In California water news today, California Water Czar Seeks Resource Collaboration, Not Combat; Managing Urban Water During Dry Times: The California Example; A Sustainable Solution For Safer Drinking Water; A wealthy California enclave has some of the purest tap water in the country, and it starts out as sewage; Return of the Blob: Marine Heat Wave Wreaks Havoc in the Pacific; Overheated and Underpaid: A California Climate Change Story; Blunt warning says Californians must step up to meet climate goals; Foretelling Forest Death from Above; and more …
On the calendar today …
- Drinking water and groundwater sustainability plan workshop in Plainview from 6pm to 7:30pm. Presented by Self-Help Enterprises. Download the English/Spanish flyer here.
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
- BLOG ROUND-UP: Beware Trumpian claims that fish don’t need water; Twists and turns of 2019 Fall X2; How to read a Groundwater Sustainability Plan; Finally, some exciting news about water in CA; and more …
- CV-SALTS: An overview of the salt and nitrate permitting changes proposed for the Central Valley
California Water Czar Seeks Resource Collaboration, Not Combat: “For E. Joaquin Esquivel, California has made great strides in fighting climate change and transitioning to a cleaner energy sector. Now, he said, it’s water’s turn. “Water, I think, is ready for that moment,” said Esquivel, the chairman of the California State Water Resources Control Board who took over from longtime chair Felicia Marcus in February. … ” Read more from Bloomberg Environmental here: California Water Czar Seeks Resource Collaboration, Not Combat
Managing Urban Water During Dry Times: The California Example: “California’s drought-prone climate, diverse and decentralized landscape of urban water suppliers, and complex water system make it something of a laboratory for testing ways to manage water scarcity. The state’s urban water suppliers have become particularly adept at managing drought, and this sector has become a leader in water use efficiency, recycling, supply diversification, and integrated management. But the 2012–16 drought revealed that California’s urban areas must continue innovating to ensure water systems are resilient to climate change. Unusually severe, this drought included the driest four-year stretch in 120 years of record keeping. ... ” Read more from Meeting of the Minds here: Managing Urban Water During Dry Times: The California Example
A Sustainable Solution For Safer Drinking Water: “People who get their water from rural, small water systems are at a greater health risk of exposure to bacteria and other harmful pathogens, according to a recent study in the journal AWWA Water Science. “A lot of small water systems in the United States struggle with disinfection compliance,” said Natalie Hull, lead author of the study and assistant professor in The Ohio State University Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering. “These health-related disinfection violations disproportionately affect small systems, so we’re interested in finding a more accessible, sustainable water treatment solution.” ... ” Read more from Water Online here: A Sustainable Solution For Safer Drinking Water
A wealthy California enclave has some of the purest tap water in the country, and it starts out as sewage: “Whenever I visit my hometown of Orange County, California, I get to sip some of the purest drinking water in the US. The quality is sometimes hard to spot, since many drinking-water contaminants are odorless, tasteless, and invisible to the human eye. Even in cities where the water is contaminated with lead, residents have reported that their taps are crystal clear. But in Orange County, the water is actually as clean as it looks. … ” Read more from Business Insider here: A wealthy California enclave has some of the purest tap water in the country, and it starts out as sewage
Firefighting foam leaves toxic legacy in Californians’ drinking water: “It was a Sunday tradition at Bethany Slavic Missionary Church. After morning services, Florin Ciuriuc joined the line of worshipers waiting to fill their jugs with gallons of free drinking water from a well on the property, a practice church leaders had encouraged. “I take it for my office every week,” said Ciuriuc, a 50-year-old Romanian immigrant and a founding member of the largely Russian-speaking church, which claims 7,000 congregants. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: Firefighting foam leaves toxic legacy in Californians’ drinking water
Return of the Blob: Marine Heat Wave Wreaks Havoc in the Pacific: “In early 2015, starving sea pups started washing up on California beaches at more than 10 times the usual rate, setting rescue staff into a frenzy and overwhelming facilities. Scientists attributed the record number of strandings to an unprecedented marine heat wave off the West Coast of the United States. Nicknamed “the blob” for its large size and shape, the heat wave encompassed over 10 million square kilometers―easily the largest heat wave in recorded history. Now, a new heat wave resembling the 2014–15 “blob” has formed in the Pacific Ocean. The latest satellite data suggests the heat wave, which stretches from Alaska to the Baja peninsula to Hawaii, encompassed a breathtaking 8.7 million square kilometers at its maximum size. … ” Read more from Sierra Magazine here: Return of the Blob: Marine Heat Wave Wreaks Havoc in the Pacific
Hotter Fires Are Transforming California’s Forests: “Hotter-burning wildfires are transforming California’s forests, and not for the better. A new study from UC Davis finds high-intensity fires leave fewer trees and a less diverse population of plants behind. “We’re finding that high intensity, really dangerous fires … are becoming more frequent,” said Clark Richter, a graduate student in ecology at UC Davis. “They’re burning a larger area than was typical historically.” … ” Read more from KQED here: Hotter Fires Are Transforming California’s Forests
Foretelling Forest Death from Above: “The speed at which a forest recovers from disturbances can foretell that forest’s untimely demise. In a paper published today in Nature Climate Change, researchers tracked via satellite the vitality of California’s forests during the recent prolonged droughts and developed an early-warning signal for forest death. The new signal can detect a forest’s death spiral 6–19 months ahead of time. Statistical and empirical formulas for predicting forest mortality “can change over time, especially as climate in the future will be outside the regime of historical climate,” said lead researcher Yanlan Liu, an environmental scientist at Stanford University in California. “This method…directly monitors the dynamics of vegetation from remote sensing, meaning that it’s bridging the gap between climate and vegetation.” … ” Read more from EOS here: Foretelling Forest Death from Above
Overheated and Underpaid: A California Climate Change Story: “His mornings all start the same. An hour before daybreak, he makes himself a green juice: pineapple, celery, cactus. He’s 51, and lately, he’s been trying to get healthier. He gets behind the wheel of an old compact car for a quick commute to the warehouse where he drives a forklift. A thin band of windows wraps around one corner of the building. That’s where the managers sit. Where Brandon works, it’s uninsulated, with plenty of metal — and there are no windows. ... ” Read more from KQED here: Overheated and Underpaid: A California Climate Change Story
Blunt warning says Californians must step up to meet climate goals: “A California think tank is sounding the alarm that the state isn’t on track to meet ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals without dramatically picking up the pace. Complicating the effort, the think tank reported today that even where the state has found success, climate-warming gases produced by 2018’s wildfires vastly outstripped pollution cuts across the economy the previous year. It’s a bleak picture outlined in the California Green Innovation Index, an analysis prepared by research consulting firm Beacon Economics and published by Next 10, a non-partisan think tank that has produced 11 editions of the Index. ... ” Read more from Cal Matters here: Blunt warning says Californians must step up to meet climate goals
In regional news and commentary today …
Solano wetlands restoration project benefits salmon and smelt: “Local, state, federal, and private industry leaders will gather on October 15th to celebrate the completion of a unique tidal wetland restoration project in the Delta. The project, known as Tule Red Restoration Project, is a joint effort by the State and Federal Contractors Water Agency (SFCWA), Westervelt Ecological Services (WES) and the Department of Water Resources (DWR). The celebration will mark the final step in the restoration process-the breaching of a levee to return brackish tidal water to over 400 acres habitat for the sake of dwindling native fish populations including Delta smelt, longfin smelt, Chinook salmon and the food web that supports them. … ” Read more from Yahoo Finance here: Solano wetlands restoration project benefits salmon and smelt
EPA Reaches Settlements to Study Indoor Air and Groundwater Contamination in Sunnyvale: “Seven years after NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit uncovered how pervasive and fast that plume of toxic chemicals under Moffett Field was growing, the Environmental Protection Agency announced two companies will help pay to clean it up. Some residents and a Google work space had to have special remedies to reduce the amount of toxic trichloroethylene, or TCE, in the air inside buildings around Moffet. … ” Read more from NBC Bay Area here: EPA Reaches Settlements to Study Indoor Air and Groundwater Contamination in Sunnyvale
In Face Of Pervasive Drought, Palo Alto DPR Program May Be Palatable: “Despite the official end of a years-long drought in the state, one major California city is poised to take a significant step toward sustainable conservation. “In an effort to open the spigot on recycled water in the region, Palo Alto and Santa Clara Valley Water are exploring a deal that would send the city’s wastewater to a treatment plant elsewhere in the county, where it would be treated, transformed into potable water and potentially resold to the city for its residents and businesses,” according to Palo Alto Online. “The proposed deal would give Palo Alto a new source of drought-proof water to draw on in case of emergency.” ... ” Read more from Water Online here: In Face Of Pervasive Drought, Palo Alto DPR Program May Be Palatable
Way out past Denair, a family farms in a way that could help save the planet: “Seventeen years after it started to go organic, Burroughs Family Farms thrives in the foothills east of Denair. The 2,600-acre spread produces almonds, beef, milk, chickens, eggs and olive oil without pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. Rosie and Ward Burroughs and their children have emerged as leaders in the movement. The way they farm could do even greater good – helping to save the Earth from climate change. … ” Read more from the Modesto Bee here: Way out past Denair, a family farms in a way that could help save the planet
Del Mar, California Coastal Commission Clash Over Climate Change Plan: “Del Mar’s local coastal plan for future development in this seaside San Diego community is up for a review and there is a difference of opinion about what the plan should say. California Coastal Commission staff are only recommending approval of the plan if the city makes 25 amendments to the city’s local coastal plan. The plan guides future development in the coastal community of 4,400. ... ” Read more from KPBS here: Del Mar, California Coastal Commission Clash Over Climate Change Plan
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
CV-SALTS: An overview of the salt and nitrate permitting changes proposed for the Central Valley
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About the Daily Digest: The Daily Digest is a collection of selected news articles, commentaries and editorials appearing in the mainstream press. Items are generally selected to follow the focus of the Notebook blog. The Daily Digest is published every weekday with a weekend edition posting on Sundays.
