On the calendar today …
- PUBLIC MEETING: 2021 Reinitiation of Consultation on the Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project from 1pm to 3pm. Reclamation will hold a quarterly meeting to provide an update on the development of the biological assessment for the 2021 Reinitiation of Consultation on the Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project, pursuant to the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act. The meeting will be held virtually on Microsoft Teams. Link to meeting and meeting materials available at https://www.usbr.gov/mp/bdo.
In California water news today …
Step inside California’s covert control room that’s moving ‘more water than places to put it’
“From an unmarked Sacramento office building next to a Costco, a handful of dispatchers in front of computer screens move enough water to quench the thirst of 27 million Californians. A few clicks open the gates for nearly two dozen dams and ship entire cities worth of water through 700 miles of canals. Every day they heave it up 1,926 feet, the highest single water lift in the world, and consume more energy than anything else in the state. Just months ago, three of the driest years on record sapped the world’s largest water utility into a state of anemia. Now a historic snowpack is gushing off the Sierra and the Operations Control Center of the California State Water Project is moving a deluge. In fact, it’s moving too much. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee. | Read via Yahoo News.
Could Mother Nature cut off California’s water guarantee?
“In the contentious, yearlong negotiations over how to share the pain of Colorado River shortages, California officials leaned on their state’s status as the basin’s most senior water rights holder — or the last in line to take cuts when supplies run low — to fend off arguments it should bear the brunt of reductions. The gambit worked, ultimately sparking a compromise in which California will share cuts with Arizona and Nevada over the next three years. The deal means the state will give less than 10 percent of its annual allocation, in line with its original offer. But in a future where the Colorado River remains reduced by drought, could climate change end up pulling rank on California? It’s a question that could become clearer with the next round of negotiations about use of the river, when some observers say California’s supremacy among the seven Colorado River states could find itself trumped by the stark reality of less water to go around. … ” Read more from E&E News.
A new California policy highlights the importance of beavers, and offers protections
“There used to be hundreds of millions of beavers in North America. But that was before the launch of the European-American fur trade began in the 1600s, which decimated the species. Today, ecohydrologist Emily Fairfax said about 10% of that population remains. Their absence, she added, has had a big impact on the continent. She describes the animal as an “ecosystem engineer” given their unique ability to create wetland habitat. “When you take all those beavers out, and you take them out really rapidly like happened during the fur trade … all of that natural infrastructure starts to degrade and wash away,” said Fairfax, who studies beavers with California State University Channel Islands. “There’s just massive land-use changes that resulted in things like drying of landscape, serious aridification, overgrown forests and a lot of fire.” … ” Read more from Capital Public Radio.
Lake Oroville at 100% capacity as CA reservoirs see significant gains
“With the monumental storms that hit California this winter, there are positive updates for the state’s reservoir levels. Lake Oroville, the second largest reservoir in the state, is now at 100% capacity this morning. Lake Shasta, California’s largest reservoir, is at 97% capacity. Trinity and New Melones rely on snowmelt to fill up and they are both seeing large gains over the past two months. Both are seeing some of their highest levels since 2019. … ” Read more from Channel 7.
Return of El Niño threatens new levels of economic destruction
“As the world struggles to recover from Covid-19 and Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds on, the arrival of the first El Niño in almost four years foreshadows new damage to an already fragile global economy. The shift to a warming phase from the cooler La Niña can generate chaos, especially in fast-growing emerging economies. Power grids strain and blackouts become more frequent. Extreme heat creates public health emergencies, while drought adds to fire risks. Crops are lost, roads are flooded and homes are destroyed. According to Bloomberg Economics modeling, previous El Niños resulted in a marked impact on global inflation, adding 3.9 percentage points to non-energy commodity prices and 3.5 points to oil. They also hit growth to gross domestic product, especially in Brazil, Australia, India and other vulnerable countries. Combined with more extreme weather and hotter temperatures due to accelerated climate change, the stage is now set for the world’s costliest El Niño cycle since meteorologists started keeping track. … ” Read more from Bloomberg (gift article).
Process turns harmful pollutants into harmless substances
“As scientists look for ways to clean up “forever chemicals” in the environment, an increasing concern is a subgroup of these pollutants that contain one or more chlorine atoms in their chemical structure. In a recent study published in the journal Nature Water, University of California, Riverside, environmental and chemical engineering Associate Professor Jinyong Liu and UCR graduate student Jinyu Gao describe newly discovered chemical reaction pathways that destroy chlorinated forever chemicals and render them into harmless compounds. Known formally as PFAS or poly- and per-fluoroalkyl substances, forever chemicals have been used in thousands of products ranging from potato chip bags, stain and water repellents used on fabrics, cleaning products, non-stick cookware, and fire-suppressing foams. They are so named because they persist in the environment for decades or longer due to their strong fluorine-to-carbon chemical bonds. … ” Read more from UC Riverside.
Newsom and Democratic lawmakers remain divided on infrastructure plan
“Democrats leading California’s Senate and Assembly on Monday announced a legislative state budget deal, but they remain at odds with Gov. Gavin Newsom over his sweeping plan to streamline major infrastructure projects and reduce environmental litigation delays. Newsom introduced a series of budget bills related to infrastructure last month after lawmakers had already wrapped up committee hearings on spending proposals. Democrats in Newsom’s party have criticized the governor over the late-arriving legislation and expressed concern about not having sufficient time to conduct potential impacts on communities and the environment. “I just want to express my extreme disappointment that this comes at this time,” said Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, a Democrat who lives in Stockton and represents cities in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, during a Senate hearing last week. “It feels disrespectful to the process, to all the work that we’ve done.” … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Reconnecting cycles, soils, and carbon key to forest health
“Peer into the dense understory in parts of West Sonoma County and it’s easy to think the packed forest is healthy, but mending and tending our wild spaces sometimes means seeing them differently. “What is a forest and it’s, and it’s a relationship,” Brock Dolman said at a recent talk for Fire Safe Sonoma. Dolman is co-founder and restoration biologist at the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center. “Our mantra here has really been fewer trees and more forest,” Dolman said. Thinning out crowded under stories is an important part of the process for Dolman. He said the byproduct, commonly called slash, shouldn’t be feared. … ” Read more from Northern California Public Media.
California wildfires incinerate vast amounts of land. But far more could burn in a warmer world, study says
“The amount of land scorched by wildfires in Northern and Central California has increased fivefold in the last two decades — and nearly all of that increase can be attributed to human-caused climate change, according to a new study published Monday. By 2050, the amount of land burned could increase another 3% to 52%, depending on the level of temperature change in the next three decades, according to study author Amir AghaKouchak, a professor of earth science systems at UC Irvine. That climate change is related to ever-increasing wildfires in California is not a new concept, but AghaKouchak and his team wanted to quantify the extent to which human emissions have altered fire activity beyond natural conditions. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
MORE WILDFIRE COVERAGE:
- Human-caused climate change at the center of recent California wildfires, from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories
- California Wildfires Are Five Times Bigger Than They Used to Be, from Bloomberg
Ocean temperatures are off the charts, and El Niño is only partly to blame
“In a world of worsening climate extremes, a single red line has caught many people’s attention. The line, which charts sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean, went viral over the weekend for its startling display of unprecedented warming — nearly 2 degrees (1.09 Celsius) above the mean dating back to 1982, the earliest year with comparable data. Ocean temperatures are so anomalously high that Eliot Jacobson, a retired mathematics professor who created the graph using data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, had to “increase the upper bound on the y-axis,” he said. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
In commentary today …
Water is precious in the American West. California barely even tries to manage it
Nell Green Nylen, a senior research fellow at the Wheeler Water Institute in the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment at UC Berkeley School of Law; Dave Owen, a professor at UC College of the Law San Francisco, and Michael Kiparsky, director of the Wheeler Water Institute, write, “For eight days last summer, a group of about 80 California ranchers and farmers took more than half the Shasta River’s flow during severe drought conditions, violating state requirements designed to protect salmon. The state’s water regulator couldn’t stop the illegal diversion but fined the group the maximum penalty it could — $4,000. The fine translated to about $50 per person. That’s not much of a deterrent. The reality is when water, arguably California’s most important resource, is stretched thinnest, the state can’t effectively stop people from taking it out of turn. As a result, many communities and individuals struggle to meet basic human needs for water and the ecosystems we all depend on suffer. … ” Continue reading at the San Francisco Chronicle (gift article).
California leaders made promises after Planada flooded. They need to keep them
Anastacio Rosales writes, “Planada has been my home for 58 years. I’ve worked many different jobs, particularly in agriculture – as do many of the hard-working folks who make up the Planada community. So many of us have worked for years building up savings to purchase a home here. That is why it was heartbreaking for us when the homes we labored so much for were damaged or completely destroyed in the January floods. These were more than houses – they were symbols of a lifetime of hard work. … California legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom have already pledged statewide disaster assistance, but it barely scratches the surface. The UC Merced Community and Labor Center determined we need $20.3 million from the state budget to recover. Planada needs our state leaders to listen to us and advocate for this vital funding. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
Today’s featured article …
DELTA ISB: Decision-making under deep uncertainty: What is it and why is it useful?
The Delta is constantly changing and predicting these changes has become a difficult task. As California’s climate changes in sometimes unexpected ways, looking to what has happened in the past is no longer adequate. New methods approaches to managing the Delta will be necessary. But how will the Delta change in the future, and how can we be prepared?
To deal with the increasing uncertainty of future conditions, the Delta Independent Science Board has taken on a project to raise awareness about scientific tools and concepts that can aid management and policy decision-making. As part of this project, the board is hosting a webinar series called “Decision-making Under Deep Uncertainty.” The first webinar featured Alice Hill, a senior fellow for energy and the environment at the Council on Foreign Relations. Ms. Hill discussed the challenges and advantages of planning for extreme events, and identified effective ways to organize government entities around these issues.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
The Kerry Landreth Preserve, McCloud River
“The McCloud River is one of California’s aquatic jewels. Located near the top of California, north of the Sierra Nevada and at the southern end of the Cascade Range, the McCloud snakes its way down a scenic canyon beneath the rugged slopes of 14,000-foot Mount Shasta. The cool waters of the river roil with life. In the spring, clouds of emerging insects dance across the waters as they hatch, and trout are driven to fits of feeding frenzy. The McCloud has been a fisherman’s paradise ever since its original inhabitants, the Wintu Indians, speared and trapped salmon and steelhead as the fish made their seasonal journeys from the sea. … ” Read more from The Nature Conservancy.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Dye Creek Preserve
“Near the northern end of California’s Central Valley lies the 37,540-acre Gray Davis Dye Creek Preserve, a refuge encompassing untilled valley grasslands and rugged Lassen foothills. Protecting virtually the entire Dye Creek watershed and a diverse array of life, these wild lands are the centerpiece in a mosaic of properties safeguarding wildlife migratory pathways over land, in the water and by air. Blue oaks endemic to California dominate the preserve’s sun-baked hilltops, staying green through the rainless summer and providing a vital food source for woodpeckers and black bears alike. Winter storms high in the Lassen region push Tehama black-tailed deer, the state’s largest migratory deer herd, down to the Preserve’s foothills and valley floor, where the herd finds forage during the winter and spring. … ” Read more from The Nature Conservancy.
DWR preps for upcoming storms at Oroville Dam spillway
“More thunderstorms are expected in the mountains and for the snowpack, that could mean additional runoff. The California Department of Water Resources is getting ready to potentially brace for this as Lake Oroville continues to sit at 899 feet and releases from the spillway maintain 8,000 cubic feet per second. However, that release may not rise, said Tracy Pettit-Polhemus, supervising engineer for DWR’s State Water Project Operations Control Office. “The likelihood to increase releases is small. DWR continues to assess conditions and will make changes accordingly,” Pettit-Polhemus said. Pettit-Polhemus said inflows are expected to increase somewhat on Tuesday before decreasing as the week goes on. “The inflow forecast indicates about 9,000 cfs (Monday), increasing to about 9,400 cfs (Tuesday), then decreasing to about 7,500 cfs by the end of this week,” Pettit-Polhemus said. … ” Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record.
Water efficiency: The City of Roseville pools resources with a variety of key players
“No city can manage its water needs alone. To be ready for anything from drought to deluge, it takes partners to keep taps flowing. The City of Roseville, for example, works with regional partners as well as state and federal agencies, explains Sean Bigley, Roseville’s Assistant Environmental Utilities Director. Its regional partners share water from the same major sources: Folsom Reservoir, the American River and underground wells. State and federal agencies govern water policy from a broader perspective, including long-term solutions such as building new reservoirs. By working together, these partners can make the most of every drop. … ” Read more from the Sacramento News & Review.
BAY AREA
EBMUD to update Lafayette city council on lowering reservoir tower
“One of Lafayette’s most iconic landmarks is about to undergo some major changes. The Lafayette City Council on Monday will hear a report from the East Bay Municipal Utility District on its plans to lower the 170-feet-tall tower in the Lafayette Reservoir by 40 feet due to seismic danger. The tower near the reservoir’s northeast end was built in 1929. The reservoir was completed in 1933 and opened for recreation in 1966. … ” Read more from The Patch.
Why the Hayward Fault is the epicenter of debate over housing goals vs. earthquake risk
“A large crack running through the former Fremont City Hall is a stark symbol of the risks and realities of living in earthquake country — and the powerful forces that lie beneath our feet in the Bay Area. The building in the southeast corner of Fremont’s Central Park is a nondescript, one-story tan structure. It is unremarkable, except in one way: Fremont’s old city hall, now a community center, was built on top of the Hayward Fault. “I grew up in Hayward, so I’ve always had this in the back of my mind,” said Monica Esqueda, a staffer with MS Nucleus, a local science resource nonprofit with access to the building. “But I definitely don’t think people are prepared.” … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
Commentary: Pleasanton politics — Toxic just like the water
Pleasanton resident Anne Fox writes, “Who can forget the water contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan a few years ago? After Flint was forced to change its drinking water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River, a research team headed by professor Marc Edwards from Virginia Tech discovered Flint’s residents were being poisoned by lead in the water. Government agency misconduct and bungling can’t get much worse, can it? Yes, it can. Pleasanton (Balch dissenting) just authorized PFAS-contaminated water from city wells 5 and 6 to be turned on this summer. When children traditionally have lemonade and Kool-Aid stands this summer, the drinks and ice will have some extra ingredients — bioaccumulative PFAS compounds — provided courtesy of Mayor Brown and councilmembers Arkin, Testa and Nibert. … ” Read more from Pleasanton Weekly.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Lathrop ends drought emergency; warns against water waste
“The drought emergency in Lathrop is now officially over. For now, at least. On Monday, the Lathrop City Council adopted a resolution that called an end to the drought emergency inside of Lathrop’s city limits and discontinues the watering restrictions that were put into place to comply with state mandates for water use reductions during the height of the drought. Thanks to a year of heavy precipitation that led to near-record snowfall in the Sierra, California’s reservoirs have received a much-needed recharge – with many filling to capacity even as a massive amount of snow has yet to melt in the higher elevations. … ” Read more from the Manteca Bulletin.
Water outflow from Lake Isabella dialed down in preparation for upcoming months
“The outflow of water from Lake Isabella into the lower Kern River has been dialed down as water officials try to strike a balance between the remaining snow melt and filling the reservoir. According to Mark Mulkay, the Kern Water Master, the Army Corps of Engineers was reducing the amount of water coming out of Lake Isabella. The flow was as high as 7,500 cubic feet per second on Mon, June 5. … ” Read more from Channel 23.
IMPERIAL/COACHELLA VALLEYS
Imperial Irrigation District adds $10 million to pay for on-farm conserved water
“Hoping to alleviate a perennial tug-of-war between the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) Directors and farmers on timely payments for conserved water, the IID voted to provide revenue certainty to the On-Farm Efficiency Conservation Program (OFECP) by approving $310.50/AF payment rate for all the 2023 conservation and authorize a budget amendment to increase the 2023 budget by $9.936 million at the regular meeting Tuesday, June 6. The IID had agreed to a single payment rate not to exceed the $310.50/AF, and this would prorate the fixed budget of $41,399,800 to create at least 133,333 AF of conserved water, back in November 2022. … ” Read more from the Desert Review.
SAN DIEGO
Projects to mitigate transborder water pollution can now proceed, as EPA and USIBWC sign Record of Decision
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC) signed a Record of Decision (ROD) finalizing the environmental review phase under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for projects to reduce transborder water pollution. The ROD enables EPA and USIBWC to proceed to the design phase for projects included in the binational Minute 328 and Statement of Intent, using $300 million appropriated by Congress through the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Minute 328, a binding international agreement of the IBWC, and the Statement of Intent, identify specific projects that will bring relief on both sides of the border. Projects include expansion of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant (SBWITP) on the U.S. side of the border, a new sewage treatment plant in Tijuana, and repairing various sewage pipes in the city of Tijuana to prevent transborder flows. … ” Read more from the EPA.
Along the Colorado River …
Could Mother Nature cut off California’s water guarantee?
“In the contentious, yearlong negotiations over how to share the pain of Colorado River shortages, California officials leaned on their state’s status as the basin’s most senior water rights holder — or the last in line to take cuts when supplies run low — to fend off arguments it should bear the brunt of reductions. The gambit worked, ultimately sparking a compromise in which California will share cuts with Arizona and Nevada over the next three years. The deal means the state will give less than 10 percent of its annual allocation, in line with its original offer. But in a future where the Colorado River remains reduced by drought, could climate change end up pulling rank on California? It’s a question that could become clearer with the next round of negotiations about use of the river, when some observers say California’s supremacy among the seven Colorado River states could find itself trumped by the stark reality of less water to go around. … ” Read more from E&E News.
Commentary: Ignore the headlines. Arizona’s water future is a lot brighter than they suggest
Adam S. Finkel, a longtime Arizona resident and co-founder and principal of Tower Capital, writes, “Arizona has significant water challenges, but it is not on the brink of running out of water, as some media reports may suggest. While the challenges must be addressed, there are market solutions and regulatory measures designed to ensure a sustainable water supply for residents and businesses. That means Arizona’s growth and development activities can continue because the hard work and planning has already been done — and continues to be managed proactively. Consider the regulatory measures in place, such as the Groundwater Management Act of 1980 and the Assured Water Supply program, managed by the Arizona Department of Water Resources. … ” Read more from the Arizona Daily Star.
A lot is still unknown heading into high-stakes negotiations on the future of the Colorado River
“Representatives from more than a dozen Indigenous tribes spoke at a CU Boulder law conference last week about their interests in the Colorado River from each of their perspectives. Many of the prominent state and federal officials who manage the water attended the conference. But as they and other water authorities prepare to negotiate the river’s future, it’s unclear how tribes will participate, to what degree tribes will be treated as equal sovereigns, and how their desire to use all the water they legally have rights to will be considered. It’s also unclear whether negotiators will aim for a way to make the long-term reductions in water usage that a decades-long megadrought has made necessary or whether they will propose more short-term changes. … ” Read more from Colorado Public Radio.
In national water news today …
The U.S. Rivers in dangerous decline
“The biggest rivers in the U.S. are the lifeblood of the regions they flow through. They provide drinking water, irrigation for agricultural lands and a habitat where important ecosystems can thrive. But as climate change worsens, some of the nation’s most important rivers are in serious trouble because of the drought gripping several regions. … ” Read more from Newsweek.
Seaweed heading to Florida may have flesh-eating bacteria
“The massive amounts of seaweed washing up on Florida’s shores lately are smelly, ugly and potentially deadly. In May, Florida Atlantic University researchers published a study finding flesh-eating bacteria living on a blob of microplastics and sargassum in the Atlantic Ocean that is double the width of the U.S. These bacteria can cause intestinal distress and can even result in a life-threatening condition that kills muscles, nerves and flesh and eventually causes sepsis and death. They can enter the body through open wounds or from the consumption of raw fish like oysters. This discovery is a reminder to avoid seaweed, avoid exposing open wounds to seawater and to be cautious of raw fish, said Dr. Jose Alexander, clinical microbiologist and director of microbiology, virology and immunology for AdventHealth Orlando. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
