Santa Cruz County Water Articles

California ranks among the top states suffering economic damage from climate-related disasters. The report describes food shortages, floods, droughts, wildfires, pollution, disease—all linked to climate change.

Felton resident and registered civil engineer Brian Frus has been named as Interim General Manager for the San Lorenzo Valley Water District, replacing Rick Rogers, who retired this month after serving the District for 48 years. Brian told the San …

Big Basin Water customers are invited to attend a community meeting hosted by Supervisor Bruce McPherson and featuring Silver & Wright LLP, the Court-appointed Receiver.

Work is underway to bore a tunnel under Highway 1 in Watsonville, which is part of the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency’s College Lake Water Supply pipeline project. The weeks-long tunnel job, just south of Riverside Drive, will not interrupt …

Plus: County leaders discuss emergency plans, money for commissioners.

By Bob Fultz The San Lorenzo Valley Water District (SLVWD) has started the process to raise rates, ultimately leading to a community vote. I’m a member of the SLVWD Board of Directors but speaking only for myself. Our community has …

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed legislation that will expedite the reconstruction of the Pajaro River Levee, moving construction start and completion time years earlier than anticipated. Assembly Bill 876 fast-tracks the work by exempting the project from certain local …

With cheers from spectators in the courtroom on Friday, September 29, Superior Court Judge Timothy Volkmann approved a ruling to move forward with a receivership for beleaguered Big Basin Water Company (BBWC). Originally scheduled for November, the hearing was expedited …

San Lorenzo Valley Water District (SLVWD) has begun construction on more than $13 million in crucial pipeline infrastructure and water tank replacement projects that will enhance the water system’s reliability and improve support for firefighting. The projects represent a significant …

City officials and locals gathered to celebrate the wharf's groundbreaking Friday afternoon

Mark Dolson Many people these days feel frustrated and powerless in the face of the polarization and dysfunction in our national government. In contrast, local government provides an arena in which our voices can have a direct impact. But how …

As four aging hydroelectric dams are demolished, tribes and communities along the Klamath River wait anxiously to see what the future holds. “Once a river is dammed, is it damned forever?” experts ask.

Edward Lovell Jr. steps out of a small homeless encampment on Airport Boulevard in Watsonville one hot and sunny day with his friendly, frisky mutt Cotton on a leash. Lovell, 43, estimates he is one of about 20 people who …

California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas on Tuesday introduced legislation intended to speed up the $400 million rebuild of the Pajaro River Levee. Assembly Bill 876 would expedite the work by exempting certain aspects of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). …

Next year, work crews will kick off a $400 million project to rebuild the levees in South Santa Cruz and North Monterey counties and keep the rivers and creeks from escaping and devastating the surrounding communities. That long-anticipated work will …

Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation projects have helped to build California, but they are also damaging the state’s environment for people, plants and animals by eliminating essential wetlands.

California has used reclamation districts to turn millions of acres of unusable swamps into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush. Here’s how it happened.

A novel partnership recently visited Santa Cruz Harbor to equip local fisherfolk with first aid Don’t let the amputated thumb distract you. Not from the dangerous deck conditions brought on by heavy seas. Not from your spiking heart rate. Not …