Residential water sprinklers in action. (Photo: Fahroni, via Shutterstock)OPINION: For over a decade, Californians have been dealing with unpredictable and confusing water surcharges. That could change if the state’s Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) votes to adopt a program recommended by the Public Advocates Office (Cal Advocates) as soon as Aug. 27.
An illustration of an energy-producing, energy-storage system. (Image: petrmalinak, via Shutterstock)OPINION:< There are current and new emerging storage technologies to help address our need for storage that can hold very large amounts of energy. The problem is we don’t currently have the right processes in place to get these types of projects built.
San Gabriel DamOPINION: Sacramento, for example, experienced the driest year since they began measuring rainfall in 1878. Conditions are so dry that some cities in the Central Valley are already imposing water rationing orders and more are expected to follow. According to the U.S. Drought Monitoring System, approximately 85% of the state is suffering from severe drought, and the snow pack is so meager in some places, there is simply no snow to measure.