Central
Valley Project, which exports Delta water to San Joaquin Valley
farms. That means the two big government pumping operations
will likely adhere to different standards — possibly allowing
the federal project to boost deliveries at the expense of the
state project.
Snow surveyors will head into the Sierra on Wednesday to take
the most important measurements of the season. … Statewide,
the snowpack and the water it holds is just 53% of average,
according to the daily report on the California Data Exchange.
A 48-inch increase in the bay’s water level in coming decades
could cause more than 100,000 Bay Area jobs to be relocated.
Nearly 30,000 lower-income residents might be displaced, and
68,000 acres of ecologically valuable shoreline habitat could
be lost. These are among the findings in the most detailed
study yet on how sea level rise could alter the Bay Area.
The effluent is hauled ashore on barges, hit with a dose of
disinfectant, then deposited into a huge East Bay Municipal
Utility District sewer main called the Alameda Interceptor.
From there, the material joins the underground river of
everything else that’s been flushed down local toilets and
flows to the agency’s wastewater treatment plant at the foot of
the Bay Bridge.
Wetlands are among the most important ecosystems in the world.
They produce high levels of oxygen, filter toxic chemicals out of
water, sequester carbon, reduce flooding and erosion, recharge
groundwater and provide a
diverse range of recreational opportunities from fishing and
hunting to photography. They also serve as critical habitat for
wildlife, including a large percentage of plants and animals on
California’s endangered species
list.
As part of the historic Colorado River Delta, the Salton Sea
regularly filled and dried for thousands of years due to its
elevation of 237 feet below sea level.
The most recent version of the Salton Sea was formed in 1905 when
the Colorado River broke
through a series of dikes and flooded the seabed for two years,
creating California’s largest inland body of water. The
Salton Sea, which is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, includes 130
miles of shoreline and is larger than Lake Tahoe.
Drought— an extended period of limited or no precipitation— is a
fact of life in California and the West, with water resources
following boom and-bust patterns.
No portion of the West has been immune to drought during the last
century and drought occurs with much greater frequency in the
West than in any other regions of the country.
