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Autumn storms make small dent in California drought
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on November 6th, 2015
Reuters: Fall storms that brought rain and snow to parts of California have made a small but measurable dent in the state's four-year drought, experts said. The storms dumped up to 3.5 inches of snow on the parched Sierra Nevada earlier this week and led the Mammoth Mountain ski resort to open two lifts at a time when most other ski areas are closed. The precipitation has put the state ahead of the normal rainfall for the season and nudged a few areas out of the worst drought designation, scientists at...
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Beverly Hills fined for not conserving enough water in drought
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on October 30th, 2015
Reuters: Upscale Beverly Hills is among four California cities where water utilities have been fined for not forcing residents to conserve enough water during California's unrelenting four-year drought, officials said on Friday.
The wealthy Los Angeles area municipality was fined $61,000 on Thursday, making it the only community not located in a desert singled out for penalties, the California State Water Resources Board said.
"Some urban water suppliers simply have not met the requirements laid before...
California’s Valley Fire Death Toll Jumps to Five
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on September 18th, 2015
Reuters: Two more bodies were found in areas scorched by one of the two devastating wildfires raging in Northern California for the past week, raising the death toll to five from both blazes, even as fire officials on Thursday reported further progress in subduing the flames. The remains, though not yet positively identified, were believed to be of two men who had been reported missing in separate communities ravaged by the so-called Valley Fire just north of Napa County's wine-producing region, the Lake...
Californians divided along party lines on combating climate change
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on July 30th, 2015
Reuters: Two-thirds of Californians link the state's ongoing catastrophic drought to climate change, and most support Governor Jerry Brown's efforts to combat it – but that's also because most Californians are Democrats, a new poll shows.
The survey released on Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) shows that 64 percent of the state's residents believe that global warming has affected the state's drought, now in its fourth year.
But that masks deep divisions along party lines,...
Beach showers shut off as California struggles drought
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on July 11th, 2015
Reuters: Starting next week, California parks will no longer offer showers for people to wash sand and salt from their bodies at the beach, part of a broader plan to conserve water as the state's years-long drought drags on.
The most populous U.S. state is in the fourth year of a catastrophic drought that has cost billions to its agricultural sector and prompted its first-ever mandatory cutbacks in urban water use.
"California is facing extremely severe drought conditions," State Parks Director Lisa...
California water district challenges cutbacks in water for farms
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on June 19th, 2015
Reuters: Sharon Bernstein
California approves new uniform rules seawater desalination
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on May 7th, 2015
Reuters: California water regulators on Wednesday adopted a new uniform permitting process for seawater desalination projects expected to expand in number as the drought-stricken state increasingly turns to the ocean to supplement its drinking supplies.
Action on the desalination rule, which puts key decisions for such plants in the hands of statewide regulators rather than regional boards, came a day after the same state body enacted sweeping cutbacks in water use by California's cities and towns.
The...
Farmers would pay more for water from proposed California tunnel
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on November 14th, 2014
Reuters: California farmers would pay more to irrigate their crops under a proposal to build tunnels under the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta to funnel water to the state's agricultural breadbasket, officials said on Friday.
The analysis released by state Treasurer Bill Lockyer said regional water suppliers and the farmers who purchase water from them would be able to handle the increased costs, even though the price of water could more than double once the price of paying for the project is included....
‘Water cops’ seek sprinkler scofflaws in drought-parched California
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on October 19th, 2014
Reuters: It was still dark on Kokomo Drive in Sacramento's Natomas district as Paul Brown edged his city-issued Honda Civic past a row of beige stucco houses with tiny front lawns, looking for water wasters.
He heard the scofflaws before he saw their lush green lawns amid the otherwise parched turf. The buzz of a sprinkler system gave them away on a day that the city, desperate to save water amid California's ongoing drought, had forbidden watering.
"If I can get a good picture - if there's a lot of...
California asks Congress to set aside funds to fight wildfires
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on September 6th, 2014
Reuters: With federal funds for fighting wildfires running low, officials in California on Thursday called on Congress to move forward on a stalled plan to set up an emergency reserve fund for battling the extreme blazes anticipated this fall.
The call by U.S. Representative John Garamendi, a Democrat whose district near Sacramento includes parts of three national forests, the state's top firefighter and others comes days after the U.S. Forest Service said it would have to dip into money meant for fire...