In California water news today, Did the atmospheric river make up for the season’s dry start?; Storm to set up ‘firehose effect’ with rain, mountain snow in California; Water in the bank: Coalition of San Joaquin agencies develops ‘historic’ sustainable groundwater plan; Californians are turning to vending machines for safer water. Are they being swindled?; Technology meant to detect blackouts could help prevent wildfires in California; and more …
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
- DAILY DIGEST, weekend edition: Gov. Newsom send mixed signals on Delta policy; Storm to set up ‘firehose effect’ with rain, mountain snow; San Francisco Bay dredging fuels an unexpected concern: climate change; What you need to know about PFAS; and more …
- DAILY DIGEST, Friday edition: California agriculture in 2050 – where we are headed and why; Farming in the age of climate change; Valley residents sign on to Newsom recall effort; Managing flood water for aquifer recharge: Economic considerations for policy; Satellite image of the ‘bomb cyclone’; and more …
- RESERVOIR AND WATER CONDITIONS for December 2, 2019
- NOTICE: Public comment period extended to January 21, 2020 for preliminary public review draft of Delta Plan Chapter 4
Did the atmospheric river make up for the season’s dry start? “An atmospheric river with a moisture tap originating near the Hawaiian Islands turned parts of the Bay Area into a soggy mess over the weekend. The wet storm started delivering rain Saturday morning and showers are continuing into Monday and possibly Tuesday. Depending on location, rain rates have varied greatly, with downpours in the mountains and light showers in the valleys. ... ” Read more from SF Gate here: Did the atmospheric river make up for the season’s dry start?
Storm to set up ‘firehose effect’ with rain, mountain snow in California: “A storm currently along the California coast is loaded with moisture and will slam the northern part of the state with inches of rain and yards of snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains during the first couple of days of December. The storm will be double-barreled in nature with the first part set to slam Northern California into Monday afternoon. The second phase is likely to focus on Southern California during Tuesday night and Wednesday. ... ” Read more from Accu-Weather here: Storm to set up ‘firehose effect’ with rain, mountain snow in California
San Joaquin County: Water in the bank: Coalition of agencies develops ‘historic’ sustainable groundwater plan: “There’s progress to report in the momentous task of ensuring that San Joaquin County and surrounding communities have enough water to meet anticipated needs for the next 20 years. Earlier this month, the Eastern San Joaquin Groundwater Authority — or ESJGWA, comprised of 16 area agencies including cities, counties and water districts — recommended that each of its member agencies adopt a mutually agreed upon Groundwater Sustainability Plan by Jan. 8. … ” Read more from the Stockton Record here: Water in the bank: Coalition of agencies develops ‘historic’ sustainable groundwater plan
Californians are turning to vending machines for safer water. Are they being swindled? “Vended water is many times more expensive than tap water. And there isn’t much evidence to show customers are getting the quality they’re paying for. Customers stream into the parking lot of a San Diego strip mall, lining up behind a windmill-shaped vending machine that fills their jugs for 25 to 35 cents a gallon. “The water that comes from the tap, I don’t trust it, and it doesn’t taste good,” Miguel Martinez said on a recent afternoon, as he filled his bottle from the kiosk. Martinez lives in San Diego’s nearby Shelltown neighborhood, an area located minutes from downtown where many immigrant families have landed. … ” Read more from The Guardian here: Californians are turning to vending machines for safer water. Are they being swindled?
Technology meant to detect blackouts could help prevent wildfires in California: “B. Don Russell wasn’t thinking about preventing a wildfire when he developed a tool to detect power line problems before blackouts and bigger disasters. The electrical engineering professor at Texas A&M University figured he might save a life if his creation could prevent someone from being electrocuted by a downed live wire. But fire prevention may be his product’s biggest selling point in California and other places that have experienced devastating wildland blazes blamed on electrical equipment. … ” Read more from Capital Public Radio here: Technology meant to detect blackouts could help prevent wildfires in California
Margaret Mangan wants Californians to know — and love — their backyard volcanoes: “Margaret Mangan didn’t sleep well in the weeks following the Ridgecrest earthquakes. The July shaking triggered a swarm of smaller tremors in the nearby Coso Volcanic Field, a cluster of lava domes and cinder cones at the northern end of the Mojave Desert. And it was Mangan’s job to watch for a possible eruption. “We were pretty much on 24/7 vigilance,” said Mangan, the longtime scientist-in-charge of the U.S. Geological Survey’s California Volcano Observatory. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: Margaret Mangan wants Californians to know — and love — their backyard volcanoes
More news and commentary in Daily Digest, Friday and weekend editions …
In regional news and commentary today …
Muir Woods creek restoration project wraps up: “Just in time for the return of endangered coho salmon spawners, Muir Woods National Monument has completed an overhaul of Redwood Creek to give the struggling fish a better chance of recovery. The latest achievement in the ongoing “Redwood Renewal” project overhauled a nearly half-mile section of Redwood Creek. A large part of the project sought to right the wrongs caused by past management of the creek. … ” Read more from the Marin Independent Journal here: Muir Woods creek restoration project wraps up
Presidio: Back to nature: “The wry look on Lew Stringer’s bearded face should have been a giveaway, but there really wasn’t anything about the inconspicuous bush he was gesturing toward that seemed special. “This is a Franciscan manzanita,” said Stringer, the associate director of natural resources for the Presidio Trust, pointing to a large, green, ground-hugging plant. … The careful nurturing of the last remaining wild manzanita of its kind is part of a wider experiment — one of the most ambitious ever undertaken — to engineer and rebuild a wild ecosystem in an urban setting that over its 200 years as a military base had been paved over, polluted, pocked with landfills and overrun by weeds. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: Back to nature This is part of a special feature; see also: Habitat restoration sites in the Presidio, The making of a park
Boat fire spreads diesel fuel all the way from Alameda marina to Oakland estuary: “A boat that caught fire Tuesday night caused a large sheen of diesel fuel to spread throughout the marina. Sky7 video from Wednesday afternoon shows the fuel spread from Alameda all the way to the Oakland estuary. “This is an active incident with the U.S. Coast Guard and they’re doing their best to mitigate any of the runoff, any of the flotation of petroleum or hazardous fluids that may be on the water surface,” Alameda Fire Department Division Chief James Colburn told ABC7 News. … “ Read more from ABC 7 here: Boat fire spreads diesel fuel all the way from Alameda marina to Oakland estuary
Zone 7 applies for $500,000 grant from state: “In order to better plan for safeguarding and preserving the Livermore-Amador Valley water supply, Zone 7 Water Agency is turning to the state and applying for a $500,000 grant that would help achieve their goals. Zone 7 is the sole Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) for the Livermore Valley Groundwater Basin, which it has overseen for more than 45 years. … ” Read more from the Livermore Independent here: Zone 7 applies for $500,000 grant from state
Riverside: Supervisors authorize bidding to repair damaged dam: “The Riverside County Board of Supervisors Tuesday, Nov. 19, authorized the county Flood Control and Water Conservation District to begin soliciting bids from prospective contractors to repair segments of a dam north of Lake Elsinore that was damaged during torrential rains last winter. In addition to bidding authorization for the Leach Canyon Dam Stage 90 Spillway Restoration Project, the board, without comment, also signed off on final plans and specifications for the $730,000 repair and restoration job. … ” Read more from Valley News here: Riverside: Supervisors authorize bidding to repair damaged dam
Pioneertown residents now have clean tap water — for the first time in decades: “Gay Smith started getting clean tap water to her home in Pioneertown nearly three months ago. Still, the retired teacher said she walks over to a jug of water from the county to fill a pot for boiling potatoes. “You don’t realize the habits you get into until you don’t have to do those habits anymore,” Smith said. For three years, residents of the unincorporated San Bernardino County desert town have used twice-a-month shipments of bottled water because local wells were no longer meeting state standards for drinking water. The water was too high in naturally occurring arsenic, uranium and fluoride, which can cause health problems over time. … ” Read more from the Riverside Press Enterprise here: Pioneertown residents now have clean tap water — for the first time in decades
Precipitation watch …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
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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.
