On the calendar today …
- PUBLIC HEARING: Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan, Sacramento/Delta update, 3 of 3 beginning at 12pm. The State Water Resources Control Board has released a draft Staff Report/Substitute Environmental Document (Staff Report) in support of possible updates to the Water Quality Control Plan for the Delta. The updates are focused on the Sacramento River watershed, Delta eastside tributaries (including the Calaveras, Cosumnes, and Mokelumne Rivers), interior Delta, and Delta. The Board will hold a public hearing over three days during the comment period to provide interested parties with an opportunity to comment. This is the last of three public hearings. Click here for the full notice.
In California water news today …
California water ideas that deserve more attention
“Water systems run on ideas, among many other things. Many ideas are discussed for improving and adapting California water management to meet current and future challenges. Some ideas seem to receive too much attention, and others receive too little attention. For this post, we solicited ideas from some UC Davis Center for Watershed Science members that seem to deserve more attention. … ” This post discusses restoring Tulare Lake, developing a system of Freshwater Protected Areas, requiring habitat management as a condition on water rights, imposing time limits on water rights, managing reservoirs more intentionally for fisheries, improving protection of aquatic ecosystems from wildfires, a unified modeling tool for the Delta System, state water accounting system, joint-ventures for restoring basin ecosystems, and more. Read the post at the California Water Blog.
Sewers are overflowing everywhere. One solution is right in your backyard.
“When a heavy rainstorm hits D.C., it’s bad news for the city’s rivers. The city’s sewer system, which combines storm runoff and raw sewage in some areas, has a history of overflowing. Instead of flowing into a treatment plant, that toxic mix, along with the sediment, trash and other pollutants storm water washes off streets, ends up in rivers. The city just finished a major component of a multibillion dollar tunnel system to intercept that storm water, but it’s also turning to a far simpler and cheaper solution: rain gardens. These features, which are built below street level and host a variety of plantings, have been popping up across the country as cities seek to manage more extreme storms. In San Francisco, officials built a twelve-block span of 30 rain gardens capable of managing over 5 million gallons of storm water every year, or the equivalent of five Olympic pools. … ” Read more from the Washington Post.
Unpacking California’s wild weather year
“It was quite a year for weather in the Golden State. Atmospheric-river storms pummeled California all winter. The state’s snowpack reached the deepest level recorded in at least 40 years. All that precipitation even created an enormous lake in the Central Valley. Then the summer started off unusually cloudy, and despite a few heat waves stayed relatively cool — in stark contrast to conditions in recent years and to the extreme heat that was gripping much of the rest of the world. A tropical storm arrived in August and brought more than two inches of rain to Southern California, forming another new lake, this time in famously parched Death Valley. Overall, when it comes to precipitation, 2023 has been one for the books. … ” Read more from the New York Times.
SEE ALSO: Blizzards, tornadoes and a hurricane: We lived through SoCal’s year of weird weather, from the LA Times
California weather: How the jet stream could bring an active storm pattern soon
“The wet season is off to a slow start across California, with the state receiving just 54% of normal precipitation in October and November, while early December has followed a similar pattern. Despite a few wet periods in the Bay Area, big storms have remained over the Pacific Northwest, and as a result, Central and Southern California have been much drier than normal. Despite the slow start to the water year, signs point to a more active storm pattern during late December. Weather models are in remarkable agreement that the Pacific jet stream will strengthen in the next two weeks, which would raise the odds for wet weather across the Golden State around Christmas. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Why officials should consider machine learning live modeling to prepare for flooding
“According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, flooding claims more lives annually than tornadoes and hurricanes combined and costs $4.7 billion on average per event. What makes matters worse is that the frequency of flooding is increasing, which could push the NOAA-estimated $165 billion cost of weather climate disasters in 2022 even higher in coming years. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests in its Climate Change Indicators: Coastal Flooding that “the average number of flood events per year has progressively accelerated across decades since 1950.” The same report indicates that the locations experiencing the highest rate of increase in flood events are along the Gulf and East coasts. These findings make one thing clear: people and properties along the coast are at risk of facing graver consequences than ever before as more and more floods occur. However, officials can decrease that risk by implementing live predictive models that deliver near-real-time, short-term flood forecasts to help them prepare and respond. … ” Read more from Stormwater Solutions.
New California climate law is sparking an epic battle in one deep-red county
“In the sprawling green hills of California’s far north, where the politics run red and rowdy, a new state law designed to clear a path for climate-friendly energy projects is facing a tough debut. State officials are using their authority under the law, for the first time, to gain approval powers over a plan to build 48 giant wind turbines in Shasta County — powers typically held by local officials. In doing so, they’ve encountered not only opposition to the project but broader anger in a region known for its distaste of heavy-handed government and, in particular, Sacramento Democrats. Now, the new climate law, Assembly Bill 205, has rural Shasta County in yet another dust-up with the state. The confrontation was cemented late last month with a lawsuit filed by county officials, challenging the California Energy Commission’s jurisdiction over the Fountain Wind Project. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
In commentary today …
More Delta flow or Delta tunnel? One good decision will stop the next bad decision
Chris Shutes with the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance writes, “On December 8, 2023, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) issued its Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for its Proposed “Delta Conveyance Project” (aka tunnel under the Delta). In thousands of pages of responses to comments, DWR affirms that its Draft EIR was right on just about everything. One thing DWR says it was right about is how it didn’t need to analyze an alternative that looked at increasing flow through the Delta. The reasoning is telling: “Regarding the comment regarding an alternative with increased unimpaired flow, such an alternative was determined to not be consistent with the project purpose nor would it meet most of the stated basic project objectives in Chapter 2, Purpose and Project Objectives.” … ” Read more from the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
The Endangered Species Act is America’s most radical environmental law: Now we just need federal agencies to effectively enforce it
Jason Mark with the Sierra Club writes, “Is there any American environmental law as radical as the Endangered Species Act? It’s more profound than the Organic Act, which gave the country—and really the whole world—the idea of national parks. It’s more revolutionary than the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act, which safeguard the essential elements of existence. The Wilderness Act—with its sometimes-archaic language, “the earth and its community of life . . . untrammeled by man”—is unmatched in its poetry. Yet even in comparison to that law, the Endangered Species Act is exceptional in its generosity toward other life-forms, its expression of ecological solidarity. When I wrote radical, I meant the word’s original sense, as in connected to the root of things. For the Endangered Species Act seeks to protect the whole tree of life—root, stem, branch, leaf. It defends flora as well as fauna, and the law’s authors were explicit that it would cover the whole of the animal kingdom, “any mammal, fish, bird, amphibian, reptile, mollusk, crustacean, arthropod, or other invertebrate.” … ” Read more from the Sierra Club.
SEE ALSO: Celebrating a Half Century of America’s Greatest Wildlife Conservation Law, from the Sierra Club
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
‘Like a dead zone’: Undoing decades of environmental harm on a California river
Credit: Yurok Tribe
“In late September 2023, a one-mile stretch of the Trinity River in northern California looks and sounds like a construction site. Large yellow machines crawl across bare ground, the steady growl punctuated with warning beeps. Behind pyramids of stockpiled materials — mulch, gravel, logs — the river flows serenely. Aldaron McCovey manipulates his excavator, using the back of the bucket to deftly smooth out fine material on a bare new bank. “It was a little overcut, so we’re filling it in so that there’s no standing water,” he explains. A fisheries restoration technician for the Yurok Tribe, McCovey is working on an ambitious restoration project called Oregon Gulch, just east of Junction City, Calif. Here, crews from the Yurok Tribe Construction Company are rerouting a straightened stretch of the Trinity River into a newly sculpted meander to help restore the river’s form and function. … ” Read more from The Revelator.
Decommissioning the Potter Valley Project: a turning point for Mendocino County
“After 100 years of water diversions from the Eel River to the Russian River and the sometimes successful provision of hydroelectric power, license holder PG&E published its Initial Draft Surrender Application and Conceptual Decommissioning Plan for the Potter Valley Project in November. According to the initial plan, Potter Valley Project operations will end and Scott Dam will be removed. The first draft plan is a conceptual overview, which will get more specific over the next two years. The project includes two dams — a larger structure called Scott Dam where water is stored at Lake Pillsbury, and the smaller Cape Horn Dam that creates the Van Arsdale Reservoir. At Cape Horn Dam, a coalition of regional agencies, counties, and tribes has stepped forward to propose keeping a much lower impact water diversion in place. PG&E included this proposal in its initial draft in a non-binding capacity, and is considering whether to incorporate the new diversion facility into its final decommissioning plan, to be published in January, 2025. The coming months will be a critical inflection point for Mendocino County, as much of the local agriculture on which our economy relies today owes to the 1905 establishment of the Potter Valley Project, which made the easier to farm. … ” Continue reading from the Mendocino Voice.
From urchin crushing to lab-grown kelp, efforts to save California’s kelp forests show promise
“A welding hammer strapped to her wrist, Joy Hollenback slipped on blue fins and swam into the churning, chilly Pacific surf one fall morning to do her part to save Northern California’s vanishing kelp forests. Hollenback floated on the swaying surface to regulate her breathing before free diving into the murky depths toward the seafloor. There, she spotted her target: voracious, kelp-devouring purple urchins. Within seconds she smashed 20 to smithereens. “If you’re angry, it’s a cathartic way to get it all out,” Hollenback joked. “It’s ecologically sanctioned mayhem.” … ” Read more from the Associated Press.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Yuba Water provides funding to the North Yuba Water District for critical flume replacement
“Yuba Water Agency’s board of directors recently approved an amendment to a grant agreement to help the North Yuba Water District replace its deteriorating Hell 4 Stout Flume. The agency previously approved funds for the project and anticipated a follow-up request for funding once the district had finalized construction costs. The agency’s total commitment to the flume replacement is now just over $1 million. “This additional $416,000 is to align the original request with the actual cost of construction, which the district now has,” explained Ryan McNally, Yuba Water’s director of water resources and flood risk reduction. “The prior request was based on an estimate, when they first learned just how desperate the situation was, in order to get the project started immediately, while North Yuba was still waiting for more accurate costs.” … ” Read more from ACWA News.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
RiverArc project aims to shift water demands from American River to Sacramento River while protecting sensitive environment
“In an important move to secure the region’s water future, the Placer County Water Agency Board of Directors recently approved funding and contracts to begin work on RiverArc. This new project is designed with climate change in mind; it aims to both help ensure a reliable water supply in the region and protect the sensitive environment of the Lower American River. Droughts are expected to become more common and long-lasting due to climate change. Currently, many water purveyors in the California capital region rely on water from the Lower American River. This becomes a problem during drought because as flows diminish and temperatures grow warmer, native fish species such as Chinook salmon and steelhead trout become threatened. … ” Read more from Roseville Today.
BAY AREA
San Francisco’s airport runways are among the fastest-sinking in the nation
“After measuring minute elevation changes on runways at 15 coastal airports around the United States, researchers found that of airport runways sinking, or subsiding, San Francisco (SFO) tops the subsidence chart at nearly 10 millimeters (0.4 inches) per year, while Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is the slowest. America’s crumbling roads and sagging bridges have garnered attention over the past few years, prompting the passing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021. But the nation’s runways are also feeling their age, posing serious hazards to the millions of travelers who fly every day, researchers say. “The funding to maintain airport infrastructures is quite limited, so many are getting dilapidated,” said Oluwaseyi Dasho, an environmental hazard specialist at Virginia Tech. … ” Read more from AGU.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Blizzards, tornadoes and a hurricane: We lived through SoCal’s year of weird weather
“How to describe the weather in Southern California this year? All that rain? That snow? Spring floods and a summertime hurricane? “Distinctly different,” says Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist who chooses his words carefully. Maybe it was more than different. As the rest of the planet followed a predictable if worrisome pattern, setting records for heat and rising sea levels, Southern California didn’t know which way to turn. It was downright weird. Let the numbers tell the story. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
IMPERIAL/COACHELLA VALLEYS
‘Lithium Valley’: Inside California’s ‘white gold’ rush
“The Imperial Valley in southeastern California is emerging as a global hotspot for lithium: A new U.S. Department of Energy report confirms that the Salton Sea holds enough of the rare mineral to power over 375 million electric vehicle batteries — more than the total number of vehicles on U.S. roads. That’s good news for the global shift toward clean energy and American ambitions of energy independence. However, USC experts warn that the race to mine American lithium could come with significant environmental and public health impacts. “‘Lithium Valley’ is now poised for a potential economic boom — one promoted not just by companies but by environmentalists who believe that the method of lithium extraction being proposed there is the ‘greenest’ approach available,” said Manuel Pastor, director of the USC Equity Research Institute. “But the question is, who will benefit from the boom and who will face continued marginalization?” … ” Read more from USC.
SAN DIEGO
King tides to hit San Diego coast this week and Christmas
“A warning for those who may be planning to go out in the water this month, high tides are expected to reach heights of over 6 feet along the shores of San Diego County through Friday and again for the full cold moon on Christmas, creating hazardous swimming conditions. With a new moon forecast for this week, happening specifically on Tuesday at 6:32 a.m. EST, king tides are expected for our coastlines, so swimmers and surfers should be vigilant. The high tides will also pay a visit on Christmas, just in time for the full cold moon, which peaks on Dec. 26. King tides can create extremely low low tides as well. … ” Read more from Fox 5.
Along the Colorado River …
‘Clearer heads’ and calls for tribal inclusion as Colorado River bigwigs prep for Las Vegas meeting
“The fate of the Colorado River hangs in the balance. But for the first time in a few years, the people who decide its future say there’s less urgency to find a solution, and that’s a good thing. A wet winter and a recent conservation deal have helped stave off record-low levels at the nation’s largest reservoirs, and leaders say they can turn their attention to long-term river management. The biggest water policymakers in the arid West will soon convene at the Colorado River’s marquee annual event – the Colorado River Water Users Association meeting in Las Vegas. Ahead of this year’s conference, leaders say they have more bandwidth to find a solution to the growing supply-demand imbalance that is straining the river. … ” Read more from KUNC.
Commentary: Reclamation working towards solutions for the Colorado River grounded in partnership and collaboration
Camille Calimlim Touton, commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, writes, “Flowing across nearly 1,500 miles, two countries, 30 tribal nations and seven states, the Colorado River is an indispensable natural resource. It supports agricultural communities and businesses and provides carbon-free, renewable hydropower to cities across the West. Plant and animal life is sustained at every bend and river mile. As a Westerner whose family calls the Lower Basin home, I know the importance of the mighty Colorado River and what makes it so special. I also know firsthand the risks that the river is facing — and the cost of inaction. One need only visit the shores of Lake Powell or overlook the canyon walls of Lake Mead to clearly see the impact of the drought crisis on the river system. … ” Continue reading at the Las Vegas Review Journal.
‘A scam all around’: Navajo Nation groups oppose hydropower projects
“Navajo Nation environmentalists are opposing a “self-described jet setter” and French millionaire’s plans for a massive hydropower project they claim will adversely affect the land, water, wildlife, plants and cultural resources of the largest land area held by Indigenous American peoples in the US. The hydropower project in Black Mesa, Arizona, is awaiting approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ferc) for preliminary permits and has incited fears over water use in an area already struggling with water accessibility issues. “It’s really down to water, water, water. Water is the big thing,” said Adrian Herder of Tó Nizhóní Ání, a non-profit on the Navajo Reservation in north-east Arizona. “In their application, they mentioned Black Mesa groundwater and so that was already a concern for us, given that we already are struggling with water availability in our communities.” … ” Read more from The Guardian.
Study: Front Range cities most vulnerable to possible Colorado River cuts
“As competition grows for Colorado’s limited water resources, Front Range cities are disproportionately vulnerable to interstate water cuts on the beleaguered Colorado River, according to a recently updated study. The study found that 96% of Front Range water use from the Colorado River is subject to possible cuts under an interstate agreement. Updated this year by Hydros Consulting, the study was conducted on behalf of the Colorado River Water Conservation District. It is part of a seven-year effort to analyze the potential impacts of water cuts under the Colorado River Compact in Colorado. “It’s no surprise that the Colorado River is under great risk, and when we talk about risk, it’s really the potential for (compact) curtailment,” said Dave Kanzer, the river district’s director of science and interstate matter, during a November roundtable in Delta. … ” Read more from Aspen Journalism.
In national water news today …
T-shirt weather in December is a sign of what winter has in store
“It’s the cusp of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, but in many places from the US to Japan, it feels more like spring — and forecasters say that’s a sign of what to expect over the next couple of months, until a late-season cold snap arrives. In New York City this weekend, temperatures will soar above 60F (16C). Warmer-than-average weather will also blanket London and Tokyo. And longer-term outlooks show mild conditions lingering for much of North America, Europe and East Asia into January. It all comes down to climate change and El Niño, a warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean that can trigger weather disasters and roil commodities markets. … ” Read more from Bloomberg.
More news and commentary in the weekend edition …
In California water news this weekend …
California’s final report on disputed Delta tunnel project shows fish and farms still at risk- State releases final environmental review of controversial Delta tunnel bringing it closer to a construction date
- After frustrating false starts, strong indications of a major Pacific jet extension & active pattern by late December
- Why is water in the west so complicated? Fresno State professor dives in with new book
- How a California farmer is helping build a Black-led sustainable agriculture revolution
- Study shows that planting less water-intensive crops in the western United States would help alleviate water scarcity
- Water on the Monterey Peninsula: The board game.
- Drought-proofing Los Angeles County
- This land is our land: States crack down on foreign-owned farm fields
- And more …
Click here to read the weekend digest.
