A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …
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In California water news this week …
Reclamation releases draft SEIS for Colorado River operations through 2026
“The Biden-Harris administration today announced next steps in the Administration’s efforts to protect the stability and sustainability of the Colorado River System and strengthen water security in the West. The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation released a revised draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) as part of the ongoing, collaborative effort to update the current interim operating guidelines for the near-term operation of Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams to address the ongoing drought and impacts from the climate crisis. … Today’s revised draft SEIS includes two key updates: the Lower Basin states’ proposal as an action alternative, as well as improved hydrology and more recent hydrologic data. The release of the revised draft SEIS initiates a 45-day public comment period. … ” Continue reading this press release from the Department of Interior.
Western States’ planned water cuts are enough to avert a Colorado River crisis, for now
“California, Nevada and Arizona’s historic pact to cut their use of the Colorado River’s overtapped supplies should be enough to keep the basin’s massive reservoirs from hitting dangerously low levels — for now, a federal analysis reported today. With the release of its revised environmental assessment today, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is poised to move forward with the three-state plan to give up about 13% of water they receive from the Colorado River through the end of 2026. Next comes 45 days of public comment on the assessment, which is expected to be finalized in early 2024. At stake is a water supply for 40 million people, seven states, 30 federally recognized Tribal Nations, and 5.5 million acres of agriculture. A combination of an ample Rocky Mountain snowpack, wet weather and the states’ planned cuts averted imminent declines that could have threatened water deliveries and power production. But federal officials warned that long-term threats to the vital supply remain. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
One Central Valley dam project gets nearly $95 million in funding; two others still in proposal phase
“Three dam expansion projects could increase water storage for use in the Central Valley by a whopping 304,000 acre feet. Each of the projects would raise existing dams, not build new ones. The project that is furthest along would raise the B.F. Sisk Dam in Merced County to expand San Luis Reservoir storage by 130,000 acre feet. Two other projects are just at the proposal stages. One would raise the Buchanan Dam in Madera County to boost storage in H. V. Eastman Lake by 50,000 acre feet. And another would increase Pine Flat Dam in Fresno County to increase that lake’s capacity by 124,000 acre feet. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Update on the Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project
“In 2014, voters approved Proposition 1, the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act, which allocated $2.6 billion for the public benefits of water storage projects. The California Water Commission is overseeing the distribution of this funding through the Water Storage Investment Program. Seven projects have been chosen for funding and have met all interim requirements. These projects are currently completing the remaining necessary steps, such as obtaining permits and completing environmental documents, securing contracts for public benefits administration, and contracts for non-public benefit cost sharing. Once these requirements are fulfilled, each project will be reviewed by the Commission for final approval. During the June meeting, the Commission requested an update on the Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project, one of the seven projects chosen for the Water Storage Investment Program. This project aims to expand the existing Pacheco Reservoir in southeast Santa Clara County, increasing its capacity from 6,000 to approximately 140,000 acre-feet. … ” Read more at Maven’s Notebook.
Coalition urges the Newsom administration to reject the Sites Project Authority’s rushed application for regulatory streamlining
“Today, Friends of the River, Defenders of Wildlife, and a coalition of conservation organizations submitted a letter to the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) opposing the application for Sites Reservoir to be certified under the new Senate Bill (SB) 149 Infrastructure Streamlining Program. Acceptance into this program would mean that the Sites Project would receive a shortened judicial review period for litigation over their inadequate environmental documents. This is a rushed application of this new program which itself came about through a rushed legislative process with little public input. OPR has not even issued guidelines yet for which to determine project eligibility. Further, this is the first ever application of SB 149 and thus it is essential that the public be given ample time to review and participate in a meaningful way. Continue reading this press release.
As weather gets less predictable, hydropower dams look to new forecasting techniques
“Global demand for fossil fuels is expected to peak by the end of this decade as we transition to cleaner sources of energy. One source we already heavily rely on is hydropower, but, as weather becomes more unpredictable, dam operators and planners have the increasingly challenging task of managing the extremes of flood and drought. Climate journalist Saqib Rahim has been writing about new forecasting techniques that might help those hydropower planners. He joined Marketplace’s Amy Scott to talk about forecast-informed reservoir operations, or FIRO. An edited transcript of their conversation is below. … ” Read more from Marketplace.
Dust is melting snow—and current models can’t keep up
“In the drought-plagued western United States, mountain snowpack is a vital source of water. Spring melting replenishes downslope rivers as temperatures slowly rise. But as climate change makes such variables as precipitation and temperature less predictable, managing this vital source of water has become a challenge. Scientists have warned that current snowmelt models remain stuck in the past. “The current models are based upon statistical relationships that assume the future is going to be like the past. And I think we know now that we can’t rely on that assumption,” said McKenzie Skiles, a snow researcher at the University of Utah. … ” Read more from EOS.
Arrowhead bottled water company sues to continue piping from California forest
“The company that sells Arrowhead 100% Mountain Spring Water is suing to challenge California regulators’ recent ruling that the company must stop taking much of the water it pipes from the San Bernardino National Forest for bottling. BlueTriton Brands filed the lawsuit this month in Fresno County Superior Court, arguing in its complaint that the State Water Resources Control Board overstepped its authority “far beyond what California law allows.” Lawyers for the company argued during a hearing last month that the process was rife with problems and that they are entitled to the water. The state’s order is a “a radical departure from over a century of [water board] administrative practice and legal precedent,” BlueTriton said in an email. The board’s order “ignores dozens of agency staff reports and analyses which uniformly conclude that the [water board] does not have permitting authority over groundwater unless it is flowing in a ‘subterranean stream,’” the company said. … ” Read the full story at the LA Times.
DWR releases SGMA GSP evaluations: 11 approved, 6 GSPs deemed incomplete
“The Department of Water Resources (DWR) [yesterday] announced decisions for groundwater sustainability plans in 17 non-critically overdrafted groundwater basins in California. These determinations mark ongoing progress in reaching long-term sustainability for the state’s groundwater basins, a critical water supply for millions of Californians. These groundwater plans are addressing current issues and long-term solutions towards water resiliency for communities, households, industries, and the environment that are all dependent on groundwater. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) directs DWR to evaluate groundwater sustainability plans to determine if the plans are based on the best available science and information and will reasonably achieve the sustainability goal for each groundwater basin. Criteria for plan evaluation is specified in the Groundwater Sustainability Plan regulations. Each of the 17 basins announced today submitted a single basin plan. … ” Continue reading from DWR.
REPORT: Annual Supply Report shows water suppliers well positioned for 2024
“The 2023 Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessment Summary Report summarizes the Department of Water Resources’ review of Urban Water Suppliers’ Annual Water Shortage Assessment Reports for the State Water Resources Control Board. The report includes water shortage information at the supplier level, as well as regional and statewide analyses of water supply conditions. The Annual Shortage Reports provide a mechanism for suppliers to demonstrate to the State that they have adequately developed and are following their locally adopted Water Shortage Contingency Plans (WSCP). … ” Continue reading at Maven’s Notebook.
Chuck Bonham on what’s upstream for California salmon
“Due to low numbers of adult salmon returning to California’s rivers because of previous droughts, officials this year banned recreational and commercial salmon fishing for only the third time in state history. So few Chinook salmon swam up their last remaining strongholds in the Sacramento Valley — Butte, Deer and Mill Creeks near Chico — that scientists this month began capturing then bringing juvenile fish to an emergency hatchery at University of California, Davis. Chuck Bonham, the director of California’s Fish and Wildlife Department, oversaw the effort with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and called the hatchery a “Noah’s Ark.” Bonham spoke with POLITICO from his Sacramento office where he keeps a life-size cardboard cutout of the famous Los Angeles mountain lion P-22. He discussed the outlook for salmon in different regions of the state and what can be done for the sought-after species. … ” Read more from Politico.
The Delta National Heritage Area takes shape
“The Delta Reform Act and Delta Plan both emphasize the importance of designating the Delta under the National Heritage Area program. This designation aims to protect and enhance the unique cultural, historical, recreational, agricultural, and economic values of the Delta as a place, in alignment with the coequal goals. In 2019, federal legislation established the National Heritage Area, and since then, the Delta Protection Commission has been working on developing a management plan. The plan outlines the significance and purpose of the National Heritage Area, as well as the activities that the Commission and its regional partners will undertake over the next 10 to 15 years. The plan must be submitted by March 12, 2024, five years after the designation, and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. At the September meeting of the Delta Stewardship Council, Delta Protection Commission Program Manager Blake Roberts shared the progress made as they near completion of the draft management plan. … ” Read more from Maven’s Notebook.
In commentary this week …
State Water Board’s Delta Plan is no fix for fish and hurts farms
The California Farm Water Coalition writes, “In announcing its new Bay-Delta Water Quality plan, the California State Water Resources Control Board said it wanted to “change the channel” on California’s water debate. We completely agree it’s time to move away from outdated thinking and embrace new, collaborative, science-based solutions and therefore are puzzled that the board is stubbornly clinging to the same failed approach of the past. In a stated attempt to help endangered fish populations, the “new” plan dramatically increases the amount of water that must remain in the San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers, which significantly decreases the amount available for farms, cities, schools and others. The problem is that flushing water through the system and out to sea is exactly what officials have done for more than 25 years to no effect – fish have continued to decline. All the board is doing is doubling down on the same unsuccessful strategy. … ” Read more from the California Farm Water Coalition.
Groundwater gold rush
Chris Shutes with the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, writes, “The groundwater gold rush is on. New projects to divert rivers for groundwater recharge are popping up across the state. Most of these projects are temporary, but most also explicitly foresee long-term, permanent projects. These recharge projects threaten to divert still more water from already-depleted rivers, even as the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) finally begins the update of the Bay-Delta Plan, which starts from the premise that rivers need more water, not less. The threat is enormous in scale. Diversions to recharge groundwater don’t have to show use of the water for up to five years. Because so many aquifers are already overdrafted, places in the ground to put water are almost unlimited. The limitations on these projects are thus economic, technical, and regulatory. There are few established rules for when rivers have enough water to allow diversions to groundwater storage. … ” Read more from the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
Environmental law reform is key solution to California’s housing woes
The Southern California News Group editorial board writes, “To relieve the housing and homelessness crises, we have backed practically every pro-housing reform in this state. But real reform builds housing by advancing private property rights. A model law this year Gov. Gavin Newsom signed was Senate Bill 406, by state Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose. It streamlined California Environmental Quality Act reviews for low-income housing. Which is why Gov. Gavin Newsom’s program building what are called “tiny homes” is a questionable idea that ought to be watched closely. The intent is good: Build really small homes for the homeless and desperately poor. On Oct. 10, the governor’s administration announced it is “finalizing a contract for the state and locals to purchase these small homes.” Because the tiny homes will be owned by the government, they are not advancing property rights, but eroding them. They also are perks for the receiving cities and local construction firms. We believe the state is better off advancing housing reforms, especially extensive CEQA reform, that benefit everyone. … ” Continue reading at the OC Register.
The weaponizing of environmental law
Farmers fight to fix a river channel before next flood
Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau, writes, “During atmospheric river storms that hit California in January and March, Monterey County farmland suffered extensive flooding that had not been experienced in 28 years. The flood patterns were somewhat similar, even though the actual rainfall amount was nearly two-thirds less than what fell in March 1995. The damage was extensive. More than 20,000 acres of cropland, ranchland and vineyards went under water, sometimes for weeks before floodwaters receded from the land and back into the river channel. Damage estimates to crops and agricultural infrastructure exceeded $600 million. Another $400 million was spent cleaning up debris, reshaping farmland, rebuilding levees and replacing damaged infrastructure and buildings. Our county suffered more than $50 million in damages due to bridge washouts, roadway flooding and drainage culverts needing replacement.Overall, we face an impact of more than $1 billion without any meaningful state or federal rescue aid. … ” Read more from Ag Alert.
Who will champion California’s desert parks and water as Dianne Feinstein did?
Hans Johnson, president of Progressive Victory, writes, “Just off the main road to Joshua Tree, where San Bernardino and Riverside counties meet, lies a beautiful anomaly. The Big Morongo Canyon Preserve is an unexpectedly lush and leafy sanctuary, bustling with birds and four-legged creatures – for two major reasons: Natural springs nourish this oasis with water, and it’s a protected national parkland. The humble signage at this sanctuary contains no picture of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. But it could. No one did more than Feinstein, who died last month at age 90, to make extraordinary places throughout the Mojave Desert off-limits to development. Three national parks and three national monuments stretching over 12 million acres of inland Southern California bear witness to her 30 years of work to preserve these rugged landscapes from plunder. But as any park ranger or biologist would caution, park designation is not the ultimate safeguard. The underground water that replenishes the pools at Big Morongo feeds other springs in the Mojave. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
Column: Why conservatives hate the Endangered Species Act
LA Times columnist Michael Hiltzik writes, “The removal of a species from the government’s endangered species list is often a cause for celebration, as it means a plant or animal variety has somehow beaten the odds and recovered from its parlous condition. That’s not the case for 21 animal species just delisted from the Endangered Species Act by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They’re being taken off the list because they have moved in the opposite direction. They’ve gone extinct. The latest list is a slight reduction from the agency’s original proposed delisting of 23 animal and one plant species in 2021; the removals were of a woodpecker that the government isn’t sure has gone extinct, though it hasn’t been seen in the wild since 1944, and a Hawaiian herb for which a suitable habitat has been discovered. But both plainly are on borrowed time. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Supreme Court’s Sackett vs. EPA ruling restores reasonable state control over water
Charles T. “Chuck” Gibson, an elected Director on the Board of the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD) and Chair of the SMWD Finance and Administration Committee, writes, “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently reported that changes to its “Waters of the United States” rule (otherwise known as WOTUS) that regulates “navigable waters” under the Clean Water Act became final September 8, 2023. Those changes are based on the recent Sackett v EPA decision at the Supreme Court. The decision provides “clarity for protecting our nation’s waters consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision while advancing infrastructure projects, economic opportunities, and agricultural activities.” The Biden Administration expressed disappointment with the court ruling, but they recognized their obligation to change the rules. … Not surprisingly, the Supreme Court’s decision has been reported as a victory for property rights on the one hand and, on the other hand, an undesirable ‘rolling back’ of environmental protections. There is, however, widespread agreement in the California water sector that the Supreme Court’s decision is a more balanced step in the right direction. … ” Continue reading at the OC Register.
The war over weed and water
John Persinos, editorial director of Investing Daily, writes, ““Either you bring the water to LA, or you bring LA to the water.” That famous line was uttered by the scheming land baron Noah Cross in Chinatown (1974), the classic neo-noir about the water wars in California during the 1930s. Those wars continue to the present day, not just in California but nationwide, and they now involve cannabis. Here’s a look at the current war over weed and water, especially in the Golden State, and how to profit from an investment standpoint. Over the decades, the pot prohibitionists have thrown a lot of accusations against weed, nearly all of them absurd. The bill of particulars: pot causes insanity, fuels crime, encourages “miscegenation,” fosters “white slavery,” destroys families, leads to rape and murder, turns kids into vicious juvenile delinquents…the list goes on and on. … ” Read more from Investing Daily.
In regional water news this week …
More heat waves and vanishing snow: The Lake Tahoe basin’s future on a warming planet
“Lake Tahoe is known for its crystal-clear blue water, scenic mountain backdrop, and world-class recreation opportunities. Unfortunately, the lake and surrounding basin aren’t insulated from global climate change. Although the effects of rising atmospheric greenhouse gases can already be seen in the more frequent and intense wildfires, unpredictable snow seasons, and temperatures that creep ever higher, scientists and resource managers need the best possible projections for where, and how, the region will transform over time. This information can help communities to prepare by prioritizing restoration areas and infrastructure that can buffer the impacts. … ” Read more from PhysOrg.
What does ‘unavoidable’ west Antarctic ice shelf melt mean for the Bay Area?
“No matter how fast the world reduces carbon emissions, some amount of rapid ice melt from human-caused climate change in West Antarctica is inevitable by the end of the century, which could have enormous ramifications for coastal regions like San Francisco Bay, according to a new study published by researchers at the British Antarctic Survey. “It looks like we’ve lost control of melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet,” said study lead author Dr. Kaitlin Naughten in an online statement. Scientists have known that as oceans absorb heat, their temperature rises, and water expands, contributing to rising sea levels. But this study is one of the first to model exactly how ocean warming might cause the Antarctic ice shelves to melt, releasing much more water into the ocean and pushing them up further. … ” Read more from KQED.
A housing project in Seaside will be a test for how the market meets the moment.
“On the Monterey Peninsula, the lack of available water is often highlighted by public agencies, and residents that favor a local desalination project, as the primary reason the region lacks adequate housing. Just how true that is remains an open question – there are several other hurdles for new development – but in Seaside, it’s about to be put to the test. On Sept. 28, Cal Am inked an agreement with the city for the transfer of sufficient water credits to set a meter to serve the long-stalled Ascent housing project, which is planned to be built on 2.85 acres along upper Broadway Avenue. The plans call for 106 units – a mix of one-, two – and three-bedrooms – 16 of which will be affordable. Now it’s just a matter of the financing as to when the dirt will get moving. The project’s developer, Utah-based Cruachan Capital, has until Nov. 15 before its approval permits expire – the project was approved in November 2019 – and needs to either get the project started or ask for an extension. … ” Read more from Monterey Weekly.
‘Only one person can be king.’ Fresno family takes Resnick’s empire to court
“Four years ago, two of the biggest farmers in California sent messages to each other regarding the biggest farmer in America: Stewart Resnick. What the messages made clear is that Resnick’s personal relationship had started to fray with Farid Assemi, a pistachio grower and home builder who had immense acres on the west side of Fresno County. Who was stepping in as peacemaker: it was none other than John Vidovich, the second biggest grower in the state, who had a reputation for feuding over land and water with other big growers. The subject matter at hand was whether Assemi had betrayed his friendship with Resnick. In the previous months, Assemi had threatened Resnick by taking steps to build the state’s biggest pistachio processing facility in west Fresno County – a facility even bigger than the one Resnick had outside of Lost Hills in Kern County. Resnick, a man who controlled 60-65% of California’s pistachio supply, perceived this as a direct challenge to his reign. … ” Read more from Fresnoland.
California’s San Joaquin Valley is on the front line of climate change. How will it adapt?
“Home to more than 4 million people, the vast San Joaquin Valley lies flat and low between the Sierra Nevada and the Southern Coast Range and has long been prone to climate hazards. Lately, however, they seem to be converging at a breakneck pace. The floods arrived following three years of severe drought, while extreme heat, lung-searing smog and hazardous wildfire smoke have become all-too-common occurrences. Meanwhile, the very earth beneath their feet is sinking. Experts say it’s not just bad luck that has made the San Joaquin Valley one of the front lines of climate change in America. Dramatic land use changes, a dearth of resources and state support, and a recalcitrant political climate fueled by agriculture and fossil fuel drilling have all contributed to the region’s challenges. How it adapts could be a case study for the rest of the nation. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Carrots farms v valley: the battle over a water-depleted California region
“More than five years ago, Jim Wegis, a lifelong farmer in central California’s Cuyama valley, could see the writing on the wall for his water-intensive alfalfa fields. He switched most of his 140 planted acres from seasonal hay to permanent olive and pistachio groves, drastically reducing his impact on his local aquifer. “I cut my water use just about in half,” he said. The change was costly and stressful. Wegis had to spend over $150,000 to replace his irrigation systems and equipment, and he lost years of earnings while waiting for his orchards to mature. “There was a significant amount of time with not much income coming in,” said Wegis. “And it’s not over yet.” In spite of his personal efforts to cut back on water use, Wegis along with landowners and institutions in Santa Barbara county’s Cuyama valley were hit by a lawsuit by two of the world’s largest carrot producers, Bolthouse Farms and Grimmway Farms. Together, those operations are big players in a $69m industry, and they’re requesting that a court decide just how much water they and all their neighbors can use. … ” Read more from The Guardian.
New SoCal water bank improves water supply reliability for millions
“After three years of construction, the first stage of a critical new groundwater storage project is complete and water is flowing into storage, significantly increasing Southern California’s water supply reliability in the face of a rapidly changing climate. Officials from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency celebrated the key milestone today. The High Desert Water Bank, a partnership between the two agencies, allows Metropolitan to store State Water Project supplies in the Antelope Valley groundwater basin. At 280,000 acre-feet, the water bank’s capacity is comparable in size to Castaic Lake, nearly double the size of Lake Perris and four times the capacity of Big Bear Lake. “This investment makes all our communities better prepared for the weather extremes that we increasingly confront,” Metropolitan board Chair Adán Ortega, Jr. said. “We know that climate change will bring more of the dramatic swings between wet and dry that we saw over the last few years, so we must take every opportunity to store water when it is available. The great news is, we completed this work in time to take advantage of this historically wet year.” … ” Read more from the Metropolitan Water District.
U.S. Green Building Council-L.A. releases white paper on the nexus between water, energy & carbon
“The U.S. Green Building Council – Los Angeles (USGBC-LA) today is releasing a white paper, “The Energy Cost of Water”, a comprehensive effort to delve into a crucial, but often overlooked aspect of water management – the embedded energy and carbon costs associated with water usage. For this paper, the regional focus is the arid landscape of Southern California, with a specific focus on Los Angeles. The paper is produced in collaboration with USGBC-LA’s Los Angeles Sustainability Roundtable (LASER), which is composed of the region’s top corporate sustainability executives and leaders, and supported in part by the 50L Home Coalition (convened by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and the World Economic Forum), and Southern California Gas Company. The white paper was presented last week as part of USGBC-LA’s final Thought Leadership Series event of 2023. The event discussed the paper’s findings; how we can be more efficient with our use of water, energy and carbon; and unpacked the policy and funding landscapes around the energy intensity of water use. … ” Read more from the Green Building Council LA.
