In California water news today, Wine moguls destroy land and pay small fines as cost of business, say activists; California’s Chinook salmon are in danger. Rice fields just might be their salvation; Reducing flood risk in the Central Valley; Metropolitan offers settlement to San Diego County Water Authority; Dramatic shift to active weather in SoCal; very late season wildfire risk persists in NorCal; California finally gets rain, but fire threat is far from over; Five steps to eliminate nutria threat; FERC denies rehearing of order finding that California waived Clean Water Act authority; Agencies scrap controversial Klamath Project BiOp; Camp Fire: Preliminary findings show that harmful contaminants in burn scar plumbing are rare; and more …
On the calendar today …
- The California Water Commission meets beginning at 9:30am. Agenda items include an action item on the Proposed South-North Intertie Pipeline Phase II Project Consistency with Proposition 1; a discussion draft of the strategic plan; a briefing on the new Division of Multi-Benefit Initiatives at DWR; an update on State Water Project construction; and an update on SGMA implementation. For agenda and webcast link, click here.
- Webinar: Kaveh Madani: Dealing with Complex Water Systems: Deceiving Modeling Assumptions and Misleading Policies from 10am to 11am. Presented by the American Water Resources Association. Click here for more information.
- Webinar: Integrated Hydrologic Model Development and Evaluation (for Non-Modelers) from 12pm to 1pm. Presented by the Groundwater Resources Association. Click here for more information and to register.
- SWP/CVP OPERATIONS: Water Year 2019 Update: 2008/2009 Biological Opinions from 1pm to 4pm. Click here for the meeting agenda and webcast link.
- GRA SF BAY BRANCH: The Oroville Spillways – Overview and Instrumentation from 5:30pm to 8:30pm in Oakland. Click here for more information and to register. You do not need to be a member to attend.
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
Wine moguls destroy land and pay small fines as cost of business, say activists: “After California wine industry mogul Hugh Reimers illegally destroyed at least 140 acres of forest, meadow and stream in part to make way for new vineyards sometime last winter, according to a report from state investigators, state officials ordered the former executive of Jackson Family Wines to repair and mitigate the damage where possible. Sonoma County officials also suggested a $131,060 fine. But for environmental activists watching the investigation, fines and restoration attempts aren’t going to cut it; they want Reimers — an experienced captain of industry whom they say knew better — to face a criminal prosecution, which could lead to a jail sentence. … ” Read more from KQED here: Wine moguls destroy land and pay small fines as cost of business, say activists
California’s Chinook salmon are in danger. Rice fields just might be their salvation: “Snow geese erupt against a blue sky trimmed with fresh, white clouds. The air is so clear you can see for miles, east to the distant peaks of the Sierra Nevada and west to the gentle slopes of the Coast Ranges. But Carson Jeffres and Jacob Katz are less interested in the view above them than the one at their feet. Standing knee-deep in a flooded field at Knaggs Ranch, a rice farm near Sacramento, they peer into a floating cage made of PVC pipe and mesh and prepare to check on its unusual inhabitants. … ” Read more from the New Food Economy here: California’s Chinook salmon are in danger. Rice fields just might be their salvation
Reducing flood risk in the Central Valley: Q&A with Ted Ramirez: “The Central Valley has some of the highest risk of flooding in the state, and that risk is growing as the climate changes. We talked to Tim Ramirez, a member of the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, about how this risk is being managed for current and future conditions. PPIC: Talk about managing flood risk in the valley. TIM RAMIREZ: The valley has always flooded, especially in spring when snow melts in the high Sierra. Before it was developed, the landscape was often an inland sea in the spring. Now that many more people live there, it’s harder to minimize risk. The flood management system in the valley was envisioned 150 years ago, and in a lot of ways it continues to work. But the climate is changing with more rain and less snow, requiring an update. … ” Read more from the PPIC blog here: Reducing flood risk in the Central Valley
Metropolitan offers settlement to San Diego County Water Authority: “The Metropolitan Water District decided Monday that, after about a year of closed-door negotiations, it would go public with an offer to settle its long legal battle with the San Diego County Water Authority. Both sides have spent about $20 million each fighting for years about how much the San Diego agency should have to pay Metropolitan to deliver water San Diego bought from Imperial County farmers in a 2003 deal. … ” Read more from the Voice of San Diego (scroll down; story is towards the bottom): Big Water Agency Offers a Big Deal to the Smaller Big Water Agency
- RELATED CONTENT: NEWS WORTH NOTING: Metropolitan statement on offer to compromise to San Diego County Water Authority
Dramatic shift to active weather in SoCal; very late season wildfire risk persists in NorCal: “A fairly dramatic weather pattern change will take place [Tuesday] across Southern California. Following several days of record heat nearly statewide (including temperatures that approached all-time November records in some mountain areas), a much cooler airmass has already arrived in California today. This airmass is associated with a cold low pressure system that is currently sliding down the California coast. In addition to bringing much cooler air, this low pressure system is acting to destabilize the atmosphere–especially across southern California. In addition to this destabilization, the low is beginning to entrain some subtropical moisture which is (in turn) currently circulating around a separate, weaker low off the coast of Baja California. … ” Read more from the California Weather Blog here: Dramatic shift to active weather in SoCal; very late season wildfire risk persists in NorCal
California finally gets rain, but fire threat is far from over: “Parts of Southern California were under a flash flood watch Wednesday as areas of the southwest saw the first significant rainfall of a delayed wet season that fueled wildfires and forced intermittent power cutoffs to millions of residents. The storm system brought heavy rain to portions of Arizona, and Phoenix could get 2 inches of rain before the storm ends there on Thursday. Prior to this storm, Sky Harbor International Airport had recorded only 3.68 inches for the entire year. ... ” Read more from USA Today here: California finally gets rain, but fire threat is far from over
Five steps to eliminate nutria threat: “The California Division of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is working to eliminate the nutria threat that has been growing since the species was first rediscovered in California in 2017. Through financial support from various grant funding, CDFA is implementing a five-phase process for nutria eradication that consists of survey, knockdown, mop-up, verification, and surveillance. CDFW staff have been working the landscape by dividing areas into 40-acre grids to ensure that nothing is overlooked. ... ” Read more from Ag Net West here: Five steps to eliminate nutria threat
State puts hold on some oil well permits after chevron’s Kern County ‘crisis’: “State regulators announced Tuesday they’re imposing a moratorium on new permits for an oil extraction method that has been linked to what California’s top conservation official is calling “a crisis of oil leaks” — a series of uncontrolled crude petroleum releases from Chevron wells in Kern County. The state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources announced Tuesday it won’t issue new permits for the technique, which uses high-pressure steam to release oil trapped in underground rock formations. … ” Read more from KQED here: State puts hold on some oil well permits after chevron’s Kern County ‘crisis’
FERC denies rehearing of order finding that California waived Clean Water Act authority: “On October 17, 2019, FERC denied requests for rehearing filed by the California State Water Resources Control Board (“SWRCB”) and conservation organizations in response to the Commission’s unanimous April 18, 2019 order finding that SWRCB had waived its authority under section 401(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), 33 U.S.C. § 1641, to issue a water quality certification for the relicensing of Placer County Water Agency’s Middle Fork American River Hydroelectric Project (“Middle Fork Project”) (see April 24, 2019 edition of the WER). In its April 18 order, FERC applied the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s (“D.C. Circuit”) opinion in Hoopa Valley Tribe v. FERC (see January 30, 2010 edition of the WER), finding that SWRCB’s “active[] participation” in the applicant’s annual withdrawal and resubmittal of its request for section 401 certification since 2012 constituted an agreement between the applicant and SWRCB that does not re-start the maximum one-year period for states to act on a request for water quality certification under section 401. … ” Continue reading from Lexology here: FERC denies rehearing of order finding that California waived Clean Water Act authority
Q&A: Environmentalist charged with protecting the California coastline: “For the past 18 years, Sam Schuchat, 59, has been the executive director of the California State Coastal Conservancy, a nonregulatory agency charged with protecting and maintaining more than 800 miles of coastline through watershed, waterway, wetlands and wildlife projects — measures that help stabilize the ecosystem and guard against flooding and climate change. Schuchat is a veteran of the nonprofit and environmental worlds, including past work at the California League of Conservation Voters. … ” Continue reading at Jewish News here: Q&A: Environmentalist charged with protecting the California coastline
9 points from USDA irrigation survey: “The 2018 Irrigation and Water Management Survey results were published Nov. 13 by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. “The 2018 Irrigation and Water Management Survey, formerly titled the Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey, expands on the data collected in the 2017 Census of Agriculture,” said NASS Administrator Hubert Hamer. “This report offers detailed, comprehensive, up-to-date information specific to the agriculture industry’s use and management of water supplies.” ... ” Read more from the Western Farm Press here: 9 points from USDA irrigation survey
Climate change could double greenhouse gas emissions from freshwater lakes: “Every drop of fresh water contains thousands of different organic molecules that have previously gone unnoticed. By measuring the diversity of these molecules and how they interact with the environment around them, research has revealed an invisible world that affects the functioning of freshwater ecosystems and can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. … ” Read more from PhysOrg here: Climate change could double greenhouse gas emissions from freshwater lakes
In commentary today …
Newsom must stop the Westlands water grab and save the San Francisco Bay-Delta, says Barbara Barrigan-Parilla: She writes, “The San Francisco Bay-Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast, was once the home to fisheries that produced five million pounds of canned salmon a year. The Delta’s largest city, Stockton, is where children swam, rowed boats, and canoed after school in places made navigable through their parents and grandparents’ labor. Today, our children in Stockton will not enter a river or slough to swim, or fish, or row. Our urban waterways are stagnant, thick with algal scum and toxins. Harmful algal blooms proliferate in the San Francisco Bay-Delta. Algal blooms are regularly found from Stockton to Discovery Bay with new smaller ones becoming visible in sloughs between these cities. … ” Read more from Cal Matters here: Newsom must stop the Westlands water grab and save the San Francisco Bay-Delta
In regional news and commentary today …
Agencies scrap controversial Klamath Project BiOp: “Federal agencies are headed back to the drawing board on water management plans for the Klamath Project aimed at protecting several species of endangered fish. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — which operates the 210,000-acre irrigation project in Southern Oregon and Northern California — spent months working with the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to mitigate potential harm to endangered sucker fish in Upper Klamath Lake, as well as threatened coho salmon in the lower Klamath River. ... ” Read more from the Capital Press here: Agencies scrap controversial Klamath Project BiOp
Video: Restoring the river with the Yurok, Hupa and Karuk: “For the past two centuries, California has relied heavily on the natural resources of the North Coast region, exploiting its pristine watersheds for agriculture and its forests for timber. But today, the environmental costs of timber extraction and damming have reached a tipping point. Now the Yurok are working with local and state organizations to revitalize the forests, rivers and wildlife, a comprehensive feat requiring collaboration among community leaders up and down the Klamath and Trinity Rivers.” Watch video from KCET here: Video: Restoring the river with the Yurok, Hupa and Karuk
Camp Fire: Preliminary findings show that harmful contaminants in burn scar plumbing are rare: “Water experts are still finding traces of harmful chemicals in parts of the water systems burned by the Camp Fire and in interior plumbing more than a year after the disaster, but the cases are rare. Fears about the contamination have been a hurdle for recovery. The water utilities say they are addressing the problem through tens of thousands of tests and hundreds of repairs. One big question remained on the minds of residents: What about their own taps? Home plumbing is not the responsibility of the utility. Many residents paid for tests out of pocket. Now, an outside team of researchers is studying the issue with a grant. … ” Read more from the Oroville Mercury-Register here: Preliminary findings show that harmful contaminants in burn scar plumbing are rare
Presidio’s new tunnel tops park will connect ancient springs to SF Bay: “The $118 million park project, opening in late Spring of 2020, is part of a wetlands restoration movement across the Bay Area that will benefit all species – including us – facing the uncertain future of climate change. Lew Stringer, Associate Director of Natural Resources of the Presidio Trust, is a scientist by training. But when he envisions the ancient El Polin Spring above us in the forested Presidio hills reconnected to Crissy Field Marsh, he waxes poetic. “The spring is like a pearl necklace,” Stringer says. “These pearls have been unearthed and strung together in these multiple projects that are 3-5 acres in size all along the watershed.” … ” Read more from the Bay City Beacon here: Presidio’s new tunnel tops park will connect ancient springs to SF Bay
Soquel Creek Water District recycled water project awarded $50M state grant: “The pricetag for recycled drinking water just got less expensive for Mid-County customers. The State Water Resources Control Board unanimously approved a $50 million grant for Soquel Creek Water District’s pending Pure Water Soquel Groundwater Replenishment and Seawater Intrusion Prevention Project. District leaders and a posse of supporters traveled Tuesday to Sacramento for the state water board’s unanimous vote in support of granting the State Proposition 1 Groundwater Implementation Grant funding. … ” Read more from the Santa Cruz Sentinel here: Soquel Creek Water District recycled water project awarded $50M state grant
Flash flood watches in effect as SoCal braces for first rainfall after wildfires stripped hillsides bare: “After a fire season that left hillsides bare in many Southern California communities, the first big rainfall of the season is moving in this week, creating concerns for possible flooding. Local cities are building berms on beaches and putting out sandbags near vulnerable neighborhoods as the region braces for up to an inch of rain. Some light rain was already falling Tuesday afternoon in parts of Orange County and in mountain communities from Temecula to Idyllwild. The heavier rain is expected to hit by Wednesday morning. … ” Read more from KABC here: Flash flood watches in effect as SoCal braces for first rainfall after wildfires stripped hillsides bare
West Basin approves desalination-plant impact report — while dozens of foes stand against it: “West Basin Municipal Water District took the next steps Monday night, Nov. 18, toward building a desalination facility in El Segundo, a project that has drawn fierce opposition from conservation groups — including some who staged a rally before the meeting. Although not a go-ahead for the actual project, the board’s certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report in a 4-1 vote means the water district can move ahead in planning the next phases of the project. … ” Read more from the LA Daily News here: West Basin approves desalination-plant impact report — while dozens of foes stand against it
Along the Colorado River …
Central Arizona tries again to bring in water from on-river entitlements: “There is a new proposal to transfer water from the Colorado River region to central Arizona. And it’s looking just as controversial as the others. The town of Queen Creek is trying to buy an annual entitlement to 2,083.1 acre-feet of Colorado River water from a farming and investment company that owns land in far west La Paz County, in the Cibola Valley. An acre-foot serves a family of four for about one year. The initial cost is $10,000 per acre-foot (about $20.8 million in all), but the money may be the easiest part. Less simple is getting permission to revise a so-called “fourth priority” entitlement contract between the landowner, GSC Farm, and the federal Bureau of Reclamation. ... ” Read more from KJZZ here: Central Arizona tries again to bring in water from on-river entitlements
Arizona: ‘They’re going to dry up’: Debate erupts over plan to move water from farmland to suburbs: “A private company and the town of Queen Creek are proposing a water deal that would leave 485 acres of farmland permanently dry near the Colorado River and send the water used on that land to the fast-growing Phoenix suburb. The company GSC Farm LLC is seeking to sell its annual entitlement of 2,083 acre-feet of Colorado River water — about 678 million gallons — to Queen Creek for a one-time payment of $21 million. The town and the company asked regulators at the Arizona Department of Water Resources to endorse the water transfer, and the agency is holding a series of four meetings this week to hear comments on the proposal. … ” Read more from Arizona Central here: ‘They’re going to dry up’: Debate erupts over plan to move water from farmland to suburbs
Precipitation watch …
Special feature …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
GROUNDWATER MARKETS: A case study of the Fox Canyon Groundwater Market
NOTICE: New groundwater protection areas effective January 1, 2020
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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.
