California dairies dump milk, crops may be left to wither as coronavirus pandemic disrupts food system: “When Pati Hamm went to the grocery store recently, she found, like most shoppers in California, empty shelves and sparsely stocked refrigerators. What stuck for her and her family, though, was the store’s 2-gallon limit on milk purchases. Hamm’s husband, Jack, is a dairyman, and while many retailers have run low on food items like milk, he’s got plenty. In fact, there’s so much milk on dairy farms across the nation that the price paid to operators for their raw product has dropped by nearly half in recent weeks. Some California diaries can’t even find a place to deliver their milk and have resorted to dumping it in their manure ponds. ... ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: California dairies dump milk, crops may be left to wither as coronavirus pandemic disrupts food system
SEE ALSO: Dumped milk, smashed eggs, plowed vegetables: The food waste of the pandemic, from the New York Times
Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park: ‘The bear population has quadrupled’: “Yosemite Village is normally a crush of humanity and traffic congestion. On Saturday, it was peaceful like few times before — the only sounds coming from the wind and the few local residents. A young bobcat ambled by the nearly abandoned administrative buildings, while ravens prattled and danced in the empty parking lots, and coyotes trotted along the valley’s empty roads and walkways. Tourists aren’t allowed in California’s most popular national park, but if they could visit, they might feel as if they had been transported to another time. Either to a previous era, before millions of people started motoring into the valley every year, or to a possible future one, where the artifacts of civilization remain, with fewer humans in the mix. ... ” Read more from the LA Times here: Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park: ‘The bear population has quadrupled’
A beach coronavirus warning meets a tidal wave of controversy, and the test of science: “For weeks, a debate has been raging over whether going to the beach or swimming in the ocean increases your risk of catching or transmitting the coronavirus. The issue has rankled surfers, overwhelmed runners and bikers and confused anyone seeking the fresh air and freedom of California’s coast. So when a scientist last week suggested sea spray could possibly expose people to the virus, the controversy just exploded. Now, after virulent criticism as well as new and rapidly developing information about the pathogen, the researcher is reassessing this hypothesis. ... ” Read more from the LA Times here: A beach coronavirus warning meets a tidal wave of controversy, and the test of science
DWR deploys world class expertise for Delta conveyance design: “One of the many jobs of the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is to ensure that its public infrastructure assets—like the State Water Project—are maintained and sustained for the health and well-being of present and future California families. The proposed Delta Conveyance Project is intended to do just that. By guarding against potential water supply disruptions caused by sea level rise, the hydrologic effects of climate change, and seismic threats, DWR intends to protect and preserve a vital state water supply for 27 million Californians and nearly a million acres of farmland. … ” Read more from DWR News here: DWR deploys world class expertise for Delta conveyance design
Klamath Dam removal isn’t a ‘bright spot’, says Copco Lake Homeowner Bart Kent: He writes, ” … Our experience with dam removal has been very different that Cox’s “bright spot” outlook. Since KRRC has been on the scene with dam removal; homes at Copco Lake have declined in value at a dramatic rate. This while the general real estate market has seen an increase in property values with mostly short listing times. If a home sells, at Copco Lake, it is generally at a discounted price. Some may be on the market for years. Many older folks who need to get off the lake and be closer to family and medical facilities either can not sell their homes or must take a very low offer. … ” Read more from the Siskiyou Daily News here: Dam removal isn’t a ‘bright spot’
Final Report for Sacramento River Bank Protection Project: “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District has published the final post authorization change report as well as the final environmental impact statement/environmental impact report for the Sacramento River Bank Protection Project. The reports analyze modifications to the long-term project, which identifies, prioritizes, and repairs erosion-related levee deficiencies within the Sacramento River Flood Control Project. … ” Read more from Dredging Times here: Final Report for Sacramento River Bank Protection Project
A U.S. Tribe’s uphill battle against climate change: “For several years, Fawn Sharp has seen her tribe on the coastline of Washington state lurch from crisis to crisis: rising sea levels have flooded the Quinault Indian Nation’s main village, and its staple sockeye salmon in nearby rivers have all but disappeared – a direct hit to the tribe’s finances and culture. Now Sharp, the 49-year-old president of the Quinault, plans to move the tribe to higher ground, restore the fishery, and diversify its economy. The projects are foundering, she says, because of a lack of federal money to help Native Americans adapt to climate change. … ” Read more from the New York Times here: A U.S. Tribe’s uphill battle against climate change
EPA Delaying Some Superfund Work to Limit Coronavirus Spread: “The EPA’s regional offices are reducing or suspending some cleanup work at Superfund sites as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Environmental Protection Agency issued guidance on Friday specific to Superfund cleanup actions. The agency’s regional offices have decided, and may continue to decide, to slow or stop some work because of social distancing restrictions, travel restrictions, and ill employees, the agency said in its memo. ... ” Read more from Bloomberg here: EPA Delaying Some Superfund Work to Limit Coronavirus Spread
This week in water: “Farmers are dumping milk, throwing out eggs, and plowing under crops because of reduced demand from restaurants. There’s a slowdown in commercial fishing due to the coronavirus and that could allow some species to flourish. A new study speculates that a group of monkeys crossed the Atlantic on a raft. Pandemic models don’t monitor ships—but the vessels have played a role in the spread of disease. Want to reduce the amount of toilet paper you buy? Try this.” Listen/read here: This week in water
Statewide and Delta Planning Processes Explained
California Water Plan, Bay Delta Plan, Delta Plan, Delta Conveyance Project, and more … this handy information page will help sort out the multitude of water planning processes currently underway
Currently, there are three major planning processes focused exclusively on the Delta, two broader statewide plans, and multitudes of smaller plans and programs that affect the Delta in some way. Some plans are regulatory which means agencies/entities have to comply with them such as the Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan or the Delta Plan; some plans make recommendations and are meant to inform other processes and plans such as the California Water Plan, and still others assess progress and detail how multiple agencies will work together to achieve common goals such as the San Francisco Estuary Blueprint.
What are all these different plans and processes? This page will help sort them all out for you.
Click here to read this article.
California’s groundwater
Groundwater in California has received a lot of attention lately, and for good reason: We use a lot of it. So much so, California’s groundwater is use is the largest in the United States, with approximately 16% of the nation’s groundwater supplies being extracted from the state’s aquifers.
Groundwater is often described as a ‘hidden resource’; because it cannot be directly seen, it is likely most Californians do not give much thought to the economic benefits that the vast groundwater supply has added to the State, nor consider it’s value. But it is unlikely that California could have achieved its present status as the largest food and agricultural economy in the nation and eighth largest overall economy in the world without the state’s abundant groundwater resources.
These economic benefits have not come without many costs: the diminished quantity and degraded quality of groundwater resources, the infrastructure damaged by land subsidence, the decline in ecosystem services provided by the interaction of groundwater and surface water, and the increased energy required to bring the groundwater to the surface.
Many of the state’s groundwater basins are being managed sustainably – meaning that withdrawals do not exceed the amount replenished by man or by nature; but in some basins, especially those underlying major agricultural regions in the southern Central Valley and Central Coast, groundwater withdrawal far exceeds the amount that is recharged, causing conditions of overdraft and threatening this vital resource.
Click here to read this page.
Also updated …
- Water and hydrology resources on the internet: Reservoir conditions, precipitation indexes, snow charts, drought maps and more …
- Storm and flood management resources on the internet: Radar, satellite, atmospheric rivers, river stages, and more …
DAILY DIGEST, weekend edition: How will groundwater sustainability agencies pay for their plans?; Fish and Game Commission meeting rescheduled for next week; Price of reclaimed water still too high for ag; LaMalfa pushes for rural water, aid amid virus crisis; and more …
WETLANDS REGULATIONS: Revised notice of public workshops on the State Wetland Definition and Procedures for the Discharges of Dredged or Fill Material to Waters of the State
FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: New Department of Conservation SGMA Watershed Coordinator Grant Program
OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT: Corps releases Final Post Authorization Change and Environmental Reports for Sacramento River Bank Protection Project
NOTICE: Draft Final Policy for Developing the Fund Expenditure Plan for the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund
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.
