Urban Water Institute, Inc.

Opinion – California Water Rights: Fight federal government to keep them

michael — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:30:03 +0000

As chairman of the House Water and Power Subcommittee, Rep. Tom McClintock of Northern California’s District 4 developed a bill with his Republican committee members and brought it to the House floor for a quick discussion and vote. McClintock’s bill steps way beyond established water rights in California. It seeks to give the Secretary of Interior, a federal agency, the authority to issue water contracts and to give the agency “supremacy” over the Bay Delta Planning Commission.

Water bills already too high? They’re about to soar

michael — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:29:16 +0000

Think your water bills are already too high? Maintenance for aging pipelines, aqueducts, pumps and other infrastructure, along with new construction for an expanding population, will send bills soaring.

California governor warns water plan controversial

michael — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:28:37 +0000

Gov. Jerry Brown warned this week that his administration’s soon-to-be unveiled plan to tackle the state’s water delivery challenges is “going to be controversial” but vowed he would “push it through.”

DWR official announces plan to restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta will be delayed

michael — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:27:54 +0000

A draft of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, and its accompanying environmental studies, was expected to be released by the end of June. But last week, state Natural Resources Secretary John Laird announced in a letter posted on the plan’s website that this schedule will not be met. The delay is needed so planners have more time to conduct computer modeling of water flow changes caused by the proposed project, to study cultural and archaeological resources that might be affected, and to fully incorporate some 12,000 pages of preliminary studies the agency released on the plan in March.

First-of-its-kind tunnel being mined under SF Bay

michael — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:27:08 +0000

Eleven stories below sea level, workers are building a five-mile long tunnel under San Francisco Bay. The first-of-its-kind tunnel is part of a massive civil engineering project designed to protect the Bay Area’s water supply during an earthquake.

State ends water year on disappointing note

michael — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:26:12 +0000

Weather is like a game of roulette — sometimes you’re on and sometimes you’re not. This winter, it was not.

Statewide snowpack tied for lowest on record; Colorado River Basin at all-time low

michael — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:25:34 +0000

With this year’s snow season all but in the rear-view mirror and the paltry numbers recently updated, 2012 has officially taken its place near the bottom of Colorado’s dismal-snowpack history.

Western farms, cities guzzle water at alarming rate

michael — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:24:47 +0000

The American West has a drinking problem. On farms and in cities, we are guzzling water at an alarming rate. Scientists say that to live sustainably, we should use no more than 40 percent of the water from the Colorado River Basin. As it is now, we use 76 percent, nearly double the sustainable benchmark.

Deal-cutting time comes for California water

michael — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:24:02 +0000

The House and Senate now are on another collision course over California water, with the serious deal-making about to begin.

Officials Mark Completion of Delta-Mendota Canal/California Aqueduct Intertie

michael — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:23:13 +0000

Federal, state and local partners marked the completion Wednesday of an intertie connecting the Delta-Mendota Canal and the California Aqueduct five miles west of Tracy.