In California water news today, Feds eye scaling back antiparasite Klamath dam releases; Feather River flow cranked up for young salmon; Willits City Council set to award contract for timber and reforestation plan; Southern sea lions gravitating to Marin, Northern California; Coloma: Boaters upset after bridge construction supports wash into the river; Storm turns creek into a river; sweeps Don Pedro house off foundation with couple inside; Why does Sierra rain, snow help Modesto but not Turlock?; San Luis Obispo County looks at carving out Los Osos subbasin; Master Planning & P3 Financing the LA River; Critics charge farmers on Coachella Valley Water District board have kept east valley water rates unfairly low; Mexico pledges $4.3 million effort to stoop Tijuana spills; and more …
In California water news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
Feds eye scaling back antiparasite Klamath dam releases: “In an attempt to meet the needs of Klamath Basin irrigators and endangered fish species in the basin in a time of drought, a federal agency is proposing to reduce the amount of dam water releases to the Klamath River that are meant to protect threatened Coho salmon from deadly parasite outbreaks like those that occurred in 2014 and 2015. The Hoopa Valley Tribe says the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s prioritizes farmers over fish and goes against a federal court order that they, the Yurok Tribe and environmental groups secured last year to protect threatened salmon. ... ” Read more from the Eureka Times-Standard here: Feds eye scaling back antiparasite Klamath dam releases
Feather River flow cranked up for young salmon: “A half-million baby spring-run salmon were released Monday into the Feather River, which is far less than normal, according to the Golden Gate Salmon Association. The fish were released downstream from the confluence with the Yuba River, according to the association. Normally 2 million of the spring-run fish would be released from the Feather River Fish Hatchery, but only 1,200 adults were captured for harvest this year. ... ” Read more from the Oroville Mercury Register here: Feather River flow cranked up for young salmon
Willits City Council set to award contract for timber and reforestation plan: “The Willits City Council is scheduled to consider awarding a contract to Calpella-based North Coast Resource Management consulting services for a reforestation plan at its meeting Wednesday. Staff say the project has the potential to net more than $48,900 in revenues for the financially struggling city to benefit its water fund. According to the meeting’s agenda report prepared by Scott Herman, utilities superintendent, at the council’s direction, staff sent out a request for proposal to all Mendocino County registered professional foresters for the city’s watershed salvage of burned timber project and restoration plan. ... ” Read more from the Ukiah Daily Journal here: Willits City Council set to award contract for timber and reforestation plan
Southern sea lions gravitating to Marin, Northern California: “Earlier this month a California sea lion dubbed “Lemonade” by the Marine Mammal Center made its way onto Bolinas Beach, suffering from domoic acid toxicity. It may be in the coming years that more of the sea lions will appear the waters off Marin. Although a small proportion of the sea lion population overall, the nearly 2,000 pups were counted in July 2017 at the Southeast Farallon Islands — about 27 miles from Marin’s shores — and Año Nuevo Island near Santa Cruz. That reflects the largest shift of breeding sea lions away from longtime rookeries in the Channel Islands, scientists say. ... ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News here: Southern sea lions gravitating to Marin, Northern California
Coloma: Boaters upset after bridge construction supports wash into the river: “Boaters are riled up after high waters washed part of the construction supports off a new bridge in Coloma. The bridge is part of a two-year project by Caltrans and is just off of Highway 49. … ” Read more from CBS Sacramento here: Boaters upset after bridge construction supports wash into the river
Storm turns creek into a river; sweeps Don Pedro house off foundation with couple inside: “The lazy, babbling brook meandering through Dominic and Kim Taylor’s rural property swiftly became a raging torrent last week, floating their manufactured home off its cinder-block foundation — with them inside — and depositing it about 20 feet away. Alarmed, the Taylors swam to safety and no one was hurt, but they fear the house is ruined. They see no easy way of lifting the house and placing it back where it’s supposed to be, and besides, it’s filled with mud, a water mark stretching 5 feet high on one side of the now-lopsided home, 6 on the other. … ” Read more from the Modesto Bee here: Storm turns creek into a river; sweeps Don Pedro house off foundation with couple inside
Why does Sierra rain, snow help Modesto but not Turlock? “While it did not turn out to be a Miracle March, the rain and snow that walloped the Sierra Nevada this month bolstered what had been a paltry water year. But the storms will have different impacts in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. Modesto — which relies on wells and the Tuolumne River for its water — will increase the watering of lawns and other landscaping from twice to three days a week effective April 1. … ” Read more from the Modesto Bee here: Why does Sierra rain, snow help Modesto but not Turlock?
San Luis Obispo County looks at carving out Los Osos subbasin: “San Luis Obispo County’s public works department is looking at changing the boundary of the Los Osos Valley Groundwater Basin, considered by the state to be in critical overdraft. That means the state’s recent groundwater management law, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), requires the 11-square-mile underground water source to be stringently managed and conserved, and curtails unregulated pumping. Catherine Martin is a water resource engineer with San Luis Obispo County Department of Public Works. … ” Read more from KCBX here: San Luis Obispo County looks at carving out Los Osos subbasin
Bakersfield: Drought continues despite recent downpours: “Although Kern County saw a lot of rain over the past three weeks, it hasn’t pulled the county out of a drought. This year, the state has only seen a third of the precipitation last year brought us. This means, water sources can’t provide the water that should be going to Kern County. … ” Read more from Bakersfield Now here: Drought continues despite recent downpours
Master Planning & P3 Financing the LA River: “The promise of the Los Angeles River comes closer to reality each year. … Los Angeles County and City continue to work with state and federal leaders, as well as the private sector, to manage water flows for both recycling and recreation. At VerdeXchange 2018, Jack Baylis moderated a robust session … to address how the river development can be successfully financed and accomplished without repeating the mistakes of Chavez Ravine displacement decades ago. Q:Barbara, share the Mayor and City’s current vision for the LA River and the G2 parcel? A: Barbara Romero: Before I joined the Mayor’s Office, I worked at the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Authority. We were involved in projects all over the county: in Pacoima, the Tujunga Wash, Compton Creek, and the LA River. I loved my job, so I was torn about leaving to work for the city. But the mayor said, “I want you to do what you are doing at the MRCA, but at a broader scale for the city and the river. ... ” Continue reading at The Planning Report here: Master Planning & P3 Financing the LA River
Long Beach considers consolidating utilities into one department: “For Long Beach leaders, it may be time to consolidate city-operated utilities under the same management and regulation. For the first time since the city’s Water Department and the Gas & Oil Department were created more than a century ago, the Long Beach Water Commission on Thursday will consider a proposal to merge water and sewer services with natural gas services into one department. ... ” Read more from the Long Beach Press Telegram here: Long Beach considers consolidating utilities into one department
Critics charge farmers on Coachella Valley Water District board have kept east valley water rates unfairly low: “The Coachella Valley Water District’s board is considering raising the rates it charges farmers, golf courses and other well owners based on how much groundwater they pump. That upcoming decision has brought criticism of the stark, longstanding difference between the relatively low rates paid by well owners in the east valley, including the area’s farmers, and the much higher rates for well owners in the cities of the west valley. … ” Read more from the Desert Sun here: Critics charge farmers on Coachella Valley Water District board have kept east valley water rates unfairly low
Mexico pledges $4.3 million effort to stoop Tijuana spills: “Mexico is pledging to spend $4.3 million to clean the Tijuana river channel after two California cities sued a U.S. agency over the decades-old problem of sewage fouling U.S. wetlands and beaches. … ” Read more from CBS Channel 8 here: Mexico pledges $4.3 million effort to stoop Tijuana spills
Along the Colorado River …
Its population booming, Colorado ponders new water diversions and dams: “Colorado is expected to add 3 million residents by 2050, a 56 percent increase in a state already facing water supply challenges. To keep pace, the state is embarking on its biggest era of water development in generations. At least seven major new reservoirs and water diversion projects are being planned in Colorado, which had a population of 5.6 million in 2017. Many would continue the controversial practice of diverting water across the Rocky Mountains from the state’s Western Slope, where the majority of Colorado’s precipitation falls, to its more arid Front Range, where people are flocking to Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Longmont and increasingly sprawling suburbs. … ” Read more from Water Deeply here: Its population booming, Colorado ponders new water diversions and dams
National water news of interest …
State oil and gas regulations are inadequate, leaving groundwater vulnerable: “Although many in the energy industry tout hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) as the answer to American energy needs for decades to come, the process is risky for water quality, and therefore poses a risk to the health of our lands, our aquifers, and our health. The fracking process employs a range of chemicals, many of which are mutagenic, suspected carcinogens, or otherwise toxic. For example, between 2005 and 2009, 14 energy companies in the US used more than 2,500 fracking products containing 750 different chemicals. ... ” Read more from Environmental Monitor here: State oil and gas regulations are inadequate, leaving groundwater vulnerable
Conservation funding expected to lag behind when farmers need it most: “On his diversified row crop and livestock farm in Grundy County, Iowa, Fred Abels explained how two federal conservation programs have helped him adopt a long list of practices. “Converting crop ground to pasture, cover crop enhancements, putting legumes into pastures, fencing, watering facilities, hay mowing to increase wildlife survival rates, using limited tillage,” Abels said, while listing dozens of other conservation practices he uses with funds from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs. “Some of these I doubt I would have tried. EQIP [the Environmental Quality Incentives Program] and CSP [the Conservation Stewardship Program] helped share the risk,” said Abels, a member of Practical Farmers of Iowa and an early adopter of conservation practices. ... ” Read more from Civil Eats here: Conservation funding expected to lag behind when farmers need it most
Meet Trump’s new climate guy: “Wells Griffith’s path to overseeing the Trump administration’s international energy and climate strategy began on a much smaller stage — “the social Shell.” Griffith’s grandfather started the gas station that’s well-known in Mobile, Ala. Griffith’s father, Preston, still runs the place and answers the phone. (“I’m very honored for the work he’s doing for President Trump,” the elder Griffith said, declining further comment.) It’s the type of place where employees run out to clean windshields, asked or not, when motorists refuel. That congeniality rubbed off on Griffith, said Quin Hillyer, a Mobile-based conservative commentator. Hillyer and Griffith were two of nine candidates in a GOP primary to replace retired Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) in 2013 in what he called “a friendly race.” Before they squared off as opponents, Hillyer actually passed on hiring Griffith to run his own campaign — he couldn’t fathom hiring then-Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus’ deputy chief of staff, which was Griffith’s job at the time. ... ” Read more from E&E News here: Meet Trump’s new climate guy
In commentary today …
Citizen dam commission is an idea with potential, says the Chico Enterprise-Record: They write, “Would a commission of folks who live downstream from Oroville Dam be able to have any impact on the way the project is run by the state Department of Water Resources? State Sen. Jim Nielsen thinks so, and is proposing a citizens advisory commission to keep an eye on the dam. The Red Bluff Republican has introduced SB 955, which would create a 27-member commission. … ” Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record here: Citizen dam commission is an idea with potential
Never apologize for being a farmer, says Adam Gray: He writes, “As someone who was born and raised in the Valley, the economic and social values of agriculture are part of who I am. Accountability for our actions is part of our way of life. If you don’t work hard, you don’t get paid. It’s as simple as that. Unfortunately, folks in Sacramento don’t always remember the rules of the game. They demonize successful farmers as “Big Ag.” They claim we waste water, forgetting that irrigation is what puts food on their tables. That’s not waste – it’s hard work. … ” Continue reading at Westside Connect here: Never apologize for being a farmer
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
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