In California water news today, Delta Stewardship Council Staff Determination Presents Hurdle for California WaterFix Project; Delta tunnels project circling the drain after elections; State of discord: Water in California; Harvard Spent $100 Million on Vineyards. Now It’s Fighting With the Neighbors; Democrat Harder upsets GOP Representative Denham; Corporate sand mining in San Francisco Bay sparks ‘sand wars’; and more …
On the calendar today …
- The Delta Stewardship Council will hold a two-day public workshop on the staff’s draft determination of DWR’s consistency determination for the California Water Fix beginning at 9am. (What’s that? Click here.) Click here for the agenda. Click here to watch on webcast.
- Delta Conveyance Finance Authority meets at 11am in Sacramento. For more information, click here.
- Proposition 1 – IRWM Implementation Tribal Meeting from 11am to 3pm in Sacramento. Click here for more information.
- Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority meeting from 2:00pm to 5:30pm. Click here for more information.
- Delta Protection Commission meets from 5:30pm to 7:30pm in West Sacramento. Agenda items include a report from the Delta Protection Advisory Committee, the election of a new chair and vice-chair, an update on the Staten Island lawsuit and DWR-DPC MOU, and an update on the Cal Water Fix appeal process underway at the Delta Stewardship Council. Click here for the full agenda.
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
- SCIENCE NEWS: The San Joaquin River Restoration Program, Pacific lamprey returns, Unique partnership for birds and military aircraft, Restoring side channels for salmon, New rules and new tech for groundwater, and more …
- FINAL DOCUMENTS: Department of Water Resources releases final EIR for the State Water Project contract extensions
- WATER PLAN eNEWS: ~~Conservation Primer~ Recharge Workshop~ Weather Forecasting~ Briefing Kit~ Agricultural Grants~ Soil Data~~
- CONSISTENCY DETERMINATION: County of Sacramento Finds South Sacramento Habitat Conservation Plan Consistent with Delta Plan
Delta Stewardship Council Staff Determination Presents Hurdle for California WaterFix Project: “Delta Stewardship Council (Council) staff has determined that the California Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) determination that the WaterFix project is consistent with the Delta Plan is not supported by substantial evidence, and has recommended that the Council remand the matter to DWR for reconsideration. A workshop will be held on November 15-16, 2018, for the participating parties to address the Council regarding the staff determination, and respond to questions from the Council. This remand recommendation, if adopted at the Council’s hearing scheduled for December 20-21, 2018, would require that DWR resubmit a Certification of Consistency with the Delta Plan for WaterFix, which could significantly delay the controversial project. ... ” Read more from Somach Simmons and Dunn here: Delta Stewardship Council Staff Determination Presents Hurdle for California WaterFix Project
Delta tunnels project circling the drain after elections: “This month’s elections may have mortally wounded California’s chances for a long-delayed $23 billion water tunnel project. The so-called Delta Tunnels project would allow the Golden State to more efficiently transfer up to 1.6 trillion gallons of water every year from the northern part of the state to the south. The project’s biggest cheerleader, Gov. Jerry Brown (D), is leaving office because of term limits and his successor, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), lacks’ Brown’s enthusiasm for the tunnels. Additionally, several lawmakers from Southern California, the main beneficiary of the Delta Tunnels project, will be gone next year, either retiring or losing their seats. … ” Read more from Bloomberg BNA here: Delta tunnels project circling the drain after elections
State of discord: Water in California: “The federal government and the state of California seem to love suing each other, and have done so dozens of times in the past two years without causing anyone much damage. But President Donald Trump is now threatening to sue the state over control of water. This could harm a lot of people, because water is the source of the most contentious and enduring battles in America’s largest state. In October, Mr Trump ordered his administration to speed up (meaning, relax) environmental reviews of Californian water projects and to suspend or dilute rules that prevent water being siphoned-off for farmers. The timing of the memo was an election gimmick. It aimed to please Republican voters in farming districts on the eve of the mid-term elections. But this was not the first action of its kind. … ” Read more from The Economist here: State of discord: Water in California
Harvard Spent $100 Million on Vineyards. Now It’s Fighting With the Neighbors: “Four years ago, Harvard University bought an old cattle ranch in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains. On an arid expanse north of Santa Barbara, California, the school’s endowment set out to make money from a notoriously tricky business: vineyards. Thirsty wine grapes need water, a lot of it. So Grapevine Capital Partners, which manages Harvard’s investment, planned to dig huge ponds to store groundwater as part of an irrigation system for thousands of vines. … ” Read more from Bloomberg News here: Harvard Spent $100 Million on Vineyards. Now It’s Fighting With the Neighbors *CORRECTED LINK (sorry!)*
DWR: Camp Fire poses no danger to Oroville Dam: “Northern California’s deadly Camp Fire poses no immediate threat to the Oroville Dam, state Department of Water Resources officials say. Crews are taking precautionary measures to ensure the safety of other water infrastructure, including power plants and power lines, the agency reported in a press statement. “DWR is just one of several state agencies and departments with employees and contractors personally impacted by these most recent wildfires,” the statement says. “Those who have requested it have been given the ability to take leave to attend to their families. The department will continue to maintain sufficient staffing to monitor the incident around the clock.” … ” Read more from the Western Farm Press here: DWR: Camp Fire poses no danger to Oroville Dam
Democrat Harder upsets GOP Representative Denham: “First-time candidate Josh Harder defeated four-term Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham Tuesday in California’s farm belt, giving Democrats their fourth pickup of a GOP House seat in California. Harder, 32, a venture capitalist, had anchored his campaign to Denham’s vote against the Affordable Care Act, while arguing that he would push for universal health care in Congress. He also argued that Denham and other Washington Republicans ignored poverty and health care in the agricultural 10th District in California’s Central Valley. … ” Read more from the AP via the Delta Optimist here: Democrat Harder upsets GOP Representative Denham
El Nino holds weather uncertainty for California: “Forecasters are confident that weak El Nino atmospheric conditions will set in as the winter progresses, and in California, that can mean anything. While El Nino conditions are known for producing wet, warm storms from the south, state and National Weather Service forecasters say there’s an equal chance of below-normal, normal or above-normal precipitation in California this winter. The Golden State has a good chance of seeing warmer-than-average temperatures, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any cold storms or freezes, says Cindy Matthews, a NWS forecaster in Sacramento. … ” Read more from the Western Farm Press here: El Nino holds weather uncertainty for California
Trump and his archrival on climate talk about deadly burn: “President Trump and one of his toughest critics, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D), tamped down political conflagration yesterday to focus on dealing with the state’s catastrophic wildfires. Trump put himself at odds with California officials and scientists over the weekend by blaming the state’s forest management policies for the fires and threatening to withhold federal funding. “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests,” the president tweeted Saturday. “Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!” … ” Read more from E&E News here: Trump and his archrival on climate talk about deadly burn
Part of the Answer to Climate Change May Be America’s Trees and Dirt, Scientists Say: “When people think of potential solutions to global warming, they tend to visualize technologies like solar panels or electric cars. A new study published on Wednesday, however, found that better management of forests, grasslands and soils in the United States could offset as much as 21 percent of the country’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. At the high end of the projections, that would be roughly equivalent to taking every single car and truck in the country off the road. … ” Read more from the New York Times here: Part of the Answer to Climate Change May Be America’s Trees and Dirt, Scientists Say
In commentary today …
We have enough water – we just waste too much of it, says Peter Gleick: He writes, “We live in a world of peak water, where more and more regions are running up against absolute limits to its availability. The entire flow of some of our rivers, such as the Colorado River, Yellow River, and the Nile, is now consumed by humans for part or all of a year to grow food, supply our industries, and provide water for our homes and businesses. As much as a third of all food production is grown with water from non-renewable and rapidly depleting groundwater. We want more water from these sources, but they are increasingly tapped out. … ” Read more from Quartz Magazine here: We have enough water – we just waste too much of it
The solutions to cities’ water problems has been hiding in rural areas this whole time: David Sedlak writes, “When the ancient Romans built their first aqueduct, they set into motion an enduring idea: A modern city needs to build infrastructure that pumps water over, through, and around mountain ranges. Most of today’s cities route this water through massive treatment plants before distributing it to our homes through a maze of underground pipes. When we’re done using it, we pipe wastewater to treatment plants that release so much liquid into our rivers that treated sewage frequently accounts for the majority of the flow. ... ” Read more from Quartz Magazine here: The solutions to cities’ water problems has been hiding in rural areas this whole time
In regional news and commentary today …
Pollution warning and other items concerning Camp Fire: “Air quality is forecast to be very unhealthy Thursday, according to the Butte County Air Quality Management District. Smoke from the Camp Fire is flowing into the Sacramento Valley, and levels are rising for a pollutant consisting of microscopic bits of ash and soot. The federal health standard for so-called “small-particulate” pollution is 35 micrograms of material per cubic meter of air. As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, the Chico monitor was averaging 168 μg/m³ and the Gridley monitor was 159.7 μg/m³. ... ” Read more from the Chico Enteprise-Record here: Pollution warning and other items concerning Camp Fire
Corporate sand mining in San Francisco Bay sparks ‘sand wars’: “There’s a battle being fought in the bay that’s hidden from view. That’s because the battle lines are drawn deep underwater. One wouldn’t know it just by walking along the seashore, but the beaches of the world are shrinking and slowly dying. One reason is that the sea level is rising. But another reason is that sand is one the main ingredients in concrete, the most widely used construction material in the world. As it runs scarcer, there’s a rush to mine it–a sand rush that’s playing out right in the San Francisco Bay. ... ” Read more from CBS Sacramento here: Corporate sand mining in San Francisco Bay sparks ‘sand wars’
Newport settles claim over sewage spills into bay and other local waters: “Newport Beach has agreed to replace sections of damaged sewer lines and improve its regulatory reporting to avoid a possible lawsuit alleging violations of the federal Clean Water Act. The offer came Wednesday in response to a claim filed in January by California River Watch, an environmental group that said 14 failures of Newport’s municipal sewer system between 2013 and 2018 sent a total of at least 6,400 gallons of raw sewage into Newport Bay, Buck Gully Creek, Semeniuk Slough and the open ocean. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: Newport settles claim over sewage spills into bay and other local waters
Along the Colorado River …
Why the next few weeks could make or break Arizona’s water future: Joanna Allhands writes, “The next few weeks could make or break Arizona’s water future. That’s not hyperbole. Lake Mead – which supplies 40 percent of our water – has a one in five chance of falling to catastrophically low levels by 2026, requiring cuts that will hurt every water user in this state. The proposed Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan aims to lower that risk for a time by requiring Arizona, California and Nevada to leave more water in the lake. Yet the plan has reached an impasse in Arizona, and how we resolve it will have repercussions for years, maybe even decades. … ” Read more from Arizona Central here: Why the next few weeks could make or break Arizona’s water future
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
Today’s announcements …
- WATER PLAN eNEWS: ~~Conservation Primer~ Recharge Workshop~ Weather Forecasting~ Briefing Kit~ Agricultural Grants~ Soil Data~~
- CONSISTENCY DETERMINATION: County of Sacramento Finds South Sacramento Habitat Conservation Plan Consistent with Delta Plan
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