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DAILY DIGEST: Opponents of California’s Delta tunnels project push alternative strategies; Board of Consultants tweaks former Oroville Dam design recommendation; San Diego County Water Authority discusses ruling; Friday flight over Oroville; and more …

Maven
Daily Digest
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In California water news today, Opponents of California’s Delta tunnels project push alternative strategies; Board of Consultants tweaks former Oroville Dam design recommendation; Valadao’s GROW Act passes House; San Diego County Water Authority discusses ruling in dispute with Metropolitan Water District; At Eel River dam, thousands of spawning lamprey make for natural spectacle; Central Sierra: How long will the lakes stay full?; Without water lifeline, tiny town on Santa Cruz coast is running dry; and more …

On the calendar today …

In the news today …

Also on Maven’s Notebook today …

Opponents of California’s Delta tunnels project push alternative strategies:  “In June, two federal agencies gave their blessings to the controversial project to build two water conveyance tunnels under California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Environmental groups promptly sounded the alarm that the state’s so-named WaterFix project would not, as its backers claim, solve the matrix of problems plaguing the Delta and the people and creatures relying on it. …  But if not WaterFix, then what? Peter Moyle, a University of California, Davis, fishery biologist, believes the Delta tunnels will help imperiled salmon and smelt mainly by changing the location from which water is drawn from the Delta. It also provides a point of diversion that is 30ft above sea level, whereas the existing pumping stations in the southern Delta are much lower and more at risk of being inundated by seawater.  “If you oppose the tunnels, you need to propose an alternative,” Moyle said.  That is what WaterFix opponents have done.  … ”  Read more from Water Deeply here:  Opponents of California’s Delta tunnels project push alternative strategies

Board of Consultants tweaks former Oroville Dam design recommendation:  “In its eighth memorandum released Thursday, the independent board analyzing the redesign of the Oroville Dam spillways commends the construction contractor’s work and makes slight tweaks to former recommendations.  This is the second memorandum issued without any redactions which the state Department of Water Resources previously requested, citing national security concerns. ... ”  Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record here:  Board of Consultants tweaks former Oroville Dam design recommendation

Valadao’s GROW Act passes House:  “The Gaining Responsibility on Water Act of 2017, which seeks to update water policies in California, passed the United States House of Representatives Thursday.  David Valadao (R-Hanford) said there’s a need to address problems created with what he calls the mismanagement of the state’s water storage and delivery facilities. The mismanagement, he said, caused devastating impacts around the Golden State.  “This problem has become even more apparent during the last several months,” Valadao said. “Despite record precipitation levels, families, farmers, and communities lack access to a reliable supply of water.” … ”  Read more from the Visalia Times-Delta here:  Valadao’s GROW Act passes House

House passes Valadao legislation:  “The House of Representatives Wednesday passed H.R. 23, legislation introduced by Congressman David G. Valadao (CA-21) to modernize water policies in California and throughout the entire Western United States.  Over the last decade, California has endured its worst drought in history, and a growing number of communities across the Western United States have experienced a similar fate. While this natural drought has wreaked havoc across the region, its destruction has been exacerbated in California, by a complex, and often contradictory, system of laws, court decisions, and regulations at the state and federal level, said Valadao’s office in a press release. … ”  Read more from the Porterville Recorder here:  House passes Valadao legislation

Congressman Huffman urges against water bill passed on Wednesday:  “The House passed a bill on Wednesday intended to combat future droughts by reworking federal regulations on water, met with accusations of overreach from House Democrats led by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael).  “Make no mistake, if enacted, this bill will hurt a lot of people,” Huffman said during debate on the House floor Wednesday. “It takes water away from fishermen, from tribes, the environment, Delta farmers and others in order to redistribute it, primarily to a small group of some of the nation’s biggest and most politically connected agribusiness interests.” … ”  Read more from the Ukiah Daily Journal here:  Congressman Huffman urges against water bill passed on Wednesday

San Diego County Water Authority discusses ruling in dispute with Metropolitan Water District:  “Dennis Cushman, assistant general manager of the San Diego Water Authority, recently told the Northern California Record that the most fundamental issue at stake in the authority’s dispute with the Metropolitan Water District is whether it must limit the rates it charges for service.  The California Sixth District Court of Appeal recently reversed a trial court’s decision regarding an agreement’s attorney fee provision that denied the authority an additional $2.6 million for prosecuting the second phase of a trial between the feuding water agencies. Cushman said the win is about more than just money. ... ”  Read more from the Northern California Record here:  San Diego County Water Authority discusses ruling in dispute with Metropolitan Water District

Winter’s snow disrupting this Sierra Nevada summer:  “Even when snowbound and inaccessible to vehicles, the rustic Tioga Pass Resort on the crest of the Sierra Nevada range offered homemade pie, a wood-burning stove and plump sofas to relax on after a day of backcountry skiing.  But the winter of 2017 was more than the log cabin lodge, just two miles east of Yosemite National Park, could bear.  Trails, roads and campgrounds throughout the Sierra high country were hit hard by snow and runoff from one of the largest snowpacks in recorded history, leaving public agencies scrambling and summer visitors feeling lost. At Tioga Pass Lodge, established in 1914, loyalists’ hopes of kicking back on a sunny afternoon have taken a particularly tough wallop.  … ”  Read more from the LA Times here:  Winter’s snow disrupting this Sierra Nevada summer

In commentary today …

Twin tunnels plan is critical to Livermore Valley customers:  “The East Bay Times coverage this month of the governor’s plan for twin tunnels under the Delta to convey water to user south of the Delta completely missed the importance of that project to the Livermore Valley.  In a normal year—or an abundant year such as this one—Zone 7 receives about 80 percent of the water through the Delta that it delivers to retailer water sellers (city of Livermore, city of Pleasanton, California Water Co. in Livermore and the Dublin-San Ramon Services District). ... ”  Read more from Pleasanton Weekly here:  Twin tunnels plan is critical to Livermore Valley customers

California Water Fix crucial to South Orange County, says Megan Yoo Schneider:  She writes, “The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is 435 miles from South Orange County, but the impact of what happens there is felt as close to home as your shower.  The Delta is the heart of the State Water Project. Near Stockton, the Delta is where the tidal forces of the Pacific Ocean meet the outflows of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. Water flows through the Delta before entering a series of reservoirs, pumps and canals that bring water from the Sierras to Southern California. … ”  Read more from the San Clemente Times here:  California Water Fix crucial to South Orange County

In regional news and commentary today …

Lake Shasta loses hundreds of millions of gallons daily through evaporation:  “As boaters, swimmers, anglers and others splashed around in Lake Shasta this week, all around them millions of gallons of the water were disappearing into thin air through evaporation.  And not just a little bit of evaporation. The lake can lose more than 200 million gallons of water each day to evaporation during the summer.  Put into perspective, in two months during the summer, more water evaporates off Lake Shasta than all the water used by city of Redding water customers in an entire year. … ”  Read more from the Redding Record-Searchlight here:  Lake Shasta loses hundreds of millions of gallons daily through evaporation

At Eel River dam, thousands of spawning lamprey make for natural spectacle:  “Swimming by the thousands up the Eel River this year, Pacific lamprey are literally climbing the wall of a dam near Potter Valley in Mendocino County.  Driven by the biological imperative to spawn in the river’s gravel beds, the snake-shaped, prehistoric fish — commonly mistaken for eels — have almost no chance of scaling the 63-foot high Cape Horn Dam.  For decades, their best option has been a fish ladder that flanks the dam, but even it halts the migratory journey for most lamprey, a largely ignored ocean-going species that shares the stream with federally protected chinook salmon and steelhead trout. Those that do clear the passage, by inching their way up the concrete walls, take up to five weeks to do so. … ”  Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat here:  At Eel River dam, thousands of spawning lamprey make for natural spectacle

Central Sierra: How long will the lakes stay full?  “In the wake of one of the Mother Lode’s wettest winters in memory, some people may be wondering where all that water is going and how long local reservoirs will stay full or near-full.  Because the Mother Lode’s major dams and reservoirs are operated by more than seven agencies, there is no single easy answer to these questions.  Simply and generally, some of that water is getting captured behind dams on reservoirs, and some dam operators will try to keep reservoir levels up through September. … ”  Read more from the Union Democrat here:  How long will the lakes stay full?

Gary Peterson: EBMUD customers’ wrath justified, but agency’s issues are real as rain: “They knew the score even as they squeezed into the East Bay Municipal Utilities District board room Tuesday afternoon, dozens of frustrated water customers incensed over a proposed 19 percent rate hike and knowing just where to aim their animosity.  By a 6-1 vote, the only dissenting vote coming from John Coleman who represents Ward 2, the rate hike was approved. But not before a conga line of consumers engaged in a ventathon.  “Coming out of a drought,” said one man, who claimed to have worked for 10 state governments, “it doesn’t seem you have a very good story to tell your rate payers.” ... ”  Read more from the East Bay Times here:  EBMUD customers’ wrath justified, but agency’s issues are real as rain

Without water lifeline, tiny town on Santa Cruz coast is running dry:  “All across California, one storm after another dumped drought-busting rains last winter that put an end to water-saving emergency measures and the doomsday scenario of taps running dry.  Except here. On the coastal bluffs just north of Santa Cruz, this hamlet is in danger of drying up because those storms were more than a 100-year-old water pipe could handle.  The pipe was Davenport’s water lifeline — a 4-mile conduit that snakes from San Vicente Creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains to the treatment plant for the town’s 430 residents. The storms caused landslides that damaged the pipe in two spots, forcing the town to tap into the smaller Mill Creek as an emergency stopgap. … ”  Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here:  Without water lifeline, tiny town on Santa Cruz coast is running dry

Deal reached to close sand mine allegedly eroding Monterey Bay:  “The California Coastal Commission approved an agreement Thursday with a multinational building-supply company to shut down the last coastal sand mine in the United States, removing from the beach a dredging operation that experts say has caused devastating erosion in Monterey Bay.  The unanimous decision by the board — three of the 12 members were absent — ends a seven-year battle by the commission to halt extraction at the Lapis Sand Plant, an 8-acre operation on a remote beach in the Monterey County town of Marina. ... ”  Read more from SF Gate here:  Deal reached to close sand mine allegedly eroding Monterey Bay

South Monterey County Interlake Tunnel project costs edge up again:  “Interlake Tunnel project cost estimates continue to climb, rising to about $83.4 million, and could rise even further.  During a project stakeholder workshop Thursday, EPC Consultants Vice President Ron Drake, the project manager, noted the latest cost estimate increase of about $5 million, blaming it on the need for a habitat conservation plan to address the project’s potential impact on endangered species budgeted at about $3.4 million. Drake also acknowledged the new cost estimate did not take into account potential capital cost increases, and said he’s concerned the project cost will continue to rise if it is further delayed. … ”  Read more from the Monterey County Herald here:  South Monterey County Interlake Tunnel project costs edge up again

Most California counties have moved on from drought restrictions.  Not Nipomo:  “While many cities and agencies around California have been casting off their drought-related water rules, Nipomo residents will be stuck with higher rates and watering restrictions.  The Nipomo Community Services District decided to maintain its Stage IV water shortage emergency, which asks residents to turn off their irrigation systems and charges users higher water rates, among other restrictions, at its Wednesday meeting. … ”  Read more from the San Luis Obispo Tribune here:  Most California counties have moved on from drought restrictions.  Not Nipomo

Inyo County uses eminent domain in water fight with LA:  “A century after Los Angeles stealthily bought up rural land 200 miles north to secure valuable water rights, officials in the Owens Valley are fighting back.  Inyo County has launched eminent domain proceedings in an effort to take property acquired by Los Angeles in the early 1900s, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday (http://lat.ms/2unh36S ).  The scheme, in which agents from the big city quietly purchased land while posing as ranchers and farmers, became a key part of California history and the subject of the 1974 film “Chinatown.” Los Angeles went on to drain the lush valley, taking the water via a great aqueduct to fuel the metropolis’ explosive growth. ... ”  Read more from the Fresno Bee here:  Inyo County uses eminent domain in water fight with LA

Ridgecrest: Who runs the groundwater agency?  IWV Water District board expresses concern, frustration:  ““This is the strongest agency in the valley, as far as I’m concerned, and it has nobody in this basin who resides here who is a manager” IWV Water District board member Chuck Griffin said at the Water District’s board meeting on Monday. “Everybody that is in a management position lives over the mountain.”  Griffin was speaking of the IWV Groundwater Authority, the new Groundwater Sustainability Agency. IWVGA holds its board meetings every third Thursday of the month in the Ridgecrest City Hall Chambers at 10 a.m. July’s meeting is scheduled for July 20th. ... ”  Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent here:  Ridgecrest: Who runs the groundwater agency?  IWV Water District board expresses concern, frustration

Friday flight over Oroville …

Pumped concrete is being placed between the stay-in-place concrete forms, part of the new concrete foundation and drainage system for the Lake Oroville flood control spillway. Demolition and rock cleaning continue, as does work on the emergency spillway.

Also on Maven’s Notebook today …

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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.

 

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