On the calendar today …
- WEBINAR: Eminent Domain for Water Infrastructure Projects – When Does the “Process” Really Start? from 11am to 12pm. With many water infrastructure projects underway and hopefully many more in the future, agencies are having to acquire easements and fee title interests in order to construct their projects. This presentation is meant to be an overview of what general managers, staff and directors need to know about the Eminent Domain process and how it really starts long before the agency goes to court. Click here to register.
- WEBINAR: Office Hours with Ellen Hanak from 12pm to 1pm: Join Maven’s Notebook for an interactive session with Ellen Hanak, Senior Fellow at PPIC, where we’ll dive deep into the fascinating world of San Joaquin Valley water issues. You won’t want to miss this exclusive opportunity to tap into Ellen’s wealth of knowledge! Click here to register.
- SoCAL WATER DIALOG: Water Quality at the Center of the Climate Crisis from 12pm to 1:30pm. Climate change is exacerbating water quality problems throughout the west and southern California. Join Water Dialogue panelists as they discuss the challenges and how the region can adapt in the years ahead. The challenges are many and include the following: compromised source water quality due to increased runoff of pollutants and sediment; more frequent reduced oxygen is fine…and better in source waters; increased frequency of algal/cyanobacterial blooms; increased salinity and saltwater intrusion into groundwater basins; potential impacts on water treatment; and rising treatment costs for recycled water. Click here to register.
In California water news today …
One of the most intense El Niños ever observed could be forming
“A fast-forming and strengthening El Niño climate pattern could peak this winter as one of the most intense ever observed, according to an experimental forecast released Tuesday. The new prediction system suggested it could reach top-tier “super” El Niño strength, a level that in the past has unleashed deadly fires, drought, heat waves, floods and mudslides around the world. This time, El Niño is developing alongside an unprecedented surge in global temperatures that scientists say have increased the likelihood of brutal heat waves and deadly floods of the kind seen in recent weeks. Will that make El Niño’s typical extremes even more dramatic in the winter? “My answer would be — maybe,” said David DeWitt, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center. … ” Read more from the Washington Post (gift article).
SEE ALSO:
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- Strong El Niño forecasts don’t necessarily mean wet winter for the Central Sierra, from the Union Democrat
- Wet El Niño Ahead Brings Concerns For Palos Verdes Landslide Complex, from the Patch
- How bad will California’s winter be? Weather outlook for north and south, from Newsweek
- El Niño Is Creating Fear and Mystery This Year: Weather Watch, from Bloomberg
Record-breaking rain soaks northwest California
“An atmospheric river soaked northwest California on Monday into early Tuesday morning, delivering record-breaking rainfall amounts and dampening wildfires. Meteorologists are saying the system was unusually strong for an early-season storm. The heaviest rain was reported in Oregon and far Northern California, but light rain made its way down into the Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. “Typically, this is the type of storm that we’d see more so in November than September,” Jonathan Garner, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Eureka office, said over the phone. “It’s a little early in the season for this type of rainfall event, but it’s not unheard of.” … ” Read more from SF Gate.
SEE ALSO: ‘Unusually heavy’ storm brought record rainfall totals to these California cities, from the San Francisco Chronicle
An important groundwater bill lands on the governor’s desk
“Earlier this month, California’s Legislature passed a slate of bills that cover a range of environmental and climate issues. Among those was Assemblymember Lori Wilson’s AB 779, a bill we helped create to improve the groundwater adjudication process for all water users. Adjudications legally determine groundwater rights but can take years and cost millions of dollars. This hurts all groundwater users, and is especially burdensome for small farmers, farmers of color, and other historically marginalized groundwater users. Assemblymember Wilson, and we, wanted to ensure those communities were not left behind in these crucial proceedings. So as students in UCLA Law’s California Environmental Legislation and Policy Clinic (Fall 2022-Spring 2023), we worked with Assemblymember Wilson’s office to help make the adjudication process more fair. … ” Read more from Legal Planet.
‘A ticking time bomb’: Why California can’t provide safe drinking water to all its residents
” … More than a decade after California became the first state in the nation to declare that access to clean, safe and affordable drinking water was a human right, about a million residents remain connected to failing water systems — many of which may increase their risk of cancer, liver and kidney problems, or other serious health issues. The number of failed water systems has jumped about 25% since 2021 , an increase driven partly by the collection of more data. Today, about 400 such systems exist across California, and experts warn that hundreds more are poised to fail because of new and higher testing standards. “It’s a bit of a ticking time bomb,” said Gregory Pierce, director of the Human Right to Water Solutions Lab at UCLA. With new regulations slated to take effect in the next few years, many systems will need to take urgent and proactive steps or “they’ll be out of compliance and be failing.” … ” Continue reading at the LA Times.
SEE ALSO: Does your water provider have a contamination problem? Look up your local utility here, from the LA Times
Decades later, closed military bases remain a toxic menace
“For much of the 20th century, Fort Ord was one of the largest light infantry training bases in the country, a place where more than a million U.S. Army troops were schooled in the lethal skills of firing a mortar and aiming a rifle — discharging thousands of rounds a day into the scenic sand dunes along the coast of central California. Later, when it became clear with the end of the Cold War that the colossal military infrastructure built up to fight the Soviet Union would no longer be necessary, Fort Ord was one of 800 U.S. military bases, large and small, that were shuttered between 1988 and 2005. The cities of Seaside and Marina, Calif., where Fort Ord had been critical to the local economy, were left with a ghost town of clapboard barracks and decrepit, World War II-era concrete structures that neither of the cities could afford to tear down. Also left behind were poisonous stockpiles of unexploded ordnance, lead fragments, industrial solvents and explosives residue, a toxic legacy that in some areas of the base remains largely where the Army left it. … ” Read more from the New York Times (gift article).
Video: Managing Water and Farmland Transitions in the San Joaquin Valley
“For the past seven years, the PPIC Water Policy Center has been researching how the San Joaquin Valley can adapt to a future with less water. On September 20, we held a special half-day event on the Fresno State campus that drew together an array of growers, water managers, agency staff, and others to discuss how to best manage the changes ahead. Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval acknowledged the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act’s (SGMA) importance to the valley in his opening remarks. “We are deeply aware that water produces crops in our valley—over 250 commodities…food that cannot be produced elsewhere.” As water supplies decline, said Central Valley Community Foundation CEO Ashley Swearengin, it is key to bring all the valley’s many players to the table to hammer out coping strategies. … ” Read more and watch video from the PPIC.
SEE ALSO: Water-use challenges affecting farmers means reinventing the San Joaquin Valley, commentary from the PPIC’s Ellen Hanak and Caitlin Peterson
The U.S. needs minerals for green tech. Will Western mines have enough water?
“On a 107 degree morning in the mountains east of Phoenix, a miner in a hard hat plunges down the nearly 7,000-foot shaft of what may soon be the biggest underground copper mine in the United States. But for now, the Resolution Copper mine isn’t taking out copper. It’s taking out groundwater, at a rate of around 600 gallons per minute. Because this copper is so deep underground, in geologic formations dating back more than a billion years, the mining takes place far below the water table. The mine is removing that aquifer water so the operations don’t flood. And the mine is giving away this water for free to nearby farmers, about 6 billion gallons so far. This summer, Arizona state officials declared they won’t permit some new home construction in the Phoenix region because of concerns about groundwater. The region’s groundwater supplies are under increasing stress from drought and climate change. But it’s in that same Phoenix metro region where Resolution plans to remove groundwater for its mining operations. … ” Continue reading at NPR.
Should the feds cut trees in California’s wilderness to reduce fire risk? New lawsuit says no
“The question of how much humans should intervene in California’s forests in the name of wildfire prevention resurfaced this week with a lawsuit challenging forestry activities at Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks. The suit, filed in federal court Monday by three conservation groups, contends that the National Park Service shouldn’t be cutting down trees and conducting prescribed burns across thousands of acres that are designated as wilderness. Since October, crews at Sequoia and Kings Canyon in the southern Sierra Nevada have been thinning vegetation at 11 giant sequoia groves with the aim of reducing fodder for fires and protecting the storied trees. The conservation groups, however, say the intervention is illegal as well as unnecessary and that any alteration of wilderness should go through a thorough environmental review. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
LA Times launches Climate California
“Wildfires. Sea-level rise. Extreme heat. Drought. California is already dealing with the consequences of climate change, and our state’s future will be defined by how we adapt. To better cover this vital story, the Los Angeles Times is launching a new Climate California section. You can expect aggressive and impactful reporting on climate change, the natural world, health and science — and even more of the sophisticated, ambitious and approachable coverage that has earned the Los Angeles Times four Pulitzer Prizes in environmental journalism in the last two decades. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
In commentary today …
Proposed Shasta Dam raise is bad for salmon, fishermen, tribes and taxpayers
Scott Artis, executive director of the Golden State Salmon Association, writes, “For years, the politically-connected Westlands Water District has fought to raise Shasta Dam. This debate has been renewed by House Resolution 215, introduced by California Central Valley Congressman David Valadao (R-Hanford), which would override a California law that blocks the dam raise. That project would harm salmon, California’s fishing economy and Indigenous Americans. This is a big deal for the fishing community. California’s salmon fishery is closed this year for only the third time in history. That closure affects tens of thousands of commercial and recreational fishing workers, tackle manufacturers and retailers, motel and marina employees as well as fish brokers. Fishing families on the coast, the Bay Area and along our rivers feel the impact of this closure every day. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
Why compromise should not be a dirty word for farmers
David Eddy, editor of Meister Media Worldwide’s American Fruit Grower® magazine, writes, “Knowing my thorough immersion in water issues — I’ve certainly taken a deep dive many times in the pages of American Fruit Grower® magazine — a friend emailed me a column a few months ago at the end of the rainy season bemoaning California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s treatment of baby salmon. It was written by Los Angeles Times Political Columnist George Skelton, who has covered government and politics for 60 years. In the column, he specifically calls out almond growers, as most urban writers do. Yes, almond growers use a lot of water, but it’s nothing compared to what it costs to produce milk, meat, etc. As one Extension adviser once told me, it takes roughly one liter of water to produce a calorie of plant-derived food. … ” Read more from Growing Produce.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Grasshoppers wreak havoc, destroy crops in North State
“Farmers in counties along the California-Oregon border have reported millions of dollars of losses from a renewed torrent of grasshoppers and Mormon crickets feeding on rangeland and irrigated crops this season. “The problem is getting worse,” said Marc Staunton, who farms in Tulelake. “As the landscape dries up, they are just continuing to spread. If you thought last year was disgusting, this year, it was unreal. “It was a plague-like amount and totally destroyed crops,” he added. Siskiyou County Agricultural Commissioner James Smith filed a request last week with the California Office of Emergency Services seeking a disaster declaration from the secretary of the state Department of Food and Agriculture. The preliminary damage to farmers in the county is estimated at $8.6 million in reported crop losses of pasture, rangeland, alfalfa and small grain crops. … ” Read more from Ag Alert.
Commerce Secretary announces fishery disaster determinations for Yurok Chinook salmon
“The Secretary of Commerce determined that a commercial fishery failure due to a fishery resource disaster occurred in the 2021 and 2022 Yurok Tribe Chinook Salmon Fishery. The determination is in response to requests from Chairman Joseph L. James of the Yurok Tribe. … This positive determination makes these fisheries eligible for disaster assistance from NOAA. Fishery participants may also qualify for disaster assistance from the Small Business Administration. The Department of Commerce has fishery disaster assistance funding available and in the near future will determine the appropriate allocation for these disasters.” Read the full announcement from NOAA Fisheries.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Harvest underway for rice farmers
“Rice is Butte County’s top crop at last report, and farmer’s hard work is beginning to pay off. At Schohr Ranch, about 75 acres of rice will be harvested over the next month. “During the drought years we were planting a little less than half of our acreage that we could allocate to rice,” Ryan Schohr, a sixth-generation farmer at the ranch said. However, with all the rain this year Schohr Farms used all of its land. “We plant rice in April and May and then harvest in September and October usually and we were about two or three weeks late this year just because of all the rain,” Schohr said. … ” Read more from Action News Now.
Roseville gets $8 million grant for two new groundwater wells
“In a proactive move to address the challenges posed by climate change and to align with statewide water management objectives, Roseville has received an $8 million grant from the California Natural Resources Agency and Department of Water Resources. This financial infusion, thanks to the efforts of the Regional Water Authority and local water agencies, will help finance the development of two groundwater wells within the city by covering nearly half the cost. Roseville’s share is part of a more extensive regional funding package totaling $55 million, dedicated to supporting essential groundwater infrastructure initiatives spanning the Sacramento region. … ” Read more from Roseville Today.
NAPA/SONOMA
Napa proposes hike in monthly water rates to help offset rising operational costs
“The city of Napa is set to consider an increase to water rates for the first time in two years to cover the increasing costs of providing service. The Napa City Council will hold a hearing Nov. 7 to adopt the new rates. If approved, they would be effective Jan. 1 and customers likely would see the impact on bills in March and April, said Joy Eldredge, deputy city utilities director. The recommended increase will typically add up to about $5 each month in the winter and $10 each month in the summer for average users — between 4,000 and 8,000 gallons — each year until 2028 for residential users within the city. … ” Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
BAY AREA
Video: See TNT explosions at Anderson Dam project near Morgan Hill
“Construction crews are halfway finished on a project to dig a 1,740-foot outlet tunnel — roughly as long as five football fields — through bedrock near Anderson Dam in Morgan Hill. The new tunnel, 24 feet high, will allow water to be released from the reservoir faster in the event of an earthquake, massive winter storms or other emergency. It is part of a $1.4 billion project ordered by the federal government to tear down the 240-foot earthen dam, originally built in 1950, and rebuild it to modern seismic standards to reduce the risk of it failing in an earthquake. As of Tuesday, workers had finished digging 830 feet of the new tunnel. When the work began last November, they used excavators and rock-cutting machines called road headers to carve away at a hillside on the left side of the dam. This month they have used TNT to blast through some of the hardest bedrock. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News (gift article).
Valley Water makes progress on flood protection project in Morgan Hill
“Earlier this year, Valley Water reached a milestone in our work to protect downtown Morgan Hill from a major flood event. In May 2023, our agency completed the construction of a 2,300-foot-long tunnel underneath downtown Morgan Hill. Once all phases are complete, the tunnel will help protect downtown from a 100-year flood, which has a 1% chance of happening in any given year. The tunnel is part of the Upper Llagas Creek Flood Protection Project, which consists of approximately 13.9 miles of flood protection improvements along portions of East Little Llagas Creek, West Little Llagas Creek and Llagas Creek. The project is located within Gilroy, Morgan Hill and the unincorporated area of San Martin. … ” Read more from Valley Water News.
CENTRAL COAST
Santa Maria drinking water safe, despite ‘unusual’ taste or odor
“The Santa Maria Utilities Department is offering reassurance to customers that local drinking water is safe despite the potential for an unusual taste or odor. The Central Coast Water Authority recently notified the City of Santa Maria that high temperatures created ideal conditions for blue-green algae blooms in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The unusual taste or odors that some customers may detect are due to compounds produced primarily from blue-green algae and organic matter in surface waters, imparting a musty or earthy taste and odor. The situation is impacting all California State Water Project customers, including the City. … ” Read more from the Santa Maria Times.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Water and high prices aid California potato farmers
“After a four-year decline in potato production nationwide, this season’s crop appears poised to buck the trend, spurred by strong demand and improved water supplies. While higher processing contract prices are driving much of the increased acreage, California’s mostly fresh-market growers may see prices decline once harvest starts elsewhere, said Almuhanad Melhim, a fruit and vegetable market analyst for Rabobank’s RaboResearch division. “In the potato market,” he said, “the fresh side and the processing side are intertwined.” … ” Read more from Ag Alert.
EASTERN SIERRA
Aguabonita Flyfishers to feature Friends of the Inyo Water Projects
“On Oct. 3, Aguabonita Flyfishers will feature guest speaker Jamie Wolters who will introduce four ongoing projects in the Friends of the Inyo domain that involve water resources: Conglomerate Mesa, Hot Creek Mine, Keep Long Valley Green, and Bodie Hills. He will then introduce their Ambassadors Program and the Owens River Trail. … ” Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
EPA awards grant to Los Angeles County for research into boosting water supplies and improving water security
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $7,837,196 in funding to four institutions, including the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, to research the use and risks of enhanced aquifer recharge (EAR) to improve groundwater availability and quality. “Groundwater is an essential and increasingly scarce commodity in arid regions such as Southern California. Through this award, Los Angeles County will move forward with timely and innovative studies to help secure precious groundwater resources and protect water quality,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “This research will help conserve and maximize the availability of groundwater into the future. We are proud to support efforts that help states, agencies, and communities become more water resilient.” … ” Read more from the EPA.
IMPERIAL/COACHELLA VALLEYS
Riverside County sees delays in rainwater testing results from Thermal mobile home parks
“Three weeks after Riverside County declared a local emergency due to potentially contaminated rainwater flooding into three mobile home parks in Thermal, county officials have yet to release the results of sample testing that was expected to be done earlier this month. The county declared the local emergency after discovering that flash flooding from a Sept. 1 storm that brought nearly 3 inches of rain to the Thermal area caused water from a toxic dump site to flood into three nearby mobile home parks. County crews who surveyed the damage over the Labor Day weekend found a protective berm around the long-closed “Lawson dump,” as well as a covering over it, had been breached. … ” Read more from the Desert Sun.
Hilary causes $9.3M in damage; Imperial County waits for help
“As federal and state lawmakers based in California continue to petition President Biden to declare a federal disaster in the wake of Tropical Storm Hilary, local assessments show Imperial County was among the hardest-hit areas in terms of property damage per capita. Overall, Imperial County received some $9.3 million in property damage during the weekend storm in which 3.26 inches of rain fell on Aug. 19 and 20, but perhaps the most shocking statistic shared by Imperial County Fire Chief and Office of Emergency Services Coordinator David Lantzer was that Imperial County was the second-highest county in property damage per capita at $51. “Those are pretty significant numbers. I’m actually a bit surprised, but not completely surprised,” Lantzer said during his department report at the Imperial City Council meeting of Wednesday, Sept. 20. … ” Continue reading from the Calexico Chronicle.
Along the Colorado River …
Survey finds Western ag producers willing to engage in water conservation, with caveats
“A new survey finds Western ag producers hold significant concerns about future water shortages, with 80% of respondents saying their greatest concern centers on the potential for new constraints on water use. The survey also found that 70% of agricultural water users are already responding to water shortages through one or more water conservation strategies. The survey conducted by the University of Wyoming asked more than 1,000 ag producers in six of the seven states on the Colorado River about their strategies for water conservation, as well as the barriers they face. The 1,020 respondents mostly came from the Upper Colorado River Basin states of Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado, with the largest group of respondents, 460, from Colorado. … ” Read more from Colorado Politics.
SEE ALSO:
- Colorado River growers say they’re ready to save water, but need to build trust with states and feds, from KUNC
- Colorado River Basin farmers, ranchers, weigh in on water policy, from the Pagosa Daily Post
- Colorado River Basin survey highlights ag concerns, from Ag Net West
In the right conditions, cloud seeding can provide water source for Arizona
“KTAR News 92.3 FM’s last Water Watch Minute was about cloud seeding: how the technology works and how it has the potential to shore up water supplies, as long as specific conditions are met. One of the biggest caveats of cloud seeding is the necessity of existing clouds. In the Grand Canyon State, those can sometimes seem to be in short supply. However, that doesn’t mean cloud seeding can’t work in Arizona. Orestes Morfin with Central Arizona Project, which delivers water to more than 80% of Arizonans, said Arizona is still a candidate for the technology. “We certainly have many of the right environments and conditions for cloud seeding,” he said. “We have some very high mountains; we do experience winter storms in the state. And as far as warm weather cloud seeding, we have the monsoon.” … ” Read more from KTAR.
After a wet water year, can Colorado hope for a repeat? Not quite, experts say.
“As March rolled into April, Ken Beck was keeping his eye on the snowdrifts piled on slopes around Vallecito Reservoir in Colorado’s southwestern mountains. Snow reports showed there was about 300,000 acre-feet of water in that snow waiting to flow into the reservoir, he said. “We had a winter that was just phenomenal. And we had to pull (water storage) down to around 29,000 acre-feet to allow for the snowpack that was above,” said Beck, superintendent of the Pine River Irrigation District, which manages the reservoir located northeast of Durango. Beck was in good company: Reservoir managers around the state saw water levels rise this year, a boon to downstream users who depend on stored water for drinking, growing crops, supporting industries and managing ecosystems. And as the year progressed, precipitation just kept coming in the form of rain, hail and severe storms. … ” Read more from the Colorado Sun.
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
NEW REPORTS AVAILABLE: Oil and Gas Regional Groundwater Monitoring in the South San Joaquin Valley
NOW AVAILABLE: Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition Annual Report
