A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …
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In California water news this week …
Department of Water Resources approves Delta Conveyance Project
“The Department of Water Resources (DWR) today approved the Delta Conveyance Project, a modernization of the infrastructure system that delivers water to millions of Californians. DWR has certified the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and completed an extensive environmental review. DWR selected the “Bethany Reservoir Alignment” for further engineering, design and permitting. With the state expected to lose 10% of its water supply by 2040 due to hotter and drier conditions, the Delta Conveyance Project is a key part of the California’s Water Resiliency Portfolio and Governor Newsom’s Water Supply Strategy. … ” Continue reading this press release from the Department of Water Resources.
Department of Water Resources officially approves fish-killing Delta Tunnel Boondoggle
“Just in time for the Christmas Holidays and the Winter Solstice at a time when many Californians are traveling out of town to visit family members, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) today officially approved the embattled Delta Tunnel project and published the project’s Notice of Determination (NOD). “The Department of Water Resources (DWR) today approved the Delta Conveyance Project, a modernization of the infrastructure system that delivers water to millions of Californians,” DWR proclaimed in their press statement. “DWR has certified the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and completed an extensive environmental review. DWR selected the “Bethany Reservoir Alignment” for further engineering, design and permitting.” … ” Read more from Dan Bacher at the Daily Kos.
Enviros hate the Delta tunnel, so it’s probably a good idea
“The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the West Coast’s largest estuary, an awe-inspiring area of wetlands with 700 miles of waterways and 1,100 miles of levees nestled between the San Francisco Bay and the Central Valley south of Sacramento. … I certainly suggest a trip there for any California history buff. It’s a short hop from Sacramento and it’s worth a visit to Locke, a national historic site that was home to Chinese immigrants who built the levees and railroads. But learning about the area is a must for anyone interested in our water supplies, especially after the Newsom administration released an environmental report for a proposed tunnel to route Sacramento River water under the Delta and toward the farms and cities southward. … ” Read the full commentary at the OC Register (gift article).
Contra Costa County supervisors file petition to challenge final report for Delta Conveyance 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. In a separate action, Supervisor Ken Carlson, on behalf of the county, signed onto a letter from the Delta Counties Coalition — addressed to DWR Director Karla Nemeth — to request at least 60 days of public review of the final EIR. … ” Read more from the Danville-San Ramon News.
REACTIONS: Here’s what organizations are saying about DWR’s approval of the Delta Conveyance Project EIR
Conservation groups sue over Sites Reservoir project
“A legal challenge was filed Wednesday in Yolo County Superior Court over one of California’s largest reservoir projects in decades. Friends of the River, the Center for Biological Diversity, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Water Impact Network and Save California Salmon claim in their suit that the Sites Reservoir — about 80 miles northwest of Sacramento — will hurt the Sacramento River ecosystem. Additionally, they say the project will threaten fish and lead to greenhouse gas pollution. “The Sites Reservoir project will cause much environmental harm, which falls on the public, and a small amount of good, which primarily benefits the project investors,” said Ron Stork, senior policy advocate at Friends of the River, in a statement. According to the suit, the project will include several dams, as well as two 3,000-foot-long and 23-foot-wide tunnels. It’s expected to cost $4.4 billion. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
Is El Niño’s reputation as a legendary rainmaker overblown?
“In the minds of many Californians, El Niño has long loomed as a rainmaker of epic proportions. In 1982-83, the Pacific climate pattern caused storms that pounded the state’s shoreline, damaging 1,000 homes between Santa Barbara and the Mexican border and washing the tip of the Santa Monica Pier out to sea. When it appeared again in 1997-98, El Niño unleashed massive flooding across the West Coast, contributing to at least 17 deaths and billions of dollars in damage. But forecasts have so far proved less accurate in the 21st century. Although experts warned that El Niño would once again deliver a deluge to Southern California in 2015-16, it turned out to be something of a dud, bringing even less precipitation to the region than a non-El Niño year. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
State’s groundwater enforcement timeline is “not nearly as ambitious” as originally envisioned
“State staff revealed it will be well into 2025 before all of the “inadequate” groundwater subbasins will start probationary hearings. The state Water Resources Control Board held a meeting on Tuesday where staff discussed the tentative schedule and heard from water agencies and members of the public. The Water Board is the enforcement arm under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Another state agency, the Department of Water Resources has been tasked with guiding groundwater agencies over the last five or more years to come up with plans to bring critically over pumped aquifers back into balance by 2040. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
How can California solve its water woes? By flooding its best farmland.
“The land of the Central Valley works hard. Here in the heart of California, in the most productive farming region in the United States, almost every square inch of land has been razed, planted, and shaped to support large-scale agriculture. The valley produces almonds, walnuts, pistachios, olives, cherries, beans, eggs, milk, beef, melons, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and garlic. …There is one exception to this law of productivity. In the midst of the valley, at the confluence of two rivers that have been dammed and diverted almost to the point of disappearance, there is a wilderness. The ground is covered in water that seeps slowly across what used to be walnut orchards, the surface buzzing with mosquitoes and songbirds. Trees climb over each other above thick knots of reedy grass, consuming what used to be levees and culverts. Beavers, quail, and deer, which haven’t been seen in the area in decades, tiptoe through swampy ponds early in the morning, while migratory birds alight overnight on knolls before flying south. … ” Read more from Grist.
Farmers, water districts to weigh in on flows plan
“California water officials are working on an updated plan to improve conditions for declining fish populations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The state is also seeking input from farmers, water districts, environmentalists and other water interests on a water-quality control plan for the delta and the San Francisco Bay. As part of a legally required process, the California State Water Resources Control Board is accepting public comments related to a Sept. 28 draft environmental report by staff that evaluates approaches under consideration. The draft report evaluates strategies that set minimum amounts of unimpaired flow of water in rivers and tributaries that would require water users to cut usage. It also analyzes a voluntary-agreement approach that recommends targeted flows be paired with habitat restoration, scientific monitoring and hundreds of millions of dollars for implementation. “Restoring flows is critical, and the voluntary agreements propose to do that in all water year types,” California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot told board members last week during a third public hearing on the draft report. … ” Read more from Ag Alert.
California is re-examining decades-old claims to its water
“California’s water supplies are doled out in a way that can seem haphazard. The rules that determine who receives how much water date back more than a century, and form a confusing patchwork across the state. For all its complexity, the system worked well enough for decades and allowed California to develop an enormous agriculture industry that fuels its economy and feeds America. But with strains from climate change and extreme drought increasing, the state is being forced to take a hard look at its water supplies. Regulators approved new rules on Tuesday that allows wastewater to be purified into drinking water, making California the second state to do so. (Colorado was first.) My colleague Raymond Zhong, a climate reporter, recently investigated California’s water woes, and how the state is re-examining water rights after decades of scant oversight. … ” Continue reading at the New York Times.
California approves rules that turn sewage into drinking water
“In a milestone for creating a major new source of drinking water, California has approved its first standards for turning sewage into potable water supplies delivered to homes and businesses. The State Water Resources Control Board, In a unanimous vote today, outlined for the first time how water suppliers can treat recycled water and send it directly to taps. Currently recycled water is mixed into aquifers or used for irrigation and other non-drinking purposes. The new rules — which have been more than a decade in the making and were mandated by a state law — outline a slew of requirements aimed at ensuring that germs and chemicals are scrubbed from treated sewage. Often dubbed “toilet-to-tap,” the process is actually much more extensive and complex, requiring multiple treatment steps overseen by 63 pages of detailed rules. The new rules also call for extensive monitoring to ensure the treatment is working. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
STATE WATER BOARD: Regulations approved for converting wastewater to high quality drinking water
“Further advancing the Administration’s all-of-the-above Water Supply Strategy to make California more resilient to hotter, drier conditions, the State Water Resources Control Board approved regulations today that will allow water systems to develop treatment protocols to convert wastewater into high quality drinking water. The board’s unanimous vote gives California the most advanced standards in the nation for treating wastewater to such an extent that the finished product meets or exceeds current drinking water standards. Known as direct potable reuse, the process will enable water systems throughout the state to generate a climate-resilient water source while reducing the amount of wastewater discharged to rivers and the ocean. In fact, recycling water allows water systems to add millions of gallons of additional drinking water to their supplies over time while avoiding costlier and more energy intensive water supplies. … ” Continue reading this press release from the State Water Resources Control Board.
State Water Board outlines pathway for more efficient permitting of coastal desalination plants
“This week, state agencies finalized the “Siting and Streamlining Report to Expedite Permitting Seawater Desalination Projects,” further bolstering the Newsom Administration’s all-of-the-above approach to boosting California’s water resilience amid climate change impacts. Hotter and drier weather conditions spurred by climate change could reduce California’s water supply by up to 10% by the year 2040. To help shore up California’s water supply while protecting coastal marine environments, the report, led by the State Water Resources Control Board, establishes criteria developed by multiple state permitting entities for the efficient and timely approval of coastal desalination projects. To protect the marine environment, projects must meet Ocean Plan waste discharge requirements in order to be eligible for streamlining. … ” Read more from the State Water Board.
The private equity firm tapping America’s spring water
“BlueTriton Brands owns Poland Spring, Arrowhead and other bottled water brands. As it tries to grow, experts worry sensitive springs, creeks and groundwater supplies from Florida to California are paying the price. Ginnie Springs is a true Florida oasis. Ringed by towering cypress trees, the spring-fed pools off the Santa Fe River in Gilchrist County draw thousands of visitors every year to swim and cool off in their turquoise waters. It’s also big business. For years, a local operator has been pumping the water to sell to bottlers, despite evidence of declining flows. Years of extraction have led the water district to label the lower Santa Fe River basin as “in recovery.” … ” Read more from Bloomberg (gift article).
In commentary this week …
DAN WALTERS: California’s water wars see some breakthroughs but more clashes loom
“The politics of water in California could be likened to the constant grinding of tectonic plates 10 miles or more beneath its surface. The Pacific Plate battles with the North American Plate for dominance along the 800-mile-long San Andreas Fault tracing California’s coast. When one gives way, the state experiences an earthquake. Similarly, California’s water interests – farmers, cities and environmentalists, principally, with infinite numbers of sub-groups – joust constantly over how the state’s water supplies will be apportioned. The conflicts of water buffaloes, as they have been dubbed, play out in legislative arenas, in the many federal, state and local governmental agencies that manage water distribution, and increasingly, in state and federal courts. … ” Read more from Dan Walters.
Eliminating water scarcity
Edward Ring, senior fellow and co-founder of the California Policy Center, writes, “After the deluge that inundated California during our most recent water season, there is no chance Californians will confront a water supply crisis this year. Water levels, as reported by the California Data Exchange Center, are above the historical average for this date in every one of California’s major reservoirs. But storms of scarcity remain on the horizon, and conservation is not enough. If conservation is our only approach, we will not conserve our way out of anything, not scarcity, poverty, inflation, or fragility, much less water. If rainfall totals are destined to permanently drop, then we must invest, innovate, and build. There is nothing Californians cannot do, so long as we apply our creativity and our wealth from an abundance mindset. … ” Read more from the California Globe.
Now is the time to go all in on California water reuse
Mark Gold, Director of Water Scarcity Solutions, People & Communities Program at the NRDC, writes, “On December 18, the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) unanimously approved direct potable reuse (DPR) regulations. Wastewater treated to meet the new DPR regulations can be served directly to customers without a temporal, spatial, or mixing buffer. Now California has the most comprehensive water reuse regulations in the nation and, on paper, regulations that protect public health while providing the public, agriculture, and industry with a reliable source of water. Because everyone bathes and flushes toilets, recycled water is more reliable than climate-vulnerable imported water and highly variable stormwater sources. And unsustainable groundwater management has led to decreased reliability in many groundwater basins; plus, locations like San Diego don’t have ample groundwater resources. … ” Read more from the NRDC.
Why dam removal is a climate solution
Gary Wockner, As the climate crisis escalates, a huge amount of attention and money is being focused on climate solutions. These can be divided into two categories: solutions that pursue “mitigation,” which lowers greenhouse gas emissions, and those that pursue methods to adapt to climate impacts to increase human and ecological resiliency. Dams, of course, create enormous environmental harms, many of which have already been described in scientific literature. Equally well documented is the fact that removing dams can restore seriously damaged ecosystems. But missing from almost every climate-solution story and study is how dam removal can be key for both mitigation and adaptation. Here are 10 reasons why dam removal fights climate change … ” Read more from the Revelator.
The ridiculously stupid reason the US is letting animals spiral toward oblivion
Exactly five decades ago, Congress did what would be unimaginable today: It passed a powerful environmental law with almost unanimous support. In 1973, the House voted in favor of the Endangered Species Act, 390 to 12. “Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed,” Republican President Richard Nixon said upon signing the act into law. …
In regional water news this week …
Emergency regulation to ensure minimum flows for Scott, Shasta rivers
“The State Water Resources Control Board yesterday readopted an emergency curtailment regulation that establishes minimum flow requirements for the Scott and Shasta rivers to protect imperiled fish, ensure supplies for human health and livestock needs, and encourage voluntary efforts that may be used in lieu of curtailments. The Scott and Shasta rivers, key tributaries to the Klamath River, continue to experience prolonged impacts from multiple years of drought. The rivers are crucial water sources for Siskiyou County and of immense economic, ecological and cultural importance to tribes and the surrounding communities. They also are important habitat for federally and state-threatened coho salmon, culturally and commercially significant Chinook salmon and culturally important steelhead trout. … ” Continue reading this press release from the State Water Board.
Reclamation and Trinity River Restoration Program celebrate completion of $13.6M Oregon Gulch Rehabilitation Project
“The Bureau of Reclamation and the Trinity River Restoration Program hosted a ribbon cutting event today to celebrate the completion of the Oregon Gulch Channel Rehabilitation Project. The event included participation from Tribal, federal, state, and county leadership to mark the historic restoration achievement. “This ambitious project reflects years of successful interagency partnership and coordination, extensive planning, and skilled effort,” said Reclamation Regional Director Ernest Conant. “The multi-agency project was originally identified in 2000 as a priority site in need of channel rehabilitation on the Trinity River. The successful completion of this collaborative project is a model for river restoration in the West.” … ” Read more from the Bureau of Reclamation.
Federal regulators reject controversial pumped storage project proposed for Sonoma Coast
“Federal regulators have denied a requested preliminary permit for a highly controversial hydropower facility on coastal land near Fort Ross, all but shutting down a proposal that aroused anger and opposition throughout the region. In a six-page decision issued Tuesday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission noted a wide range of public and governmental objections to the proposed project, its potential environmental impacts and ramifications for protected public lands, including the Fort Ross State Historic Park and the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary offshore. The Tuesday decision still allows Alabama-based Hydro Green Energy to seek a rehearing before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission within 30 days. … ” Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat (gift article).
Officials hope new flood strategies can help the Sacramento region handle an unpredictable winter
“About seven miles from the Sacramento International Airport, crews are putting the finishing touches on a project meant to provide massive flood relief to a wide swath of the Sacramento region during intense storms. As soon as this winter, the Lower Elkhorn Basin project area will become a larger overflow area for the Sacramento River when it rises. Crews pushed seven miles of levee back around 1,500 feet, expanding the capacity of the existing Sacramento and Yolo bypass areas. When another nearby project to widen the Sacramento Weir is complete, the two infrastructure updates could lower the Sacramento River’s water level by up to two feet during flood events. Climate change is driving more extreme weather events like atmospheric rivers. These intense storms bring precipitation and potential flooding to the Sacramento region. After last winter’s intense storms and ahead of an unpredictable El Niño year, state and local leaders are hoping new flood control strategies will help them better prepare. … ” Read more from Capital Public Radio.
Historic levee breach opens 300 San Francisco Bay acres to tidal marsh restoration
“On December 13, the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project partners and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service opened a 300-acre former industrial salt pond to the Bay with a celebration marking the 20th anniversary of their joint restoration venture. This major milestone event is part of an ambitious 50-year effort to restore 15,000 acres of historic wetlands to tidal marsh and other habitats. Tidal marsh once ringed the South Bay and cushioned the shore from storms and tides. But over the course of the 20th century, approximately 85% of San Francisco Bay wetlands, over 150,000 acres, were lost to development. Restored tidal marshes help to absorb floodwaters and buffer against sea level rise, support wildlife and improve water quality by filtering pollutants. “The restoration of the South Bay Salt Ponds is the most ambitious wetland restoration project on the West Coast,” said California State Coastal Conservancy Executive Officer Amy Hutzel. … ” Continue reading from US Fish & Wildlife Service.
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.
Central Coast rules aimed at long-contaminated groundwater drive California farmers and residents to court
“Near fields awash with strawberries and greens, Ileana Miranda and her family pay $72 a month to get water piped into their home in a rural California community — and that’s before they consume a drop. They pay to bring it from more than a mile away because the groundwater beneath them has been contaminated with nitrates leached into the soil from years of large-scale farming. Now, the San Jerardo cooperative — where Miranda and 300 others live — and environmental organizations have sued the state, demanding stricter rules about how much fertilizer farmers can use in the hope that the next generation of residents in the community 100 miles (161 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco will have cleaner water. “We understand crops need these chemicals to grow, but you don’t need to put that much in the groundwater,” said Miranda, who manages the cooperative. “It is essentially poisoning the groundwater that we need to live.” … ” Read more from the Washington Post.
Commentary: Fertilizer nitrate pollution is killing our communities. We must stop this public health crisis now.
Chelsea Tu, executive director of Monterey Waterkeeper, and Ileana Miranda, general manager of the San Jerardo housing cooperative in the Salinas Valley, write, “When you turn on your tap, is the water safe to drink? Is it safe to cook and shower with? These are questions most Californians don’t think about. However, the 350 residents of the San Jerardo Cooperative have suffered health problems from unsafe water, and worry about it constantly. Thousands more Central Coast residents do not have clean drinking water due to nitrate pollution from agricultural practices. The State must address this ongoing public health crisis now, starting with curbing fertilizer overuse. … ” Read more from Monterey Weekly.
Monterey Peninsula water district asks court to allow takeover of Cal Am
“Monterey Peninsula water officials last week filed a complaint with Monterey County Superior Court seeking a ruling that will greenlight the district’s plans to takeover California American Water Co.’s Peninsula operations. The lawsuit is asking the court to rule that the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District has the authority to forcibly takeover Cal Am’s Monterey main system. Called eminent domain, it is the right of a government to seize private property for public use, with payment of compensation. … On Oct. 10 the water district held a hearing where it took in evidence and testimony before ruling unanimously on a “resolution of necessity,” the first step in an eminent domain proceeding. Despite that, Cal Am is not flinching. “Our system is not for sale,” said Evan Jacobs, the director of external affairs for Cal Am in a press release. … ” Continue reading at the Monterey Herald.
The drip continues in MPWMD’s efforts to buyout Cal Am.
“It’s been an eventful few months for the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District in its yearslong effort to potentially buyout the local water system of California American Water, an investor-owned utility. On Oct. 10, the MPWMD board passed a “resolution of necessity” to initiate a buyout of Cal Am’s local system, a crucial step in order to begin an eminent domain trial in Monterey County Superior Court. (This comes after local voters, in 2018, passed Measure J—which compelled the district to buyout Cal Am’s system if feasible—by a 56-44 margin.) On Friday, Dec. 15, MPWMD filed its eminent domain complaint, beginning a process in Monterey County Superior Court that will culminate in one or potentially two trials: the first will determine whether the threshold for an eminent domain takeover of Cal Am’s local system meets the legal threshold for necessity. If so, a second trial will determine the value of the system. … ” Read more from Monterey Weekly.
Historic, ‘genuinely dramatic’ rainfall in Ventura County stuns experts, causes flooding
“Portions of Southern California were inundated Thursday with what forecasters described as a once-in-a-millennium rainfall, which brought flooding to roadways across Ventura County, a brief tornado warning and the threat of heavy downpours in and around Los Angeles. Fire officials in Ventura County reported that 911 dispatchers received over 275 calls for help over a five-hour period as floodwaters rose in the coastal communities of Port Hueneme and Oxnard. Mud and debris tumbled into roadways in Santa Barbara, closing at least one off-ramp on the 101 Freeway. Elsewhere, cars were surrounded by rushing water that appeared to be several feet deep. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Historic fish flow ruling on the Kern River wasn’t intended to expand Bakersfield’s water rights, according to judge
“Kern County Superior Court Judge Gregory Pulskamp made one thing clear during the latest hearing on the twists and turns of the Kern River’s flow: He did not intend to expand the City of Bakersfield’s water rights under his November ruling that mandated enough water must remain in the river channel for fish populations. That amount was set at 40% of the river’s flow as measured at Hart Park. “The court’s intention was clear,” Pulskamp said Thursday during a give and take with Bakersfield’s attorney Colin Pearce. “By creating a new water right – call it a carve out – for public trust flows, the court’s intent was to take that out of allocations that were not for city municipal use. But I never intended to expand the city’s water rights, either.” … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Announcements, notices, and funding opportunities …
NOTICE: Proposed Water Quality Control Policy for Standardized Cost Reporting in Municipal Stormwater Permits
