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Topic: Central Coast

Overview November 11, 2018

Central Coast

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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 KSBW - Monterey

Water district holds public hearing to consider acquisition of Monterey Water System

The Board of Directors of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District plans on holding a public hearing to consider the acquisition of the Monterey Water System. The board is considering adopting a Resolution of Necessity for taking by eminent domain in order to convert the privately owned and operated water system to public ownership and control. Currently, the Monterey Water System is privately held by the California American Water Company.

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Aquafornia news September 25, 2023 Mercury News

‘This Earth, it’s all we have’: California Coastal Cleanup brings thousands of volunteers to shorelines

Eleven-year-old Gabriel Coleman and his friends Maarten and Merel dug through driftwood piled on the shoreline under the Dumbarton Bridge, doggedly on the hunt for pieces of plastic and other debris to fill their white trash bags. “With teamwork-makes-the-dream-work, we’ve been finding big pieces and small pieces all over,” Gabriel proudly explained. The trio from Newark was among thousands of volunteers who turned out Saturday for the 39th annual California Coastal Cleanup at 695 beaches, lakes, creeks and rivers throughout the state — including dozens of sites across every county in the Bay Area.

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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 USA Today

Mosquitoes thriving in California after big storms and blistering heat

Potent winter storms, summer heat, and tropical storm Hilary have bred a surge of invasive, day-biting Aedes mosquitoes in California, spawning in some regions the first reported human cases of West Nile virus in years. The statewide rise has brought 153 West Nile reports so far, more than double last year’s, according to the California Department of Public Health. 

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Aquafornia news September 22, 2023 Monterey County Weekly

A generational project to restore a mile-long length of the Carmel River is well on its way.

In 1883, two years after he created Hotel Del Monte, railroad baron Charles Crocker facilitated the construction, near Cachagua, of the so-called Chinese Dam – the Carmel River’s first – which aimed to provide 400 acre-feet of water annually to his hotel. … There is a plan in the works, years in the making, though not yet quite near the finish line: the Rancho Cañada Floodplain Restoration Project. The project calls for widening and restoring the riverbed and banks where the river flows through a 40-acre, mile-long stretch of Palo Corona Regional Park through the section that was reclaimed from part of the Rancho Cañada Golf Course in a purchase facilitated by the Trust for Public Land, Trout Unlimited the Santa Lucia Conservancy and the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District.

Related article: 

  • Petaluma Argus Courier: The Petaluma River is in good health, experts say, and cleanups help keep it that way​
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Aquafornia news September 22, 2023 Patch - Pleasanton

Pleasanton council votes to delay proposed water rate hikes

The Pleasanton City Council voted Tuesday to delay a controversial plan to raise water rates by 62 percent over the next three years. Council members voted to conduct further analysis based on numerous resident concerns, and reconsider the hikes at their Nov. 7 meeting. The council voted unanimously to delay the vote, though Councilmember Julie Testa left before the vote due to a family emergency.

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Aquafornia news September 21, 2023 The New York Times

The summer of 2023 was California’s coolest in more than a decade

The past summer was the hottest ever in the Northern Hemisphere. In fact, scientists announced last week that June, July and August this year were the warmest on record globally, confirming that the horrific heat waves in many places were as awful as they seemed. But, as you’re probably already aware, the summer didn’t bring record-breaking heat to California. Some daily temperature records were broken in July in Palm Springs, Anaheim and Redding, but overall, the Golden State actually enjoyed its coolest summer since 2011.

Related articles: 

  • The New York Times: Floods, winds and temperature extremes challenge rail lines
  • Los Angeles Times: Does California have what it takes to adapt to sea level rise? New book offers hope
  • Mendocino Review: Point Arena completes initial sea level rise study 
  • The Center Square: Newsom UN address blames fossil fuel use for wildfires, droughts, floods
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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 Santa Barbara Independent

Stories of water and California national parks come together for new exhibition in Solvang

Water — that essential and often-elusive element so critical to our very existence — is the subject of a new juried exhibition focusing on California national parks at the Wildling Museum of Art and Nature in Solvang. Titled California National Parks: Stories of Water, the exhibition explores various impacts of water — and sometimes the lack of it — in our national parks, with artists using through a wide range of media and techniques, from acrylic, oil, and watercolor paintings to photography, mixed media, and textile art. The exhibit features 37 artists and 39 selected artworks juried from a pool of more than 240 submissions by artists across the U.S., competing for $4,000 in awards. 

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Aquafornia news September 19, 2023 KQED - San Francisco

Listen: Pajaro residents know permanent fix for levees is still a long way away

It’s been six months since the levee protecting the small Central Coast farming community of Pajaro burst, flooding the town and forcing thousands out of their homes. And while repairs are underway, a permanent fix is still years in the making.

Related article: 

  • Record-Gazette: Water district opens dual-use facility
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Aquafornia news September 19, 2023 Legal Planet

Blog: What’s the deal with the carrot boycott in Cuyama Valley?

When California lawmakers enacted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014, it was an effort to tame the wild, wild west of water. Nearly a decade later, there’s been some progress creating local sustainability plans, but Big Ag corporations are still hogging water and bullying smaller groundwater users. Look no further than the fight heating up in the Cuyama Valley, where small farmers and rural residents are calling for a boycott of carrots produced by a pair of big corporate growers who use a lot of water in an increasingly dry place. … The problem is that more water is being pumped from the ground than is being replenished. Cuyama Valley is one of California’s 21 over-pumped, or “critically overdrafted” basins. 

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Aquafornia news September 19, 2023 Business Wire

News release: California Appellate Court rules in favor of Monterey Peninsula water supply project

On September 9th, 2023 the Sixth Appellate District of California’s Court of Appeals upheld the County of Monterey’s decision to authorize permits for construction of California American Water’s Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project desalination facility.

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Aquafornia news September 19, 2023 Los Angeles Times

A celebrity-studded L.A. water district has a very big drought idea: Seafloor desalination

A water district best known for supplying the celebrity-studded enclaves of Calabasas and Hidden Hills could soon become famous for a very different reason. The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District recently partnered with California-based OceanWell to study the feasibility of harvesting drinking water from desalination pods placed on the ocean floor, several miles off the coast of California. The pilot project, which will begin in Las Virgenes’ reservoir near Westlake Village, hopes to establish the nation’s first-ever “blue water farm.” … The process could produce as much as 10 million gallons of fresh water per day — a significant gain for an inland district almost entirely reliant on imported supplies.

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Aquafornia news September 18, 2023 SF Gate

A strong El Niño is likely this winter: What that means for California

El Niño — a weather pattern that can cause impacts around the world — developed in summer and is expected to persist through winter, long-term forecasters said Thursday. In its latest monthly forecast, the federal Climate Prediction Center said there’s a 95% chance El Niño will continue through winter, January to March, and it will most likely be strong, as opposed to weak or moderate. In California, El Niño has near-celebrity status, as the state has seen some epic wet winters when it has developed in the past, but meteorologists say that the state has also seen dry or normal precipitation in El Niño winters.

Related article: 

  • Los Angeles Times: Warmest summer on record spurs dire warnings
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Aquafornia news September 15, 2023 Monterey Herald

Monterey Peninsula Water Management District board of directors to consider takeover of Cal-Am water system

While the California American Water Co. has repeatedly said they have no plans to sell their water system that serves much of the Monterey Peninsula, the local water management district board of directors is considering using eminent domain to take over the system. The public will get a chance to weigh in on that possibility at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 10 in a hearing in the Irvine Auditorium at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, 499 Pierce St., Monterey. … The resolution of necessity would entail taking by eminent domain the Monterey water system, which is currently privately owned, operated and held by Cal Am. If approved, the water system would be converted to public ownership and controlled by the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District. 

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Aquafornia news September 15, 2023 SF Gate

Officials hold ribbon-cutting for new advanced groundwater treatment facility

Standing on top of the largest groundwater well in eastern Alameda County, and flanked by twenty-foot cream-colored water vessels, five board members of the Zone 7 Water Agency, a water wholesaler for the tri-valley, cut the ribbon on an advanced groundwater treatment facility Wednesday in Pleasanton. The new technology is called Ion Exchange, which uses positive and negative particles to remove PFAS from ground water. PFAS, or polyfluoroalkyl substances, are widely used, long-lasting chemicals, the components of which break down very slowly over time. Thousands of different PFAS are found in many different consumer, commercial, and industrial products, like hiking gear and non-stick cookware.

Related article: 

  • The Independent: Pleasanton Residents Protest Water Rate Hikes
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Aquafornia news September 14, 2023 ABC7 - San Francisco

San Francisco water main break sheds light on city’s aging infrastructure where 20% of water pipes are 100 years old

Work is still underway on a sinkhole in San Francisco’s Cow Hollow neighborhood. A section of Fillmore Street remains closed after a water main broke Monday damaging the street and nearby homes and businesses. Repairs to the water main have been fixed, but that’s just the beginning. ABC7 News reporter Luz Pena has been covering this story and on Tuesday went with one of the crews surveying the damage.

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Aquafornia news September 14, 2023 San Luis Obispo Tribune

Grover Beach CA may raise water, sewer rates due to deficit

Water and sewer bills in Grover Beach could increase by nearly 20% to make up for a $2 million deficit in revenue, the city announced Wednesday in a news release. At its Sept. 5 meeting, the Grover Beach City Council learned about the findings from a recent utility rate study, heard recommendations and unanimously instructed the city staff to start the Proposition 218 process, a step in notifying the public about proposed rate changes, the release said. Prior to the 2023 study, the city conducted rate studies approximately every five years, with one conducted in 2021.

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Aquafornia news September 14, 2023 Ventura County Star

Water options improve as treatment plant goes online in El Rio

Iron be gone. Manganese, away. A $14.2 million groundwater treatment facility that scrubs iron and manganese from supplies at a wellfield in El Rio has switched on. The plant will improve drinking supplies for thousands of Ventura County residents, including families living at Naval Base Ventura County. On Wednesday morning, officials and dignitaries celebrated the United Water Conservation District project at its El Rio facility at 3561 N. Rose Ave., north of Oxnard. … Wednesday’s gathering marked completion of the plant’s first phase after construction started around February 2022. The facility treats supplies pumped from deep wells. The first phase will treat up to 3,500 gallons of groundwater per minute. Future phases can expand capacity to about 8,250 gallons per minute.

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Aquafornia news September 13, 2023 Morgan Hill Times

Crews to begin controlled explosions at Anderson Dam site

Residents in the area of Anderson Dam over the next few weeks may hear loud warning horns and explosive sounds as crews continue to excavate a tunnel under construction for the dam’s seismic retrofit project, according to Valley Water.  Water district staff say the impact to residents and passing traffic should be minimal.  Starting on Sept. 12, construction crews will begin the controlled blasting of hard rock for the Anderson Dam Tunnel Project. Scheduled detonations over the next few weeks will take place Monday through Friday, and possibly on Saturdays, from 8am-7pm, Valley Water spokesperson Matt Keller said. 

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Aquafornia news September 12, 2023 Weather.com

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: 2023 a record number of US billion-dollar disasters

H​ere is NOAA’s list of these 23 disasters, in chronological order, along with their latest damage estimates. 1. California Flooding ($4.6 billion): A parade of Pacific storms began just after Christmas 2022 and lasted into March, dumping flooding rain in parts of Northern California and the Central Valley, as well as feet of record snowfall in parts of the Sierra and Southern California high country. … 15. Late June Severe Weather ($3.5 billion): This siege of storms from June 21-26 began in the High Plains, including destructive hailstorms in Colorado, one of which injured almost 100 concertgoers near Denver,​ and a deadly tornado in Matador, Texas.

Related articles: 

  • NOAA: U.S. saw its 9th-warmest August on record
  • Axios: Californians’ climate concern mounts during home buying process
  • Bloomberg: FEMA isn’t ready for our new age of climate disasters
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Aquafornia news September 11, 2023 Pleasanton Weekly

Kaiser to pay $49 million after environmental, patient privacy violations

Kaiser, California’s largest healthcare provider, has agreed to a $49 million settlement with the State Attorney General’s Office and six district attorneys, including in Alameda County, for illegally dumping hazardous waste, medical waste, and the protected health information of more than 7,000 patients at Kaiser facilities statewide, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Friday. … [He said]: “Batteries containing toxic, corrosive chemicals could leach into the surrounding environment and pollute the soil and groundwater. Prescription medications could leach into the water table and affect our drinking water.” He added that hazardous chemicals could start a fire that pollutes the air and harms the local ecosystem. 

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Aquafornia news September 11, 2023 Los Angeles Times

Baby beaver sighting inspires hope for California comeback

Bill Leikam was reviewing footage from a wildlife camera he placed along a Palo Alto creekbed recently when something unfamiliar scampered across the screen. … Eventually, he recognized the mysterious creature as a critically important species that has long been missing from his beloved Baylands — a mammal that California wildlife officials have hailed as a “climate hero.” … For decades, developers, municipalities and farmers focused on beavers as a problem that required mitigation or removal. Now, the species known as Castor canadensis is seen as offering myriad benefits: It can help to mitigate drought and wildfires through natural water management; it is considered a keystone species for its ability to foster biodiversity; and it can restore habitat through its ecosystem engineering.

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Aquafornia news September 8, 2023 Dairy Herd

What an El Niño event could mean for fall weather

So far, 2023 has been a wild year for weather. Flooding, drought and hail have all made their way into the headlines - not to mention the extreme high and low temperatures seen throughout the seasons. While weather patterns have been anything but predictable this year, Eric Snodgrass, Principal Atmospheric Scientist for Nutrien Ag Solutions, says America’s heartland may start to see wetter weather conditions just in time for fall. … Back in early June, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center issued an El Niño advisory, noting that El Niño conditions were present and would likely strengthen into the fall and winter months. … El Niño winters also bring better chances for warmer-than-average temperatures across the northern tier of the country.

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Aquafornia news September 7, 2023 The San Diego Union-Tribune

El Niño is coming this winter. The question is, will it be a whopper?

San Diego County’s fragile shoreline and vulnerable beachfront properties could be in for a rough winter, according to the California Coastal Commission, the National Weather Service and some top San Diego scientists. “We are looking at an emerging El Niño event,” staff geologist Joseph Street told the Coastal Commission at its meeting Wednesday in Eureka. An El Niño is a meteorological phenomenon that occurs every two to seven years. The water temperature at the surface of the Central Pacific Ocean along the equator warms a few degrees above its long-term average, creating conditions for stronger, more frequent seasonal storms across much of the globe.

Related article: 

  • San Francisco Chronicle: Category 5 Hurricane Jova could send big waves to California
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Aquafornia news September 7, 2023 Marin Independent Journal

Marin utility eyes delay of smart water meter expansion

Marin Municipal Water District staff are recommending delaying a proposed expansion of “smart” water meters to all customers in order to address more urgent risks to the agency’s main software system. On Tuesday, staff and consultants told the district Board of Directors that attempting to simultaneously complete two of the district’s largest technological upgrades in decades may result in potential system failures. … For the past 23 years, the water district has used the same software system from the multinational company SAP to manage nearly all of the agency’s functions, including billing, water-use tracking, human resources, maintenance planning and customer relations.

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Aquafornia news September 7, 2023 Berkeley Lab News Center

News release: Five ways NAWI is advancing water treatment and desalination technologies

Innovative water treatment and desalination technologies hold promise for building climate resilience, realizing a circular water economy, and bolstering water security. However, more research and development is critical not only to radically lower the cost and energy of such technologies, but to effectively treat unconventional water sources. Conventional water supplies, such as fresh water and groundwater, are typically used once and thrown away, rendering this valuable and finite resource inaccessible for further use. Since its launch in 2019, the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) has made strides in developing new technologies to economically treat, use, and recycle unconventional waters (such as brackish groundwater, municipal and industrial wastewater, and agricultural run-off), which could point to a future where water equity and security is accessible to all.

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Aquafornia news September 6, 2023 The Guardian

California escaped deadly wildfires this summer. The danger isn’t over yet

As the Labor Day holiday weekend draws the summer to a close, it’s been an unusually quiet season for fires across the American west. Roughly 80,000 hectares (2m acres) have burned across the country so far, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), roughly 61% less than the 10-year average for this time of year. The decrease has been particularly pronounced in the fire-prone west, which has grown accustomed to seeing swaths of their parched forests and browning hillsides ignite but has largely been given a reprieve from a summer of smoke-filled skies. … Well-timed storms, including the unusual Tropical Storm Hilary, doused southern California and other dry areas nearby, staving off fire dangers that typically rise at the end of summer and into autumn.

Related articles: 

  • Los Angeles Times: Climate change boosts risk of explosive wildfire growth in California by 25%, study says
  • Record Searchlight: Redding rainfall tops 40 inches since Oct. 1
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Aquafornia news September 6, 2023 CNN

These five cities could be one natural disaster away from a catastrophic water crisis

Roughly an hour from California’s Bay Area and less than a mile from the Pacific Ocean, Kelli and Tim Hutton purchased a half an acre property in the Central Coast town of Moss Landing last summer. As with many others living in the area, they heavily rely on their private well for water. After moving into the new home with their newborn baby, the Huttons heard other residents were concerned about high levels of saltwater intrusion, being so near the ocean. Rising sea level and California’s whiplash weather have been impacting their water table, with seawater seeping in and causing pipes to corrode, making water undrinkable.

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Aquafornia news September 6, 2023 KCRA - Sacramento

Joe Montana sues San Francisco alleging fecal matter in home

Joe and Jennifer Montana are among the people suing San Francisco, alleging city departments did nothing to prevent “torrents of water and untreated sewage” from flooding their homes. The lawsuit, filed in the San Francisco County Superior Court on Aug. 24, was brought by dozens of families who live, rent or own property in the Marina District. The families allege that the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and Department of Public Works, as well as contractors they hired, knowingly allowed negligent conditions to develop in their neighborhood. … This problem came to a head during winter storms over the past two years, the families say. The suit claims 4.5 million gallons of “untreated wastewater” flooded homes in Oct. 2021, and “torrents of water and untreated sewage” inundated their properties again in the storms of December 2022 and this past January.

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Aquafornia news September 5, 2023 Monterey County Weekly

Neglected for decades, the Pajaro levee is finally holding attention of policymakers

On an overcast morning on Friday, Aug. 25, as jets of water from sprinklers rain down on the surrounding fields of lettuce, a gaggle of journalists, politicians and public officials are gathered at a press event along the Pajaro River levee, just more than a stone’s throw from where it breached last March. The breach occurred after weeks of sustained rainfall on the Central Coast, and it wasn’t a surprise – for over 50 years, federal, state and local officials have known the levee was deficient, but there was never enough buy-in, or urgency, to do something about it. Seemingly, that is starting to change, but time will tell if it’s real, or just a public relations band-aid to save face after the flooding in the community of Pajaro, which displaced thousands of residents from their homes and left some of those homes unlivable.

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Aquafornia news September 5, 2023 Ag Net West

‘Most stressful and most challenging’ watermelon season

Watermelon season has been a tough one this year after a late start due to the weather. VP of Crops and Soils at Van Groningen & Sons Incorporated, Bryan Van Groningen said their planting was delayed about three weeks back in Spring. Plantings usually go in around the middle of March, but this year the earliest plantings did not start until the first week of April. “At one time we had almost one million transplants sitting in greenhouses in the last couple weeks of March that were ready to be planted and we had no place to plant them because the fields were too wet,” Van Groningen.

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Aquafornia news September 5, 2023 KSBY - Central Coast

Cuyama Basin landowners sued by major carrot producers Grimmway, Bolthouse

Landowners in the Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin have been fighting major agriculture producers, Grimmway Farms and Bolthouse Farms, for their water rights. Everyone in the basin was on track to cut water usage until the carrot growers filed an adjudication in court against every landowner in the basin, including the school district, temporarily halting the cutback, and essentially leaving the courts with the decision on who gets water rights in the basin. The Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin was designated as one of 21 basins or subbasins in California that are in a state of critical overdraft. Local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSA), agencies under the California Department of Water Resources, are responsible for creating a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) to outline how basins throughout the state will become sustainable by 2040. Those plans then get updated every five years.

Related articles: 

  • Record Gazette: Beaumont - New recharge facility promises expanded regional water supplies
  • Produce Blue Book: Commentary – Groundwater grievances
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Aquafornia news September 5, 2023 KION - Central Coast

Santa Cruz Senator’s bill to curb illegal water usage at unlicensed cannabis cultivation sites becomes law

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Santa Cruz Senator John Laird’s SB 756 into law on Friday, according to the governor’s office. The bill addresses three issues regarding the State Water Board. First, its ability to participate in the inspection of unlicensed cannabis cultivation sites with law enforcement; second, its ability to inspect these sites for violation of water rights laws (including illegal diversion and/or use); and third, its ability to serve various types of legal documents and provide notice to unlicensed cannabis cultivation sites.

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Aquafornia news September 1, 2023 KCBX - Central Coast

“It’s not going to be an easy one”: Central Coast vineyards to see late harvest after winter storms

California experienced triple the amount of average rainfall within the first few months of 2023, leading to heavy plant growth across the Central Coast. It even caused a super bloom of wildflowers off of Highway 1 and 58, creating excitement for locals and visitors alike. Months later, one of the Central Coast’s biggest industries is grappling with the storms’ after-effects, as harvest season for vineyards is looking a lot different this year. Walking through Paso Robles on a hot August afternoon, it’s almost like the storms never happened. The rolling hills at Tablas Creek Vineyard are lined with healthy grapevines and olive trees.

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Aquafornia news August 31, 2023 Half Moon Bay Review

District could replenish groundwater with recycled water

Earlier this month the Coastside County Water District Board of Directors workshopped ideas for bringing recycled water to Half Moon Bay. The district is in the early stages of a feasibility study that will examine whether water from various sources, including wastewater, could be used for agriculture or drinking supplies. Throughout the process, CCWD must weigh the benefits of diversifying local water sources with the costs of building expensive infrastructure. Two months ago, the board agreed to pay Water Works Engineers $299,977 to evaluate the region’s hydrogeology, implementation options and permitting feasibility. The district has applied for grants from the Division of Financial Assistance that could pay for planning and construction. 

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Aquafornia news August 29, 2023 The New York Times

Waves along California’s coast are getting bigger, study says

Early this year, severe storms battered California, bringing huge waves that damaged infrastructure and forced people away from the coast. That may be the new norm, as climate change fuels severe weather that is making waves bigger, according to a study published this month. The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, uses nearly a century of seismic records to show that mean winter wave heights, as well as the frequency of big waves, have significantly increased along California’s coast since the 1970s. In recent decades, the number of waves taller than 16 feet has more than doubled, according to the paper, which showed that the Aleutian Low, an area of low pressure over the Aleutian Islands in southwest Alaska, has also intensified, likely increasing storms. 

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Aquafornia news August 28, 2023 Lookout Local Santa Cruz

As Pajaro River levee repairs begin, questions remain around the long-sought replacement

About a half-mile off San Juan Road, past the lettuce fields, excavators and tractors have begun moving earth to repair the exact spot along the 12-mile Pajaro River levee that failed on March 11, leading to catastrophic flooding and generational disaster. Elected officials and community leaders from Santa Cruz and Monterey counties and representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stood against a noisy backdrop of construction Friday to update the community on where this urgent project stands. The emergency repair underway will focus on three sections of the levee. The first section, where the levee burst in March, will finish by Nov. 2, according to Holly Costa, emergency management chief for the corps.

Related article: 

  • Ventura County Star: Ventura County neighborhood tries to raise $94,000 to ease Coyote Creek flooding woes 
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Aquafornia news August 25, 2023 Santa Cruz Local

Months after Pajaro flood, repair crews race against winter rain

Nearly six months after a Pajaro River levee breach upended the lives of about 3,000 Pajaro residents, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is trying to complete repairs on three parts of the levee before anticipated winter rain. Emergency repairs are expected to finish by the end of November but it could take longer if there is rain, said Holly Costa, emergency management chief for the Army Corps of Engineers. It is “very unusual” for levees to be fully repaired in the same year they were damaged, Costa said. When the levee was damaged in the past, “we didn’t get those repaired until two or three years afterwards,” she said. Completing the levee repairs before the rainy season is crucial because wet conditions could make the work difficult, Costa said.

Related article: 

  • Marin Independent Journal: Marin advances baffle plan for San Anselmo Creek
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Aquafornia news August 25, 2023 San Francisco Chronicle

Heat is driving deadly wildfires in California’s far north. When will Bay Area feel impacts?

Wildfires raging in rugged pockets of California’s far north have killed a Siskiyou County man and added particulate plumes to smoke drifting toward the Bay Area from big Oregon blazes.  California fire map: Active fires in Northern California including Smith River Complex California’s fire season is here, and with temperatures rising, lightning weather in the forecast and autumnal winds always a threat, it’s likely to intensify over the next few months and threaten more populated areas.  Roughly 173,000 acres have burned so far this season — up 24% from 139,000 this time last year, a surprisingly mild season, but down nearly 80% from an average of about 812,000 acres over the past five years, which included three years of historic drought.

Related article: 

  • Bloomberg: Maui wildfires show that ‘risk is ubiquitous now’
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Aquafornia news August 25, 2023 Los Angeles Times

Marine heat wave off California helped fuel Hurricane Hilary

Last week, a massive marine heat wave sitting roughly 60 miles off California’s coast oozed eastward, providing warm water fuel for Hurricane Hilary and its historic trek north. It was a worrisome development for researchers who have monitored this warm mass for nearly a decade — and who are watching a developing El Niño in the equatorial Pacific. Ever since the “blob” appeared in the northeastern Pacific at the very end of 2013 — a massive marine heat wave that gripped the West Coast for nearly two years in heat and drought; disrupting marine ecosystems up and down the coast — a massive offshore heat wave has appeared nearly every year (with the exception of 2017 and 2018); expanding in the summer and shrinking in the winter.

Related articles: 

  • San Francisco Chronicle: California nearly drought free in wake of Hilary’s historic rains
  • East Bay Times: Big animals avoid impact of Hilary, wildlife in streams is more vulnerable
  • The Hill: Multiyear El Niño and La Niña events could become more common
  • Climate.gov – Blog: El Niño Means An Even Floodier Future Is On The Coastal Horizon
  • Arizona Republic: Commentary: Lake Mead barely rose after Hilary’s rains. There’s a reason for that
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Aquafornia news August 24, 2023 New Times San Luis Obispo

Opinion: The grand jury is in, and the Paso basin is still in trouble

The plan to save the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin is failing. In 2014, the California Legislature passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), requiring local communities to form groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) to be administered by groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs). If you’ve been following the saga of the critically overdrafted Paso Robles Groundwater Basin for the last 10 years, the following news may depress you, but it probably won’t surprise you. Some things have changed over that time—the basin now has a groundwater sustainability agency and a groundwater sustainability plan—but some other things have not, including the mindset that still believes the problem can be solved by voluntary conservation, supplemental water projects, and digging deeper wells.

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Aquafornia news August 23, 2023 San Luis Obispo Tribune

Central Coast CA is refuge from climate change, study says

In an otherwise warming planet, new research shows that the ocean off California’s Central Coast may be a thermal refuge for marine wildlife. Cal Poly associate professor Ryan Walter, who teaches physics, and fourth-year physics student Michael Dalsin analyzed temperature data gathered from 1978 through 2020 at a site just north of Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. They found that while other areas of the world see sharp rises in ocean temperatures and more frequent and more intense heatwaves, the Central Coast hasn’t seen such intense trends. The region still experiences marine heatwaves and cold spells brought on by factors such as the ocean-wide climactic patterns of El Niño and La Niña, but cold current upwelling brought on by strong local winds helps maintain the marine ecosystem along the Central Coast, according to a study by Walter and Dalsin published on July 31.

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Aquafornia news August 22, 2023 Los Angeles Times

Does the story of the California coast have to end in disaster?

The sea has long inspired a human attraction, perhaps even a compulsion, to be as close to the edge as possible. Its sheer power captivates us, even on its most turbulent days, and we can’t help but dream of calling the shore our own. To be out by the surf, to sense the very limits of where land can go, to feel the rise and fall of each wave like our own breath is to reckon with a force so alive it feels otherworldly. But the ocean is not “out there” beyond the shore, it is upon us, carving away at the coast each day despite our best efforts to keep the water at bay. We thought that with enough ingenuity we could contain the sea, but the rising tide is proving otherwise. Studying this confluence of land, people and sea has kept Gary Griggs busy for much of his life. 

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Aquafornia news August 22, 2023 Produce Blue Book

The cost of growing romaine hearts

How much does it cost to grow an acre of romaine hearts in the nation’s salad bowl? A new study from the University of California at Davis Cooperative Extension gives us a comprehensive breakdown for costs in the state’s Central Coast region: Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties. The short answer: for a 1,500-acre operation, growing costs, $7,400, harvest costs $9,383, for a total of $16,793 per acre. … Water costs (always a fascinating subject): low, at $282 per acre-foot, reflecting the fact that Salinas Valley crops rely more or less exclusively on groundwater. Total irrigation costs are $582 per acre. Incidentally, although the grower is responsible for pumping costs, any underground costs (such as wells running dry) are borne by the landowner.

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Aquafornia news August 22, 2023 News Channel 3-12 - Central Coast

Water conservation board member charged with years of felony water theft

Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced on Monday that charges have been filed against Daniel Conklin Naumann for multiple felony counts of grand theft and theft of utility services after diversion bypasses were discovered on two commercial pumps that irrigated Naumann’s crops. The Camarillo resident owns and operates Naumann Family Farms in Oxnard and is a publicly elected board member of the United Water Conservation District. For a portion of the period he has been charged, Naumann was also an alternate board member of the Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency.

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Aquafornia news August 22, 2023 KCBS - Central Coast

SLO residents say airport contamination cleanup is moving too slowly

Toxic chemicals have been leaking into the groundwater under and around the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport for about five decades. It’s not the only airport in the state dealing with this contamination, but it is the first to address the problem with a formal plan. That’s because the contamination impacted dozens of private wells for homes and businesses. Many affected residents feel like the process is moving too slowly. … But the foam is full of harmful chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. They’re often called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment. … Beginning in 2019, the State Water Board ordered 30 airports in California to investigate PFAS contamination. According to the board, all of them showed some level of impact. As for the SLO airport, a vast majority of the more than 70 wells in the area were contaminated.

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Aquafornia news August 21, 2023 Ducks Unlimited

News release: Ducks Unlimited projects underway at popular Elkhorn Slough in California

The latest phase of a decades-long effort to help restore California’s largest tract of tidal salt marsh south of San Francisco Bay is underway this summer, thanks to the efforts of Ducks Unlimited and its partners at Elkhorn Slough.   For years, Ducks Unlimited has partnered with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Elkhorn Slough Foundation on the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve to restore degraded salt marsh and surrounding habitats.   Meandering seven miles inland from the coast, the Elkhorn Slough sits at the center of California’s iconic Monterey Bay. Last century, the mouth of the sinuous waterway was relocated to create a harbor which resulted in stronger tides washing in and out of the slough. Instead of shallow salt marshes, the slough began to function as a bay. 

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Aquafornia news August 17, 2023 KSBW - Central Coast

State clears Big Basin Water Company to operate sewer plant

Three years on from the CZU Complex Lightning Fire, the state of California has finally given approval for the Big Basin Water Company to once again begin operating the local sewer system. The approval was received by the company in an email Wednesday. Homeowners say one of the obstacles to rebuilding after the fires has been the county was not approving their building permits because sewer lines were not connected. Now, Big Basin Water Company, which is in charge of the sewer plant in the area, says the state just cleared them to operate again and says that will help streamline the permit process for homeowners.

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Aquafornia news August 17, 2023 CalMatters

Storm damage funds trickle out to CA immigrants

Undocumented Californians affected by winter storms and floods are slowly starting to receive money from a special relief program the state launched for them two months ago. In June, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced it plans to spend $95 million from the state’s Rapid Response Fund to help thousands of flood victims recover from storm damage and financial setbacks. The beneficiaries would be immigrants who don’t qualify for federal emergency assistance or state unemployment insurance because they are undocumented. More than 20 nonprofits have contracts with the Department of Social Services to distribute the money. So far they have begun handing out nearly $18 million to about 12,000 residents — but it’s at an uneven pace.

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Western Water August 12, 2022 Nick Cahill California Groundwater Map WESTERN WATER-Could Virtual Networks Solve Drinking Water Woes for California’s Isolated, Disadvantaged Communities? By Nick Cahill

Could Virtual Networks Solve Drinking Water Woes for California’s Isolated, Disadvantaged Communities?
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: UCLA pilot project uses high-tech gear in LA to remotely run clean-water systems for small communities in Central California's Salinas Valley

UCLA’s remote water treatment systems are providing safe tap water to three disadvantaged communities in the Salinas Valley. A pilot program in the Salinas Valley run remotely out of Los Angeles is offering a test case for how California could provide clean drinking water for isolated rural communities plagued by contaminated groundwater that lack the financial means or expertise to connect to a larger water system.

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Western Water January 16, 2020 Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Douglas E. Beeman

Water Resource Innovation, Hard-Earned Lessons and Colorado River Challenges — Western Water Year in Review
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK-Our 2019 articles spanned the gamut from groundwater sustainability and drought resiliency to collaboration and innovation

Smoke from the 2018 Camp Fire as viewed from Lake Oroville in Northern California. Innovative efforts to accelerate restoration of headwater forests and to improve a river for the benefit of both farmers and fish. Hard-earned lessons for water agencies from a string of devastating California wildfires. Efforts to drought-proof a chronically water-short region of California. And a broad debate surrounding how best to address persistent challenges facing the Colorado River. 

These were among the issues Western Water explored in 2019, and are still worth taking a look at in case you missed them.

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Western Water October 10, 2019 California Groundwater Map Gary Pitzer

Recharging Depleted Aquifers No Easy Task, But It’s Key To California’s Water Supply Future
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: A UC Berkeley symposium explores approaches and challenges to managed aquifer recharge around the West

A water recharge basin in Southern California's Coachella Valley. To survive the next drought and meet the looming demands of the state’s groundwater sustainability law, California is going to have to put more water back in the ground. But as other Western states have found, recharging overpumped aquifers is no easy task.

Successfully recharging aquifers could bring multiple benefits for farms and wildlife and help restore the vital interconnection between groundwater and rivers or streams. As local areas around California draft their groundwater sustainability plans, though, landowners in the hardest hit regions of the state know they will have to reduce pumping to address the chronic overdraft in which millions of acre-feet more are withdrawn than are naturally recharged.

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Western Water September 26, 2019 California Water Map Gary Pitzer

Often Short of Water, California’s Southern Central Coast Builds Toward A Drought-Proof Supply
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Water agencies in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo counties look to seawater, recycled water to protect against water shortages

The spillway at Lake Cachuma in central Santa Barbara County. Drought in 2016 plunged its storage to about 8 percent of capacity.The southern part of California’s Central Coast from San Luis Obispo County to Ventura County, home to about 1.5 million people, is blessed with a pleasing Mediterranean climate and a picturesque terrain. Yet while its unique geography abounds in beauty, the area perpetually struggles with drought.

Indeed, while the rest of California breathed a sigh of relief with the return of wet weather after the severe drought of 2012–2016, places such as Santa Barbara still grappled with dry conditions.

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Announcement July 10, 2019

Explore a Scenic But Challenged California Landscape on Our Edge of Drought Tour
August 27-29 Tour Examines Santa Barbara Region Prone to Drought, Mudslides and Wildfire

Pyramid LakeNew to this year’s slate of water tours, our Edge of Drought Tour Aug. 27-29 will venture into the Santa Barbara area to learn about the challenges of limited local surface and groundwater supplies and the solutions being implemented to address them.

Despite Santa Barbara County’s decision to lift a drought emergency declaration after this winter’s storms replenished local reservoirs, the region’s hydrologic recovery often has lagged behind much of the rest of the state.

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Tour November 6, 2019 - 7:30am - November 7, 2019 - 6:30pm Nick Gray Central Coast Tour Highlights Dam Removal & River Restoration, Ocean Desal and Innovative Recycling Project Using Ag Runoff Explore Airborne Mapping of Seawater Intrusion on Central Coast Tour November 6-7 Central Coast Tour Explores Solutions to Water Resource Challenges That Offer Lessons for California

Central Coast Tour 2019
Field Trip - November 6-7

This 2-day, 1-night tour offered participants the opportunity to learn about water issues affecting California’s scenic Central Coast and efforts to solve some of the challenges of a region struggling to be sustainable with limited local supplies that have potential applications statewide.

  • Paul Sorensen Presentation
  • Keith Van Der Maaten Presentation
  • Andy Fisher Presentation
  • Jeff Cattaneo Presentation
  • Pure Water Monterey Presentation
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Western Water October 5, 2018 Douglas E. Beeman

What Would You Do About Water If You Were California’s Next Governor?
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Survey at Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit elicits a long and wide-ranging potential to-do list

There’s going to be a new governor in California next year – and a host of challenges both old and new involving the state’s most vital natural resource, water.

So what should be the next governor’s water priorities?

That was one of the questions put to more than 150 participants during a wrap-up session at the end of the Water Education Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento.

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Western Water May 4, 2018 Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Gary Pitzer

Novel Effort to Aid Groundwater on California’s Central Coast Could Help Other Depleted Basins
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Michael Kiparsky, director of UC Berkeley's Wheeler Water Institute, explains Pajaro Valley groundwater recharge pilot project

Michael KiparskySpurred by drought and a major policy shift, groundwater management has assumed an unprecedented mantle of importance in California. Local agencies in the hardest-hit areas of groundwater depletion are drawing plans to halt overdraft and bring stressed aquifers to the road of recovery.

Along the way, an army of experts has been enlisted to help characterize the extent of the problem and how the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 is implemented in a manner that reflects its original intent.

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Aquapedia background December 29, 2016 Layperson's Guide to Flood Management

ARkStorm

Sacramento's K Street during the 1862 flood that inundated the Central Valley.ARkStorm stands for an atmospheric river (“AR”) that carries precipitation levels expected to occur once every 1,000 years (“k”). The concept was presented in a 2011 report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) intended to elevate the visibility of the very real threats to human life, property and ecosystems posed by extreme storms on the West Coast.

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Western Water Excerpt August 16, 2016 Jenn Bowles

Outdated Dams: When Removal Becomes an Option
Summer 2016

Mired in drought, expectations are high that new storage funded by Prop. 1 will be constructed to help California weather the adverse conditions and keep water flowing to homes and farms.

At the same time, there are some dams in the state eyed for removal because they are obsolete – choked by accumulated sediment, seismically vulnerable and out of compliance with federal regulations that require environmental balance.

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Aquapedia background May 17, 2016 Layperson's Guide to Groundwater California Groundwater Map

Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA)

A man watches as a groundwater pump pours water onto a field in Northern California.A new era of groundwater management began in 2014 with the passage of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), which aims for local and regional agencies to develop and implement sustainable groundwater management plans with the state as the backstop.

SGMA defines “sustainable groundwater management” as the “management and use of groundwater in a manner that can be maintained during the planning and implementation horizon without causing undesirable results.”

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Western Water Magazine March 4, 2016

Tapping the Ocean: What is the Role of Desalination?
Winter 2016

This issue looks at the role of ocean desalination in meeting California’s water needs today and in the future.

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Publication February 12, 2015

The 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
A Handbook to Understanding and Implementing the Law

This handbook provides crucial background information on the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, signed into law in 2014 by Gov. Jerry Brown. The handbook also includes a section on options for new governance.

  • Read the Handbook
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