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California to mandate statewide water restrictions up to nearly 40% in some cities

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California to mandate statewide water restrictions up to nearly 40% in some cities



Some cities may be forced to cut water use by 40% over the next 15 years.

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The State Water Resources Control Board on Wednesday approved a policy that could force some municipal water suppliers to reduce the amount of water they provide by close to 40% over the next 15 years.

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If suppliers and their customers don’t reduce water use, the districts could be fined up to $10,000 a day. Districts can reduce customer water use by mandating restrictions, raising rates on high-volume water users, or encouraging low-flow appliances.

 “Our climate has changed. Our uses should match the hydrology that we’re now facing,” Joaquin Esquivel, chair of the state water board, said in a statement.

Suppliers must make a first round of water cuts by 2025, with additional cuts mandated in 2030, 2035, and 2040.

Most of the most extensive required cuts are all in California’s Central Valley, ranging from the City of Redding (39% cut by 2040 and 21% by 2025) in the north to Visalia’s California Water Service Company (22% cut in 25 years). Smaller Central Valley cities will face mandatory reductions, too: Tulare County town Exeter, with a population of 10,000, will face a 39% cut by 2040. The Central Valley’s largest city, Fresno, will face a 21% cut by 2040 and cuts 4% by 2025.

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The parched Coachella Valley in Southern California also will face steep mandatory reductions. Desert Water Agency, based in Palm Springs, will have to cut its water supply by 32% by 2040 and 24% by 2025.

In the high desert, water districts in Victorville, Hesperia, and Adelanto will have to cut water use from 18% to 23% by 2040

Not all cities in California will face drastic cuts, though. Salinas’ California Water Service Company will only face a 1% cut by 2040, while the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission will face no reductions.

Some environmentalist groups say the mandated water cutbacks don’t go far enough.

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“The regulation does not meet the moment of growing water scarcity in California,” Mark Gold, director of water scarcity solutions and environmental health for the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “A strong regulation will exist in 2040, but that’s 15 years from now and there’s going to be a heck of a lot of water scarcity over that period.”

How California is forcing regions to cut back on water use

In April, for the first time in California history, state officials cracked down on the overpumping of groundwater in the San Joaquin Valley by putting Kings County water districts on probation for failing to protect the region’s underground water supply. The unprecedented decision was the first step that could lead to millions in fines for overpumping groundwater or the state taking over the districts. In adjacent Tulare County, one of the largest agriculture-producing counties in the world, the State Water Resources Control Board is threatening similar action if the Kaweah subbasin users don’t cut back on groundwater pumping.

The State Water Resources Control Board repeatedly warned both counties that their groundwater management plans are deficient because they fail to stop dried-up wells, contaminated water, and sinking earth worsened by overpumping. 

Recently, the Imperial Irrigation District in Southern California proposed a plan to pay farmers not to grow hay during the year’s hottest months. The plan is just one step to conserve water from the stressed Colorado River.

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Tips on saving water

Below are some tips for you and your family to save water from the California Public Utilities Commission 

  • Install water-saving devices, such as low-flow showerheads and high-efficiency toilets,
  • Take shorter showers, reduce the time by 1-2 minutes, and save 5 gallons.
  • Turn the water off while brushing your teeth. Save 3 gallons.
  • Fix leaky faucets. Save up to 20 gallons per day.
  • Wash a full load of laundry. Save 15 to 50 gallons per load.
  • Don’t use a hose to clean your driveway. Sweeping with a broom can save as much as 100 gallons of water.
  • Water your yard before 8 a.m. because watering early reduces evaporation.
  • Make the switch from lawn to low-water-use landscaping. Outdoor watering accounts for 50 to 70% of all household water use.



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Northern California’s House of Clocks has stood the test of time for 55 years

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Northern California’s House of Clocks has stood the test of time for 55 years


While we may lose an hour of sleep this coming weekend, one clock store in California is gearing up for one of its busiest times of the year: daylight savings.

It’s the House of Clocks, the largest clock company in Northern California, which was recently celebrating 55 years of business.

It’s a place frozen in time. Just visit the store’s 240-year-old grandfather clock. It’s got plenty of stories to tell, dating back to 1780.

“This is the oldest piece we have right now,” clocksmith Joey Hohn said.

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The House of Clocks is on the outskirts of Downtown Lodi in San Joaquin County.

“We have new, we have vintage, we have antique,” co-owner Sandy Hohn shared. “Honestly, it feels like not a day goes by that we don’t get a phone call or an email of somebody wanting to sell something for 100 different reasons.”

The clock store has been with the Hohn family for three generations. It’s all thanks to one family heirloom.

“When the first war started, [my grandparents] left everything and had to move,” Joey Hohn explained. “After the Second World War, my grandpa was stationed in Germany. They went back to the house that had been abandoned and the neighbor who they left the property to said, ‘As far as I’m concerned, everything in the house is still yours.’ They went back and got this, so this is my great-great-grandparents’ clock.”

You can find just about anything in the House of Clocks, from old grandfather clocks to clocks that can fit in the palm of your hand.

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What you can’t find anywhere else is the Hohns’ love for Lodi.

“We’ve made so many friends over the years out of customers,” Sandy Hohn said. “Friends that are just wonderful, that love collecting, and we keep them repaired for their families, which is awesome. They have sentimental value that’s passed down.”

That same love for the city and their community runs in the family.

“We had a customer that wanted to repaint their dial,” Joey Hohn explained. “We told them no because it was her father’s who had passed away. Every time he went to wind the clock, he placed his thumb in the same spot. When we told her that smudge there on the dial was her father, she said, ‘Back away, don’t you dare.’ It was just a good memory we have.”

While you can’t turn back time, what we can do is keep memories alive and treasure the present moment.

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“There’s so many personalities,” Sandy Hohn said. “We just try to find a good home for them.”



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Signs of spring blooming at Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve after wet, warm winter

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Signs of spring blooming at Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve after wet, warm winter


It’s beginning to look a lot like spring!

The warm and wet weather this winter has led to the start of a dazzling super bloom at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve.

“We had an unseasonably warm winter as well, so there’s actually a lot of growth,” said Callista Turney with California State Parks. “We’re having early wildflowers that are already at the park. So if you look at the poppy live cam, it shows a lot of orange already.”

The rain has helped the early blooms, but it’s actually the heat that accelerated the growth of the flowers.

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“It will actually speed up the growth of the plants, so some of them were already blooming and that’s going to cause those blossoms to accelerate faster towards seed production. And the blossoms that are in the process of being formed, those are going to open up soon as well.”

We also sometimes see great super blooms in Death Valley National Park, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Joshua Tree and the Mojave National Preserve.

“It’s definitely a rare occurrence because we don’t always have the right conditions. It’s gotta be the weather, the wind, the rain, all coming together,” said Katie Tilford, Director of Development and Communications with the Theodore Payne Foundation.

If it continues to stay unseasonably warm, we’ll see a shorter bloom. The key to a longer season is milder weather.


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Republican governor candidate Chad Bianco says he’s the ‘antithesis to California state government’

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Republican governor candidate Chad Bianco says he’s the ‘antithesis to California state government’


We are counting down to the California governor’s race. Chad Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County, is one of the two biggest names running on the Republican ticket.

In a one-on-one interview with Eyewitness News political reporter Josh Haskell, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said, “I am the antithesis to California state government because I am going to take a nuclear bomb into that building and absolutely destroy everything that they do to us behind closed doors.”

Although he’s been elected by the voters twice, Bianco says he’s not a politician — which is why he believes his campaign for California governor is resonating, as reflected in the polls.

“President Trump, in one year, from 2025 when he took over, until now, did absolutely nothing to harm California. What’s harming California is 30 years of Democrat one-party rule that have created an environment here that no one can live in anymore. They’ve only been successful here in California because we vote D no matter what. You vote D or die. I mean, that’s it. Charles Manson would be elected in California if he was the only Democrat on the ballot,” Bianco said.

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Bianco isn’t the only conservative Republican running for governor, and according to polling, he’s neck-and-neck with former Fox News host Steve Hilton.

SEE ALSO: CA governor candidate Steve Hilton says ‘everybody supports’ Trump’s immigration policies

Leading in some polls in the wide-open California Governor’s race as the June primary creeps closer is Republican and former Fox News host Steve Hilton.

“Steve has no chance of winning in November. The Democrats know that I’m going to win in November, and so they have to do everything they can to keep me out of that,” Bianco said.

When asked about the affordability crisis in the state, Bianco said, “Almost the entire issue of affordability in California is because of regulation, excessive regulation imposed by government. Every single regulation can be signed away with the governor’s signature.”

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“It is a drug and alcohol addiction problem that, and a mental health problem,” he said about the homelessness crisis. “Every single bit of money that is going to these nonprofits that say ‘homeless,’ zero money. You’re getting absolutely nothing. I can’t tell you that we would end what we see in the homeless situation within a year, but I guarantee you we would never see it again after two years.”

When challenged on that prediction, pointing to how the state doesn’t have the facilities to treat the number of people living on our streets, Bianco responded, “We have been conditioned to believe that buildings take five years to build. It takes 90 days or less to build a house, but in California, it takes three to five years because the government won’t allow it. The regulations that are destroying this state are going to be removed with me as the governor.”

Bianco also said California jails shouldn’t have to play the role of treatment facilities.

Although he says he supports the Trump administration and wants the president’s endorsement, Bianco has been traveling the state — meeting not just with Republicans, but Democrats and independents as well. He says all of our state government officials have failed.

The primary election is June 2.

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No clear front-runner in race for California governor, new poll shows

A new poll shows there’s still no clear front-runner in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom.

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