In California water news today, Bruce Babbitt Urges Creation of Bay-Delta Compact as Way to End ‘Culture of Conflict’; Frazier cannot move bill, lashes out at SoCal lobbying groups; Safe Drinking Water Trust Legislation advances; In Bid for Cleaner Water, California Seeks Arranged Utility Marriages; DWR stops releases from Oroville Dam spillway; Bernhardt’s ethics problems aren’t going away; What military bases are most vulnerable to climate change? A new DoD report will tell you; and more …
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
- ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT FORUM, Part 2: How adaptive management is applied in other ecosystems
- SCIENCE NEWS: Clams and water pumping explain phytoplankton decline in the Delta; Falling levels of air pollution drove decline in California’s tule fog; One river remains; Mountain glaciers are major contributors to rising seas; and more …
- NEWS WORTH NOTING: Issue brief on keeping water affordable: Accounting for the drivers behind increasing rates; Grijalva, Huffman push Interior Dept. on refusal to cooperate with GAO inquiry regarding Bernhardt
- WATER PLAN eNEWS: ~~Coastal Grants~ Disadvantaged Communities~ CWC Meeting~ Wastewater~ Water Laws~ CARCD Newsletter ~~
Bruce Babbitt Urges Creation of Bay-Delta Compact as Way to End ‘Culture of Conflict’ in California’s Key Water Hub: “Bruce Babbitt, the former Arizona governor and secretary of the Interior, has been a thoughtful, provocative and sometimes forceful voice in some of the most high-profile water conflicts over the last 40 years. When Babbitt speaks, people take notice, and he didn’t disappoint before a packed house at the annual Anne J. Schneider Lecture April 3 in Sacramento, offering thoughts on some of California’s thorniest water issues and proposing a Bay-Delta Compact, a kind of grand bargain to end persistent conflict surrounding the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.” Read more in Western Water here: Bruce Babbitt Urges Creation of Bay-Delta Compact as Way to End ‘Culture of Conflict’ in California’s Key Water Hub
Frazier cannot move bill, lashes out at SoCal lobbying groups: “Assemblyman Jim Frazier spoke out in frustration Wednesday when his bill to increase local representation on the Delta Stewardship Council died Tuesday in a committee hearing. Unable to get his bill past the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, Frazier blamed Southern California water special interests, a statement released by his office states. “Time and again, the voices of my Delta neighbors have been silenced or dismissed,” Frazier said in a statement released by his office. … ” Read more from the Daily Republic here: Frazier cannot move bill, lashes out at SoCal lobbying groups
Safe Drinking Water Trust Legislation Passes Unanimously Out of Senate Environmental Quality Committee: “SB 669, legislation authored by Senator Anna Caballero, was heard in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee today and passed unanimously on a 7-0 vote. The bill, which is being sponsored by ACWA and the California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA), will now go to the Senate Governmental Organization Committee for a hearing on April 23. “There is no doubt that this is a public health crisis and a sustainable solution is long overdue,” Senator Caballero told committee members, before outlining the advantages of SB 669 as the solution to funding safe drinking water. “SB 669 is the fastest way to immediately address the needs of the largest affected population in the nearest timeframe.” ... ” Read more from ACWA’s Water News here: Safe Drinking Water Trust Legislation Passes Unanimously Out of Senate Environmental Quality Committee
Laser measurement of Sierra snowpack from the air being considered in Sacramento: “At a price tag of $150 million, the California legislature is considering a bill that, if approved, would change the way the Sierra snowpack is measured each year. For 90 years the snowpack has been measured at several locations including Phillips, just west of Lake Tahoe. Normally performed in front of media, staff from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) snowshoe into a spot where they stick a pole into the snow to measure the depth and water content of the snow. … ” Read more from South Tahoe Now here: Laser measurement of Sierra snowpack from the air being considered in Sacramento
Assemblymember Gray Calls out Water Board for Claim that Contaminating Drinking Water in Disadvantaged Communities is not “Significant”: “Assemblymember Adam C. Gray (D-Merced) ripped the State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday for arguing that the harm caused by the Bay-Delta Plan to the drinking water of disadvantaged communities is not “significant”. Gray’s comments came as his legislation, Assembly Bill 637, cleared the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee with bipartisan support. In response to criticism that the Bay-Delta Plan ignores impacts to disadvantaged communities, the State Water Board issued a master response arguing that because the board is not a federal agency it does not have to consider impacts to these communities significant. ... ” Read more from the Sierra Sun Times here: Assemblymember Gray Calls out Water Board for Claim that Contaminating Drinking Water in Disadvantaged Communities is not “Significant”
In Bid for Cleaner Water, California Seeks Arranged Utility Marriages: “Michael Salazar, in his mid-fifties and on government disability, is the reluctant president of South Kern Mutual Water Company. The tiny nonprofit enterprise supplies drinking water from a single well tainted by toxic substances to 15 homes in an unincorporated community just outside this city’s southern boundary, where almond orchards unfurl toward the horizon. The outgoing president, Sherry Settlemoir, who lives across the street, stepped down at the beginning of 2018 because the duties of the troubled water company were overwhelming. She had to file regulatory paperwork and administrative reports, collect bills, do basic maintenance, and pay contractors. Besides, she has an ill father in Oklahoma to take care of. “My dad’s more important than this water system,” Settlemoir, frustration swelling in her voice, told Circle of Blue. ... ” Read more from Circle of Blue here: In Bid for Cleaner Water, California Seeks Arranged Utility Marriages
DWR stops releases from Oroville Dam spillway: “The state Department of Water Resources stopped releases from the Oroville Dam spillway on Wednesday because of forecasts showing upcoming dry weather. The department said releases were halted at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. ... ” Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record here: DWR stops releases from Oroville Dam spillway
Feather River drops and causes concerns: “The Feather River was projected to drop about three feet in elevation Tuesday after the Department of Water Resources, due to dry-weather forecasts, cut back releases from Lake Oroville. Members of a local sportmen’s association have raised concerns over the state’s management of releases, saying such reductions could result in a number of negative effects downstream. … ” Read more from the Appeal Democrat here: Feather River drops and causes concerns
Hatchery will free 180,000 tiny salmon in survival experiment: “Will hatchery-raised salmon have a better chance of surviving their journey to the Pacific Ocean and back if they get a 75-mile head start? That’s the question a three-year study hopes to answer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and four partner organizations. The plan Saturday is to release 180,000 salmon fry into the Sacramento River 75 miles downriver from the Coleman National Fish Hatchery. A tanker truck will take the young salmon from the hatchery outside Anderson to Scotty’s Landing in Chico for the fish’s intended journey to the ocean under the Golden Gate Bridge. ... ” Read more from the Redding Record Searchlight here: Hatchery will free 180,000 tiny salmon in survival experiment
How California’s forest management may help reduce the risk of wildfires: “With nearly 40 million people living in California and development spreading into once-wild regions, there is growing agreement that the state must step up its use of forest management through prescribed burns and vegetation removal in an attempt to lessen the impact of wildfires. In March, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on wildfires, designed to expedite forest-thinning projects and other programs. In May 2018, former Gov. Jerry Brown called for doubling the amount of forest land treated each year in California by 2023. ... ” Read more from Redding Record Searchlight here: How California’s forest management may help reduce the risk of wildfires
Even though the rain felt endless this winter, it actually wasn’t that wet: “While this season has stood out in many people’s minds as particularly rainy, the city measured similar rainfall totals and was above normal for the water year as recently as 2016-17. In that water year, the rainy season got off to an early start and the majority of the rain came from several severe moisture-rich atmospheric rivers delivering torrential rain. By comparison, this water year got off to a slow start and most of the rain was recorded in the second half of the season, when the storms have generally been weak to moderate but nonstop. … ” Read more from SF Gate here: Even though the rain felt endless this winter, it actually wasn’t that wet
Watch a super bloom explode across California’s yellow hills: “After years of drought, it’s hard not to relish the fruits of a wet winter season: vibrant wildflowers erupting across California’s once-parched hills and valleys. The floral explosion — if one cannot experience it in real-time — is perhaps best celebrated in time-lapse form. A team with Copernicus EU — a.k.a. “Europe’s eyes over Earth” — recently created a video capturing the bloom’s outburst from overhead. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: Watch a super bloom explode across California’s yellow hills
What military bases are most vulnerable to climate change? A new DoD report will tell you: “Some of the military’s largest and well-known bases are directly threatened by climate change and its effects, according to a new report from the Defense Department. Ft. Hood in Texas, Naval Air Station Key West in Florida and Hill Air Force Base in Utah topped the lists of the most susceptible installations to recurrent flooding, drought, desertification, wildfires and thawing permafrost. The report assesses the current and potential threat to the top 10 bases most vulnerable to climate change in the United States for each military service. Potential threats are defined as likely to happen within the next 20 years. ... ” Read more from Federal News Network here: What military bases are most vulnerable to climate change? A new DoD report will tell you
Interior secretary nominee David Bernhardt’s ethics problems aren’t going away: “President Trump’s pick to the lead the Interior Department heads for a confirmation vote as early as Thursday, with his career as a lobbyist raising ethical and legal concerns and doubts about his independence from the energy and water industry groups he long represented. Acting Secretary David Bernhardt spent about eight years as a partner in Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, one of the nation’s top-grossing law and lobbying firms, according to public rankings. There he represented energy, mining and Western water interests that deal with the Interior Department, including two California entities, Westlands Water District — the nation’s largest irrigation district — and Cadiz Inc. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: Interior secretary nominee David Bernhardt’s ethics problems aren’t going away
EPA: Lawmakers on Wheeler: Polite, informed — and not Pruitt: “When Michigan Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell asked EPA chief Andrew Wheeler about revising fuel economy standards at a hearing this week, she knew they’d have opposing views. But she says she at least felt the administrator would hear her out and understand her reasons for wanting a single national emissions standard. “He’s not confrontational,” Dingell told E&E News after she questioned Wheeler at the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change hearing. “He’s got to do what the administration is telling him to do; he’s got a tough job. I am not happy with what this administration is doing, but he tries not to be as in your face as much as [his predecessor, Scott] Pruitt.” … ” Read more from E&E News here: EPA: Lawmakers on Wheeler: Polite, informed — and not Pruitt
Mountain Glaciers Are Major Contributors to Rising Seas: “Melting mountain glaciers could account for nearly a third of the sea-level rise that’s occurred in the last 60 years, new research suggests. That makes their contributions to global ocean levels on par with the massive Greenland ice sheet and far more significant than Antarctica. As glaciers melt, much of the water runs into nearby rivers and eventually into the oceans. So even though they tend to be located in mountainous regions of the world, they’re immediate contributors to rising seas. The only bigger contributor to global sea-level rise is the warming of the oceans themselves, which causes water to expand. … ” Read more from Scientific American here: Mountain Glaciers Are Major Contributors to Rising Seas
In regional news and commentary today …
El Dorado Irrigation District’s Folsom Lake intake project draws local ire: “A major project to be undertaken called the Folsom Lake intake improvements project drew the ire of two El Dorado Hills residents at Monday’s meeting of the El Dorado Irrigation District Board of Directors. Designed to replace pipes and pumps that take water from Folsom Lake and deliver it to the El Dorado Hills Water Treatment Plant, the equipment is located on the south bank of Folsom Lake and supplies water to some 20,000 customers in the area. … ” Read more from the Mountain Democrat here: El Dorado Irrigation District’s Folsom Lake intake project draws local ire
Elk Grove water district receives national award: “For the 10th consecutive year, the Florin Resource Conservation District (FRCD), which governs the Elk Grove Water District, has received national recognition for its finance reporting. FRCD was awarded the 2018 Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the national Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. Mark Madison, general manager of FRCD and the Elk Grove Water District, said the certificate represents the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting. … ” Read more from the Elk Grove News here: Elk Grove water district receives national award
Vacaville: City, Environmentalists Duke Out Chromium 6 Water Woes: “Depending on the luck of the draw or even where you live in Vacaville, a city of 100,000 located 55 miles northeast of San Francisco, the water coming out of your tap contains what some scientists claim are high levels of the carcinogen that inspired the film “Erin Brockovich.” Nearly half of Vacaville’s groundwater wells test positive for hexavalent chromium, or chromium 6. The city, state regulators, environmentalists and now a federal judge know it. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News here: City, Environmentalists Duke Out Chromium 6 Water Woes
Conservationists obtain $2.9 million to fight Salinas River’s arundo invasion: “An invasive bamboo-like species called arundo is encumbering the natural ecology of the Salinas River and increasing flood risk to nearby farmland. But the conservation agency charged with protecting the area recently secured nearly $3 million from state coffers for the purpose of fighting the invasion. The money will go toward mowing 215 acres of Arundo donax along the river between Soledad and Gonzales, out of the total estimated 1,500 acres that are “infested,” according to the Resource Conservation District of Monterey County. Then, herbicides will be applied to the treated swath. … ” Read more from Monterey Weekly here: Conservationists obtain $2.9 million to fight Salinas River’s arundo invasion
With an impending deadline, Cal Am pushes for desal plant permits amid changing waterscape: “When you turn on a faucet on the Monterey Peninsula, you’re consuming water that’s been illegally pumped from Carmel River. Now, after more than two decades of this, scores of public officials, utility executives and citizen advocates are working – and sometimes fighting – to replace the region’s water supply before state-mandated sanctions kick in. California American Water is forging ahead with its plan: a desalination plant near Marina. … ” Read more from Monterey Weekly here: With an impending deadline, Cal Am pushes for desal plant permits amid changing waterscape
Reedley: State ordered project will raise water bills: “While the city struggles with the final phase of a state ordered rezone for affordable housing, it’s tackling the first phase of a possibly more complicated state ordered project based on the “Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.” City Engineer Josh Rogers explained the new project at the April 4 city council meeting. “There are a lot of moving parts and the costs have not really been worked out yet,” seemed to be the theme of the explanation. … ” Read more from the Reedley Exponent here: Reedley: State ordered project will raise water bills
Garbage in, garbage out: Sacramento’s Salton Sea restoration plan in a nutshell, says Jeff Geraci: He writes, “Throwing away millions of taxpayer dollars to re-purpose contaminated waste for creating toxic retention ponds disguised as “habitat,” in the middle of a desert waste sump, is not good logic. At its core, the ill-advised attempt to “restore” the Salton Sea is nothing short of environmental malpractice. It will inevitably fail at a very high cost to both wildlife and taxpayers, succeeding only in perpetuating a hazardous condition. … ” Read more from The Desert Sun here: Garbage in, garbage out: Sacramento’s Salton Sea restoration plan in a nutshell
Precipitation watch …
- From NWS Sacramento: Mountain rain and snow showers today, light accumulations above 6000 feet. Breezy in the Valley Thursday and Friday. Trending sunny and warmer Friday into Saturday.
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT FORUM, Part 2: How adaptive management is applied in other ecosystems
In announcements today …
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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.
