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Topic: Southern California

Aquafornia news September 27, 2023 CA Department of Water Resources

News release: Castaic Lake algal bloom at danger advisory

Today, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) urges people to avoid physical contact with water at Castaic Lake in Los Angeles County until further notice due to the presence of blue-green algae. People should also avoid eating fish or shellfish from the lake. This week’s lab results show an increase in toxin levels. A danger advisory was put in place today, and remains in effect for the entire Castaic Lake, except Castaic Lagoon, until further notice. It is advised for people and pets to stay out of the water and avoid contact with algal scum in the water or on shore. Boating is allowed, but water-contact recreation and sporting activities are not considered safe due to potential adverse health effects. For latest conditions and danger advisory information, go to Harmful Algal Bloom website.

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Aquafornia news September 27, 2023 CalMatters

Opinion: Blue barrels offer a lifeline to migrants lost in California’s desert

The terrain just outside the town of Ocotillo in California’s Imperial County is rugged. With volunteers from a humanitarian group, we recently drove alongside an old railroad track path tasked with servicing and repairing large barrels of water meant to keep people lost in the desert alive. … For 24 years, Water Station, an all-volunteer organization, has been installing large blue barrels containing water in Imperial County’s deserts to prevent people from dying from environmental exposure during March to October, the hottest months of the year.
-Written by Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee’s U.S./Mexico Border program and a longtime human rights advocate.

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Aquafornia news September 26, 2023 Arizona Republic

What’s being done to protect the Southwest’s dwindling water supply? A new online tool shows you

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have created a searchable atlas that compiles regional research and efforts to deal with water scarcity and drought. The map, called the Water Adaptation Techniques Atlas, was developed by the agency’s Southwest and California Climate Hubs and so far contains 183 case studies from Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. … The map offers a range of case studies, many of them related to agricultural and ranching practices, crop choice, and irrigation methods. Silber-Coats hopes it can be a resource for agricultural professionals and advisers, like cooperative extension workers.

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Aquafornia news September 26, 2023 KUNC - Greeley, Colo

Colorado River’s Upper Basin will re-up a plan that pays farmers and ranchers to use less water

Some states in the arid West are looking to invest more money in water conservation. Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico have agreed to re-up a water conservation program designed to reduce strain on the Colorado River. Those states, which represent the river’s Upper Basin, will use money from the Inflation Reduction Act to pay farmers and ranchers to use less water. The four states are re-implementing the program amid talks with California, Arizona, Nevada and the federal government to come up with more permanent water reductions by 2026.

Related articles: 

  • Oil City News: New survey of Colorado River Basin irrigators points to challenges, pathways for agricultural water conservation
  • Arizona Capital Times: Water cuts force Pinal County farmers to scale back
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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 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 25, 2023 Loma Linda University

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

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

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Aquafornia news September 25, 2023 Reuters

Monday Top of the Scroll: California escapes fire season mostly unharmed, but danger could lie ahead

California is on the verge of recording a second straight year of relatively mild wildfire damage, after historic rains put the state on track to avoid the calamities of recent fire seasons. … Cal Fire also says the state benefited from a program that nearly doubled the acreage deprived of fuel by prescribed burns from a year ago and the addition of 24 aircraft leased during fire season that improved response times.

Related articles: 

  • Associated Press: The threat of wildfires is rising. So is new artificial intelligence solutions to fight them
  • San Francisco Chronicle: Rain expected in San Francisco Bay Area on Monday
  • CNN: An El Niño winter is coming - What could that mean for the US?
  • SJV Water: Valley agencies in a race against winter and a fast-approaching state deadline to repair flood damage
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Aquafornia news September 22, 2023 NBC 7 - San Diego

More than $1 billion needed to overhaul San Diego’s stormwater system

Engineers with the city of San Diego say local neighborhoods are always one rainstorm away from disastrous flooding. They say it’s because our storm system is decades past its lifetime. And right now, they say, the city doesn’t have enough money to set aside to fix problems that keep them up at night. … Many of the issues we’re experiencing now are connected to the pipe failures.

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Aquafornia news September 22, 2023 Spectrum News

Los Cerritos Wetlands awarded multimillion-dollar grant

The Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority was recently awarded a $31,852,000 grant from the California Coastal Conservancy that will fund ongoing restoration efforts. According to wetland ecology expert Christine Whitcraft of California State University, Long Beach, restoring coastal wetland ecosystems is a crucial step in protecting the endangered wildlife that calls places like Los Cerritos home. 

Related articles: 

  • Nature: Dispersal, habitat filtering, and eco-evolutionary dynamics as drivers of local and global wetland viral biogeography
  • Contra Costa News: Walnut Creek Restoration Project Receives Project Of The Year Award
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Aquafornia news September 22, 2023 Mercury News

The nearly 500 Californians killed in the 1928 St. Francis Dam disaster might finally get a memorial

Phillip Cesena transferred to San Franciscquito Canyon in February 1928 to work as a ranch hand, mucking out stalls and exercising ranch animals. The 15-year-old had just lost his father, Leonardo, and wanted to support his mother, Erolinda, and his 12 brothers and sisters by learning how to break horses and perform trick riding for Hollywood westerns. A month later, Cesena’s fate was sealed. The St. Francis Dam burst, sending 12.6 billion gallons of water 15 stories high racing through Santa Clarita, Saugus, Saticoy, Piru, Fillmore and Santa Paula. The water wiped out villages and killed about 450 people before reaching the ocean near Oxnard some 54 miles away. … Now, one community organizer is leading a push to build a memorial to remember Cesena and all the others who perished in what some call the worst civil engineering disaster in the country’s history.

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Aquafornia news September 21, 2023 NBC 7 - San Diego

San Diego County’s mayors push Newsom for help with border water-pollution crisis

The Tijuana River sewage emergency has reached the state level once again. All 18 mayors in San Diego County have sent another letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, asking for his help to address the ongoing sewage and chemical pollutants flowing into the ocean from the river. … Paloma Aguirre, the mayor of Imperial Beach, where beaches have been closed now for 650 consecutive days, said that going to the beach is one of the last free recreational things people can do, and that issue affects people living beyond the coast.

Related articles: 

  • Voice of San Diego: Newsom won’t explain why Tijuana River isn’t an emergency
  • News 11 – Yuma: Colorado River Citizens Forum meeting discusses additions to water treaty
  • Arizona’s Family: Leaders in Yuma say they need binational help for Colorado River Delta restoration
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Aquafornia news September 21, 2023 San Diego Union-Tribune

In split vote, San Diego raises water rates by nearly 20 percent over 2 years. For some, that’s ‘tough to swallow.’

San Diego water rates will rise nearly 20 percent over the next two years after a divided City Council approved Tuesday the first comprehensive rate hike in nearly eight years. The rate increases, approved by a vote of 5-3, will come in three parts: A 5 percent hike on Dec. 1, a 5.2 percent increase next July 1 and an 8.75 percent jump in January 2025. An earlier version of the proposal would have raised the rates more quickly — by 10.2 percent on Dec. 1 and 8.75 percent in January 2025. When compounded, the increases total a 19.8 percent jump. For the average single-family homeowner, that’s an increase of about $12 per month.

Related articles: 

  • KPBS – San Diego: San Diego City Council approves first significant water rate increase since 2015 
  • San Diego Union-Tribune: Water rates could climb 12 percent in two years for Oceanside
  • Napa Valley Register: Napa city water rates will likely increase in 2024
  • Los Angeles Times: Questions, anger after feds signal an end to DWP billing probe
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Aquafornia news September 20, 2023 Voice of San Diego

Biggest players in Western water politics gather at Politifest 2023  

It’s been 20 years since the largest water agencies in Southern California agreed on a historic deal: San Diego would buy water from Imperial Valley farmers. More importantly, though, the deal outlined exactly how much water these agencies could claim from the Colorado River and reduced the amount of water California took from the river.   It quantified the water (why it’s called the Quantification Settlement Agreement) and put a price on water rights for the first time. … Voice of San Diego and CalMatters will be gathering top water officials from Southern California, Nevada and Arizona to discuss the past (the historic 2003 settlement) and the future (the needed deal for the Colorado River) at 2023 Politifest, Oct. 7 at University of San Diego. 

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Aquafornia news September 20, 2023 KTLA - Los Angeles

Water district in California floats plan to turn ocean water into drinking water

A local water district is proposing an ambitious plan to turn ocean water into drinking water, and while the idea of a “Blue Water Farm” sounds promising, some environmental groups say that ocean desalination should be a last resort and that more can be done to conserve water in affluent communities.   Over the last two years, customers of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District (LVMWD) have seen restrictions and fines over how much water they use. [District communications manager Mike] McNutt added that the water district is exploring new ways to keep lawns lush and green in big-money neighborhoods like Calabasas, Westlake Village and Hidden Hills. … Officials are hoping that they can bring in precisely 10 million gallons of fresh water a day to the district. 

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Aquafornia news September 20, 2023 The Sacramento Bee

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

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

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Aquafornia news September 20, 2023 Los Angeles Times

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: California orders bottled water company to stop ‘unauthorized’ piping from springs

For decades, water has been siphoned from springs in the San Bernardino Mountains and piped downhill to be bottled and sold as Arrowhead 100% Mountain Spring Water. After a years-long fight over the bottled water operation in the San Bernardino National Forest, California water regulators ruled Tuesday that the company must stop taking millions of gallons through its pipelines. The State Water Resources Control Board voted unanimously to order the company BlueTriton Brands to “cease and desist” taking much of the water it has been piping from tunnels and boreholes in the mountains near San Bernardino. Environmentalists, who have campaigned for years against bottling water from the forest, praised the decision.

Related articles:

  • Sacramento Bee: Nestlé bottled water from California spring for 100 years. It’s illegal and must stop, regulator says
  • The Associated Press: California may limit how much company behind Arrowhead bottled water can draw from mountain springs
  • SJV Water: Water Board upholds “cease and desist”; says company has no rights to spring water used in its Arrowhead bottled water brand 
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Aquafornia news September 19, 2023 U.S. Department of Transportation

News release: U.S. Department of Transportation providing $4.575 million in ‘quick release’ emergency relief funding for flood damage repair work at Death Valley National Park and other federal lands in California and Nevada

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today [9/15] announced the immediate availability of $4.575 million in “quick release” Emergency Relief funds for use by the National Park Service, the Forest Service, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The funds will  offset costs of repair work needed for roads, trails, parking areas, and other infrastructure as a result of flood damage caused by Tropical Storm Hilary in Death Valley National Park and other federal lands in California and Nevada last month.

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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 The San Diego Union-Tribune

What would happen if Tijuana sewage crisis is declared an emergency?

Saying this is “a pivotal moment that calls for resolute action,” all 18 mayors in San Diego County sent a letter last week to Gov. Gavin Newsom imploring him to declare a state of emergency over the decades-long sewage crisis at the border. … But what exactly would a state of emergency do? And does the sewage crisis meet the criteria? … When a state of emergency is declared, a lot of red tape is cut. For example, it could accelerate and simplify the bidding process for construction contracts and free up federal money for personnel, equipment and supplies.

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