California moves slowly on water projects amid drought [Associated Press]
In 2014, in the middle of a severe drought that would test California’s complex water storage system like never before, voters told the state to borrow $7.5 billion and use part of it to build projects to stockpile more water. Seven years later, that drought has come and gone, replaced by an even hotter and drier one that is draining the state’s reservoirs at an alarming rate. But none of the more than half-dozen water storage projects scheduled to receive that money have been built. The largest project by far is a proposed lake in Northern California, which would be the state’s first new reservoir of significant size in more than 40 years. People have talked about building the Sites Reservoir since the 1950s. But the cost, plus shifting political priorities, stopped it from happening. Now, a major drought gripping the western United States has put the project back in the spotlight. It’s slated to get $836 million in taxpayer money to help cover it’s $3.9 billion price tag if project officials can meet a deadline by year’s end. The Biden administration recently committed $80 million to the reservoir, the largest appropriation of any water storage scheduled to receive funding next year.
Live Updates: Caldor Fire burns close to South Lake Tahoe; heavy winds still in forecast [Sacramento Bee]
Flames from the Caldor Fire descended Monday night from Echo Summit down into the Lake Tahoe Basin a few miles south of South Lake Tahoe, which remains virtually deserted after law enforcement ordered all residents to evacuate that morning. The fire jumped Highway 89 late Monday near Christmas Valley, hitting a cluster of homes and cabins between highways 50 and 89 just east of the summit and about two miles south of Meyers.
Earlier in the day, streams of vehicles exited east from South Lake Tahoe into Nevada, jamming up Highway 50 for a few hours before the gridlock cleared in the late afternoon. Winds and critically dry conditions could continue to push the Caldor Fire deeper into the basin Tuesday, as thousands of firefighters work to protect structures and grapple for control on the blaze, which sparked south of Pollock Pines on Aug. 14 and has crept along Highway 50 for more than two weeks. The fire is now threatening close to 34,000 structures and has already destroyed nearly 500 homes, as well as some cabins, according to Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service.
Caldor Fire update: Latest on CA evacuations, weather, growth | The Sacramento Bee (sacbee.com)
All California national forests to temporarily close due to “wildfire crisis” [CBS News]
All of California’s national forests will be closed starting late Tuesday until mid-September, according to an order posted by the U.S. Forest Service. The agency said the closures will help “better provide public and firefighter safety due to the ongoing California wildfire crisis.”
The closures will be in effect from August 31 at 11:59 p.m. local time until the same time on September 17, according to the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region. The order doesn’t affect the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, the Forest Service said, because it’s not in the Pacific Southwest Region. “We do not take this decision lightly but this is the best choice for public safety,” regional forester Jennifer Eberlien said. “It is especially hard with the approaching Labor Day weekend, when so many people enjoy our national forests.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-wildfires-national-forests-close-temporarily-crisis/
Why the Lake Tahoe area is vulnerable to wildfire [Los Angeles Times]
As the Caldor fire continues to spread, authorities are nervously eyeing the Lake Tahoe Basin as a potential area of devastation. The forest there, like many others in the western United States, has endured a history of colonization, clear-cut logging and aggressive fire suppression that have upended the natural balance of wildfires. What’s more, it’s populated, with tens of thousands of people who live there year-round and an estimated 15 million who visit each year, according to the local visitors bureau. Some officials fear the factors could line up to create a disaster that outpaces the Angora fire of 2007. As the Caldor fire continues to spread, authorities are nervously eyeing the Lake Tahoe Basin as a potential area of devastation.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-08-30/why-lake-tahoe-is-vulnerable-to-wildfire
With time running out, ‘Bacongate’ may soon be in California’s future [Food Safety News]
When California voters passed Proposition 12, it was all about animal welfare and food safety. Selling pork in California that is not Prop 12 compliant will be illegal after Jan. 1, 2022. Bacon shortages and prices over $10 per pound are anticipated. The Los Angeles Times has predicted the state’s consumers are shortly in for skyrocketing pork prices and pork shortages, an era the newspaper predicts will become known as “Bacongate.” That prospect has the North American Meat Institute looking for a moratorium on Prop 12 enforcement. It’s an action that would likely require action by Gov. Gavin Newsom. And his attention is on the Sept. 14 election to recall him. NAMI requested a 28-month moratorium once final rules are published to give those entities subject to the changes time to comply.
Drought: Marin utility allots $2.2M for water pipeline design [Marin Independent Journal]
The Marin Municipal Water District made its first major financial commitment to a proposed emergency water pipeline across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge with the approval of $2.2 million in contracts on Monday. The utility is proposing to build a 7- to 8-mile, $65 million pipeline between Richmond and Marin County to prevent it from running out of water as soon as next summer. The pipeline would carry water purchased from Central Valley agricultural areas, similar to the pipeline the district built on the bridge during the drought of 1977.
https://www.marinij.com/2021/08/30/drought-marin-utility-allots-2-2m-for-water-pipeline-design/amp/
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