Climate Good News
Around the world people are taking the initiative to mitigate climate change.
Here are some good news briefs compiled and summarized by Jayne Freudenberger,
climate committee chair, League of Women Voters of Bellingham-Whatcom County.
Arizona and Nevada Agree to Trade for Desalinated Pacific Ocean Water
We know the Colorado River basins that supply water to seven states are at historic lows, so it was a surprise to hear San Diego is giving up some of its water rights to other states.
The deal is the first large-scale water trade between states with claims on the Colorado River — which officials said was urgently needed in light of shortages that are threatening a system of reservoirs and dams that provides water to 40 million people and 5.5 million acres of farmland across the West.
Before now, the complex set of laws and court rulings that govern the use of the river’s water included no legal or practical mechanism for such swaps. and lawyers and water managers will be working nonstop to negotiate one, even as the already scarce water supply dwindles.
The Colorado basin is facing its most dire outlook in decades of drought after a winter with the smallest mountain snowpack ever observed; it melted rapidly this spring. Flows into Lake Powell, one of two huge reservoirs along the Colorado, are forecast to be 13 percent of normal this year.
It may not sound like much, but seven states that rely on Colorado River water — California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming — are struggling to agree on how to share the pain of water use cuts after failing to reach a deal by a Feb. 14 deadline imposed by the Bureau of Reclamation. A new federal plan for the watershed’s future is expected in July. It is none to too soon as Lake Mead and Lake Powell are at their lowest water table ever and most of the states who rely on the river water are already thinking about rationing.
How can San Diego do this? The San Diego County Water Authority now has a water surplus thanks to a desalination plant the utility opened a decade ago after facing shortages of its own. Water wouldn’t physically move inland, but the utility wouldn’t draw as much from the river as it’s entitled to.
A second consecutive dry winter could send water levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead next year to their lowest readings since the reservoirs, the nation’s largest, were first filled to capacity in the 1980s, according to a paper scientists published Monday. That could wipe out usable water storage and risk damage to dam and hydroelectric infrastructure.
The prospect is heightening urgency for creative solutions such as desalination and wastewater recycling. New water recycling projects are underway in Utah, Arizona and Southern California — including one in the Los Angeles area that received $12 million in investment from Arizona and Nevada in 2021, and could convert sewage into enough drinking water for 500,000 homes … makes desalinated water sound great; however, so is the cost.
Mr. Cameron said he hoped similar plants could dot the California coast, which would require a state commission that oversees coastal development to loosen its scrutiny of such projects.
The San Diego Water Authority supplies as much as 10 percent of San Diego County’s water, releasing as much as 54 million gallons each day by passing ocean water through a system of 16,000 reverse osmosis filters, Building and running such a plant costs a lot of money. This could be a win-win — as San Diego sells its rights to those who have less water, San Diego gets some money to run the plant.
We all hope for a better winter in 2026-2027, but a collaboration like this — one state helping others is good news.
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The New York Times, June 4, 2026 — https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/03/climate/arizona-nevada-san-diego-water.html
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People Power in the Philippines
The Iran war that began in late February has drawn attention to the Philippines’ fragile, import-dependent economy, as electricity costs, transport fares, and even food prices continue to climb. Roughly 3.6 million households across the Philippines live off the electrical grid — including about 1.2 million that rely on government-run, diesel-fueled power plants. These households have been hit especially hard by the global energy shock.
So how can this be good news? The good news is that decentralized renewable-based systems such as the one in Nanbuangan, are shielding some communities from energy price spikes and grid instability. They could offer a way to strengthen the country’s overall energy resilience.
“We don’t have to rely on outside power facilities. We decide when to switch it on and off,” says Rodolfo Sagban, chairman of the Lapat Micro Hydro Power Association in Nabuangan village, located in Apayao province. “Most importantly, everyone in the village can access it, regardless of economic status.”
Already the system has expanded to two other villages in the area, Bubog and Sitio Simud. A fourth facility is under construction to provide electricity to Sitio Lapat, and is expected to be operational within a few months.
Together, these water-powered energy stations form a small but stable network. “If other villages want a microhydro, we will teach them,” says Mr. Sagban. “We will teach them how to manage it because management is what’s important.”
Community members contribute labor to build and maintain the local systems. Decisions are made collectively. The forest that feeds the river is protected, because it is essential to the system’s survival.
The Philippines, are composed of an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, making extending centralized infrastructure costly and complex,
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The Christian Science Monitor, https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2026/0511/Philippines-Apayao-hydro-power-electricity-renewable.
