A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …
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In California water news this week …
DAN WALTERS: California has a new plan for the Delta but faces the same conflicts over water
“California’s water warriors have a new arena for their perpetual conflict over the allocation of the state’s ever-evolving supply – a nearly 6,000-word proposal from the state Water Resources Control Board. The draft essentially calls for sharp reductions in diversions from the Sacramento River and its tributaries to allow more water to flow through the environmentally troubled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. “It is a consequential effort,” Eric Oppenheimer, chief deputy director of the board, said during a media briefing on what is technically an update of the agency’s management plan for the Delta and San Francisco Bay. “It reflects years of scientific analysis that we’ve undertaken and years of public input.” … ” Read more from Dan Walters.
Debate over options for California’s ailing Delta region reflects deep divisions over water
“California water regulators have released a long-awaited analysis of options for managing flows in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, where fish populations have been declining and the ecosystem has been deteriorating. … The draft report from the State Water Resources Control Board’s staff lays out alternatives for new water quality standards that will determine how much water may be taken out, and how much should be allowed to flow through the delta. Some of the options would limit users’ water withdrawals to maintain certain flows in the delta at one of three potential threshold levels. Another alternative is generating heated debate: It would rely on negotiated agreements, with water agencies pledging to forgo certain amounts of water while also funding projects to improve wetland habitats. … ” Continue reading at the LA Times.
Water Board to hold first probationary hearing under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
“Signaling the next stage in California’s actions toward ensuring the long-term viability of its groundwater supplies, the State Water Resources Control Board today issued a public notice for an April 16, 2024 hearing on potentially placing the Tulare Lake Groundwater Subbasin on probationary status under the landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). This step follows continued engagement with groundwater sustainability agencies regarding the basin’s groundwater sustainability plan since 2021. To help inform the hearing, the State Water Board released a draft staff report that describes the basin’s conditions and makes recommendations for addressing key deficiencies in Tulare Lake’s groundwater sustainability plan (GSP), which continue to negatively impact infrastructure and communities in the basin. Today’s notice begins a 60-day public comment period to gather input from stakeholders and others, which will be incorporated into a final draft report. … ” Read more from the State Water Board.
California’s “water cop” sets date for the first hearing on one of the valley’s subpar groundwater plans
““Urgent” concerns about rapidly sinking land and potential harm to residential wells pushed the groundwater subbasin covering Kings County to the front of the line among several San Joaquin Valley water regions slated to go before the State Water Resources Control Board. Still, the hearing for the Tulare Lake subbasin won’t come until April 16, the Water Board announced during a briefing held Wednesday, Oct. 11. That’s too slow for some advocacy group who’ve said excessive groundwater pumping has continued unabated, even during drought, drying up residential wells. The Water Board is the state’s enforcement arm under its Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Another state agency, the Department of Water Resources has been tasked with guiding groundwater agencies over the last five or more years to come up with plans to bring critically over pumped aquifers back into balance by 2040. The Tulare Lake subbasin failed in those efforts – twice. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
DWR releases Semi-Annual Groundwater Conditions Report with look back at 2023 Water Year
“The Department of Water Resources is sharing new data on the state’s groundwater basins that is starting to bring into focus how last winter’s storms impacted a critical water supply for millions of Californians. Released today, the October 2023 Semi-Annual Groundwater Conditions Update provides a look back at groundwater conditions during the last year informed by DWR’s groundwater data and tools. The report presents data received by DWR as of August 31, 2023, and partially reflects the impacts of this year’s storms, flooding, and natural and managed aquifer recharge. More information will be available after April 1, 2024, when groundwater sustainability agencies submit Annual Reports documenting local groundwater conditions over the previous year. It takes more time to gain the full groundwater picture because groundwater response is a slow process, and it can take months to years for aquifers to fully respond to changes in surface water conditions. DWR’s October update only begins to tell the story of statewide groundwater conditions in Water Year 2023. … ” Read more from DWR.
California’s epic rain year boosted groundwater levels, but not enough to recoup losses
“California’s extraordinarily wet year brought the state vast quantities of water that have soaked into the ground and given a substantial boost to the state’s groundwater supplies, but not nearly enough to reverse long-term losses from over-pumping in many areas, according to a new state report. Officials with the Department of Water Resources examined water-level measurements in thousands of wells statewide and found that from spring 2022 to spring 2023, water levels rose significantly in 34% of wells, and declined in 9%. Others saw little change. The rise in aquifer levels in many areas represents an improvement from the rapid and widespread declines that occurred during the last three years of extreme drought. Still, state officials cautioned that California’s groundwater remains depleted by decades of overuse. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
SJV WATER: Farmers fighting farmers over pumping allocations as Kaweah subbasin prepares for state scrutiny
“Groundwater relations in the Kaweah subbasin in Tulare County have gone from bad to worse. Fingers have been pointed, ultimatums laid down and patience has run out. The Greater Kaweah GSA board voted at its Sept. 26 meeting to allow farmers in its boundaries to pump up to 1.87 acre feet per acre for the 2023-24 growing season. That’s too high, according to managers of two nearby groundwater agencies, the East and Mid-Kaweah GSAs. And it was the last straw after years of tensions. One agency manager suggested the allocation could prompt legal action. And one of several angry letters from agency managers was copied to the state. That could prove significant. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
New California law takes aim at injustices in water rights system, but barely
“Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a rare piece of legislation this weekend that confronts the problems with California’s deeply entrenched, and often unfair, water rights system. The new law, SB389, gives state regulators clear authority to investigate the validity of water draws by some of California’s biggest and most privileged water users, many of which have long evaded scrutiny due to their senior — and nearly untouchable — water rights. The state’s water rights system generally lets those who first claimed water from rivers and creeks, including farm suppliers and cities, to take all the water they want while everyone else gets what’s left over. The enduring hierarchy has been criticized for disadvantaging those who weren’t able to get in early, including indigenous people who were barred from taking part. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Governor signs RWA-sponsored legislation SB 659, The California Water Supply Solutions Act of 2023
“In a landmark moment aimed at addressing California’s pressing water challenges exacerbated by climate change in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed into law SB 659, officially titled the California Water Supply Solutions Act of 2023. SB 659, authored by California Sen. Angelique V. Ashby (D-Sacramento) and co-sponsored by the Regional Water Authority (RWA) and California Association of Winegrape Growers, received widespread support for its approach to enhancing groundwater recharge as a sustainable water supply for California in adapting to increasing wet and dry extremes caused by climate change. The legislation directs the California Department of Water Resources to provide actionable recommendations to develop additional opportunities that increase the recharge of the state’s groundwater basins without reducing the amount of water available for environmental purposes. The bill also requires the plan to protect safe drinking water and maintain a high level of water quality. … ” Read more from the Regional Water Authority.
Rethinking water management in California: How to benefit people and wildlife
“A new strategy could help California water managers meet the needs of people as well as the environment. This could benefit at-risk species like shorebirds and salmon that historically flourished in the state’s great Central Valley, which stretches 450 miles from Redding to Bakersfield. Today people use so much water in this intensively farmed region that rivers can run dry. The strategy arose from a pilot analysis—called the Merced River Basin Flood-MAR (Managed Aquifer Recharge) Reconnaissance Study—that modeled using flood flows to recharge groundwater in the Merced River watershed. The goal was to optimize aquifer storage, reservoir storage, and environmental flows. “We think it’s a new, better way to integrate these three sectors and get them working together,” says Technical Studies Manager David Arrate, a water resources engineer with the state Department of Water Resources who presented this work during a July 2023 workshop. “It could provide benefits to the water supply and ecosystems.” The Merced River Basin study is wrapping up, with final reports expected soon, and next the team will expand their analysis to the San Joaquin River Basin. … ” Read more from Maven’s Notebook.
Future of water in California – bleak or promising? A discussion
“Water is the most valuable resource in the world. And it’s a particularly important commodity in the Central Valley, historically a desert but also home to some of the richest agricultural soil on Earth. The UC Merced Library and Secure Water Future co-hosted an event to discuss water policy in California, its history and what the future might look like. Guest speaker Mark Arax, author of “The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California,” painted a bleak picture. However the other speaker, Ellen Hanak, vice president and director of the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) Water Policy Center and a senior fellow at the PPIC, was a little more optimistic about the future of water and agriculture. “We have grown agriculture beyond something that is sustainable,” Arax said. There are 1.6 million acres of almond orchards, he said, and their product is leaving the state. … ” Read more from UC Merced.
An historic California species is in danger of extinction. A huge effort just launched to save it
“On a remote stretch of creek in California’s far north, a team of biologists dropped fishing nets into a cold pool of water Tuesday with high hopes: to save one of the state’s great salmon runs by bringing the fish into captivity. State and federal scientists, which began catching fish across the Sacramento River basin last week, believe the number of salmon that migrate to the region in spring has gotten so low that they need to take the extraordinary step of establishing a captive stock for safe keeping. The salmon netted at Deer Creek, about an hour north of Chico, like those being caught on other far-flung tributaries of the Sacramento River, will be driven in trailers to a holding facility at UC Davis to preserve the genetic lineage of the fish should their counterparts in the wild disappear. Even among the extreme efforts taken to aid California’s imperiled salmon, like razing dams and trucking young fish when their rivers dry up, the latest measures are unusual. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
State and federal fish agencies take urgent actions to save spring-run chinook salmon
“The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries biologists are pursuing urgent measures this fall to save some of the last remaining Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon after the numbers returning from the ocean this year fell sharply toward extinction. Biologists call this year’s sharp decline a “cohort collapse” because so few threatened adult spring-run Chinook salmon returned to the small streams still accessible to them. Mill and Deer Creek — two of the three streams that hold the remaining independent spring-run populations — each saw fewer than 25 returning adults this year. Returns to Butte Creek — the third independent population — were the lowest since 1991 and adults further suffered impacts of a canal failure in the watershed. … ” Read more from the Department of Fish & Wildlife.
Press release: San Francisco Baykeeper puts federal agency on notice: will sue to uphold Endangered Species Act
“San Francisco Baykeeper today put the US Fish and Wildlife Service on notice that the environmental advocacy organization intends to sue the agency for violating the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The agency proposed listing the SF Bay-Delta population of longfin smelt as an endangered species in 2022, but it has failed to meet a deadline established by Congress in the ESA to make a final listing determination or to designate what counts as critical habitat for the imperiled fish. The agency’s proposal to list longfin smelt is the result of a series of petitions to and lawsuits against the agency, going back to 1992. The most recent monitoring data for longfin smelt in San Francisco Bay shows that populations have crashed more than 99 percent, compared to when monitoring first started in 1967. … ” Read more from the SF Baykeeper.
What is a strong El Niño? Meteorologists anticipate a big impact in winter 2023, but the forecasts don’t all agree
“Winter is still weeks away, but meteorologists are already talking about a snowy winter ahead in the southern Rockies and the Sierra Nevada. They anticipate more storms in the U.S. South and Northeast, and warmer, drier conditions across the already dry Pacific Northwest and the upper Midwest. One phrase comes up repeatedly with these projections: a strong El Niño is coming. It sounds ominous. But what does that actually mean? We asked Aaron Levine, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Washington whose research focuses on El Niño. During a normal year, the warmest sea surface temperatures are in the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean, in what’s known as the Indo-Western Pacific warm pool. But every few years, the trade winds that blow from east to west weaken, allowing that warm water to slosh eastward and pile up along the equator. The warm water causes the air above it to warm and rise, fueling precipitation in the central Pacific and shifting atmospheric circulation patterns across the basin. … ” Read more from The Conversation.
Navigating the hope (and hype) around solar canals
“Placing solar panels over canals is attracting attention in California. Proponents hope such projects will use existing infrastructure to generate renewable energy while reducing water loss from evaporation. But will solar canals live up to the hype—and will they work in California? We spoke with Turlock Irrigation District’s general manager, Michelle Reimers, about Project Nexus, a new pilot project that could help answer some of these questions. Q: Tell us about Turlock Irrigation District’s solar canals pilot project. Why is this a novel approach to take? A: Turlock Irrigation District aims to supply our customers with 60% renewable energy by 2030 and 100% greenhouse-gas-free energy by 2045. But there are challenges: producing 1 megawatt (MW) of solar takes about 5 acres of land. One of our gas-fired power plants supplies 250 MW of electricity. You can do the math: it takes a lot of prime agricultural land to construct utility-scale solar. So we took a step back and asked if there was another way we could utilize existing assets to achieve more for our customers. … ” Read more from the PPIC.
Rivers may not recover from drought for years
“Lack of rainfall is not the only measure of drought. New UC Riverside research shows that despite a series of storms, the impact of drought can persist in streams and rivers for up to 3.5 years. There are two measures of drought in streams. One measure is the total water level, which is impacted by snowmelt and rainfall. Many researchers examine this measurement. Another measure is baseflow, which is the portion of streamflow fed by groundwater. Fewer researchers examine baseflow droughts, and there was not previously an accurate way to measure them. Because baseflow is strongly tied to groundwater, and because the lack of it has significant impacts on water management and ecosystem services, the UCR team decided to examine baseflow more closely. … ” Read more from UC Riverside.
In commentary this week …
Delta science vs. Delta betrayal: The state has two new plans for the Delta. One is plausible, if predictably inadequate. The other is a gift to special interests.
Columnist Michael Fitzgerald writes, “I don’t know where, in the annals of California’s historic mistakes, to rank killing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, but it would have to be high on the list. And what’s so maddening is watching the killing—of fish species; of the entire estuary; of the Delta way of life—unfold in slow motion despite clear scientific evidence that the Delta needs more water. But the scientists aren’t running the show. Apparently, neither is the State Water Resources Control Board, though it’s supposed to oversee “the reasonable protection of fish and wildlife” in the Delta. No, the culprit is Governor Gavin Newsom. The governor’s hand is evident in the Water Board’s recent Draft Staff Report for the Phase II Update of the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan—part two of the state’s new, two-part plan purportedly to save the Delta. … ” Read more from Stocktonia.
California enacts major water law reform legislation–but more changes are needed
Richard Frank, Professor of Environmental Practice and Director of the U. C. Davis School of Law’s California Environmental Law & Policy Center, writes, “The California Legislature has enacted and Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed into law SB 389, an important water law reform measure authored by State Senator Ben Allen. California has one of the most antiquated and outdated water rights systems of any Western state. Indeed, California currently faces a 21st century water supply crisis; relies on a 20th century water infrastructure system; and is burdened by a 19th century water rights legal regime. For a state that prides itself on innovative leadership when it comes to so many other areas of environmental and natural resource policy, California’s water rights law is sorely in need of modernization. … ” Read more from the Legal Planet.
In wet winters, California must do more to recharge groundwater
Joe Mouawad, general manager of Eastern Municipal Water District, and Jim Peifer, executive director of the Regional Water Authority. write, “Another wet winter seems likely for California, giving us another chance to recharge groundwater aquifers with captured storm runoff. But are we ready? Well, there’s a lot more we could do. Forecasters say there’s a 95 percent chance El Niño conditions will prevail during the winter to come. In addition, they say the odds are 2-in-3 that this El Niño will be “strong,” which boosts the odds for wet conditions. This means we have a chance at two wet winters in a row, a very rare occurrence in California. If there’s anything last winter’s very wet conditions showed us, it’s the vast opportunity we have for groundwater recharge. By capturing abundant runoff in wet years, we have potential to make major strides toward rebuilding depleted groundwater. Note that we say “potential.” … ” Continue reading this commentary at Maven’s Notebook.
In regional water news this week …
Fort Bragg first to bring new desalination technology to the West Coast
“The City of Fort Bragg was awarded a state grant of $1.49 million from the Department of Water Resources to pilot a cutting-edge desalination technology developed by Oneka Technologies of Canada. Oneka Technologies has some desalination systems operating worldwide, such as in Chile and Florida. Oneka was seeking a coastal client in California as their first venture into the complex state environmental protection requirements that California demands for activities in the ocean. Fort Bragg has been pursuing avenues to acquire more water sources for the city since 2008. John Smith, Director of Fort Bragg Public Works, said that Oneka came to them. “They were motivated,” he said, “and they wanted to bring their system to California coastal communities. We were a good match.” Oneka even assisted the city with the grant application process. … ” Read more from the Fort Bragg Advocate-News.
Water management initiative tackles Putah Creek concerns
“Community members jotted down memories on post-it notes and placed them along a 10-foot map of Putah Creek on a wall of the Winters Community Center at the first public gathering to gain feedback regarding creek water concerns and questions. The Oct. 5, Putah Creek Community Gathering was the first public workshop in part of the Putah Creek Water Management (PCWM) initiative. The exercise was to see where along Putah Creek — from the Putah Diversion Dam at Lake Berryessa to the Yolo Bypass in West Sacramento — the attendees accessed the water and what types of activities they used the creek for. … ” Read more from the Davis Enterprise.
A big cleanup is underway on San Francisco Bay. Here’s what’s involved
“A crane plucked rotten pilings out of the mud along the Richmond shoreline one by one, slowly removing what is left of a once-thriving wharf built in 1902 and later left to rot. Before demolition began in July, it was the largest derelict wharf in San Francisco Bay. Over 33,000 such pilings circle the bay, remnants of abandoned industries that create eyesores for residents and hazards to boats and wildlife. They’re coated in creosote, a preservative and pesticide that causes deformities in fish. They limit the growth of native eelgrass, which is wildlife habitat and mitigates the effects of climate change. And the rotten logs often come loose, creating maritime hazards. Though active wharves such as the Port of San Francisco have been required to replace creosote pilings with cement ones since the 1990s, no such protection is in place for derelict structures. The Richmond project, which involves voluntary removal of abandoned pilings to protect and bring back native plants and wildlife and reduce hazards, is a relatively new idea and one that planners hope will be repeated elsewhere in the bay. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle (gift article).
Monterey Peninsula water officials vote to buy out Cal Am
“The highly anticipated move by the Monterey Peninsula water district to seek a forced buyout of California American Water Co. reached fruition Tuesday night when the district’s board of directors voted unanimously to forge ahead with a court battle to acquire the company. The vote was 6-0 with board member George Riley having recused himself. More than 50 speakers in the venue at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey and online logged their pleas one way or another in front of the board of directors of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District. The board was tasked with determining whether or not to move forward with an eminent domain seizure of Cal Am – the process that enables government to seize private property with a fair compensation for the public good. To do so, the district board was required to pass what’s called a “resolution of necessity,” which it did unanimously, 3-1/2 hours into the meeting. … ” Read more from the Monterey Herald.
Cal Am Water press release: Monterey Peninsula Water Management District moves forward with risky resolution
“California American Water, along with community leaders and organizations, testified that the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (District) is making a costly error in proceeding with its buyout attempt of California American Water’s Monterey water system. Supported by representatives of labor, hospitality, environmental groups and members of the public, California American Water made its case that they have, and will continue to be, the best stewards of the Monterey Peninsula’s water resources. California American Water raised multiple issues regarding the District’s plan, including that the District does not have the proper certification by the state to operate a water system, was denied permission by other local elected officials on the Monterey County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) to become a retail water system, and has no previous experience in operating a water system. Even if successful in moving forward with its plan, the District intends to borrow as much as one billion dollars from investment banks to finance the purchase – more than 3,000 percent more than their current average budget. … ” Continue reading this press release from Cal Am Water.
Conflict between Lake Nacimiento locals and Monterey County enters new phase after year-long delay
“For more than four years, Steve Blois has been waiting, debating, and fighting for something near and dear to him and his fellow Lake Nacimiento shoreside residents: Who determines how they use the lake in their backyards? “We want to protect recreational use of [the lake],” Blois said. “The fact of the matter is that no one owns that water except the people of California—you can permit what it’s used for, sure, but in the end that water isn’t any one person or group’s thing to lord over.” Blois serves as the vice president of the Nacimiento Regional Water Management Advisory Committee, a group embroiled in a lawsuit with the Monterey County Water Resources Agency over the latter’s regulation of recreational lake use. … ” Read more from New Times SLO.
Santa Barbara County supervisors reject Cuyama Valley vineyard’s frost ponds
“A proposal to construct three roughly 44-acre-foot ponds to hold groundwater for use in protecting 840 acres of grape vines in Cuyama Valley was rejected Tuesday when the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors denied an appeal on a split vote. Supervisors voted 3-2, with 4th District Supervisor Bob Nelson and 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino dissenting, to reject the appeal of the Planning Commission’s denial of Brodiaea Inc.’s application for a conditional use permit to construct the ponds. The three water storage ponds would be spread out on a 6,565-acre parcel located south of Highway 166 between Cottonwood Canyon and Schoolhouse Canyon roads, about nine miles west of New Cuyama. … ” Read more from the Santa Maria Times.
Caltrans stormwater lawsuit resolved after three decades
“Three decades after two conservation groups sued the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) over its mishandling of polluted runoff, the groups and the agency have agreed to update the settlement terms and end the case for good. The case, which was filed by the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) and LA Waterkeeper (formerly Santa Monica Baykeeper) in 1993, argued Caltrans failed to properly manage discharge from more than 900 miles of roads and 35 maintenance facilities located across Los Angeles and Ventura counties in violation of the Clean Water Act. “The resolution of this lawsuit has been a long time coming,” said Bruce Reznik, executive director of LA Waterkeeper. “We appreciate that Caltrans has continued to work with us to find a workable plan of action to address the significant stormwater pollution that runs off of highways and freeways throughout our region.” … ” Continue reading this press release from the LA Waterkeeper and the NRDC.
Reservoirs are so full Long Beach will buy water at a discount, save its groundwater
“With California reservoirs full after a historically wet winter, the Long Beach Utilities Commission has signed off on a plan to buy more imported water at a discount to help other cities clear space to capture more rain during the upcoming winter season. Long Beach typically pumps over 60% of its customers’ water from local ground aquifers and is able to avoid paying for more expensive water piped in through the State Water Project or the Colorado River. However, under the new deal approved at the commission’s Thursday meeting, Long Beach will buy imported water this year from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to help the district make space in its reservoirs for what’s expected to be a wet winter due to the oncoming El Nino storm season. … ” Read more from the Long Beach Post.
QSA: Landmark conservation pact marks 20 years of water security for San Diego
“Twenty years ago, in October 2003, water officials from across the Southwest signed the largest water conservation-and-transfer agreement in U.S. history, the QSA, or Quantification Settlement Agreement. The agreement has provided decades of water security for San Diego County and benefits for numerous partners across the Southwest. In total, that pact supplies more than half of the water that sustains San Diego County’s 3.3 million residents and $268 billion economy. The 2003 QSA, provides more than 30 million acre-feet of high-priority conserved water to the San Diego region over multiple decades. It helped stabilize demands on the Colorado River and reduced California’s overdependence on surplus supplies. The historic set of more than 20 agreements resulted from years of negotiations between the San Diego County Water Authority, Coachella Valley Water District, Imperial Irrigation District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, State of California, and the U.S. Department of the Interior that culminated in a signing ceremony at Hoover Dam. … ” Read more from the Water News Network.
Announcements, notices, and funding opportunities …
NOTICE of 180-Day Temporary Permit Application T033392 – Tehama County
NOTICE: Sites Reservoir requests certification as an infrastructure project under SB 149
NOTICE: Senate Bill 552: County Drought Resilience Planning Assistance Program and Groundwater Sustainability Agency Coordination
