“A long debate over how much hexavalent chromium is too much in drinking water resurfaced last week as state health leaders produced the nation’s first drinking water standard.”
“In April 2009, the Modesto City Council signed off on a $1.3 million public works project to upgrade the water quality control laboratory at the city’s Sutter Avenue wastewater treatment plant.”
“They gathered to talk about addressing California’s future water needs. But the crowd and state legislators at Thursday’s water bond hearing in Modesto could not escape the frustration of a more immediate problem: drought.”
“The drought is drying up Valley farms — but not noses. … Pollen counts began spiking early, in February instead of their typical arrival this month, and except for a storm or two in March there hasn’t been rain to wash the pollen away.”
“Another day beckons as the only postal worker in California who still delivers mail by boat heads out on the Delta to complete his appointed rounds. … Although mail delivery by water existed as far back as the early 1900s, overland routes gradually became the norm as communities grew and roads were built or improved.”
From The Modesto Bee, in a commentary by John Michelena:
“I have mixed feelings when I see those blue ‘Pray for Rain’ signs along our country roads. Though I thank the Almighty for sending rain, I think our state and federal governments have been lying to us about California’s drought and water.”
“An overflow crowd Tuesday night heard experts talk about the need to protect groundwater in the Turlock area – and about a resident’s experience when her own well failed.”
“Unfortunately, San Joaquin Valley communities are lagging in the water recycling effort. We need to get up to speed and take advantage of $200 billion in grants and $800 million in low-interest loans that are available from state drought relief funds.”
“In light of California’s ongoing drought, Fresno State has announced an aggressive water conservation plan aimed at reducing campus water usage by 20% — 59.8 million gallons — in the coming year.”
“Growers on the west side of the [San Joaquin] Valley got a little good news late last week: They’re going to get more water than they had feared. That’s not to say they’re going to get all the water they need, far from it.”
“City Manager Greg Nyhoff said Modesto has been taking steps to address the findings in an auditor’s report that concluded the Public Works Department’s water and wastewater divisions are plagued by problems, including poor leadership, low morale and high turnover.”
“In separate, but overlapping lobbying trips that formally began Monday, officials from both Fresno and Tulare counties have been seeking support from elected lawmakers, all-important staff and Obama administration higher-ups. These are annual ventures that this year took on a different, wetter cast.”
“A few farmers throughout the Modesto Irrigation District have offered to forgo 2,825 acre-feet of water this year at a fixed price so others can have more.
“That amount represents less than 1.5 percent of the total that MID expects to deliver to growers this year.”
“Flat as a tabletop, the furrowed, brown farm fields east of this San Joaquin Valley town are some of the most productive on Earth. …
“Now that bounty is threatened by a crisis of geological proportions: The land is sinking – crippling the region’s irrigation and flood control infrastructure and damaging aquifers that are buffers against climate change.”
“Modesto’s auditor spent about six months reviewing the Public Works Department’s water and wastewater divisions, including interviewing more than 40 managers, supervisors and rank-and-file city employees.”
