In California water news this weekend, Governor’s drinking water tax plan advances in Assembly, but faces resistance; Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer joins clean water fight; After near-disaster, Oroville Dam spillway about to face its first big test; California’s public trust doctrine draws attention in courts; Desalination’s Potential for California’s Water Supply; Wildfires May Pollute Water Supplies on a Warming Planet; Security: Hackers force water utilities to sink or swim; and much more …
In the news this weekend …
DRINKING WATER
California governor’s plan to create new drinking water tax faces resistance: “California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, wants to create a tax on water customers to fund a safe drinking water program in disadvantaged communities. But a rival proposal by a lawmaker from his own party seeks to tap into the state’s record budget surplus instead. One million Californians live without clean water for drinking or bathing, according to Newsom. He recently called attention to hundreds of water systems in the state that are out of compliance with primary drinking water quality standards because of contamination by lead, arsenic or uranium. ... ” Read more from CNBC here: California governor’s plan to create new drinking water tax faces resistance
Proposed water tax bill advances in the assembly: “A bill containing a modified version of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed statewide water tax passed out of committee Tuesday. AB 217 (E. Garcia) was heard by the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee. ACWA has an oppose-unless-amended position on the bill with the primary concern being a proposed water tax. ACWA Deputy Executive Director for Government Relations Cindy Tuck was among the witnesses to testify at the hearing. She told the committee that ACWA members agree that safe drinking water should be a priority for the state and that the problem can be solved this year. … ” Read more from ACWA’s Water News here: Proposed water tax bill advances in the assembly
Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer joins Eduardo Garcia to fight for clean water across California: “Tom Steyer, the billionaire philanthropist and Democratic Party donor, took a break from trying to impeach President Donald Trump on Friday to visit the eastern Coachella Valley and learn about the water quality issues plaguing the region’s residents. Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, led Steyer and a delegation of local and state leaders on a tour of areas that have, for years, lacked clean drinking water, including a Thermal elementary school whose water source is an old, unreliable well. … ” Read more from the Desert Sun here: Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer joins Eduardo Garcia to fight for clean water across California
Success story: Porterville Provides Clean, Sustainable Water After Neighbors’ Wells Fail: “The historic California drought that spanned most of the past decade severely affected the Central Valley, where the unincorporated community of East Porterville in Tulare County served as the poster child for the drought’s catastrophic conditions and impact. Located adjacent to the City of Porterville (pop. 60,798), East Porterville comprises an area of roughly three square miles with approximately 7,500 residents. The area’s population is 67 percent Hispanic, 30 percent Caucasian and 3 percent other ethnicities. The community consists almost exclusively of about 1,200 residential properties and more than 1,600 households. East Porterville is one of the state’s most disadvantaged communities. Porterville, which has similar demographics, provides key services and amenities for its unincorporated neighbor. ... ” Read more from Western City here: Success story: Porterville Provides Clean, Sustainable Water After Neighbors’ Wells Fail
OTHER STATEWIDE NEWS
After near-disaster, Oroville Dam spillway about to face its first big test: “Two years ago the city of Oroville stood in awe as millions of gallons of water eroded the main spillway of the nation’s largest dam, sending a deluge of water cascading down a hillside and forcing thousands of residents to evacuate. Now that the bulk of the repairs on Oroville Dam have been completed, its concrete spillway could face its first major test as early as next week. Officials predict they might need to open the gates to move water that accumulated during the wet winter season from the reservoir down into the Feather River. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: After near-disaster, Oroville Dam spillway about to face its first big test
California’s public trust doctrine draws attention in courts: “The common law public trust doctrine in California has long played an important role in protecting navigable waters and waterfronts for the purposes of public use and enjoyment, such as commerce, navigation, fisheries, recreation and preservation. Cities periodically encounter the doctrine when: Administering tideland grants; Maintaining or operating ports and harbors; and Approving or proposing projects along coastal or bay waterfronts. In 1983, the California Supreme Court extended the doctrine substantially in the case of National Audubon v. Superior Court, applying it for the first time to potentially limit water diversions by the City of Los Angeles from streams flowing into Mono Lake. … ” Read more from Western City here: California’s public trust doctrine draws attention in courts
Desalination’s Potential for California’s Water Supply: “California’s water supply presents a long-standing challenge. For decades, cities, counties and regions throughout the state have grappled with issues related to water rights and usage priorities. As the state’s population continues to grow, so does the intensity of the debate. As a result of California’s outdated water infrastructure and persistent droughts, some elected leaders are shifting the focus to investing in seawater desalination to help address the state’s water crisis. While less than half a dozen desalination plants currently exist in the state, the idea is gaining momentum and greater support at the state level. … ” Read more from Western City here: Desalination’s Potential for California’s Water Supply
Feds accused of holding back on California fracking plans: “Armed with a recent court ruling that climate change must be considered in decisions to open federal land to oil and gas drilling, conservationists shot the opening volley Thursday in what promises to be a protracted legal battle over the future of fracking and oil drilling in Northern California. The federal lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity accuses the Trump administration of withholding environmental review records on its plans to end a six-year moratorium on leasing federal land to oil and gas companies in California. … ” Read more from Courthouse News here: Feds accused of holding back on California fracking plans
Feds sue state water board over controversial Delta plan: “California’s water wars appear to be entering a new chapter as the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of the Interior announced a lawsuit on Thursday against the State Water Resources Control Board over a controversial plan that would divert more water from New Melones Reservoir to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. A joint press release stated that civil actions were filed in both state and federal court alleging that the board failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act by approving amendments on Dec. 12 to the Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary. … ” Read more from the Union Democrat here: Feds sue state water board over controversial Delta plan
CLIMATE CHANGE
Why the next decade will be critical in the fight against climate change: “To Andrew Wheeler, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, global warming is a problem for the future. “Most of the threats from climate change are 50 to 75 years out,” he said in a recent interview, expressing a common sentiment. But scientists say that taking action on climate change is very much a challenge of the present. “The next decade is really critical,” said Joeri Rogelj, a climate scientist at Imperial College London. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: Why the next decade will be critical in the fight against climate change
Wildfires May Pollute Water Supplies on a Warming Planet: “As wildfires are burning hotter, larger, and more often thanks to our warming climate, they are becoming more destructive and leaving more contaminants, debris, and runoff in their path. Researchers and policymakers are working to identify threats from wildfires to drinking water supplies, and Colorado-based US Geological Survey (USGS) scientist Sheila Murphy spoke to EM about some of the effects wildfire has on drinking water, and how experts might evaluate the risks. “The main changes that happen after you burn a forest is that you’re losing the vegetation; so you don’t have plants using the precipitation that’s falling as rain,” explains Murphy. “You also change the soil surface so that it becomes hydrophobic, or ‘water hating,’ so when it rains water runs quickly off the surface rather than slowly soaking in. ... ” Read more from Environmental Monitor here: Wildfires May Pollute Water Supplies on a Warming Planet
How Tribes Are Harnessing Cutting-Edge Data to Plan for Climate Change: “The village of Taholah on the Quinault Indian Nation is just a stone’s throw from a pebbled stretch of beach pocked with the tiny holes of razor clams. The town is wedged between Washington state’s rocky Pacific coastline and a hillside of towering cedar and Douglas fir evergreens. It’s been the home of the Quinault peoples for 12,000 years. And for the last 50-odd years, the home of tribal member Larry Ralston. Back in 2008, when Ralston first learned climate change would cause sea levels to rise, he thought of those clams. … ” Read more from Yes Magazine here: How Tribes Are Harnessing Cutting-Edge Data to Plan for Climate Change
NATIONAL NEWS
Bernhardt Takes Praise And Jabs In Hearing For Interior Chief: “President Trump’s nominee for Interior Secretary faced sharp questioning from some Democrats and praise from Republicans during David Bernhardt’s nomination hearing today. Critics scrutinized his connections to the oil industry, ethical lapses, and the Trump Administration’s controversial land use policies. Vic Bedoian reports from Fresno.”
Security: Hackers force water utilities to sink or swim: “Last month, hackers tied computers into knots at a small Colorado water utility. It wasn’t the first time the Fort Collins-Loveland Water District and its wastewater counterpart had been hit by “ransomware,” a type of malware that encrypts victims’ computer files and demands online payment to unlock them. While operations weren’t harmed, the infection prompted the water district to switch out its information technology service provider and call in the FBI. The case, first reported by the Coloradoan, remains under active investigation. FCLWD and the South Fort Collins Sanitation District treat and distribute water to 45,000 customers in northern Colorado. ... ” Read more from E&E News here: Security: Hackers force water utilities to sink or swim
Sunday’s breaking news …
THIS JUST IN … DWR Plans to Use Oroville Main Spillway on Tuesday, April 2 (with photo gallery)
Sunday podcast …
Reflections of a Dairyman: Steve Baker writes, “If you want to experience what it feels like to have your access to water threatened, listen up. It’s not just in California. The state of Washington was concerned, from a water rights perspective, that the dairy industry was using too much water. But there is a greater question that underlies our experiences with water; how do we divide up the water when there just isn’t enough to go around? Ok, here we go. Water is a Many Splendor’ed Thing brings you another water relationship that has a personally significant impact to your life.”
Stephen J. Baker, producer of Operation Unite’s Living Water® radio series, “Water is a Many Splendor’ed Thing”, has completed 258 episodes from around the world since 2006. Each story is a real circumstance of one water relationship that exists in the world. Contact Operation Unite® if you would like your organization’s water relationship to be shared with the masses. Bringing People Together to Solve Water Problems Operation Unite®; stevebaker@operationunite.co; 530-263-1007
In regional news and commentary this weekend …
Dam removal: what’s the cost to taxpayers? “There are many questions surrounding the potential removal of four dams along the Klamath River. One commonly asked question is whether dam removal would be in the best interest of Pacific Power ratepayers. Pacific Power’s parent company PacifiCorp reported that relicensing would require implementing new mandatory flow conditions for the Lower Klamath Project, constructing and operating fish passage at the dams, and addressing water-quality issues in and below the reservoirs. PacifiCorp estimated those actions would cost in excess of $460 million – as of 2010 – in capital and operating expenses. ... ” Read more from the Siskiyou Daily News here: Dam removal: what’s the cost to taxpayers?
Klamath Dam removal a far cry from done deal, says the : They write, “Reality may be starting to set in for the proponents of tearing out the Klamath dams: Not only is it a bad idea; it’s a far cry from a done deal. Removal of the four Klamath hydroelectric dams in Northern California and southern Oregon would constitute the largest dam removal project in United States history. But recent comments from PacifiCorp, owner of the dams, reveal that the truth about the perils of dam removal is starting to surface. … ” Read more the Herald & News here: Klamath Dam removal a far cry from done deal
Contaminated water escapes from Upvalley landfill outside Calistoga into Napa River tributary: “County health officials reported Friday afternoon that water contaminated with chemicals and metals had escaped from the Clover Flat Landfill into a Napa River tributary. The Napa County and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board are in contact with the owner on a plan to stop the ongoing release into Dutch Henry Creek, the county said in a news release. … ” Read more from the Napa Register here: Contaminated water escapes from Upvalley landfill outside Calistoga into Napa River tributary
Remediation of Casmalia Superfund site moving forward, EPA says: “Environmental Protection Agency Region 9 Administrator Mike Stoker and other agency officials held an open house in Casmalia Thursday to assure community members the agency was making progress on its five-year final remediation plan for the nearby landfill, a former hazardous waste disposal site. Held at Orcutt Academy Charter School, the event was meant to keep locals looped in on the final cleanup efforts the EPA has planned for the 252-acre site, which accepted 5.6 billion pounds of material from over 10,000 commercial waste generators between 1973 and 1989. … ” Read more from the Lompoc Record here: Remediation of Casmalia Superfund site moving forward, EPA says
California City OKs groundwater plan: “The City Council approved a regional plan for managing the area’s groundwater resources, which brings a measure of local control and to qualify for state funds for water-related projects. The Fremont Basin Integrated Regional Water Plan has been in the works for at least four years, filling in a hole in water plans in the area, as the surrounding groundwater basins already have plans in place. ... ” Read more from the Antelope Valley Press here: California City OKs groundwater plan
This is why Hermosa Beach scrapped a large stormwater infiltration project, potentially costing it $3.1 million in grant funding: “Hermosa Beach City Council has scrapped a large stormwater infiltration project slated for the southern end of city’s greenbelt, after more than a year of opposition from residents. City officials will look for a new home for the project, meant to ultimately reduce bacteria in the Santa Monica Bay, but could potentially forfeit nearly $3.1 million in grant funding from the State Water Resources Board. Hermosa Beach is the lead city on the project and has an agreement with neighboring cities. … ” Read more from the Daily Breeze here: This is why Hermosa Beach scrapped a large stormwater infiltration project, potentially costing it $3.1 million in grant funding
Hermosa Beach pins stormwater hopes on Redondo: “Hermosa Beach will try to convince neighboring cities to address a larger share of stormwater runoff in order to avoid building a large and controversial project at sites on public land in the south end of the city. The City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday night to seek an amendment or, potentially dissolution and redrafting, of the current agreement among cities in the Beach Cities Enhanced Watershed Management Plan. That agreement calls for the construction of a stormwater infiltration project beneath the Greenbelt between Herondo and Second streets, a project intended to address regional ocean water quality goals but which has prompted impassioned objections from the hundreds of residents living nearby. … ” Read more from Easy Reader News here: Hermosa Beach pins stormwater hopes on Redondo
Manhattan Beach is getting ready for the infrastructure project of a lifetime: “Manhattan Beach is preparing to replace the city’s largest potable water reservoir. The $23.5 million capital improvement project to overhaul 7.5 million gallon Peck Reservoir, located on a 2.7 acre site at 1800 North Peck Avenue, is slated to begin in 2020. Residents will have the opportunity to weigh in and learn about the latest design elements of the impending project at a public works meeting on April 3, at 6:30 p.m. at the Joslyn Community Center. ... ” Read more from The Beach Reporter here: Manhattan Beach is getting ready for the infrastructure project of a lifetime
Along the Colorado River …
Why this Drought Contingency Plan is no friend to the Salton Sea: Norma Sierra Galindo writes, “The March 26 opinion piece by Tom Buschatzke and 13 other Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan proponents to persuade the public that the DCP is good for the Salton Sea would have been better served – and made more believable – by a show of good faith rather than a show of force. People who know the Salton Sea as an actual place, rather than a place on a map, can tell the difference. … ” Read more from The Desert Sun here: Why this Drought Contingency Plan is no friend to the Salton Sea
Lake Mead B-29 now covered with quagga mussels: “It wasn’t the crash or the splash in 1948. It wasn’t the 70 years of exposure to the lake’s frigid waters. It wasn’t the 20 year drought that lowered water levels by more than 100 feet and the algae that followed, or even the scavenger divers who stole relics from the aircraft. None of those acts of man or nature have threatened the survival of the Lake Mead B-29 quite like the quagga mussels that now cover the fuselage. ... ” Read more from Arizona Family here: Lake Mead B-29 now covered with quagga mussels
Will winter snowpack be enough to replenish Lake Powell? “Utah experienced a huge year for precipitation in the 2018-2019 winter, but everyone is wondering if it will be enough to compensate for past years of drought and help refill the state’s reservoirs. Citizens are in particular looking toward Lake Powell, which has experienced steadily lowering water levels in the past decade. The Colorado River snakes from the Rocky Mountains across the southwestern United States. When it hits southern Utah, the river hits a series of dams to provide both power and water to the drought-ridden western U.S., according to NASA. … ” Read more from KSL here: Will winter snowpack be enough to replenish Lake Powell?
Sunday video …
PPIC: San Joaquin Valley: “The San Joaquin Valley—California’s largest agricultural region and an important contributor to the nation’s food supply—is in a time of great change and growing water stress. New cooperative approaches are needed to bring groundwater basins into balance, provide safe drinking water, and manage water and land to benefit people and nature.”
Precipitation watch …
Dry weather continues today. Unsettled pattern returns early this week followed by a potentially wet system late this week.
Also on Maven’s Notebook this weekend …
- STATE WETLAND DEFINITION: Change Sheet #1 for the State Wetland Definition and Procedures for Discharges of Dredged or Fill Material to Waters of the State – April 2, 2019 Board Meeting
- FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: EPA Administrator Wheeler Announces New WIFIA Funding for Water Infrastructure Projects
- GROUNDWATER QUALITY DATA: New GAMA Program Online Tools
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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.
Maven’s Notebook
where California water news never goes home for the weekend
