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- PUBLIC SCOPING MEETING: Delta Conveyance Environmental Review (Sacramento) from 1pm to 3pm at Cal EPA Headquarters in Sacramento. Read the full Delta Conveyance Notice of Preparation. This meeting will not be webcast.
FWS: Trump regulations boost risk for migratory birds: “The Trump administration’s controversial narrowing of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act will reduce environmental protections that can be expected from industry, the Fish and Wildlife Service predicted today. In proposed new regulations that have immediately prompted heated debate, the federal agency today acknowledged diminished private mitigation as one likely result of limiting the law’s coverage to the intentional killing of migratory birds. The result would be greater danger to birds. “It is anticipated that some entities that currently employ mitigation measures to reduce or eliminate incidental migratory bird take would reduce or curtail these activities given the legal certainty provided by this proposed regulation,” FWS stated. … ” Read more from E&E News here: 🔓 FWS: Trump regulations boost risk for migratory birds
Even after Oroville near-disaster, California dams remain potentially hazardous: “An audit of 650 California dams considered hazardous found that only a small fraction have completed emergency plans required after the Oroville Dam spillway collapsed three years ago and forced the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people. State Auditor Elaine Howle’s recent report says only 22 of the at-risk dams have finalized their plans, which are supposed to include inundation maps and specify what they would do “to minimize loss of life and property.” … ” Read more from the SF Chronicle here: Even after Oroville near-disaster, California dams remain potentially hazardous
Santa Cruz: Changing the (red) tide: Experts to discuss cause, impacts of algal blooms: ““I didn’t know what was happening — the water, usually clear and blue, was brownish red and murky.” Emily Pomeroy, a program manager with Save Our Shores, recalled a visit to Monterey’s Del Monte Beach in the summer months of 2019. “I’d heard of red tides before … but I had never seen one in person,” she said. These periods of discolored water that Pomeroy had stumbled upon can be called a “red tide” though in reality they are better known as a “harmful algal bloom.” They occur when water temperatures and nutrient levels rise, Pomeroy learned, and often lead to devastating consequences for marine life and those who depend on it. … ” Read more from the Santa Cruz Sentinel here: Santa Cruz: Changing the (red) tide: Experts to discuss cause, impacts of algal blooms
Watsonville’s water system needs more than $100M in upgrades, repairs: “The City of Watsonville is staring at more than $100 million of much-needed improvements and additions to its water system over the next 10 years. That’s according to the Water System Master Plan, a first-of-its-kind project the Watsonville City Council approved in April 2019 and reviewed earlier this month. The plan, put together with the help of Carollo Engineers, Inc., lays out a 20-year road map of projects needed to maintain and improve the city’s reservoirs, water tanks, wells, underground pipes and pump stations. ... ” Read more from the Pajaronian here: City’s water system needs more than $100M in upgrades, repairs
Santa Barbara celebrates solid water supply and 100 years of Gibraltar Dam: “In the wake of the worst drought in recent history, the City of Santa Barbara has declared its water supplies are solid enough that there’s no need to buy supplemental water supplies to get through the next two years. That’s true even if drought conditions remain, and Montecito buys 1,400 acre-feet of desalinated water a year from the city. If the drought persists past 2022, however, city water chief Joshua Haggmark acknowledged supplemental water supplies might be necessary. Although Lake Cachuma, the chief water supply for all South Coast water agencies, hasn’t spilled since 2011, recent rains have the reservoir 70 percent full. … ” Read more from the Santa Barbara Independent here: Santa Barbara celebrates solid water supply and 100 years of Gibraltar Dam
Report: San Diego secures $300M to intercept Mexico sewage: “The San Diego region will get $300 million in federal funding for a new U.S. facility to capture sewage spills from Mexico before they foul shorelines north of the border, according to a newspaper report Sunday. Congressional leaders announced the funding in December, but it wasn’t clear whether the money would be distributed across the entire Southwest border or dedicated specifically to address pollution in the Tijuana River Valley just south of San Diego County, the Los Angeles Times reported. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Report: San Diego secures $300M to intercept Mexico sewage
This week in water: “Scientists have revealed an alarming problem at the so-called “doomsday glacier” in Antarctica. The EPA has made two controversial decisions: re-approving the use of glyphosate and making it easier for cities to dump raw sewage into rivers. U.S. mayors rank water infrastructure projects as their top choice to get funding, ahead of roads and broadband. Startup companies are helping farmers to get paid to sequester carbon. Study: Buildings can become a global CO2 sink if made out of wood instead of cement and steel. What’s the best treatment if a child gets a burn? It’s not aloe vera or butter.” Read or listen to podcast here: 🔓 This week in water
Petition for comprehensive adjudication for the Borrego Springs groundwater basin: The Borrego Water District sued Agri-Empire and 59 other entities in San Diego Superior Court, in a fight over the limited amount of groundwater in the Borrego Valley, northeast of San Diego.
Ventura water district claims grower owes $310,000 for groundwater extractions: The United Water Conservation District claims Alfred C. Beserra, Sun Cress Distributors and California Watercress owe more than $310,000 for groundwater, the extraction of which they report inaccurately, in Ventura County Court.
- DAILY DIGEST, weekend edition: How much water do fish need? The California Environmental Flows Framework dives into the question; California ag faces a decade of challenges; The role of estuaries; How climate change could impact future Super Bowls; and more …
- MONTHLY HYDROLOGY REPORT as of January 31
- NOTICE OF PUBLIC WORKSHOP & TRAININGS: Draft Implementation Guidance, State Wetland Definition and Procedures for the Discharges of Dredged or Fill Material to Waters of the State
- WORKSHOP: Army Corps Regulatory Program Workshop will focus on the Navigable Waters Protection Rule
- NOW AVAILABLE: Bioassessment Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) and additional resources for algae and benthic macrovertebrates
- CV-SALTS: Notices to Comply with the new regulations will begin mailing out to permittees starting in March 2020.
- THIS JUST IN … California Marks Key Step Toward Achieving Sustainable Groundwater Management
- THIS JUST IN … Public Comment Opens for Groundwater Sustainability Plans
Image credit: CA streamflow assessment map, courtesy of Belize Lane. From this paper: Lane, B. A., Dahlke, H. E., Pasternack, G. B., & Sandoval‐Solis, S. (2017). Revealing the diversity of natural hydrologic regimes in California with relevance for environmental flows applications. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 53(2), 411-430.
