In California water news today, Rain, wind and mountain snow to blast through US West Coast late this week; River levels rise as more water released from Keswick and Oroville Dams; Why Harder, other valley reps are asking EPA for close review of delta water plan; Oakdale, South San Joaquin Irrigation District Applaud Bureau Of Reclamation Lawsuit; Legal analysis: The Federal Government Challenges the State Water Board’s Amended Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan; The firm that once employed Trump’s pick to run Interior is making millions lobbying it; Federal Watchdog Reviewing Allegations Acting Interior Secretary Broke Ethics Pledge; and more …
On the calendar today …
- The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board meets in Fresno. Click here for the agenda. Click here to watch on webcast.
- Yolo Flyway Nights: “Nutria in California: Current Status and Response” at 7 p.m. at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area Headquarters in south Davis. Click here for more information.
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
- ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT FORUM, Part 1: Panel shares perspectives on and experience with adaptive management
- OROVILLE SPILLWAY: Update on Operations (with video and photo gallery)
- SCIENCE NEWS: Rebuilt wetlands can protect shorelines better than walls; NOAA seeks to improve fish passage through 2018 program review; How tribes are harnessing cutting-edge data to plan for climate change; and more …
- WATER PLAN eNEWS: ~~ Water Data~ Improving Communication~ Wildfire Webinar~ UWI Conference~ Decarbonization~ Water Quality ~~
Rain, wind and mountain snow to blast through US West Coast late this week: “The strongest storm of the week has its sights set on the west coast of the United States from Thursday night through Friday. A storm system will bring drenching rain and mountain snow through Washington, Oregon and Northern California to end the week, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jack Boston. This storm is expected to be stronger than the one that swept through on Tuesday, which triggered isolated flooding in portions of Northern California. ... ” Read more from AccuWeather here: Rain, wind and mountain snow to blast through US West Coast late this week
River levels rise as more water released from Keswick and Oroville Dams: “Water levels will rise on the Sacramento and Feather Rivers as federal and state authorities release more water from Keswick and Oroville Dams. Thursday morning by 10 a.m., the Bureau of Reclamation will increase releases below Keswick Dam from 20,000 cubic feet per second to 30,000 cfs. … ” Read more from KRCR here: River levels rise as more water released from Keswick and Oroville Dams
Why Harder, other valley reps are asking EPA for close review of delta water plan: “Political leaders from the valley are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to closely scrutinize new water quality standards proposed for the San Joaquin-Sacramento delta. A two-page document submitted by the State Water Board to EPA sparked a bipartisan reaction this week from communities with major interests in delta water. “The State Water Resources Control Board’s proposal to the EPA misses the mark,” said Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock, who joined almost a dozen congressmen, including conservatives Kevin McCarthy and Tom McClintock, in sending a letter to the EPA. … ” Read more from the Modesto Bee here: Why Harder, other valley reps are asking EPA for close review of delta water plan
Oakdale, South San Joaquin Irrigation District Applaud Bureau Of Reclamation Lawsuit: “The Oakdale and South San Joaquin Irrigation Districts applaud the lawsuits filed March 28, 2019, in state and federal court by the U.S. Department of Justice objecting to the California’s water quality control plan and its direct impacts to the operations and congressional directives for New Melones Reservoir on the Stanislaus River. “We have always believed the state water board was asserting too much control over a federal reservoir by dictating operations counter to federal intent,” stated Steve Knell, OID’s general manager. “Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman stated as much in her letter to the water board in 2018 and we’re pleased they brought suit.” … ” Read more from the Oakdale Leader here: Oakdale, South San Joaquin Irrigation District Applaud Bureau Of Reclamation Lawsuit
Legal analysis: The Federal Government Challenges the State Water Board’s Amended Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan: “On March 28, 2019, the United States Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior (collectively, “Federal Government”) filed lawsuits in both federal and state court challenging the State Water Resources Control Board’s (State Water Board) recent amendments to the Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Amended Plan). The Federal Government’s lawsuits allege that the State Water Board violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and set the stage for another battle between the Federal Government and the State of California over how water resources should be managed in the Bay-Delta. ... ” Read more from Somach Simmons & Dunn here: Legal analysis: The Federal Government Challenges the State Water Board’s Amended Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan
The firm that once employed Trump’s pick to run Interior is making millions lobbying it: “The law and lobbying firm that previously employed President Trump’s pick to run the Interior Department saw a surge in revenue from clients hoping to influence the agency after he left for its upper ranks in 2017. Over the past three years, according to federal records, acting interior secretary David Bernhardt’s former firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck has quadrupled its business related to Interior. In 2018, two dozen clients paid BHFS a total of $4.8 million to lobby Interior, according to data compiled from a lobbying database maintained by the Senate. During the previous year, when Bernhardt left the firm to join the Trump administration as deputy secretary, it collected a total of $3.5 million in Interior-related revenue. … ” Read more from the Washington Post here: The firm that once employed Trump’s pick to run Interior is making millions lobbying it
Federal Watchdog Reviewing Allegations Acting Interior Secretary Broke Ethics Pledge: “U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has been accused by Democratic lawmakers and nonprofit accountability groups of violating ethics rules, prompting a review by that agency’s inspector general. Bernhardt, a former lobbyist, is alleged to broken an ethics pledge he signed after joining the Trump administration in 2017 after he tried to weaken environmental protections for a fish species in California. The tiny Delta smelt was at the center of a battle over irrigation involving an agricultural client for whom Bernhardt used to lobby. ... ” Read more from KUER here: Federal Watchdog Reviewing Allegations Acting Interior Secretary Broke Ethics Pledge
Trump’s Pick for Interior Dept. Continued Lobbying After Officially Vowing to Stop, New Files Indicate: “A 2017 invoice indicates that David Bernhardt, President Trump’s choice to lead the Interior Department, continued to lobby for a major client several months after he filed official papers saying that he had ended his lobbying activities. The bill for Mr. Bernhardt’s services, dated March 2017 and labeled “Federal Lobbying,” shows, along with other documents, Mr. Bernhardt working closely with the Westlands Water District as late as April 2017, the month Mr. Trump nominated him to his current job, deputy interior secretary. In November 2016, Mr. Bernhardt had filed legal notice with the federal government formally ending his status as lobbyist. … ” Read more from the New York Times here: Trump’s Pick for Interior Dept. Continued Lobbying After Officially Vowing to Stop, New Files Indicate
In commentary today …
George Skelton: A California tax to clean up toxic drinking water has lawmakers jumpy: “The ghost of Josh Newman haunts the state Capitol, sending shivers through certain politicians’ spines at the mere mention of the scary word “tax.” The former lawmaker’s fate will make it difficult for the Legislature — even with supermajority Democratic control — to pass one of Gavin Newsom’s top priorities: a so-called water tax. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: George Skelton: A California tax to clean up toxic drinking water has lawmakers jumpy
Now is the time to weigh in on proposed Clean Water Rule, says Cyndie Shearing: She writes, ““Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights” has long been attributed to Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and our nation’s third president. When he wrote those words in 1789, Jefferson could not have imagined how true they would ring more than 200 years later, when the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed an overreaching “waters of the U.S.” rule in 2015 that was more about controlling land than protecting water. … ” Read more from the Capital Press here: Now is the time to weigh in on proposed Clean Water Rule, says Cyndie Shearing
In regional news and commentary today …
Lawsuits seek to stymie Crystal Geyser: “The battle over Crystal Geyser’s facility just outside Mt. Shasta City limits on Ski Village Drive will continue May 10 with a hearing in Siskiyou County court regarding the project’s Environmental Impact Report. Crystal Geyser initially announced its intention to open the facility to bottle fruit juices with much fanfare in 2013. However, legal challenges have so far foiled its plans. The Winnemem Wintu Tribe and WATER (We Advocate Thorough Environmental Review) have filed two lawsuits to prevent the project, both of which are moving through the court system, said WATER spokesperson Raven Stevens. … ” Read more from the Siskiyou Daily News here: Lawsuits seek to stymie Crystal Geyser
Counties Scramble to Meet Deadline After PG&E Abandons Eel River Power and Water Project: “In late January, PG&E was getting headlines everywhere for its decision to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection — a move that could affect millions of California households. But on Jan. 25, the company made an announcement that may have an even more dramatic effect on a swath of Northern California stretching from Humboldt County to northern Marin. That was the day that the San Francisco-based utility announced with no warning that it was abandoning its effort to relicense the Potter Valley Project, a hydroelectric complex that not only generates power but provides a lifeline to communities along the Russian River with water diverted from the Eel River. ... ” Read more from KQED here: Counties Scramble to Meet Deadline After PG&E Abandons Eel River Power and Water Project
North Bay’s next storm a ‘weak’ atmospheric river: “Another atmospheric river is heading toward Sonoma County, but its payload will likely be much less severe than the February storm that barreled into the North Coast, damaging 2,600 homes and businesses. National Weather Service Meteorologist Anna Schneider said the incoming storm will be a relatively “weak atmospheric river.” “It’s supposed to move through quickly enough that we’re not expecting flooding concerns or anything like that,” she said. … ” Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat here: North Bay’s next storm a ‘weak’ atmospheric river
Bakersfield: Farmers look to adapt to climate change: “Delano citrus grower Matt Fisher prefers not to use the term “climate change,” and doesn’t like debating the topic, but he’s thought a lot about how to deal with it. He has invested in highly efficient drip-irrigation systems — more so than many of his peers — because he is concerned more frequent droughts may be in store. But he sees worsening pest infestations and other potential results of increasingly volatile weather as being beyond his control. … ” Read more from Bakersfield.com here: Farmers look to adapt to climate change
Plan unveiled to cut Borrego Springs water consumption by 75 percent: “For years, the desert town of Borrego Springs has been living on borrowed time, drawing more water from the ground than its rains replace. But a reckoning is near. In March, a nearly 1,000-page draft report was released outlining how the community must and will reduce its water use by a staggering 74.6 percent between now and 2040. Borrego Springs is completely dependent on groundwater for survival because there is no economically feasible way to bring water via aqueduct or pipes to the remote area in the center of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the largest state park in California. ... ” Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune here: Plan unveiled to cut Borrego Springs water consumption by 75 percent
Along the Colorado River …
Two new bills in Congress would implement a drought plan in the West: “Two members of Arizona’s congressional delegation introduced legislation Tuesday on a plan to address a shrinking supply of water from a river that serves 40 million people in the U.S. West. Republican Sen. Martha McSally and Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva vowed to move identical bills quickly through the chambers. Bipartisan lawmakers from Colorado River basin states signed on as co-sponsors. Arizona, California and Nevada in the lower basin and Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in the river’s upper basin spent years crafting drought contingency plans. They aim to keep two key Colorado River reservoirs from falling so low that they cannot deliver water or produce hydropower. ... ” Read more from the Salt Lake Tribune here: Two new bills in Congress would implement a drought plan in the West
Former Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl Weighs In On Drought Contingency Plan: “The Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) that Arizona and the six other Colorado River Basin states have been working on to maintain water supplies needs federal approval, and a vital step toward that conclusion was introduced in the Senate this week — the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan Authorization Act. Arizona brought a variety of stakeholders into the state’s own DCP efforts — including ranchers and Native American tribes — and while the DCP is clearly seen as only one step, it was still an important one. … ” Read more from KJZZ here: Former Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl Weighs In On Drought Contingency Plan
Will Congress leave the Colorado River high and dry? “Imagine this grim scenario: The drought that has plagued the Colorado River over the past two decades continues into 2021. The water level in Lake Mead drops precipitously, hitting the 1,075 feet mark — a critical threshold that triggers mandatory water restrictions — and then plunges further. The seven Western states that rely on the beleaguered river are forced to reduce the amount of water they draw, threatening water supplies for Phoenix, Las Vegas and other cities and forcing farmers to let thousands of acres lie fallow. Hydropower production at Hoover and Glen Canyon dams becomes impossible. That may sound far-fetched, but it’s the picture representatives of the seven Colorado River basin states recently painted of what lies ahead if Congress didn’t authorize a drought plan the states put together for the river soon. … ” Read more from High Country News here: Will Congress leave the Colorado River high and dry?
Water futures, A Lake Tahoe fee fight: “At last, members of Congress introduced legislation this week that will enable a seven-state Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) to use less water during shortages. The plan asks the states using the Colorado River to voluntarily cut back on their water use, something Nevada is already doing. The bipartisan bill is sponsored by all the senators that represent Colorado River states. It is the beginning, not the end, of a larger discussion on how to manage the hardest working river in the West amid climate change, growth and competing urban and agricultural demands. Starting next year, Colorado River negotiators will begin discussing the renewal of operating agreements that expire in 2026. The question: What does a future with less water look like? ... ” Read more from the Nevada Independent here: Water futures, A Lake Tahoe fee fight
Precipitation watch …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
OROVILLE SPILLWAY: Update on Operations (with video and photo gallery)
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.
