DAILY DIGEST, 10/1: “Madness and arrogance” blamed for SGMA lawsuit; How to avoid lawsuits when allocating groundwater; Newsom vetoes Friant-Kern Canal fix bill; Harder’s nutria bill moves forward; Winter season forecast; and more …

The lawsuit, among other things, asserts several areas of unlawful activity by the IWVGA:

1. Despite SGMA’s charge that the GSA not affect common law water rights, the IWVGA gave a zero-groundwater allocation to Mojave as overlying landowners presently irrigating an existing 1,596-acre pistachio orchard, on the basis its rights were “inferior”.
2. The IWVGA violated SGMA by reserving the basin’s entire sustainable yield to the Navy with the knowledge that the Navy’s formal position is they need only a quarter of that amount.
3. Beginning in January 2021, the combined fees on Mojave’s future extraction of groundwater exceed $2,130 per acre-foot and will be more than $255,000,000 over the twenty-year period SGMA granted GSAs to attain sustainability.
4. IWVGA’s conditioning the extraction of groundwater upon the payment of $2,130 per AF while other beneficial uses are excluded from the fee – violates SGMA and
constitutes a physical and regulatory taking of appurtenant overlying water rights entitling them to more than $250,000,000 in damages.
5. Additionally, Mojave alleges that IWVGA also violated California’s Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it fails to account for the environmental impacts of the dramatic consequences of land fallowing that will result when Mojave and other agricultural properties are no longer able to farm.

“I’ve participated in the development of many GSP’s across California – all in critically over drafted basins – and reviewed many more. None I have seen are remotely as egregiously flawed as this one.” said Anthony Brown, of Aquilogic, Mojave’s consulting hydrologist.

Mojave is asking the Court to invalidate the currently flawed GSP, the Extraction Fee, the Replenishment Fee, and other implementing actions and direct the IWVGA to prepare a new GSP that complies with SGMA and constitutional requirements.

“Mojave represents what is best about farming. We are playing our part in feeding the world. We are good stewards of the land and farm under best management practices. We are amicably participating in SGMA planning across California and we have left no stone unturned here in our effort to collaborate towards achieving sustainable groundwater management plan that considers all beneficial uses, including agriculture. IWVGA’s giving our 1,596-acre orchard a zero allocation is shameful and should be terrifying to agriculture everywhere. And with a pending operative date of January 1, 2021, it is with profound sadness that we must proceed with this suit. We love and respect the Navy and have no quarrel with the importance of its mission. This suit seeks no relief against the Navy and it is made necessary by the madness and arrogance of former Navy Base Commander Mick Gleason and his intention to destroy agriculture and specifically us.” said Rod Stiefvater, owner of Mojave Pistachios.

The IWVGA lawsuit can be found here.

The four listed species to be highlighted by Saving Species Together include:

• Western snowy plover: Resource managers and volunteers help protect and restore habitat for the western snowy plover at Point Reyes National Seashore and the Mike Thompson Wildlife Area, South Spit Humboldt Bay.
• Coho salmon: Coho specialists from a timber company, a non-profit and NOAA Fisheries help juvenile Coho salmon in the Eel River Watershed.
• San Joaquin kit fox: Resource managers, non-profits and a solar company find ways to protect the endangered San Joaquin kit fox in urban environments and on a 26,500-acre preserve in the Central Valley.
• California tiger salamander: Resource managers, private developers and biological consultants work together to protect the California tiger salamander in native habitat in northern California grasslands.

The SavingSpeciesTogether.org website is hosted by CDFW. It includes the videos, information about the featured species, information on what private landowners and the public can do to help listed species, campaign outreach materials and many other resources.

The videos were produced by Full Frame Productions. The program was funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation with community service funds paid by the defendant in a securities fraud case captioned as United States of America v. Wildlife Management, LLC (N.D. California).

“Bipartisanship works! I’m glad I had the opportunity to work with Congressman Graves and Senators Kennedy and Feinstein – and President Trump – to get this done,” said Rep. Harder. “This is a win for everyone – farmers can sleep better knowing their crops and water infrastructure are safe and environmentalists can be happy that the native plants and animals being destroyed by these swamp rats will survive. We proved that you can still get things done in Washington by working across the aisle – even if it takes bringing a dead rat to the Floor of Congress.”

We’ve spent months hosting meetings with Congressman Harder and representatives of the nutria community, but no solutions have prevailed in our negotiations for their peaceful surrender. Our funds were almost depleted but our spirits remained untouched in the fight for the soul of our marsh and coastal communities,” said Rep. Graves. “With this swift action from the Commander in Chief, the states will have the resources needed to fight back the invasive species that accelerate the destruction of coastal wetlands.”

Nutria were originally introduced to the United States as part of the fur trade in the late 1800s but were eradicated from California in the 1970s. The invasive rat made a sudden reappearance in 2017. Over 1,600 have been taken from the wild since then. Nutria can devour up to 25 percent of their body weight daily and one female can lead to 200 offspring per year. These invaders threaten water infrastructure, certain crops, and indigenous wildlife.

In June of 2019, Rep. Harder introduced his bill to reauthorize the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2003. Since its introduction, the bill has been amended to direct $12 million to programs in nutria-impacted states, including California. The programs supported by the bill encourage habitat protection, education, research, monitoring, and capacity building to provide for the long-term protection of wetlands from destruction caused by nutria. Following today’s vote, the bill will be sent to the Senate.

Representative Harder has repeatedly pushed to pass the bill. Last year, he brought “Nellie,” a life-size taxidermy nutria to a Congressional hearing to illustrate the threat posed by the invader. In a separate hearing, he brought a graphic example of the invasion curve (colloquially referred to as a “#RatChart”) to demonstrate the need to act urgently. In February, during House debate on his bill, Rep. Harder brought Nellie back to the Capitol again – this time to the House floor –  to encourage his colleagues to support his bill.

The bill passed the House in a unanimous bipartisan vote. This week, the Senate passed the bill through the “hotline” process, which requires unanimous support from every member of the Senate. Rep. Harder was joined on the bill by Republican Garrett Graves of Louisiana as well as fellow California Representatives Jim Costa, TJ Cox, John Garamendi, Barbara Lee, and Jimmy Panetta. Identical legislation was introduced in the Senate by Senators John Kennedy and Dianne Feinstein. 

“Reclamation is pleased to continue our partnership with CDFW for operations of our Nimbus Fish Hatchery on the lower American River,” said Drew Lessard, Central California area office manager. “The important work of ensuring yearly fish mitigation objectives is crucial for Reclamation to continue operations of Folsom Dam and the greater Central Valley Project.”

Under this new agreement, CDFW will continue operations and maintenance of the Nimbus Fish Hatchery with the objective of meeting Reclamation’s mitigation requirements for the construction of Nimbus Dam. The Chinook-salmon smolts and steelhead yearlings produced from this process are released back into the American river and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, helping conserve these vital fish populations.

For additional information email Sarah Perrin at sperrin@usbr.gov or call at 916-537-7063 (TTY 800-877-8339).“

The plan, authorized by Congress in the America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018, will provide flood risk management benefits to over 71,000 acres of mixed-use land with a current population estimated at 160,000 residents and an estimated $21 billion in property. The recommended plan includes North and Central Stockton –Delta Front, Lower Calaveras River, and San Joaquin River levee improvements. The structural features of the plan include approximately 24 miles of levee improvements, and two closure structures (Fourteen-mile Slough and Smith Canal). The non-structural measures include a comprehensive flood warning system, emergency evacuation planning and floodplain management. The project is estimated to cost $1.3 billion with annual benefits of $255 million.

“San Joaquin County has one of the Central Valley’s highest concentrations of people exposed to flood risk,” said Central Valley Flood Protection Board President Bill Edgar. “Financially, the magnitude of needed improvements to flood protection facilities is more than the state and locals can manage on their own. Partnership with the Corps, therefore, is critical to our collective ability to protect residents, more than 160 critical infrastructure sites – including the new VA hospital – and billions in damageable property.”

Currently USACE is completing design of the first planned reach TS30L, located along Tenmile Slough between West March Lane and White Slough west of Interstate 5, and beginning geotechnical analysis and pre-design for up to 10 additional reaches.

“We’re very encouraged by and appreciative of the Corps’ significant investment in the planning, design and construction of critical flood risk reduction projects to protect families, homes, businesses, and vital public facilities in our region,” said Manteca City Councilmember and San Joaquin Area Flood Control Agency Board Chair Gary Singh. “Although we still have a long road ahead of us, this first increment of design and construction will go a long way toward increasing our region’s resiliency to flood threats from ever more unpredictable storms and sea level rise.”

“The Department of Water Resources is excited to partner on this critical project to protect people and businesses in the greater Stockton region,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “This project aligns with the state’s commitment of making a more resilient flood system and our collective understanding that we must provide flood protection to those historically marginalized communities who have had to withstand the greatest burden of risk.”

In June, the San Joaquin Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) voted unanimously in favor of consolidating the districts. The former 6,000-acre WSID service area West of Tracy was incorporated into the existing 30,000-acre service area of BBID, establishing a single 36,000-acre district. Former WSID Directors Tom Pereira and Jack Alvarez have become BBID Board Directors in newly created Divisions XIII and IX, respectively. The former boundaries of WSID are now known as the West Side Service Area. All former WSID employees have become BBID staff.

“This is a great step forward that will keep our farmers in business,” said Jack Alvarez, former WSID Board President and new BBID Board Director. “We are stronger together, with a greater ability to manage costs and provide reliable water deliveries.”

The merger has been in the works since 2016, when both districts first voted to move forward and BBID began managing WSID operations. Landowners expressed their strong support at a public meeting held at the outset of the process. Last year, LAFCO adopted a final Municipal Service Review (MSR) and Sphere of Influence (SOI) prepared by both districts, which includes an extensive review of financial information, infrastructure, and services provided.

BBID previously merged with the Plain View Water District in 2004.  Byron-Bethany Irrigation District (BBID) is a multi-county special district serving parts of Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Joaquin Counties across 55 square miles and 36,000 acres. The district serves more than 215 agricultural customers and more than 20,000 residents of the Mountain House community. For
additional media information, contact Nick Janes at 630.915.6493, or via email at n.janes@bbid.org.

“Every Californian has the right to clean and reliable water. Although communities statewide have made considerable strides to build resilience, those with limited resources and capacity remain vulnerable to water insecurity,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “Only by working together and advancing state and regional partnerships can we implement long-term sustainable solutions, particularly when it comes to providing safe and reliable drinking water to underserved communities. We are proud to support these projects as they demonstrate our continued effort in advancing the human right to water.”

Among the award recipients is the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, which received $2.25 million in grant funding to construct an oxidation-filtration treatment facility. In recent years, residents in the disadvantaged communities of Willowbrook and a portion of the City of Compton have observed brown drinking water caused by elevated levels of manganese, a natural occurring mineral. This project is a cost-effective treatment method that will successfully lower the levels of manganese in one of two drinking water wells serving over 6,800 residents, improving water quality and increasing groundwater production for domestic water distribution.

Another award recipient is an excellent example of the importance of collaboration and leveraging resources. The Calleguas Municipal Water District and Las Virgenes Municipal Water District (LVMWD)  – neighboring water agencies in Los Angeles and Ventura counties that depend entirely on imported water – received $3.5 million in funding for an interconnection project that consists of a new pipeline, pump station, and pressure reducing station to allow delivery of alternative potable water supplies from one district to the other during emergency and normal operating conditions. The project will improve operational flexibility to ensure a more reliable water supply for 660,000 Calleguas customers and 70,000 LVMWD customers.

This award builds on a previous Proposition 84 IRWM award of almost $2 million for the Las Virgenes portion of the project. Through the IRWM Program, the two water agencies are achieving solutions benefiting a much greater population than either could have achieved alone.

These awards conclude the grant solicitation period for Round 1 of DWR’s Proposition 1 IRWM Implementation Grant Program. In total, more than $212 million in grants has been awarded since April 2020, funding approximately 250 projects throughout the state. These include nearly 35 projects that serve to improve groundwater sustainability, four Flood Managed Aquifer Recharge projects, and 25 ecosystem improvement projects. More than $81 million of that funding was also awarded to projects benefiting disadvantaged and underrepresented communities, including at least four projects that will support California Tribes.

The Round 2 grant solicitation process for this grant program is planned to commence in late-2021 and will offer more than $180 million in competitive grant funding.

To learn more, visit the IRWM Grant Program webpage.

“San Diego Water Works was created to help meet the growing need for skilled water industry workers at a time when retirements are reducing the workforce. The site is the result of a regional water industry task force convened to address the “silver tsunami” of Baby Boomers.

“We want to fill the pipeline with new generations of talent,” said Water Authority General Manager Sandra L. Kerl. “This is an industry that can really benefit from people with a diversity of backgrounds and educational experiences.”

While some water agencies have reduced hiring during the pandemic, roughly half of the current water industry workforce in the San Diego region will be eligible to retire in the next 15 years and many of those workers are in essential positions. In just the next five years, about 1,400 water and wastewater industry jobs are expected to open across the region. In addition to engineers and plant operators, the industry relies on technicians, accountants, electricians, mechanics, information technology specialists and many other occupations.

“The water industry offers careers that are not only personally and professional rewarding but also are vital for our region,” said Christopher McKinney, the City of Escondido’s Director of Utilities, and chair of the regional task force. “This is a chance to really make a difference in our community.”

The San Diego Water Works website includes:

• Current water and wastewater job postings in the San Diego region
• Training and education resources, career advice and internship programs
• Featured jobs that highlight rewarding careers in the water industry
• Information about special training programs and internships for military veterans

The new website aligns with the priorities of water agencies in San Diego County to help military veterans find jobs in the water and wastewater industry. State legislation co-sponsored by the San Diego County Water Authority and the Otay Water District was signed into law in 2019, making it possible for veterans to receive credit for their military education and experience when applying for civilian water and wastewater system operator certifications in California.

“More than 15,000 military personnel transition from active duty each year in San Diego County, and many have the skills and experience that match the needs of regional water industry employers,” said Jose Martinez, Otay Water District general manager, U.S. Navy veteran and a member of the regional workforce development task force. “As a veteran, I understand the importance of a website like this; it is a great starting point for veterans to find jobs and training programs as well as to discover what resources are available in the industry.”

The President also directed agencies to convene experts and develop an action plan to improve forecasting of water availability and promote the expanded use of technology for improving the accuracy and reliability of water and power deliveries. The actions in the Western Water PM, which were completed in under two years, will support reliable water supplies for the American West and promote economic prosperity in the region.

“After decades of uncoordinated regulatory actions, President Trump promised that his Administration would streamline regulatory processes to support reliable water supplies for families, farmers, and communities in the West. Just two years later, we have fulfilled this promise,” said CEQ Chairman Mary Neumayr. “Thanks to the agencies’ close and efficient coordination, they have completed environmental reviews for major water projects, as well as advanced technologies to support reliable water supplies, which will benefit our economy, environment and current and future generations of Americans.”

“President Trump called on us to provide safe, reliable water for our Nation’s families, farms, and communities. In fulfilling this Presidential Memorandum, we achieved each and every directive through unmatched coordination and collaboration across Federal agencies,” said Interior Assistant Secretary for Water & Science Dr. Tim Petty. “We are modernizing our water projects, policies, science and technology, and way of doing business to better meet the demands of the American West.”

“Partners across the West Coast have worked hard to balance multiple demands on water for flood risk reduction; reliable flows for farms, families, and municipalities; dependable hydropower; and cultural needs for Native American tribes; while protecting threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead,” said retired Navy Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Deputy Administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “Doing its part, NOAA collaborated with other Federal, State, and Tribal agencies, farmers, and local communities to improve information and modeling capabilities, streamline regulatory processes and ensure reliable water supplies across the West. We will continue applying our advances in science and technology to focus actions where they will make the most positive impact.”

“Water is a critical resource that is necessary for human health, agricultural productivity, and economic growth,” said DOE Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Daniel R. Simmons. “We are pleased to support the Western Water PM’s objectives to improve technology and investment in water supplies and local hydroelectric projects. Through the Water Security Grand Challenge, where we are working together with our partners to develop technological solutions to meet the need for safe, secure, and affordable water and enhance America’s economic growth and energy security.”

“In full partnership with the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bonneville Power Administration, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expedited the completion of the Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement,” said Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James. “Having received thousands of thoughtful comments by the public, we are able to meet the varying needs and interests of Columbia River Basin users in the context of science as envisioned by the Presidential Memorandum on Western Water.”

“EPA is proud to support our Federal partners in developing actions to help ensure a safe and reliable supply of water in the western United States,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water David Ross. “Through close coordination and collaboration, we are working to deliver historic water achievements, including the National Water Reuse Action Plan, which is advancing water reuse technology to diversify water supplies and ensure the viability of our water economy for generations to come.”

Background: 

On October 19, 2018, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum on Promoting the Reliable Supply and Delivery of Water in the West.

Pursuant to the Western Water PM, agencies completed environmental reviews required for the Central Valley Project and California State Water Project, and the Columbia River System Operations.

In addition to streamlining environmental review processes for specific projects, the Western Water PM also directed the Departments of the Interior and Commerce to convene water experts and resource managers to develop an action plan to improve information and modeling capabilities related to water availability and water infrastructure projects – this Federal Action Plan for Improving Forecasts of Water Availability was released on October 2019.

The Western Water PM also called for improving use of technologies to improve the reliability and accuracy and delivery of water and power, including enabling the use of recycled water – the National Water Reuse Action Plan was issued on Feb. 27, 2019.

For more information: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-working-promote-reliable-water-access-west/