Environment

County making progress with Sativa Water takeover

WAVE NEWSPAPERS — The county Board of Supervisors has voted to pour more resources into Sativa Water District after the county Public Works Department identified the extent of challenges facing Sativa and the level of support required to stabilize the water system and begin providing a more reliable source of clean and clear water to its customers in Willowbrook and Compton until a long-term service provider can take over.

Published

4 years ago

June 7, 2019

Wave Staff Report

By Wave Staff Report

COMPTON — The county Board of Supervisors has voted to pour more resources into Sativa Water District after the county Public Works Department identified the extent of challenges facing Sativa and the level of support required to stabilize the water system and begin providing a more reliable source of clean and clear water to its customers in Willowbrook and Compton until a long-term service provider can take over.

“Having access to clean and clear water is a basic human right, and one that we are committed to providing Sativa’s customers,” said Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who pushed for state officials to appoint Public Works as Sativa’s interim administrator in October after decades of mismanagement by the water district’s previous leadership caused episodes of brown water flowing from taps.

“No one said this would be easy. But we are committed to course-correcting and making sure Sativa customers are in good hands for the long-term.”

“L.A. County has officially taken over the troubled Sativa Water District and is starting the hard work of fixing the broken infrastructure and finances that were left behind,” Supervisor Janice Hahn added. “As the interim administrator, we are committed to making every investment necessary to ensure the water coming out of residents’ taps is clean, clear, and safe to drink.”

“This has truly been a community effort and I want to recognize the Board of Supervisors for standing with me from the very beginning of this journey,” said Assemblyman Mike Gipson, who championed the legislation required to transfer control of Sativa to the Los Angeles County.

He and Assemblymembers Richard Bloom, Wendy Carrillo, Laura Friedman, Eduardo Garcia and Sydney Kamlager-Dove all participated in a recent tour of Sativa headquarters which Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon helped facilitate.

The Board approved a motion by Ridley-Thomas and Hahn to establish a fund for continuing to operate Sativa, potentially through mid-2021. After conducting a comprehensive assessment of Sativa’s 70-year-old water system, Public Works estimated the cost of serving the water district until a permanent operator is in place could reach $13.8 million, of which $5.7 million will be offset by Sativa’s revenue and state grants.

Public Works expects to identify a long-term service provider early next year, but state regulators could take as long as two years to approve the transition.

In the meantime, Public Works Director Mark Pestrella said, “L.A. County is committed to supplying safe, clean and reliable water to the residents of Willowbrook and Compton.”

Sativa customer Elizabeth Hicks is grateful, saying, “Sativa is improving under the supervision of the county’s Public Works agency. They accomplished within six months a major task that the previous administration couldn’t accomplish in 30 years — we are seeing clear water coming out of our faucets.”

“Having access to clean and clear water is a basic human right, and one that we are committed to providing Sativa’s customers.”

— County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas

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Community

As Rising Seas Disrupt Toxic Sites, Communities of Color Are at Most Risk

As rising seas threaten to flood hundreds of toxic sites along the California coast, the risk of flood-related contamination will fall disproportionately on the state’s most marginalized communities, finds a new study published Tuesday by researchers at UC Berkeley, UCLA and Climate Central. San Mateo and Alameda counties are projected to host the most at-risk hazardous sites by 2050, but by 2100, Orange County is projected to surpass both as oil and gas wells there and in Los Angeles County face rising coastal flood risks.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 12, 2023

Oakland Post

By the end of the century, coastal flooding threatens to inundate hundreds of toxic sites in California, including oil refineries, industrial facilities, sewage treatment plants and cleanup sites, putting communities like Richmond, Calif., at greater risk of hazardous exposure. (Flickr photo by Scott Hess)

By Kara Manke
UC Berkeley News

San Mateo and Alameda counties are projected to host the most at-risk hazardous sites by 2050, but by 2100, Orange County is projected to surpass both as oil and gas wells there and in Los Angeles County face rising coastal flood risks.

Under California’s high-risk aversion scenario, which projects that sea levels could rise by more than 6 feet by the end of the century, the study identified 736 facilities at risk of coastal flooding and an additional 173 with projected groundwater encroachment.

Residents living within 1 kilometer of at-risk sites were more likely than others to be people of color, to be living below the poverty line, to be unemployed or to experience another form of social disadvantage such as linguistic isolation.

As part of the study, the researchers also released a new interactive online tool in English and Spanish that allows users to map toxic sites that are at risk of coastal flooding, either by county or by individual facility.

A map of hazardous sites at risk of coastal flooding in the San Francisco Bay Area, generated by the new coastal risk screening tool available on the Climate Central website. The colored overlay indicates the poverty level of nearby communities. (Image courtesy Climate Central)

Users can also overlay indicators of nearby residents’ social vulnerability, including the percentage of people who are living below the poverty line, who are experiencing unemployment, or who don’t have a high school degree.

“Sea level rise is like a slow-moving storm that we can anticipate and prepare for,” said Rachel Morello-Frosch, a professor of public health and of environmental science, policy and management at UC Berkeley and senior author of the paper. “As California invests in community resilience to climate change, it is essential that considerations of environmental justice are at the fore.”

Low-income communities and communities of color already face disproportionate exposure to myriad environmental pollutants, and the threat of additional exposures from sea-level rise will only exacerbate these inequities.

Compared to their neighbors, socially vulnerable residents can also face more challenges to evacuate during a flood and often experience social stressors that can make them more susceptible to the health impacts of pollutant exposures.

“Again, climate change amplifies inequality,” said lead author Lara Cushing, an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. “Sea level rise will present additional risks of contaminant releases to communities already living with pollution sources in their backyards.”

The study was conducted as part of the Toxic Tides project, which brought together a multidisciplinary research team with community advocacy organizations to understand how rising seas would impact hazardous sites, including refineries, industrial facilities, sewage treatment plants and cleanup sites.

The team released a preliminary set of data and an earlier version of the online mapping tool in November 2021; the new, peer-reviewed study, which appears in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, includes additional analysis about the environmental justice implications of the findings.

BayCityNews

Latest Statewide Snow Survey Shows Plenty of Snow Still in Sierra Nevada

The state’s latest snowpack measurements are in and the results won’t shock anyone who spent the winter in storm-wracked California this year — there’s still a huge amount of snow in the Sierra Nevada. The California Department of Water Resources released its snow survey data Monday after conducting a manual measurement at Phillips Station in El Dorado County and compiling information from its network of 130 snow sensors throughout the state.

Published

3 weeks ago

May 10, 2023

Oakland Post

Sean de Guzman, Manager of the California Department of Water Resources Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit, and Anthony Burdock, Department of Water Resources engineer in the Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit, examine the aluminum survey pole during the final snow survey of the 2023 season on May 1, 2023 at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in El Dorado County, Calif. (Ken James/California Department of Water Resources via Bay City News)

By Bay City News

The California Department of Water Resources released its snow survey data Monday after conducting a manual measurement at Phillips Station in El Dorado County and compiling information from its network of 130 snow sensors throughout the state.

The manual measurement shows 59 inches of snow with a snow-water equivalent of 30 inches, which is 241 percent of average for Phillips Station on May 1, according to DWR.

The sensors show the statewide snowpack’s snow-water equivalent at 49.2 inches, or 254 percent of average for this date.

“The snow water equivalent measures the amount of water still contained in the snowpack and is a key component of DWR’s water supply run-off forecast,” DWR officials said in a news release Monday.

According to DWR, only three other times in history have the survey results eclipsed 200 percent, in 1952, 1969 and 1983, although data from those years isn’t as comprehensive as the current numbers.

The statewide number released Monday reflects an average snow melt of about 12 inches over the past month, which is a slower pace than normal for April and is attributable to below average temperatures earlier in the month as well as increased cloud cover during that period, according to DWR.

The data will help water managers and reservoir operators anticipate the amount of spring and summer runoff they can expect to move through the state’s massive water storage and delivery systems as temperatures warm and cloudy skies give way to sunshine.

The information is vital to drinking water districts, farmers, cities and flood control systems, especially in vulnerable and already flooded regions like the San Joaquin Valley and communities along the Central Coast like Pajaro.

“The snowpack will not disappear in one week or one month but will lead to sustained high flows across the San Joaquin and Tulare Basins over the next several months and this data will help us inform water managers and ultimately help protect communities in these regions,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth.

Community

April 22, 2023 is Earth Day – AND It is also Beautify Vallejo Day!

The Vallejo Beautification Commission is teaming up with the Vallejo Watershed Alliance to help celebrate Earth Day. Celebrate Earth Day and enhance one of Vallejo’s most beautiful waterways! Join us at Blue Rock Springs Creek for a cleanup throughout the creek corridor.

Published

1 month ago

April 27, 2023

Oakland Post

Park for free at the Wardlaw Dog Park lot, then follow the path behind the dog park and cross the bridge. Wear comfortable clothes, sturdy shoes, hat, sunscreen, and gloves.

The Vallejo Beautification Commission is teaming up with the Vallejo Watershed Alliance to help celebrate Earth Day.

Celebrate Earth Day and enhance one of Vallejo’s most beautiful waterways! Join us at Blue Rock Springs Creek for a cleanup throughout the creek corridor.

Park for free at the Wardlaw Dog Park lot, then follow the path behind the dog park and cross the bridge. Wear comfortable clothes, sturdy shoes, hat, sunscreen, and gloves. It’s a family- friendly event (if you are under 18, you must be accompanied by an adult).

We’ll provide tools, buckets, water and refreshments. RSVP to Info@

VallejoWatershedAlliance.org or call (707) 373- 1766 with your questions. See you there!