Environmental and Policy Focus
KQED - May 21
Crews will begin excavating the 24-inch pipeline that ruptured Tuesday, unleashing a flow of crude oil that has fouled the coastline west of Santa Barbara. The Coast Guard and other agencies as well as Plains All American Pipeline, the company that owns and operates the line, are still working to figure out exactly how much crude oil escaped. The currently quoted figures indicate that a total of 105,000 gallons flowed out of the pipeline before it was shut down, with 21,000 gallons flowing into a storm drain and through a culvert to the Pacific. On Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Santa Barbara County, in part to deal with environmental damage.
Los Angeles Times - May 19
Communities suffering from years of extremely dry conditions could receive their share of $19 million in funding to pay for bottled water supplies and drought-related projects under a new set of guidelines. The State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday approved guidelines for funding that will help community water systems, nonprofit organizations, tribal governments, and public agencies address drinking water emergencies. The drought may worsen contamination of drinking water and leave communities without access to safe water supplies, according to the board. The funding is part of a $1-billion emergency drought package signed March 27 by Gov. Jerry Brown. The funding could be used to pay for bottled water, treatment systems, hauling water supplies, and repairing damaged wells, board spokesman Andrew DiLuccia said.
Orange County Register - May 18
For nearly 40 years, people looking to boat or swim in Mission Viejo have headed to Lake Mission Viejo, the 124-acre lake surrounded by homes and condominiums, which was created in the 1970s for recreation. It’s used for swimming, fishing, boat rental, and other activities by people who live in more than 24,000 homes connected to the Lake Mission Viejo Association. Pending a June 2 vote of the Lake Mission Viejo Association’s delegates, the lake will no longer be fed drinking water but will instead get an infusion of highly-treated sewage water. “With the additional levels of treatment it will receive, advanced purified water could actually improve the lake’s water quality,” said David Roohk, a water consultant to the Lake Mission Viejo Association.
Los Angeles Times - May 20
The drought has worked a miracle in the Owens Valley, as environmental activists and ranchers have buried decades of enmity to forge a plan to save ranch land, at the expense of hard-fought environmental protections. The two sides began talking after the Department of Water and Power (DWP) announced plans last month to slash irrigation allotments for half of Inyo County's 50 ranches due to the drought. DWP said the cuts are necessary because the Sierra snowpack, which typically provides a large share of DWP's water for Los Angeles, is just 4 percent of normal — not enough to irrigate all ranches and meet DWP's environmental obligations in the valley. If the ranches go dry, the owners will lose their livestock at the same time as the natural habitat on their property succumbs to drought. To preserve the ranches, environmentalists have agreed to curtail water diversions intended to restore the Lower Owens River and control dust on dry Owens Lake, which were drained after construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913.
Santa Cruz Sentinel - May 19
Hoping to build momentum for a stronger international climate change deal in December, Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed an agreement between California and 11 other U.S. states and foreign provinces to sharply limit emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. Under the U.S. Constitution, only the federal government can sign treaties with other countries. But Gov. Brown and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger before him have committed California and other states to non-binding accords in which they agree to limit industrial emissions that the overwhelming majority of the world’s scientists say are causing the planet to continue warming. Under Tuesday’s deal, California and the other 11 governments committed to reducing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels at least 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, or to achieve a per-capita annual emission target of less than 2 metric tons by that year.
