A proposed surf park, dubbed “Coral Mountain,” in the city of La Quinta in Coachella Valley was rejected unanimously by the City Council mid-September. 

Thank god. The last thing Californians need is a gigantic water-wasting project like this. 

The project, proposed by luxury real estate company Meriwether Co., would consist of a hotel, several hundred homes and a gigantic water basin with technology to bring the ocean a hundred miles or so inland. 

Pro surfer Kelly Slater’s company developed the hydrofoil generator that creates the waves, which can reach up to 8 feet high. According to the Kelly Slater Wave Co. website, “The wave form is inspired and designed by world class ocean waves.”

I don’t know if this means the ocean waves themselves got involved in this, admittedly cool, concept but if so, they didn’t consider the problems with building such a pool in one of the driest areas of the country. 

California is in the middle of a megadrought that has seen three consecutive dry years with another projected to be on the way. As the water year comes to a close, experts predict that this fall will see above average temperatures and a warm and dry winter. 

In Coachella Valley, residents actually use about three times more water than the state average per person. There are 124 irrigated golf courses in Palm Springs and Coachella Valley, which as a whole makes up less than one percent of Southern California’s population yet contains 28 percent of the region’s golf courses. Those golf courses use between 750,000 and 1 million gallons of water a day. While the golf industry employs over 8,000 workers and generates almost $750 million in golf-related spending per year, it is clear that its pristine courses are major water wasters in the region. 

So, to add a luxury surf park that would waste even more water would be a slap in the face to residents who aren’t involved in the tourism industry. 

Residents of Riverside County already face fines for going over their allotted outside water budget. It seems wrong for a company made up of just 10 employees, including its owners, to benefit from such a large increase in water usage for the enjoyment of wealthy snowbirds and visitors. 

Because while everyone loses in a drought, it’s the poorest communities that are hit the hardest, according to a report from the Legislative Analyst’s Office, California’s nonpartisan policy advisor. 

“The communities most impacted by drinking water challenges during the last drought were small and rural,” the report says. “Many of the communities that lost, or remain vulnerable to losing, access to safe drinking water contain high proportions of both lower-income and Latino residents.” 

Blaine Carian of the Coachella Valley Resource Conservation District claims that Coachella Valley’s water supply is better off than most regions in California, stored in the underground water aquifer. 

“We have a lot of years of water in our storage basin,” Carian said in an interview with KESQ News.

According to the Desert Water Agency, if no water conservation efforts were made, there would still be around 100 years’ worth of water stored up in the underground basins. As beneficiaries of the Colorado River, La Quinta and surrounding towns are well-equipped to handle drought. 

But perhaps the Desert Water Agency should talk to those living in mobile home parks near the Coral Mountain site, whose water is contaminated with toxic arsenic and unsafe to drink.

So perhaps Coachella Valley will survive the drought, new golf courses and surf parks or not. However, the drought transcends just one area  — it’s a multi-state issue that will continue to grow more dire as the climate continues to dry up. 

There are plenty of places for people to surf — we don’t need to make the desert one of them. Wealthy people already account for disproportionate water usage, adding a surf resort would only add to that problem. Go to Venice Beach, I hear there are some pretty good waves there.

Patrick Warren is a senior writing about the intersection of sports and climate change. His column “The World of Sports” runs every other Wednesday.”

Originally Appeared Here

The lower Cape Fear River and Cape Fear Memorial Bridge as shown Tuesday from the Wilmington waterfront. Photo: Jennifer Allen

DOWNTOWN WILMINGTON — North Carolina is home to two of the top five watersheds in the country that had the highest amounts of toxins discharged in 2020 – the upper New River and the lower Cape Fear River, a new report finds.

With the Cape Fear River as a backdrop in downtown Wilmington, advocates released the findings of the study, “Wasting Our Waterways: Toxic pollution and the unfulfilled promise of the Clean Water Act,” published Sept. 28, to a handful of journalists Tuesday morning on the riverwalk.

“We’re here today along the banks of the Cape Fear River because North Carolinians deserve clean water. Our waterways should be safe for swimming, fishing and drinking, and our children deserve a toxic free future,” North Carolina Public Interest Research Group Education Fund State Director Katie Craig told reporters. 

“Yet today, 50 years after the passage of the Clean Water Act, we continue to allow companies to use chemicals linked to a wide range of health threats, including cancer, developmental damage, reproductive damage and more.” 

NCPIRG is a state-based, citizen-funded advocacy group that is an advocate for the public interest. Environment America Research & Policy Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund produced the report based on data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory, or TRI.

There were 10,266,141 pounds of toxins released in the upper New River watershed located in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia and 5,017,810 pounds in the lower Cape Fear that year, according to the report. 

Industrial facilities released at least 193.6 million pounds of toxic substances into U.S. waterways in 2020, including many known to cause cancer, reproductive problems and developmental issues. Of the top ten 10 states by total releases of toxic substances, North Carolina came in at No. 6 with 9,746,239 pounds behind Texas, Indiana, Virginia, Louisiana and Alabama.

The report finds North Carolina to have the highest levels in the country of dumped toxins linked to developmental delays, Craig said. These toxins cause developmental effects that interfere with the processes of growth and change in the body from conception through adolescence. 

“In 2020, over 4.5 million pounds of developmental toxins were released by industrial and government facilities into our waterways across the country,” she said, adding that facilities in the state released the most developmental toxins of any state at over 600,000 pounds.

“With facilities dumping so much pollution, no one should be surprised that so many of our rivers, lakes and streams are still unsafe for swimming and fishing and other recreational activities. But we should be outraged, North Carolinians’ waterways should not be a dumping ground for our polluters.”

She explained that the full scope of toxic pollution flowing into waterways was even greater than that reported to the inventory, which is data collected from the polluting facilities to the Environmental Protection Agency.

North Carolina Public Interest Research Group Education Fund State Director Katie Craig, left, UNCW professor Larry Cahoon and Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette. Photo: Jennifer Allen

“For example, the TRI data does not include releases of thousands of toxic PFAS chemicals, of which only a very small segment were reported for the first time to this report in 2020, and likely under reported at that, ” she said, adding toxic chemicals industrial facilities send to sewage treatments, toxins from stormwater and agricultural runoff are also not included.

“That’s why we’re calling on federal agencies like the EPA, as well as federal and state governments, and even manufacturers and retailers themselves to take action to drastically reduce the use of these toxic chemicals,” Craig said.

Craig said the restriction on the use of PFAS and other toxic chemicals needs to be dramatic, especially when safer alternatives already exist. The state and federal agencies need to update their abilities to hold polluters accountable and stop toxic chemicals from being permitted to end up in our waterways in the first place, she said.

Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette with Cape Fear River Watch said the local grassroots environmental nonprofit focuses on the water quality of the Cape Fear River.

“This report is especially important, and especially troubling,” Burdette said. “We drink this river, and we eat the fish out of this river and the shellfish out of this river. And we swim in the water from this river.”

The area has been drinking PFAS-contaminated water for 40 years, he said. 

“The technology exists to remove PFAS pollution. We can remove almost every nanogram of PFAS pollution created by polluters and we have to start doing that now. We can’t wait for more and more of these chemicals to be regulated,” Burdette said. “Even more important than removing the PFAS pollution that we create every day is stopping the production of what we know is an incredibly toxic class of chemicals.”

The report also highlights that nitrate pollution makes up about 90% of pollution in the country’s waterways.

“Nitrate pollution is important because it causes fish kills, algal blooms, sometimes toxic algal blooms and can even cause entire dead zones and waterways and estuaries and coastal areas,” Burdette said. 

He also expressed worry that, while the report covers an enormous amount of self-reported data from the Toxic Release Inventory, it’s clear there’s even more contamination in waterways across the US, and especially in the Cape Fear basin. 

“We’re the center of production in this country for poultry right now. North Carolina produces more poultry than any other state in the country, and the Cape Fear basin is the most densely concentrated area for swine production in the entire world,” Burdette said. “So while this report highlights reported pollution, there is an enormous amount of pollution that is unreported that combines with this reported pollution to impact water quality here in the Cape Fear River.”

Burdette noted that the Clean Water Act turns 50 years old this year, a significant accomplishment if not perfect.

“It dramatically improved water quality, but the Clean Water Act has a long way to go,” he said. “We still have a long way to go until the Cape Fear River and other waterways across the country are swimmable and fishable and drinkable. And we need to be moving in that direction. And this report really highlights the urgency there.”

About the Clean Water Act

Larry Cahoon, professor of biology and marine biology at the University of North Carolina  Wilmington, teaches marine and freshwater science to graduate students and undergraduates. His curriculum covers the Clean Water Act.

“I grew up before the Clean Water Act was passed. And so I had an opportunity to live through the experience of seeing waters that were multicolored every day. Waters you didn’t dare swim in or wait in or fish in,” he said.

Cahoon said the point he wants to drive home is that the Clean Water Act made it very clear that the waters do not belong to polluters or the government.

“The government is supposed to be the steward of that resource that belongs to us. And I want to get that point across to everyone who’s listening: This is our river. It belongs to us. We should be able to fish and swim in that river and drink its water safely and the fact that we can’t do that means we have a lot of work left to do under the Clean Water Act.”

Originally Appeared Here

Wausau Water Works

WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Wausau Water Works Commission took no action regarding potential funding for a granular activated carbon filtration system to be installed at the city’s new drinking water treatment plant in the next five years.

Representatives from Ehlers Financial were on hand to present their findings on how to come up with the $17 million for the project, including one option that would have the utility borrowing the full amount and two others that rely on funding from the state’s safe drinking water loan program along with a combination of safe drinking water loans and ARPA funding.

While the data they presented showed the average quarterly bill for 15,000 gallons going from around $85 to between $111 and $117, many on the commission noted that those numbers should not be taken as gospel just yet. “We have so many variables in here so we need to make sure we address as many as we can up front,” said Robinson. “Those rates don’t necessarily reflect the universe of our costs, we will want to be careful,” he added.

Public Works Director Eric Lindman adds that there is also the issue of how to fund the move, saying it’s likely that the utility will have to do some short-term borrowing to cover a gap from the time work starts on the system to when funding becomes available.

Mayor Katie Rosenberg, who chairs the Commission, added that if the move comes with a significant cost increase for customers they may want to consider a change from quarterly billing to monthly.

Originally Appeared Here

The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte – Kenhtè:ke Kanyen’kehá:ka will soon have more reliable safe drinking water at 320 more residences thanks to 21 kilometres of new water main infrastructure.  Chief Donald Maracle and the Council of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte (MBQ) hosted a sod-turning ceremony

(This article continues…)

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Originally Appeared Here

A circuit court judge on Tuesday dismissed charges against former state and Flint officials for their roles in the water crisis that gripped the city beginning in 2014. The result had been a likely outcome after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in June that state prosecutors incorrectly used a one-man grand jury to issue indictments last year.

Felony charges against former Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon, former MDHHS employee Nancy Peeler, Rich Baird, a top aide to former Gov. Rick Snyder and other former officials were dismissed by Genesee Circuit Judge Elizabeth Kelly in a written order.

Kelly cited the Supreme Court order in dismissing the cases, issuing a six-page order Tuesday. Kelly had previously canceled a hearing on the cases, instead opting to issue a written order. In total, cases for seven former state and Flint officials were dismissed.

“If the People seek future charges against Defendants, they must follow one of the proper charging procedures outlined by the Supreme Court,” Kelly wrote.

Kelly, however, did not dismiss the cases with prejudice, meaning state prosecutors could file the charges again if they choose to. State prosecutors, led by Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud, have previously indicated they will continue to seek charges against the officials.

A spokesperson for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2021, Genesee County Circuit Judge David Newblatt charged the group without a preliminary examination, which allows for cross-examination of witnesses before trial. Appeals to Newblatt’s decisions were rejected before the Michigan Supreme Court sided with the defense. The participating justices were unanimous in saying a judge cannot act as a one-man grand jury, with one justice writing in a separate opinion that prosecutors could not afford to “cut corners” in a case of this magnitude.

More:Michigan Supreme Court: Judge erred in Flint water crisis indictments, one-man grand jury

The Supreme Court’s decision stymied prosecutor efforts, although Hammoud and Nessel had vowed to continue pursuing charges. In a response to a motion for dismissal filed by Jarrod Agen, Snyder’s former chief of staff who was charged with felony perjury, prosecutors wrote the defense was conflating the dismissal of the indictments brought by Newblatt as “the dismissal of a case in its entirety.”

Nessel, after taking office in 2019, tossed out previous charges brought forward by her predecessor, Attorney General Bill Schuette, relaunching an expanded probe. At the time, Nessel said in a statement to Flint residents, “justice delayed is not always justice denied.”

The Flint water crisis started in 2014 when the city switched water sources and lead, a neurotoxin particularly dangerous to children, leached into the city’s water supply. As the city struggled with water quality, it also saw an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease and deaths.

Lyon, former director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, was charged with nine felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and one misdemeanor count of willful neglect of duty.

Peeler, who was an early childhood health section manager at MDHHS, was charged with two felony counts of misconduct in office and one misdemeanor count of willful neglect of duty.

Baird, who was considered Snyder’s right-hand man as a senior adviser, was charged with four separate felony counts — one of perjury, one of misconduct in office, one of obstruction of justice and one of extortion.

Others who had their felony charges dismissed Tuesday include Agen, former Flint emergency managers Gerald Ambrose and Darnell Early and former MDHHS medical executive Dr. Eden Wells.

This story will be updated.

Contact Arpan Lobo: [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @arpanlobo.

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Originally Appeared Here

Limescale is a common sight in households and is simply the buildup of mineral deposits on appliances that see water running through them. After a while, you’ll notice this accumulation on faucets, shower heads, and other taps around the home. Depending on the speed at which these deposits continue to grow, you may be dealing with significantly hardened water.

Limescale is a common problem in households, but it looks terrible when it begins to build up on your faucets and other appliances and fixtures exposed to water routinely. This accumulation can be removed with a number of specialized solutions, but a simple fix for this problem is often the application of vinegar (via Mira Showers).

Tying a watertight bag around an affected area and filling it with vinegar so that the cap or other metal component is submerged in the solution can soften any hardened deposits and simply wipe them away. This, however, is not a solution for the underlying problem, and you’ll still need to solve the hard water issue that creates limescale in the first place: Softening the water coming into your home can prevent line buildup, allowing you to focus on other cleaning and maintenance tasks rather than this household annoyance.

Originally Appeared Here

The city of New Bern and River Bend have entered into an agreement to interconnect the two municipalities’ water systems. The project will allow River Bend to receive an influx of water from New Bern’s larger system in emergency situations.

In 2010, the Town of River Bend made improvements to its water system which extended it to the west side of U.S. 17. The extension allowed the town to provide water service to the Springdale and Piner Estates neighborhoods and established a nonconnected crossing of the New Bern and River Bend water systems. 

The municipal public water distribution systems owned and operated by New Bern and River Bend are both located in proximity to each other at the existing eight-inch diameter water main near the corner of East Church Street and U.S. 17. 

More:Fall’s fear-filled festivities: 5 hair-raising Craven County attractions

More:After two severe accidents in the past four months, are these New Bern bridges safe?

According to Jordan Hughes, city of New Bern engineer, the city has sufficient water distribution capacity within its current system to provide water to River Bend during temporary emergencies. He said hydraulic engineering analyses have been performed to determine that water from New Bern’s water system can flow into River Bend’s water system without adverse consequences.

An agreement between New Bern and River Bend to connect the two systems was approved last week by the New Bern Board of Aldermen. The agreement was approved by the River Bend Town Council the previous week. 

Under the agreement, in the event of an emergency New Bern will furnish River Bend water in an amount not to exceed 100,000 gallons per day and at a rate not to exceed 500 gallons per minute. Emergency periods include temporary water outages in all or part of River Bend’s water distribution system due to a severed or damaged water main, a planned water outage, an unplanned water outage or a water supply shortage.

Hughes said a meter inside the interconnection assembly would be used to bill River Bend for any emergency water use. 

The agreement recognizes that due to the length and size of the water transmission main that interconnects the two water distribution systems and the infrequent usage of water transmitted through the pipeline, the initial water quality transmitted from New Bern to the River Bend system may be poor and require flushing from the system in order to fully meet drinkable water requirements.

Hughes said when River Bend extended its water system across the highway it created the perfect opportunity to install an interconnection between the River Bend water system and the New Bern water system.

“Since then we’ve evaluated the options and kicked around some ideas to determine the feasibility of putting the interconnection in,” Hughes said.

Asked if the interconnection could be used by River Bend to supply New Bern in emergency situations, Hughes said it wasn’t as simple as just hooking the two systems up and turning the water on.

“There are capacity issues, there are hydraulic pressure issues and there are chemical treatment issues, because we treat our water differently than they treat water, so those are things you have to take into account,” Hughes said. 

Hughes said New Bern currently has two interconnections with the Craven County water system, one at Craven County Industrial Park and the other on N.C 55 West. He said the city has also explored interconnecting with county water in the James City area.

“We’ve actually used the industrial park connection several times in the last 15 years to do maintenance,” Hughes said. “We’ll take our water tower all the way down, drain it and do some interior work and painting. While we’re doing that we can run the entire industrial park on the county system and then put everything back online once our tank’s ready.”

Interconnection part of major River Bend water system overhaul

According to River Bend Town Manager Delane Jackson, the interconnection agreement is part of a larger, $9.3 million town water system project.

Jackson said River Bend is currently seeking grants to cover the cost of the project, including the $120,000 price tag for the interconnection. 

“If this project is approved the grant will completely pay for the interconnection, which is just one small part,” he commented. 

Jackson said the major component of the River Bend project will be the construction of a new town water treatment plant located at an elevation above the floodplain. He said several smaller River Bend treatment facilities would close once the project is completed. 

Jackson explained that although New Bern and River Bend’s water supplies both come from the Castle Hayne aquifer, River Bend lacks the updated treatment facilities available to New Bern.

“Over the years we’ve had problems out here with manganese and iron in our water system. We’ve also had a problem with hard water,” Jackson said. “The hardness of the water comes like that naturally from the aquifer, but our treatment processes are decades old and they don’t operate to the same degree of efficiency that more modern equipment does.”

Jackson said the current River Bend water pumping capacity is nearly a million gallons a day. Over his nearly eight years as town manager, he said River Bend has yet to experience an event that called for an additional water supply.

“We’ve never had an occasion where we’ve lost access to our water supply system,” he said.

Reporter Todd Wetherington can be reached by email at [email protected] Please consider supporting local journalism by signing up for a digital subscription.

Originally Appeared Here

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO — In Cape Girardeau, Missouri, 14,000 water customers are under a boil water advisory due to a significant water main break, and the water plant has been shut down. The city says all customers could lose water by Tuesday morning. 

An alert from the city of Cape Girardeau says after the water main break happened Monday, the water system began losing pressure. The alert says all customers on the City of Cape Girardeau Water System should limit their water usage. 

The city says it’s working to isolate the issue and repair it. 

Regarding the boil advisory, the city says there is no known problem with the water’s quality, and the advisory has been issued “out of an abundance of caution.” 

However, the city says “the low pressure means a problem could develop.”

“All customers in the affected area should use bottled water or tap water that has been boiled and cooled before consumption,” the alert advises. 

The city has a notification system residents can sign up for to receive updates on the water main break. So sign up for alerts from the city of Cape Girardeau, visit cityofcapegirardeau.org.

What does the boil water advisory mean

The city of Cape Girardeau sent the following information for residents regarding the boil water advisory: 

“Customers are experiencing low water pressure across the city. If you have low water pressure, boil water and cool it prior to consumption. (Conserve per new message above)

What does a boil order or advisory mean?

It means that water that comes out of the tap should not be used for drinking, brushing your teeth, cooking or washing fruits and vegetables. You should use bottled water for those activities. This advisory is precautionary.

Can I drink the water?

During a boil order, only bottled water or water that has been boiled for 3-5 minutes and then cooled should be consumed or used to wash dishes, wash fruits/vegetables, make ice cubes or brush teeth.

Can I wash my hands in this water?

It’s recommended that bottled water or water boiled for 3-5 minutes and then cooled should be used for hand washing. When this is not practical, it is recommended that if tap water must be used to wash and rinse, it should be followed up with the use of a hand sanitizer. Consuming unsafe water is the most likely way to become ill. Using extra precautions with hand washing ensures that hands are clean for eating.

Can I shower or take a bath in this water?

Yes, it is safe to shower or bathe in the water. The primary concern is that the water not be consumed. Instruct children not to put the water in their mouth when they are bathing. When bathing infants, extra precaution should be taken – it’s recommended to use bottled water or water that has been boiled for 3-5 minutes and cooled for use.

How do I do my dishes?

Use bottled water or water that has been boiled for 3-5 minutes to wash and rinse dishes. Home dishwashers cannot be assured to completely kill organisms that may be in the water.

Can I wash my clothes in the water?

Yes, you may continue to use the water to wash clothes. The major concern is consuming the water.“

Originally Appeared Here

San Diego officials say they will complete a long-delayed comprehensive analysis of city water rates this year that could lead to sharp increases to help pay for major infrastructure projects such as the Pure Water sewage purification system now under construction.

The last time San Diego completed such an analysis in 2015, city officials voted to raise water rates by 40 percent over four years.

City water customers already face a 3 percent rate increase in January to cover rising costs of imported water. That increase, which the City Council approved in September, was prompted by the San Diego County Water Authority voting in June to increase what it charges the city for imported water.

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It’s the second consecutive year the city has decided to pass on to customers a 3 percent increase imposed by the water authority. In some previous years, city officials chose instead to absorb the increases without raising rates.

A typical city water customer pays $97.27 per month, below the $104.57 average for the county. After the 3 percent increase in January, a typical city customer will pay $100.22.

The comprehensive water rate analysis the city will complete this year was expected two years ago but was delayed partly by litigation challenging tiers in the city’s rate structure that reward customers who use less water and penalize customers who use more.

The class-action lawsuit filed against the city contends every customer should pay the same rate per gallon.

A San Diego County Superior Court judge ruled last year that the city’s tiered rates are illegal under California Proposition 218, which says utility fees imposed by local governments can’t exceed the cost of providing the service.

City officials said they still believe the tiered rates are legal, contending that it’s fair to charge higher rates to customers who use more water because the demands those customers place on the system create additional costs. The city has appealed the ruling.

“The city is currently fighting litigation to preserve what we believe is legal,” Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert said. “People who are high-end users of water and have large lawns or pools or things like that should pay more for the water they use.”

The decision by the appellate court could have a significant impact statewide because many other water agencies in California use tiered rates.

If tiered rates are ruled illegal by the courts, city water customers who use relatively little water would face sharp increases, while customers who use significant amounts would get reductions.

The comprehensive rate analysis, called a cost of service study, will be completed by an outside consultant and analyze projected customer demand on the city’s water system, infrastructure needs and other factors affecting rates.

After the analysis is complete, the city’s independent budget analyst plans to have a second consultant perform a similar analysis and critique the work of the first consultant.

When that process was followed for sewer rates last year, the city imposed lower increases on customers than the first consultant had recommended.

The county water authority blamed this year’s 3 percent increase on rising costs for imported water as well as higher energy costs to operate a desalination plant in Carlsbad that supplies roughly 10 percent of the region’s water.

The county typically buys most of its imported water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Imperial Irrigation District.

Rising costs for imported water typically have a significant effect on San Diego because imported water makes up 85 percent to 90 percent of the city’s water supply.

Senior plant tech supervisor David Mills looks over reverse osmosis filters at the Pure Water sewage recycling system demonstration facility in San Diego in 2019.

(K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

That’s a key motive behind building the Pure Water sewage recycling system, which is projected to supply half the city’s water once it’s complete in 2035. But building the system is projected to cost roughly $4 billion, which will be passed on to the city’s sewer and water customers.

City officials said the price increase from the water authority is projected to cost the city $14 million per year, which prompted the 3 percent increase being imposed on customers. But they said the increase could be smaller if there is heavy rain this fall.

The exact amount of the increase imposed Jan. 1 will be finalized in late November, just before the city must notify customers at least one month before it takes effect.

Council members urged city water officials to notify customers struggling financially about a new state program that covers up to $2,000 in annual water bill payments for customers with incomes low enough to qualify. Details are at csd.ca.gov/waterbill. ◆

Originally Appeared Here

Setting another milestone on the occasion of the birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on October 2, the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh provided as many as 1.07 lakh tap water connections in the rural parts of the state in a single day.

While Uttar Pradesh has set two records in the last 20 days in terms of providing tap water connections in rural areas, many states, including Rajasthan, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra, have failed to even reach the 10,000 mark.

Earlier, the Yogi government had set a record on September 17 by providing about 1.21 lakh tap water connections in rural households in the state which coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 72nd birthday.

It may be noted that on Gandhi Jayanti, as many as 1.34 lakh tap connections were provided nationwide. The districts of Bulandshahr, Shahjahanpur, Mirzapur, Varanasi, and Gorakhpur made the biggest contributions to connecting most of these households to tap water, helping the state rank first in the nation.

Not a single connection was given in Bihar, Punjab. Of the 1,34,968 tap water connections provided in the country, UP alone accounted for over 1,07,774 connections. As per data, other states that provided tap water connections on October 2 were Tamil Nadu (10,064), Andhra Pradesh (3,121), Maharashtra (2,954), West Bengal (2,159), Rajasthan (2,027), Chhattisgarh (1,517), Odisha (1,439), Karnataka (1,422), Madhya Pradesh (696), Jharkhand (627), Uttarakhand (514) whereas in Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Sikkim, not even a single tap water connection was provided on the day.

The Yogi government 2.0 has set a target of ensuring 100 per cent saturation in drinking water in water starved areas of Bundelkhand and Vindhya regions of the state by 2024. Among the districts, Bulandshahr topped by giving 7,506 tap water connections, followed by 6,418 in Shahjahanpur, 6,054 in Mirzapur, 5,047 in Varanasi, and 4,012 in Gorakhpur. Besides, 3,681 tap water connections were installed in Bareilly, 2,857 in Sitapur, 2,516 in Deoria, 2,356 in Meerut, 2,158 in Hardoi, 2,488 in Gonda, and 2,023 in Shravasti.

So far, under the Har Ghar Jal Scheme, pure drinking water is being supplied to as many as 48,43,733 houses through tap connections in Uttar Pradesh. Pure drinking water is being supplied from tap to 46,51,759 households in Odisha, 30,57,249 in Kerala , 29,28,134 in Rajasthan, 25,00,622 in Assam, 1,53,009 in Arunachal Pradesh, 14,39,077 in Jharkhand, 9,92,206 in Uttarakhand, 4,02,413 in Tripura, 3,34,864 in Manipur, and 2,57,794 in Meghalaya.

Originally Appeared Here