On the calendar today …
- MEETING: State Water Resources Control Board beginning at 9:30am. Agenda items include a report on quality assurance recommendations for the Ceriodaphnia dubia Toxicity Test and an update on the status of implementation of the Toxicity Provisions; Periodic report from the Delta Watermaster, and the Quarterly Delta Lead Scientist Report. Click here for the full agenda and remote access instructions.
- WEBINAR: Exploring the Impact of Illegal Marijuana Cultivation on California’s Water Resources from 10am to 11:30am. Join us for a thought-provoking panel discussion that delves deep into the underground world of illegal marijuana cultivation in the Golden State and its profound implications for water managers. California’s picturesque landscapes have been marred by the environmental consequences of illicit cannabis farming, from the poisoning of ecosystems to the depletion of precious water sources. Our panel of experts will provide perspective from the County, State and Federal level and shed light on the multifaceted challenges brought on by the underground cannabis industry’s operations. Gain insight into the environmental, legal, and regulatory hurdles. Click here to register.
- WEBINAR: Our Watershed Moment – A Holistic Approach to Water Resilience from 1pm to 2:15pm. Join us for our fall 2023 webinar series, Our Watershed Moment – A Holistic Approach to Water Resilience, as we explore how water connects us all, and why it’s important to work holistically to secure a sustainable water future for California’s communities, agriculture, and wildlife. We’ll kick off the series on Tuesday, October 17 at 1:00 – 2:15 PM with a panel on groundwater recharge and what this extraordinary weather year means for water in California. We hope you can join us as we sit down with water experts representing growers, scientists, and government to explore how multi-benefit recharge at scale is key for a healthy and resilient water future. Click here to register.
- GRA SoCAL: Microplastics in Groundwater: Knowns, Unknowns, and California’s Monitoring Plans from 6pm to 8pm. In 2020, California adopted a definition for Microplastics and in 2022 developed analytical methods and set out a sampling/information collection program in a SWRCB Policy Handbook, with water sampling to begin in late-2023/early-2024. Groundwater is much less susceptible to microplastic impacts than surface waters; however, groundwater scientists and engineers and water purveyors will need to consider the presence of microplastics in near-recharge source scenarios, waters used for indirect potable reuse/recharge, and in close proximity to managed aquifer recharge. Click here to register.
In California water news today …
California’s groundwater supplies rose after winter storms. Now we know how much
“For decades, California’s groundwater supplies have plummeted because of too much pumping. In some places, due to the heavy draws, the land above has collapsed, roads and bridges have buckled and communities have run out of water. But this year, after the historically wet winter, there was at least some reprieve for the state’s overburdened aquifers. Groundwater levels rose or were flat at the vast majority of wells tracked by the state, compared with last year, while groundwater levels dropped significantly at just 9% of the thousands of monitored wells. The well data, released in a report last week by the California Department of Water Resources, is among the first to show the benefit to groundwater supplies that resulted from the bounty of rain and snow seeping into the earth this year. While a lot of that seepage was natural, some of it was intentionally steered underground in a process known as aquifer recharge. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
SEE ALSO: The New York Times Diagnosed The Groundwater Crisis. Now How Do We Stop The Bleeding?, from Forbes
California continues progress to boost water supplies and build resilience amid extreme weather
“Amid extreme weather conditions this past year, the state has made important progress to secure water supplies now and into the future, leveraging more than $8.6 billion committed by Governor Newsom and the Legislature in the last two budget cycles to build water resilience. A new progress report on California’s Water Supply Strategy, which was released last year, details key actions taken by state agencies to expand and expedite water storage, recycling, desalination and conservation to bolster water supplies throughout the state. What Governor Newsom said: “From devastating drought to record flooding, the weather extremes we experienced in California this past year make clear the urgent need to keep adapting our water systems for increasingly unpredictable conditions. The state has made important strides to meet these challenges, and we’ll continue advancing our all-of-the-above strategy to optimize how we capture, store and use water in this new climate reality.” … ” Continue reading this press release from Governor Newsom.
Seasonal weather predictions are elusive in California
““Weather whiplash” has become a reality in California: this year, the driest three-year period on record was broken by a spate of near-record precipitation. This variability has many clamoring for more accurate seasonal predictions, which could help the state better manage its water supply, prepare for disasters, and maintain economic health. But that’s not as easy as it sounds, says Dr. Xianan Jiang, a researcher with UCLA’s Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science & Engineering. We asked him to tell us more. Q: You recently published a paper explaining why it’s so hard to make long-range weather forecasts. Why do forecasters get seasonal predictions wrong so often? A: California’s precipitation mainly occurs during the winter season. To achieve reliable seasonal predictions, we need to predict the circulation patterns over the North Pacific Ocean, because these patterns closely control atmospheric river activity—the storms that deliver most of California’s precipitation. … ” Read more from the PPIC.
As toxins taint Central Valley water, community and political leaders face uphill battle
“A state audit from the California Water Resources Control Board released last year found that over 920,000 residents faced an increased risk of illness–including cancer, liver and kidney problems–due to consuming unsafe drinking water. A majority of these unsafe water systems are in the Central Valley. The matter has prompted community leaders to mobilize residents around water quality as politicians confront imperfect solutions for the region’s supply. Advocates point out that impacted areas, including those in Tulare County, tend to be majority Latino with low median incomes. … ” Read more from Fresnoland.
Calif. agriculture is pioneering a new era of innovation, resilience
“Out in the American West lies California, a state that has become synonymous with agricultural excellence and innovation. As we navigate the complexities of the 21st century, California’s agricultural sector stands as a testament to American ingenuity, resilience, and the indomitable spirit of its farmers. California is not just leading in agriculture but also in energy innovation, contributing to America’s energy independence. By adopting solar energy and utilizing hydroelectricity, among other local energy sources, the agricultural industry is bolstering the economy while reducing dependence on foreign oil. This is a win-win situation that embodies the principles of economic growth and national self-reliance. … ” Read more from the San Joaquin Valley Sun.
Trees are stressed. Now they can tell us why
“Over the past several weeks, the majestic California buckeye tree that shades my backyard has been sharing intimate details about its inner life — how much it grows each day, its drinking habits and whether it’s at risk of falling down. Those insights are being generated by a slim device attached to the buckeye’s bark. Called a TreeTag, it’s about the size of a small television remote and features a suite of sensors, a solar panel and a wireless radio that transmits data to my phone via the cloud. Silicon Valley startup ePlant aims to install thousands of TreeTags across urban landscapes, orchards, vineyards and forests imperiled by climate change. The goal: to create an internet of trees that improves our understanding of rising temperatures’ arboreal impacts. … ” Read more from Bloomberg.
How to help save plants from extinction
“Now is the time to identify the conditions that cause plants to die. Doing so will allow us to better protect plants by choosing conservation targets more strategically, UC Riverside botanists argue in a new paper. Published in the Oxford Academic journal Conservation Physiology, the paper demonstrates how scientists can learn the limits past which plants’ vital functions shut down, and makes the case that not doing so is a mistake in this era of increasing drought and wildfires. “We can measure the amount of water loss plants can tolerate before they start to wilt, and we can learn the temperature at which photosynthesis stops for different kinds of plants,” said Louis Santiago, UCR botany professor and corresponding author of the paper. … ” Read more from UC Riverside.
LAO: The 2023-24 California Spending Plan: Resources and Environmental Protection
“The 2023-24 budget package provides a total of $19.2 billion from various fund sources—the General Fund, bond funds, a number of special funds, and federal funds—for programs administered by the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) and Environmental Protection Agency. This is a net decrease of $15.5 billion (45 percent) compared to 2022-23 estimated levels. This change is primarily due to a large amount of one-time funding—mostly from the General Fund—provided to departments within both agencies in 2022-23. … ” Read more from the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
California poised for big climate moves after Newsom backs new laws
“California is set to take major swings at boosting renewable energy, reining in corporate emissions, safeguarding wild places and ensuring livability amid worsening climate change after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed most of the environment-related legislation lawmakers sent his way this session. Among two dozen major climate and environment bills that landed on Newsom’s desk this year, he approved three quarters of them by the Saturday, Oct. 14 deadline. That “cements California’s climate leadership,” said Laura Deehan, executive director of the advocacy group Environment California. But it also matters “beyond our borders,” she said, with action by one of the biggest economies in the world likely to spur similar laws in other places. … ” Read more from the OC Register.
SEE ALSO: Boiling Point: California’s fossil fuel crackdown continues — with some exceptions, from the LA Times
What the extreme fire seasons of 1910 and 2020 – and 2,500 years of forest history – tell us about the future of wildfires in the West
“Strong winds blew across mountain slopes after a record-setting warm, dry summer. Small fires began to blow up into huge conflagrations. Towns in crisis scrambled to escape as fires bore down. This could describe any number of recent events, in places as disparate as Colorado, California, Canada and Hawaii. But this fire disaster happened over 110 years ago in the Northern Rocky Mountains of Idaho and Montana. The “Big Burn” of 1910 still holds the record for the largest fire season in the Northern Rockies. Hundreds of fires burned over 3 million acres – roughly the size of Connecticut – most in just two days. The fires destroyed towns, killed 86 people and galvanized public policies committed to putting out every fire. … ” Read more from The Conversation.
Audio: California against the sea: Visions for our vanishing coastline
“On this edition of Your Call’s One Planet Series, Los Angeles Times environmental journalist Rosanna Xia discusses her new book, California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline. Xia documents her travels across 20 of California’s coastal communities, listening to the stories of people who are grappling with a rising ocean. She writes, “Within just a few decades, Californians have managed to alter the shoreline resulting in such a way that the realities of climate change seem unimaginably daunting. Collapsed buildings, flooded roads, shattered seawalls—all the problems that make the coast so fragile today are not by some fault of nature. A problem exists because our human-built world keeps getting in the way of the rising sea. But this current story of our coast does not have to end in disaster. We can choose to act, to reconsider, to determine a more sensible future. How we proceed can make all the difference, and it’s on all of us to forge a new ending.” Listen at KALW.
Morning Report: California now requires that coastal cities plan for sea level rise
“For the first time in California history, all coastal cities are now required to plan for sea level rise, a looming climate impact yet to be fully experienced. A new law requires those cities to come up with strategies and recommend projects to address future sea level rise by 2034.” Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED. Listen at KQED.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Hoopa Valley Tribe: Westlands asks California Supreme Court to overturn environmental restoration obligations, further decimating Trinity River fishery
“In its latest effort to evade payment of at least $100 million in environmental restoration and other costs, the Westlands Water District (Westlands) is asking the California Supreme Court to overrule four State court decisions, all of which refused to rubber stamp a federal contract to eliminate Westlands’ massive debt to the United States Treasury. The courts ruled that the contract between Westlands and the federal Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is incomplete because it omitted a critical term—how much is owed. The omission was deliberate. Federal law requires Reclamation to collect from Westlands all the costs involved in constructing federal water delivery facilities and all the costs to mitigate the environmental damage caused by delivery and use of federal water supplies from the Central Valley Project. However, in preparing the contract, Trump Administration Interior Department officials had added up only some of the costs and hatched a scheme to write off the financial requirement and shift the cost to the U.S. taxpayers. … ” Read more from the Hoopa Valley Tribe.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Sacramento watering rules are about to change again. Here’s what you can (and can’t) do
“California has been nearly drought-free since April, but residents in Sacramento are still being advised to limit the amount they water outdoor landscapes for the fall and winter. According to the the city, residents and businesses need to follow a watering schedule starting Nov. 1. “It’s important to remind people that the watering schedule exists, regardless of drought conditions,” William Granger, Sacramento’s water conservation coordinator, said in the news release. For the fall and winter, watering is limited to one time per week, as plants need less water and rain helps water them as well, Granger said. Also, watering is not permitted for 48 hours after it rains more than one-eighth of an inch. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
BAY AREA
Can Point Reyes National Seashore support wildlife and ranching amid climate change?
“Tule elk are making their distinctive, trumpet-like calls in California this month, a mating season ritual that alerts all to their presence. The calls—or bugles—signal the arrival of fall in the Point Reyes National Seashore, the small peninsula jutting into the Pacific Ocean north of San Francisco that’s home to three tule elk herds. The seashore has played a vital part in the recovery story of tule elk, a species endemic to California that settlers drove to near extinction 150 years ago. Yet in the face of climate change, the National Park Service and the local Indigenous tribe say they must reconsider their elk management in the seashore. During California’s recent drought, the state’s population of nearly 6,000 tule elk kept growing overall, but the some 10 percent that live in the seashore declined. … ” Read more from Civil Eats.
Pleasanton council to vote on moving forward with plans to build two new wells
“The Pleasanton City Council is set Tuesday to consider allocating $500,000 from the water enterprise fund balance to the water replacement capital improvement program so staff can proceed with the planning process to develop two new city-owned wells. According to the staff report, the council will vote on establishing the new capital improvement project for the two new wells — which are being called Well 9 and Well 10 — and will look to approve the water supply alternatives study final report draft from Oct. 12, which outlines why the two new wells are most economically viable options to bring clean water to residents. … ” Read more from Pleasanton Weekly.
CENTRAL COAST
New bill to fast-track Pajaro levee work
“Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed legislation that will expedite the reconstruction of the Pajaro River Levee, moving construction start date and completion time years earlier than anticipated. Assembly Bill 876 fast-tracks the work by exempting the project from certain local environmental laws and regulations under the California Environmental Quality Act through construction. The $400 million upgrade to the levee, which local, state and federal officials celebrated last year, was years in the making. The communities surrounding the levee have suffered numerous floods since the levee was built in 1949, which also flooded in 1955, 1958 and 1998. An upgrade authorized in 1966 by the Federal Flood Control Act never occurred. … ” Read more from Good Times Santa Cruz.
SEE ALSO: Governor signs Rivas bill to expedite Pajaro River levee upgrades, from the Santa Cruz Sentinel
EASTERN SIERRA
Many calls for a State Water Board hearing
“After digging out from under the exceptionally snowy winter, Mono Lake Committee staff were exceptionally curious—how much would Mono Lake rise this year, and will the rise stick this time? As it turns out, many people are wondering the same thing. It wasn’t that long ago that a superlative winter catapulted the lake level upward in 2017, only to be followed by the need for emergency action in 2022 on the lake’s behalf after years of continued Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) diversions and drought. Even those who aren’t tracking the lake level closely have seen enough lake rises and falls to understand that this pattern will continue unless the California State Water Resources Control Board steps in and holds a hearing to adjust stream diversion rules. The 1994 mandate to raise the lake called for a hearing if the Public Trust lake level wasn’t reached by 2014. A reasonable extension, to 2020, has also passed, and many are chiming in on a familiar refrain: When is the State Water Board going to hold the Mono Lake hearing? … ” Read more from the Mono Lake Committee.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Upper Castaic Lake closes due to elevated algal bloom danger advisory
“Upper Castaic Lake closed today due to an elevated danger algal bloom advisory. The Department of Water Resources urges people to avoid physical contact with water at Castaic Lake in Los Angeles County until further notice due to the presence of toxic blue-green algae. People should also avoid eating fish or shellfish from the lake. Boating and water-contact recreation and sporting activities, including shoreline fishing, are not considered safe at Upper Castaic Lake due to potential adverse health effects. Castaic Lake State Recreation Area remains open to land-based recreation. Castaic Lagoon, also known as lower Castaic Lake, has no algal bloom advisory and is open to non-motorized boating. For latest conditions and danger advisory information, go to Harmful Algal Bloom website. … ” Read more from DWR.
Sylmar and Pacoima residents question plan to remove sediment at Pacoima Reservoir
“The Los Angeles County Flood Control District, as lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act commonly known as CEQA, conducted a scoping meeting Thursday, Oct. 12 at El Cariso Community Regional Park in Sylmar to explain the proposed sediment removal project at the Pacoima Reservoir near the edge of the Angeles National Forest. The meeting, which attracted about 80 people, was held in compliance with state guidelines to gather community input about the proposed Pacoima Reservoir Restoration project led by Los Angeles County Public Works that would remove sediment that has built up over the many decades. Phase one is expected to begin in late 2025, and over the course of five years trucks would remove 1.5 million cubic yards of sediment. … ” Read more from the LA Daily News.
SAN DIEGO
Newsom signs bill requiring countywide vote in future water district detachment
“Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill requiring a countywide vote before a water district can “detach,” though it’s too late to prevent local votes in Fallbrook and Rainbow. The two rural districts have sought to leave the San Diego County Water Authority for a cheaper, if potentially less reliable water supply from Riverside County. … ” Read more from the Times of San Diego.
Along the Colorado River …
Western states opposed tribes’ access to the Colorado River 70 years ago. History is repeating itself.
“In the 1950s, after quarreling for decades over the Colorado River, Arizona and California turned to the U.S. Supreme Court for a final resolution on the water that both states sought to sustain their postwar booms. The case, Arizona v. California, also offered Native American tribes a rare opportunity to claim their share of the river. But they were forced to rely on the U.S. Department of Justice for legal representation. A lawyer named T.F. Neighbors, who was special assistant to the U.S. attorney general, foresaw the likely outcome if the federal government failed to assert tribes’ claims to the river: States would consume the water and block tribes from ever acquiring their full share. … ” Continue reading from Pro Publica.
What El Niño will mean for Lake Mead’s water levels
“The U.S. is set for an El Niño winter—the warmer counterpart to La Niña—a climate pattern that starts with warm water building up in the tropical Pacific Ocean west of South America. During El Niño, the U.S. usually experiences drier than usual conditions in the North, and wetter conditions in the South, including famously dry areas across the Southwest that have suffered prolonged drought conditions. Due to the drought, integral reservoirs such as Lake Mead, which is on the border of Nevada and Arizona, have suffered from catastrophically low water levels. In July 2022, the reservoir reached its lowest point of 1,040 feet after a particularly dry year. … ” Continue reading at Newsweek.
As drought grips the southwest, water utilities find the hunt for more workers challenging
“On the surface, it would seem Arizona is entering a golden age of water conservation. Gov. Katie Hobbs has made water conservation a top priority for her administration and promised to update the state’s groundwater rules as aquifers in the Phoenix metro area are projected to suffer shortages by the end of the century. But finding the workers to design and implement new conservation measures, build new pipelines, monitor water quality, treat wastewater and repair infrastructure is proving almost as challenging as locating new sources of water. The issue is affecting nearly every water provider, from rural communities to major cities, as workers in the industry retire in droves and the industry struggles to replace them. … ” Read more from Inside Climate News.
Sticks in snow: Snowtography sites in the southwest could foster more climate-resilient forests
“Two straight lines of 6-foot-tall red and white measuring sticks divide a small clearing near the Jackson Mountain trail head into quarters. A young buck wanders through the meadow east of Pagosa Springs, undisturbed and unaware of its recent transformation. The unassuming installation – a series of measuring sticks, cameras and moisture sensors – is part of a growing network of snowtography sites across the Southwestern United States that is helping to reshape scientists’ and water managers’ understanding of how forest management impacts snow melt. “We are trying to create climate-resilient forests and water supplies,” said Jake Kurzweil, the associate director of MSI’s water program. … The scientists behind them say the data snowtography yields is likely to increase the control humans have over the melting snowpack. … ” Read more from the Durango Herald.
On the Colorado River, staving off a bass invasion
“On July 1, 2022, a National Park Service biologist named Jeff Arnold was hauling nets through a slough off the Colorado River, several miles downstream from Glen Canyon Dam, when he captured three greenish fish lined with vertical black stripes. He texted photos of his catch to colleagues, who confirmed his fears: The fish were smallmouth bass, voracious predators that have invaded waters around the West. Worse, they were juveniles. Smallmouth weren’t just living below the dam — they’d likely begun to breed. It was a grim discovery. Smallmouth bass, whose native range encompasses rivers and lakes in much of the Eastern United States and Great Lakes, have long plagued the Colorado River. … ” Read more from Undark.
In national water news today …
Native lands lack clean water protections, but more tribes are taking charge
“Across the roughly 1,300 square miles of the White Earth Indian Reservation in northwest Minnesota, tribal members harvest wild rice in waters that have sustained them for generations. They’ve been working for decades to restore sturgeon, a culturally important fish, and they harvest minnows and leeches to supply bait for anglers across the country. But the White Earth Band can no longer depend on the clean, abundant waters that make those activities possible. Droughts brought on by climate change and irrigation for agriculture have threatened the reservation’s rivers and lakes. Manure runoff from factory farms could poison the water that’s left. Last year, the tribal government passed an ordinance to restrict withdrawals of water from the reservation and adjacent lands that share an aquifer. Under the statute, farms and other businesses seeking to withdraw more than 1 million gallons per year must obtain a permit from the tribe. … ” Read more from Stateline.
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
NOTICE: State Water board accepting provisional data corrections; staff slides available
