In California water news today, Feinstein pushes to extend controversial water law despite environmental concern; Negotiations over ‘water grab’ may continue into ‘eleventh hour’; FERC panel finds deficiencies in Oroville Dam safety reviews; Trump Prepares to Unveil a Vast Reworking of Clean Water Protections; A wet start to the winter brings piles of snow to California mountains and high hopes for water supply; Extreme events ‘virtually impossible’ without climate warming; Imperial Irrigation District tenatively agrees to Colorado River drought measures; and more …
On the calendar today …
- The State Water Resources Control Board meets at 9:30am. Agenda items include Recycled Water amendment, SF Bay TMDL for Pescano-Butano watershed, CalTrans Progress Report, and the Draft Tribal Consultation Policy. Click here for the agenda. Click here to watch on webcast.
- The Department of Water Resources will hold a public meeting on the draft basin boundary modifications beginning at 1pm. Click here for more information and to RSVP. Click here to watch on webcast.
- Free webinar: “Tapping Into Alternative Project Delivery for Water Projects in California” from 1 to 2:30pm. Hosted by the Nossaman Law Firm. Click here for more information and to register.
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
- BLOG ROUND-UP: Key questions about a potential “grand bargain” on CA water; Why more storage won’t help conflicts on the Lower San Joaquin River; Delta tunnels: Where are we now?; Adapting to an uncertain water future; and more …
- NEWS WORTH NOTING: CRS Report: WIIN Act: Bureau of Reclamation and California water provisions; Research brief: Microplastics: Developing standards that inform policy
- WATER SUPPLY INDEX FORECAST for December 1
TOP STATEWIDE STORIES
Feinstein pushes to extend controversial water law despite environmental concern: “Sen. Dianne Feinstein is joining forces with House Republicans to try to extend a controversial law that provides more water for Central Valley farms, but with a sweetener for the environment: help with protecting California’s rivers and fish. The proposed extension of the WIIN Act, or Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, would keep millions of federal dollars flowing for new dams and reservoirs across the West. It would also continue to allow more water to be moved from wet Northern California to the drier south. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: Feinstein pushes to extend controversial water law despite environmental concern
Negotiations over ‘water grab’ may continue into ‘eleventh hour’: “Closed door talks with input from California’s current governor and governor-elect are ongoing ahead of a looming Water Board decision this week. As reported here, amid widespread stakeholder concerns, Governor Jerry Brown and Governor-elect Gavin Newsom last month asked that the board postpone until Dec. 12 a vote on its long proposed plan that would require an increase in unimpaired river flows to 40 percent through the Lower San Joaquin River and its tributaries for the supposed benefit of protecting delta fish. Among the far-reaching consequences of what is being widely described as a major “water grab” are heavy impacts upstream, including locally to New Melones reservoir, which would be largely rendered useless for recreation. … ” Read more from My Mother Lode here: Negotiations over ‘water grab’ may continue into ‘eleventh hour’
FERC panel finds deficiencies in Oroville Dam safety reviews: “Dam inspectors overlooked technical details during safety evaluations that could have identified structural problems with the Oroville Dam spillway before it broke during heavy rains in February 2017, according to an assessment ordered by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. FERC assembled an independent, six-person panel to assess the safety inspections that are required every five years for the roughly 2,500 hydropower facilities that FERC regulates. … ” Continue reading at Circle of Blue here: FERC panel finds deficiencies in Oroville Dam safety reviews
TRUMP CLEAN WATER ACT ROLLBACK
Trump administration poised to strip protections from up to two-thirds of California streams and millions of acres nationwide: “The Trump administration is poised to roll back Clean Water Act protections on millions of acres of waterways and wetlands, including up to two-thirds of California’s inland streams, following through on a promise to agriculture interests and real estate developers to rewrite an Obama-era rule limiting pollution. The administration’s plan for a vastly scaled-down Clean Water Rule is expected to be released as soon as Tuesday. Officials said nearly two years ago that they had begun the process of reversing the rule President Obama put in place, and internal talking points laying out its case were disclosed late last week by the environmental media outlet E&E News. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: Trump administration poised to strip protections from up to two-thirds of California streams and millions of acres nationwide
Trump Prepares to Unveil a Vast Reworking of Clean Water Protections: “The Trump administration is expected on Tuesday to unveil a plan that would weaken federal clean water rules designed to protect millions of acres of wetlands and thousands of miles of streams nationwide from pesticide runoff and other pollutants. Environmentalists say the proposal represents a historic assault on wetlands regulation at a moment when Mr. Trump has repeatedly voiced a commitment to “crystal-clean water.” The proposed new rule would chip away at safeguards put in place a quarter century ago, during the administration of President George H.W. Bush, who implemented a policy designed to ensure that no wetlands lost federal protection. … ” Read more from the New York Times here: Trump Prepares to Unveil a Vast Reworking of Clean Water Protections
EPA expected to announce new definition of waters protected under Clean Water Act: “The Environmental Protection Agency is widely expected to announce plans to change the definition of which waters in the United States are protected under the Clean Water Act on Tuesday — a change President Donald Trump has been working toward since the beginning of his presidency. The EPA released a statement saying it would make a major water policy announcement on Tuesday. … ” Read more from KEYT here: EPA expected to announce new definition of waters protected under Clean Water Act
SNOWPACK/PRECIPITATION
A wet start to the winter brings piles of snow to California mountains and high hopes for water supply: “In a good sign for California’s water supply, the Sierra Nevada has been blanketed by heavy snow thanks to a series of recent storms. The snowpack measured 106% of average, according to the state’s snow survey taken late last week. That’s more than double the 47% of average measured on the same day last year. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: A wet start to the winter brings piles of snow to California mountains and high hopes for water supply
Sierra snowpack could drop significantly be the end of the century: “A future warmer world will almost certainly feature a decline in fresh water from the Sierra Nevada mountain snowpack. Now a new study by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) that analyzed the headwater regions of California’s 10 major reservoirs, representing nearly half of the state’s surface storage, found they could see on average a 79 percent drop in peak snowpack water volume by 2100. What’s more, the study found that peak timing, which has historically been April 1, could move up by as much as four weeks, meaning snow will melt earlier, thus increasing the time lag between when water is available and when it is most in demand. ... ” Read more from Science Daily here: Sierra snowpack could drop significantly be the end of the century
OTHER STATEWIDE NEWS
Kern County may leave groundwater coalition: “In California, the Kern County government may leave a coalition of local water agencies. This comes after the government failed to secure blanket immunity from lawsuits that could possibly arise from efforts to control local groundwater pumping. According to The Bakersfield Californian, the proposal follows a written assurance by state water officials that the county’s withdrawal from the Kern Groundwater Authority will not jeopardize control of groundwater use across much of the area. The move would amount to a retreat from the county’s previous efforts to take a role in helping local landowners comply with state rules intended to make groundwater use sustainable long term, according to The Bakersfield Californian. ... ” Read more from Water and Wastes Digest here: Kern County may leave groundwater coalition
Radio show: Why Harvard is quietly buying up California vineyards: “Harvard University’s massive endowment has been quietly betting big on climate change by buying up land and vineyards on the Central California coast for the increasingly scarce water that’s underneath. That’s making farmers and other locals nervous, as the drought continues to be felt across the state. To learn more KCBS Radio Anchors Jeff Bell and Patti Reising spoke with Russell Gold, a Senior Energy Reporter for the Wall Street Journal who wrote about the story.” Listen or download radio show from KCBS here: Radio show: Why Harvard is quietly buying up California vineyards
NATIONAL NEWS
Competition growing for available drinking water: “About 5 billion of the 7.5 billion people on Earth live in places where drinking water is becoming harder to find. The remedy is often to drill a water well deeper, but a new study published by UCSB researchers concludes there may be less drinking water in the United States than has been assumed. The researchers looked at fresh water in wells and the briny water below in the major sedimentary basins of the U.S., including the San Joaquin. Contaminants from the surface plus those from injected fluids, as well as the fact that deep, old water tends to be brackish, are complicating the picture. … ” Read more from the Santa Barbara Independent here: Competition growing for available drinking water
Extreme events ‘virtually impossible’ without climate warming: “Climate change isn’t just exacerbating extreme weather. Some events wouldn’t happen without it, according to a major scientific report released yesterday. They include a marine heat wave in the Tasman Sea off the coast of Australia last year. Ocean temperatures soared 2.5 degrees Celsius, or about 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit, above normal. The record-breaking event would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change, according to the report, published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. It’s the second year in a row that researchers found that climbing temperatures are causing events that otherwise wouldn’t exist. … ” Read more from E&E News here: Extreme events ‘virtually impossible’ without climate warming
In commentary today …
Voluntary agreements might solve Bay-Delta Plan’s river flow dilemma: “Followers of Central Valley water issues know something important is happening as private negotiations are underway within the highest levels of water policy-making circles. Hints are emerging from a series of announcements regarding earnest negotiations, including a recent joint release by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, GOP Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown and Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom supporting an extension of the federal WIIN Act, which took everyone by surprise. … ” Read more from the Fresno Bee here: Voluntary agreements might solve Bay-Delta Plan’s river flow dilemma
Late twist threatens state’s salmon, says Noah Oppenheim: He writes, “It’s no coincidence that terrible California water deals are made under the cover of opaque lame-duck sessions of Congress where the political rules are warped, or behind closed doors in Sacramento where state and local agencies have signed confidentiality agreements. This year’s grand water bargain centers around three goals that threaten the salmon fishing industry that I represent: … ” Continue reading at the SF Chronicle here: Late twist threatens state’s salmon
Some of California’s most stunning natural wonders are on the brink of oblivion, says the LA Times: They write, “It is time to imagine a California bereft of its most wondrous natural assets, from the giant sequoia to the coast redwoods to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta — the largest and most ecologically diverse estuary on the west coast of both American continents — to the migrating salmon whose journey begins in the Sierra and runs down the great Central Valley rivers to the Pacific in seasonal pulses of rainfall and snowmelt. All are on the brink of oblivion. Climate change is shifting the state’s hydrology northward, bringing Baja-like temperatures and precipitation patterns to Southern California and pushing L.A. weather up the slopes, where snowcaps are smaller and melt faster. … ” Continue reading at the LA Times here: Some of California’s most stunning natural wonders are on the brink of oblivion
In regional news and commentary today …
Carr Fire damage continues to threaten water supplies: “More than three months after the Carr Fire was contained, the burned out hillsides the deadly blaze left behind continue to pose a threat to water quality in western Shasta County. The barren fire-scarred hillsides could cause drinking water quality problems for communities that rely on water from Whiskeytown Lake, according to a report written for the Shasta County Public Works Department. Five local water agencies, including the city of Redding, rely on drinking water from Whiskeytown, where officials are concerned ash and other debris could be washed into the lake from winter rains. ... ” Read more from the Redding Record Searchlight here: Carr Fire damage continues to threaten water supplies
Napa River annual fish count yields ‘net after net of writhing lampreys’: “This has been the year of the eel-like lamprey in the Napa River. Researchers each spring do an annual fish count using a floating, 8-foot-diameter rotating funnel as a trap. They usually catch a few dozen lampreys, a fish described by the Center for Biological Diversity as “delightfully bizarre.” This year they hit the lamprey jackpot. They found more than 7,000 Pacific lamprey, too many to count with exactness. … ” Read more from the Napa Register here: Napa River annual fish count yields ‘net after net of writhing lampreys’
No Petaluma dredging next year: “The once mighty Petaluma River, a former hub for commerce and recreation, was once one of the defining features of the southern Sonoma County landscape and a vital link between Petaluma and the San Pablo Bay. Now, 15 years removed from the last dredging, an 18-mile tributary many residents have dubbed “the heart of the city” has become a muddy, silt-choked slough, with little relief in sight. … ” Read more from the Petaluma Argus-Courier here: No Petaluma dredging next year
Novato project marks return on taxpayers’ investment, says the Marin Independent Journal: They write, “Some of that Bay Area tax voters approved for saving and restoring baylands is making its way back to Marin. In 2016, 73.5 percent of Marin voters endorsed a $12 annual parcel tax to create and fund the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority, and the agency just awarded Marin a $520,000 grant to help design a project that would restore 85 to 155 acres of wetlands around Novato’s Deer Island. … ” Continue reading from the Marin Independent Journal here: Novato project marks return on taxpayers’ investment
Southeast Long Beach land swap could net more wetlands—and more greenhouse gases: “The California Coastal Commission may decide two issues dealing with land use and a new oil development in southeast Long Beach this week when it gathers in Newport Beach for its last meeting of the year. The re-writing of the city’s oldest land use plan, the Southeast Area Specific Plan, would codify the type of development that could be constructed in the area that includes the Los Cerritos Wetlands and Marina Pacifica. The document would allow construction of taller buildings. Passage of the local coastal plan is considered a formality since it has already been approved and re-affirmed by the City Council. … ” Read more from the Long Beach Post here: Southeast Long Beach land swap could net more wetlands—and more greenhouse gases
Along the Colorado River …
Imperial Irrigation District tenatively agrees to Colorado River drought measures: “The Imperial Irrigation District, which holds some of the oldest and largest rights to Colorado River water, on Monday tentatively agreed to a one-time contribution of up to 250,000 acre-feet of surplus water if needed to stave off shortages in Lake Mead. But they tacked on several last-minute conditions aimed at easing farmers’ fears of permanently losing water, and to force federal and state officials to guarantee funding for clean-up of the Salton Sea. The board reserved the right to finalize the agreements and any companion legislation submitted to Congress after all other water districts that rely on the river have signed on. … ” Read more from Arizona Central here: Imperial Irrigation District tenatively agrees to Colorado River drought measures
Drought has revealed for the first time a Colorado town flooded to build a reservoir. And scientists expect to see it again. “It can feel a bit eerie standing on the bottom of Colorado’s largest body of water. Particularly if you are Bob Robbins. Robbins grew up here, although all that’s left of his hometown of Iola, a town west of Gunnison inundated by the waters of Blue Mesa Reservoir in the late 1960s, are twists of metal and outlines of concrete foundations. These underpinnings were recently revealed when drought dropped the water in Blue Mesa to less than a third of its capacity. … ” Continue reading at the Colorado Sun here: Drought has revealed for the first time a Colorado town flooded to build a reservoir. And scientists expect to see it again.
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
Today’s announcements …
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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.
