A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …
Note to readers: Sign up for weekly email service and you will receive notification of this post on Friday mornings. Readers on daily email service can add weekly email service by updating their subscription preferences. Click here to sign up!
This week’s featured articles …
NOTEBOOK FEATURE: In 2021 people used all the runoff in the Delta watershed—how it happened and lessons learned
This year is a classic example of the way California’s water system was designed to work. Winter storms dropped towering snowpacks on the mountains, and spring was so cool that the snowmelt will likely last through the summer.
But just two years ago, California was in a severe drought: 2021 was the state’s second driest year on record and was also exceptionally hot. The snowpack vanished before summer even began.
“It went from 70 percent in the northern Sierra Nevada in April to zero percent by May,” says California Department of Water Resources director Karla Nemeth. DWR operates the State Water Project, which extends more than 700 miles from northern to southern California, and delivers water to 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland.
Click here to continue reading this article.
Dam releases attempt to boost Delta smelt habitat
By Jacoba Charles, Estuary News
“What is three inches long, nearly transparent, and holds sway over much of northern California’s water politics? The answer, of course, is the diminutive Delta smelt—a secretive, federally threatened fish that was once abundant and now is on the verge of extinction. As a result, much effort goes into finding new ways to bolster the fish’s habitat and population, with mixed results according to new analysis.
Carefully timing bursts of water into the Delta via changes to reservoir releases or to exported water from the South Delta is one method that scientists theorized might temporarily increase some of San Francisco Estuary habitat that has been lost to the fish over the last century.
“The water releases are hypothesized to affect a number of habitat variables that were seen to benefit the smelt,” says Calvin Lee, a researcher with the consulting firm ICF, and lead author of a study examining the efficacy of such releases, recently published in the journal San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science. The project compared wetter years in which what was officially dubbed “flow augmentation” was conducted, to drier years when it was not. … ”
Continue reading this article from Maven’s Notebook.
In California water news this week …
Don’t call it ‘toilet to tap’ — California plans to turn sewage into drinking water
“Californians could drink highly purified sewage water that is piped directly into drinking water supplies for the first time under proposed rules unveiled by state water officials. The drought-prone state has turned to recycled water for more than 60 years to bolster its scarce supplies, but the current regulations require it to first make a pit stop in a reservoir or an aquifer before it can flow to taps. The new rules, mandated by state law, would require extensive treatment and monitoring before wastewater can be piped to taps or mingled with raw water upstream of a drinking water treatment plant. “Toilet-to-tap” this is not. … ” Read more from Cal Matters @ Maven’s Notebook.
‘If you unbuild it, they will come’: Scientists chart transformation of Klamath River and its salmon amid nation’s largest dam removal project
“The Klamath River Basin was once one of the world’s most ecologically magnificent regions, a watershed teeming with salmon, migratory birds and wildlife that thrived alongside Native American communities. The river flowed rapidly from its headwaters in southern Oregon’s high deserts into Upper Klamath Lake, collected snowmelt along a narrow gorge through the Cascades, then raced downhill to the California coast in a misty, redwood-lined finish. For the past century, though, the Klamath – a name derived from a Native American term for swiftness – hasn’t been free-flowing or flush with salmon. Dams block fish from the upper watershed’s spawning grounds. Reservoirs host toxic algae blooms. Parasites and pathogens that can flourish when dam-regulated flows are low have wiped out salmon by the tens of thousands. … ” Read more from Western Water.
As work begins on the largest US dam removal project, tribes look to a future of growth
“The largest dam removal project in United States history is underway along the California-Oregon border — a process that won’t conclude until the end of next year with the help of heavy machinery and explosives. But in some ways, removing the dams is the easy part. The hard part will come over the next decade as workers, partnering with Native American tribes, plant and monitor nearly 17 billion seeds as they try to restore the Klamath River and the surrounding land to what it looked like before the dams started to go up more than a century ago. The demolition is part of a national movement to return the natural flow of the nation’s rivers and restore habitat for fish and the ecosystems that sustain other wildlife. More than 2,000 dams have been removed in the U.S. as of February, with the bulk of those having come down within the last 25 years, according to the advocacy group American Rivers. … ” Read more from the Associated Press.
New state budget maintains water and natural resources funding in an uncertain economy
“When it comes to state funding for water and natural resource projects, California has typically turned to general obligation bonds as the first resort. These bonds enable the state to borrow funds and pay them back over many years using General Fund dollars. The historic budget surpluses of recent years have shaken up this long-standing arrangement: awash in tax revenue, the state seized a rare opportunity to directly allocate large sums of General Fund dollars for water and natural resources. After two years of largesse, however, that funding source may be drying up—and we may see a return to general obligation (GO) bonds. In the past two fiscal years, California took advantage of budget surpluses to allocate more than $12 billion from the General Fund to multi-year water and natural resource investments. With the recent budget shortfall, the state made some modest cutbacks (7%). Here’s the current breakdown … ” Read more from the PPIC.
Approved groundwater sustainability plans now totals 40
“The Department of Water Resources (DWR) recently announced the approval of additional groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs). Ten plans were approved for non-critically overdrafted groundwater basins. Approval was given to the East Bay Plain, East Contra Costa, Ukiah Valley, Sierra Valley, North San Benito, North American, South American, Butte, Vina, and Wyandotte Creek basins. The recent announcement brings the total number of GSPs that have been approved up to 40. “Local groundwater sustainability agencies have put a tremendous amount of work into these plans that will have long-term benefits for communities, agriculture, and the environment across California,” DWR Deputy Director of Groundwater Management Paul Gosselin said in a press release. … ” Continue reading from Ag Net West.
Judge signs off on $1.7 million deal over Clean Water Act violations at California prison
“The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will pay $1.7 million to offset costs in a federal suit over stormwater discharge at a prison in Amador County. The consent decree filed Wednesday stated the money will go toward defraying the costs of investigative, consultant, expert and attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and Amador County. The alliance and county filed suit in 2020 and 2021, respectively, in the Eastern District of California against Jeffrey Macomber, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and Patrick Covello, warden of Mule Creek State Prison in Ione. Claims included violations of the Clean Water Act, as the prison collects stormwater and discharges it into Mule Creek. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
Where the rubber meets the road (and river) – Evaluating impacts of stormwater and road runoff on salmon and aquatic ecosystems
“Stormwater and road runoff are increasingly recognized forms of pollution that can contain chemicals harmful to fish and other aquatic animals. One such chemical is 6 p-phenylenediamine – quinone (6PPDQ). 6 p-phenylenediamine (6PPD) is critical to the life of automobile tires and driver safety by protecting tire rubber from cracking. 6PPD absorbs the degrading impacts of the ozone by reacting with air and transforming into 6PPD-quinone (6PPDQ). 6PPDQ is then released into the environment as tires wear down while driving, and stormwater carries the chemical into nearby rivers and streams. Once in the water, fish and other aquatic organisms are exposed to the chemical. Recently, 6PPDQ was linked to mass mortality of adult coho salmon in some streams of the Pacific Northwest (Tian et al. 2021). This recent discovery has inspired new research into the breadth of 6PPDQ’s impacts on aquatic ecosystems. … ” Continue reading from the USGS.
State Water Contractors partner with DWR to award over $4 million in funding for science projects through first-ever science proposal solicitation
“The State Water Contractors (SWC) awarded funding for six projects that will be conducted by leading researchers from some of the top institutions and firms in California and across the nation. These projects will investigate information gaps related to Delta Smelt, Longfin Smelt, Chinook Salmon and Central Valley Steelhead – helping reduce uncertainties in the effects of non-flow mechanisms that affect species growth, migration and survival. The SWC’s initial investment is supplemented with funding from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), which brings the total scientific research investment above $4 million. “These awards are an exciting milestone for the SWC and the SWC’s Science Program. The projects we are funding will explore new lines of research and help fill in critical knowledge gaps to improve management of both water supply and ecosystem health. We are thankful to have a funding partner in DWR, as we share the goal of funding high-quality, management relevant science,” said Darcy Austin, Science Manager for the State Water Contractors. … ” Read more from the State Water Contractors.
Why California is having its best wildfire season in 25 years
“It’s nearly August, but one familiar summer trend has been very scarce this year: wildfires. California is off to its slowest start to fire season in 25 years. A state traumatized by huge fires over the past decade that have burned millions of acres — killing more than 200 people, and generating choking smoke and apocalyptic orange skies — has seen almost no major fire activity so far in 2023. As of Thursday, just 24,229 acres had burned in California since Jan. 1, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. That’s 82% less than the state’s 10-year average and is the lowest of any year since 1998. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
In commentary this week …
Climate change could force California to raise its dams but the politics are brutal
Opinion columnist Tom Philp writes, “As California faces climate change and a future with bigger storms and longer droughts, the challenges before us lead to an often-asked question: Should we make some of our existing dams bigger? That is precisely what is happening now on the American River above Sacramento. Folsom Dam and its 340-foot-tall wall of concrete has been protecting the capital from flood since 1956. It is halfway through a construction project to increase its elevation by about 3.5 feet. Meanwhile, upstream on the Sacramento River, a possible project with very similar engineering is at Shasta Dam. A proposal to raise the 602-foot dam by another 18.5 feet has some fresh political support, with recent legislation in the House of Representatives. But decades of steadfast opposition has made raising Shasta by any amount one of the most controversial water ideas in California. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
The Central Valley can protect its water despite California’s uncertain climate future
Allison Febbo, the general manager of the Westlands Water District, writes, “By a unanimous vote of the landowners in 1952, the Westlands Water District was formed to secure and manage a sustainable water supply. Several of those founding families farm in Westlands to this day, continuing to invest and advocate for a water supply that will allow their grandchildren to continue the livelihoods of their family and feeding the nation. August marks the end of my first three months as the new general manager for Westlands. I have a deep respect for the more than 70 years that the district has served our communities, first advocating for the investment in our state’s water delivery system and, for the last five decades, stewarding one of the Earth’s most precious resources. At the same time, we must usher in a new era of problem-solving, collaboration, conservation and innovation to address challenges brought on by changing hydrology, climate, politics and renewed priorities. … ” Read more from the Fresno Bee.
Why alfalfa is ideal for California and the Southwest
Ayman Mostafa, Ph.D., a field crops and entomology specialist and director of the Urban Agriculture Production, Small-Scale and Beginning Farmer Program at the University of Arizona, writes, “The Southwest continues to endure a megadrought, signifying drought conditions lasting at least two decades. Historic water-supply challenges, particularly from the depleted Colorado River, have focused attention on a key agricultural commodity: alfalfa. The crop is second to almonds in terms of acreage and water use in California. The share of water going toward alfalfa hay production supports dairy and livestock industries in southwestern states including California, Arizona and New Mexico. Alfalfa is the leading crop in terms of gross value in California’s Imperial County and comprises the largest acreage among all crops in Arizona. Increased demand for high-protein-source dairy products and meat has been reflected in soaring prices of alfalfa hay in recent years. Still, some believe the amount of water used to irrigate alfalfa is a major contributor to the region’s water shortage. They fail to recognize alfalfa’s economic efficiencies, environmental impacts and agronomic benefits to our ecosystem. … ” Continue reading this commentary from Ag Alert.
California walks away from hundreds of millions of dollars for safe drinking water
Corinne Bell, senior attorney at the NRDC, writes, “By walking away from hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding, California is fumbling an important opportunity to protect communities from lead in their drinking water. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provides states with a total of $15 billion over five years for the removal of lead from our drinking water systems, specifically the service lines connecting residences to the water system. The funds are distributed to the states by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) based on their purported needs, which are reported by utilities to the EPA via the Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Assessment Survey and Assessment. California then distributes the funds once applications for the funding have been submitted, evaluated, and ranked, which are then included in an Intended Use Plan (IUP). … ” Read more from the NRDC.
Congress’ impulse to regulate big tech could negatively impact California farmers
Clint Olivier, chief executive officer of Central Valley BizFed, writes, “Historically, being a successful farmer in California requires multiple skills across multiple disciplines, including biology, math, engineering, chemistry, soil science and meteorology. For generations, farmers passed these skills down to the next generation who used them with a healthy mix of intuition and elbow grease to — hopefully — remain profitable. We all know that California is the world’s breadbasket. The Golden State creates more than 13% of the nation’s agricultural production value. California’s top 20 crop and livestock commodities account for more than $25 billion in value. We are America’s premier agricultural state. So when talk in Congress turns to “regulating big tech,” most Legislators think of legislation that targets Silicon Valley. As it turns out, however, efforts by Congress to “reign in” America’s technological sector would likely hurt America’s competitive edge and dampen innovation. California’s farmers would also likely suffer as well — and, with it, America and the world’s food supply. … ” Continue reading at the Fresno Bee.
A new age of water is dawning
Peter Gleick, an internationally recognized expert on water and conflict and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, writes, “We’re living in a pivotal moment in history, on the cusp of either sinking into a dark period of growing poverty, accelerating ecological destruction, and worsening conflict, or moving forward to a new age of equity, sustainability, and stewardship of the only planet in the universe where we know life exists. I believe a positive future is not only possible, but inevitable, but solving our current crises and moving along the path to that desired future will require new, concerted, and sustained efforts. Nothing better exemplifies both the threat and the promise facing us than the challenge of water. … ” Continue reading at Time Magazine.
In regional water news this week …
Construction begins on Mid-Klamath Basin Fish Passage Project
“Mill Creek is the lowermost tributary to the Scott River, which consistently generates the largest returns of wild coho salmon in California. During the fall spawning migration for coho and Chinook salmon, Mill Creek is the first tributary they encounter, and one of the only low gradient tributaries in this steep section of the Scott. In the last few years, the mainstem Scott went dry in multiple locations in the summer and early fall, due to drought and late fall rains; these conditions prevented adult salmon from accessing their typical spawning areas and significantly impacted fisheries populations. Restoring a tributary this low in the watershed will ensure that salmon have a place to spawn, and rear, regardless of upstream conditions and drought years. … ” Read more from Cal Trout.
Water order takes shape for North Coast vineyards
“Winegrape growers in Mendocino and Sonoma counties say a proposed water-quality regulation establishes general waste discharge requirements for vineyards that are burdensome, costly and often duplicate work by growers participating in sustainability certification programs. Rather than regulating all agricultural crops under one order—an approach taken by some other regions—Kari Fisher, senior counsel for the California Farm Bureau, said the North Coast regional board created a separate irrigated lands permit for all commercial vineyards regardless of size. “The projections that the regional board put in their draft order underestimate the regulatory cost for growers,” Fisher said. “The requirements, such as those for turbidity monitoring, are going to be very costly given the many discharge points that growers have to monitor.” … ” Read more from Ag Alert.
New Bullards Bar Dam is using a digital twin
“The New Bullards Bar Dam, managed by the Yuba Water agency in Marysville, California, is a 645-foot-tall concrete-arch dam on the North Yuba River at the edge of Tahoe National Forest. It was built more than 50 years ago to reduce flood risk, generate clean hydropower and ensure a reliable water supply for surrounding populations. It’s the second tallest in California and the fifth tallest in the country. The New Bullards Bar Dam had a legacy system that posed safety hazards with accessing the dam site, but it also had limited survey points and could not fully monitor the dam. The condition of the dam data was manually collected, which was a time-consuming process. It exposed the survey team to challenging, remote and difficult-to-access terrain and a fall hazard that necessitated additional training in rope access and fall protection in high-risk locations. The solution to these issues was the creation of a digital twin of the dam from Bentley Systems. … ” Read more from Forbes.
Marin district outlines plans for salmon habitat restoration
“The Marin Municipal Water District is preparing for one of its larger restoration projects on Lagunitas Creek with some new approaches in its effort to bolster endangered coho salmon populations. The project, which has an estimated cost of $10 million to $12 million, is set to begin next summer. The district plans to use both proven and new strategies to mimic the natural habitats found in the creek before the construction of dams, utility staffers told the board during a project update on Tuesday. The Peters Dam at Kent Lake blocks large pieces of wood and gravel from moving downstream where salmon and steelhead spawn. The debris is vital for creating gravel beds and deep, cool pools in the creek where adult coho salmon spawn and juveniles grow during their 16-month stay in freshwater. “This channel really is starving for both of those things,” Jonathan Koehler, the district fisheries program manager, told the board. … ” Read more from the Marin Independent Journal.
San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board: ‘Red tides’ have not brought widespread fish death
“Officials with the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board said Thursday that harmful algal blooms also known as “red tides” found recently in parts of the Bay have not so far brought widespread fish death like a similar event in the region last year. The water board and other agencies have been monitoring the algal blooms seen since last week along parts of the shoreline in areas off of Alameda, between Emeryville to Albany, and certain parts of Marin County, but have not found any significant harm to aquatic life. However, the water board is advising people in their pets to avoid swimming or otherwise coming in contact with discolored water in the Bay until further notice. … ” Continue reading at the San Mateo Daily Journal.
San Francisco isn’t doing enough to protect residents from sewage pollution, Ninth Circuit rules
“San Francisco must take all steps necessary to protect swimmers and bathers from sewage pollution discharged into the Pacific from a wastewater treatment plant at the southwest corner of the city, a federal appeals court ruled Monday. In the nation’s first appellate case on the issue, San Francisco and other local governments argued that they were legally required only to limit pollution levels to standards set in advance, such as specified discharges per million parts of water. But the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Environmental Protection Agency can go further and require the city — particularly during heavy rains — to prevent dangerous water pollution by bacteria and other contaminants that flow through its Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle. | Read the court document via Courthouse News.
Farmers shoot holes in Modesto Irrigation plan for selling water to outsiders
Garth Stapley writes, “Observations from a recent gathering of 70 growers from the west end of Stanislaus County in a barn near Modesto: No one who spoke up favored the Modesto Irrigation District’s lousy idea to sell surface water to a handful of out-of-district nut growers in east Stanislaus County at a ridiculously low price. Many questioned the relationship between MID Board President Larry Byrd and prospective buyers, some of whom apparently are his east-end neighbors and business partners. Several scoffed at the name chosen for the proposal — Groundwater Replenishment Plan — saying there is no way 60,000 acre-feet applied with modern irrigating techniques, such as microspray nozzles, will seep down to recharge an aquifer in danger of depletion. … ” Continue reading at the Modesto Bee.
Commercial carrot growers sued Cuyama Valley residents over groundwater and the first hearing is coming up
“As the Cuyama Unified School District stepped out of a financial crisis after years of budget struggles, Bolthouse Farms and Grimmway Farms sued the district over groundwater rights. And if the district didn’t join in the adjudication case, it risked losing water rights altogether, Superintendent Alfonso Gamino said. “We have it in our budget for unforeseen expenses. We have more than 5 percent [in reserves], but this was an expense we weren’t counting on and how much more we’re going to have to spend is unknown,” he said. “We have to defend our water rights, but my frustration is that we can finally breathe a little bit and it’s like, ‘Here we go again.’” … The corporations first filed the groundwater rights lawsuit in August 2021 and have continued serving every Cuyama Valley resident who relies on the Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin. … ” Read more from the Santa Maria Sun.
Cuyama Valley residents call for boycott of carrots after two growers sue landowners over water rights
“In a battle likened to David versus Goliath, Cuyama Valley residents have launched a boycott of carrots after two giant growers sued all landowners in the community over water rights. Bolthouse Farms and Grimmway Farms are among the plaintiffs for the lawsuit claiming hundreds of defendants — and all property owners — including homeowners, businesses and public agencies in the Cuyama Valley. At the heart of the fight is the rights to the water in the Cuyama Valley Basin, which has been designated among the state’s most overdrafted groundwater basins for years. Overdrafted basins happen when the amount of water pumped out is larger than the long-term average supply of water into the basin. Groundwater remains the lone source since State Water Project delivery isn’t available. … ” Read more from Noozhawk.
Imperial Irrigation District looks to improve efficiency of On-Farm Efficiency Conservation Program
“The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors took a hard look at their On-Farm Efficiency Conservation Program (On-Farm) in the hopes that they can become more efficient at providing water efficiency savings for farmers. IID Senior Program Manager Ben Brock, along with Water Department Manager Tina Shields, updated the Board of Directors on the lengthy and complicated process that the On-Farm program currently has perform in order to determine how much to pay farmers for the water they conserved during the IID Board of Directors meeting on Wednesday, July 26. According to Brock and Shields, in a perfect world the program would be able to send the first check – which is 50% of the entire contract – to the farmers two months after their crops have been harvested, but due to technical issues within the program it is taking far longer. … ” Read more from the Imperial Valley Press.
Announcements, notices, and funding opportunities …
NOTICE: Reclamation hosts public meeting to provide update on Delta Cross Channel gates modernization project
FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: Biden-Harris Administration makes $260 million available for new fish passage projects as part of Investing in America agenda
NOTICE of Certification of Consistency Filed: Central Valley Flood Protection Plan (CVFPP)
NOTICE of Preparation for the Cache Creek Channel and Levee Rehabilitation Project
ANNOUNCEMENT: New, Online Water Resources Management Certificate from UC Davis
