TOP STORIES
By the Los Angeles Times, 8/18/22
During a two-day swing through California, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland toured the Syphon Reservoir Improvement Project in Irvine on Thursday morning before touting federal funding that will help the drought-stricken state. Joined by Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton, Haaland said she felt “overjoyed” when she announced the Department of the Interior’s plan to allocate more than $310 million to combat a “megadrought” throughout the West that is being compounded by climate change.
WATER INFRASTRUCTURE
By KGET Bakersfield, 8/18/22
Dozens of people in Southwest Bakersfield are without water, after the well ran dry at their mobile home park. People living in the Del Rancho Mobile Home Village in Southwest Bakersfield have been living without water for days and are desperate for a bit of relief. People in the community on Wible Road near Panama Lane say their water went out on Tuesday.
By KESQ, 8/18/22
More than 4 million people facing Southern California’s prolonged drought have been asked to suspend outdoor watering for 15 days next month as officials work to fix a leak in a 36-mile “critical imported water pipeline” from the Colorado River.
WATER SUPPLY & QUALITY
By Fox Weather, 8/18/22
Drought conditions and scorching heat across the western U.S. have already led to extreme water restrictions in California and record-low water levels at Lake Mead in Nevada. But now a new problem has sprouted up: The extreme weather is affecting tomato crops and could lead to higher prices for your favorite products like sauce, salsa and ketchup.
By ABC 23 Bakersfield, 8/17/22
As the entire state looks to save every drop of water possible, the Central Valley is seeing the worst of the drought. Almost all of Kern County is under the "Exceptional Drought" category, according to the state’s drought monitor.
CLIMATE & WEATHER
By the San Francisco Chronicle, 8/17/22
A new report shows what temperatures in the United States could look like in 30 years — and the outlook isn’t good. The report, from the First Street Foundation, a climate-focused research organization, found that temperatures will likely rise everywhere due to climate change, though the way that is expected to play out varies in different parts of the U.S.
By The Sacramento Bee, 8/18/22
It starts to rain, and it doesn’t stop. Day after day after day. The rivers keep rising. Mud, ash and burned logs from recent wildfires clog the rapidly-rising channels. Levees overtop or burst. Dams strain or buckle. Neighborhoods are submerged. Flood waters wash over freeways. Entire California cities are cut off from each other. By the time the waters recede, dozens are dead and the damage is in the billions.
CALIFORNIA WATERSHEDS
By the Stanford News, 8/18/22
This has been a summer of extremes. As America wilts under unprecedented waves of heat, parts of the country have been inundated with flooding rains that climate scientists say should only happen on average once every 500 years. Meanwhile, reservoir levels across the West have bottomed out amidst a withering drought, imperiling water supplies from Denver to Los Angeles and threatening to dry up millions of acres of agricultural land in between.
By the Associated Press, 8/19/22
Hydroelectric turbines may stop turning. Las Vegas and Phoenix may be forced to restrict water usage or growth. Farmers might cease growing some crops, leaving fields of lettuce and melons to turn to dust. Those are a few of the dire consequences that could result if states, cities and farms across the American West cannot agree on how to cut the amount of water they draw from the Colorado River.
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES
By National Public Radio, 8/18/22
In remote northern California, only a few miles from the Oregon border as the crow flies, a troubling but all too familiar scene is unfolding. Another deadly wildfire has upended the lives of people who lived here because they liked the woods and seclusion, but also because they had few other options: It's one of a few places left on the West Coast that's still affordable.
By Redding Record Searchlight, 8/18/22
Firefighters battled new wildfire starts and older blazes burning in the North State on Thursday. Conditions are very dry despite isolated pockets of rain. This week, the National Weather Service issued heat advisories in the Sacramento Valley including Shasta, Siskiyou and Tehama counties, and in the mountains including Siskiyou, Trinity and Humboldt counties.
AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE
By ABC 7 Los Angeles, 8/18/22
A boost in federal dollars is giving the Irvine Ranch Water District the funding it needs to store excess treated water instead of dumping it into the ocean. Driving around Irvine, it's hard to believe the western U.S. is in the middle of multi-year drought.
By the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, 8/19/22
The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency is announcing the release of a second draft document for public review describing proposed Public Health Goals (PHGs) for the five regulated haloacetic acids (HAAs) found in drinking water as a result of disinfection methods: monochloroacetic acid (MCA), dichloroacetic acid (DCA), trichloroacetic acid (TCA), monobromoacetic acid (MBA), and dibromoacetic acid (DBA).
EVENTS
By the California Data Collaborative - This August, the CaDC will return in-person host its 7th Annual CA Water Data Summit! Bringing together individuals from water agencies, research teams, and other areas of the water sector, the CA Water Data Summit aims to encourage collaboration and provide opportunities for members of different organizations to interact and engage with new ideas and approaches to water data.
When: August 17-18, 2022 Where: UC Irvine, CA
By California Natural Resources Agency - A public event to further inform the community about projects around the Salton Sea and for community members to familiarize themselves with the processes that are part of the Salton Sea Management Program Phase I: 10-Year Plan and the Long-Range Plan.
When: August 23, 2022 | 2:30 p.m.
This is the second of four webinars to inform and solicit input from stakeholders on the development of a guidebook to support the preparation of County Drought Plans, which focus on state small water systems and domestic wells as required under SB 552. When: August 31, 2022 | 1:00 -3:00 p.m.
By California Natural Resources Agency- Community members and all interested parties to participate in a virtual Community Workshop on September 1. The team will provide updates on the Salton Sea Management Program Long-Range Plan and seeks comments to help develop the Long-Range Plan.
When: September 1, 2022 | 5:30 p.m.
The Salton Sea Management Program will meet to discuss updates and receive feedback on the development of the Long-Range Plan.
When: September 7, 2022 | 9:30 a.m.
Join us for our 30 Year Anniversary to celebrate how GRA was built to last, and "Built for Change". This year’s event will include Individual, Panel and Poster Presentations as well as Technical Workshops that cover the following subject areas: Water Resources Exploration and Development; Groundwater Management; Contaminant Assessment and Remediation; Unique Challenges and New Opportunities
When: Sep. 19 - 21, 2022 | 8 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Where: Sacramento Convention Center & Hyatt Regency & Virtual Option
By the Water Education Foundation - This 3-day, 2-night excursion across the Sacramento Valley travels north from Sacramento through Oroville to Redding and Shasta Lake. Experts will talk about the history of the Sacramento River as the tour winds through riparian woodland, rice fields, wildlife refuges and nut orchards across the region.
When: October 12 -14, 2022
|
