Tag Archives: California

Coachella Valley Water District Water Reclamation Plant No. 7 Biosolids Upgrade

When the Coachella Valley Water District constructed a new headworks at Water Reclamation Plant No. 7 (WRP 7), it was critical to remedy the lack of redundancy and diminishing reliability of the two-decades-old plant sludge thickening and dewatering system. Dudek provided professional engineering services to support the replacement of wastewater solids handling facilities at the

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Water Storage 101: How 3 Types of Reservoirs Support Long-Term Water Supply

In California, the past 20 years have been the driest in over 1,000 years, but a deluge of storms in January and February 2023 brought more than 24.5 trillion gallons of water to the state. “In the past several years, we’ve said, ‘We welcome every drop we can get,’” Dudek hydrogeologist Jill Weinberger said. But

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Western Joshua Tree Listing Status under the California ESA

On February 8, 2023, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) considered several items, including the petition to list the western Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s status review report; and comments received to potentially determine whether listing the tree as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) is

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How to Secure Funding for Projects through California’s Climate Adaptation Planning Grant Program

California state law requires jurisdictions to integrate considerations for climate change and associated risk into General Plans, Climate Adaptation Plans, and Local Coastal Programs. The law also incentivizes the integration of adaptation in Local and Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plans. Collectively, these plans guide the development of long-term community vision, infrastructure investments, community health and safety,

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Best Practices You Need to Know for Effective CEQA Public Noticing

Noticing is sometimes seen as the easy part of CEQA, but the CEQA public noticing process is an alphabet soup of categories and acronyms that isn’t clearly laid out in a single resource. In addition, it’s helpful to be familiar with case law that provides guidance on legally defensible notification, as well as with other

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Bumble Bees May Soon Be Eligible for Listing under the California Endangered Species Act

What is the current listing status for California bumble bees? On May 31, 2022, the Third Appellate Court District in California ruled that “…a terrestrial invertebrate, like each of the four bumble bee species, may be listed as an endangered or threatened species under the [California Endangered Species Act],” under the definition of ‘fish.’ This

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How Dudek is Helping Improve Water Equity in Tribal and Underrepresented Communities through Outreach and Engagement

California has more federally recognized tribes than any other state—109 to be exact. Within the State of California, Tribes, Tribal Communities, and Underrepresented Communities face multiple challenges regarding water equity and access to clean, affordable, and sustainable groundwater and water resources, such as groundwater overdraft and groundwater basin contamination. The Public Policy Institute of California

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Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog Listing Status under the California and Federal ESA

On December 28, 2021, the USFWS published a proposed rule in the Federal Register listing four of six Distinct Population Segments (DPSs) of the foothill yellow-legged frog (Rana boylii) under the Endangered Species Act. This follows the 2020 listing by the California Fish and Game Commission of five of six clades of the foothill yellow-legged

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Developing Offshore Wind Energy in California Requires Expertise with Numerous Coastal Stakeholders

California is a prime location for offshore wind development for two reasons: first, it has some of the strongest and steadiest wind anywhere in the world and second, there is high demand for renewable energy in the California Independent Systems Operator (CAISO) market. In addition, technological advances for floating offshore wind turbines make the depths

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