On the calendar today …
- WEBINAR: California-Nevada Drought & Climate Outlook from 11am to 12pm. The California-Nevada Drought Early Warning System September 2023 Drought & Climate Outlook Webinar is part of a series of regular drought and climate outlook webinars designed to provide stakeholders and other interested parties in the region with timely information on current drought status and impacts, as well as a preview of current and developing climatic events (i.e., El Niño and La Niña). Click here to register.
In California water news today …
Water rights vs. fish goes to court on September 25
“Central Valley water districts subject to a state plan that diverts flows from the San Joaquin River tributaries downstream for fish are working to achieve a more holistic approach for the fishery through voluntary agreements, while also challenging the state’s flows only approach in court. Central to the issue is a plan adopted in 2018 by the California State Water Resources Control Board that requires affected water users to leave unimpaired flows of 30% to 50% in three San Joaquin tributaries—the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers. The work is the first phase of the state’s water quality control plan update for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, known as the Bay-Delta plan. Districts, farmers and residents of the affected region have protested the plan, saying it would do little to restore salmon and other fish populations while cutting water supplies to the northern San Joaquin Valley. … ” Read more from the Patterson Irrigator.
Is groundwater trading the future of California water?
“A summit in Fresno last week was upbeat on a dour topic: the megadrought of the American West. If the recent blockbuster report about civilization exceeding nearly all of Earth’s natural limits was harsh, the summit – thrown at Fresno State’s newest building, the Resnick Center, named after Stuart Resnick, California’s wealthiest farmer – was the more relaxed counterpart to this fact. Water district managers and policy makers talked about the future of the San Joaquin Valley’s groundwater aquifers – whose collapse has long been the poster child for an industry growing beyond the provisions of rivers and aquifers. The cream of the state’s water policy experts said their expectation of drought and climate change was rosy. At the meeting, a new vision of water in the valley emerged. … ” Read more from Fresnoland.
West Coast’s first atmospheric river of season to slam region on Monday
“The West Coast is prepping for the first atmospheric river (AR) of the season. The river of moisture in the sky sets to slam Oregon, Washington and Northern California beginning on Monday. The FOX Weather Center is watching carefully to see if this storm will be the first of many, similar to the battening the West took last winter from the parade of atmospheric river-fueled storms. Researchers caution that the devastating 2022/23 winter was during La Niña. This 2023/24 winter is in El Niño, making the atmospheric river connection more likely. “During El Niño, when the eastern Pacific Ocean is warmer than normal, atmospheric rivers are more likely to impact the western U.S.,” wrote NOAA’s Climate Prediction Office in a study. “Conversely, during La Niña, when the eastern Pacific is cooler than normal, atmospheric rivers are less likely to impact the western U.S.” … ” Read more from Fox Weather.
California Drought: Looking back at the summer that was and the impacts of climate change
From heatwaves to hurricanes to poor air quality and stressed power grids, Summer 2023 was a prime example of climate change, despite how mild it was in California.
Evolution of drought response and resilience in California’s cities
“Drought is a regular event in California. In recent decades, California has experienced five prolonged drought periods (1976-77, 1987-1992, 2007-09, 2011-16, 2020-22). Urban water agencies have responded with investments in supply and demand management measures, which have made California’s cities more resilient to drought effects. What motivated these investments? Our current habits of water use in California’s cities are shaped by past policies and habits. Prior to 1976, urban water management in California was dominated by actions to increase supplies during the state’s Hydraulic Era (Hanak et al., 2011). In the early 1900’s, California’s developing cities built large infrastructure systems to transport water across long distances. San Francisco’s Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct (1913) and the Los Angeles Aqueduct (1914) were early projects. … ” Read more from the California Water Blog.
New technology produces water in Death Valley, but Jevon’s Paradox looms
“According to the United Nations, even though there is enough water on Earth for everyone, around two billion people still suffer from scarcity due to lack of access or infrastructure. Technological solutions exist: utilizing sea and groundwater, recycling wastewater, improving distribution and consumption efficiency, and collecting water from the atmosphere. Recent research published in Nature demonstrated the ability to produce water in Death Valley, a scorching hot part of California’s Mojave Desert. This was accomplished by capturing and purifying water from fog, and by imitating the way spiders and beetles collect water. Yet, these advancements encounter a challenge put forth by William Stanley Jevons two centuries ago: as resource efficiency improves, consumption tends to increase. … ” Continue reading from El Pais.
Native Americans invited back to help protect and preserve their former lands
“For decades, Theresa Harlan was warned that her family’s beloved cabin in Point Reyes National Seashore would be torn down, erased like all other traces of Coastal Miwok heritage in this fog-veiled, wind-sculpted landscape. But now she has the park’s promise that it will stay, a small but symbolic gesture in the growing movement to correct historic wrongs and give Native Americans a voice about the fate of lands and waters that were once theirs. “There is a shift,” said Harlan, 63. “We are treated as stakeholders.” Long after being removed, sometimes violently, tribes are negotiating collaborative or cooperative roles in 80 national parks, including Point Reyes. This month, federal officials will release details about Native partnership in the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary off the Central California coast, the first tribal-nominated marine sanctuary designation in the nation. … ” Read more from the Marin Independent Journal.
SEE ALSO: Tribes designate a marine stewardship area in Northern California, from Capital Public Radio
EVs are a climate solution with a pollution problem: Tire particles
“As gas-guzzling cars are replaced by their electric counterparts, tailpipe emissions are on the decline. But cars have other negative impacts on environmental health, beyond what comes out of their exhaust pipes. One of the bigger, and lesser known, problems is tire pollution — or “tire and road wear particles,” in industry terminology. Tires shed tiny particles with every rotation. Tire wear happens most dramatically during rapid acceleration, braking, and sharp turns, but even with the most conservative driving, particulate pollution is an unavoidable consequence of car use. And it’s a problem that’s poised to get worse as drivers transition to EVs. “We’re pushing for decarbonization by going to battery electric vehicles, and in doing so we’re pushing up tire wear emissions … which is going to prove difficult to solve,” said Nick Molden, founder and CEO of Emissions Analytics, a London-based company that performs independent tests on cars’ real-world tailpipe and tire emissions. … ” Read more from Grist.
To reverse a troubling trend, farmers are adding rocks to their fields
“Chris Rauch was strolling past booths at the annual ag show in Spokane last summer when he spotted a large jar full of basalt powder. A nearby sign urged him to spread it on his croplands to help improve soil pH. Rauch looked at the gray dust and shook his head. “That’s crazy,” he thought. “Why would I want to put even more rocks in my fields?” … A few weeks after the ag show, Rauch got the latest results of his soil pH tests: 5.3. He recalled the message from the ag show booth, run by a company called UNDO. The crushed rock raised soil pH levels. And it was free. His first thought was, why? It seemed too good to be true. Yet the more he read, the more it seemed legit. “You can’t beat zero,” he finally decided, and gave UNDO a call. … ” Read more from Modern Farmer.
California escapes fire season mostly unharmed, but danger could lie ahead
“California is on the verge of recording a second straight year of relatively mild wildfire damage, after historic rains put the state on track to avoid the calamities of recent fire seasons. The state of nearly 40 million people has received 141% of average precipitation over the past 12 months, according to the state Department of Water Resources, ending a two-decade drought. The year included a long spring and a cool summer that in August produced California’s first major hurricane in 84 years, increasing moisture in the trees, brush, grasses and soil and helping prevent the typical outbreak of multiple major fires around Labor Day in early September. … ” Read more from Reuters.
California seals its reputation as a climate juggernaut with a wave of legislation and head-turning lawsuit
“California Gov. Gavin Newsom drew loud cheers and applause on Wednesday when he spoke at the UN’s Climate Ambition Summit in New York, after pointedly calling the climate crisis “a fossil fuel crisis.” He told the room full of global leaders, climate advocates and non-governmental organizations the world needs to phase out oil, gas and coal and castigated the fossil fuel industry for “deceit and denial.” He was also the lone US official who spoke at the UN secretary general’s hand-picked summit, though climate envoy John Kerry also attended. It was an overwhelming response from an audience of people who, while optimistic about humanity’s ability to solve the climate crisis, are cynically used to hearing leaders give the issue watered-down lip service. … ” Read more from CNN.
In commentary today …
Can Valley farmers use water wisely & re-purpose land when needed? That’s the question
Tad Weber, Fresno Bee opinion editor, writes, “After the exceptionally wet and snowy winter that California enjoyed, it is tempting to forget that droughts that have challenged San Joaquin Valley farmers for decades. But as any grower knows, droughts are a fact of life in California’s semi-arid climate, which is now being made more so by climate change. Climate scientists say the boom-bust cycle of precipitation will continue. So it was logical that a conference held this past week at Fresno State, “Managing water and farmland transitions in the San Joaquin Valley,” drew a large crowd of growers and water district managers. The event was sponsored by the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan group that provides analysis on key issues facing the state. … ” Read more from the Fresno Bee.
Is California Forever visionary or just public relations?
Josh Stephens with the California Planning & Development Report writes, “California Forever dropped from the sky two weeks ago, like a lost chapter from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities. It promised a utopia of low-carbon emissions, a jobs-housing balance, rowhouses (!), light rail, human-scale density, and, most marvelously, diversity social equity. Exquisitely, it created fans and detractors in seemingly equal numbers. Most observers, though, probably fell in the middle, able to imagine best- and worst-case scenarios with equal vividness. Naturally, many people’s fantasies are others’ nightmares. And, after a flourish of a week or so, California Forever has receded into the fog. If it revisits us, it will likely do so in the form of lobbying, ballot measures, environmental impact reports, and lawsuits until the end of our days. So far, California Forever–the name of which sounds more like that of a cemetery than a metropolis–offers more of a lesson in public relations than in planning. … ” Read more from the California Planning & Development Report.
Yes, there was global warming in prehistoric times. But nothing in millions of years compares with what we see today
““The climate is always changing!” So goes a popular refrain from climate deniers who continue to claim that there’s nothing special about this particular moment. There is no climate crisis, they say, because the Earth has survived dramatic warming before. Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy recently exemplified misconceptions about our planet’s climate past. When he asserted that “carbon dioxide as a percentage of the atmosphere is still at a relative low through human history,” he didn’t just make a false statement (carbon dioxide concentrations are the highest they’ve been in at least 4 million years). He also showed fundamentally wrong thinking around the climate crisis. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Data-driven decisions: Tracking sediment during the Klamath Dam removal
“The largest dam removal in U.S. history, the deconstruction of the Klamath Dam is slated to begin this summer. The project includes four dams along the Klamath River with the first and smallest dam, Copco #2, scheduled for removal first. As each of the dams are torn down, scientists and consultants will keep a close eye on the state of the Klamath River downstream to assess the impact of undamming the river. Shawn Hinz, managing partner and environmental toxicologist with Gravity Consulting, has been involved with the Klamath Dam project for over a decade. Hinz was a part of these earlier steps, representing the academic stakeholder position as a graduate student sitting on a board of other stakeholders. Even though the decision to finally remove the dam came recently, advocacy groups have been pushing to undam the river for far longer. … ” Read more from Environmental Monitor.
Supervisors to discuss new rules for Clear Lake Watershed
“The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to discuss new state rules that are expected to have significant impacts on water uses in the Clear Lake Watershed. … At 1:30 p.m., the board will hold a discussion regarding the state’s draft emergency information order regulations for the Clear Lake Watershed. Public Works Director Scott De Leon’s memo to the board explains that on Sept. 5, the State Water Resources Control Board issued draft emergency information order regulations together with a notice of opportunity for public comment and staff workshop. He said the proposed regulations are in response to the Governor’s Executive Order N-5-23. … ” Read more from the Lake County News.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Major meadow clean up along the Upper Truckee River in South Lake Tahoe
“The City of South Lake Tahoe Police, Fire, Public Works, and Parks and Recreation departments, Clean Tahoe, Pack Rat, and South Tahoe Refuse, along with private property owners completed a major meadow trash/debris clean up in the Truckee River Meadow North of US Hwy 50 in South Lake Tahoe. This area is frequented by people experiencing homelessness who are trespassing and over the years has accumulated a massive amount of trash and debris. Most of the meadow is private property. The South Lake Tahoe Police Department has spent months through our STACS Officer and other agencies contacting people trespassing in the meadow and offering them various services. Those who refuse to leave or accept assistance were advised of trespassing and noticed to leave the meadow and take their trash with them. … ” Read more from the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
Developer will pay $1.65 million for stormwater violations at construction site in Placer County
“The Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board has approved an agreement under which Palisades Development, LLC will pay $1.65 million for stormwater violations between 2018 and 2021 during construction activity at the Palisades at Olympic Valley (formerly Palisades at Squaw) residential development in Placer County. In 2021, Lahontan Water Board staff received a complaint that Palisades Development, LLC was building homes in violation of the State Water Resources Control Board’s Construction General Permit. The residential development is nearly 20 acres in size and includes 63 single family homes as well as associated infrastructure, roads, and landscaping. … ” Read more from the State Water Board.
BAY AREA
Bay Area weather: Where rain will be heaviest Monday night
“Wildfire smoke has pushed out of the Bay Area, and good air quality has returned. In addition to the clean air, more cleansing weather is on the way: rain. A cold front Monday could bring up to a half inch of rain to the North Bay, and a tenth of an inch to the Peninsula and Santa Cruz Mountains. Precipitation will begin Monday afternoon in Sonoma County and move southeast toward San Francisco overnight. Most of the rain will fall Monday night, but drizzles could remain until Tuesday afternoon. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
SEE ALSO: Live storm map: See where rain is hitting California, from the San Francisco Chronicle
Storm swell expected to bring 16-foot waves to Bay Area beaches
“Waves as high as 16 feet could hit Bay Area beaches late Monday afternoon as the result of a storm 200 miles off the coast of Washington state, meteorologists said Sunday. The National Weather Service has upgraded its Beach Hazard Statement warning to a high surf advisory from Monday afternoon through 11 p.m. Tuesday. The NWS warned of “dangerous rip currents and larger breakers.” Of particular danger are beaches that face northwest, the direction of a powerful swell being created by a storm that is 1,500 miles off the Pacific Northwest. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Marin Commentary: Increasing use of recycled water raises many questions
Redwood High School student Lucy Wong Ryniejski writes, “In 2021, Marin County was within 200 days of running out of water. That scenario, officials said, prompted a flurry of conversations on how the county will achieve sustainability once the drought returns. “We are having conversations in the community about how this last drought was extremely scary. It felt like a close call,” said Eli Beckman, vice mayor of Corte Madera and Central Marin Sanitation Agency board member. “What will we do if it happens again and it is even worse?” With over 7 million residents in nine counties, each part of the Bay Area is preparing for the next drought, which could last two years or more. Meanwhile, each day, Marin residents dump 6 million to 8 million gallons of potentially reusable wastewater into the bay, according to Beckman. … ” Read more from the Marin Independent Journal.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Popular Southern California beach indefinitely shut down to protect sea lions
“San Diego’s city council has voted unanimously to shut down access to Point La Jolla and Boomer Beach after complaints from residents and activists with regard to sea lions. “People will be prevented from actually going on to the rocks at Point La Jolla and for Boomer’s Beach if your purpose is to actually get into the water for swimming, for paddleboarding … you’re still going to be allowed to get into the water,” Joe LaCava, the city council member representing La Jolla, told FOX 5 San Diego. The area is well known for its sea lion population, which chooses the rocks to breed and nurse. … ” Read more from Fox Weather.
SAN DIEGO
San Diego County Water Authority honored for climate change efforts
“The San Diego County Water Authority has earned Climate Registered gold status from The Climate Registry for the fourth consecutive year. The Water Authority was recognized for verifying and publicly reporting its greenhouse gas emissions, an effort that fosters transparency for the agency’s climate mitigation initiatives and helps the agency track and validate emissions reductions in the future. The Climate Registry operates North America’s largest voluntary registry for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Water Authority’s 2021 and 2022 inventories were verified and published in The Climate Registry’s public database in July and September, earning the agency gold status for both years. The agency also published its 2019 and 2020 inventories, earning the Water Authority gold status for those years. In addition, the Water Authority has met all California state aligned GHG reduction targets, while decreasing its emissions over the past 13 years compared to its state-aligned baseline year. … ” Read more from the Water News Network.
Along the Colorado River …
Water authority moves to conserve on cooling systems in Southern Nevada
“The Southern Nevada Water Authority has banned evaporative cooling in new commercial buildings because the systems are one of largest consumers of water in Clark County. The ban went into effect this month but does not apply to businesses that applied for building permits before then. Instead of evaporative cooling systems, which use a steady stream of water and a fan to blast cool air throughout buildings, new structures will use air conditioning units with a recirculating refrigerant. Dave Johnson, deputy general manager of the water authority, said the type of large cooling towers found at Las Vegas resorts is the main concern. … ” Read more from the Las Vegas Sun.
The fight over Arizona’s shipping container border wall ends with dismissal of federal lawsuits
“Two federal lawsuits filed over former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision last year to place thousands of shipping containers along the U.S.-Mexico border have been dismissed after the state said it would pay the U.S. Forest Service $2.1 million to repair environmental damage. The Sept. 15 dismissal of the cases in U.S. District Court in Phoenix ends the fight over the double-stacked containers that were placed as a makeshift border wall in the summer of 2022. … ” Continue reading from the Associated Press.
Water cuts force Pinal County farmers to scale back
“Farmers in Pinal County left swathes of land unplanted following Colorado River water cuts. Now yielding fewer crops, they’re forced to find alternative ways to survive, as agriculture faces a bleaker future. Last year, statewide water cuts eliminated 99% of the county’s water allocation from the Central Arizona Project, according to Brian Yerges, general manager of the Maricopa Stanfield Irrigation District. “That is why you’re essentially seeing 40 to 50% of land fallow depending on where you’ve located,” Yerges said. … ” Read more from the Arizona Capital Times.
Western states vote to narrow focus of Colorado River program
“Water commissioners from Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming are focusing on water demand management in the future of a conservation pilot program. The Upper Colorado River Commission met for a special meeting on Sept. 21 and heard an update regarding the System Conservation Pilot Program (SCPP). While the river commission has been around since 1948’s Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, SCPP is a relatively new attempt to support temporary and voluntary water-use cuts in the Colorado River Basin. The program uses federal funding to pay water users to cut back. … ” Read more from the Telluride Daily Planet.
In national water news today …
Survey: 66% of Americans say water requires more federal funding
“The American Business Water Coalition (ABWC), a national organization comprised of water-reliant businesses, has released a “U.S. Water Infrastructure Funding and Business Risks Survey,” examining voter opinions across a wide spectrum of water issues. The survey focused on water issues such as water quality, federal infrastructure funding and perceived risk to U.S. businesses and local communities from potential water-related crises. A key finding of the ABWC survey showed that a large majority of voters – 79 percent of Americans – are more likely to vote for political candidates who support increasing funding for clean and reliable drinking water. … ” Read more from Water Finance & Management.
Mitigating the climate impact on water infrastructure: 5 things you can do
“After decades of warning signs that climate change is happening, most people are now admitting that it is real, and it is not pretty. Droughts are getting dryer, and floods are getting wetter and more frequent. Water resources organizations are struggling to manage ongoing crises and prepare for future events. While you cannot do much to significantly alter climate, you can help your city prepare to deal with the consequences and be more resilient. Infrastructure remains one of the least technologically advanced sectors in the entire economy. A technological transformation of the industry has the potential to, among other things, help achieve sustainability and resilience goals against climate change, as well as improve the efficiency, safety, and quality of water infrastructure projects. Through new methods and new technologies, leading utilities are advancing the infrastructure on which society depends. Here are five things that you can do now to mitigate the consequences of climate change on your city’s water infrastructure. … ” Read more from Water Finance & Management.
