In California water news today, Delta Stewardship Council issues draft determination on Californa Water Fix; Did gas, homeless people and sick kids kill California’s water bond?; El Nino has 80% chance of forming this winter, scientists predict; Thousands flee three fast moving California wildfires; Klamath Tribes drop lawsuit over endangered sucker fish; Rain study in Ukiah helps convince Army Corps to store more water in Lake Mendocino; San Bernardino: ‘Floating balls’ will aim to deter birds from reservoir near airport; and more …
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
- NEWS WORTH NOTING: State Water Board funds vital erosion control after Mendocino Complex fire; Reclamation selects 58 projects for WaterSMART funding; Water and climate report: New features on NWCC Interactive Map
- DELTA eNEWS: ~~ BPC News~ Gate Closing~ CDCP Workshop~ Conservancy Meeting~ DSC Meeting~ DSC Workshop~ DPC Meeting ~~
Delta Stewardship Council staff issues draft determination: substantial evidence does not exist in the record to support DWR’s finding that California WaterFix is consistent with the Delta Plan: ” … In light of claims raised by nine appellant groups, Council staff recommends that the Council conclude that substantial evidence does not exist in the record to support the Department’s findings that California WaterFix is consistent with the Delta Plan. Staff further recommends that the Council remand the matter to the Department for reconsideration, pursuant to Water Code section 85225.25.” Read the article here: Delta Stewardship Council staff issues draft determination
Did gas, homeless people and sick kids kill California’s water bond? “California voters on Tuesday rejected a water bond for the first time in almost 30 years, disregarding pleas from its backers that the money would fix crumbling infrastructure, bring clean drinking water to disadvantaged communities and kick-start badly needed environmental restoration projects. As of Thursday’s tally, 54 percent of voters had rejected the $8.9 billion Proposition 3 that promised funds to help repair Oroville Dam and aid Central Valley farmers facing groundwater problems, among a list of other expenditures. The failure is notable: The last time voters rejected a water bond was 1990. Since then, nine water bond measures have passed. ... ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Did gas, homeless people and sick kids kill California’s water bond?
El Nino has 80% chance of forming this winter, scientists predict: “Climate troublemaker El Niño has an 80 percent chance of developing this winter, federal scientists announced Thursday. “The official forecast favors the formation of a weak El Niño,” NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center said in its monthly forecast. The center gives it an 80 percent chance of continuing through the winter. The chances have increased since early October, when climate scientists gave it a 70 to 75 percent chance of forming. … ” Read more from USA Today here: El Nino has 80% chance of forming this winter, scientists predict
Thousands flee three fast moving California wildfires: “Three fast-moving wildfires burned in California on Friday morning, including one that spurred the evacuation of 75,000 homes near a city that was still reeling from a mass shooting. Voluntary evacuations of 75,000 homes were called for because of the Woolsey Fire that affected parts of Thousand Oaks in Ventura County northwest of Los Angeles, the site of a shooting massacre this week. A former U.S. Marine combat veteran opened fire in a bar packed with college students in the town on Wednesday night, killing 12 people and stunning a leafy community with a reputation for safety. ... ” Read more from Reuters here: Thousands flee three fast moving California wildfires
Klamath Tribes drop lawsuit over endangered sucker fish: “The Klamath Tribes have dismissed a pending lawsuit against a federal agency over several endangered fish species in the Upper Klamath Lake, but the tribes maintain the agency’s actions have brought the fish close to extinction. While the Lost River and shortnose suckers remain in serious jeopardy, the tribes decided that talking science with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will yield better solutions than continuing to sue it, Klamath Tribal Chairman Don Gentry told the Times-Standard on Thursday. … ” Read more from the Eureka Times-Standard here: Klamath Tribes drop lawsuit over endangered sucker fish
Rain study in Ukiah helps convince Army Corps to store more water in Lake Mendocino: “Two years ago, two graduate students studying rain events called “atmospheric rivers” visited Ukiah as part of an effort to gather enough scientific data to help convince the Army Corps of Engineers to store more water in Lake Mendocino. This week, the Corps announced that effort was successful. “The Corps will allow additional water to be stored in Lake Mendocino during this winter’s rainy season to improve water supply reliability and environmental conditions in the Russian River, while continuing to ensure flood management capacity of the reservoir,” the Corps announced in a press release, adding that “under the approved request, a maximum of 3.8 billion gallons (11,650 acre-feet) of additional water could be stored in the reservoir between Nov. 1 and Feb. 28, which is enough water to supply approximately 97,000 people for a year.” … ” Read more from the Ukiah Daily Journal here: Rain study in Ukiah helps convince Army Corps to store more water in Lake Mendocino
Larkspur cuts ties with wastewater treatment provider: “Citing concerns about possible pension liability, Larkspur officials this week took the first step toward severing the city’s membership in the Central Marin Sanitation Agency, a wastewater organization it helped form in the late 1970s. The Larkspur City Council agreed Wednesday to give up the city’s seat on Central Marin’s six-member board of directors, which governs the infrastructure that treats sewage collected from Larkspur and other nearby areas. The council will vote on formal resolutions declaring the city’s severance at future meetings. … ” Read more from the Marin Independent Journal here: Larkspur cuts ties with wastewater treatment provider
Santa Barbara: The doldrums of drought: “Where are the rains of yesteryear? The wet winter of 2017 is a distant memory as the county, like a thirsty desert survivor, staggers into its eighth year of drought. As of this month, the water level at Lake Cachuma, once the main water supply for the South Coast and Santa Ynez Valley, has dropped back to 31 percent of capacity, a mark the reservoir hit in October 2014, on the way down to a record low of 7 percent in October 2016. “I think the dry conditions have just worn everybody out,” said Chris Dahlstrom, general manager for Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District No. 1, one of five agencies that draw from Cachuma. “It would be a great thing to get a good winter.” ... ” Read more from Edhat here: Santa Barbara: The doldrums of drought
San Bernardino: ‘Floating balls’ will aim to deter birds from reservoir near airport: “In February, when state and local water officials gathered to celebrate the completion of the East Branch Extension of the State Water Project at the Citrus Reservoir in Mentone, San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District General Manager Doug Headrick was asked if it would be stocked with bass. He chuckled and shook his head no. The reservoir, which was completed in April 2017 and went into use in March, is generally not open to the public. If there are fish, there will be birds, which is a problem for the Redlands Municipal Airport less than a mile way. Birds and planes don’t mix. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service here: San Bernardino: ‘Floating balls’ will aim to deter birds from reservoir near airport
Drought tests Australia’s model water market: “The world’s driest inhabited continent is struggling to sustain its pioneering effort to put water supply in the hands of market forces, as authorities contend with a drought and complaints by farmers who say the system is putting them out of business. Australia has one of the world’s most sophisticated water-trading systems, and officials in other water-challenged places—notably California and China—are drawing on its experience to manage what the World Bank has called world’s “most precious resource.” The system here, set up after a catastrophic drought in the 2000s saw the country’s most important river system almost run dry, aims to make sure each gallon of river water goes to higher-value activities. … ” Read more from the Wall Street Journal here: Drought tests Australia’s model water market
And lastly … A sea urchin caught in the act of pooping was broadcast worldwide by NOAA this week: “A group of scientists exploring deep waters surrounding Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands managed to catch a sea urchin in a compromising situation this week, and they live streamed it around the world. “Today we saw a deep-sea sea urchin poop!” posted NOAA scientists, tweeting a picture of the guilty urchin sitting next to a pile. “Yes, it’s true! Sea urchins, like many animals, will expel poop.” To say the NOAA scientists were excited is putting it mildly. … ” Read and watch at the Charlotte Observer here: A sea urchin caught in the act of pooping was broadcast worldwide by NOAA this week
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
In announcements today …
Sign up for daily email service and you’ll never miss a post …
Sign up for free daily email service and you’ll get all the Notebook’s aggregated and original water news content delivered to your email box by 9AM. And with breaking news alerts, you’ll always be one of the first to know …
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.
