Environment
What happens when a rural area’s only well is contaminated?
As California’s new requirements for forever chemicals kick in, small providers in remote towns struggle to clean up their water.
Water
Environment
Well water throughout California contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’
They’re everywhere. They last forever. They’re dangerous. They’re expensive to remove. And many Californians don’t even know they’re drinking them.
Environment
Unsafe to drink: Wildfires threaten rural towns with tainted water
The damage to water systems can linger for years. The cost in just one small town: as much as $150 million.
Explainers
Water is life. It’s also a battle. So what does the future hold for California?
An explanation of the state’s water development, as well as the challenges, of providing water for California’s people, places and things.
Environment
Drought or dangerous flooding? Research to save California’s rain
Store water for a drought, or prepare for floods? How atmospheric river research helps California decide.
Reader Reactions
Desalination is a bad investment
Re: “Why desalination can help quench California’s water needs,” By Wendy Ridderbusch, Jan. 29, 2020. Wendy Ridderbusch shouldn’t confuse diversifying one’s portfolio, a good thing, with making bad investments. Those are not the same thing. Investing hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in the most expensive, climate impacting and environmentally destructive local water […]
California Divide
For California well owners, clean water is hard to get as state, local hurdles remain
Water is scarce and dirty for many in Fresno County’s small West Park community. They’re not alone. It’s a common and persistent challenge for residents throughout California who rely on water wells. Residents in West Park, an unincorporated cluster of houses and buildings on the southwestern outskirts of Fresno, say they have stopped drinking the […]
Environment
Trump plan could bring growers more water. But will it harm California’s rare salmon?
The Trump administration this week declared that pumping more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to supply farms will not jeopardize the endangered salmon and smelt that live in the estuary. This clears the way for the federal government to deliver more water, possibly as soon as next year. The decision is a big and […]
California Divide
Central Coast project would raise water bills, endanger aquifer, opponents say
Activists and local government officials across Monterey County have banded together to fight a proposed desalination plant that could double the cost of water for some residents and endanger an aquifer that serves low-income communities. Opponents say the plant could cause saltwater to seep into the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin, the aquifer that provides freshwater […]
Environment
Demise of key environment bill could escalate California’s water wars
Some groups will likely paint the governor — who sees himself as an environmental warrior — as a politician who, when it mattered, sided with big business and Donald Trump.