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Leaders and Experts

Aquafornia news September 26, 2023 Monterey Herald

Monterey County officials to consider banning single-use plastics

Citing numerous studies indicating the breadth of environmental damage caused by single-use plastics – common in restaurant take-out products – the Monterey County Supervisors Tuesday afternoon will consider banning their use. If passed, an ordinance banning the use of single-use plastic will join a groundswell of restrictions by cities, counties and the state. The state has enacted Senate Bill 1046 set to take effect Jan. 1, 2025 that will ban all single-use plastic bags provided prior to checkout at food stores. The most common of these are the plastic bags used in produce sections. Los Angeles County has already banned single-use plastics anywhere in the unincorporated area of the county.

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Aquafornia news September 26, 2023 American Council on Science and Health

Blog: Innovation abounds – Floating cows and vertical farms  

Last week, the U.N. hosted a summit on sustainable development, including access to clean water. I have previously written about declining water levels in the western U.S. and the use of desalination to transform seawater into freshwater. Although over 17,000 desalination plants are operating worldwide, there are only about 325 in the U.S., with 45% in Florida, 14% in California, and 9% in Texas. The reason they have not been more widely adopted is traditionally, they are expensive to build and use a lot of energy. Most of the desalination plants operating today heat the salt water and pump it through specialized membranes that separate the water from the salts. 

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Aquafornia news September 25, 2023 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Solutions: These farmers are harvesting scarce water from fog

A nonprofit in Peru is gaining attention for its work in developing a simple system that gathers moisture from fog and channels it to storage containers for use in areas where water is in short supply. The systems are dropping in price and increasing in efficiency, experts say. The “fog catchers” have been installed in several countries and were even considered for possible use in the San Francisco area. … “It’s a very intriguing idea,” says Jay Lund, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California-Davis. … Lund explored the idea of demisting fogs over San Francisco in the aftermath of the droughts in the Bay Area between 2012 and 2016, but concluded it would likely not be economically viable.

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Aquafornia news September 25, 2023 Loma Linda University

New study: Researchers find contaminated water in fast-food soda fountains

Loma Linda University (LLU) researchers found microbial contamination in common sources of drinking water in the Eastern Coachella Valley, including soda fountains at fast-food restaurants. Their findings revealed that 41% of the water samples researchers collected from these soda fountains contained total coliforms, an indicator of water contamination. Molecular analysis of the water samples revealed traces of genetic material found in bacteria, including Salmonella spp (Salmonella), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Given these findings, study authors advise soda fountain owners to regularly clean and flush the dispensers as a way to prevent water contamination.

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Aquafornia news September 25, 2023 Arizona Capitol Times

Tribal water infrastructure needs more than one-time fix, senators told

The infusion of federal money for infrastructure projects is a welcome first step toward fixing deep problems with water systems on tribal lands, but it’s only a first step, an Arizona official testified Wednesday [Sept. 25]. Brian Bennon, director of the tribal water department at the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, said tribes need to make sure they have funding for operation and maintenance of the systems to keep them going … Bennon was joined by Ken Norton, director of the Hoopa Valley Tribal Environmental Protection Agency, and Jola WallowingBull, director of the Northern Arapaho Tribal Engineering Department, to testify on the problems that come with underfunding of Native water systems.

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Aquafornia news September 25, 2023 The Tyee

Author interview: Why we need a ‘slow water’ movement

In her groundbreaking book Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge, environmental journalist and National Geographic Explorer Erica Gies observes, “If water were a category in a game of rock, paper, scissors, water would beat them all every time.” At a time when drought, fire and flood threaten countless lives, Gies talks to water experts who are using cutting-edge science and traditional knowledge to show how our relationship to water must change if we want to survive. She takes the reader inside water projects ranging from the marshlands of Iraq to the highlands of Peru, as well as nearer to home in B.C. and California, uncovering a breathtaking complexity we ignore at our peril. The result is a riveting and engaging book that does for water what Suzanne Simard has done for trees.

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Aquafornia news September 25, 2023 The New York Times

Meet the climate-defying fruits and vegetables in your future

… Recent floods left more than a third of California’s table grapes rotting on the vine. Too much sunlight is burning apple crops. Pests that farmers never used to worry about are marching through lettuce fields. Breeding new crops that can thrive under these assaults is a long game. Solutions are likely to come from an array of research fronts that stretch from molecular gene-editing technology to mining the vast global collections of seeds that have been conserved for centuries. … Here’s a quick look at some of the most promising.

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Aquafornia news September 22, 2023 Fast Company

The twisted story of how bottled water took over the world

How did the nascent bottled water industry make a market for a product that for much of the past century was largely viewed as an unnecessary or wasteful luxury good? In just four decades, this commodity has transformed into a ubiquitous consumer object that is now the primary, and sometimes sole, source of drinking water for billions of people globally. The story of bottled water’s resurgence in places with abundant, clean tap water revolves around the question of why people have increasingly come to distrust their tap water, and how the expanding bottled water industry has fueled and taken advantage of this phenomenon.

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Aquafornia news September 22, 2023 Governing.com

Blog: Warming climate, human impacts make better data about rivers essential

Sept. 24 is World Rivers Day, first celebrated in 2005 following a declaration by the U.N. General Assembly that 2005-2015 would be the “Water for Life” decade. … Concern about abuse and neglect of rivers has led to an international movement to recognize rivers as living entities with fundamental rights, entitled to legal guardians. … The ability of America’s public health system to detect the emergence and spread of diseases, or to mount timely responses to them, is hampered by the lack of a national data system. Post-pandemic, it’s one of the major priorities of public health officials to change this.

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Aquafornia news September 22, 2023 California Department of Water Resources

Report: California Water Plan 2023 – Navigating climate challenges with equity and resilience

… To better prepare and plan for a future with climate extremes, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has released the Public Review Draft of California Water Plan Update 2023. … [The plan] focuses on three intersecting themes: addressing the urgency of climate change, strengthening watershed resilience, and achieving equity in water management. … public comments can be made through Oct. 19, 2023.

Related article: 

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Biden-Harris Administration Announces Commitment to Advancing Water Equity and Access for All
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Aquafornia news September 22, 2023 Somach Simmons & Dunn

Blog: End of 2023 legislative session highlights

The 2023 California legislative session concluded on September 14, 2023. This article highlights new bills pertaining to water rights, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and emissions on the consumer and industry levels, as well as bills that are being held over. … AB 1337: State Water Resources Control Board: water diversion curtailment. … AB 460: State Water Resources Control Board: water rights and usage: interim relief: procedures. … SB 389: State Water Resources Control Board: investigation of water right.

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Aquafornia news September 22, 2023 Phys.org

NASA tech lets scientists see snow water through the trees

NASA scientists are testing a technology that could more accurately measure water stored in snow as seen from a satellite in orbit. Melting snow provides much of the water that the western United States depend on for agriculture and power. But warming winters due to climate change led to decreased seasonal snowpacks high up in the Rockies and Sierra Nevada mountains. That in turn affects the volume of water that travels downriver to irrigate crops and turn hydroelectric turbines.

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Aquafornia news September 22, 2023 Oregon Capital Chronicle

U.S. Senate panel grapples with how to ensure access to water amid Western drought

Decades of drought in the West has made water quality and quantity a major issue requiring government funding and innovation to fix, members of a U.S. Senate panel said Wednesday. Demand for water in growing municipalities is stretching agricultural and tribal communities, while shrinking availability is leading to higher water prices, witnesses told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s Water and Power Subcommittee. … Kyle Jones, the policy and legal director at the advocacy group Community Water Center, told the panel about a woman whose California well ran dry as her husband recovered from open-heart surgery. A new well would have required a $30,000 loan, he said.

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Aquafornia news September 21, 2023 Vallejo Times-Herald

Senator Dodd recognizes Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Week

In appreciation of the critical role the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta plays in California’s economy and environment, Senator Bill Dodd, D-Napa, is recognizing the last week of September as Delta Week. “The Delta is a cherished watershed and the very lifeblood of California’s water system,” Dodd said in a news release. … Dodd’s Senate Concurrent Resolution 119 established Delta Week, which this year kicks off Sunday. As part of the annual tradition, it will be preceded on Saturday by Coastal Cleanup Day, which offers Californians a chance to participate in local waterway cleanup events.

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Aquafornia news September 21, 2023 ABC 4 - Salt Lake City

Leonardo DiCaprio calls on fans to help save Great Salt Lake

Hollywood icon Leonardo DiCaprio urged his fans to sign a petition asking Utah’s political leaders to protect and restore the Great Salt Lake. In an Instagram post on Monday, DiCaprio posted a photo of a receding Great Salt Lake shoreline, sharing with his over 61 million followers the dangers a disappearing lake poses. … DiCaprio shared his support for the group of conservation organizations that filed a lawsuit against the State of Utah over alleged “failures” to protect the lake. The lawsuit claims Utah’s diversion of water upstream is preventing necessary water from reaching the lake, depleting water levels.

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Aquafornia news September 21, 2023 Marin Independent Journal

Newsom weighs restrictions on watering decorative grass

A state bill on the verge of becoming law would ban the use of drinking water to irrigate decorative grass, a mandate endorsed by Marin leaders who are already largely prepared for it. Assembly Bill 1572, which has made its way to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, would involve the kind of grassy areas in street medians, business parks and city sidewalks. Decorative grass could still be irrigated with recycled water. The restrictions proposed under were first implemented by the state as temporary provisions during the recent three-year drought. The rules are set to expire in June. The bill would make these rules a permanent way of life in California. Violations would carry fines of $500. 

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Aquafornia news September 20, 2023 Politico

Ebbs and flows

The Natural Resources Defense Council is winding down its San Francisco Bay-Delta program and losing two key staff attorneys as it shifts resources to protecting wetlands. Kate Poole retired this summer, and Doug Obegi is expected to leave in October. After 20 and 15 years at NRDC, respectively, the hard-charging and respected duo will leave a void in the environmental advocacy on the Delta, where anglers, farmers and cities are duking it out over a limited but precious water source. The decision was taken in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling this spring that slashed federal protections under the Clean Water Act, Drew Caputo, NRDC’s chief program officer, said in a statement.
- Editor’s Note: Scroll to bottom of story for water-related content.

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Aquafornia news September 20, 2023 NASA

Blog: Water-watching satellite monitors warming ocean off California coast

Warm ocean waters from the developing El Niño are shifting north along coastlines in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Along the coast of California, these warm waters are interacting with a persistent marine heat wave that recently influenced the development of Hurricane Hilary. … In its September outlook, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast a greater than 70% chance for a strong El Niño this coming winter. In addition to warmer water, El Niño is also associated with a weakening of the equatorial trade winds. The phenomenon can bring cooler, wetter conditions to the U.S. Southwest and drought to countries in the western Pacific, such as Indonesia and Australia.

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Aquafornia news September 20, 2023 The Sacramento Bee

Editorial: Can California Gov. Gavin Newsom show some guts on these 5 controversial bills?

Gov. Gavin Newsom has before him about a thousand bills approved by the California Legislature that now await his fate but some are far more explosive and politically consequential than others. These bills in Newsom’s pile could reveal how the governor is evolving as a leader, and now he has less than a month to review them. … Here is an obscure bill that will reveal a lot about how much Newsom listens to his inner circle or his own common sense. Two water districts in Southern California want to switch water suppliers and leave the San Diego County Water Authority, the long-time primary provider for the region. The county’s Local Agency Formation Commission said yes, including an exit fee intended to address impacts to the SDCWA budget. 

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Aquafornia news September 19, 2023 Nature Water

New study: Balancing-oriented hydropower operation makes the clean energy transition more affordable and simultaneously boosts water security

Reservoir hydropower offers a compelling combination of stability and flexibility services for modern water and power grids. However, its operating flexibility is poorly characterized in energy system planning, missing opportunities to cost-effectively uptake variable renewable energy (VRE) for a clean energy transition. In this study, we have developed a fully coupled reservoir operation and energy expansion model to quantify the economic and environmental benefits attained from adaptive hydropower operation in a high VRE future. Our case study of the China Southern Power Grid reveals that, in a 2050 net-zero grid, simply adapting hydropower operations to balance VRE can reduce 2018–2050 total system costs by 7% (that is, US$28.2 billion) and simultaneously save 123.8 km3 of water each year …

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