On the calendar **tomorrow** …
- TUESDAY: PUBLIC MEETING: Delta Cross Channel Gates Modernization Project from 4:30pm to 6:00pm. The Bureau of Reclamation is holding a hybrid public meeting Aug. 8 to provide an update on the Delta Cross Channel Gates Modernization Project and results of the feasibility level technical memorandum. The modernization project will increase the operational flexibility, reliability, and safety of the Delta Cross Channel gates by streamlining their operation to improve water exports, ensure water quality and to control salinity in the interior Delta, and to protect migratory salmonids from entering and becoming lost in the Delta. Attend in person at the Jean Harvie Community Center in Walnut Grove or register to attend virutally.
In California water news today …
Wildfire watch: Forest fuel mapping and drones represent the next wave of firefighting
“Technology is furthering innovation in wildland firefighting across the west, including the Tahoe Basin — and not just in the process of extinguishing flames but in prevention of these catastrophic burns. Last fall, researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno, kicked off a series of projects that seek to map out the vegetation in the forests across California, especially the ladder fuels that carry low-intensity fires from the ground to the canopies of the trees. Crown fires are the most intense type of fire, difficult to contain and extremely dangerous for firefighting crews on the ground. Named after the term for blazes reaching 1 million acres — a distinction most recently given to the Northern California-based August Complex in 2020 — the GigaFire Project is creating a statewide map that will help land managers identify where fire risk is the greatest and determine which of the fuel reduction methods will be most effective in a specific area. … ” Read more from the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
A lifeline for winter-run chinook salmon
“Near McCloud Bridge, about 15 miles east of Interstate 5 in Northern California, lies one of the former village sites of the Winnemem Wintu. The Tribe still holds coming-of-age ceremonies on the river, which they also call Winnemem. Backed up by Shasta Dam and reservoir, the river is wide and sluggish, flowing under McCloud Bridge and past the Forest Service campground, which is popular with anglers casting after the river’s famed trout. In late June temperatures rise by mid-morning and warblers sing from the generous canopies of the oaks shading the campsites. From the bank below one of the campsites, Matt Johnson, senior environmental scientist at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, points to a spot where he installed two rotary screw traps in the river last summer. The traps — each a large metal cone-and-trap box moored on twin floats — are typically to sample fish populations, but Johnson used them to catch young winter-run Chinook salmon fry who’d been released upstream. “It was a duct tape and bailing wire emergency operation,” jokes Johnson, who had been brought onto the project just weeks before. “I had to use whatever I had on hand.” … ” Read more from The Revelator via Maven’s Notebook.
Braving the wild waters
“The South Fork American is the most popular whitewater rafting destination in California and one of the most popular in the country. About 100,000 people raft each year between Chili Bar in western El Dorado County and the take-out at the edge of Folsom Lake. About 70 percent of them ride with commercial rafters. This year, the “Big Melt” — water runoff from the biggest Sierra Nevada snowpack in decades — is drawing even more thrill seekers. The crowds fluctuate with the amount of precipitation each year, even though the river’s hydroelectric dams guarantee a certain amount of water for boating. More water means more customers. This year’s snowpack, which was more than twice the average in April, should provide a boost to rafting companies that lost business during drought years and the COVID-19 restrictions of 2020. … ” Read more from Comstock’s.
California and New York could miss their 2030 climate targets. Could permitting reform help?
“California and New York, two national leaders in the effort to curb global warming, could both miss key 2030 climate targets, according to state officials. It’s a sign that even the states most aggressively pursuing plans to reduce carbon emissions and ramp up clean energy development are struggling to meet tough deadlines aimed at averting runaway climate change. The warnings also highlight the larger debate surrounding permitting reform, and whether governments should be doing more to speed up the approval of renewable energy projects to meet ambitious climate targets. Both California and New York have been praised for having some of the most ambitious policies on the books to reduce carbon emissions and develop renewable energy. Under state law, both New York and California must reduce their emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. California officials increased that emissions reduction target—though not legally—to 48 percent last year. … ” Read more from Inside Climate News.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
‘Cooking the fish’: Irrigators and environmentalists disagree over reducing Eel River’s Flow at Scott Dam
“The public comment period for a proposed reduction in the diversion of water from the Eel River into the East Branch of the Russian River is now closed. PG&E, which still owns and operates the Potter Valley Project, has asked regulators for permission to reduce the flow into the East Branch from 75 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 25. The utility is also asking for the flexibility to cut the flow to five cfs if the water temperature at a gage near Scott Dam exceeds 16 degrees Celsius. That’s about 60 degrees Fahrenheit, which creates dangerous conditions for juvenile salmon. Last year, only 145 adult steelhead were counted at a fisheries station at Cape Horn Dam, downstream of Scott Dam. Scott Greacen is the Conservation Director for Friends of the Eel River, which has long fought for the full removal of the Potter Valley Project. … ” Read more from the Redheaded Blackbelt.
PG&E wants to dial back water released into the Russian River from Lake Pillsbury
“The public comment period for a proposed reduction in the diversion of water from the Eel River into the East Branch of the Russian River is now closed. PG&E, which still owns and operates the Potter Valley Project, has asked regulators for permission to reduce the flow into the East Branch from 75 cubic feet per second to 25. The utility is also asking for the flexibility to cut the flow to five cfs if the water temperature at a gage near Scott Dam exceeds 16 degrees Celsius. That’s about 60 degrees Fahrenheit, which creates dangerous conditions for juvenile salmon. Last year, only 145 adult steelhead were counted at a fisheries station at Cape Horn Dam, downstream of Scott Dam. … ” Continue reading at MendoFever.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
To take care of Tahoe, everyone has a role to play
Tony Karwowski, Andy Chapman, and Carol Chaplin write, “Recent news stories have highlighted some of the impacts of tourism in Tahoe. While some of the efforts underway to help reduce human impacts and shift behaviors are mentioned, those stories rarely emphasize how reliant Tahoe’s economy is on tourism. After all, it is what supports local businesses and puts many of our friends and neighbors to work. Stories about tourism also rarely talk about how everyone has a role to play. Locals — “long-time residents” or “community members”, as one contributing writer recently said, have just as much responsibility as those who visit to change their behaviors and help take care of Tahoe. For decades, Lake Tahoe’s local economy has relied on visitors and the many businesses that provide lodging, food and beverage service, and year-round outdoor recreation opportunities. Although the region had a robust tourism economy prior to 2020, the pandemic shifted how, when and where people spent time in Tahoe. … ” Read more from the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
NAPA/SONOMA
Big jump in water rates likely in Sonoma
“With little discussion, and unanimous approval, city council members in Sonoma started a process to significantly raise water rates in the city. The action Wednesday sets in motion ten years of annual rate increases, totaling a cumulative 53.4 percent. The average monthly bill would rise for just shy of $43 a month to more than $104. Teresa Jurotich, a consultant from the firm Raftelis, which performed a study and devised the rate plan, said without the increases, the city’s water fund would dry up. “The rates need to keep pace with the cost for the city to operate its water system and provide the level of service that your customers have come to expect,” Jurotich said. … ” Read more from Northern California Public Media.
CENTRAL COAST
Off-roaders damage SLO County beaver dam as battle over Salinas River brews
“Through a game camera tucked sneakily in the brush on the Salinas River in Atascadero, researchers could see an entire ecosystem be rebuilt after intense winter storms ravaged the landscape. In June, a small beaver family gathered sticks from nearby willow trees and constructed a dam to slow the flow of the river and create a pond that would provide habitat for a plethora of wildlife, improve down-river water quality and help recharge the area’s groundwater basin. In mid-July — about six days after the beavers seemed to have completed their engineering feat — the game camera captured the loud snapping of sticks and a car’s roaring engine as it cut through the evening silence, its driver revving it up in an attempt to drive over the dam. … ” Continue reading at the San Luis Obispo Tribune. | Read via Yahoo News.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Blog: The perverse arithmetic of water sales
Eric Caine writes, “Ever since Modesto Irrigation District (MID) proposed selling water to San Francisco more than ten years ago, the topic of sales has been fraught with political peril. The prospect of selling local water to San Francisco brought about changes on the MID Board of Directors and served as a warning notice that peddling MID water to outsiders was political suicide. No such peril existed for the nearby Oakdale Irrigation District (OID), which routinely sold water to distant buyers like Westlands Water District. With few exceptions, OID customers seemed content to trade water for money, especially when OID farmers were getting irrigation water at rates below the cost of delivery. OID sales began running into trouble when some parties objected to the water “transfers” on legal grounds. Once in court, the water sales were found to be in violation of provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the sales program ran aground. … ” Read more at the Valley Citizen blog.
Kern’s climate history means valley fever could come back strong, but it’s not a sure thing
“Public health officials are warning that the ultra-wet weather western Kern County residents experienced this winter and spring following years of drought could result in an increased risk of valley fever this summer and fall. The cautionary language is coming from both the state and local levels, and is a warning meant for all areas affected by the airborne disease. “Valley fever is a risk in California, and especially in Kern County,” said Kim Hernandez, division director of health services at the Kern County Public Health Services Department. “Here in Kern we, on average, account for about a third of the cases in California,” she said. … ” Read more from the Bakersfield Californian.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Remnants of tropical storm expected to bring cooler temperatures, showers and humidity to SoCal this week
“A persistent “heat dome” that has baked much of the American Southwest for most of July will ease again this week, bringing average to below-average temperatures to Southern California and even a chance of precipitation. Highs in downtown Los Angeles will peak on Monday and will dip to the low 80s by Wednesday, when remnants of Tropical Storm Eugene in Baja Mexico could bring showers to the region as early as Tuesday evening, and “maybe even a thunderstorm,” said said Eric Boldt, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “That’s going to not only increase the humidity but it’s going to bring more cloud cover, and general temperatures will be lower than what we’ve seen in the last couple of days,” he said. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Video: Addressing groundwater PFAS contamination at the regional scale
“The Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) estimated that 98 drinking water wells were impacted by PFAS at concentrations above the proposed maximum contaminant levels. Phuong Watson, senior engineer for WRD, talks about the contamination, as well as WRD’s multi-faceted approach to the large-scale problem.” Watch video at Water World.
SAN DIEGO
Clean Energy Alliance approves MOU that would include service to Carlsbad Desalination Plant
“The Clean Energy Alliance Board of Directors approved a memorandum of understanding on July 27 that would bring the largest consumer of electricity within Carlsbad into the fold. The San Diego County Water Authority and Channelside, the company that owns the Carlsbad Desalination Plant, have an agreement that allows the water authority decision-making power on an electricity provider, according to a CEA staff report. The MOU, which is pending final approval later this year, would make the Clean Energy Alliance that provider. “It is a significant energy user in the city of Carlsbad, and by the account being served by Clean Energy Alliance, it increases the amount of renewable energy being procured to serve the load and reduces the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to that large load,” said Barbara Boswell, CEO of the Clean Energy Alliance. “It also provides a predictable revenue stream to Clean Energy Alliance through the whole market access tariff.” … ” Read more from the Del Mar Times.
Small San Diego water buyers vie to usurp big city power
“Some of the region’s smaller, rural water buyers are fed up with how the city of San Diego’s been throwing its weight around recently and they see an opportunity to change things as the city scurries to stop two other agencies from defecting. The city is pushing a bill in the state Legislature that would undo an attempt by two small rural farming communities to divorce from the San Diego County Water Authority. That upset a growing list of smaller and rural water districts that already have less voting power than San Diego in local water decisions. The bill needs unwavering support from Democrats to pass. There’s already evidence they may not have the votes. So, some of these water districts from more conservative parts of the region want to make a deal with the bill’s author, Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, a Democrat from Encinitas: We’ll support your bill, if you give us more voting power over the Water Authority. … ” Continue reading at the Voice of San Diego.
Commentary: Our border sewage crisis has a solution. SANDAG holds it.
Laura Wilkinson Sinton, a community activist and co-founder of www.stopthesewage.org, writes, “Almost 20 miles of our shared beaches have been declared off-limits by the San Diego County Department of Health and COEPRISBC, the Baja California Health Authority, due to poisoned waters. These toxic beaches, without immediate intervention, may last another decade while the promises of underfunded construction projects continue. We want emergency measures to help us, but “these solutions” as officials said last Tuesday at the International Water Boundary Commission (IBWC) public meeting in Coronado, “take time.” Infrastructure takes years. Many years. So imagine our outrage living with toxic sewage from Mexico – for decades – on our closed beaches while reading CalTrans chief deputy district director in this Voice of San Diego article praising the Mexican Government for “moving at lightning speed” to construct roads and bridges – infrastructure – for the new Otay Mesa ll border crossing set to open next year. … ” Continue reading from the Voice of San Diego.
Along the Colorado River …
Lake Mead is on the rise right now, but the future is a different story
“Maybe you’ve heard that Lake Mead is on the rise again. It’s up a little more than it was a year ago, about 20 feet higher than where it was at this time last year. They released more from Lake Powell upstream in April. Plus, we had a very snowy winter. Snowmelt from the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains feeds the Colorado River. But everyone who lives in Las Vegas or Northern Nevada knows that this all just a mirage. One wet winter does not overturn more than 20 years of drought. We just had the hottest July on record. Kingman, Arizona this year set a record of 114 F; Reno set a record of 108. A record 126 degrees was reached in Sanbao, China. Other records fell in Europe. … ” Read more from Nevada Public Radio.
Nevada: Report: No signs of radioactive contamination spread in groundwater
“Everything leaves a legacy and for the former Nevada Test Site, where nuclear experiments were conducted for decades, that legacy is one of uncertainty. Just how did those nuclear bombs affect residents in the surrounding area and more importantly, their groundwater? To address concerns regarding the most precious of life’s resources, there are multiple monitoring programs in place. Nye County is one of the entities taking the lead in making sure any potential radioactive contamination is not making its way into the water supply utilized by residents of areas like Beatty and Amargosa. The results of the county’s most recent round of the Tritium Sampling and Monitoring Program, or TSaMP, continues to show that tritium remains undetectable in said waters. … ” Read more from the Pahrump Valley Times.
Hobbs: Hot-button use of Arizona groundwater for Saudi alfalfa is complex
“Gov. Katie Hobbs says she’s reviewing whether changes in state law could give her the authority to decide who can lease state lands and what activities can take place there. In a wide-ranging interview after the legislative session ended Monday, Hobbs acknowledged that statutes generally require state trust lands to be managed to obtain their “highest and best use’’ and maximize their return to the state and the beneficiaries of the trust, mainly public education. It was that requirement that resulted in the Fondomonte company being able to lease more than 6,000 acres and pump the water beneath it to grow alfalfa in western Arizona to feed dairy cows in Saudi Arabia. That country bans such farming because of its water use. The lease has generated nationwide publicity and calls for Arizona officials to cancel it. Hobbs said the issue isn’t that simple — or that discrete. … ” Read more from the Arizona Daily Star.
New Colorado Drought Task Force buckles down to work
“A new state Colorado River Drought Task Force will meet nine times between now and early December, and hold two public hearings to develop recommendations on how the parched river’s supplies will be managed inside state lines as its flows continue to decline. At its first meeting Monday, 100 people joined the virtual session as the 17-member task force began planning the work it must conclude by Dec. 15. “We are at a truly historic moment in Colorado River history,” said Kathy Chandler-Henry, an Eagle County Commissioner who is non-voting chair of the group. … ” Read more from KUNC.
In national water news today …
EPA’s national plastics plan flouts sea pollution, chemical use
“A national plastics strategy by the Biden administration has drawn concern over its scope and consistency with existing laws, according to comments on the proposal that closed earlier this week. The Environmental Protection Agency’s draft national strategy to prevent plastic pollution aims to reduce use and build a circular economy—a system where materials are recycled or recovered instead of thrown away. Released in May, the EPA outlined three objectives for the strategy: reducing pollution during plastic production, improving post-use materials management, and removing trash from the environment. The agency endeavors to eliminate the release of plastic waste from land-based sources into the environment by 2040. … ” Read more from Bloomberg Law.
SEE ALSO: 14 AGs want action on ‘plastic pollution crisis’, from The Center Square
After helping prevent extinctions for 50 years, the Endangered Species Act itself may be in peril
“Biologist Ashley Wilson carefully disentangled a bat from netting above a tree-lined river and examined the wriggling, furry mammal in her headlamp’s glow.They were looking for increasingly scarce Indiana and northern long-eared bats, which historically migrated there for birthing season, sheltering behind peeling bark of dead trees. The scientists had yet to spot either species this year as they embarked on a netting mission. … The two bat varieties are designated as imperiled under the Endangered Species Act, the bedrock U.S. law intended to keep animal and plant types from dying out. … Fifty years after the law took effect, environmental advocates and scientists say it’s as essential as ever. Habitat loss, pollution, climate change and disease are putting an estimated 1 million species worldwide at risk. Yet the law has become so controversial that Congress hasn’t updated it since 1992 — and some worry it won’t last another half-century. … ” Read more from the Associated Press.
SCOTUS WOTUS decision continues to reverberate
“The Supreme Court’s 9-0 ruling for the plaintiffs in the Sackett vs. EPA case might seem to be the final word in the lengthy and, oftentimes, politically charged debate over what’s included in the term “Waters of the United States.” While farmers and landowners may have hoped the Court’s May 25 decision would bring an end to the uncertainty over what is included in the definition of navigable waters, those expectations may prove to be a bit rosy. “I think there is some hope the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett would be the nail in the coffin and give us our final definition of Waters of the United States,” said Brigit Rollins, staff attorney with the National Agricultural Law Center, “but I think that’s a little bit of an optimistic hope. … ” Read more from the Western Farm Press.
Survey: Communication key in consumer perception of water safety
“According to a recent according to a survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), consumers who remember receiving a recent communication from their water utilities are more than three times as likely to report their water’s safety has improved. The May 2023 poll, called “Public Perceptions of Tap Water,” included responses from 2,022 adults served by water utilities in the United States. Seventy-one percent of respondents view their home’s tap water as safe, which is consistent with the level measured in the June 2022 survey. Nineteen percent of all respondents indicated they felt their tap water is unsafe. When broken down by demographic, one-quarter of Black respondents (23%) and Hispanic respondents (25%) report feeling their tap water is unsafe, compared to 18% percent of White respondents that report feeling their tap water is unsafe. … ” Read more from Water Finance & Management.
More news and commentary in the weekend edition …
In California water news this weekend …
Newsom signs order to expedite California levee repair ahead of the next wet winter- Siskiyou County repeals water ordinances that residents said targeted Asian Americans
- State approves bill to ban sale, transport of Caulerpa algae
- Department of Water Resources releases approved determinations for the Merced, Westside, and Kings Subbasins
- California’s wet winter lowered the risk of big fires, experts say
- Commentary: Thomas Birmingham on the water question that California politicians keep refusing to answer
- Editorial: How can EPA care more about minor sewage woes in San Francisco than disaster in San Diego?
- Expect construction on Folsom Dam and Auxiliary Spillway
- Napa Valley’s Rutherford Ranch winery growth approvals appealed
- As algal bloom returns to the bay, is swimming safe for humans (and pets)?
- Valley water advocates, residents blast Tulare County drought plan
- Lake Mead 3 feet deeper than a month ago, expected to keep filling as Lake Powell drops
- And more …
Click here for the weekend digest.
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT on Possible Board Direction Regarding Establishing Minimum Instream Flows for the Scott and Shasta Rivers
