In California water news this weekend, Oroville Dam crisis spurs debate on California’s aging water infrastructure; Why this California town’s water cost way more than the national average; Less than full CVP allocation ‘boggles the mind’; Salmon release to San Joaquin hits high marks; LAO Report looks at flood management challenges; NASA launches pilot project to measure snowpack from the sky; PNAS Journal club: In some cases, water management practices exacerbated California drought, according to model; The potential big impact of Trump’s clean water rollback; PODCAST: Historical perspective on water management values; and more …
In the news this weekend …
Oroville Dam crisis spurs debate on California’s aging water infrastructure: “Extreme drought, severe flooding and the recent near-disaster at the Oroville Dam have all taken a toll on California’s aging water infrastructure. As climate change presents new challenges, scientists and environmental groups are proposing augmenting California’s “gray” infrastructure of concrete dams, aqueducts and other structures with floodplains and other “green” infrastructure, including better-managed watershed forests and restored wetlands. Gray infrastructure includes human-engineered solutions that often involve concrete and steel. Green infrastructure is an approach to water management that protects, restores or mimics the natural water cycle. ... ” Read more from Accu-Weather here: Oroville Dam crisis spurs debate on California’s aging water infrastructure
Why this California town’s water cost way more than the national average: “The town of Lucerne in Lake County is tucked between mountains and a lake. When you drive in on the main two-lane highway, the sign that greets you calls it the “Switzerland of America.” But David Cruz has a different nickname for the place. “Welcome to the most expensive water in the whole United States,” Cruz says. He’s standing in his front yard, wearing a T-shirt that says: “FLAT BROKE — DAUGHTER IN COLLEGE.” “She’s out, but we’re still paying,” adds Cruz’s wife, Lorena. … ” Read more from KQED here: Why this California town’s water cost way more than the national average
Less than full CVP allocation ‘boggles the mind’: “Surprised by the announcement that Central Valley Project farmers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta would only receive 65 percent of contracted supplies, farmer Nathan Cardella of Mendota wanted to know, “If it is not a 100-percent year, then what will be a 100-percent year?” Cardella, who farms in the Westlands Water District, said the figure doesn’t reflect the season’s hydrology, which has produced record or near-record precipitation. “It’s just a sick, twisted nightmare that even in a year like this we are looking at a 65-percent allocation,” Cardella said. “This is cause for great, great concern. My dad and I are already having discussions of whether we should get out of farming.” … ” Read more from Ag Alert here: Less than full CVP allocation ‘boggles the mind’
Salmon release to San Joaquin hits high marks: “Federal biologists recently released nearly 90,000 spring-run Chinook salmon into the San Joaquin River, the fourth year in the effort to reintroduce the species to the river, and the first year that tracking technology will be used to follow the juvenile fish. The release, conducted in the late-night darkness March 6 near Merced, also involved state, university and private organizations. “This project is simply too big and too important for any one group or organization to complete on their own,” Maria Rea, office chief for the Central Valley office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a published U.S. Fish &.Wildlife Service article released to the media. … ” Read more from the Daily Republic here: Salmon release to San Joaquin hits high marks
LAO Report looks at flood management challenges: “A new report by the Legislative Analyst’s Office looks at the current state of flood management in California and highlights challenges such as aging infrastructure, funding constraints and overlapping local, state and federal responsibilities. ... ” Read more from ACWA’s Water News here: LAO Report looks at flood management challenges
NASA launches pilot project to measure snowpack from the sky: “After five years of drought there’s so much snow in the Sierra Nevada that state water officials are preparing for a massive runoff year. But the traditional way of calculating the snowpack has a huge margin of error and as Valley Public Radio’s Ezra David Romero reports a new way to measure it could greatly decrease that inconsistency. Every winter and spring a network of snow surveyors manually tally how much snow is in the Sierra Nevada. They do this by measuring snow depth in the same spots every year. … ” Read more from Valley Public Radio here: NASA launches pilot project to measure snowpack from the sky
PNAS Journal club: In some cases, water management practices exacerbated California drought, according to model: “Many of California’s reservoirs are now fuller than they’ve been in years thanks to an extraordinarily wet winter. Yet drought conditions are likely to return based on historical cycles, even without accounting for climate change. And California’s depleted groundwater is still in need of massive inputs if it is to be replenished. A recent study in Geophysical Research Letters provides some potentially valuable insights for future water management. In it, the authors make one of the first attempts to quantify the effect that human water management has on the frequency and intensity of surface water drought in California–and in some cases, they found, management practices exacerbated drought conditions. The authors address “hydrological drought,” which has to do with the amount of water in the watershed, rather than the amount of precipitation falling from the sky. ... ” Read more from the PNAS here: Journal club: In some cases, water management practices exacerbated California drought, according to model
The potential big impact of Trump’s clean water rollback: “The Cathy Fromme Prairie, in the southwestern corner of Fort Collins, Colorado, is a window to the past—a remnant of the shortgrass prairie that once covered this region. The wetlands and meadows here host creatures winged, furry, and scaled: songbirds, eagles, rabbits, coyotes, rattlesnakes. A stream called Fossil Creek wends its way across the prairie before snaking through nearby subdivisions, strip malls, and a golf course. People in the area know its name: There’s Fossil Creek Parkway, Fossil Creek condos, Fossil Creek Park. On a warm and windy March morning on the Cathy Fromme, Fossil Creek isn’t much to look at. It’s just a dry, shallow channel a few hundred yards from a parking area. In fact, Fossil Creek is dry for most of the year. … ” Continue reading at National Geographic here: The potential big impact of Trump’s clean water rollback
PODCAST: Historical perspective on water management values: “How did water become considered a resource? What values guide its management? Circle of Blue reporter Brett Walton spoke with Dr. Jeremy Schmidt, lecturer in geography at the University of Durham, about his new book, Water: Abundance, Scarcity, and Security in the Age of Humanity. Schmidt argues that the dominant global water narrative — of abundance leading to scarcity and now concerns about security — developed from early 20th century American ideas.” From Circle of Blue:
In commentary this weekend …
Underground overwatering no security assurance, says Don Curlee: He writes, “Recharging underground water supplies through old and new channels and methods may only lead to over consumption, especially if drought conditions return in a few years. Several water management experts in the central and southern San Joaquin Valley, where painful drought conditions have prevailed for the past five years, are discussing additional channels and choices for putting some of this year’s excess water into underground storage for future use. And they’re considering continuing programs to bolster those pools every year. ... ” Read more from the Western Farm Press here: Underground overwatering no security assurance
In regional news and commentary this weekend …
Russian River’s future draws diverse crowd to conference: “Environmentalists, bureaucrats, public officials, Native Americans and a patron of the arts gathered Friday to plot a future for the Russian River, the waterway they all consider a foundation for communities throughout the North Bay. The river, which snakes 110 miles from the Mendocino County highlands near Willits to the Pacific Ocean at Jenner in Sonoma County, is a magnet for boaters, bird-watchers, swimmers and anglers, a water supply for 600,000 North Bay residents and the main artery of a 1,500-square-mile watershed. It also faces a host of challenges over poor water quality and competing demands to support endangered fish, tourism, water storage, flood control and human needs ranging from raw thirst to pure inspiration. ... ” Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat here: Russian River’s future draws diverse crowd to conference
Sonoma County on path to regulating groundwater supplies: “The first of three meetings to gather public feedback on a new regulatory framework for groundwater in Sonoma County drew a standing-room only crowd in Petaluma on Thursday night. Concerns raised about the new regulations ranged from who is to be subjected to them, to how the rules will be enforced. Out-of-pocket costs were another worry. “How much are we looking at?” asked Norma Giddings, who lives west of Petaluma and was among more than 100 people at the Petaluma Community Center. The question underscored the many unknowns with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which seeks to regulate groundwater for the first time in California when the law goes into effect in 2022. … ” Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat here: Sonoma County on path to regulating groundwater supplies
Plan to regulate groundwater supplies draws big crowd in Petaluma: “The first of three meetings to gather public feedback on a new regulatory framework for groundwater in Sonoma County drew a standing-room only crowd in Petaluma on Thursday night. Concerns raised about the new regulations ranged from who is to be subjected to them, to how the rules will be enforced. Out-of-pocket costs were another worry. “How much are we looking at?” asked Norma Giddings, who lives west of Petaluma and was among more than 100 people at the Petaluma Community Center. The question underscored the many unknowns with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which seeks to regulate groundwater for the first time in California when the law goes into effect in 2022. ... ” Read more from the Argus Courier here: Plan to regulate groundwater supplies draws big crowd in Petaluma
Power generation exceeding Yuba County Water Agency’s expectations: “It’s been close to a year — May 1, 2016 — since the Yuba County Water Agency took over as independent operator of a series of powerhouses along the Yuba River, and the revenue generated from the facilities has far exceeded the agency’s expectations. Of course, it’s been quite a year for water and flows. So far this fiscal year, YCWA has generated $37.6 million from the facilities, which exceeds the agency’s projections of $28.3 million through February. … ” Read more from the Appeal-Democrat here: Power generation exceeding Yuba County Water Agency’s expectations
Woodland hopes to link up with Yolo Groundwater Authority: “With a June 30 deadline approaching, farmers and cities such as Woodland in affected California groundwater basins are working to finalize the formation of locally controlled sustainability agencies. The groundwater sustainability agencies, or GSAs, required under the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, will guide groundwater management in basins and sub-basins classified by the state as medium or high priority. Under SGMA, local agencies must work together and with groundwater users to develop local groundwater sustainability plans that would guide decisions affecting groundwater use and fees. ... ” Read more from the Daily Democrat here: Woodland hopes to link up with Yolo Groundwater Authority
California guard helps Sierra town remove huge snowpack: “The Eastern Sierra town of Mammoth Lakes got so much snow this winter that it had to get removal help from the California National Guard. Faced with more than 40 feet (12 meters) of snow, the Mono County community declared a state of emergency and a request for snow removal assistance was sent to the state Office of Emergency Services, which called in the Guard earlier this month. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: California guard helps Sierra town remove huge snowpack
Big Pine tribe’s irrigation pipe to be fixed by LA DWP: “A three-year effort to repair or replace a half-mile stretch of 75-year-old pipeline delivering irrigation water to the Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley ditch system may have partially ended. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will have the pipe fixed within the next four to six weeks. Additional issues over who owns, has responsibility for or access to that same pipe will be resolved, eventually. Apparently, the appearance of a large contingent from the Tribe at Tuesday’s LADWP Board of Commissioners meeting did the trick. … ” Read more from Sierra Wave here: Big Pine tribe’s irrigation pipe to be fixed by LA DWP
Ridgecrest: State will manage water if local agency can’t, but it will cost us: “The California States Water Resources Control Board recently published a draft of Emergency Regulation for State Intervention Fees that would come into effect if the Groundwater Sustainability Agency fails to form or if they fail to create a viable Groundwater Sustainability Plan. The fine schedule is only a draft currently. It states that the draft is open for public comment until April 7, 2017. The State Water Resources Control Board will hold a meeting on May 16 to adopt the draft, and they expect the regulations to become effective on July 1. The introduction of the draft describes the fees as “a schedule of fees to cover the costs associated with state intervention.” The intervention would happen if local agencies forming to manage groundwater in the Indian Wells Valley either failed to form or failed to create a GSP that passes state regulations. ... ” Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent here: Ridgecrest: State will manage water if local agency can’t, but it will cost us
Along the Colorado River …
Researchers hope to save endangered Colorado River fish with a trip to the gym: “Behind the locked gate of a government hatchery near Lake Mead, silvery fish swim against a man-made current in a shallow tank resembling a racetrack. For two critically endangered species that once flourished in the Colorado River, the race for survival now involves a trip to the gym. “The fish in here are kind of couch potatoes,” said Brandon Senger, motioning to the hatchery’s indoor tanks filled with razorback suckers. ... ” Read more from the Las Vegas Review-Journal here: Researchers hope to save endangered Colorado River fish with a trip to the gym
Precipitation watch …
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About the Daily Digest: The Daily Digest is a collection of selected news articles, commentaries and editorials appearing in the mainstream press. Items are generally selected to follow the focus of the Notebook blog. The Daily Digest is published every weekday with a weekend edition posting on Sundays.
Maven’s Notebook
where California water news never goes home for the weekend
