On the calendar today …
- MEETING: State Water Resources Control Board meeting begins at 9:30am. Agenda items include Current Hydrologic Conditions and Response, Consideration of a proposed Resolution adopting the Fiscal Year 2023-24 Fund Expenditure Plan for the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund, and Consideration of a proposed Resolution and Guidelines for the California Extended Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program. Click here for the full agenda and remote access instructions.
- MEETING: Department of Food and Ag meeting begins at 10am. Agenda items include a Departmental Update, a legislative update, an update on CDFA Plant Health and Pest Prevention Services (fruit fly), a panel discussion on pest and disease challenges; an overview of CAGROWN Annual Report, and a presentation on California Small Agricultural Business Drought & Flood Relief Program. Click here for the full agenda and remote access instructions.
In California water news today …
State Water Board to hold public hearing on the “Making Conservation a California Way of Life,” but does the proposed regulation make economic sense?
“On Wednesday, the State Water Resources Control Board will hold a public hearing on the regulation, “Making Conservation a California Way of Life.” The regulation is a result of AB 1668 and SB 606, passed in 2018, that directed the State Water Board to adopt long-term standards for efficient water use. The proposed regulation will establish the standards, variances, and methodologies for calculating the urban water use objectives, along with performance measures and reporting requirements. Variances for unique water uses that can affect the water supplier’s water use objective are included, such as livestock or fluctuations in seasonal populations. It is important to note that the proposed regulation would not require suppliers to comply with any individual standard, but rather, suppliers would be required to meet their overall objective. Wednesday’s public hearing will include an overview of the proposed regulation, key provisions, regulatory timeline, and process. … ” Read more from Maven’s Notebook.
San Diego gears up to deal water across the West
“This October marks 20 years since San Diego cut a famous deal that protected it from drought but paved the way for putting a high price on otherwise free water from the Colorado River. The hard-fought deal – called the Quantification Settlement Agreement, or QSA – dramatically lowered how much water California takes each year from this river that makes life possible in seven western U.S. states and northern Mexico. It ensured, for the first time, that California wouldn’t use any more than its share. And it achieved that by putting a cap, for the first time, on how much water the farmers in Imperial Valley could take. Water officials would now meticulously count every gallon that once haphazardly emptied from farm fields into the Salton Sea. Today, that massive lake is in danger of becoming a massive public health and ecological disaster. San Diegans now drink most of the water Imperial Valley farmers gave up. For the first time in California, a city would purchase water from a farming district, at very high rates. That’s partly why San Diegans’ water bills are now some of the highest in the country, so high that some of its own local buyers are running from the region. … ” Read more from the Voice of San Diego.
Delta tunnel amendment proposal floated by Harder
“In action on Oct. 2, Representative Josh Harder (CA-9), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, introduced an amendment to stop the proposed Delta Tunnel water grab once and for all. Rep. Harder has a long history of working to protect the Valley’s water supply and earlier this year, he introduced a bill to stop the Delta Tunnel. He also held packed town halls in French Camp and Lodi where he gave hundreds of San Joaquin County residents an opportunity to make their voices heard on the proposed Delta Tunnel project’s plans to send the Central Valley’s water down to Beverly Hills. Their opposition was unanimous. “The Delta Tunnel water grab is a $16 million boondoggle that would be a disaster for our community. Water is our most precious resource, and I won’t stand by and let anyone ship it down to Beverly Hills,” said Harder. “My amendment would kill this project once and for all and make sure every drop of our water stays right where it belongs.” … ” Read more from the Escalon Times.
It’s a new water year in California. Here’s a climatology expert’s take on what this winter could bring
“The 2022-2023 water came to an end on Saturday with precipitation totals finishing well above average throughout California. A water year is defined from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. The timing is aligned well for hydrologists and water managers because runoff has typically ended when a new water year begins. Downtown Sacramento measured 26.22 inches during the most recent water year. That is 7.02 inches higher than the 30-year average. … ” Read more from KCRA.
Video: California Drought: New water year, updated reservoir levels and a ‘headscratcher’ winter ahead
El Niño winter ahead: Will California see back-to-back wet years?
“Northern California is fresh off its first snowfall of the year across the Sierra and with El Niño conditions present in the Pacific, optimism is growing that California is due for another wet, snowy winter. El Niño conditions are typically associated with a wetter than normal wet season in California, particularly the further south you go. Not every El Niño is the same, though. The strength of the El Niño event plays a vital role in exactly how wet the winter will be, according to Andy Hoell, a research meteorologist at the NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. “Strong El Niño events have a pretty big effect historically on precipitation in California and the general southwestern United States. Moderate events do as well, but don’t have as much of an effect,” said Hoell. … ” Read more from ABC 10.
SEE ALSO:
California Fish and Wildlife director still on the hook in water rights suit
“A federal judge handed a mixed-bag ruling to three North State companies seeking to stop what they deemed an improper taking of their water rights by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and State Water Resources Control Board. U.S. District Court Judge Dale Drozd granted most of what the department and board members had asked for, dismissing many of the claims filed against them by the Los Molinos Mutual Water Company, Stanford Vina Ranch Irrigation Company and Peyton Pacific Properties LLC, in an order released on Friday. However, three claims remain against Charlton Bonham, executive director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the three companies that filed the 2021 suit can amend some of their other claims — but not claims against the department itself, which has been removed from the suit. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
Press release: Environmental groups prevail in California steelhead case
“The U.S. Supreme Court today denied a request from the operators of Twitchell Dam to avoid protecting the endangered Southern California Steelhead in the Santa Maria River system. This is a big win for steelhead, for the watershed, and for our local communities. Today’s decision leaves in place last year’s ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals holding that the Bureau of Reclamation (“Bureau”) and the Santa Maria Valley Water Conservation District (“the District”) can release water from the Dam to comply with the ESA. This ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by Plaintiffs San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper and Los Padres ForestWatch in 2019, represented by the Environmental Defense Center, Sycamore Law, Inc., and Aqua Terra Aeris Law Group. The case alleged that the Dam’s operators are violating the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) by limiting the quantity and timing of flows in the Santa Maria River to levels that harm the critically-imperiled Steelhead population. … ” Read more from the Environmental Defense Center.
SEE ALSO: Steelhead Catch a Break as Supreme Court Stands Down, from the Santa Barbara Independent
Dianne Feinstein: The last of the water buffaloes
“Sen. Dianne Feinstein was perhaps the last great California “water buffalo.” The genus was famously defined by Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton as “someone who instinctively battles to develop water,” named after “the beast that reputedly can smell water from 200 miles away.” Other members of the class include former Westlands Water District general manager Tom Birmingham, who retired last year; former Metropolitan Water District general manager Jeff Kightlinger, who retired in 2021; and former Gov. Jerry Brown. It’s not clear anyone is poised to fill their shoes, either in championing the types of large-scale water engineering projects (like Brown’s decadesold Delta tunnel) that they thought would benefit California, or in leading the state’s fractious water factions to any kind of consensus. … ” Read more from Politico.
SEE ALSO:
- Lake Tahoe’s biggest champion, Dianne Feinstein, secured its beauty for future generations, from the Sacramento Bee
- ‘Senator Feinstein was our champion’, from the Western Farm Press
In regional water news and commentary today …
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Lake Oroville begins new water year 136% above average levels
“Sunday marked the beginning of the 2023-2024 water year and California’s second-largest reservoir is looking 38% better than it did at the start of the 2022-2023 water year, according to the California Department of Water Resources. California DWR provided a full update on the condition of Lake Oroville on Friday and how they have begun preparing the lake for the coming winter weather. The lake is around 136% above the historical average average for this time of year, the CDWR said. … ” Read more from KTXL.
Oroville levee improvement in pipeline
“Work may soon flow in improvements to Oroville’s levee, built more than a century ago to protect the city from flooding along the Feather River. The Oroville City Council at Tuesday’s meeting will consider greenlighting the Sutter Butte Flood Control Agency to begin initial research on the scope of work needed to fully assess the levee and bring it up to a current standard. The levee, as of now, is not up to standard with a 100-year protection level required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to a city staff report. Improvements to the levee will be a multi-part undertaking; the initial scope of work in figuring out where funding will come from will take about six months, according to the agency’s work proposal. … ” Read more from the Oroville Mercury-Register.
Commentary: Losing the trees for the forest
Amy Berry, CEO of the Tahoe Fund, writes, “As CEO of the Tahoe Fund, I spend a lot of time working to improve the Lake Tahoe environment. Since our founding in 2010, we have supported more than 130 different environment improvement projects around Tahoe, helping to secure more than $100 million in philanthropic and public funds. Clearly, we have a thing for the environment. Which is why I know it sounds odd when I say that our number one priority is to remove trees from our forest. Simply put, we have too many trees. And if we don’t figure out how to lose some of them, we face the very real risk of losing all of them. Yes, I know this runs afoul of many people’s ideas of taking care of Mother Nature. After all, the most quintessential statement of loving nature is hugging a tree. Conventional thinking and the composition of our forests have changed since the advent of tree-hugging. There is now strong consensus among scientists, land managers and environmentalists about two things: our forests are overly dense, and they are dying because of it. … ” Read more from the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Roseville’s $110 million wastewater treatment plant expansion ready for future growth
“After more than three years of work, the Pleasant Grove Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion in Roseville, which cost $110 million, has been completed. This expansion significantly enhances the treatment capacity, allowing the facility to accommodate the region’s growing needs. It has been designed to create renewable natural gas and generate energy, powering Roseville’s more than 30 garbage trucks (with more trucks on order) and offsetting approximately 10 percent of the plant’s energy consumption. … ” Read more from Roseville Today.
BAY AREA
Caltrans details $1.6 billion plan for elevated Highway 37 causeway between Marin and Solano Counties
“The first phase of a massive plan to elevate Highway 37 to prevent regular inundation from sea-level rise is set to begin with an estimated $1.6 billion project in Marin. Caltrans officials held a presentation recently on the agency’s plan to rebuild a 2.5-mile section of the 21-mile North Bay commuter route as an elevated causeway from the Highway 101 interchange in Novato to the Atherton Avenue exit. The project would be the first in the agency’s plan to elevate the entire highway onto a causeway before the road connecting Marin and Solano counties becomes regularly inundated by rising sea levels, which Caltrans projects will begin in 2040. At a public hearing on the proposal in Novato this month, Caltrans project manager Javier Mendivil said the project is needed “to incorporate resiliency on the corridor to the effect of sea level rise to 2130 and flooding from stormwater.” … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
Public can comment on Anderson Dam project environmental study
“Valley Water, the local water district that is in charge of rebuilding the dam at Anderson Reservoir in Morgan Hill, recently released a draft environmental study of the seismic retrofit project. The district is now accepting public comment on the Anderson Dam Seismic Retrofit Project Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR). As part of the public input effort, Valley Water will host a meeting on Oct. 4 in Morgan Hill where staff will make a presentation on the project and its draft EIR, as well as receive input from attendees. The draft EIR was released by Valley Water on Sept. 1. The document identifies the potential environmental impacts of the seismic retrofit of Anderson Dam, which was deemed necessary after authorities in 2009 found that the existing earthen structure near Cochrane Road could fail in the event of a major earthquake. … ” Read more from the Morgan Hill Times.
CENTRAL COAST
‘We felt so betrayed’: Indigenous tribe reels after exclusion from US marine sanctuary
“Violet Sage Walker stands on the bow of Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise ship and looks out at Morro Rock jutting up from the Pacific Ocean. The dramatic promontory – known as Lisamu’ in Chumash, the language of Walker’s tribe – is part of a stunning stretch of California coastline she hoped would soon be part of a sprawling new marine sanctuary six times the size of Yosemite. Walker is the chairwoman of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, a small group of Indigenous Americans who once lived along the coast of San Luis Obispo county. Records of their occupation of the central coast date back to 18,000 years. The tribe has been tirelessly campaigning for the central coast to be designated as a marine sanctuary – a fight Walker’s father, Fred Collins, started more than five decades ago – and was confident the sanctuary would go ahead after a successful public comment period last year drew 10,000 supporting signatures. But then, last month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) released a draft management plan for the sanctuary that left the tribe reeling. The stretch of coast they had advocated for – from Cambria to Morro Bay – had been left out. … ” Continue reading at The Guardian.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
SCV Water Agency: Local water quality unaffected by Castaic Lake advisory
“Though a danger advisory was issued for Castaic Lake by the California Department of Water Resources on Sept. 26, drinking water for all Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency customers remains safe and meets high standards for quality, according to a news release from the local water agency. DWR issued an advisory to refrain from recreational activities in the lake due to the presence of blue-green algae at Castaic Lake, which in addition to health concerns can give off a distinctive odor described as fishy or earthy smelling. “It is important to note that DWR recommends avoiding contact with water in the lake, as well as drinking, cooking or washing dishes with untreated surface water,” SCV Water General Manager Matt Stone said in the release. “SCV Water thoroughly treats water drawn from Castaic Lake to ensure it meets high standards of quality set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.” … ” Read more from The Signal.
SAN DIEGO
San Diego County water officials report San Diego should have enough water in 2024
“San Diego County water officials said Monday the region should have plenty of water in the coming year, even though there is lingering concern about water coming from the Colorado River basin. The San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) said local customers are reaping the benefits from decades of effort to diversify and secure water supplies. “Because we’ve invested. We’ve done the work — in our infrastructure, in our reliability and in conservation,” said Efren Lopez, a water resource manager with the SDCWA. … ” Read more from KPBS.
SEE ALSO: Water supply strong in San Diego area, county water authority says, from Fox 5
Along the Colorado River …
Arizona moves to end Saudi farm’s controversial groundwater deals to grow, export alfalfa
“Gov. Katie Hobbs’ administration on Monday announced two steps to stop a controversial Saudi Arabian company from using groundwater beneath state land in western Arizona to grow and export alfalfa. Hobbs said in a statement that the Arizona State Land Department had canceled one of its leases to Fondomonte Arizona, and would not renew three others that are set to expire in February. Those four account for all of Fondomonte’s leases in the Butler Valley near Bouse, though the company leases other state land elsewhere, according to the Governor’s Office. The company farmed about 3,5000 acres of state land in Butler Valley to grow feed for dairy cows in Saudi Arabia and is allowed to pump groundwater for that purpose entirely unchecked and unpaid for. … ” Read more from the Arizona Republic.
‘Blessed to have water’: Hualapai Tribe praises historic water rights settlement
“The Hualapai Tribal Nation borders a 108-mile stretch of the Colorado River, and for generations, the tribe has relied solely on unpredictable groundwater supplies as its primary water source. “The Colorado River runs through our reservation, yet we were never authorized or able to utilize the water that goes by us,” Hualapai Vice Chairman Shelton Scott Crozier said. “We always relied on wells, but nowadays, the wells are running dry.” The Hualapai Tribe did not have access to the Colorado River due to its ongoing negotiations with the federal government and the state of Arizona as part of Indian Water Right Settlements. The Hualapai Tribe has used water at two primary locations — Peach Springs and Grand Canyon West — but neither has adequate infrastructure to support sustained future use. But that is all going to change. … ” Read more from the Tucson Sentinel.
Report: Grand Canyon groundwater may increase in a warmer climate
“To understand where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve come from. That’s the idea researchers were pursuing with the recent geochemical analysis of a single stalagmite from a cave in Grand Canyon National Park. More specifically, they measured the ratio of stable isotopes in calcite deposits within the stalagmite to help predict how the volume of groundwater aquifers may be affected by a warming climate. The calcite deposits date to the early Holocene period, an epoch ranging between approximately 11,700 and 8,500 years ago that was marked by higher-than-average global temperatures. The results, published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience, may help planners better manage water resources in the burgeoning Colorado Plateau in the Four Corners region of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado, where population and agricultural pressures increasingly affect the rates with which aquifers are recharged by summer monsoon rains. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
Looking for the best pow days? Fall snow might be your indicator
“As colder weather starts to set in for some of the Mountain West region, skiers and snowboarders are on the hunt to see what areas will get snow first. New research is showing that fall snowfall can be a good predictor of what the rest of the season will look like. At the University of Washington, researchers looked at historical precipitation and temperature data from 2001 to 2022. They measured it with “snow pillows,” which acts a lot like a bathroom scale. It’s a metal weight filled with antifreeze that compresses and measures the weight of the snow. They looked at how much snow was still on the ground on January 1 to understand what stuck from October, November and December. The researchers then compared that level to the max amount of snow that fell during the entire season.Researchers found heavy fall snow levels in October through December were good indicators of heavier snow seasons for January through March, particularly in Northeast Utah, Southwest Wyoming, and Northern Colorado. … ” Read more from KUNC.
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
NOTICE of Petitions for Temporary Water Transfer: Rediversion of flows per San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act
NOTICE: Delta Levees Investment Strategy Rulemaking Complete
