With its golden hue and light fruity flavor, the beer being sipped by Aaron Tartakovsky looks and tastes just like many others.

But it contains an unusual ingredient: recycled wastewater from a San Francisco skyscraper.

The beverage was brewed to raise public awareness of the “untapped” potential of water sources that might seem unsavory at first glance, at a time when the American West is struggling with chronic drought exacerbated by global warming, explains Tartakovsky.

“Beer has brought people together basically since the dawn of human civilization,” the boss of recycling company Epic Cleantec told AFP.

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Manufacturing the drink is an “incredible medium” to show the general public “in this age of climate change… recycled water is a really great way to make sure that our communities are secure for generations to come.”

The beer uses water derived from the showers, sinks and washing machines of a San Francisco apartment building containing 550 homes.

Epic Cleantec treats the building’s wastewater in the basement, returning much of it to the 40 floors above to be reused in flushing toilets or the irrigation system.

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California law prohibits redirecting the treated water to taps for drinking.

But once filtered, the water is transformed from a murky, thick gray to a crystal-clear liquid which will “meet or exceed federal drinking quality standards,” says Tartakovsky.

To prove it, he has teamed up with a brewery to create Epic OneWater Brew, a drink inspired by German Kolsch beers.

Epic Cleantec purifies the water in three stages.

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Firstly, bacteria target contaminants in the liquid, similar to how microbes in the human stomach work on the food and drink we consume.

Then the water is filtered through membranes measuring just one-thousandth of the diameter of a human hair.

It is finally disinfected with ultraviolet light, and chlorine.

The results surprised Chris Garrett, boss of the Devil’s Canyon brewery, which has produced 7,200 cans of beer using water from the building.

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In fact, he says, the treated wastewater probably provides “a cleaner slate” than the municipal water he usually uses for brewing beer — and there is no discernible change in taste.

“There literally is no difference, not discernible by anyone, including people that I know that are beer snobs,” said Garrett, who has run blind tastings.

Still, California law currently prevents the two companies from marketing or selling the beer commercially.

They hope that can be changed, and have been distributing cans free of charge during major events such as the recent Climate Week in New York.

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“I think what our beer project has shown people is that the public is a lot more ready for recycled water than we give them credit for,” says Tartakovsky, who served the beer at his own wedding.

In parts of the United States, such as Scottsdale in Arizona, treated wastewater has long been recycled for watering golf courses and crops.

In Orange County, California, treated water is pumped into the ground, where it enters underground aquifers before eventually being returned to the taps.

But due to chronic drought, the region’s water sources are drying up — including the vital Colorado River, relied upon by millions of Americans.

Authorities are exploring ways to recycle wastewater for direct reuse, without having to first return it to the natural environment.

Following Colorado last year, California plans to adopt new measures to pursue this technology before the end of 2023.

Known as “direct potable reuse” (DPR), the practice has been utilized for decades in Windhoek, a city in the southwestern African desert of Namibia.

But opponents have cropped up in the United States, dubbing the process “toilet-to-tap” in a bid to evoke disgust, while glossing over the recycling technology used.

Nonetheless, a recent Stanford University study found that recycled water may be cleaner than much of the water we drink daily, thanks to the extra efforts taken to purify it.

It also offers other advantages to expensive alternatives, such as treating seawater.

“The public often thinks about seawater desalination is a preferable alternative,” said Bill Mitch, co-author of the research.

“But beyond needing to be next to the coasts… it’s also much more energy intensive to clean up seawater than municipal wastewater, and about twice as costly.”

Mitch, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, hopes that initiatives like Epic Cleantec’s can help to change attitudes.

In recent years, other beers using wastewater have been brewed in Arizona and Idaho.

“Any of those actions certainly helps break down the public impression of ‘toilet-to-tap'” he said.

The post Wastewater Beer Goals To Assist Quench US Drought appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Rain battered the Bay Area on Sunday, moving from the northern valleys toward the south, upending street events in San Francisco and bringing fears of blackouts and toppled trees.

A storm that generated days of tantalizing forecasts had finally arrived.

For residents recovering from a record heat wave, in a season typically marked by grueling wildfires and protracted drought, the rain brought surprise and relief, some panic, and a little disappointment. Forecasts show the storms will probably persist at least through Tuesday.

In downtown San Francisco, the showers came in bursts, picking up at about 9:45 a.m. and spraying down hard enough, within a few minutes, to rattle the tin chimney caps of apartment buildings. By 10 a.m. the downpour had washed leaves down the drains and was threatening to clog them up and start building lakes in intersections.

Then, by 10:15 a.m., it had abated, another illustration of California’s extreme vicissitudes in weather, where atmospheric rivers follow long parched periods. At 11 a.m. the wind began moaning and the rain started again. Organizers canceled the annual LeatherWalk in SoMa, and Sunday Streets in the Western Addition. Stern Grove was also closed.

Inclement weather delayed Flower Piano, a popular performance festival in Golden Gate Park, by one hour, though the event proceeded at 11 a.m. with tents covering all 12 pianos.

“The crowd is less than if it were a sunny day, but there is a phenomenal dedicated hearty group of pianists and listeners who are here and outfitted in their finest rain jackets, rain boots and umbrellas,” said Brendan Lange, spokesperson for Flower Piano.

At 2:30 p.m., Yasmin Bahl started her regular run up the Lyon Street steps in pouring rain at Green Street. By the time she reached the top at Broadway, the rain had cleared enough to see a lone sailboat on the slate gray bay.

“We blinked. It’s over,” she said of the storm before she started on her second of 10 sets on the steps. Yet Sunday’s weather pattern had been anything but consistent, and meteorologists predicted more torrents as the day wore on.

Gentle rains that moistened pavement at about 8 a.m. in the East Bay turned fierce in the afternoon, when the rain came pouring down in sheets. By then the storm had doused much of the North Bay, where forecasters predict the mountains may see up to 3.5 inches of rainfall.

But Comedy Day in Golden Gate Park pressed on through the rain, which stopped in time for the last set of the day. “It was pouring for 40 or 45 minutes and the audience just stayed, about 50 to 100 people braving the elements and laughing their butts off,” producer Debi Durst said.

The crew set up a canopy onstage, but the comics avoided that coverage and stood out in the open when it was pouring. Only the band cut its performance short. “Their instruments were getting wet, and I said, ‘No one gets electrocuted today,’” Durst said.

Powerful winds blasting southward along the coast prompted the National Weather Service to issue an advisory for Sunday and warn of likely blackouts.

Winds were swirling for the nationally televised Giants-Dodgers game, which started at 4 p.m. at San Francisco’s Oracle Park. The first batter up, Mookie Betts, got a single to right field when the wind blew a fly ball down from the sky in front of the outfielder, who could not adjust to the wind. The rain caused a delay later in the game.

“We’re definitely considering this a welcomed rain event that will bring moisture to some of our dry fuels,” said Brooke Bingaman, a National Weather Service meteorologist. Though the storm’s behavior may seem erratic, Bingaman and other weather scientists expect it will produce unseasonably high levels of precipitation.

Southerly winds gather over the Bay Area on Saturday night, with rain forecast for all area by Sunday night into early Monday.

National Weather Service Bay Area

In downtown San Francisco, residents should anticipate about an inch, roughly four times what the city collects in an average September, Bingaman said.

So far amounts vary from a few hundredths to 0.13″ Sonoma and Marin Counties. A few drops of rain already at San Francisco within last hour, more arriving from the southwest. The surface to upper level low still spinning up (strengthening) ~ 200 miles west of Point Reyes. #CAwx pic.twitter.com/8VM6V9tr06

— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) September 18, 2022

Oakland should expect a half-inch to 0.75 of an inch of rain, possibly doubling its September rain average, she added. Forecasts expect similar totals in the San Jose area, which may also double its September average.

“But it’s another case where the North Bay is the winner for rain,” Bingaman said.

Sonoma and Napa counties should get 1 to 2 inches of widespread rain, which began lashing the North Bay valleys Saturday night, pelting Mount Tamalpais and Mill Valley, the National Weather Service reported, as winds picked up in the East Bay hills and Santa Cruz Mountains.

Commuters should expect a messy Monday morning drive, Bingaman said, as the first rain of the year mixes with oil residue on Bay Area roads, creating dangerous conditions, along with high winds blowing debris onto roadways.

The winds could also blow tree limbs onto power lines, causing blackouts. In addition, the first rains can turn accumulated dirt on power lines into mud, which conducts electricity and can damage the system and cause power failures.

Fortunately, Bingaman said, the Bay Area’s wildfire burn scars are older, so she is not expecting mudslides in the area.

In the Lake Tahoe area, there’s the possibility of light snow in higher elevations, said National Weather Service meteorologist Zach Tolby. But the bigger impact should be lower temperatures, breezier conditions and about an inch of rain in the area.

Tolby said residents are finally getting a reprieve from smoky air.

“The Mosquito Fire has been pouring in smoke,” he said. “So, we’re all quite excited to see some wind, rain and clouds.”

Matthias Gafni and Rachel Swan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com, rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mgafni, @rachelswan

The post Uncommon September rainstorm batters Bay Space after grueling warmth, drought appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

The results are in: As California experienced its three driest years on record, urban water users made significant efforts to conserve water, but fell far short of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call for a 15% reduction in their use.

Between July 2021, when Newsom first called on water users to voluntarily save water, and March this year, when he withdrew that call amid a very wet winter, the nationwide savings were 7%, about half the required amount. That equates to about 9 fewer gallons per person per day, according to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times.

Results varied significantly by region and water district, with the North Coast and San Francisco Bay areas saving the most water compared to the 2020 base year — 14% and 12%, respectively. The inland regions of Tulare Lake and Colorado River saved at least 4% and 2%, respectively. (The analysis did not include agricultural water use.)

State officials say the numbers belie the long-term conservation efforts Californians have made over the past few decades, including significant savings during the 2012-16 drought that ended just a few years before Newsom’s request.

However, they also recognized that there is significant room for improvement. Residential consumption nationwide averaged about 85 gallons per person per day. For comparison, Californians would have used 79 gallons per day if they reduced their consumption by 15%.

“We can definitely do better,” said Charlotte Ely, conservation officer with the State Water Resources Control Board.

In July 2021, California experienced one of the most devastating droughts in about two years. Fifty counties were on a drought emergency as Newsom stood in front of a receding Lake Lopez in San Luis Obispo County and urged residents to reduce their water use by 15%.

Newsom withdrew the call March 24 this year after multiple atmospheric flows refilled reservoirs and dropped record and near-record snowpack in the Sierra, significantly alleviating drought conditions across the state.

But many experts have criticized Newsom’s voluntary stance during the drought, arguing that he should have made cuts mandatory, like his predecessor Jerry Brown, who ordered a 25% cut during the 2012-16 drought. Residents narrowly met this goal, reducing water use by 24.5%.

The Newsom administration said it was more focused on targeted drought responses based on local conditions than on a “one-size-fits-all approach” that couldn’t account for past investments in conservation or key drivers of water use like climate.

“Seven percent is still an impressive number considering that’s happened in less than two years and it’s on top of the water savings the state has maintained since the last drought,” Ely said. “And so I think what we’ve seen over the past decade is really a success story in conservation.”

However, some experts say the results are evidence that more could have been done.

“The numbers are disappointing as they represent just under half of what was called for,” said Heather Cooley, director of research at the Pacific Institute, a water think tank.

A 2022 report by the institute found that Californians could reduce their water use by 30% to 48% by adopting a variety of existing technologies, efficiency standards, and water-saving landscaping. Indoor use might be as little as 25 to 35 gallons per person per day, Cooley said.

She attributed the state’s overall lackluster response to the governor’s voluntary appeal, saying the messages were inconsistent and often opaque as to the seriousness of the situation.

“I think it was potentially a recipe for disaster,” Cooley said. “If it had been another dry winter, we would have really wished we had gone to the compulsory event [restrictions] last year because it would help us conserve the limited water we had and expand it even further.”

Still, the effort seemed to be working better in some areas than others. The analysis found that the South Coast region, which includes Los Angeles and half of the state’s population, reduced water use by 6%, or about 7 fewer gallons per person per day.

In June 2022, as the drought worsened, the region’s major water wholesaler, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, ordered unprecedented restrictions on areas dependent on the State Water Project, a vast network of canals and pipelines that drain water Northern California transported to farmland and southern cities.

Largely in response to cut allocations from the state, the order included a 35% reduction in water use for nearly 7 million people in parts of Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties.

Communities were able to “reduce their water use to the point of running out of available water supplies for nine months until restrictions were lifted in March,” said Brad Coffey, manager of MWD’s Water Resource Management group.

Though the region managed to expand tight supplies, Coffey noted that operating under emergency restrictions was seen as a last resort and “not a sign of success.”

“We’ve been working to prepare for a changing climate for years, but these changes are coming even sooner than predicted and we need to adapt quickly,” he said.

The agency is working towards more sustainable reductions in water use through investments in new infrastructure and local utilities, and promoting more water-efficient landscapes, irrigation systems and indoor sanitation and appliance installations, he said.

In response to the MWD’s order, one of its largest clients, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, chose to place its entire service area of ​​approximately 4 million people two days per week under irrigation restrictions to comply or under a volumetric Allocation during drought.

According to the DWP, the attempt was successful.

“LADWP has been able to stay under the MWD volume allotment, which ran from June 2022 to March 2023, each month through the tireless efforts of our customers and employees,” spokeswoman Mia Rose-Wong said in an email.

However, the DWP fell nowhere near the 15% reduction required by Newsom, with cumulative savings of 5%, or 5 gallons per person per day, the analysis found.

Rose-Wong said customers have made aggressive efforts toward efficiency over the past three decades, making it increasingly difficult for our customers to reduce daily gallons per person.

“Nonetheless, we’re proud of the response from our customers who are diligent in maintaining their water-saving habits as water use has fallen by over 30% over the past 15 years,” said Rose-Wong.

She added that to track its savings, the DWP uses a 12-month rolling average to account for changes in population and weather throughout the year. LA’s 12-month moving average for residential, commercial and industrial occupants rose from 113 gallons per person per day in July 2021 to “below 105” gallons in March. For comparison, the same 12-month moving average nationwide was 126 gallons, she said.

However, not all of the Los Angeles area was so successful.

El Segundo used 25% more water between July 2021 and March, more than any other county in the state. City officials said the high consumption was largely due to a massive wastewater spill at the Hyperion treatment plant in 2021. The spill resulted in lost production of recycled water, which had to be replaced with potable water for several months.

The Humboldt Bay Urban Water District in far northern California was technically the highest-performing district in the state, reducing its water use by 41%. But director-general John Friedenbach said the numbers were somewhat skewed because the biggest water user, an electric utility, went offline in 2022. The rest of the district’s savings are “pretty average,” he said.

The second-largest saver in the state, the city of Healdsburg in Sonoma County, saw a 35% drop. Long touted as an example of efficient water conservation, Healdsburg has achieved significant savings through residential water caps, a recycled water transportation program, a near-total ban on outdoor irrigation, and other conservation efforts.

But while the wet winter gave California some much-needed respite, experts and officials said now is not the time for residents to relax. While extreme precipitation is becoming more common, the region as a whole is becoming hotter and drier due to climate change.

“People might wonder why we should care about conserving when Tulare Lake has re-formed, and I think it’s really just because we’re aware that we face these long-term challenges.” , said Ely of the state water agency. She found that hotter, drier conditions could result in a 10% drop in existing water supplies by 2040.

“And so all the water-saving habits we’ve cultivated over the last decade will continue to serve us well in the face of long-term drought,” she said.

The state is working to roll out its new framework, “Making Conservation a California Way of Life,” Ely said, which will set unique goals for its more than 400 retail urban water suppliers and, among other things, help drive long-term savings efforts across the state.

The state legislature is also considering two bills that could result in further savings, including one that would ban the use of potable water for some ornamental grasses and another that would force non-residential projects to switch to low-water and local native plants.

But California will also face significant cuts in one of its lifelines, the shrinking Colorado River, in the coming years.

The Pacific Institute’s Cooley said these cuts, along with projections for drier conditions, mean maintaining efficiency and a conservation ethos are critical to California and the West.

“We must continue to push for efficiency so that we make the most of the resources we have now,” she said, “and prepare for the next drought that may be imminent.”

The post Did Californians reduce water use 15% through the drought? appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

If you’re looking for a silver lining to the grueling storms sweeping California, then look no further than the state’s snowpack.

On Tuesday, California mountain snow contained more than twice the water content considered average for this time of year, the Times’ Mike Ives reported. That’s important, because as the Sierra Nevada’s snow melts in the warmer months, it typically provides about 30 percent of California’s water supply.

“With snow cover as it is right now, about 200 percent for most of the Sierra Nevada, that’s a great thing for California,” said Chris Hintz, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office, Wednesday.

With news of the replenished snowpack, you may be wondering what impact the recent storms will have on the current drought, which began in 2020 and has spanned the three driest years on record in the state. Could these downpours be enough to end our dry spell?

Well, experts say the atmospheric fluxes hitting the Golden State will no doubt help, but probably won’t be enough to fully reverse the drought.

“These storms are really good news, and they’re exactly the news we need at this time, but we still have a long way to go,” said Alex Hall, the director of the Center for Climate Science at UCLA. “We would need a few wet years in a row in California to feel like we’ve weathered the drought here.

In short, one major storm (or even six) isn’t enough to reverse years of minimal rainfall and rising temperatures. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist also at UCLA, compared the storms to dousing a neglected potted plant: The water, while welcome, cannot be fully absorbed at once, will not eliminate future water needs, and will not necessarily repair all of the damage caused by the neglect have arisen.

“You can’t just dump a ton of water on the ground and expect ecosystems to magically recover or groundwater to magically recover,” Swain told me.

Water supplies to many of the state’s largest reservoirs, including Shasta and Oroville, remain below historical averages for this time of year. And we don’t know what comes after these atmospheric fluxes subside, which is expected to begin late next week.

California’s rainiest months are typically December through February, but there’s no guarantee the rain will last until the end of the rainy season. The remainder of 2023 could be very dry, resulting in an average water year overall despite these torrential storms. “It wouldn’t be unprecedented for us to have very little rainfall in the coming months following this storm sequence,” Hall told me.

More on California

• A missed opportunity: California downpours could have been saved for future droughts. But water officials and experts say state bureaucracy designed to allocate water fairly has got in the way.
• Bruce’s Beach: The Bruce family won restitution of an oceanfront property near Los Angeles that had been confiscated from their relatives, two black entrepreneurs, nearly a century ago. Her decision to sell the land for $20 million sparked a new debate about reparations.
• State of emergency Covid: The state’s coronavirus emergency declaration, which gave Gov. Gavin Newsom sweeping powers to slow the spread of the virus, expires on February 28.
• After the tragedy: California reels after back-to-back mass shooting in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay.

Even if the drought ends, it probably won’t stay that way for long if California’s recent climate history is any guide, The Times’ Henry Fountain reported.

According to the US Drought Monitor, the state has had four prolonged droughts this century – 2001-04, 2007-09, 2012-16 and the current one. Between each of these droughts, there was only a few years of wet weather—often extremely wet weather, as is happening now.

“What we’re seeing is what I and others refer to as whiplash,” said Peter Gleick, co-founder and senior fellow at the Pacific Institute, a research organization specializing in water issues. “We don’t seem to get average years anymore.”

tell us: How are the storms affecting you? Email us with your stories and photos at CAToday@nytimes.com.

Where we are traveling

Today’s tip comes from Liz DiMarco Weinmann:

“My favorite places in California are the Sonoma and Napa wine regions, San Francisco and the Carmel/Monterey region. I love Carmel/Monterey so much I convinced my husband that we need to spend the whole of February (65 degrees most days, sunny oh yes) there – instead of the miserable, cold, gray, snowy Northeast, where we live.

We’re at the point in our career where we can work anywhere, so we’re coming to Carmel. I’ve already put aside my sherbet sweaters, lightweight leggings and comfy kicks. I even scheduled my New York haircuts in December and January around my departure date. We get pushed out of the wazoo. We will do it!”

Tell us about your favorite places in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We will share more in future editions of the newsletter.

And before you go, some good news

Thousands of people descend on Cypress, an Orange County suburb, hoping to catch a glimpse of a bird of prey that has mysteriously made its way far from home.

The snowy owl’s natural habitat is the inhospitable frozen wilderness of the high arctic tundra. But one has appeared on the palm-lined streets of Southern California. “It’s like seeing Santa Claus on the beach,” Nancy Caruso, a neighbor who saw the owl, told The Times. “So out of place but cool.”

From time to time the owl, which first appeared in November, goes out to look for a rat or a gopher under the night sky. But the owl keeps coming back.

“It’s the last thing on earth you’d expect there,” David Bell, a Los Angeles Birders board member who found himself among the crowd of people marveling at the animal when it first appeared, told SFGate. “You think to yourself that it can’t possibly be real, and then it spins its head. Yes, it’s real.”

Thank you for reading. I will come back tomorrow. — Soumya

PS Here is today’s mini crossword.

Briana Scalia, Isabella Grullón Paz and Shivani Gonzalez have contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com.

Sign up here to receive this newsletter in your inbox.

The post California Storms Assist Relieve Drought, However How A lot Is in Query appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

If you’re looking for a silver lining to the grueling storms sweeping California, then look no further than the state’s snowpack.

On Tuesday, California mountain snow contained more than twice the water content considered average for this time of year, the Times’ Mike Ives reported. That’s important, because as the Sierra Nevada’s snow melts in the warmer months, it typically provides about 30 percent of California’s water supply.

“With snow cover as it is right now, about 200 percent for most of the Sierra Nevada, that’s a great thing for California,” said Chris Hintz, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office, Wednesday.

With news of the replenished snowpack, you may be wondering what impact the recent storms will have on the current drought, which began in 2020 and has spanned the three driest years on record in the state. Could these downpours be enough to end our dry spell?

Well, experts say the atmospheric fluxes hitting the Golden State will no doubt help, but probably won’t be enough to fully reverse the drought.

“These storms are really good news, and they’re exactly the news we need at this time, but we still have a long way to go,” said Alex Hall, the director of the Center for Climate Science at UCLA. “We would need a few wet years in a row in California to feel like we’ve weathered the drought here.

In short, one major storm (or even six) isn’t enough to reverse years of minimal rainfall and rising temperatures. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist also at UCLA, compared the storms to dousing a neglected potted plant: The water, while welcome, cannot be fully absorbed at once, will not eliminate future water needs, and will not necessarily repair all of the damage caused by the neglect have arisen.

“You can’t just dump a ton of water on the ground and expect ecosystems to magically recover or groundwater to magically recover,” Swain told me.

Water supplies to many of the state’s largest reservoirs, including Shasta and Oroville, remain below historical averages for this time of year. And we don’t know what comes after these atmospheric fluxes subside, which is expected to begin late next week.

California’s rainiest months are typically December through February, but there’s no guarantee the rain will last until the end of the rainy season. The remainder of 2023 could be very dry, resulting in an average water year overall despite these torrential storms. “It wouldn’t be unprecedented for us to have very little rainfall in the coming months following this storm sequence,” Hall told me.

Even if the drought ends, it probably won’t stay that way for long if California’s recent climate history is any guide, The Times’ Henry Fountain reported.

According to the US Drought Monitor, the state has had four prolonged droughts this century – 2001-04, 2007-09, 2012-16 and the current one. Between each of these droughts, there was only a few years of wet weather—often extremely wet weather, as is happening now.

“What we’re seeing is what I and others refer to as whiplash,” said Peter Gleick, co-founder and senior fellow at the Pacific Institute, a research organization specializing in water issues. “We don’t seem to get average years anymore.”

tell us: How are the storms affecting you? Email us with your stories and photos at CAToday@nytimes.com.

For more:

Where we are traveling

Today’s tip comes from Liz DiMarco Weinmann:

“My favorite places in California are the Sonoma and Napa wine regions, San Francisco and the Carmel/Monterey region. I love Carmel/Monterey so much I convinced my husband that we need to spend the whole of February (65 degrees most days, sunny oh yes) there – instead of the miserable, cold, gray, snowy Northeast, where we live.

We’re at the point in our career where we can work anywhere, so we’re coming to Carmel. I’ve already put aside my sherbet sweaters, lightweight leggings and comfy kicks. I even scheduled my New York haircuts in December and January around my departure date. We get pushed out of the wazoo. We will do it!”

Tell us about your favorite places in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We will share more in future editions of the newsletter.

And before you go, some good news

Thousands of people descend on Cypress, an Orange County suburb, hoping to catch a glimpse of a bird of prey that has mysteriously made its way far from home.

The snowy owl’s natural habitat is the inhospitable frozen wilderness of the high arctic tundra. But one has appeared on the palm-lined streets of Southern California. “It’s like seeing Santa Claus on the beach,” Nancy Caruso, a neighbor who saw the owl, told The Times. “So out of place but cool.”

From time to time the owl, which first appeared in November, goes out to look for a rat or a gopher under the night sky. But the owl keeps coming back.

“It’s the last thing on earth you’d expect there,” David Bell, a Los Angeles Birders board member who found himself among the crowd of people marveling at the animal when it first appeared, told SFGate. “You think to yourself that it can’t possibly be real, and then it spins its head. Yes, it’s real.”

Thank you for reading. I will come back tomorrow. — Soumya

PS Here is today’s mini crossword.

Briana Scalia, Isabella Grullón Paz and Shivani Gonzalez have contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com.

Sign up here to receive this newsletter in your inbox.

The post California Storms Assist Relieve Drought, However How A lot Is in Query appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

This story is part of the Cities + Solutions series, which chronicles surprising and inspiring climate initiatives in communities across the US through stories of cities leading the way. For more solution stories like this, subscribe to Grist’s Climate Solutions newsletter, Looking Forward.

Brad Simmons, a retired metal worker who has lived in Healdsburg, California, for 57 years, stood under a shady tree with drooping pomegranates late last year and showed off his backyard orchard. In addition to the apple, cherry and peach trees, he has packed a pear tree, two lemon trees and a centuries-old olive tree into the compact garden of his bungalow.

Of course, the small grove requires plenty of water — an increasingly scarce resource in a state that continues to struggle with a historic drought despite recent torrential rains. Still, like many of its 12,000 residents, Simmons has managed to keep much of this wine-growing community north of San Francisco looking green while halving the city’s water use since 2020.

Healdsburg benefits from an invaluable resource that irrigates gardens, trees, and vineyards: free, non-potable water produced by its wastewater treatment plant. According to city officials, the plant recycles 350 million gallons of wastewater that the city dumps and flushes each year, or just over half of its annual water use. The recycled H₂O is used in irrigation, construction and other applications that require less treatment than drinking water. This relieves pressure on regional reservoirs and wells, while attracting a broad pool of users to promote a conservation ethos, while still being able to handle the volume of treated wastewater discharged into the Russian River.

“I worry about water all the time,” Simmons said as he dragged a hose down his parched weed to a giant box filled with 275 gallons of treated water. The washer-dryer-sized containers have become a standard lawn facility in the city. “So that’s a real lifeline.”

California’s sewage projects

Currently, California treats and uses approximately 728,000 acre-feet, or approximately 18 percent of the wastewater produced annually. But the state has higher ambitions for increasing water security: New targets call for a nearly triple increase to 2 million acre-feet annually by 2030.

Supported by initiatives such as the California Water Board’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund and government support, including a $750 million grant program, several major projects are in the pipeline. Orange County, for example, is increasing the capacity of its drinking water treatment plant – already the largest in the world – to recycle 130 million gallons of wastewater per day. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is planning a new $3.4 billion recycling facility that would provide a renewable source of drinking water for 19 million Los Angeles-area customers.

For smaller communities or those with limited resources, however, a more modest approach can be just as effective, says Anne Thebo, senior researcher at the Pacific Institute, a nonprofit water conservation think tank in Oakland, California.

“The local context can really give communities flexibility in developing their water reuse plans,” she notes. Farming communities have an advantage here, she says, because many forms of irrigation don’t require treated water that’s clean enough to drink. But all communities have some flexibility in their ability to use treated wastewater, as the water used to irrigate wood or lawns may be of lower quality than that used for pasture grass such as alfalfa or raw edible crops such as strawberries and lettuce is used. Developing a water recycling plan that meets community needs can diversify a region’s water portfolio and balance overall demand.

Healdburg’s approach

When the wastewater facility was modernized in 2008, reuse was not Healdsburg’s top priority. The city had to comply with environmental regulations for discharges into the Russian River, which included maintaining a higher threshold for nutrient and pathogen removal. The $29.3 million improvement added pathogen-filtering membranes and UV light to a process that already included filtration and microbial scrubbing. The additional measure will purify the wastewater to near-potable quality and make it clean enough to be discharged into the 1,485-square-mile watershed.

But even at this quality, regional water authorities limit discharge to October through mid-May, when rain normally swells the river volume and reduces the risk of adverse impacts. In the remaining months, “we have to think about what we’re going to do with it,” says Healdsburg’s water and wastewater engineer Patrick Fuss. This became the key challenge and eventual success of the Healdsburg program – ensuring there was enough demand for this offering.

Although state regulations allow agricultural use of triple treated water, they also require permits that describe specific uses, primarily to ensure the safety of groundwater and the public. Healdsburg’s original permit included grape irrigation, as well as residential, landscape, and industrial uses. But for years it was a challenge to find enough buyers for the treated water, says Fuss. The recycled water, while free, is not potable and requires separate piping and hoses, resulting in a potentially expensive expense. Others had unfounded concerns about nitrate, mineral and chemical residues in the shipment that could contaminate their prized grapes.

As a result, treated wastewater continued to flow into the river until three years ago, when municipal action due to the escalating drought forced the city to fully comply with discharge regulations. The multi-faceted approach reduces the amount of wastewater entering the system from water conservation measures while increasing the demand for recycled water.

Fuss laid some of the groundwork for this by recruiting winemakers for a door-to-door campaign and involving potential participants in planning a pipeline expansion to facilitate supply. Meanwhile, the city required the use of treated water in all construction projects and made it available at two service stations. Finally, as state and regional water restrictions tightened last year, Healdsburg began free private deliveries of up to 500 gallons per subscriber each week.

According to Fuss, accommodating a wide range of users is crucial in order to balance supply and demand. “We know that we can achieve compliance during a drought if the inflow — the amount of wastewater we have to treat — is reduced because people are saving while demand is greater on the other end,” he says. A wet or normal year would turn the equation on its head, which without adequate taps would quickly overflow the system.

Controlling the quality of sanitation is actually a key motivator for water recycling projects in California, Thebo says. And usually, the development of multiple advantages seems to be the common factor of success. “They are at the heart of the partnerships that form between cities, producers, environmental groups and a host of other stakeholders. And they are also what engages the community and local politicians.”

There doesn’t seem to be a lack of community involvement in Healdsburg. Popularity actually killed the residential delivery program, which at its peak served more than a quarter of city households. “It was [financially] Unsustainable as a long-term strategy,” says Rob Scates, Superintendent of Water and Wastewater, “but it definitely helped spread the word.” Water is still being given away at gas stations, and several transport companies are delivering for a small fee (Simmons reports that he pays $40 for every bi-weekly delivery).

However, the city is taking no chances. As an added reassurance, it has recently expanded permitted uses to pasture, commercial orchards and non-dairy cattle. And plans are in the works to expand the pipe network — painted purple to denote nonpotable supply — directly into the city for municipal irrigation, thanks to a $7 million federal grant. “Word has got around that the water quality is very good and that it’s a pretty reliable system,” says Scates. “Now [users] are really addicted to it. They make sure we follow the rules.”

As an early adopter, Dennis De La Montanya, owner of De La Montanya Vineyards, has no qualms. He’s watered the grapes that produce his award-winning Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the purple pipes for years. “It’s been a real boon in terms of water availability. And we don’t pollute groundwater resources or the public water system,” he says. “It’s a win-win situation.”

Concrete results like these highlight the true value of recycled water, says Thebo. “So many of the challenges of water scarcity can feel insurmountable. But when people can see solutions that impact their daily lives, I think that becomes a point of pride for the community.”

This article originally appeared in Grist, a non-profit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories about climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org

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Rain battered the Bay Area on Sunday, moving from the northern valleys toward the south, upcoming street events in San Francisco and bringing fears of blackouts and topped trees.

A storm that generated days of tantalizing forecasts had finally arrived.

For residents recovering from a record heat wave, in a season typically marked by grueling wildfires and protracted drought, the rain brought surprise and relief, some panic, and a little disappointment. Forecasts show the storms will probably persist at least through Tuesday.

In downtown San Francisco, the showers came in bursts, picking up at about 9:45 am and spraying down hard enough, within a few minutes, to rattle the tin chimney caps of apartment buildings. By 10 am the downpour had washed leaves down the drains and was threatening to clog them up and start building lakes in intersections.

Then, by 10:15 am, it had abated, another illustration of California’s extreme vicissitudes in weather, where atmospheric rivers follow long parched periods. At 11 am the wind began moaning and the rain started again. Organizers canceled the annual LeatherWalk in SoMa, and Sunday Streets in the Western Addition. Stern Grove was also closed.

Inclement weather delayed Flower Piano, a popular performance festival in Golden Gate Park, by one hour, though the event proceeded at 11 am with tents covering all 12 pianos.

“The crowd is less than if it were a sunny day, but there is a phenomenal dedicated hearty group of pianists and listeners who are here and outfitted in their finest rain jackets, rain boots and umbrellas,” said Brendan Lange, spokesperson for Flower Piano .

At 2:30 pm, Yasmin Bahl started her regular run up the Lyon Street steps in pouring rain at Green Street. By the time she reached the top at Broadway, the rain had cleared enough to see a lone sailboat on the slate gray bay.

“We blinked. It’s over,” she said of the storm before she started on her second of 10 sets on the steps. Yet Sunday’s weather pattern had been anything but consistent, and meteorologists predicted more torrents as the day wore on.

Gentle rains that moistened pavement at about 8 am in the East Bay turned fierce in the afternoon, when the rain came pouring down in sheets. By then the storm had done much of the North Bay, where forecasters predict the mountains may see up to 3.5 inches of rainfall.

But Comedy Day in Golden Gate Park pressed on through the rain, which stopped in time for the last set of the day. “It was pouring for 40 or 45 minutes and the audience just stayed, about 50 to 100 people braving the elements and laughing their butts off,” producer Debi Durst said.

The crew set up a canopy onstage, but the comics avoided that coverage and stood out in the open when it was pouring. Only the band cut its performance short. “Their instruments were getting wet, and I said, ‘No one gets electrocuted today,’” Durst said.

Powerful winds blasting southward along the coast prompted the National Weather Service to issue an advisory for Sunday and warn of likely blackouts.

Winds were swirling for the nationally televised Giants-Dodgers game, which started at 4 pm at San Francisco’s Oracle Park. The first batter up, Mookie Betts, got a single to right field when the wind blew a fly ball down from the sky in front of the outfielder, who could not adjust to the wind. The rain caused a delay later in the game.

“We’re definitely considering this a welcomed rain event that will bring moisture to some of our dry fuels,” said Brooke Bingaman, a National Weather Service meteorologist. Though the storm’s behavior may seem erratic, Bingaman and other weather scientists expect it will produce unseasonably high levels of precipitation.

Southerly winds gather over the Bay Area on Saturday night, with rain forecast for all area by Sunday night into early Monday.

National Weather Service Bay Area

In downtown San Francisco, residents should anticipate about an inch, roughly four times what the city collects in an average September, Bingaman said.

So far amounts vary from a few hundredths to 0.13″ Sonoma and Marin Counties. A few drops of rain already at San Francisco within last hour, more arriving from the southwest. The surface to upper level low still spinning up (strengthening) ~ 200 miles west of point reyes.#CAwx pic.twitter.com/8VM6V9tr06

— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) September 18, 2022

Oakland should expect a half-inch to 0.75 of an inch of rain, possibly doubling its September rain average, she added. Forecasts expect similar totals in the San Jose area, which may also double its September average.

“But it’s another case where the North Bay is the winner for rain,” Bingaman said.

Sonoma and Napa counties should get 1 to 2 inches of widespread rain, which began lashing the North Bay valleys Saturday night, pelting Mount Tamalpais and Mill Valley, the National Weather Service reported, as winds picked up in the East Bay hills and Santa Cruz Mountains .

Commuters should expect a messy Monday morning drive, Bingaman said, as the first rain of the year mixes with oil residue on Bay Area roads, creating dangerous conditions, along with high winds blowing debris onto roadways.

The winds could also blow tree limbs onto power lines, causing blackouts. In addition, the first rains can turn accumulated dirt on power lines into mud, which conducts electricity and can damage the system and cause power failures.

Fortunately, Bingaman said, the Bay Area’s wildfire burn scars are older, so she is not expecting mudslides in the area.

In the Lake Tahoe area, there’s the possibility of light snow in higher elevations, said National Weather Service meteorologist Zach Tolby. But the bigger impact should be lower temperatures, breezier conditions and about an inch of rain in the area.

Tolby said residents are finally getting a reprieve from smoky air.

“The Mosquito Fire has been pouring into smoke,” he said. “So, we’re all quite excited to see some wind, rain and clouds.”

Matthias Gafni and Rachel Swan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com, rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mgafni, @rachelswan

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — The once lush green hillsides nourished by the mid-winter rains will continue to turn brown and fire prone this week as a slow-moving high pressure system buffets the San Francisco Bay Area with bone-dry winds and temperatures soaring to near record highs, forecasters predicted Monday.

The National Weather Service said temperatures will reach the low 90s on Thursday in the South Bay and only be prevented from setting new records from San Francisco to San Jose because of a similar heat wave in 1989.

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During that record heat, downtown San Francisco reached 91, Redwood City 90 and Gilroy 96.

“It should be noted that a similar heat wave occurred in early April back in 1989 and many of those records may stand still,” the weather service said. “Therefore, it is uncertain how many records may or may not be broken.”

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Normally at this time of year, forecasters said, the average temperature in the Bay Area hovers around degrees so most areas will at 15-20 degrees over that by mid-week.

One other thing is for certain, with every passing high pressure system, the hillsides will dry out just a little bit more.

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“The recent rains brought a brief reprieve on fire weather charts, but that will be quickly erased,” the weather service said. “Heightened fire weather concerns will return by weeks end with warm, dry, and breezy conditions.”

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SAN JOSE (KPIX) – The Santa Clara Valley Water District, the wholesaler for the South Bay, is making efforts to polish the image of purified wastewater and lay the groundwork for the replenishment of local aquifers.

At a press event at the Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center, Rick Callender, CEO of Valley Water, spoke about the need to keep saving while developing ways to increase supply.

At the event, employees distributed water bottles to elected officials and dignitaries with this message printed on the label: “That used to be wastewater #GetOverIt.”

“(Recycled water) may have an image problem, but I think once people are educated they will understand that if you look at the ecosystem, all water is recycled,” Callender said.

The cleaning center receives water from the regional sewage system San José-Santa Clara on the opposite side of the street, which is pumped through a microfiltration and reverse osmosis system and guided by UV light.

At this stage, the water is cleaner than what can be achieved with home filtration systems, the district said. However, it cannot legally be considered “potable” until it has undergone “advanced oxidation”. The district wants to upgrade the cleaning center and install the technology.

Currently the purification center produces 8 million gallons per day, the majority of which is diverted for industrial use, landscape irrigation, and agricultural crops, while the remainder is dumped into the bay.

Once classified as “potable,” it is up to the state Water Resources Control Board to approve the use of millions of gallons of purified water to recharge aquifers in Campbell.

Callender commented on the district’s efforts to get the water resources committee to act quickly.

“I think this is just the beginning of a conversation we need to have. We need to have it now, we need to finish it, and we need to be able to find ways to ensure that we can use advanced purified water for water supply. I think this is just the beginning of a very long conversation and hopefully the state will be able to step on the regulatory accelerator and figure out how to do this quickly, ”Callender said.

The district will decide whether to expand the current water treatment center on Zanker Road or build a new facility in Palo Alto. Callender said the district is reviewing options for both.

“We are in the worst drought since the 1970s. Our reservoirs will be empty if climate change doesn’t go away. Droughts won’t go away, ”Callender said.

Drinking the purified sewage, Shane Kent said in San Jose, it tasted “good.”

“It’s not like tap water or anything like that, but I don’t notice that much of a difference,” said Kent. “But if I saw a fresh bottle of water and something that was treated wastewater – although technically the same – I’d probably prefer the regular bottle of water to this. So it’s definitely a strange image problem. “

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SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) – As the ongoing drought caused some to replace their lawns, thieves were caught on camera stealing an expensive roll of artificial turf from the front of a house in San Jose.

Security cameras in a house on Eastridge Drive captured a suspicious white SUV at around 1:20 a.m. on Sept. 25, as it slowly drove by with the headlights off.

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Two minutes later, two men are walking towards the property from the left and walking straight to a large roll of artificial turf in the front yard of Rick Telly’s house.

The thieves struggled with the weight of the roll, but then they picked it up and walked away. It was gone in seconds.

Surveillance videos allegedly showing two thieves stealing artificial turf from a house in San Jose on September 25, 2021. (CBS)

“It was worth about $ 4,000,” said Telly, who owns a small construction company.

Telly told KPIX 5 that he plans to use the lawn for a client’s work and install lawn in his own front yard.

“I think it’s a shame,” he said. “I find it pretty sad that people have to resort to these kinds of measures to steal other people’s property, especially people who are just trying to make a living doing these kinds of services.”

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Neighbor Lourdes Walker said she was surprised the thieves took the turf. “People suffer for money and they are just too lazy to work,” she said.

But then she said it made sense because of the drought.

“That’s what I think for my garden to replace the grass,” said Walker.

In fact, one plumber said the demand for turf is at an all-time high, ranging from $ 12 to $ 18 per square foot.

Troy Scott, co-owner of Heavenly Greens, also said project waiting times have now been months behind.

“You can imagine that there is an advantage when someone does a part-time job and discovers some lawn. But it’s a bit extreme, I have to say, ”Scott told KPIX 5.

Telly said it’s thousands of dollars out of his pocket but hopes to get the lawn back if he can catch the thieves.

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“Little did I know anyone would resort to these measures to take the weed,” he said.

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