In California water news today, State approves $2.7 billion for water storage; State water plan could hurt local economy, local officials say; Capitol rally to protest agency’s Bay Delta Plan; How a Silicon Valley city cut landmark deals to solve a water crisis; Radio show: What would changes to the Endangered Species Act mean for the Valley?; Crystal Geyser in hot water for secretly disposing of toxic waste; American West rounds up wild horses threatened by drought; Appropriations: Broader fights threaten energy, environmental bills; and more …
On the calendar today …
- ACWA Webinar on long-term water efficiency laws from 11am to 12pm. Dave Bolland presenting. Click here for more information and to register.
- Southern California Water Dialog meets from 12pm to 1pm at the Metropolitan Water District headquarters. Topic is 2018 legislation in review with a special focus on SB 623 and AB 2050. Click here for more information and to register.
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
PROP 1 STORAGE PROJECTS
State approves $2.7 billion for water storage: “A state commission on Tuesday approved $2.7 billion in funding for a variety of water storage projects across California, but the money doesn’t guarantee that any of them will be built. The California Water Commission action was part of a complicated new process designed to depoliticize awards of state water bond funding by judging projects according to stringent guidelines that some of the biggest projects had trouble meeting. ... ” Read more from the LA Times here: State approves $2.7 billion for water storage
California’s largest reservoir project in decades gets an $800 million boost. But is it feasible? “California officials Tuesday awarded $816 million in voter-approved bond money to build Sites Reservoir, an hour north of Sacramento, providing a financial boost for what would become the largest water storage project built in the state since the 1970s. Approved by the State Water Commission, the funds were the most given to any of the eight projects across California under consideration for a part of the $2.7 billion Proposition 1 water bond. Voters passed the bond in 2014 during the state’s historic drought. Despite the nine-figure award, Sites’ project managers weren’t pleased with the amount of funding for their $5.2 billion project. The decision by the Water Commission represents about half of what Sites’ backers originally had sought. ... ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: California’s largest reservoir project in decades gets an $800 million boost. But is it feasible?
California funds new dams to protect against future drought: “For the first time since California’s dam-building boom ended nearly a half century ago, state officials on Tuesday approved a windfall of cash for new water storage projects, setting the stage for at least a mini-resurgence of reservoir construction. The historic $2.7 billion of voter-approved bond money will go to elevating two Bay Area dams, at Los Vaqueros Reservoir near Livermore and Pacheco Reservoir east of Gilroy, as well as to the development of two much larger dams in the Central Valley. Funds also will go to four less traditional endeavors that store water underground. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: California funds new dams to protect against future drought
Sites Reservoir earns $816 million in Prop 1 funding: “Nearly four years after voters approved billions of dollars for new water storage in California, the state finally announced how the pie would be divided. Sites Reservoir in Colusa County, west of Maxwell, will get the largest chunk. The proposed reservoir has been on the drawing boards since last century. It’s the largest and most expensive proposal of the eight projects considered by the California Water Commission on Tuesday. It received the largest award, too — $816 million. … ” Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record here: Sites Reservoir earns $816 million in Prop 1 funding
Plan to irrigate farms with treated wastewater gets funding: “State officials on Tuesday approved funding a multi-million dollar project in Sacramento that will help farmers struggling to find water. Now they don’t have to look farther than the bathroom. California farmers were hit hard during years of drought. “We were looking at every possible way we could to bring in more water,” said Lindsey Leiberg with the Sacramento County Farm Bureau. Now some will be getting relief, with the help of treated sewage. ... ” Read more from CBS 13 here: Plan to irrigate farms with treated wastewater gets funding
Two Kern groundwater storage projects win state funding: “Two groundwater storage projects proposed in Kern County won funding commitments Tuesday from the California Water Commission. The Kern Fan Groundwater Storage Project, proposed southwest of Rosedale Highway and Enos Lane, was approved for almost $86 million. The other project — Willow Springs Water Bank, planned for the Mojave Desert about 12 miles west of Rosamond — was OK’d for more than $123 million. The Kern Fan project was proposed jointly by the Irvine Ranch Water District and the Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District. It would store up to 100,000 acre-feet of water from the State Water Project. One acre-foot is enough to cover an acre of land with one foot of water. … ” Read more from the Bakersfield Californian here: Two Kern groundwater storage projects win state funding
BAY DELTA PLAN
State water plan could hurt local economy, local officials say: “A state plan to require an average of 40 percent unimpaired flows on the Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Merced rivers could have dire socio-economic consequences for the people of Tuolumne County, according to local officials. The so-called Bay-Delta Plan Update for the Lower San Joaquin River and Southern Delta seeks the increased flows to protect native salmon runs that have been driven nearly to the brink of extinction, triggering a water war between the state and agricultural districts in the Central Valley that hold California’s oldest water rights. ... ” Read more from the Union Democrat here: State water plan could hurt local economy, local officials say
Local legislators send plea to the State Water Board: “When the State Water Resources Control Board released the final draft proposal of its plan to increase water flows through local rivers for the benefit of fish and wildlife earlier this month, it gave the public 21 days to comment either in favor of or against the widely-disputed strategy. State legislators representing the Central Valley don’t think the time frame is long enough. In a July 19 letter addressed to State Water Board Chair Felicia Marcus, Assemblyman Heath Flora (R-Ripon), Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced), Senator Anthony Cannella (R-Ceres), Senator Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) and Senator Tom Berryhill (R-Modesto) called on the board to extend the public comment period for the Bay-Delta Plan and to delay the board’s Aug. 21-22 hearing, where they will consider adopting the plan. ... ” Read more from the Turlock Journal here: Local legislators send plea to the State Water Board
Capitol rally to protest State Water Board’s Bay Delta Plan: “Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, is holding a rally on August 20th at noon on the steps of the State Capitol to protest Phase 1 of the State Water Resources Control Board’s Bay Delta Plan The plan would require an average of 40% unimpaired flows along the Merced, Tuolumne, and Stanislaus Rivers for the protection of fish. The proposal, if it moves forward as released, will devastate farmers in that region and set a bad precedent for Phase 2 along the Sacramento River, critics say. The water districts and state agencies have been in voluntary settlement discussions for over a year after the initial plan was released. Opponents say the process being proposed by the State Board seriously threatens the ability for those negotiations to be voluntarily settled outside of court. … ” Read more from the Western Farm Press here: Capitol rally to protest agency’s Bay Delta Plan
OTHER STATEWIDE
How a Silicon Valley city cut landmark deals to solve a water crisis: “Silicon Valley logged seven straight years of economic growth – coming out of the Great Recession like a runner out of the blocks. And the numbers aren’t simply tallied in ledger books and spreadsheets – the growth is visible in the slow slog of daily traffic, in the weekend open houses crammed with would-be buyers eager for $2 million starter homes and in the forest of construction cranes on the suburban horizon. Silicon Valley has been bursting at the seams as developers try to keep pace. But there is one place in the last few years where you wouldn’t have heard the buzz of saws and the pounding of hammers – East Palo Alto, a small city of just 28,000 residents. … ” Read more from Water Deeply here: How a Silicon Valley city cut landmark deals to solve a water crisis
Radio show: What would changes to the Endangered Species Act mean for the Valley? “Last week the Trump Administration proposed a set of major changes to the Endangered Species Act. It’s a big issue here in California, where protected species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and in the Sierra have set off new efforts to protect critical habitat. Of course those measures have also proven to be controversial in many areas. Just ask valley farmers what they think of efforts to save the endangered Delta smelt. Michael Doyle, a reporter with E&E News joined us to explain what these changes could mean for the valley.” Listen to the radio show here: What would changes to the Endangered Species Act mean for the Valley?
One way to save birds: Pay farmers to flood their land: “An innovative scheme to leverage Central Valley farmland as temporary wetlands on the Pacific Flyway helped birds navigate California’s five-year drought, according to a new analysis. More than four years ago, in the midst of California’s most punishing drought on record, conservation groups began working with growers and citizen scientists to identify and maintain habitat for wetland birds on agricultural land, as KQED reported. The Central Valley is in the middle of the Pacific Flyway, and millions of birds stop to rest at wetlands in the region during their migrations. … ” Read more from KQED here: One way to save birds: Pay farmers to flood their land
Crystal Geyser in hot water for secretly disposing of toxic waste: “Bottled water giant Crystal Geyser has been charged by a grand jury with 16 counts of violating environmental and hazardous waste laws, after the jury viewed evidence that the company improperly disposed of toxic waste, a Department of Justice press release said. According to court records disclosed on July 19, Crystal Geyser created an “Arsenic Pond” in a remote part of eastern California between Death Valley and The Sequoia National Forest, and then didn’t disclose that water they pumped out of the pond and delivered to water treatment plants was full of the poisonous heavy metal. … ” Read more from the Desert Sun here: Crystal Geyser in hot water for secretly disposing of toxic waste
REGIONAL/NATIONAL
American West rounds up wild horses threatened by drought: “Harsh drought conditions in parts of the American West are pushing wild horses to the brink and spurring extreme measures to protect them. For what they say is the first time, volunteer groups in Arizona and Colorado are hauling thousands of gallons of water and truckloads of food to remote grazing grounds where springs have run dry and vegetation has disappeared. Federal land managers also have begun emergency roundups in desert areas of Utah and Nevada. … ” Read more from the Christian Science Monitor here: American West rounds up wild horses threatened by drought
Appropriations: Broader fights threaten energy, environmental bills: “Congressional work on finalizing fiscal 2019 spending bills is being delayed until September, even as the Senate remains on track to move its proposed funding for the Interior Department and EPA by the end of this week. The development has spawned a series of conflicting political predictions over the fate of efforts to finalize appropriations bills before the new fiscal year begins. House and Senate appropriators said yesterday that differences over how to divide up $1.24 trillion in discretionary spending for the coming year have forced them to delay conference talks this week on the first three-bill legislative package, pushing that work until after both chambers return from their August breaks in September. … ” Read more from E&E News here: Appropriations: Broader fights threaten energy, environmental bills
In commentary today …
Why a water board plan should worry the whole state: Justin Fredrickson writes, “It’s not just the northern San Joaquin Valley that should be concerned about the state water board’s plan to redirect water away from farms and cities in a misguided bid to save fish. No matter where you live in California—and no matter your source of water—you should be worried. For now, the focus rests on regions along the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers. From there, it moves to the Sacramento Valley and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and from there, who knows where? In their plan, staff at the State Water Resources Control Board aims to restore “unimpaired flows” below dams by cutting in half current diversions to people and farms. … ” Read more from Ag Alert here: Why a water board plan should worry the whole state
What if we dam and flood Yosemite at the same time? Dennis Wyatt writes, “Imagine the howls out of San Francisco if President Donald Trump engineered a deal in Congress to build a reservoir at the mouth of Yosemite Valley and backed up water to a depth of 1,800 feet flooding iconic vistas and wringing the life out of a stretch of the Merced River for the purpose of providing water and power so big business can profit from expanding cities. The thunderous, guttural chorus would shatter all eardrums within a hundred miles. After all, how dare the Republicans flood a national park? Yet that is what San Francisco did getting Democratic President Woodrow Wilson to do just that to Hetch Hetchy Valley. ... ” Read more from the Manteca Bulletin here: What if we dam and flood Yosemite at the same time?
In regional news and commentary today …
Zone 7 asked to support new $8.8 billion water bond measure: “Zone 7 Water Agency directors heard a presentation on a proposed statewide water bond measure at last week’s regular meeting, with the measure’s proponent asking for their support the new proposal — four years after California voters approved another multi-billion-dollar water bond. If passed in November, Proposition 3 would issue $8.877 billion in general obligation bonds to generate revenue for water-related projects, including water infrastructure, groundwater supplies and storage, habitat protection and more. ... ” Read more from the Pleasanton Weekly here: Zone 7 asked to support new $8.8 billion water bond measure
South Bay reservoir levels below average halfway through summer: “Summer’s half over, and water levels in the South Bay are below normal. But, officials aren’t panicking. The 11 reservoirs in the Santa Clara Valley Water District are at 44 percent of capacity. And at 73 percent of the 20-year average. While the warmest temperature months are still ahead, groundwater storage is expected to be at normal levels at the end of the year. … ” Read more from ABC 7 News here: South Bay reservoir levels below average halfway through summer
Rising water levels at Lake Cachuma attracting visitors to escape heat wave: “Water levels at Lake Cachuma are finally on the rise and some lake-goers are happy they visited to freshen up. Robert Easley was visiting from Los Angeles and noticed a big improvement from his last trip two years ago. … ” Read more from KEYT here: Rising water levels at Lake Cachuma attracting visitors to escape heat wave
Effort to dream up new future for the Los Angeles River to begin in Canoga Park: “An ambitious effort to re-imagine the future of the Los Angeles River’s entire 51-mile length will begin where the waterway gets its start — in Canoga Park, the west San Fernando Valley neighborhood that is home to the river’s headwaters. The first of a dozen community meetings to gather input on a new, countywide “master plan” for the river is set to take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday inside the cafeteria of Canoga Park High School, at 6850 Topanga Canyon Blvd. Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl invited people throughout the county, as well as those who live in and around Canoga Park to share their thoughts and to “dream along with us.” … ” Read more from the LA Daily News here: Effort to dream up new future for the Los Angeles River to begin in Canoga Park
Costa Mesa: Sanitary and water districts reach settlement in legal fight, ending talk of merger: “The Costa Mesa Sanitary and Mesa Water districts have reached a truce in their lengthy public feud over whether to consider a merger, announcing in a joint statement that the water district’s board “will not support consolidation” unless the sanitary district, which has consistently opposed the idea, “changes its position on the subject.” As part of the settlement between the agencies, the sanitary district agreed to dismiss a lawsuit it filed last year alleging that Mesa Water had failed to provide certain requested documents. The sanitary district also agreed to withdraw its current public records requests. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: Sanitary and water districts reach settlement in legal fight, ending talk of merger
Oceanside, Issa push for long-overdue beach sand project: “Local officials are urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete the routine dredging that it failed to do this spring at the Oceanside harbor. The leader of Oceanside’s tourism marketing agency, Leslee Gaul, and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, have written letters to the Corps expressing how important the maintenance work is for the safety of boaters and for the vitality of the city’s beaches and tourism-based businesses. … ” Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune here: Oceanside, Issa push for long-overdue beach sand project
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
- NEWS WORTH NOTING: Members of Congress propose sweeping reforms to the Endangered Species Act; CalEPA awards over $1 million in environmental justice grants to communities and tribes
- SGMA IMPLEMENTATION: Basin Boundary Modifications Submission Period Extended to September
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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.
