In California water news today, Camp Fire: Oroville Dam officials keep close watch on approaching blaze; Megafires More Frequent Because Of Climate Change And Forest Management; High fire danger continues in SoCal through Wednesday; Pattern change may increase rain chances Thanksgiving Week; Dams: History, anatomy and common reasons for failure; Spending fight will headline ‘fairly brief’ lame duck; and more …
On the calendar today …
- PPIC Event: Water priorities for the next Governor, from 9am to 12:30pm: Click here to register to watch online.
- Citizen Groundwater Empowerment Workshop in Napa presented by the North Coast Stream Flow Coalition, NCSFC and the Nature Conservancy from 10am to 3pm. Click here for more information.
- Webcast: Understanding California’s Water Efficiency Legislation from 10am to 11:30 am, presented by the Water Now Alliance. Click here to register.
- Proposition 1 – IRWM Implementation Tribal Meeting in Lakewood from 10:30 to 3:00pm. Click here for more information.
- Webinar: Implementing projects in the Yolo Bypass from 12pm to 1pm. Click here to register.
- Central Delta Corridor Partnership Public Workshop in Walnut Grove from 6pm to 8pm. Click here for more information and materials.
- GRA SoCAL Branch Meeting – PFAS 101, Facts on Remediation and Analysis of the Per/Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances – Best Practices from 6pm to 8pm. For more information and to register, click here.
In the news today …
Camp Fire: Oroville Dam officials keep close watch on approaching blaze: “The Camp Fire’s relentless push to the south overnight had California officials preparing for the worst Monday at the nation’s tallest dam. Employees of the state Department of Water Resources, with the help of firefighting crews, were cutting brush and watering down landscapes around Lake Oroville to prevent the 117,000-acre blaze from damaging the reservoir’s infrastructure, including the 770-foot-tall Oroville Dam. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: Camp Fire: Oroville Dam officials keep close watch on approaching blaze
Megafires More Frequent Because Of Climate Change And Forest Management: “Strong, dry winds are expected to continue through the early part of this week in California as the state battles several wildfires. The Camp Fire in Northern California, which started Thursday, is the state’s most destructive fire ever, scorching more than 113,000 acres north of Sacramento and killing 29 people so far, according to state officials on Monday. In Southern California, officials say the Woolsey Fire, which also started Thursday, has killed at least two people and burned more than 91,000 acres. Over the weekend President Trump twice tweeted that the fires were the result of poor forest management, threatening to withhold federal aid if the problem wasn’t remedied. … ” Read more from KQED here: Megafires More Frequent Because Of Climate Change And Forest Management
High fire danger continues in SoCal through Wednesday; Pattern change may increase rain chances Thanksgiving Week: “Dangerous wildfire conditions will continue in Southern California into midweek as northern parts of the state see some improvement. Thanksgiving week, a pattern change may finally occur, and that could offer some good news in the form of increased rainfall chances. … ” Read more from the Weather Channel here: High fire danger continues in SoCal through Wednesday; Pattern change may increase rain chances Thanksgiving Week
Dams: History, anatomy and common reasons for failure: “Dams date back to around 2950-2750 B.C., when the ancient Egyptians built the first known dam, but people might not understand the ins and outs of what makes a dam a success or failure. Dams are massive barriers built across rivers and streams to confine and utilize the flow of water for human purposes such as irrigation and generation of hydroelectricity. Hydropower is a form of renewable energy that uses the water stored in dams and from rivers to generate electricity. Unfortunately, there are also some problems that can arise from dams. While it is rare, dams can fail and create catastrophic flooding and lead to loss of lives and property. ... ” Read more from AccuWeather here: Dams: History, anatomy and common reasons for failure
Spending fight will headline ‘fairly brief’ lame duck: “Lingering rancor over immigration remains the primary hurdle for wrapping up the 115th Congress, keeping in limbo the fate of spending for EPA and the Interior Department, the expired Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), and key energy tax breaks. Both chambers are scheduled to be in session today for the first time since Election Day, which handed House Democrats one lever of power to fight back against President Trump’s administration. In the Senate, which will cast a procedural vote on a Coast Guard reauthorization bill tonight (see related stry), Republicans will maintain a slim majority next year, with the final ratio hinging on the outcome of vote counting in Florida. … ” Read more from E&E News here: Spending fight will headline ‘fairly brief’ lame duck
In commentary today …
Voters rejected Prop 3. Where now on water? Peter Gleick writes, “California voters have rejected Proposition 3, the $8.9 billion water bond, sending a message to politicians. But what is that message? It can’t be that the state’s water problems have been solved. They haven’t been. It can’t be that Californians don’t care about water. Poll after poll shows we do. And it certainly doesn’t mean that more money – and potentially a lot of money – isn’t still needed to modernize our water systems. It is. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Voters rejected Prop 3. Where now on water?
In regional news and commentary today …
Forest management work planned for North Yuba watershed: “Approximately 15,000 acres in the North Yuba River watershed are about to benefit from a massive $4.6 million restoration project over the next couple years, thanks to a forest resilience bond using private capital. By now, Californians know all too well the importance of thinning the state’s densely-populated forests, as wildfires have become the new norm. Private investors have signed on to pay the upfront costs to finance the restoration project, while the watershed beneficiaries – currently CalFire and the Yuba Water Agency – will share in the cost of reimbursing the investors over time. ... ” Read more from the Appeal Democrat here: Forest management work planned for North Yuba watershed
Water Managers, County Wrangle Over Lake Cachuma Supply: “Where are the rains of yesteryear? The wet winter of 2017 is a distant memory as Santa Barbara County staggers into its eighth year of drought. As of this month, the water level at Lake Cachuma, 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 the Santa Barbara Independent here: Water Managers, County Wrangle Over Lake Cachuma Supply
A Gurgling ‘Mud Pot’ Is Crawling Across Southern California: “At the southern end of the San Andreas Fault in California, where the North American and Pacific tectonic plates famously touch, sits a stinky, gurgling pool of mud. Scientists have been aware of this “mud pot,” as the geothermal feature is known, since the 1950s. But it has recently become a cause for concern because, as Robin George Andrews reports for National Geographic, the mud pot is on the move. Called the “Niland Geyser” because it is located near the township of Niland in Imperial County, the mud pot began its sludgy trudge at some point between 2015 and 2016. The bubbling pool has since moved about 20 feet each year, carving a 24,000 square foot basin in the ground. Its pace is not particularly quick, but officials are nevertheless worried about what lies in its path. ... ” Read more from Smithsonian Magazine here: A Gurgling ‘Mud Pot’ Is Crawling Across Southern California
Along the Colorado River …
Tribe offers State of Arizona fallow deal worth $37.5m: “The Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) has offered the State of Arizona a deal in which they would agree to fallow enough land to save a total of 150,000 acre-feet of water in exchange for $37.5 million over 3 years. With water levels continuing to drop toward a ‘shortage’ declaration at Lake Mead, the state has been meeting with stakeholders for months to forge a Drought Contingency Plan (DCP). The offer, outlined in a November 9th letter to the Arizona Department of Water Resources and the Central Arizona Conservation District, would extend CRIT’s existing water fallowing agreements. … ” Read more from Parker Live here: Tribe offers State of Arizona fallow deal worth $37.5m
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.
