The Sacramento Police Department and the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities are warning residents and businesses about a man, claiming to be a City employee approaching homes in a recent water meter retrofit area and trying gain access. Residents and businesses are warned that the City does not need to get into a home to test the water or conduct further plumbing work inside the home after a meter retrofit. Typically, City utilities employees do not need to enter into homes and if they do, they will schedule an appointment in advance. City employees wear City of Sacramento uniforms, ID badges and drive City vehicles. Residents or businesses with questions regarding whether someon

When clocks are turned forward on Saturday night, the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities reminds residents and businesses to change their irrigation schedules as well. The City’s current irrigation rules, found in the Water Conservation ordinance state that at the beginning of daylight savings time, residents and businesses may water up to three days a week, based on their address. Addresses ending in odd numbers may water on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday only and even-numbered addresses may water on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. There is no watering allowed on Mondays. Watering of landscapes must be completed before 10 a.m. or after 7 p.m. “While the ordinance allows customers

The local Sacramento Water for People Committee is hosting a fundraising event on Thursday, March 11th at 6pm at the Urban Hive (http://theurbanhive.squarespace.com/) located at 1931 H Street in the heart of midtown Sacramento. The purpose of the event is to raise money to help bring clean drinking water and sanitation services to thousands of people in the developing world. At the same time, the event is in celebration of World Water Day 2010 – the theme of which is: Communicating Water Quality Challenges and Opportunities. The theme of World Water Day hits close to home, given our State's current water supply and quality challenges. Whether in California or the developing world, managing

Do you have a beautiful water-efficient garden? If so, the City of Sacramento, the Regional Water Authority (RWA) and its partner agencies are looking for you! The Regional Water Authority (RWA), City of Sacramento Department of Utilities and other local water providers invite Sacramento-area residents to show off their “Blue Thumb” by staring in its new television and radio advertising campaign promoting water efficiency. “We’ve all heard of ‘Green Thumb,’ which is often used to describe someone who has a natural skill for gardening,” said RWA Water Efficiency Program Manager Linda Higgins. “Our campaign will showcase people who have a ‘Blue Thumb’—a talent for creating a beautiful wat

Solar Cookers International (SCI), a not-for-profit organization founded in 1987, announced the launch of the Haiti Project, which aims to send one complete solar cooking kit to at least 200 Haitian families that were devastated by the recent earthquake. The initial fundraising goal for this project is $8,000. Even before the disaster, SCI ranked Haiti as one of the top twenty countries in the world where solar cooking is poised to be very successful and tremendously beneficial. The recent earthquake, in combination with the country’s already scarce fuel and power resources, spells an immediate need for solar cooking training and supplies. Forty dollars is enough to provide one family wit

Changes to the City of Sacramento Water Conservation Ordinance go into effect on December 9, 2009. The changes to the ordinance include: □ After daylight savings time ends, watering landscapes and car washing is permitted one day a week, Saturday or Sunday only. Customers may choose which day to water or car wash on. □ Customers who utilize drip irrigation are permitted to water their landscapes using the drip irrigation system at any time during the day, on any day of the week, including during summer months. □ Limitations to how many times a violator may take the Water Conservation Class within a 24 month period to waive fines. “The City of Sacramento reminds all of its customers that c

"Water, water everywhere" will be the theme for the fourth annual Organic Capital Sustainability Celebration Dec. 10. Organic Sacramento will be hosting the awareness event that highlights Northern California water issues. "Each year different local issues are addressed and the individuals and groups that have worked with these issues are acknowledged and honored," said William Brooks, Central Coast Resource Conservation and Development Council The event will include food, live music and a silent auction as well as guest speakers. "I'm looking forward to hearing more from the individuals that are personally involved with the issues, and those that have solutions to our current problems

The City of Sacramento Department of Utilities reminds its residential water customers that customers who have a water meter and who have received a comparative bill for at least one year will be converting to a metered rate in January 2010. Residents who have a meter, but who have not had a year of comparative billing will remain on a flat rate until they have received a year of comparative billing. Customers who do not currently have a water meter will receive a year of comparative billing once a water meter is installed before being switched to a metered rate. The City is installing water meters on more than 110,000 homes by 2025 and converting customers with a water meter to metered b

Sacramento's newest watering restriction goes into effect Sunday. Coinciding with the end of daylight-saving time on Sunday, residents and businesses will be limited to irrigating once a week, according to a city Department of Utilities press release late Thursday afternoon. Residents and businesses can't water on weekdays under the restriction. Those with odd-numbered addresses may water on Saturdays only and even-numbered addresses may water on Sundays. The Sacramento City Council approved the restriction in May as part of an irrigation ordinance restricting summer watering to certain hours every other day. California is in its third year of drought. Watering restrictions will return

 A $14 million retrofit of a proposed Nestlé water-bottling plant has ground to a halt after the city of Sacramento issued a stop-work order while investigating whether the work began before the company had legal authorization from the city. Late Friday afternoon, the city's Community Development Department issued a stop-work order for Phases II and III shortly before an interim or "urgency" ordinance request was added to the City Council's agenda for Tuesday night. The council is being asked to consider amending the city's zoning code to immediately require special permits for beverage bottling plants. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. On Monday, City Councilman Kevin McCarty and officials f

By Kevin McCarty, Sacramento City Council, District 6 With California in its third year of drought, the City of Sacramento’s water conservation strategy includes busting people who flood sidewalks. Since June, we’ve been telling residents they can water landscaping on only three specific days per week and there is to be no watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Last year, the City Council decided to ban bottled water at its meetings. We did so in recognition that plastic water bottles are littering the world and the precious water they once contained is often wasted. That’s why I was surprised to learn that the Nestle Waters North America Co. is moving forward with plans for a water bottl

Discussion over a Nestlé water-bottling plant appears to be growing in Sacramento, as the Swiss multinational prepares a facility for operation and new hires begin work. The Sacramento City Council, which was not involved in the decision to approve the plant, will discuss the issue publicly for the first time after a request two weeks ago by council members Kevin McCarty and Lauren Hammond. They asked the council to consider an emergency ordinance requiring a special permit before Nestlé Waters North America begins bottling city tap water and spring water at a plant in South Sacramento. Such a permit could "trigger" an environmental analysis of this and future facilities, McCarty said We

#1. WEST SAC- West Sacramento police and Davis SWAT served warrants on several locations in West Sacramento related to recent gang activity occurring in the city including the fatal shooting at the Ortega's Night Club. Two people were arrested and a medium sized marijuana grow was located during the operation. #2. SOUTH SAC- A shooting occurred in an apartment on 44th Ave near 39th St in south Sacramento. The victim was shot once in the leg and transported to Kaiser South Trauma Center. Further details were unavailable at the time. #3. SAC COUNTY- A shooting occurred at an apartment complex on Tuolumne Dr near La Riviera Dr in Sacramento County. One victim was shot in the arm while stand

18 year old George Ho went under the water and never surfaced at Tiscornia Beach in Discovery Park Sunday afternoon at the confluence. Jim Doucette of the Sacramento Fire Department,stated "at 2:54 PM, we responded to the beach at Discovery Park for an 18 year old male that went under and never surfaced." "Ho and his friends were swimming about 25 yards off shore. Some boats came by, created a wake, he went under and never came up" said Doucette. This occurred right where the Sacramento River and American River meet, the area known as The Confluence. Doucette stated that it is very deep there with a lot of logs and rocks. He further stated that in the past an abandon car had been found

Sacramento, CA- Firefighters called to rescue an injured transient on the steep slope of a water channel William Lockwood and his girlfriend, Angel Love have been residing under the overpass, that spans the water channel, on 88th Street off of Fruitridge Blvd. Monday morning Lockwood lost his footing at the top of the channel and tumbled down the steep cement side coming to a stop just before the water. Injured and unable to climb back up the steep cement slope, Angel summoned for help. Sacramento Fire Truck 10 and Paramedics received the call near 11:30 a.m. The truck crew had to commence a rope rescue with the stokes litter to safely bring Lockwood to the top. Lockwood was transported

Executive Partner of Green Sol Water Dominic Carini pauses halfway through our phone interview to take a business call. Two minutes later he’s back, in slight disbelief. “I guess I’m one of the officials that’s supposed to water the BET awards, so I’m flying down to Hollywood. It’s crazy what’s going on. I can’t believe this is my life right now,” says Carini.   Carini’s impromptu invite qualifies the kind of splash Green Sol’s movement has had in its first four months of existence. Green Sol Water offers an alternative to petroleum-based plastic through their product's polylactic acid water bottles. Polylactic acid (PLA) is a biodegradable plastic derived from corn starch. The movemen

"Drownings in Sacramento have become a problem. They occur way too much and it is very frustrating for us, because it seems like there is not much more we can do to help prevent them" said Capt. Doucette, Public Information Officer for the Sacramento Fire Department in an article a few weeks ago. see article "More than one in four fatal drowning victims are children 14 and younger. For every child who dies from drowning, another four received emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries" says the Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDCR Site For myself, as a former lifeguard, paramedic and firefighter, nothing challenges your professionalism more than getting the cal

This past weekend at The Crest theater, the Environmental Council of Sacramento, or ECOS, hosted a special screening of an incredible film called FLOW: For Love of Water. The film was directed by Irena Salina and has won a slew of awards including Best Documentary at the United Nations Association Film Festival and was an official selection at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. One of the executive producers for the film is Stephen Nemeth, who also produced Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Why Do Fools Fall in Love and Dogtown and Z-boys among others. The film discusses the current worldwide water crisis as well as the issue of water privatization. The engaging narrative, which characterizes

In my first article for this storyline I discussed several simple steps that individuals can implement to reduce their water consumptions.  To read more about simple conservation tips, please click on the green storyline tab and select the article titled, "The Crisis."  However, in this time of crisis immediate action is a necessary step, so it is also useful to consider the more drastic methods of conservation, such as drought-resistant landscaping. Outdoor residential water use accounts for 21 percent of all urban water use, according to the Pacific Institute, an environmental research group located in the East Bay.  Activities included under this umbrella term of "Residential Outdoor"

So you've heard, or in case you haven't, California is in a drought. Governor Schwarzenegger has declared a State of Emergency for Sacramento County, among others, because water levels are so low. The water year that ended on September 30, 2008, was classified by officials at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as "critically dry." In fact, the months of March to September 2008 were the driest on record for the Northern Sierra, which only received 3.5 inches of rainfall, a mere 23 percent of the average. Also, the major state reservoirs are only holding about 1/3 of their capacity when a normal year would fill them to about 2/3 of capacity. Most significant for Sacramento residents, the Sacra