ACWA eNews for Dec. 18, 2013

  • by BPC Staff
  • on December 19, 2013
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ACWA’s eNews is a weekly roundup of California water news and events.

Congress Exempts Fire Hydrants from Lead-Free Requirements

 

The U.S. Senate on Dec. 17 unanimously agreed to a House bill exempting fire hydrants from regulations designed to reduce the amount of lead in drinking water. The bipartisan bill, entitled the Community Fire Safety Act, HR 5388, passed the House by a vote of 384-0 on Dec. 2 and now awaits President Obama’s signature.

DWR Names Drought Management Team

 

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced Dec. 17 it has appointed two experienced managers to lead preparations for what could be a third consecutive dry year in 2014.

DWR Director Mark Cowin named Bill Croyle the department’s drought manager. According to DWR, Croyle has 30 years of experience in water operations: Seven years as the department’s flood operations branch chief and 23 years with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Study: San Luis Reservoir Expansion Would Cost $360 Million

 

A U.S. Bureau of Reclamation report released earlier this month looks at how San Luis Reservoir could be enlarged while also improving the resiliency of B.F. Sisk Dam in the event of an earthquake.

Reclamation’s Draft Appraisal Report considers a scenario where a multi-faceted $360 million project would raise the dam by 20 feet in order to add 130,000 acre-feet to the reservoir’s current capacity of 2.04 million acre-feet. The construction would modify and retrofit the dam embankment and dikes, spillway, intake towers and access bridge.

Registration Now Open for Groundwater Elevation Monitoring Workshops

ACWA and the California Department of Water Resources are hosting a series of workshops to discuss next steps for the California Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring (CASGEM) program.

CASGEM was launched three years ago to comply with legislation signed in 2009 requiring California to develop a permanent groundwater monitoring program. The program’s primary goal is to collect groundwater elevations for all of California’s 515 basins and compile that data in an online system.

ACWA 2014 Washington DC Conference

Tue, 02/25/2014 – Thu, 02/27/2014

Location: 

The Liaison Capitol Hill, Washington, DC

ACWA’s 2014 Washington DC Conference is set for Feb. 25-27, 2014, at the Liaison Capitol Hill.

Event and Registration Information