On the calendar today …
- LEG HEARING: Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water beginning at 9am. Click here for the full agenda and remote access instructions.
- MEETING: Central Valley Regional Water Board beginning at 9am. Agenda items include several waste discharge and NPDES permits. Click here for the full agenda.
- MEETING: Delta Stewardship Council beginning at 9:00am. Agenda items include the Delta Lead Scientist’s report, an update from the Delta Watermaster, a panel presentation on wildfiresand their impact on the Delta, and a progress update on the Smith Canal Gate. Click here for the meeting notice.
- WEBINAR: Innovations in Agricultural Water Reuse: Successes, Challenges, and Funding Opportunities from 1pm to 2pm. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, agriculture accounts for more than 80% of the nation’s water consumption. Water reuse is uniquely suited to provide resilience, local control, environmental protection, and high water quality for this critical demand. Join our webcast to learn about two innovative approaches to securing America’s food supply with water reuse, strategies for overcoming obstacles, and gain insight on how USDA conservation programs can be a valuable resource in funding these projects. Click here to register.
- WORKSHOP: California Water Plan Update 2023 – Watershed Management Resource Management Strategy from 1pm to 3pm. The California Water Plan describes and updates a broad set of resource management strategies (RMSs) that help local agencies and governments manage their water and related resources. Every RMS can be a technique, program, or policy that can be used to meet water-related management needs of a region and the state as a whole. During this workshop, the Water Plan Team will gather comments on the draft Watershed Management RMS. Join Teams Meeting
In California water news today …
The trillion-gallon question: Extreme weather is threatening California’s dams. What happens if they fail?
“On the morning of Feb. 7, 2017, two electricians were working on a warning siren near the spillway of Oroville Dam, 60 miles north of Sacramento, when they heard an explosion. As they watched, a giant plume of water rose over their heads, and chunks of concrete began flying down the hillside toward the Feather River. The dam’s spillway, a concrete channel capable of moving millions of gallons of water out of the reservoir in seconds, was disintegrating in front of them. … In the six years since Oroville, dam operators across the country have begun to reassess the structures under their control, looking for hidden weaknesses: the cracks in the spillway, the hillside that crumbles at the first sign of water. That work is necessary, but it may not be enough to prevent the next disaster. Bigger storms are on the way. “We still haven’t severely tested California’s primary flood-control structures,” says Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. The emergency spillway at Oroville, for example, was operating at about 3 percent of its capacity when Honea ordered the evacuation. “If we had an even marginally bigger event on the weather front that year,” Swain says, “it would have been significantly worse.” … ” Read more from the New York Times (gift article).
State Water Board announces tentative schedule for probationary hearings for 6 critically overdrafted groundwater basins
“Moving to address the potential for severe impacts to water users and infrastructure in certain groundwater basins that lack plans for sustainable management, the State Water Resources Control Board has proposed a tentative schedule for probationary hearings for all six basins referred by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) for state intervention under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) earlier this year. Per the proposed schedule, the first two probationary hearings, for the Tulare Lake Subbasin in Kings County and Tule Subbasin in Tulare County, would proceed in December 2023 and January 2024, respectively. By October 2024 the State Water Board would hold hearings for all four remaining basins – Kaweah, Kern County, Delta-Mendota and Chowchilla – in that order. … ” Read more from the State Water Board via Maven’s Notebook.
Harvest Water Program awarded $277.5 Million in Prop. 1 funds
“The California Water Commission on Wednesday awarded the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (Regional San) $277.5 million to help construct the Harvest Water Program, a conjunctive-use project that will supply treated wastewater to agricultural lands that also provide habitat to wildlife in southern Sacramento County. It is the first project in the Water Storage Investment Program (WSIP) to complete the Proposition 1 requirements and appear before the Commission for a final award hearing. Prop. 1, also known as the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, dedicated $2.7 billion for investments in the public benefits of water storage projects, and designated the California Water Commission as the agency responsible for allocating the funds through a competitive process. … ” Read more from the California Water Commission via Maven’s Notebook.
SEE ALSO: Prop 1 Funding to Bring More Irrigation Water to South Sacramento County, from Ag Net West
Renewing California’s groundwater: Ready, set, recharge!
“As farmers and water managers scramble to funnel some of last winter’s abundant snow and rainfall into the ground, we spoke with two recharge experts: Daniel Mountjoy of Sustainable Conservation and Aaron Fukuda of the Tulare Irrigation District. What changes have you seen this year compared to the wet years of 2017 and 2019? Are farmers more willing to put water on their fields? Aaron Fukuda: For us, the unequivocal answer to that is “absolutely.” There has been a cultural change in irrigation practices, and we now have full-blown winter irrigation when historically the winter months were a farmer’s break time. Folks are now prepping their fields to take water in the dead of winter. So in the middle of last year’s floods, we weren’t flooding—we were recharging. … ” Read more from the PPIC.
SEE ALSO:
- Farming to Save Water, from Comstock’s Magazine
- Grower Taking Initiative to Recharge Groundwater, from Ag Net West
- Westlands ramps up groundwater recharge efforts, from the San Joaquin Valley Sun
Water Whiplash: Reliving history while kayaking through the San Joaquin Valley
“This year’s record-breaking snowpack didn’t just refill Tulare Lake; it revived a waterway that long ago connected the San Joaquin Valley to the Bay Area. That winding corridor called to freelance journalist Brendan Borrell. In late May, he and a photographer hopped in pedal-powered kayaks and trekked the 225 miles from Tulare Lake to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta via the Kings and San Joaquin Rivers. As a preview to his feature story that’s slated to run in Outside Magazine in spring 2024, Borrell spoke with KVPR’s Kerry Klein about his illuminating 10-day journey.” Listen to the radio spot and/or read transcript at KVPR.
New state policy recognizes ecological benefits of beavers, promotes coexistence
“The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced a new policy this month that recognizes the ecological benefits of beavers. It identifies the rodent’s natural ability to create fire-resistant landscapes and restore wetlands, and encourages a more thoughtful approach to conflict resolution. “We’re increasingly recognizing beavers for their ecosystem contributions. Beavers can help tamper down fire risk and help promote wildfire resiliency,” Ken Paglia, CDFW, said. The policy still acknowledges that beaver activity can flood roadways and damage property, but Paglia said landowners with problematic beavers must now try deterrents before resorting to lethal actions. CDFW has low-cost resources online with ideas like wire fences and drainage control. … ” Read more from KCBX.
LETTER: Opposition to the FY 2024 House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill, Title V
“Dear Ranking Member DeLauro and Ranking Member Kaptur: On behalf of the undersigned organizations, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and our millions of members and supporters, we write to express our opposition to Title V of the rider to the House Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies, Appropriations Bill (Title V). The language in Subtitles A, B, C, and D is a slightly modified version of pending bill H.R. 215 by Rep. Valadao (R-CA). Both H.R. 215 and Title V violate and preempt state law, undermine critical protections for salmon and other fish and wildlife that Native American Tribes and thousands of fishing jobs depend on, and reignite divisions over water rights and environmental and public health protections to benefit certain water users at the expense of others. For these reasons and those outlined below, we urge you to oppose Title V. … ”
One California ski resort is projected to lose 70 percent of its snowpack by 2100
“While it seems unlikely news after the winter that California’s ski resorts just enjoyed, a new study reports that some of the state’s ski areas are poised to see a massive amount of its snowpack disappear over the next several decades. The study came out of UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and surmises that the increased rainfall resulting from climate change will wash out the snowpack at ski resorts between 5,000 and 10,000 feet—which is most of them—by 2100. If nothing is done to stop it, the effects will begin to be seen as early as 2050, less than 30 years from now. … ” Read more from Outside Magazine.
The data on 40 years of California wildfires is alarmingly clear
“Wildfires in northern and central California increased fivefold between 1971 and 2021, according to a new study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The scientists behind the study found that those fires were mostly caused by anthropogenic climate change, the kind accelerated by human actions like burning fossil fuels and clear-cutting land. As part of their research, the scientists did a statistical analysis of the summer months during those four decades, which helped them understand how the California landscape might have looked without human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. They discovered that the wildfire burn area grew 172% more than it would have in the absence of such emissions. … ” Read more from Yahoo News.
In commentary today …
George Skelton: On delta tunnel, Newson should heed Dirty Harry’s sound advice
Columnist George Skelton writes, “To paraphrase Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry in the 1973 movie classic “Magnum Force,” a governor’s got to know his limitations. There are limits to the power even of a governor with no major political opposition and a very friendly, normally cooperative Legislature. This time, Gov. Gavin Newsom may have found his limitations. Key lawmakers are pushing back against his late-entry legislation to expedite construction of a highly controversial water tunnel under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. As is his pattern, Newsom is trying to jam through the legislation at the last minute, denying legislators and the public ample time to assess and debate the proposal. That really ticks off lawmakers, whether they’re leaders or backbenchers. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Central Valley subsidence and flooding are the next threat to high-speed rail
Marc Joffe, a federalism and state policy analyst at the Cato Institute, writes, “This year’s rainy season has raised a new threat to the California high-speed rail project’s construction schedule: flooding. The California High Speed Rail Authority’s March 2023 Project Update set back the date for Central Valley service to late 2030 at the earliest—a stark contrast to the original projection of 2020 for service along the entire Phase I line connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles and Anaheim. But shortly after the Authority released its update, several work sites near Corcoran flooded, halting construction. The flooding prompted discussion of a rebirth of Lake Tulare, once the largest lake West of the Mississippi. If the lake were to become a permanent feature, it could leave a portion of the high-speed rail right of way under water. … ” Read more from the OC Register (gift article).
Today’s featured article …
NOTEBOOK FEATURE: Wild baby salmon raised on a California rice farm show stunning survival to the ocean
When Steve Neader’s rice farm flooded last winter after three years of drought, a UC Davis research team checked to see what else had come in with the water. Neader grows rice in California’s Sutter Bypass, a huge leveed channel north of the city of Sacramento that ultimately shunts river overflows into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
The team was looking for fish. “I saw the researchers on my way to lunch and when they told me what they were doing, I just laughed,” Neader recalls.
But when he came back from lunch, the researchers had just netted a foot-long largemouth bass. They also found plenty of other fish, including those they most wanted to see: Chinook salmon. As many as a couple of million adult Central Valley chinook once returned from the ocean to spawn in rivers and streams each year, but these fish are now imperiled by the many dams and levees that cut them off from their best spawning and nursery habitat.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
A Long Time Coming: The world’s largest dam removal project to free the Klamath River
“The Yurok Tribe has lived along the Klamath River in northwestern California since time immemorial. Over one hundred years ago, five hydroelectric dams were constructed on the river, impeding fish passage and disrupting the waterway’s natural flow. For the Tribe, the impacts of these dams have been catastrophic. From toxic algal blooms and fish kills to poor water quality, the dams have completely disrupted the Tribe’s way of life. “The Yurok Tribe are ‘fix the world’ people. Our high ceremonies dictate that we restore balance to the world,” said Barry McCovey, Senior Fisheries Biologist for the Yurok Tribe and Yurok Tribal member. “Looking at the Klamath River today, it is bisected by four dams, cutting off the energy flow. That is the definition of imbalance in an ecosystem.” … ” Read more from Cal Trout.
State water board will hold hearing on Karuk and PCFFA petition to set minimum flows for Scott River
“Responding to a petition by the Karuk Tribe and a commercial fishing group to set and enforce a minimum flow standard for the Scott River, the State Water Resources Control Board has set a public hearing for August 15, 2023 in Sacramento. The Tribe and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) filed the petition on May 23. They are represented by the Environmental Law Foundation. The Scott River, a major tributary of the Klamath River, is habitat for fall-run Chinook, coho salmon, steelhead and Pacific lamprey. The fish have been hard hit by irrigation diversions that routinely dry up the river every summer, leaving the fish in stranded pools and prevent them from migrating upriver to the spawning grounds. … ” Read more from the Daily Kos.
The Pikeminnow Problem: Exploring solutions for salmonid recovery from invasive species on the Eel River
“In the Eel River watershed, CalTrout has taken on a series of restoration projects that make up a string of pearls between the headwaters and the estuary of the Eel. As a part of our North Coast Science and Monitoring Program, CalTrout recently acquired funding to trial a pikeminnow mitigation program for the first time in the Eel River basin! While pikeminnows are native to California, they are not native to the Eel River and other coastal systems. In the past half a century they have become a significant threat to salmonid recovery. Pikeminnow eat just about anything when they get big enough including salmon and steelhead. And they don’t just predate on the small ones — large pikeminnows are capable of eating trout up to 20 inches! In addition to direct predation, they also compete with salmonids in other ways. Pikeminnows are in direct competition for related food sources that juvenile salmon and steelhead would eat such as insects. Plus, the presence of pikeminnow can change salmonid behavior in different stages of their life histories. They can determine which sections of river or even which specific pools young salmonids can occupy or must avoid. In the past several decades that means much of the lower mainstem of the Eel River has been off limits to many salmonids for most of the spring, summer, and fall. … ” Read more from Cal Trout.
CalTrout enacts outstanding opportunity to protect South Fork Eel River tributaries
“In our work to ensure healthy waters for all Californians, we recognize that no one tool or strategy is sufficient. Our staff works across the state to employ a variety of different strategies and tools to protect California’s freshwater resources. Outstanding National Resource Waters (Outstanding Waters) designations are an underutilized opportunity for resource protection in California that CalTrout is advocating to expand. Along with our partners, California Wilderness Coalition, Trout Unlimited, and the Pew Charitable Trusts, we recently identified and filed petition to the Regional Water Quality Board to designate two key tributaries of the upper South Fork Eel River — Elder Creek and Cedar Creek — to be protected as Outstanding Waters. These two creeks possess significant ecological value. Both are spring-fed headwater tributaries, and as the climate continues to rapidly warm, they represent resilience for flow and temperature regulation in California rivers. … ” Read more from Cal Trout.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Nevada senator announces over $3 million to prevent, combat invasive species in Lake Tahoe
“U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) announced $3.1 million in funding she secured for Lake Tahoe in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to prevent and combat the spread of aquatic invasive species in the lake through the Lake Tahoe Aquatic Invasive Species Program, her office said in a press release. These funds secured from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will support existing cooperative agreements with the Washoe Tribe of California and Nevada and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and augment a historic effort to restore the Lake Tahoe Basin ecosystem. “We are very proud to continue supporting the vital collaborations with local partners and Tribal leaders in Lake Tahoe, the world’s tenth deepest lake and one of the clearest and most spectacular bodies of water on the planet,” said Service Pacific Southwest Regional Director Paul Souza in a press release. … ” Read more from the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
Lake Tahoe has a staggering tourism problem
“Lake Tahoe and the surrounding national lands are about one-third the size of Yosemite National Park but have more than twice as many annual visitors, according to a new Lake Tahoe stewardship plan released on Tuesday. The greater Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, which includes all national forest lands around the basin, saw about 5.9 million visitors in 2020, while Yosemite reported just 2.27 million. By that measure, if the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit was a national park, it would be the second-most visited in the entire park system. Only one federal forest unit (Colorado’s White River National Forest) unit had more visitors, at 13 million visitors per year — but it’s nearly 18 times larger than the Tahoe Basin Unit. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Redding: New channel teeming with fish thanks to impressive teamwork
“Arthur Garcia, Cultural Resource Manager and Tribal Elder of the Wintu Tribe of Northern California, addressed a crowd of roughly 50 people near the bank of the Sacramento River in south Redding. They were there to celebrate the completion of the Kapusta Open Space Side Channel Project. The nearly half-mile-long channel was designed to provide rearing and spawning habitat for Chinook salmon and made possible thanks to a large-scale collaboration between Chico State Enterprises (managed by the North State Planning and Development Collective), Federal and State agencies, two nonprofit organizations, two Native American Tribes, and the City of Redding. “When we work together, we can do powerful things,” Garcia said. Yards away, in the cold, clear channel, spawning activity was observed immediately following construction. … ” Read more from CSU Chico.
Untroubled waters at Lake Oroville
“The Lime Saddle marina at Lake Oroville was outright bustling Wednesday as people walked to and from their watercraft with families and friends. Only a year ago, the dock floated in shallow waters and could only be accessed by walking to the bottom of the boat ramp and then onto a makeshift walkway through the dirt. Now the lake is less than an inch from full capacity at 899.94 feet. The California Department of Water Resources has ceased releases from the spillway with only streams of water exiting into the Feather River from the lake. By noon Wednesday, parking lots at the various boat launches around Lake Oroville were filling up. … ” Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record.
BAY AREA
The Bay Area faces an imminent threat from sea level rise — but it’s different from what you think
“Dangerous chemicals hiding in the ground around the Bay Area are due to be released by groundwater as it’s pushed closer to the surface with sea level rise, a new study has found. In many cases, it can happen without warning as cancer-causing volatile compounds escape into schools and homes, experts say. As the sea level rises, it pushes shallow groundwater, the layer of water just underground, closer to the surface — a process that can release contaminants buried in the soil. Groundwater rise, as the phenomenon is called, is an imminent threat to the Bay Area and could impact twice as much land as the rising seas themselves, according to the new study from UC Berkeley. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Marin Municipal Water District adopts budget to bolster water supply
“The Marin Municipal Water District has approved a $305.9 million, two-year budget that will begin to make significant investments in new water supplies not seen by the agency in decades. “We have a very big job ahead of us with this budget,” Monty Schmitt, the president of the district’s elected board, said before it voted unanimously to adopt the budget on Tuesday. The budget covers the two-year period of July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2025, and aims to funnel tens of millions of dollars into several priorities. They include new water supply projects; wildfire preparations in the district-owned Mount Tamalpais watershed; restoring tens of millions of dollars in reserve funds depleted by the recent two-year drought; and chipping away at an estimated $200 million backlog of maintenance to the water delivery system. … ” Read more from the Marin Independent Journal.
Fish, water, people… and bugs!: Fishing for bugs at Walker Creek
Molly Ancel writes, “Fish, water, and people: a seemingly well-defined set of elements that fit together as a biological community that we call an ecosystem. But the complex web of interconnectedness that fish, water, and people form doesn’t end just with them. The other unseen building blocks of this triad’s shared survival are more implicit. Waters need to flow, people need air to breathe, and salmon need shelter, cold free flowing waters… and bugs! Invertebrate populations and their implications for watershed and fish population health form a large component of CalTrout’s research work in different project areas. We ask questions like: where will the most bugs grow? If these bugs grow, will salmonid populations, do this, or that? Why are there more or less of certain bugs in various water temperatures or locations? … Today, I have the opportunity to spend a day looking at bugs at Walker Creek Ranch with Rob Lusardi along with Walker Creek Ranch and CalTrout staff. Walker Creek Ranch is a retreat center and outdoor school in West Marin County. … ” Read more from Cal Trout.
Marin beaches receive top marks for water quality
“All but one Marin County beach received top grades for water quality, according to an environmental group’s annual assessment. The Heal the Bay group’s “Beach Report Card” grades California beaches based on fecal bacteria levels in the water. The report showed all 26 beaches tested in Marin received either an “A” or “A+” grade during dry weather in the spring and summer of 2022. Tests conducted after the rains during the same time period also resulted in “A” or “A+” grades for 25 beaches. Lawson’s Landing near Dillon Beach received a “C” grade, according to the report. … ” Read more from the Marin Independent Journal.
The hidden creek that marks the headwaters of San Francisco
“If you ever get lost in the wilderness, they say you should follow water downstream. The thinking goes that civilization lies near water, as we’ve always lived on the creeks and rivers that sustain life.If they say that your city is lost, can the inverse also be true? An urban creek can be a portal of sorts. They reveal hints of the settlements that predate the city. Heading upstream, you can occasionally move backward through time as much as space. I began to wonder: If San Francisco has lost its compass, could the answers be found at the headwaters of the city? … ” Continue reading from SF Gate.
Millennium Tower: Engineer says $100 million fix has improved S.F. building’s famous lean
“All 18 of the concrete piles meant to stabilize San Francisco’s famously leaning and sinking Millennium Tower have now been driven into bedrock, completing the $100 million fix of the luxury condo high-rise, according to the engineer overseeing the project. On Monday, project engineer Ronald Hamburger said the engineering upgrade to stop the building from tilting and sinking has “succeeded” after the 18 piles were sent 275 feet below the street. While the tower’s tilt may have partially been caused by “dewatering” that had taken place during the construction of the Transbay transit terminal next door, most engineers agreed that the piles of the heavy concrete tower’s foundation should have been driven all the way to bedrock. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Here’s why water is seeping into bore of Caldecott Tunnel
“Concerns about the structural integrity of the Caldecott Tunnel system have emerged due to a mystery surrounding water flowing through one of its bores. Motorists on the eastbound side of the Caldecott Tunnel may notice wet roads in the first bore. However, an electronic sign placed before the tunnel warns of the presence of water. A small amount of water has been discovered in the second bore of the Caldecott Tunnel, which also runs eastbound. NextDoor, a social media platform for homeowners and residents, was lit up for days with comments and concerns. … ” Read more from KTVU.
CENTRAL COAST
A new agency formed to address flooding in the Pajaro Valley is already splintering.
“Just two years after its formation, the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency is already at risk of splintering. At a meeting on Wednesday, June 14, PRFMA’s board considered a request from one its member agencies – the Santa Cruz County Flood Control and Water Conservation District – Zone 7A – for a “one-time adjustment” to the funds it provides PRFMA for the upcoming fiscal year. The request was to reduce its contribution for this year by 50 percent – from $951,215 to $489,869. This comes just six months after the Zone 7A board of directors adopted a cost-sharing agreement with PRFMA on Dec. 6. … ” Read more from Monterey Weekly.
Hundreds of sea lions are dying. Is an algal bloom to blame?
“The calls came in, one after the other, with reports of sea lions swaying their heads back and forth, foaming at the mouth, or slumped, lifeless on the beach. Rescuers along the central California coast struggled to keep up as they captured the sick animals in the hopes of saving them. Already, hundreds of sea lions and dozens of dolphins had died. The marine mammals — considered “sentinel” species because of what they tell humans about the health of the ocean — are believed to be falling sick from a scourge of harmful algae that occur naturally but can be made worse by human activity. … Rescuers say it is among the worst mass poisoning events they’ve ever seen. And it’s only June. … ” Read more from the New York Times.
City council rejects proposed Statement of Equity for Paso Basin Groundwater Sustainability Plan
“The City Council rejected a proposed Statement of Equity for the Paso Basin Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) during the Tuesday, June 20, meeting. Following the meeting’s opening presentations, council convened as the City of Paso Robles Groundwater Sustainability Agency Board to receive a “proposed Statement of Equity and consider incorporating principles stated therein, in coordination with the other GSAs, into the next update of the Paso Basin Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP),” as described in staff’s agenda. SLO County District 2 Supervisor Bruce Gibson presented the proposed Statement of Equity, a statement of which council members were not supportive of. … ” Read more from the Paso Robles Daily News.
Harmful algae bloom in Santa Barbara, Ventura counties poisoning sea lions and dolphins
“Hundreds of sea lions and dolphins are dying along the California coast and experts believe it’s due to high concentrations of toxic algae. While algae blooms aren’t rare, they say this time, it’s particularly concerning. This comes after a sea lion recently washed up on shore in Malibu. “It was just bobbing its head, not normal behavior than usual,” said Malibu resident Maurice Henao. “We see it out in the water, having fun, doing what sea lions do.” … ” Continue reading from KABC.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
USGS: Comparing domestic and public-supply groundwater quality in the northern San Joaquin Valley, 2019—California GAMA Priority Basin Project
“Groundwater quality in the Northern San Joaquin Valley region of California was studied as part of California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program-Priority Basin Project (GAMA-PBP). The GAMA-PBP made a spatially unbiased assessment of the aquifer system used for domestic drinking-water supply in the study region and compared the results to the aquifer system used for public drinking-water supply. These assessments characterized the quality of raw groundwater to evaluate ambient conditions in regional aquifers and not the quality of treated drinking water. The study included two components: (1) a status assessment presenting study results summarizing the status of groundwater quality used for domestic supply in the Northern San Joaquin Valley and (2) a comparative assessment of groundwater resources used for domestic and public drinking-water supply in the study region. … ” Continue reading at the USGS.
Stockton property owners say yes to $1.4 billion in levee improvements
“Approximately $1.4 billion in levee improvements are on the way to north and central Stockton, thanks in large part to support from property owners who agreed to pay an annual property assessment to fund a portion of the work. On Thursday, the SJAFCA Board of Directors adopted its Levee Construction and Maintenance Assessment after receiving the official results of balloting, a 45-day process during which owners of approximately 94,000 properties considered whether to take on increased costs for levee maintenance, as well as the local cost share for 23 miles of levee improvements along the San Joaquin and Calaveras Rivers. Results showed that 58 percent of the weighted vote was in favor of the assessment. … ” Read more from Stocktonia.
Westlands ramps up groundwater recharge efforts
“Westlands Water District has recharged about 60,000 acre feet of water over the past few months as it works to take advantage of the increased water supply this year. The district released its latest data in its groundwater recharge efforts this week, detailing its work through May. The big picture: Westlands’s recharge efforts resulted in 24,000 acre feet of water stored in May alone. The total of 60,000 acre feet was recharged from the beginning of the water year, which started on March 1. The district’s goal is to have over 200,000 acre feet of total recharge by the end of the water year – Feb. 29, 2024. … ” Read more from the San Joaquin Valley Sun.
Local complaints on Alta management flow from flood damages
“Near the intersection of Road 56 and Avenue 400, posted signage has indicated that some community members near Dinuba are upset with the Alta Irrigation District. Banners along the side of the road make claims including “Alta management is out to lunch,” “Alta needs new management” and “Alta: Empty promises, empty ditches,” with little indication as to where the grievances come from. Jack Brandt, the president of the Alta Irrigation District board of directors, said the complaints come from some growers in the area who had concerns earlier this year about empty irrigation ditches caused by flood damage. … ” Read more from the Foothills Sun-Gazette.
Sustainable farming project hopes to bring opportunities to Allensworth
“According to the United States Geological Survey, more than 250 different types of crops worth around $17 billion dollars a year are produced in the San Joaquin Valley. However, as groundwater continues to be pumped faster than it is recharged, many wonder if the agricultural industry is sustainable. Creating fertile soil is key to the plans of the TAC Teaching and Innovation Farm located in Allensworth, California. Soil that has been overfarmed breaks down into dust, devoid of nutrients and unable to retain water. According to Tekoah Kadara with TAC Farm, one of the goals is to create a model that mimics Mother Nature in order to keep the soil fertile naturally. “We want to teach how to grow soil versus how to grow plants. Mother Nature knows how to grow plants and she doesn’t require fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides,” said Kadara. … ” Read more from Channel 23.
EASTERN SIERRA
Commentary: The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority’s (IWVGA) June 20 opinion piece raises serious questions
, writes, “Why is the IWVGA spending taxpayer dollars on an opinion piece touting their attorney’s role in the Las Posas Basin groundwater case settlement in Ventura County? Was it the IWVGA’s $105/acre-foot Extraction Fee or the IWVGA’s $2,130/acre-foot Replenishment Fee that footed the bill for the staff time that was involved? If, as the opinion piece says, the IWVGA is serious about wanting to “look to Las Posas as a model to settle some of our problems” here in the Indian Wells Valley Basin, will the IWVGA adopt the following key aspects of the Las Posas settlement? Will the IWVGA agree, like the Fox Canyon GMA did in Las Posas, that its GSP will be subject to complete review to correct defects, including an inaccurate sustainable yield, subject to court oversight? … ” Continue reading at the Ridgecrest Independent.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Kayaking down the L.A. River is not for the faint of heart. Can we change that?
“The tea-hued waters of the Los Angeles River were running knee-deep and mostly free of harmful bacteria recently when George Wolfe stepped into the belly of a bobbing, 16-foot canoe. “Let’s go for a ride,” the environmental activist said as he shoved off from a concrete bank in the Glendale Narrows. Soon, he was slamming, bouncing and sloshing over a soft bottom section of the river that cuts across Elysian Valley, about five miles north of downtown. … Wolfe had organized the expedition on the opening day of the river’s kayaking season to call attention to an issue that has long galled conservationists. A decade ago, the city touted a $1-billion plan to turn this stretch of the river into something resembling its natural state. Yet today there are few visible signs of an urban oasis blossoming from the muck. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
It’s been unusually cold and gloomy in California. What’s going on?
“In Southern California, summer opened with a rare and welcome treat: the sun. Coastal cities like San Diego and Los Angeles have been mired in thick and seemingly endless fog for weeks. The cloud cover, known to locals as “May Gray” and “June Gloom,” is common in late spring and early summer, but this year seems different, and meteorologists are fielding questions about how long the gloom will last. While much of the continent is roasting under heat domes — in Canada, Mexico and Texas — coastal Californians have been shivering for most of the year, including this spring. … “This is a temporary reprieve,” said Joe Sirard, a meteorologist with the Los Angeles National Weather Service. “Unfortunately, clouds are going to make a big comeback … but I don’t think we’re going to be socked in for days on end like we were recently.” … ” Continue reading at the Washington Post.
TreePeople and Water in Southern California– A decades-long push for a resilient future
““The story of Los Angeles is the story of water,” remarks Peter Massey, TreePeople’s project manager of Water Equity Programs, noting how California’s modern history is so deeply intertwined with water issues. The booming population expansion and growth into an agricultural superpower that defined California in the 20th century would not have been possible without building some of the world’s largest water infrastructure projects — moving over 13 trillion gallons of water from all across the state to more than 35 million people and 5.6 million acres of farmland. This system also weaves together the state’s stormwater management and flood control projects with an astoundingly complex web of water rights born from Spanish colonial law, English common law and 173 years of constantly evolving policy decisions. … ” Read more from the San Fernando Valley Sun.
Weather extremes threaten our water resources
“After three of the driest years on record, heavy precipitation this winter has boosted California’s snowpack to healthy levels and is helping replenish our depleted reservoirs and groundwater basins. Winter storms have provided enough short-term relief to our imported supplies from Northern California that the Metropolitan Water District will no longer require emergency restrictions for six of its member agencies and nearly 7 million people that had been in place since June 2022. Thanks to the wetter weather and increased State Water Project allocation, Metropolitan in March also began refilling its storage, including Diamond Valley Lake, for the first time in three years. … ” Read more from the San Fernando Valley Sun.
Criminal charges filed against Watts metal recycler and its owners
“Students and faculty at Jordan High School say they have spent decades complaining about harmful industrial operations next door to their Watts campus, but to little avail. Piles of scrap metal have towered over a 10-foot wall separating S&W Atlas Iron & Metal from the school’s blacktop basketball court, and the company’s operations have hurled shards of metal onto school grounds and dusted the campus in an iridescent shimmer of metals. Now, amid rising outrage from community members, L.A. County Dist. Atty. George Gascón has announced the filing of more than two dozen criminal charges against Atlas and its owners. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
USGS: Results of hexavalent chromium background study in Hinkley
“John Izbicki, PhD, a Research Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) California Water Science Center (CAWSC), led a five-year scientific study to determine the range of natural and anthropogenic (human-caused) hexavalent chromium concentrations, also referred to as chromium-6 or Cr(VI), in Hinkley Valley. The study was cooperatively funded by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) with financial and logistical support from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). A technical working group, consisting of members of the Hinkley community, the Lahontan RWQCB, the Independent Review Panel (IRP) Manager, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and consultants for PG&E, provided input to the USGS during the study. The IRP Manager is a resource that provides explanations and answers to community questions. … ” Continue reading at the USGS. Click here for six page summary of the findings.
IMPERIAL/COACHELLA VALLEYS
Teen interns see Salton Sea Project up close
“Terry Partida Rodriguez, 18, who graduated from Brawley Union High School just a few days earlier, positioned himself in front of the several tons of new concrete and steel diverting parts of the New River where it meets the Salton Sea and snapped a few selfies. When Partida Rodriguez and four of his fellow Youth Environmental Health Internship (YEHI) program participants arrived at California’s Species Conservation Habitat (SCH) project site at the southern end of Salton Sea on Saturday, June 10, they had just a vague understanding of what they were about to tour. Yet after an intensive onsite cram session with California Natural Resources Agency officials and Salton Sea Management Program team project staff and a two-and-a-half-hour guided tour, the YEHI interns left with a working knowledge of the state’s flagship 4,100-acre Salton Sea restoration project that will provide dust suppression of exposed lake bed and looks to create habitat for the Desert pup fish and migratory birds once complete. … ” Read more from the Holtville Tribune.
SAN DIEGO
San Diego water rates to rise 20 percent; homeowners in luck
“San Diego officials say they must raise water rates more than previously announced — 19.8 percent instead of 17.6 percent — but a smaller portion of the increases would fall on typical single-family homeowners. City water officials told the City Council Tuesday that the bump up in the proposed increases is being driven primarily by costs for imported water, which makes up 85 percent to 90 percent of the city’s supply. … ” Read more from the San Diego Union Tribune.
Supervisors consider declaring emergency on border pollution
“Board of Supervisors Chair Nora Vargas and Vice Chair Terra Lawson-Remer are asking the board to declare a local state of emergency over cross-border pollution that has fouled San Diego beaches, in hopes of expediting cleanup and prompting a federal emergency declaration. “Since I joined the County Board of Supervisors, I have made this a top priority, and now it’s time for the federal government to prioritize this issue and provide additional support we need to bring clean water to the families and visitors of South County,” Vargas said in a statement. The board of supervisors will consider the emergency declaration Tuesday. … ” Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
SEE ALSO: Sewage flows exasperate local leaders who want federal help, from KPBS
Along the Colorado River …
Tribe seeking Colorado River water rights spurned by high court
“The Supreme Court absolved the federal government on Thursday of its responsibility to provide the tribe with water rights to the Colorado River. “The 1868 treaty reserved necessary water to accomplish the purpose of the Navajo Reservation,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the 5-4 majority. “But the treaty did not require the United States to take affirmative steps to secure water for the Tribe.” For over a century, the Navajo Nation have been fighting for resources from what is often regarded as the American Nile. The Colorado River, beginning in the central Rocky Mountains of Colorado and flowing for 1,300 miles through Colorado, Utah and Arizona, serves around 36 million people. The river also flows along the Arizona-Nevada and Arizona-California borders and passes into Mexico. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
SEE ALSO: Biden triumphs over tribe in SCOTUS Colorado River fight, from E&E News
A one-of-a-kind tribal agreement will help endangered fish in the Colorado River Basin
“Newborn Colorado pikeminnows and razorback suckers, two endangered fish species, are going to have an easier time growing up in the San Juan River thanks to a one-of-a-kind partnership using tribal water. Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released nearly 15,000 acre-feet of water — equal to about 7,400 Olympic pools — from Navajo Reservoir on the Colorado-New Mexico border into the San Juan River in New Mexico. It’s the first release of a 10-year agreement to use water from the Jicarilla Apache Nation for ecological purposes or to assist with the state’s legal obligations to send water downstream to Arizona, California and Nevada. … ” Read more from the Colorado Sun.
Federal task force recommends cabinet-level agency on water
“A presidential council focused on infrastructure has released a draft report calling on the Biden administration to set up a cabinet-level agency on water, with the Colorado River crisis as one of the major drivers. In its report, the President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council called for a Department of Water or “some other entity that stewards water at the cabinet level.” The council is made up of senior executives from industry and state and local government who operate or own critical infrastructure in the country and is tasked with advising the president on practical strategies for industries and government in order to reduce the risks to critical infrastructure sectors. At the behest of the National Security Council, the group began convening last December on the water issue. … ” Read more from Colorado Politics.
In national water news today …
Biden administration moves to strengthen endangered species protections
“The Biden administration announced Wednesday three proposed rule changes they say will strengthen the protections given by the Endangered Species Act. “The Endangered Species Act is the nation’s foremost conservation law that prevents the extinction of species and supports their recovery,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams, in a written statement. “These proposed revisions reaffirm our commitment to conserving America’s wildlife and ensuring the Endangered Species Act works for both species and people.” Two of the rule changes, which are subject to a 60-day public comment period before they are finalized and put into effect, undo rollbacks implemented by the Trump administration in 2019. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
SEE ALSO: Biden administration moves to restore endangered species protections dropped by Trump, from the Associated Press
