WEEKLY DIGEST for April 8 through 13
A list of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …
Note to readers: Sign up for weekly email service and you will receive this post as an email in your inbox on Friday mornings. Readers on daily email service can add weekly email service by updating their subscription preferences. Click here to sign up!
This week’s featured articles …
TIM QUINN: The Challenge of Our Time: Healthy Economies and Sustainable Groundwater
Speech at Kern County Water Summit emphasizes groundwater replenishment and partnerships as the keys to successful SGMA implementation
Since the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was passed in the fall of 2014, new Groundwater Sustainability Agencies have been formed across the state to manage the groundwater basins, and the discussion has now turned to the difficult task of preparing plans to sustainably manage their groundwater basins. With Kern County being home to three basins considered critically overdrafted and with about half of all water use in the region coming from groundwater, just how implementation of SGMA is going to play out was a topic of much of the discussion at the 2018 Kern County Water Summit held in March of this year.
In keeping with that, the luncheon keynote speaker was, Timothy Quinn, Executive Director of the Association of California Water Agencies. In his remarks, he focused on groundwater replenishment as being key to lessening the impacts, as well as the importance of working together to find creative and innovative solutions.
Click here to read this article.
STATE WATER BOARD: Update on Delta science efforts
At the March 20th meeting of the State Water Board, Delta Lead Scientist Dr. Callaway updated the board members on the Delta Science Program and their priorities for the coming year.
The mission of the Delta Science Program is to provide the best possible unbiased scientific information for water and environmental decision making in the Delta, a mission the Science Program and the Stewardship Council take very seriously, Dr. Callaway said.
“What’s really critical is the independence of the science program in maintaining a legitimate voice on science,” he said. “The science program serves multiple audiences in multiple roles; most immediately we serve the Stewardship Council and we provide scientific input to the Stewardship Council on issues they are concerned about or decisions that they are making, but more broadly we provide a voice on science within the whole science community.”
Click here to read this article.
In water news this week from around the web …
WEEKEND DAILY DIGEST: Southern California might pay for two Delta tunnels after all; Lake Oroville rises; spillway likely to be needed; West Coast still drenched after second rainiest day since since 1849 Gold Rush; ‘Pineapple Express’ fills up Bay Area reservoirs; Friant water users will get full allotment of Class 1 irrigation water; Statewide water savings stopped in February; California’s lost wetlands get help from Sacramento Valley rice farms; A mighty confluence of events created a model stream; and more … READ IT HERE: Weekend Daily Digest
MONDAY: California’s groundwater legislation could mean opportunities, not penalties; DWR says Oroville Dam main spillway won’t be used this week; Northern California divers battle to save abalone – with a giant sea urchin vacuum; California mobilizes to save invaluable kelp – will efforts be in vain?; Arctic melting could worsen California droughts; The North Bay fires were six month’s ago. What’s actually changed?; and more … READ IT HERE: Monday’s Daily Digest
TUESDAY: Vote on Southern California’s investment in Delta tunnel project could be a nail biter; Governor Brown urges ‘yes’ for both tunnels. Will that sway crucial vote?; Two tunnels? One? None? Water agency to decide how much to spend on Delta fix; Radio show: Ahead of MWD’s vote on water tunnel project tomorrow, KPCC re-debates the pros/cons; When it comes to California water, nothing is easy; Oil company allies say climate lawsuits were shopped around; LaMalfa bill to create new tribe raises questions; and more … READ IT HERE: Tuesday’s Daily Digest
WEDNESDAY: Southern California water agency votes to fund construction of two Delta tunnels; Low water supplies leave farmers in a bind; Can agriculture and wildlife co-exist? Rice farmers think so; Sea level poses huge threat to California, heightening urgency of liability cases; California oil firms had nearly 400 violations in 3 years; Understanding what the ‘new normal’ means for water in the west; Zinke goes west, then what?; and more … READ IT HERE: Wednesday’s Daily Digest
THURSDAY: MWD’s mega tunnel project: What could go wrong? and more Cal Water Fix news and commentary; New bill proposes changing dam oversight; Republican gubernatorial candidate Travis Allen champions farmers’ need for more water; Conservation group highlights Western rivers facing imminent threats; Federal judge hears Klamath Basin tribes, irrigators arguments on dam water releases; Siskiyou County septic standards update deadline approaching; and more … READ IT HERE: Thursday’s Daily Digest
FRIDAY: Climate change is messing with your dinner; California needs a cure for its unhealthy forests; Supreme Court case tests weight of old Native American treaties in 21st century; ‘A lot on the line’ in water hearing: Irrigators wait on Klamath River court decision; Monterey Peninsula, Marina clash over Cal Am desal water rights; Mono Supervisors take up cause of water-less grazing leases; Will the Southwest run short of water in 2019?; and more … READ IT HERE: Friday’s Daily Digest
Other news items …
- REACTIONS to Metropolitan Water District vote to support full California Water Fix project
- Governor Brown sends letter to Metropolitan Board of Directors, urging their support of the full Cal Water Fix project
News worth noting this week …
- NEWS WORTH NOTING: Ecosystem synthesis papers now available online; Reclamation to increase water releases to Klamath River to address fish health concerns; EPA announces new funding for water infrastructure projects
- NEWS WORTH NOTING: LA Ratepayer’s Advocate report on WaterFix 1 and 2 tunnel costs; Latino leaders convene in Sacramento to develop water policy knowledge; Isabella Dam groundbreaking ceremony marks beginning of Phase II construction
- NEWS WORTH NOTING: 2018 ocean salmon fishing seasons slashed; Public comment sought on statewide management of trout; Lawsuit Seeks Public Records on Trump Administration’s approval of California water-mining project; LADWP releases season’s snowpack results
- NEWS WORTH NOTING: Delta Counties call Metropolitan vote for twin tunnels a bad deal for ratepayers and the Delta; Cadiz responds to lawsuit filed by Center for Biological Diversity; USEPA Region 9 enforcement priorities revealed
- NEWS WORTH NOTING: Innovation, investment, and infrastructure needed to replenish groundwater basins, new DWR report shows; North Coast Regional Water Board and Caltrans Reach $2M Settlement; Weekly water and climate update
Weekly features …
- RESERVOIR AND WATER CONDITIONS for April 9th
- BLOG ROUND-UP: Cal Water Fix, groundwater recovery, ecosystems, climate change, salmon, and more …
- SCIENCE NEWS: Putah Creek: A mighty confluence of events creates a model stream; Want to fight sea level rise? Look to San Francisco’s Ocean Beach; Creating habitat in a drawn-down lake; Odds of reaching 100% normal precipitation for WY2018; and more …
Announcements this week …
- ANNOUNCEMENT: Notice of public workshop and solicitation of public comment: 2018 trienneial review of the water quality control plan for the San Francisco Basin
- WATER SUPPLY INDEX: For April 1, 2018
- NOTICE OF PUBLIC WORKSHOPS: Proposed framework for regulating Direct Potable Reuse in California
- SUSTAINABLE GROUNDWATER MGT PRGM NEWS for April 12
Sign up for email service and you’ll never miss a post!
Sign up for daily emails and get all the Notebook’s aggregated and original water news content delivered to your email box by 9AM. Sign up for weekly email service to receive this post on Friday mornings by 10AM. Sign me up!