On the calendar today …
- MEETING: The SSMP Community Engagement Committee will meet at 11:00 a.m. for a virtual meeting on Zoom. Spanish Interpretation will be available. Habrá interpretación en español. Please click here to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
88412977625
In California water news today …
‘Mindboggling’: Will Monday’s big snow tally break a 1952 record in the Sierra Nevada?
“California water officials were set to trek up to Echo Summit south of Lake Tahoe on Monday for a highly anticipated annual snowpack measurement — and this year, it could be like a scene out of the 1975 movie “Jaws.” They’ll — probably — need a bigger ruler. The results could topple a record set more than half century ago. A colossal pounding of snowfall this winter in the Sierra Nevada has produced incredible precipitation numbers for the region, wiped away drought conditions across most of the state and drawn out the ski season until the summertime for some Tahoe resorts. The nonstop slashing of storms has also wrought destruction in some parts of the Bay Area, where high winds and heavy rain have toppled trees and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News. | Read via the East Bay Times.
SEE ALSO: California surpasses all-time snowpack record, from KTLA
Water windfall: Key California reservoir fills for just third time in 12 years
“Five months ago, San Luis Reservoir — the massive lake along Highway 152 between Gilroy and Los Banos — was just 24% full, an arid landscape of cracked mud and lonely boat ramps painfully far away from the dwindling water’s edge. But today in one of the most visible signs that Northern California’s drought is over, San Luis is full. Since Nov. 8, the water level has risen 144 feet — roughly the equivalent of submerging a 10-story building. The state’s fifth-largest reservoir, a key water supply for millions of people from Silicon Valley to San Diego that also irrigates hundreds of thousands of acres of Central Valley farmland, is at 98% capacity and expected to reach 100% in a few days. “A lot of people are coming out to take photos of it,” said Arzan Kermani, a state park aide working at the lake’s south shore this week. “They’re really surprised. The happiest people are the boaters. Hopefully, it stays this way for a long time.” … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News. | Read via the Mendocino Voice.
B.F. Sisk Dam Safety of Dams Project
“B.F. Sisk Dam (formerly San Luis Dam) is a large embankment dam that impounds San Luis Reservoir, an offstream storage facility located on San Luis Creek and Cottonwood Creek approximately 12 miles west of Los Banos, California. The dam was built from 1963 through 1967 and is a principal feature of the Federal Central Valley Project (CVP). It is also a joint-use facility with the State of California, operated as part of the California State Water Project (SWP). Storage capacity and use of the joint-use facility are shared between the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the State of California Department of Water Resources. B.F. Sisk Dam’s authorized benefits included irrigation and municipal and domestic use of water, as well as recreation and fish and wildlife benefits. The San Luis Reservoir is the fourth largest reservoir of the CVP, exceeded only by Shasta Reservoir, Trinity Reservoir, and New Melones Reservoir. … ” Continue reading from the Bureau of Reclamation.
California’s ‘water bad guy’ almonds could be out of luck despite heavy rains
“A slew of intense winter storms battered California and flooded parts of the state. Devastating floods in some of the state’s agricultural regions could cause catastrophic effects for California’s $3 billion strawberry industry, and flooding in Monterey County’s Pajaro has left the local farming industry “in limbo.” Almonds—perhaps California’s most morally divisive crop—have likely not escaped injury from the deluge, despite a single nut needing 1 to 3 gallons of water to grow. Farmers instead warn the upcoming harvest might not produce enough nuts to meet demand. California is the world’s largest producer of the nut, contributing 80% of the globe’s almond supply in 2020. Almonds raked in around $5 billion for California’s farmers in 2021. … ” Read more from the SF Standard.
California’s salmon fishers warn of ‘hard times coming’ as they face canceled season
“Sarah Bates, the captain of a fishing boat in San Francisco, had a feeling something was wrong with the chinook salmon population back in December. “The fish weren’t coming up the river, and to a certain extent, we were just waiting,” Bates, 46, told CNN. “We thought the run was late. And then at some point, it just became clear that fish weren’t coming.” But she and other fishermen weren’t sure how bad it could be. It later turned out that catchers along much of the West Coast likely won’t be fishing for salmon at all this year. “Salmon is my livelihood. It’s my main fishery,” she said. “And it’s the main fishery for a lot of folks in Fisherman’s Wharf. So, I think there are a lot of us that have some hard times coming.” … ” Read more from CNN.
SEE ALSO: California Salmon Stocks Are Crashing. A Fishing Ban Looks Certain, from the New York Times
Wastewater treatment facilities could be a solution for cities’ organic waste challenges
” SB 1383 (Lara, 2016) is perhaps the most significant legislative effort in California to mitigate climate change since 2006. The law calls for a dramatic reduction in the landfilling of food, yard, and other organic waste in order to lower methane emissions by 40% by 2030. Methane is a powerful, but short-lived climate pollutant that is extremely effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Reducing methane emissions through SB 1383 is one of California’s primary climate change mitigation strategies. Under certain circumstances, municipal water resource recovery facilities could partner with the state and local entities to divert organic waste away from landfills using anaerobic digestion. The process is already an integral component of wastewater treatment, and over 90% of wastewater in California is treated at facilities utilizing anaerobic digestion. … ” Read more from Western City.
Is California’s next health concern blood-sucking mosquitoes? All this water spells trouble
“The copious amount of rain and snow that accelerated California’s drought recovery has triggered the state’s next public health concern — and this one sucks your blood. Mosquitoes require water to complete their life cycle and California suddenly has a lot of it. More water means an increase in the transmission rate of the vector-borne disease West Nile Virus, that killed 13 residents last year, according to state data, last updated March 23. “I think the real question is: What happens next?,” said director Dr. Chris Barker with the Pacific Southwest Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
‘Drought is really the rule rather than the exception’: The future of rangelands in California
“With warmer weather on the horizon following a cold and unbelievably wet winter, California’s vegetation will thrive in the coming months, especially on rangelands that cover over half of California’s land. This is great news for California’s ranchers, who rely on rangelands to sustain their livestock. Because rangelands are largely rain-fed, the recent drought has majorly affected the livestock industry. “Rangelands you can think of as those big open landscapes that surround us all over the state. They are incredibly biologically diverse,” said Leslie Roche, associate professor of Cooperative Extension at UC Davis. “They range from arid deserts and shrublands to grasslands and woodlands, and even a lot of our forest lands up in the High Sierras.” … ” Read more from Channel 10.
In commentary today …
Drought, floods, and the future of California’s water challenges
José Pablo Ortiz Partida, Senior Bilingual Water and Climate Scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, writes, ““Is California still in a drought?” is the single most-asked question I hear as someone working daily with water science, advocacy, and policy in California. That question will arise again on April 3 as water officials carry out the season’s final snow survey. My answer as an advocate is the drought won’t end until everyone in California has access to drinking water. We must recognize that drought impacts and recovery are not experienced uniformly across the state. While some regions may recover faster, others, particularly disadvantaged communities, often face prolonged water scarcity and compromised water quality. These disparities highlight the need for a comprehensive and equitable approach to water management that prioritizes the most vulnerable populations and ensures that every person in the state can benefit from the state’s efforts to fulfill the Human Right to Water. … ” Read more from the Union of Concerned Scientists.
What California overlooks when discussing water supply and farms
Mike Wade, executive director of the California Farm Water Coalition, writes, “CalMatters contributor Jim Newton’s concern over California water is sensible. His solution, singling out Imperial Valley agriculture as the problem, is not. Newton falls into the trap of characterizing farms as California’s biggest water user. Where does he think crops grown on farms end up? At the grocery store, of course – or at a restaurant, a school cafeteria, Sacramento’s Farm-to-Fork Festival, even major fast food chains that buy Imperial Valley lettuce to put on their sandwiches. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
Today’s featured article …
MONTHLY RESERVOIR REPORT for April 1st
Written for Maven’s Notebook by hydrologist Robert Shibatani
It has indeed been a March full of madness; and for many reasons other than the usual collegiate festivities.
The month has seen a seemingly continual procession of atmospheric rivers battering the State with conditions that have led to levee breaches, localized flooding, land/mudslides, widespread emergency declarations, and mandatory evacuations. Thankfully, the effects have been largely regionalized compared to previous years, as not all areas of the State have had to endure this year’s weather-related calamities. The State Capitol region, for example, has remained relatively unscathed… touch wood.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NAPA/SONOMA
$251,000 penalty proposed for alleged North Coast water quality violations
“The Eureka attorney and landowner whose post-Walbridge Fire salvage logging in the Felta Creek watershed drew criticism from neighbors and regulatory agencies alike is facing a quarter-million-dollar fine for alleged water quality violations related to erosion and runoff on the site during wet weather a winter ago. Critics of Ken Bareilles’ actions in the hills west of Healdsburg, near the headwaters of Felta Creek, which winds among redwoods and ferns offering a last refuge to endangered coho salmon, celebrated the news. “He’s made a career of just scoffing at the law and spreading damage wherever he’s gone,” said Lucy Kotter, a local resident and member of Friends of Felta Creek, which fought to stop Bareilles’ planned logging in the area, though he eventually was authorized under an emergency salvage exemption. “I’m so glad that the water board is taking action.” … ” Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
BAY AREA
A Bay Area city reels from refinery’s hazardous fallout. Did warnings come too late?
“It was the morning after Thanksgiving when residents in the Bay Area city of Martinez awoke to find their homes, cars and yards blanketed by a mysterious pale residue. Although the dusting resembled ash, there were no wildfires burning nearby. When residents called local authorities, they learned nothing. But then, more than a month later, the Contra Costa County Health Department published a two-page notice informing residents that the “white dust” was a hazardous material released by the Martinez Refining Co. on the northern edge of the city. The health advisory told residents to contact health providers if they were experiencing coughing or difficulty breathing, and that the health department recommended not eating food grown in soil that was exposed to the material. Today, residents of this tight-knit community 30 miles northeast of San Francisco are still demanding to know what risks they face after 20 tons of spent catalyst were lofted over area homes, and why it’s been so hard to get answers. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Promising to prevent floods at Treasure Island, builders downplay risk of sea rise
“Sea level rise is forcing cities around San Francisco Bay to weigh demand for new housing against the need to protect communities from flooding. Builders say they can solve this dilemma with cutting-edge civil engineering. But no one knows whether their ambitious efforts will be enough to keep newly built waterfront real estate safe in coming decades. Meanwhile, developers are busy building — and telling the public that they can mitigate this one effect of climate change, despite mounting evidence that it could be a bigger problem than previously believed. On Treasure Island, a flat tract of 20th-century landfill with epic bay vistas, workers have poured the foundation for a 22-story tower, the first of six planned high-rise buildings, and broken ground on an affordable housing complex. Another, for families and unhoused veterans, is nearly complete. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Public Press.
CENTRAL COAST
California American Water to sign Pure Water Monterey expansion agreement
“California American Water will sign the Pure Water Monterey Expansion (PWMe) agreement. The expansion project is a critical component for future water supplies for the Monterey Peninsula, along with desalination and an Aquifer Storage and Recovery system that stores excess winter river flows for use during dry months. The announcement comes in response to the Order issued yesterday by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) regarding California-American Water Company’s Application for Rehearing of Decision 22-12-001. The order denies a rehearing but modifies several critical portions of the decision. … ” Continue reading from Market Screener.
Proposal for Cuyama Valley frost protection ponds gets chilly reception from commission
“Santa Barbara County planning commissioners appear ready to reject a Harvard University endowment fund’s proposal for man-made ponds to protect Cuyama Valley vineyards from frost damage amid questions about groundwater supply and other issues. The commissioners remain set to deny a proposal to create ponds for use to stave off frost from damaging vineyards in the Cuyama Valley, a project that gained broad opposition from neighbors and others. On Wednesday, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission agreed to delay the North Fork Ranch Frost Ponds Project until May 10 so that staff can craft formal findings of rejection. “This is a really tricky case,” said chairman John Parke, who represents the Third District. … ” Continue reading from Noozhawk.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
“We are in compliance,” says Conagra about alleged Stanislaus River pollution
“In an email dated March 29, a Conagra spokesperson wrote, “Conagra has the proper permits from the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board and we are in compliance with the regulatory requirements as specified in the permits. This includes managing the flow of water from our facility, proper monitoring and completing reporting procedures.” Don Hare, Conagra’s director for “Communications and External Relations,” was responding to our inquiry about possible pollution of the Stanislaus River by wastewater from Conagra’s food processing plant in Oakdale, California. We had heard about the possibility of pollution from an anonymous tipster last October. Subsequently, we learned that a letter about the issue was sent recently to local irrigation districts and the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA). … ” Read more from Valley Citizen.
Agriculture has sustained Kings County residents since the beginning
“Kings County has been known throughout the ages for its natural abundance, and perhaps nowhere is that more evident than in the agricultural community that has evolved and flourished here. The people and events that shaped the lands and crops are as abundant as the crops themselves. First, the Tachi Yokut harvested the native plants of their nuts, berries and rhizomes, hunted the valley’s verdant pastures and fished the vast waters of Tulare Lake. Spanish explorers would discover its natural riches and mountain men from the north would travel here for hunting and trapping before any modern farming settled in. … ” Read more from the Hanford Sentinel.
Boswell holds flood water off some lake bed ground while planting tomatoes
“The rumors were so rampant, that Kings County sent agricultural inspectors into the old Tulare Lake bed to see if the powerful J.G. Boswell Company was holding back flood waters in order to plant tomatoes. “They could not find anything,” Kings County Supervisor Doug Verboon said in a text to SJV Water on March 24. But on Friday, March 31, SJV Water found Boswell fields full of freshly transplanted tomatoes near Utica Avenue in the southern portion of Tulare Lake. The fields stretch out for hundreds of acres. And south of Utica, a crop duster was busy coating even more Boswell fields. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Tulare Lake was drained off the map. Nature would like a word.
“It is no secret to locals that the heart of California’s Central Valley was once the largest body of fresh water west of the Mississippi River, dammed and drained into an empire of farms by the mid-20th century. Still, even longtime residents have been staggered this year by the brute swiftness with which Tulare Lake has resurfaced: In less than three weeks, a parched expanse of 30 square miles has been transformed by furious storms into a vast and rising sea. The lake’s rebirth has become a slow-motion disaster for farmers and residents in Kings County, home to 152,000 residents and a $2 billion agricultural industry that sends cotton, tomatoes, safflower, pistachios, milk and more around the planet. The wider and deeper Tulare Lake gets, the greater the risk that entire harvests will be lost, homes will be submerged and businesses will go under. … ” Read more from the New York Times.
Acres of L.A. County sewage sludge threaten to contaminate Tulare Lake floodwaters
“Here at the western edge of the Tulare Lake Basin dwells a smelly industrial site the size of 150 football fields. Roughly eight times a day, its operations are replenished with a truckload of human waste from the residents of Los Angeles County. Since 2016, the Tulare Lake Compost facility has been converting Southland sewage sludge into high-grade organic fertilizer, and sparing L.A. County the bother of burying its waste in local landfills. But as epic Sierra Nevada snowpack threatens to overwhelm this phantom lake bed with spring runoff — inundating a region that has already suffered flooding from a series of powerful storms — some fear the facility could be transformed into an environmental disaster. … ” Read more from the LA Times. | Read via AOL News.
EASTERN SIERRA
Record wet winter at Mono Lake will help protect California Gulls in 2023
“This winter has exceeded all expectations in terms of snowfall at Mono Lake. From the Mono Basin’s tallest mountains to the low-lying shores of the lake, the snowpack is deep and persisted through the month of March in an unprecedented way thanks to heavy and recurring snow events, which will produce well above 200% of the long-term seasonal runoff average. This bodes well for Mono Lake in 2023, which during the upcoming runoff season is expected to rise substantially as a result of large snowmelt flows surging through its tributary streams. The lake has already risen over one foot this winter to a surface level just below 6,380 feet. This welcome turn of events is a surprise; back in December our hydrology analysis deemed such a rise “physically possible but not probable.” … ” Read more from the Mono Lake Committee.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Chino plans to sell 7 billion gallons of water
“The City of Chino could gain millions of dollars for selling billions of gallons of water. Public Works Director Amer Jakher told the City Council at a March 13 workshop that the city will receive $13.7 million by selling 21,500-acre-feet of water to three entities. That would equate to a little more than 7 billion gallons of water. An acre-foot is equivalent to 325,851 gallons of water. Mr. Jakher said the amount received from the sales would help fund water projects over the next decade. … ” Read more from the Chino Champion.
SAN DIEGO
Special water rates program reduces costs for San Diego county growers
“The San Diego County Water Authority and 13 of its member agencies offer growers a special agricultural water rate program: providing lower-cost water in return for lower reliability. The Water Authority’s Board of Directors approved the Permanent Special Agricultural Water Rate Program (PSAWR) in 2020. It helps support commercial farms driving the economic engine of rural San Diego County. PSAWR gives farmers a choice of what level of water service works best for their operations. Although San Diego County’s economy is best known for tourism and biotechnology, agriculture accounts for $2 billion yearly in regional economic activity, according to the most recent county assessment. … ” Continue reading at the Water News Network.
In national water news today …
Researchers to strengthen U.S. dams, levees with innovations
“The University of Kansas (KU) announced that a team of researchers at the University of Kansas School of Engineering has partnered with U.S. federal agencies in a push to reinforce American dams and levees nationwide using fiber-reinforced polymers, sensors, artificial intelligence and drones. The $7.7 million, five-year project is a partnership between The University of Kansas, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “The project focuses on developing repairs and retrofits for the inventory of concrete dams in the U.S., with an emphasis on efficient damage detection,” said Caroline Bennett, heading work at KU. “In addition to repair methods, we’ll be using fiber-reinforced polymer materials, or FRPs, to address damage. Specifically, we’re targeting sliding at lift joints, restraining rocking between crest block and dam body during seismic loading, and damage on concrete spillways of dams. Our goal is to extend the usable lives of existing concrete dam infrastructure, which was mostly built in the 1930s and 1940s.” … ” Read more from Storm Water Solutions.
Flexible desalination: a renewable energy twist on the energy-water nexus
“A dire new report from the United Nations warns of a looming world water and sanitation crisis. Businesses can help alleviate the problem by supporting work on new desalination technologies that leverage renewable energy, with broader implications for grid reliability and stability as well. … A drop in the cost of energy for desalination is just one water efficiency factor related to renewable energy. Another factor is the potential value of desalination facilities in contributing to the stability and reliability of a grid that depends heavily on wind and solar power. In past years, the use of wind and solar power was limited by weather and time-of-day factors. However, new grid management and energy storage technologies are smoothing out those intermittent bumps, and the U.S. Department of Energy has spotted an opportunity to add desalination facilities to the mix. … ” Read more from the Triple Pundit.
Biden encouraged to follow congressional approval of WOTUS repeal
“Several organizations representing agricultural interests have expressed appreciation for the Congressional effort to overturn the Biden Administration’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. The Congressional Review Act joint resolution has now been approved by both houses of Congress as of last week. In the U.S. House of Representatives, the effective WOTUS repeal was approved by a vote of 227-198. The U.S. Senate also approved the resolution with a vote of 53-43. “A majority of Congress has now told EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers that this overreaching rule will lead to more uncertainty for America’s farmers and ranchers,” American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said in a press release. “Farmers and ranchers are committed to protecting the land and water they rely on to grow food for America’s families. Unfortunately, the 2023 WOTUS threatens the progress made to responsibly manage natural resources. We urge President Biden to recognize the concerns from members of both parties and rescind this troubled rule.” … ” Read more from Ag Net West.
More news and commentary in the weekend edition …
In California water news this weekend …
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Old barn reflects in a rain puddle along Highway 1 between Guadalupe and Orcutt. Photo by Anita Ritenour. The oceans just reached their hottest temperature on record as El Niño looms. Here are 6 things to watch for
- California’s largest reservoirs close to total capacity
- Why water levels remain low at one major California reservoir, even after rain
- California snowpack climbs to all-time high, more winter weather on the way
- Drought or no drought? California left pondering after record winter deluge
- California’s beleaguered bullet train faces another hurdle: flooding from melting snow
- California’s vast farms are soaked. There’s nowhere to plant tomatoes, and that’s just one problem.
- California’s farmers struggle with deepening flood waters
- What’s the future of agriculture?
- Ninth Circuit urged to save salmon dying in Sacramento River
- Flood releases from Friant Dam ‘a blessing’ for San Joaquin River salmon restoration
- An inclusive vision for Bouldin Island
- Tahoe to see sunny weekend, but another storm is on the way
- Friends of Butte Creek now hold instream water rights for Butte Creek
- State pursues receivership for Big Basin Water
- Santa Barbara County Planning Commission votes to deny ‘frost ponds’ in Cuyama Valley
- Poso Creek water ends standoff with powerful the J.G. Boswell when it busts through berms, heads north
- By smallest of margins Mono Lake avoids water diversions quadrupling
- And more …
Click here for the weekend digest.
