In California water news today, How do we cope with demands for water as we enter an era of scarcity?; San Joaquin farmers hoping Trump’s water policy would end ‘water grab’; Water bond would spread money across the state — but pour it on the Central Valley; Microplastics are showing up everywhere, even in human excrement; Leaked Memo Advises Silence on Fish & Wildlife Info Requests; States Along Colorado River Work to Finish Water Agreements as Lakes Mead and Powell Reach Critical Levels; and more …
On the calendar today …
- The Delta Stewardship Council will meet this afternoon beginning at 1pm. Agenda items include the Executive Officers Report and the Lead Scientist’s Report. Click here for more information. Click here to watch on webcast.
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
- BLOG ROUND-UP: San Francisco v. California; Trump memo; Cal Water Fix Consistency Determination; Delta smelt actions; Central Valley drinking water; and more …
- NEWS WORTH NOTING: Sacramento Groundwater Authority marks 20th anniversary; State Water Contractors fact sheet on expanding local water supplies; Water Board approves funding for vital erosion control after Carr Fire
How do we cope with demands for water as we enter an era of scarcity? “Urban water systems in California and elsewhere face a time of reckoning, warns Richard Luthy, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford. Groundwater aquifers are being depleted and rivers are drying up, even as demand for water keeps climbing. Yet cities can no longer meet society’s thirst by importing more water from far away. Luthy, however, is optimistic. As director of the National Science Foundation’s ReNUWIt effort — short for Re-Inventing the Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure — he helps to develop alternative sources through wastewater recycling, stormwater capture and desalination. ... ” Read more from Stanford News here: How do we cope with demands for water as we enter an era of scarcity?
San Joaquin farmers hoping Trump’s water policy would end ‘water grab’: “For Don Barton, a fourth-generation walnut farmer and the president of the Gold River Orchards, water is everything. That’s why a President Trump-signed memo last week promoting water delivery has Barton and other farmers across San Joaquin County hoping it may stop the so-called “water grab.” “We view this as clearly a positive, the President has intervened directly on an issue that has really been a big road block for California farmers for a number of years now,” he said. … ” Read more from ABC 10 here: San Joaquin farmers hoping Trump’s water policy would end ‘water grab’
Water bond would spread money across the state — but pour it on the Central Valley: “Excessive groundwater pumping by San Joaquin Valley farmers has caused a stretch of the Friant-Kern Canal to sink so much that it has interfered with irrigation deliveries to more than 300,000 acres of cropland. A fix could come from Proposition 3, the water bond on the November ballot, which earmarks $750 million in state taxpayer funds to repair the aqueduct and other infrastructure damaged by land subsidence. But the state neither owns nor uses the Friant-Kern. It is part of the Central Valley Project — the federal government’s massive irrigation system. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: Water bond would spread money across the state — but pour it on the Central Valley
Microplastics are showing up everywhere, even in human excrement: “Microplastics have been found in human stool samples from countries in many parts of the world, according to a small pilot study being presented this week at the 26th annual United European Gastroenterology conference in Vienna, Austria. The study, conducted by researchers from the Medical University of Vienna and the Environment Agency Austria, looked at stool samples from eight individuals in eight different countries: Finland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, the U.K. and Austria. Every stool sample tested positive for up to nine different plastic types, with an average of 20 particles of plastic per 10 grams of stool. ... ” Read more from NPR here: Microplastics are showing up everywhere, even in human excrement
Leaked Memo Advises Silence on Fish & Wildlife Info Requests: “A leaked memo from what conservationists say is the Justice Department advises the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to withhold or delay releasing records sought in Freedom of Information Act requests regarding implementation of the Endangered Species Act. The Center for Biological Diversity said the memo, dated Sept. 6, 2018, asks Fish and Wildlife to limit public access to records regarding deliberations on how certain species would be protected under the Endangered Species Act. Passed in 1973, the act defines a threatened species as one that is likely to become extinct within the “foreseeable future.” ... ” Read more from Courthouse News Service here: Leaked Memo Advises Silence on Fish & Wildlife Info Requests
In commentary today …
San Francisco and its PUC need to innovate on water use, says the San Francisco Chronicle: They write, “San Francisco has always been on the periphery of California’s water wars — until last week. That’s when San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin introduced with three co-sponsors a resolution to the Board of Supervisors that San Francisco should help maintain river flows in the San Joaquin by reducing its take from the Tuolumne, a tributary. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is working all the angles in Sacramento and with the Trump administration to keep every drop of Tuolumne River water to which it believes it is legally entitled. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: San Francisco and its PUC need to innovate on water use
In regional news and commentary today …
Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Shoreline Plan nears approval: “The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is one step closer to approving the Shoreline Plan and development rights initiative, a process that began in 2015. Earlier this month the Advisory Planning Commission recommended to the Governing Board that the plan be adopted. The board is expected to vote on the initiatives on Oct. 24. The proposed Shoreline Plan puts a cap on shoreline development imposing a limited number of new shoreline structures such as piers, buoys and public boat ramps. … ” Read more from the Tahoe Daily Tribune here: Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Shoreline Plan nears approval
West Marin wetland project hits 10-year mark: “Ten years ago this Saturday, an environmental success story was born on the southern end of Tomales Bay. Through the partnership of the National Park Service, the Point Reyes National Seashore Association, the Giacomini family and several local organizations and agencies, the 560-acre Giacomini Ranch has been reclaimed by nature, from shorebirds to seagrass to red-legged frogs. It was the largest wetland restoration project to take place on Tomales Bay, rehabilitating not only 50 percent of the bay’s wetlands, but also 12 percent of lost coastal wetlands in central California, according to the National Park Service. ... ” Read more from the Marin Independent Journal here: West Marin wetland project hits 10-year mark
Environmental justice advocates blast San Diego for lack of progress on climate plan: “Environmental justice advocates are calling on Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s office to spend more money fighting climate change in low-income neighborhoods. According to a report released by the San Diego-based Environmental Health Coalition on Monday, the city has spent little on implementing its 2015 Climate Action Plan and failed to track how much of that funding has gone to disadvantaged communities. The report said that more than half of the $129 million allocated this year for climate change went to programs that likely would have happened regardless of the Climate Action Plan. Programs such as the city’s water recycling program, Pure Water, may help reduce greenhouse gases but they don’t represent new commitments under the climate plan. … ” Read more from the San Diego Union Tribune here: Environmental justice advocates blast San Diego for lack of progress on climate plan
Along the Colorado River …
States Along Colorado River Work to Finish Water Agreements as Lakes Mead and Powell Reach Critical Levels: “Even as seven Western states that rely on the Colorado River for water hammer out final agreements to protect reservoirs on the river, the two lakes are less than half full. Jennifer Pitt, who works on Colorado River policy for the National Audubon Society, told the Grand Canyon News that without changes to how Lake Mead and Lake Powell are managed, levels could fall below the point where no more water can be released. “If that happened, that would be a catastrophe for this region’s economy,” Pitt said, “For all of the people who depend on the Colorado River and for all of the wildlife that depends on it as well.” … ” Read more from The Weather Channel here: States Along Colorado River Work to Finish Water Agreements as Lakes Mead and Powell Reach Critical Levels
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.
