Drinking Water Archives - Page 6 of 7

Clean water plans need more public involvement, activists say

January 13, 2021

• by Lois Henry

The stage is finally set for years of talking to be translated into actual clean drinking water for potentially thousands of San Joaquin Valley residents. But activists fear the effort will flop before the curtain rises if more isn’t done to engage the people who are drinking that water. The issue is nitrate, which is …

Drinking Water

COVID-19 relief includes money for water bill debt. Will it be enough?

January 12, 2021

• by Lois Henry

The COVID-19 relief bill passed last month includes $638 million to address the growing issue of water bill debt across the nation. When the pandemic dug in last spring, many states, including California, issued moratoriums on household water shut offs for lack of payment. That moratorium is still in place in California and water debt…

Expiration dates looming for TCP lawsuits

November 4, 2020

• by Lois Henry

The clock is ticking for some water systems and well owners to file a claim if they’re considering suing Dow Chemical and Shell Oil companies for possibly tainting groundwater with a chemical known as 1,2,3-TCP. That’s short for 1,2,3-trichloropropane. It’s a chemical that was added to a nematode fumigant made by Shell and Dow and…

Drinking Water • Groundwater

FREE! water quality testing for domestic well owners

October 21, 2020

• by Lois Henry

The U.S. Geological Survey is sampling in the Modesto, Turlock, and Merced area. For more information visit go.usa.gov/xfA85 or contact Jen Shelton at jshelton@usgs.gov or (916) 278-3068. Para informacion en espanol, llame a Robert Kent, (619) 436-8285….

Drinking Water

Last minute loan keeps drinking water projects afloat

September 22, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Small, failing drinking water systems got a funding life preserver among a flurry of budget bills at the chaotic end of the California legislative session. Drinking water advocates had fretted the Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) program, intended to help struggling water systems in mostly poor, rural areas, would fall victim…

Drinking Water • State System • Water Banking

Proposed $171 million Central Valley groundwater bank faces TCP contamination

September 11, 2020

• by Lois Henry

A Kern County groundwater bank proposal just at the starting blocks has been hit with 1,2,3-TCP contamination. Irvine Ranch Water District and Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District had just begun the environmental review process for their joint banking project this past April when TCP reared its head. “It doesn’t appear TCP is an existential threat…

Drinking Water • Groundwater • Water Banking

Tainted valley groundwater could stymie banking deals

September 3, 2020

• by Lois Henry

The big kahuna of California water — Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — has stopped taking supplies from one Kern County groundwater bank because the water is heavily tainted with a cancer-causing agent that is pervasive in Central Valley’s aquifers. While only one banking program has been affected so far, the emergence of this…

Drinking Water

Clean water advocates hoping to safeguard SAFER funding

August 5, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Just when it looked like small drinking water systems in California were finally getting the long-term help they so desperately need, along came COVID-19. The state is peppered with failing small systems, many serving low-income communities without the resources to repair them. At least one-third of those failing systems are in the San Joaquin Valley,…

Drinking Water

Unpaid bills spiking at some water utilities

July 18, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Several state legislators have asked the Governor to extend his order prohibiting water shutoffs for nonpayment to even the smallest water utilities. Right now, the Governor’s April 2 order applies to water utilities serving 200 or more connections. If Gov. Newsom expands his order, it could have a huge impact in the San Joaquin Valley,…

Drinking Water

Survey says: COVID-19 impacts on drinking water systems still unknown

July 4, 2020

• by Lois Henry

More than four months into the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s hard to say exactly what the fallout has been for drinking water utilities. Predictions were dire shortly after Gov. Newsom ordered a moratorium on water shutoffs for non-payment back in early April. Would there be an avalanche of non payers? If so, how…

NEWS

Clean water plans need more public involvement, activists say

COVID-19 relief includes money for water bill debt. Will it be enough?

Expiration dates looming for TCP lawsuits

FREE! water quality testing for domestic well owners

Last minute loan keeps drinking water projects afloat

Proposed $171 million Central Valley groundwater bank faces TCP contamination

Tainted valley groundwater could stymie banking deals

Clean water advocates hoping to safeguard SAFER funding

Unpaid bills spiking at some water utilities

Survey says: COVID-19 impacts on drinking water systems still unknown

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