DAILY DIGEST, weekend edition: Delta smelt: the tiny fish caught in CA’s war with Trump; Feinstein urges Newsom-Trump teamwork on CA water; CA sues EPA over weakening of clean water rules; Lawmakers back to square one on ‘forever chemicals’; and more …

Mount Lassen and Chaos Crags from Manzanita Lake. Photo by Wayne Hsieh
In California water news this weekend, Delta smelt: the tiny fish caught in California’s war with Trump; Sen. Feinstein urges Newsom-Trump Teamwork on California water; California sues EPA over weakening of clean water rules; Lawmakers back to square one on ‘forever chemicals’; Winners and losers in the year‑end spending deal; and more …

In the news this weekend …

Delta smelt: the tiny fish caught in California’s war with Trump:  “On a warm November morning, John Durand squints over the stern of a small research boat, and gestures toward gray-blue water, and the chaotic tangles of tube-like tule reeds.  “Cache Slough right here had been known as a hotspot for delta smelt,” he says. But it’s been four years since Durand and his team of researchers from the University of California, Davis, have found the finger-length fish that gleam golden and “smell kind of like cucumber” in the brackish streams and sloughs of northern California’s bay delta.  Does he think we’ll see any today? Durand chuckles and combs his fingers through his white goatee.  “It’s funny, because the smelt are a small fish, and now they’re a rare fish, but they still loom large over all our environmental and water policies,” he adds. “It’s a lot to put on a little fish.” … ”  Read more from The Guardian here: Delta smelt: the tiny fish caught in California’s war with Trump

Sen. Feinstein Urges Newsom-Trump Teamwork on California Water:  “Sen. Dianne Feinstein waded into California’s water wars as a peacemaker Thursday morning.  In a letter, the six-term Democrat urged Gov. Gavin Newsom and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to work together to develop consistent standards for water projects in California. … ”  Read more from GV Wire here: Sen. Feinstein Urges Newsom-Trump Teamwork on California Water

West Coast waters acidifying faster than rest of world:  “Core samples taken from the bottom of the Santa Barbara Channel reveal that the waters off the California coast are acidifying twice as fast as the global average. A new study led by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists tracked the thickness of shells belonging to microscopic animals called foraminifera that had accumulated in Channel sediment over the last 125 years. Their data shows California waters experienced a 0.21 decline in pH in that time, more than double the worldwide average of 0.1 pH. … ”  Read more from the Santa Barbara Independent here: West Coast waters acidifying faster than rest of world

California sues EPA over weakening of clean water rules:  “Here is weather forecasters’ holiday travel advice in brief for those planning trips in and around the Bay Area and Northern California: Be prepared to deal with off-and-on wet weather from now through Boxing Day and a bit beyond. (Boxing Day, forecasters may or may not tell you, is the day after Christmas.) … ”  Read more from KQED here: California sues EPA over weakening of clean water rules

14 states sue EPA over rollback of Obama-era water rule:  “A coalition of 14 states sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday over its rollback of a landmark Obama-era rule stipulating which waterways are regulated by the federal government.  The Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule expanded the scope of waters that farmers, manufacturers and other industries would need to ensure are in compliance with EPA guidelines. … ”  Read more from The Hill here: 14 states sue EPA over rollback of Obama-era water rule

Congress takes initial steps to address PFAS in the National Defense Authorization Act Conference Report:  “On Dec. 11, the House of Representatives passed S. 1790, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) conference report. The Senate followed suit on Dec. 17, bringing an end to protracted negotiations on this annual must-pass legislation. In one of their final acts, conferees agreed to provisions addressing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Two major provisions – designation of PFAS as Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) hazardous substances and requirements to promulgate PFAS drinking water standards – were left out of the bill. Their absence, and the controversy they engendered, have diverted attention from the many significant PFAS provisions that did make it into the final NDAA package.  ... ”  Read more from the National Law Review here: Congress takes initial steps to address PFAS in the National Defense Authorization Act Conference Report

Lawmakers back to square one on ‘forever chemicals’:  “Lawmakers must largely start anew after a major attempt to regulate a cancer-linked chemical that is spreading into the water supply across the United States was stripped from legislation this week, striking the best bet in years to address the problem. … The defense policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) seemed like the best chance to move PFAS legislation … But negotiations on PFAS fell apart this week as some lawmakers were uncomfortable with addressing the issue beyond the military … ”  Read more from The Hill here: Lawmakers back to square one on ‘forever chemicals’

Winners and losers in the year‑end spending deal:  “President Trump will soon sign into law a $1.4 trillion spending bill that is seen as both a Christmas tree and a stocking full of coal — depending on whom you ask.  The Senate yesterday approved the domestic and international assistance package — which contains the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education, Agriculture, Energy-Water, Interior-Environment, Legislative Branch, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, State-Foreign Operations, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development bills — by a vote of 71-23. ... ”  Read more from E&E News here: Winners and losers in the year‑end spending deal

In regional news and commentary this weekend …

Yurok Tribe: Bureau of Reclamation ditches 2019 water plan after fatal fish disease:  “The Bureau of Reclamation announced plans November 15 to ditch the 2019 water plan and begin again, according to a press release by the Yurok Tribe.  When the disastrous plan started in April, it caused drought-level water flows on the Klamath River, even as Upper Klamath Lake was flooding. The plan also caused an outbreak of a fatal fish disease in the river near the Iron Gate Dam. … ” Read more from KRCR here: Yurok Tribe: Bureau of Reclamation ditches 2019 water plan after fatal fish disease

Redding: Young salmon get a new home near Sacramento River:  “Over the next few months, thousands of young salmon will be moving into Anderson River Park.  Fisheries officials recently completed work building a channel that flows nearly a mile through the undeveloped portion of the park near the Sacramento River.  The side channel meanders along the east side of the park to the southern edge of the park, where it flows back into the main stem of the Sacramento River. … ”  Read more from the Redding Record-Searchlight here: Young salmon get a new home near Sacramento River

Yuba Water partners with Scripps, DWR on new atmospheric river research:  “Atmospheric river storms provide approximately half of California’s annual precipitation, but also are the cause of more than 90 percent of the floods in Northern California, resulting in staggering financial costs.  Those costs are all too familiar to Yuba County, which experienced devastating flooding in both 1986 and 1997. Elements of Yuba County’s economy have never recovered. … ”  Read more from ACWA’s Water News here: Yuba Water partners with Scripps, DWR on new atmospheric river research

Sacramento: Rocky solution to salmon problem going swimmingly in American River:  “Less than two months after a partnership of federal, state and local agencies dumped 14,000 tons of rock into the American River, researchers revealed evidence of the positive impact of those rocks on the fall-run salmon.  “Our monitoring shows, when they built it, they did come and they came quickly,” said Lilly Allen, a researcher with the Sacramento Water Forum. … ”  Read more from KCRA here: Sacramento: Rocky solution to salmon problem going swimmingly in American River

Marin’s marginalized communities drawn into climate change action plan:  “Towns and cities situated at sea level worldwide are threatened by flooding as the effects of climate change become worse.  Wealthier communities develop ways to counter this imminent threat with multi-million dollar infrastructure projects, but some communities do not have the resources to pull off such a feat, or even begin to think about it until it’s too late.  In Marin, these communities are places like Marin City, the trailer parks of Larkspur and the Canal neighborhood in San Rafael. ... ”  Read more from the Marin Independent Journal here: Marin’s marginalized communities drawn into climate change action plan

Pure Water Monterey expansion environmental study review extended:  “A split Monterey One Water board voted to extend the draft supplemental environmental impact study public comment period for the proposed Pure Water Monterey expansion project, likely meaning the document won’t be certified until after an anticipated Coastal Commission hearing on the California American Water desalination project in March. … ”  Read more from the Monterey Herald here: Pure Water Monterey expansion environmental study review extended

Indian Wells Valley Water District update: ‘It’s Always Something’:  ““It’s always something” are words Gilda Radner made famous with her character of Roseanne Roseannadanna on Saturday Night Live in the late ’70s. The same can be said for the regulatory world when it comes to water in California. While the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or “SGMA,” has been the hot topic in the Indian Wells Valley as the January 31, 2020, deadline approaches to submit a Groundwater Sustainability Plan to the Department of Water Resources for review and approval, another set of bills will very likely have further significant impact on our water use. … ”  Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent here: Indian Wells Valley Water District update: ‘It’s Always Something’

LOIS HENRY: Kern River water is at the center of another legal battle:  “The relative lull in lawsuits over Kern River water was broken Dec. 11 when Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District filed a complaint against the city of Bakersfield.  Rosedale’s complaint, filed in Kern County Superior Court, demands that the city keep selling a portion of river water to the district under a layer cake of agreements going back more than 40 years.  The city’s interpretation of those agreements, of course, differs from Rosedale’s.  But the reason for the fight can be summed up in a single acronym — SGMA. … ”  Read more from the Bakersfield Californian here: LOIS HENRY: Kern River water is at the center of another legal battle

LA Waterkeeper files lawsuit against West Basin desalination project:  “The nonprofit Los Angeles Waterkeeper has filed a lawsuit challenging the environmental impact report approved a month ago by the West Basin Municipal Water District in its bid to create a large-scale desalination facility in El Segundo.  The lawsuit contends the document, which is inches thick, used to evaluate the environmental impacts of the project “falls significantly below the standards required of it by the California Environmental Quality Act,” according to the group in a press release issued Thursday, Dec. 19. … ” Read more from the Daily Breeze here: LA Waterkeeper files lawsuit against West Basin desalination project

Coachella Valley: Oasis mobile home park owner continues to violate EPA order on emergency water supplies, timely sampling:  “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday said Scott Lawson, the owner of the Oasis Mobile Home Park in Thermal, has continued to violate an emergency order requiring him to provide bottled water to residents after dangerous levels of arsenic were found in the well water of the mobile home park.  The EPA has been the lead agency in addressing the arsenic contamination, which was found at Oasis, a 220-unit mobile home park with nearly 2,000 residents. … ”  Read more from the Desert Sun here: Coachella Valley: Oasis mobile home park owner continues to violate EPA order on emergency water supplies, timely sampling

Precipitation watch …

Also on Maven’s Notebook this weekend …

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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

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