In California water news this weekend …
Atmospheric river-fueled storms are coming to California. Here’s a timeline of impacts
“A parade of winter storms will greet Californians for the holiday season, with active weather up and down the Golden State expected for the final two weeks of 2023. The next seven days will be the wettest since at least March in the Bay Area and Sacramento Valley, while Southern California could pick up its most rain since Tropical Storm Hilary in August. Low-pressure systems, including an atmospheric river, are expected to bring rounds of heavy rain to California between Sunday afternoon and Friday morning, with 2 to 5 inches of rain possible between San Francisco and Santa Barbara. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
‘Definitely a warmer storm’: Next Calif. system unlikely to help Sierra snowpack
“The Sierra Nevada snowpack, a key source of water for California, was 28% of average for the date on Friday, according to state data. This data point marks a meager start to the snow season, and the storm forecast to sweep California early next week is unlikely to significantly boost the number. “Most likely this storm will bring more rain impacts and not a lot of snow, except at the higher elevations,” said William Churchill, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center. In a normal year, the Sierra Nevada snowpack produces a third of the state’s freshwater supply used by cities and farmers. It also provides vital water to our ecosystem, supporting endangered aquatic species. This year, it’s smaller than it has been in past recent years in mid-December. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
Delta tunnel project clears important hurdle with release of final environmental report
“The California Department of Water Resources has released its final environmental impact report for the proposed Delta Conveyance Project, signifying the last step mandated by the state before the report’s certification and the controversial project’s possible approval. Also known as the Delta Tunnel, among other various names over the decades, the current version of the project would construct two water intakes in the North Delta and one underground tunnel. The system — with an estimated price tag of somewhere between $16 billion to $40 billion — would pull water from the Delta and connect it to the Bethany Reservoir on the California Aqueduct, before delivering it to homes and farms in Central and Southern California. Proponents say the Delta Conveyance Project will modernize the state’s aging system, which is not equipped to capture water amid climate change conditions and is currently at the mercy of possible earthquakes. … ” Read more from Stocktonia.
Contra Costa County takes legal action against Delta water project
“The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted 5-0 during a closed session to file a petition challenging the California Department of Water Resources’ final environmental impact report for the Delta Conveyance Project once the state certifies it. The decision follows the Dec. 8 release of the report for the controversial $16 billion water project that would build a tunnel and two intakes to pull water from the Delta and connect it to the Bethany Reservoir on the California Aqueduct before delivering it to homes and farms in Central and Southern California. … ” Read more from The Patch.
Water policy in California: Lots of activity; not much clarity
“There is a lot going on in California water right now and I will mention a number of things in today’s update. So much of it is a work in progress, with some encouraging signs, along with some murkiness and concern. Groundwater Recharge: The big picture success has to be the wet winter of this past year and the early reports of huge amounts of groundwater recharge that occurred. I heard an estimate this week that 3.8 million acre-feet of water was recharged in the Central Valley this year. That number likely underestimates the positive “change in storage” calculations that will be reported to the Department of Water Resources (DWR) by the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) when they make their required annual reports on April 1. … ” Read more from the Milk Producers Council.
In commentary this weekend …
California’s white sturgeon: An endangered species within the foreseeable future
Sarah Vardaro writes, “On November 30th, 2023, San Francisco Baykeeper, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), the Bay Institute, and Restore the Delta petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission to list the state’s white sturgeon as “threatened” under the California Endangered Species Act. The coalition also petitioned United States Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and NOAA Fisheries to list California’s white sturgeon as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. San Francisco Bay and parts of its watershed are home to California’s only population of reproducing white sturgeon. … ” Read more from the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
People …
The man caught at the center of California’s water wars
“Climate change is wreaking havoc on the water systems that Californians rely on, from the Sierra Nevada to the Colorado River basin. No one knows that better than Adel Hagekhalil, who as general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, is at the epicenter of the state’s most intractable water woes. The sprawling water wholesaler delivers water piped from hundreds of miles away to 19 million people in Los Angeles and its surroundings, including the growing Inland Empire. Roughly one-third of its supplies comes from Northern California, where wild weather swings have only amplified long-time resentment over sending water south; another from the drought-stricken and overallocated Colorado River; and the rest from local rainwater and groundwater. Hagekhalil — an engineer who became the district’s general manager in 2021 — is tasked with finding a way to keep the taps flowing, even as climate change is walloping all these supplies at once. His vision is to make Met less dependent on these wildly swinging systems by combining more local storage, water recycling and conservation. … ” Read more from Politico.
His job: Build the largest new reservoir in California in 50 years
” … [T]here have been no enormous new reservoirs built, like Shasta, Oroville and others were in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Experts cite many reasons. Most of the best spots are already taken. President Reagan changed the rules in the 1980s so that the federal government no longer pays 100% of the costs. Environmental laws passed in the 1970s — from the Endangered Species Act to the Clean Water Act — limit where and how projects can be built, and give opponents powerful tools to block them. Jerry Brown is working to overcome those odds. Brown, a civil engineer who isn’t related to the former governor with the same name, is executive director of The Sites Project Authority, a group of government agencies in the Sacramento Valley that is planning to build the largest new reservoir in California since 1979, when the federal government built New Melones Lake in the Sierra Foothills west of Yosemite National Park. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
Podcasts …
WATER IS A MANY SPLENDOR’ED THING: Food, Water and Our Habitat
Balancing the Delta ecosystem and our food supply in the farmlands of California is a yearly concern that becomes most complicated when there is not enough water around. History has made this even more difficult. Water is a Many Splendor’ed Thing brings you another water relationship that has a personally significant impact to your life. Produced by Steven Baker, Bringing People Together to Solve Water Problems, water@operationunite.co 530-205-6388
WE GROW CALIFORNIA: More than healthy rivers for sure!
State Water Project (SWP) Contractors’ General Manager Jennifer Pierre joins Darcy and Darcy this week and Boy! Did they have a lot to talk about! Jennifer discusses the Governor’s proposal for the Water Quality Control Plan update, the State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) staff proposal which would have huge water costs across the state (2-Million-Acre-Feet of water lost to cities and farms) why it’s so important that the (SWRCB) adopts the Voluntary Agreements (dubbed Healthy Rivers and Landscapes). Jennifer lets them know why support is critical right now, the benefits of having everyone at the table, and the work that went into getting where we are today. Bottom line – This proposal is so much more than Healthy Rivers! Darcy, Darcy, and Jennifer also discuss initial SWP allocation, disadvantaged communities, and water affordability.
YOUR CALL: California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline
In her new book, environmental reporter Rosanna Xia asks: As climate chaos threatens the places we love, will we finally grasp our collective capacity for change?
In regional water news this weekend …
NORTH COAST
Dry farming in Humboldt
“Dry farms are rare in California, but the results people like Chrystal Ortiz of High Water Farm are able to pull off without watering their cannabis plants all summer are pretty amazing. Sure it takes a Goldilocks type of microclimate in the middle of Humboldt County just off the Eel River—the same neighborhood that hosts all the state’s dry cannabis farmers—but what those farmers are able to do is pretty impressive. It is certainly a leap of faith to start. Ortiz described the trauma of her first season trying dry farming as she watched the plants wilt before they adjusted to their new life on the dry farm, but it worked out. These days she pumps a lot of the product coming out of High Water Farm in bulk. She estimated about 70% percent of her product goes to brands that will use the flower to fill their jars, and the rest goes to hash companies. Dry-farmed cannabis has crazy terpene profiles that make for great hash. … ” Read more from High Times.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Artist uses Truckee River sidewalk poem to meditate on science, time, place
“Between the Truckee River and asphalt roads that line its banks are yellow cursive scribblings on the sidewalk. The words go on for a mile, unfurling as a tale about time, change and place. It is a 5,000-word poem about water, and it is meant to prompt questions. This is not the type of poem that can be found in a book — at least, not any time soon. Instead, for readers to take in the poem, “Confluence: Stream Science, Handwriting, and Urban Curbs,” they are asked to start walking from Idlewild Park to bustling downtown Reno. The public poem, after extensive planning over a decade, was installed in September. From the poem, the river is never far. Visitors can hear the rush of water running through town and downstream as they take in the sidewalk words, covered intermittently by golden autumnal leaves, the paws of dogs walking by, the wheels of bicycles and the feet of other people. … ” Read more from the Nevada Independent.
NAPA/SONOMA
Russian River dam to be lowered in anticipation of rising water levels
“The Sonoma County Water Agency will begin deflating the rubber dam on the Russian River near Forestville on Monday in anticipation of elevated water levels. The National Weather Service said a series of storms will lash the region starting Sunday, with upwards of 1 to 5 inches of rain projected throughout the Bay Area. The dam is just downstream of the Wohler Bridge and is typically inflated in the spring or early summer when water demand increases, according to Sonoma Water officials. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
BAY AREA
S.F. warns of ‘heavy rain,’ offers free sandbags
“As they brace for downpours in the week prior to Christmas and perhaps beyond, San Francisco officials are encouraging people to get sandbags to protect their homes and businesses. The mayor and other city officials issued a reminder about the potential for winter storms to cause flooding. The region expects “heavy rain beginning this weekend and next week,” they warned on Friday. “While flooding is not anticipated over the next week, there are low-lying areas throughout the city that are prone to flooding after heavy rainfall,” the city said. Storm drains can also back up. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
That sinking feeling: SFO is subsiding in the mud
“Ladies and gentlemen, San Francisco Airport has begun its descent. Every year, the airport is sinking an average of nearly 10 millimeters, almost a half an inch, according to new satellite data. There’s no need to fasten seat belts or secure carry-on items. The measurement is so tiny that it almost sounds amusing. But there’s concern that the subsidence, which is experienced unevenly around the airport, could crack runways. “Differential sinking along a runway increases the risk of the runway getting damaged, increases the cost of maintenance, and increases the risk to users,” said Oluwaseyi Dasho, an environmental hazard specialist at Virginia Tech who presented the new study this week at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
CENTRAL COAST
Coyote Creek Project: A community-first approach
“Valley Water’s Coyote Creek Flood Protection Project exemplifies our commitment to environmental justice. We have been listening to the community as we work on flood prevention improvements along Coyote Creek from Tully Road to Montague Expressway as part of our mission to provide flood protection to Santa Clara County. By reaching out to disadvantaged communities in their native languages and meeting with them in community spaces where they live and work, we have ensured everyone has a voice in the process. In addition to providing interpreters and offering hybrid ways to meet publicly, we have gone to the community to learn about their priorities while designing the project. This community-first approach seeks to ensure the project meets the needs and priorities of those it is intended to serve. … ” Read more from Valley Water News.
SLO County’s groundwater has been polluted by fertilizers. Should farmers cut their use?
“California farmers have long been able to spray excessive amounts of nitrogen fertilizers onto their crops to boost growth and ensure a bounty worthy of competitive global markets. But a battle waging in state court could end with farmers being forced to cut back on a fertilizer they say is critical to their success. A group of nine environmental groups sued the California State Water Resources Control Board in October to essentially compel the body to implement nitrogen fertilizer restrictions proposed by the Central Coast Water Quality Control Board. … ” Read more from AOL News.
Goleta Water District to issue new water permits in January
“For the first time in a decade, Goleta Water District will issue new water permits, as the district’s Board of Directors affirmed in a vote Tuesday evening. Four factors went into the decision, but the upshot is that 154.7 acre-feet of new water hookups will be available as of January 2024 on a first-come first-served basis. To put those 5 million gallons into perspective, the water would supply roughly 1,050 apartments. The Water District customer base goes beyond the City of Goleta, running from the City of Santa Barbara border on the east all the way to El Capitan to the west. This area includes the majority of the rezoning the county will do to satisfy the state Housing Element as it places about 4,000 new units of housing in South County. The City of Goleta itself faces around 1,800 new units in the next eight years, per the state rules. Some of those parcels already have water entitlements, but it remains obvious that good rain years, like the one that filled Lake Cachuma full to overflowing in 2023, will be necessary to keep up with the state housing mandate. … ” Read more from the Santa Barbara Independent.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Turlock Irrigation District joins effort to restore Tuolumne River salmon habitat
“Turlock Irrigation District, Modesto Irrigation District, and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission have joined forces on an $80 million habitat restoration program along the lower Tuolumne River to improve the health and long-term recovery of the fishery and local communities it serves. TID, MID and the SFPUC recently chose River Partners — a non-profit restoration organization based in Chico — to lead the planning and restoration efforts. Over the next year, River Partners is slated to design a series of projects along the lower Tuolumne River and its floodplain — from Don Pedro Reservoir downstream to the San Joaquin River — that will improve conditions for salmon and other native aquatic species. … ” Read more from the Turlock Journal.
Second lawsuit over flood damages in Merced is filed against state and local agencies
“Another lawsuit is moving forward against the state and local agencies over flood damage to homes and businesses in Merced County. In the latest filing, 13 residents and business owners are suing the County of Merced, Merced Irrigation District, the City of Merced, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California Fish and Game Commission for damages caused by devastating floods in January, 2023. Attorney Shant Karnikian, partner at Kabatech LLP, who is representing the plaintiffs, expects to add about 750 more people to the lawsuit over time. The lawsuit is kicking off with a small number of plaintiffs so as not to delay and overwhelm the court system, he said. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Isabella power plant repairs postponed to protect Kern River fish flows – for now
“Work on a power plant at the base of Isabella Dam has been postponed while plant owners and several public interest groups look for a solution to keep enough water in the Kern River to protect fish. “We are not proceeding on the 18th and are working to find a solution that works for everyone,” plant manager Roger Kirk confirmed in an email. When asked how long the project would be postponed, Kirk replied that isn’t yet known. “But we need to get the work done soon so we don’t interfere with the (Army) Corps (of Engineers’) need to be prepared to make releases due to winter storms,” he wrote in an email. The Army Corps has only said that it is still reviewing the situation. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
EASTERN SIERRA
Ridgecrest: Indian Wells Valley Water District discusses new water study
“At the Indian Wells Valley Water District board meeting on December 11, the Water District board discussed a new water study which suggests that there is far more potable groundwater storage and far more annual natural groundwater recharge than previously believed. The Water District, Searles Valley Minerals, Mojave Pistachios, and Meadowbrook Dairy initiated this study. These parties are also in opposition against the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority in an ongoing adjudication lawsuit to determine water rights in the IWV. IWVGA is the public agency tasked with developing and implementing a groundwater sustainability plan for the IWV. Water District legal counsel Jim Worth said, “This is probably the most comprehensive study that this basin has seen.” … ” Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent.
Controversy over new study of water at Groundwater Authority meeting
“At the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority board meeting on December 13, a new water study sparked debate. This study estimates there is double the natural recharge of groundwater and multiple times more potable groundwater storage than what is estimated in the studies used to form the IWVGA’s groundwater sustainability plan. The new study was commissioned by major water pumping parties in the Indian Wells Valley, including the Indian Wells Valley Water District, Searles Valley Mineral, Mojave Pistachios, and Meadowbrook Dairy. These parties are also currently in opposition to the IWVGA in an ongoing adjudication lawsuit to determine water rights in the IWV. … ” Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Rain expected to roll through Los Angeles next week
“Rain is expected to finally roll through Los Angeles and Southern California starting Monday and continuing through the week, according to the National Weather Service. Saturday’s sunny skies are projected to give way to some clouds on Sunday, with temperatures starting to slightly drop. The likelihood of showers in Los Angeles County, including downtown, is expected to increase on Monday with a 50% chance of rain. Chance of precipitation increases through the week, with a slight chance of thunderstorms Wednesday and Thursday. Temperatures are projected to drop to the 60s through the week. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
SEE ALSO: Here’s how much rain Southern California could get over the next 7 days, from KTLA
IMPERIAL/COACHELLA VALLEYS
Imperial County holds public meeting updating residents on Lithium Valley’s progress
“The Imperial County Planning and Development Services Department held a presentation and meeting, Thursday evening, Dec. 13, concerning the latest news about Lithium Valley and its progress and development thus far. The Lithium Valley Specific Plan included a timeline presentation showing the estimated dates of each step the planning committee projected with details included. The Lithium Valley project calls for the extraction of lithium found far below the crust near the Salton Sea. Governor Newsom passed a bill over the summer authorizing the State to financially assist the Imperial County in developing the project. Aside from extracting Lithium the plan calls for the creation of renewable energy facilities, mineral recovery, lithium battery manufacturing, and other renewable industries which would be allocated in a 51,786 acre area adjacent to the Salton Sea. … ” Read more from the Desert Review.
Along the Colorado River …
Western states are brawling over the Colorado River. That could spell trouble for Biden.
“Western states are on a collision course as they scramble to cut a deal to dramatically shrink their use of the drought-stricken Colorado River ahead of a March deadline from the Biden administration. The brawl unfolding among the states that rely on the West’s most important waterway will shape the economies for cities from Denver to Los Angeles as well as some of the nation’s most productive agricultural areas. And it poses a political dilemma for President Joe Biden, who could see the problem complicate his political calculations in a trio of swing states — Arizona, Nevada and Colorado — along with California, home to many of his most deep-pocketed donors. … ” Read more from Politico.
High tensions — and high style — on the Colorado
“Well, that didn’t last long: It might’ve been easy to think that this week’s gathering of Colorado River power players in Las Vegas would be a pretty tame one, after last year’s wet winter and a gusher of federal funds led to a detente between California and Arizona over the West’s main water source for 40 million people. It was anything but. Tensions flared up again yesterday and today as the seven states that depend on the river face a March deadline from the Biden administration to come up with a long-term water-sharing deal, as Camille and Annie Snider report from Vegas. Negotiators exchanged heated words from the podium in front of the hundreds of technocrats, tribes and farmers gathered at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino for the Colorado River Water Users Association’s annual conference. … ” Read more from Politico.
Colorado River crisis may be solved with ‘silver buckshot’ as new rules are hard to come by
“The future of the Colorado River is being hashed out behind closed doors, and negotiators appear far from a long-term solution to the wide gap between water supply and water demand. At the Colorado River Water Users Association annual meeting in Las Vegas, representatives from the seven states that use the river spent three days opining on the progress of ongoing talks to determine how water will be managed after 2026, when the current set of rules expires. In a massive ballroom at the Paris Hotel, John Entsminger, Nevada’s top water negotiator, forecasted that the next river-sharing agreement will be “a messy compromise that will be judged harshly by history.” … ” Read more from KAWC.
Native American tribes call for recognition, compensation in post-2026 Colorado River operating agreement
“Native American tribal leaders continued to seek recognition and compensation for their legal and cultural share of the Colorado River at the 75th gathering of the Colorado River Water Users Association at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel. Thirty federally recognized Native American tribes live in the Colorado River basin, but none were present during the negotiation or signing of the 1922 Colorado River Compact that largely governs the modern law of the river. Through treaties that predate the compact, two-thirds of these sovereign nations collectively have the right to 3.2 million annual acre feet of water, about a quarter of current supply. Another third of the sovereign nations have unsettled water claims alongside additional tribes that continue to call the basin home without federal recognition. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
Lower basin water managers say it’s time to fix their supply/demand problem
“Representatives from two lower basin states on the Colorado River have said they would finally address something that the upper basin states, including Colorado, have long pressed them to do: Fix the supply/demand imbalance sometimes called the “structural deficit.” Water uses in the lower basin — California, Arizona and Nevada — have in recent years exceeded the supply in the drought-strapped Colorado River. Water managers in the upper basin — Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah — have long pointed to the lower basin not living within the means of what the river provides as a driving force behind plummeting reservoir levels, leading the system to the verge of collapse in 2022. On Thursday, lower basin representatives agreed. “There’s a mismatch there,” said J.B. Hamby, chair of the Colorado River Board of California. “And so, where we’re at in the lower basin is a recognition that we have to solve and own that supply/demand imbalance. It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be challenging. But it’s absolutely necessary.” … ” Read more from Aspen Journalism.
Editorial: Short-term measures just the start of what’s needed to save Colorado River
The Las Vegas Sun editorial board writes, “Nearly 100 years after the Colorado River Compact was negotiated, big changes are finally coming for senior water rights holders — at least in the short term. … Any progress in conserving the West’s dwindling water supplies should be celebrated, and we are hopeful that the new short-term accords will pave the way to a new, long-term “law of the river” negotiated among seven Western states, tribes and Mexico before the expiration of the current compact in 2026. However, that hope and optimism is tempered by the reality that last week’s agreements were only made possible by an extremely wet year in the West and a massive infusion of federal money from President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act that helped grease the wheels of compromise. … ” Read more from the Las Vegas Sun.
Editorial: Healing a river with eddies of trust
The Christian Science Monitor editorial board writes, “On Wednesday, California announced a plan to cut the amount of water it draws from the Colorado River by 1.6 million acre-feet over the next three years. That is roughly equivalent to the amount of water all of Los Angeles would consume in the same period of time – and half of the combined conservation target set by the Biden administration in May for California, Nevada, and Arizona by 2026. The California strategy taps federal support: The administration earmarked $1.2 billion to help the three states offset the costs of drawing less water from the river. But its viability rests on a different currency. Comprising 21 separate agreements with local water board and tribal authorities, the plan is a blueprint for cooperation through shared sacrifice and trust-building. … ” Read more from the Christian Science Monitor.
Arizona’s groundwater losses to cause more earth sinking, cracking
“A new state report showing massive over-drafting in five rural groundwater basins doesn’t discuss subsidence, the settling of the ground that occurs when over-pumping hollows out an aquifer and the aquifer collapses. But all five agriculture-dominant basins studied by the Arizona Department of Water Resources already have some level of subsidence. And Brian Conway, ADWR’s subsidence expert, said that if groundwater over-drafting continues or increases in those basins, subsidence will likely continue there — with Cochise County’s Willcox Basin likely taking the lead. More fissuring is definitely a possibility as well with continued over-pumping, he said. Conway is a hydrogeologist and supervisor of ADWR’s geophysical surveying unit. … ” Read more from the Arizona Daily Star.
Colorado River District looks to ink deal to buy Shoshone water rights
“The Colorado River District board on Tuesday will consider approving a deal to buy the historic and much-coveted water rights for the Shoshone hydroelectric power plant in Glenwood Canyon. The board will look to act on the nearly $100 million deal at a special meeting at 1:30 p.m. at the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs. … The river district and many Western Slope partners are looking to acquire the rights from Xcel Energy for a price of $98.5 million, with an additional $500,000 to be paid upfront to the utility for transaction costs. The power plant water rights are controlling rights on the river because of their size and age. The river district is looking to buy a right to 1,250 cubic feet per second that dates back to 1902, along with a second right that was appropriated in 1929. Senior water rights call out more junior rights on the river, so the power-plant rights help shore up flows into Glenwood Canyon virtually year-round. … ” Read more from the Grand Junction Sentinel.
In national water news this weekend …
Plan to stash planet-heating carbon dioxide under U.S. national forests alarms critics
“A proposal that would allow industries to permanently stash climate-polluting carbon dioxide beneath U.S. Forest Service land puts those habitats and the people in or near them at risk, according to opponents of the measure. Chief among opponents’ concerns is that carbon dioxide could leak from storage wells or pipelines and injure or kill people and animals, as well as harm the trees in the forests and their habitat, said Victoria Bogdan Tejeda, attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “There are enough broad-ranging concerns with this rule that this isn’t the time to move forward and experiment when the consequences are so high,” said Bogdan Tejeda. … ” Continue reading at the Grist.
Also on Maven’s Notebook this weekend …
NOW AVAILABLE: Draft resolution available for Scott/Shasta emergency regulation
