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Topic: Growth

Overview April 24, 2014

Growth

Despite droughts, the recession and natural disasters, California’s urban population continues to grow.

This population growth means increasing demand for water by urban areas—home to most of California’s population [see also Agricultural Conservation].  As of 2012, seven of the most populated urbanized areas in the United States are in California.

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Aquafornia news July 5, 2022 The Associated Press

California sets nation’s toughest plastics reduction rules

Companies selling shampoo, food and other products wrapped in plastic have a decade to cut down on their use of the polluting material if they want their wares on California store shelves. Major legislation passed and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday aims to significantly reduce single-use plastic packaging in the state and drastically boost recycling rates for what remains. … Most plastic products in the United States are not recycled, with millions of tons ending up in landfills and the world’s oceans. It harms wildlife and shows up in drinking water in the form of microplastics.

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Aquafornia news July 5, 2022 Protocol

West megadrought intersects with data center water use

The West is parched, and getting more so by the day. Lake Mead — the country’s largest reservoir — is nearing “dead pool” levels, meaning it may soon be too low to flow downstream. The entirety of the Four Corners plus California is mired in megadrought. Amid this desiccation, hundreds of the country’s data centers use vast amounts of water to hum along. Dozens cluster around major metro centers, including those with mandatory or voluntary water restrictions in place to curtail residential and agricultural use. Exactly how much water, however, is an open question given that many companies don’t track it, much less report it.

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Aquafornia news July 5, 2022 Manteca Bulletin

Manteca could overtake Tracy population by 2030

If there is a promised land for home developers in San Joaquin County, it might just be Manteca. Lathrop thanks to the 15,001-home planned River Islands community was — once aberrations involving Paradise and Santa Cruz growth due to people returning to rebuilt homes after being  burned-out in a PG&E sparked wildfire and the return to in-person learning at University of California campuses — the fastest growing city in California in 2021. … Mountain House will likely be checked to a large degree by water. It needed a 10,000  acre-foot water transfer from the South San Joaquin Irrigation District to try and weather the drought this year after the state cut off their water deliveries.

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Aquafornia news July 5, 2022 Los Angeles Times

California almond growers are feeling the squeeze

[T]he prospect of harvesting 2.8 billion pounds this year — just shy of the 2.9 billion pounds in 2021 and the record 3.1 billion pounds in 2020 — has industry leaders both excited and worried. That’s because about 1.3 billion pounds of unsold almonds are still sitting in piles at processing and packing facilities. The problem comes at a time when inflation and a historic drought are pushing the costs of production and water supplies to an all-time high, and the price of almonds has fallen to an all-time low of about $2 per pound. It’s a sharp reversal for the industry after four decades of relentless expansion across 1.6 million acres in California’s agricultural Central Valley from Tehama County to southern Fresno County.

Related articles:

  • E&E News: EPA sets wildlife protections on 3 pesticides
  • Milk Producers Council: Water Blueprint hosts CDFA Secretary, State Water Resources Control Board, DWR Leaders
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news July 1, 2022 San Francisco Chronicle

Friday Top of the Scroll: California lawmakers pass major plastic-reduction measure after years of thwarted attempts

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a sweeping plastic-reduction measure that aims to dramatically shrink the amount of disposable packaging and food ware that Californians use in their daily lives. The bill, SB54, is the result of a breakthrough legislative deal between some environmentalists, business groups and waste haulers, a last-minute compromise that led proponents to withdraw an anti-plastic waste initiative from the November ballot. … “California won’t tolerate plastic waste that’s filling our waterways and making it harder to breathe,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re holding polluters responsible and cutting plastics at the source.”

Related articles: 

  • Los Angeles Times: Newsletter - California lawmakers put the brakes on plastics. What does it mean for the rest of us?
  • CalMatters: Deal pulls California plastic trash measure from ballot 
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Aquafornia news June 30, 2022 Christian Science Monitor

Drinking water in short supply? There’s a solution in the air

High above the Pacific Ocean, tucked in the steep contours of mountainous Malibu, [David Hertz and his wife, Laura Doss-Hertz] supply their house, pool, and network of firefighting hoses with water harvested from the air.  The couple use their property – dubbed Xanabu – as a demonstration site for atmospheric water generation. … Globally, 1 in 3 people do not have access to safe drinking water, according to the World Health Organization. This urgency is driving support for innovations in atmospheric water generation to address the two biggest hurdles to widespread use: scaling it up, and making it accessible – and affordable – to people in regions that need it most.  

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Aquafornia news June 30, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Extreme heat, drought will permanently scar California and its social fabric

Unprecedented dryness across the western United States is meeting with increasingly warm temperatures to create climate conditions so extreme that the landscape of California could permanently and profoundly change, a growing number of scientists say. The Golden State’s great drying has already begun to reduce snowpack, worsen wildfires and dry out soils, and researchers say that trend will likely continue, along with the widespread loss of trees and other significant shifts. Some say what’s in store for the state could be akin to the conditions that drove people thousands of years ago to abandon thriving cities in the Southwest and other arid parts of the world as severe drought contributed to crop failures and the crumbling of social norms.

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Aquafornia news June 29, 2022 Arizona Republic

Pipelines? Desalination? Turf removal? Arizona commits $1B to augment, conserve water supplies

The Colorado River’s precipitous decline pushed Arizona lawmakers to deliver Gov. Doug Ducey’s $1 billion water augmentation fund — and then some — late Friday, their final night in session. Before the votes, the growing urgency for addressing the state’s oncoming water shortage and the long timeline for approving and building new water projects nearly sank the legislation. 

Related articles: 

  • Environmental Defense Fund: Arizona Legislature Approves Historic Funding for Water Projects But Fails to Protect Rural Groundwater
  • Arizona Republic: Opinion – Arizona has not set aside $1 billion for water – yet
  • Arizona Public Media: ASU online water tool updates help Arizonans learn about waterways
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Aquafornia news June 29, 2022 The Sacramento Bee

Opinion: California can lead America out of ocean plastics crisis

When I reminisce about the time I spent at the beach as a kid, I remember peering into tide pools and splashing in the cool water of the Pacific. Something I don’t remember — but that now seems inescapable — is plastic pollution, everywhere. The difference is not my imagination. Global plastic production has nearly tripled in my lifetime. Plastics have reached every corner of the planet, from deep ocean trenches to mountaintops and even our lungs and bloodstreams. … We need a multifaceted approach that includes using less plastic and improving recycling rates.
-Written by Dr. Anja Brandon, the U.S. plastics policy analyst at the Ocean Conservancy and one of the chief architects of the Senate Bill 54.

Related article: 

  • Cal Matters: Growing clarity on November ballot measure battles 
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Aquafornia news June 28, 2022 Grist

June heat waves smash records across the globe

It’s just a few days into summer, and heat waves have already toppled records across the globe, from the Russian Arctic to the muggy Gulf Coast. With July and August — usually the hottest summer months — still to come, the early extreme heat offers a grim picture of summer’s growing danger. … According to a recent survey, a little more than half of Americans say they have been personally affected by extreme heat. That number is much higher in California, where 71 percent of the survey respondents say it has affected their lives, whether through climbing electricity bills or declining health. After this summer, it may spike higher still.

Related article: 

  • KTLA – Los Angeles: Heat wave sweeps through Southern California
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Aquafornia news June 27, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Editorial: California has a chance to lead the nation on cutting plastic trash. If we don’t blow it

The last few years have seen one distressing news story after another about the scourge of plastic waste: Single-use plastic packaging dumped in the ocean is killing sea animals who mistake it for food. Elephants in Sri Lanka are dying after ingesting plastic trash piled up in open-air landfills. Discarded bottles, bags and wrapping broken down into microplastic have invaded our food system and even our bloodstream. Microplastic is in the air we breathe and water we drink. … California however, is on the verge of taking the first substantial steps in the nation to reduce the flow of the harmful waste — if lawmakers don’t blow the chance. 

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Aquafornia news June 23, 2022 E&E News

Even in a ‘megadrought,’ some eye new or expanded Colorado River dams

Even as a persistent drought strangles the Colorado River and threatens the viability of giant reservoirs and dams erected decades ago, Western states and local governments are eyeing more projects to tap the flow of the 1,450-mile river and its tributaries. Whether those potential new reservoirs or other diversions would further tax an already overwhelmed system, or actually help states and municipalities adapt to a changing climate while making better use of their dwindling supplies, is a point of contention between environmentalists and water managers. 

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Aquafornia news June 23, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Environmentalists sue to block Santa Clara County dam project

As California endures water restrictions due to widespread drought, a proposed $2.5-billion reservoir expansion project in Santa Clara County promises to increase the amount of freshwater for more than a million people. But a group of environmentalists and landowners claim in a lawsuit filed earlier this month that the local water district did not conduct the necessary environmental studies to determine how the project planned near Pacheco Pass would affect the region’s wildlife and undeveloped land.

Related article: 

  • Manteca Bulletin: San Luis Reservoir dam being raised 10 feet 
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Aquafornia news June 22, 2022 Reuters

Las Vegas declares turf war on lawns as drought worsens

Las Vegas is ripping up millions of square feet of grass - including greenery along the iconic strip – as the city struggles with a decades-long drought made worse by climate change. Lawmakers last year outlawed turf that is only decorative, and property owners across the city are replacing grass with a mix of artificial turf and desert-friendly plants. The law does not apply to golf courses or private houses, but new homes are not allowed to use real grass.

Related articles: 

  • Fox 10 – Phoenix: Lake Mead - Drought-stricken reservoir near Vegas hits new lowest level since 1930s
  • KTAR: Chandler is latest Valley city to take water management action
  • Western Water Rewind: As Climate Change Turns Up The Heat in Las Vegas, Water Managers Try to Wring New Savings to Stretch Supply
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news June 22, 2022 Mercury News

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: Water fight – Lawsuit filed against $2.5 billion dam project planned for Santa Clara County

Critics of plans to build a huge new reservoir in Santa Clara County near Pacheco Pass have filed a lawsuit against the proposed $2.5 billion project, presenting a new hurdle for what would be the largest reservoir constructed in the Bay Area in more than 20 years. The group, called the Stop the Pacheco Dam Coalition and made up of environmentalists and landowners whose rural ranchland property would be flooded, sued the Santa Clara Valley Water District in Santa Clara County Superior Court earlier this month. In the suit, opponents allege that the water district, a government agency based in San Jose, violated state law when it decided not conduct environmental studies …

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Aquafornia news June 21, 2022 The Tribune

Opinion: The Colorado River Compact hasn’t aged well

The Colorado River Compact turns 100 this year, but any celebration is damped down by the drying-up of the big reservoirs it enabled. The Bureau of Reclamation’s “first-ever” shortage declaration on the river acknowledges officially what we’ve known for years: the Compact and all the measures augmenting it, collectively known as The Law of the River, have not prevented the river’s over-development. 
-Written by George Sibley, a contributor to Writers on the Range, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively discussion about Western issues. 

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Aquafornia news June 21, 2022 Audubon

The Great Salt Lake is too big—and too important—to fail

Utah’s [Great Salt Lake] and wetlands are disappearing as farms and communities divert the rivers that flow into the basin. … In 2021 the lake’s southern end hit a record low, and this year, it could drop even lower. More than half its volume has evaporated, and in areas the shoreline has receded miles. … These benchmarks, combined with an ongoing megadrought wringing the West dry, have recently spurred a flurry of new laws, policies, and programs aimed at slowing the decline of the largest saline lake in the Western Hemisphere, a haven for millions of birds representing hundreds of species.

Related article: 

  • KSL - Salt Lake City: Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society to head Utah’s new $40M Great Salt Lake program
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Aquafornia news June 17, 2022 Los Angeles Times

These five people could make or break the Colorado River

Alex Cardenas. J.B. Hamby. Jim Hanks. Javier Gonzalez. Norma Sierra Galindo. … They’re the elected directors of the Imperial Irrigation District, or IID, which provides water to the desert farm fields of California’s Imperial Valley, in the state’s southeastern corner. They control 3.1 million acre-feet of Colorado River water — roughly one-fifth of all the Colorado River water rights in the United States. And if you live in Southern California — or in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver or Salt Lake City — the future reliability of your water supply will depend at least in part on what IID does next.

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  • Fronteras: Arizona cities are cutting back on water. This water law expert says it could make a difference
  • Salt Lake Tribune: Opinion, by Bruce Babbitt and Brian Richter - Saving the Colorado River
  • Pew Charitable Trust: Feds will cut states’ access to Colorado River water
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news June 15, 2022 San Francisco Chronicle

The cruelest summer yet? California is facing drought, heat, power outages and fires — all at once

Summer officially begins next week — and in California, it may be a cruel one. Even with the upheaval of the pandemic mostly behind us, the menace of drought and rising temperatures is threatening to derail the return to normal. This year’s extraordinarily dry, warm weather, which is expected to continue in the coming months, is stoking fears of a multitude of problems: increasing water restrictions, extreme heat, power outages, wildfire and smoke — potentially all of the above in one vicious swoop. … Already in California, climate volatility, as palpable as it’s been, has joined the list of reasons people cite for wanting to move away, after soaring home prices, high taxes and traffic.

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  • Inside Climate News: Climate change adds new variables to forecasting the monsoon 
  • California Water Research: Could California be at a social tipping point towards sustainability of water use?
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Aquafornia news June 14, 2022 BisNow

Office owners tapped out as historic drought spurs water-reduction needs

Drought is so ubiquitous in California that developers and property owners say they’re running out of options to reduce water usage at office properties without making significant investments that are difficult to stomach with reduced property occupancies and stagnant rental rates. 

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Aquafornia news June 14, 2022 Los Angeles Times

The Colorado River: Where the West quenches its thirst

The Colorado River begins in the Rocky Mountains, collecting snowmelt as it meanders through an alpine valley. Across a vast swath of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, the river grows as it takes in major tributaries: the Gunnison, the Dolores, the Green and others. The Colorado River Basin encompasses more than 246,000 square miles in seven U.S. states and northern Mexico. … Water diverted from the river flows from taps in Denver, Phoenix and Las Vegas and throughout much of Southern California, supplying nearly 40 million people. About 70% of the water diverted from the river in the U.S. is used for agriculture … The region’s heavy use of the river is colliding like never before with the climate, which is growing hotter and drier.

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Aquafornia news June 13, 2022 SLO Tribune

SLO County town pledges water hookups for 13 new developments after decades-long ban

The tiny San Luis Obispo County town of San Simeon is slowly prying the door open to welcome new development after a 36-year moratorium. During a special meeting held Thursday evening, the San Simeon Community Services District’s Board of Directors unanimously voted to issue intent-to-serve letters to those still on the coastal community’s water connection waitlist. The waitlist has 13 developments still vying for a hookup to the town’s sewer system so they can build motels, retail spaces or residences in the town near the entrance to Hearst Castle.

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Aquafornia news June 10, 2022 Press Democrat

Healdsburg timber owner’s checkered land-use history followed him to Sonoma County

Eureka attorney, landowner and timber operator Ken Bareilles had been battling state land-use regulations for some 50 years before he bought his forested property outside Healdsburg in 2015. … Even as he fought to withdraw his plea and minimize the consequences, Bareilles’ probation was revoked in 2011 for violations of county and state Fish and Game codes. They included illegal grading, altering a streambed, conducting timber operations outside his permit area and contributing to pollution in a stream designated critical habitat for steelhead trout.

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Aquafornia news June 10, 2022 Engineering News Record

Where parched California is finding new water sources

Los Angeles is able only to consistently draw from 41 of 115 wells in the San Fernando Basin, a collection of regional underground aquifers that currently provide about 10% of city water supply. This has caused a 50% reduction in its historical groundwater supply. But the LA Dept. of Water and Power says the basin has the potential to provide as much as 21% of city water. As a result, the department is working with federal and state officials, potentially responsible polluted site owners and a slew of engineering and construction firms on multiple remediation projects to return a more significant portion of groundwater supply to the drinking water system.

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  • Yucaipa News Mirror: Groundbreaking for major Calimesa pipeline held by Yucaipa Valley Water District
  • The Daily Independent: Groundwater law has not stopped subsidence
  • Planetizen: Desalination and Water Recycling Needed to Increase Bay Area Water Supply
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Aquafornia news June 8, 2022 New York Times

As the Great Salt Lake dries up, Utah faces an ‘environmental nuclear bomb’

If the Great Salt Lake, which has already shrunk by two-thirds, continues to dry up, here’s what’s in store: The lake’s flies and brine shrimp would die off — scientists warn it could start as soon as this summer — threatening the 10 million migratory birds that stop at the lake annually to feed on the tiny creatures. Ski conditions at the resorts above Salt Lake City, a vital source of revenue, would deteriorate. The lucrative extraction of magnesium and other minerals from the lake could stop. Most alarming, the air surrounding Salt Lake City would occasionally turn poisonous.  

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Aquafornia news June 7, 2022 The Nevada Independent

Opinion: Water scarcity should mean less planned growth

“Water is not a constraint to growth,” according to EDAWN (Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada) Director Mike Kazmierski. But the hard truth is that the Sierra Nevada snowpack is in control of our regional water supply, not EDAWN. And, according to new research by the Lawrence Berkeley Lab, most of the Sierra Nevada snowpack will likely be gone by 2050 because of climate change and drought. We are told by regional water managers that we have enough water rights to fuel growth in the Truckee Meadows and nearby valleys for the next 50 years.
-Written by Bob Fulkerson, a fifth-generation Nevadan and lead national organizer for Third Act. 

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Aquafornia news June 6, 2022 SF Gate

California coastal town deals with prospect of no water

Nestled along the Central Coast, Cambria is a picturesque town … Cambria has also been running out of water for nearly four decades and — like many spots along the Central Coast in San Luis Obispo County — it does not have a permanent solution in the offing. The unincorporated town of more than 5,000 people is dependent wholly on two creeks, the Santa Rosa and San Simeon, for its water supply. As climate change ramps up, those creeks are drying out more rapidly and more frequently.  

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Aquafornia news June 3, 2022 San Francisco Chronicle

New report finds S.F.’s biggest development project ignores huge climate change risk: rising contamination

Rising seas caused by climate change could ultimately expose thousands of people to hazardous chemicals at San Francisco’s biggest redevelopment project — and the city is unprepared for the risks, according to a new grand jury report. … [T]he San Francisco civil grand jury report warns that groundwater could carry dangerous buried substances to the surface as the water table rises at the site, which was contaminated decades ago with heavy metals, volatile organic compounds and radioactive substances. The result could be catastrophic “for health, for environmental safety, and for the resilience of future development,” the report notes.

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Aquafornia news June 3, 2022 Hakai Magazine

Tribal hatcheries and the road to restoration

The Nisqually is one of many tribes with their backs shoved against the concrete wall of challenges that salmon face today, and so they, too, have resorted to hatcheries—facilities where humans direct salmon sex, fertilizing eggs in plastic buckets and giving naive young salmon a head start before their journey through an untender world. In the past, hatcheries have been implicated in Pacific salmon declines—issues tribes in western Washington first started addressing in the late 1990s.

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Aquafornia news June 3, 2022 Desert Sun

Stellantis will buy lithium produced at Salton Sea by controlled thermal resources

A major electric vehicle manufacturer has inked a 10-year deal with a company operating at the south end of the Salton Sea for battery-grade lithium hydroxide, a huge boost for nascent production in an area that has long struggled with unemployment and pollution. Controlled Thermal Resources’ Hells Kitchen … subsidiary is pushing to scale up commercial production of lithium from geothermal brines, utilizing renewable energy and steam to produce batter-grade lithium products in an integrated, closed-loop process, eliminating the need for more environmentally damaging evaporation brine ponds, open pit mines, and fossil-fueled production.

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  • Desert Sun: Lithium Valley - California budget includes $80M for Imperial County STEM campus; governor must OK
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Aquafornia news June 2, 2022 ABC 10 - San Diego

Groundbreaking on new East County water recycling plant

Confetti flew as nearly a dozen officials from state and local water groups tossed dirt into the air, signaling the official groundbreaking of the East County Advanced Water Purification project. … The new water recycling plant will clean and purify 15 million gallons of wastewater every day, sending it to the Lake Jennings reservoir. Water from that reservoir is then treated again before it goes into the system and is delivered to local homes and businesses.

Related article: 

  • Water World: Reuse to Reduce Demand
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news June 2, 2022 Livermore Independent

Editorial: Zone 7 board members will determine the future of our water supply

During the next few years, key issues for Zone 7’s Water Agency Board of Directors will involve managing the drought, deciding whether to mandate increased water rationing, and determining whether to continue support for the state’s scaled-down Delta Conveyance project. The infrastructure project — now one tunnel instead of two — would take massive quantities of water rushing from the Sierra Nevada through the Sacramento River and divert them from their natural flow into the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary, so that they can be used by 27 million residents and 750,000 acres of farmland from the Tri-Valley to San Diego.

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Aquafornia news June 1, 2022 Loveland Reporter-Herald

Developer secures infrastructure partner for 338-mile pipeline to bring water from Utah to Front Range

A Fort Collins-based development group that wants to build a 338-mile pipeline to bring water from the Green River-fed Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Utah and Wyoming to Colorado’s Front Range says it has secured a development partner for the project, which could cost as much as $2.3 billion. Water Horse Resources LLC, a Fort Collins company led by founder and CEO Aaron Million, has secured MasTec Inc., based in Coral Gables, Florida, as development partner, the company said. MasTec is a construction company specializing in infrastructure, with 2021 revenue of almost $8 billion, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Aquafornia news May 31, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Does California have enough water for lots of new homes? Yes, experts say

To some, it defies common sense. California is once again in the middle of a punishing drought with state leaders telling people to take shorter showers and do fewer loads of laundry to conserve water. Yet at the same time, many of the same elected officials, pledging to solve the housing crisis, are pushing for the construction of millions of new homes. … [According to experts] there’s plenty of water available for new Californians if the 60-year trend of residents using less continues and accelerates into the future. Case in point: Angelenos use 44% less water per person annually than they did four decades ago …

Related articles: 

  • San Bernardino Sun: Talking on water: MWD chief on the present and future drought
  • ABC 10 – San Diego: Rising water rates puts HOA at crossroads
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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 ProPublica

Salmon hatcheries funded by U.S. government haven’t ended fish’s decline

Today, there are hundreds of hatcheries in the Northwest run by federal, state and tribal governments … The fish they send to the Pacific Ocean have allowed restaurants and grocery seafood counters to offer “wild-caught” Chinook salmon even as the fish became endangered. The hatcheries were supposed to stop the decline of salmon. They haven’t. The numbers of each of the six salmon species native to the Columbia basin have dropped to a fraction of what they once were, and 13 distinct populations are now considered threatened or endangered.

Related articles: 

  • SJV Water: Video - Restoring salmon on the San Joaquin during three years of drought 
  • San Francisco Chronicle: Fresh California king salmon is in limited supply. Here’s where to buy it for Memorial Day
  • California Fisheries Blog: Over-summering spring-run chinook salmon in Mill Creek and Deer Creek
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Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 The Associated Press

Explainer: How cities in the West have water amid drought

As drought and climate change tighten their grip on the American West, the sight of fountains, swimming pools, gardens and golf courses in cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Boise, and Albuquerque can be jarring at first glance. Western water experts, however, say they aren’t necessarily cause for concern. Over the past three decades, major Western cities — particularly in California and Nevada — have diversified their water sources, boosted local supplies through infrastructure investments and conservation, and use water more efficiently. 

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Western Water November 7, 2019 Douglas E. Beeman Layperson's Guide to Climate Change and Water Resources Gary PitzerDouglas E. Beeman

As Wildfires Grow More Intense, California Water Managers Are Learning To Rewrite Their Emergency Playbook
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Agencies share lessons learned as they recover from fires that destroyed facilities, contaminated supplies and devastated their customers

Debris from the Camp Fire that swept through the Sierra foothills town of Paradise  in November 2018.

By Gary Pitzer and Douglas E. Beeman

It’s been a year since two devastating wildfires on opposite ends of California underscored the harsh new realities facing water districts and cities serving communities in or adjacent to the state’s fire-prone wildlands. Fire doesn’t just level homes, it can contaminate water, scorch watersheds, damage delivery systems and upend an agency’s finances.

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Western Water May 23, 2019 Colorado River Bundle Gary Pitzer

150 Years After John Wesley Powell Ventured Down the Colorado River, How Should We Assess His Legacy in the West?
WESTERN WATER Q&A: University of Colorado’s Charles Wilkinson on Powell, Water and the American West

We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls ride over the river, we know not. Ah, well! We may conjecture many things.

~John Wesley Powell

Explorer John Wesley Powell and Paiute Chief Tau-Gu looking over the Virgin River in 1873.Powell scrawled those words in his journal as he and his expedition paddled their way into the deep walls of the Grand Canyon on a stretch of the Colorado River in August 1869. Three months earlier, the 10-man group had set out on their exploration of the iconic Southwest river by hauling their wooden boats into a major tributary of the Colorado, the Green River in Wyoming, for their trip into the “great unknown,” as Powell described it.

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Western Water November 16, 2018 California Water Map Layperson's Guide to the State Water Project Gary Pitzer

As He Steps Aside, Tim Quinn Talks About ‘Adversarialists,’ Collaboration and Hope For Solving the State’s Tough Water Issues
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Tim Quinn, retiring executive director of Association of California Water Agencies

ACWA Executive Director Tim Quinn  with a report produced by Association of California Water Agencies on  sustainable groundwater management.  (Source:  Association of California Water Agencies)In the universe of California water, Tim Quinn is a professor emeritus. Quinn has seen — and been a key player in — a lot of major California water issues since he began his water career 40 years ago as a young economist with the Rand Corporation, then later as deputy general manager with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and finally as executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies. In December, the 66-year-old will retire from ACWA.

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Aquapedia background September 12, 2016

Runoff

Snowmelt and runoff near the California Department of Water Resources snow survey site in the Sierra Nevada east of Sacramento.Runoff is the water that is pulled by gravity across land’s surface, replenishing groundwater and surface water as it percolates into an aquifer or moves into a river, stream or watershed.

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Aquapedia background August 30, 2016

Owens Lake

Owens Lake is a dry lake at the terminus of the Owens River just west of Death Valley and on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. For at least 800,000 years, the lake had a continuous flow of water, until 1913 when the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) completed the 233-mile Los Angeles Aqueduct to supplement the budding metropolis’ increasing water demands.

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Publication August 18, 2014

Water & the Shaping of California
Published 2000 - Paperback

The story of water is the story of California. And no book tells that story better than Water & the Shaping of California.

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Publication August 18, 2014

Water & the Shaping of California
Published 2000 - hardbound

The story of California is the story of water. And no book tells that story better than Water & the Shaping of California.

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Video May 27, 2014

A Climate of Change: Water Adaptation Strategies

This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an excellent overview of climate change and how it is already affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are underway to plan and adapt to climate.

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Video May 27, 2014

Drinking Water: Quenching the Public Thirst (60-minute DVD)

Many Californians don’t realize that when they turn on the faucet, the water that flows out could come from a source close to home or one hundreds of miles away. Most people take their water for granted; not thinking about the elaborate systems and testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to households throughout the state. Where drinking water comes from, how it’s treated, and what people can do to protect its quality are highlighted in this 2007 PBS documentary narrated by actress Wendie Malick. 

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Video May 27, 2014

Drinking Water: Quenching the Public Thirst (30-minute DVD)

A 30-minute version of the 2007 PBS documentary Drinking Water: Quenching the Public Thirst. This DVD is ideal for showing at community forums and speaking engagements to help the public understand the complex issues surrounding the elaborate systems and testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to households throughout the state.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

Carson River Basin Map
Published 2006

A companion to the Truckee River Basin Map poster, this 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, explores the Carson River, and its link to the Truckee River. The map includes Lahontan Dam and Reservoir, the Carson Sink, and the farming areas in the basin. Map text discusses the region’s hydrology and geography, the Newlands Project, land and water use within the basin and wetlands. Development of the map was funded by a grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region, Lahontan Basin Area Office.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to Water Recycling
Updated 2013

As the state’s population continues to grow and traditional water supplies grow tighter, there is increased interest in reusing treated wastewater for a variety of activities, including irrigation of crops, parks and golf courses, groundwater recharge and industrial uses.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to Water Marketing
Updated 2005

The 20-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Marketing provides background information on water rights, types of transfers and critical policy issues surrounding this topic. First published in 1996, the 2005 version offers expanded information on groundwater banking and conjunctive use, Colorado River transfers and the role of private companies in California’s developing water market. 

Order in bulk (25 or more copies of the same guide) for a reduced fee. Contact the Foundation, 916-444-6240, for details.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to the State Water Project
Updated 2013

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the State Water Project provides an overview of the California-funded and constructed State Water Project.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to Integrated Regional Water Management
Published 2013

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) is an in-depth, easy-to-understand publication that provides background information on the principles of IRWM, its funding history and how it differs from the traditional water management approach.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Urban Conservation

Despite droughts, recession and natural disasters, California’s urban population continues to grow.

This population growth means increasing demand for water by urban areas—home to most of California’s population [see also Agricultural Conservation]. As of 2021, three of the nation’s 10 most populated cities are in California.

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Western Water Magazine January 1, 2013

Viewing Water with a Wide Angle Lens: A Roundtable Discussion
January/February 2013

This printed issue of Western Water features a roundtable discussion with Anthony Saracino, a water resources consultant; Martha Davis, executive manager of policy development with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and senior policy advisor to the Delta Stewardship Council; Stuart Leavenworth, editorial page editor of The Sacramento Bee and Ellen Hanak, co-director of research and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California.

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Western Water Magazine September 1, 2011

Mimicking the Natural Landscape: Low Impact Development and Stormwater Capture
September/October 2011

This printed issue of Western Water discusses low impact development and stormwater capture – two areas of emerging interest that are viewed as important components of California’s future water supply and management scenario.

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Western Water Magazine May 1, 2010

A ‘New Direction’ for Water Decisions? The California Water Plan
May/June 2010

This printed issue of Western Water examines the changed nature of the California Water Plan, some aspects of the 2009 update (including the recommendation for a water finance plan) and the reaction by certain stakeholders.

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Western Water Magazine November 1, 2009

The Colorado River: Building a Sustainable Future
November/December 2009

This printed issue of Western Water explores some of the major challenges facing Colorado River stakeholders: preparing for climate change, forging U.S.-Mexico water supply solutions and dealing with continued growth in the basins states. Much of the content for this issue of Western Water came from the in-depth panel discussions at the September 2009 Colorado River Symposium.

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Western Water Magazine May 1, 2007

The Struggle to Secure Water in the Southwest
May/June 2007

This issue of Western Water asks whether a groundwater compact is needed to manage this shared resource today. In the water-stressed West, there will need to be a recognition of sharing water resources or a line will need to be drawn in the sand against future growth.

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Western Water Magazine May 1, 2005

Smart Water Use: Stretching the Urban Supply
May/June 2005

This issue of Western Water examines the continuing practice of smart water use in the urban sector and its many facets, from improved consumer appliances to improved agency planning to the improvements in water recycling and desalination. Many in the water community say conserving water is not merely a response to drought conditions, but a permanent ethic in an era in which every drop of water is a valuable commodity not to be wasted.

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Western Water Excerpt March 1, 2000 Sue McClurgRita Schmidt Sudman

Water and Growth: A Roundtable Discussion
Mar/Apr 2000

When water and growth was featured in the May/June 1995 Western Water, the debate in the California Legislature was about whether a local water district should have any say when it came to providing water to new developments. Of the four bills before state lawmakers, it was Sen. Jim Costa’s SB 901 that cleared the Legislature and was signed into law. The bill established a voluntary link between water and land-use planning by requiring planning departments to consult with local water purveyors about the availability of new supplies.

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