DAILY DIGEST, weekend edition: Big setback for Delta tunnels; How does climate change impact water?; A toxic dumping ground festers on the border; US States to meet at deadline on Colorado River drought plan; and more …

In California water news this weekend, Big setback for Delta tunnels; How does climate change impact water?; Record number of chinook salmon returning to Mokelumne River; A toxic dumping ground festers on the border; US States to meet at deadline on Colorado River drought plan; and more …

In the news this weekend …

Big setback for Delta tunnels:  “A crucial certification needed to build two tunnels that officials believe would help solve California’s water delivery problems was withdrawn Friday, ensuring that Gov. Jerry Brown’s pet water project won’t be approved before he leaves office in January.  The California Department of Water Resources withdrew its petition seeking approval of Brown’s $17 billion twin tunnels plan, known as California WaterFix, which would take water out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and deliver it to users in the south. … ”  Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here:  Big setback for Delta tunnels

Delta tunnels won’t get green light before Governor Brown leaves office.  What will Governor Newsom do?  “State officials pulled back on their effort Friday to secure a crucial green light for the Delta tunnels project, all but ensuring that the controversial plan to re-engineer the West Coast’s largest estuary will remain in limbo after Gov. Jerry Brown leaves office.  Facing a likely defeat, the Department of Water Resources withdrew its petition to the Delta Stewardship Council to have the project deemed in compliance with what’s known as the the Delta Plan, a set of policy goals, mandated by state law, that put protection and restoration of the fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta estuary’s eco-system on an equal footing with more reliable water supplies. … ”  Read more from the Sacramento Bee here:  Delta tunnels won’t get green light before Governor Brown leaves office.  What will Governor Newsom do?

Brown Administration withdraws key document necessary for approval of Delta tunnels:  “In a major setback for Delta Tunnels proponents, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) today sent a letter to Randy Fiorini, chair of the Delta Stewardship Council, announcing  the withdrawal of the Department’s “certification of consistency” for the California WaterFix.  The “certification of consistency” with the Delta Plan is required under the Delta Reform Act of 2009. In their controversial document, DWR claimed that the Delta Tunnels would be “consistent” with the Delta Plan’s “co-equal goals” of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Delta ecosystem, but nine appellant groups challenged this contention. ... ”  Read more from the Daily Kos here:  Brown Administration withdraws key document necessary for approval of Delta tunnels

State agency says Delta tunnels project needs more examination:  “California’s Department of Water Resources dealt a major blow to Gov. Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnel project Friday, all but ensuring that the controversial effort to divert water from Northern California to the south will not be approved before Brown leaves office at the end of the year.  The state water agency found the project, which involves building two 35-mile tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, does not meet the requirements of the Delta Plan, a set of mandatory water policies that prioritize restoring the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta estuary’s ecosystem. … ”  Read more from Courthouse News Service here:  State agency says Delta tunnels project needs more examination

New digital map shows which community water systems have lead:  “A new digital map that highlights which community water systems have reported the presence of lead pipes and fixtures is the latest legislatively-mandated action to target the health risks of lead in drinking water and set a timetable to replace the potentially hazardous hardware.  Released this week, the map uses State Water Board data from nearly 3,000 community water systems throughout California and places the information on an easy-to-read, color-coded document that is expected to change as testing continues statewide. … ”  Read more from the Paso Robles Daily News here:  New digital map shows which community water systems have lead

How does climate change impact water?  “The release of the fourth National Climate Assessment on Nov. 23 painted a dire picture for the future if carbon emissions are not starkly reduced. Scientists reported Wednesday, however, that global emissions of carbon dioxide – after years of staying the same — are instead inching higher.  Experts expect to see dwindling beachfronts, higher winter temperatures and more extreme weather patterns around the world. This is in addition to forecasted rising temperatures, which already cause deadly heat waves and decreased annual snowpack in many mountain ranges in the western U.S. Although, according to the Weather Channel, the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada is double the amount usually seen in early December. … ”  Read more from the Santa Cruz Sentinel here:  How does climate change impact water?

In commentary this weekend …

River plan vote is meant to help fish, but it will dramatically hurt Valley farming, says the Fresno Bee: They write, “Five appointed state regulators can do an enormous amount to help salmon and the state’s most-altered water system on Wednesday. Or they guarantee that water lawyers will stay busy for decades to come.  The State Water Resources Control Board’s five members — including one appointed just Thursday — are scheduled to vote on implementing the Bay-Delta Plan’s Substitute Environmental Document. If unchanged, the SED will require 40 to 50 percent of the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers to flow unimpaired to the Delta, purportedly for the sake of salmon. It would also require vast amounts of water be left in cold storage behind the region’s three dams to help salmon in an ever-warming environment. … ”  Read more from the Fresno Bee here:  River plan vote is meant to help fish, but it will dramatically hurt Valley farming

In regional news and commentary this weekend …

Record number of chinook salmon returning to Mokelumne River:  “A near record number of Chinook salmon are returning to the Mokelumne River for the second year in a row.  Normally about 9,500 Chinook Salmon make it up the Mokelumne River to spawn, but last year about 20,000 fish made it upstream. That marked the highest number of fish on record since 1940. Officials expect the numbers to get close to that again this year.  As soon as the gates open at the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery in Clements, dozens of Chinook Salmon throw themselves at the rushing water to reach their final destination to spawn. … ”  Read more from CBS here:  Record number of chinook salmon returning to Mokelumne River

Appellate court blasts Oakdale Irrigation District’s fallowing project: “The Oakdale Irrigation District skirted state law by not predicting the environmental results of fallowing land and selling freed-up water to outside buyers in a 2016 proposal, appellate justices in Fresno ruled.  The Nov. 27 decision affirms one handed down last year by a Stanislaus County judge, who said OID should have conducted an environmental impact report before launching the project.  “We hope this is a wake-up call to OID,” said Osha Meserve, attorney for Oakdale-area growers Louis Brichetto and Robert Frobose and the Oakdale Groundwater Alliance. … ”  Read more from the Modesto Bee here:  Appellate court blasts Oakdale Irrigation District’s fallowing project

Sea level rise focus of conference: Federal, state, local officials to highlight potential impact on San Mateo County:  “San Mateo County Supervisor Dave Pine, U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, and Assemblyman Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park, are hosting a conference to address how San Mateo County can begin to prepare for the effects of sea level rise.  About 300 people have registered for Meeting the Challenge of Sea Level Rise in San Mateo County on Monday morning at the College of San Mateo. National, state and local officials and environmental experts will speak about the magnitude of the reported effects the county faces. … ”  Read more from the Daily Journal here: Sea level rise focus of conference: Federal, state, local officials to highlight potential impact on San Mateo County

Indian Wells Valley: Hayman replaces Breeden as city rep for Groundwater Authority: “New Ridgecrest City Councilman Loren Scott Hayman was selected to serve on the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority board in a 3-2 vote during the Ridgecrest City Council meeting Wednesday. Mayor Peggy Breeden, who was the primary representative, was selected as the alternate.  “I am very interested in the water issues that are facing our community,” Hayman said. He claimed his main campaign focus was water. Hayman was elected with 35 percent of the vote. … ”  Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent here:  Indian Wells Valley: Hayman replaces Breeden as city rep for Groundwater Authority

A toxic dumping ground festers on the border:  “On the outskirts of Mexicali, where cattle graze and tractors roll across the farmland, a sooty building belches out clouds of smoke.  Twisted scraps of metal and the smashed skeletons of old cars sit in piles next to the hulking plant, where machinery hums loudly, punctuated by the booming sounds of metal striking metal.  Outside the plant’s walls and across a narrow dirt road, Blanca Ramírez lives in the same farmhouse where she grew up. She remembers when she was a kid, before the steel mill was built, the land across the road was an alfalfa field and the air was clean.  Now smoke pours out of the plant at all hours, floating over a row of houses and across the fields. … ”  Read more from The Desert Sun here:  A toxic dumping ground festers on the border

Along the Colorado River …

US States to meet at deadline on Colorado River drought plan:  “With drought entering a second decade and reservoirs continuing to shrink, seven Southwestern U.S. states that depend on the overtaxed Colorado River for crop irrigation and drinking water had been expected to ink a crucial share-the-pain contingency plan by the end of 2018.  They’re not going to make it — at least not in time for upcoming meetings in Las Vegas involving representatives from Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and the U.S. government, officials say.  Arizona has been the holdout, with farmers, cities, Indian tribes and lawmakers in the state set to be first to feel the pinch still negotiating how to deal with water cutbacks when a shortage is declared, probably in 2020. … ”  Read more from the Fresno Bee here:  US States to meet at deadline on Colorado River drought plan

Precipitation watch …

A weak system will bring light showers to NorCal starting Sunday evening and continuing into Monday. Greatest chances for showers will be Sunday night through Monday morning. Accumulation expected to remain light.

 

And lastly …

Take in these wild sights and sounds as swans, waterfowl return to Marysville rice fields.  Video from the Sacramento Bee.

Click here to read more editions of the Daily Digest.

Daily emailsSign up for daily email service and you’ll never miss a post!

Sign up for daily emails and get all the Notebook’s aggregated and original water news content delivered to your email box by 9AM. Breaking news alerts, too. Sign me up!

—————————————-
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.

Maven’s Notebook
where California water news never goes home for the weekend

no weekends

Print Friendly, PDF & Email