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On the calendar today …
- MEETING: Delta Plan Interagency Implementation Committee (DPIIC) Restoration Subcommittee from 1:30pm to 4:00pm. Agenda items include the Impacts, Risks, and Management of Invasive Aquatic Vegetation in Tidal Wetland Restoration Projects; A recap of Delta-Suisun Tidal Wetland Restoration Symposium; and a Recap of Delta Restoration Forum. Click here for the full agenda and remote access instructions.
- MEETING: Delta Protection Commission from 5pm to 7pm in Hood. Agenda items include a report on Delta Stewardship Council Activities; Delta as Place Presentation; Delta Sustainable Insurance Model; and Approval of the National Heritage Area Management Plan. Click here for full agenda.
States present competing plans for the Colorado River …
Arizona, California, Nevada propose new approach for post-2026 Colorado River operations
“The Lower Basin States in the Colorado River Basin today jointly submitted to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) a proposed alternative for long-term Colorado River operations that would help ensure the river system’s health and sustainability for decades to come. The alternative, drafted collaboratively by Arizona, California and Nevada, is designed to provide for sustainable management of the system under a very broad range of future conditions that have been exacerbated by drought and climate change. It reflects a new and more holistic approach to Colorado River management, in which required reductions are based on the health of seven major system reservoirs. Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke, Colorado River Commissioner for California JB Hamby, and Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) General Manager John Entsminger jointly submitted the alternative to Reclamation as part of the federal agency’s process to develop new post-2026 operating guidelines for the river. … ” Continue reading this press release from the Lower Basin States.
SEE ALSO: Padilla Applauds Colorado River Lower Basin States’ Conservation Proposal, statement by Senator Padilla
California agrees to long-term cuts of Colorado River water
“Bracing for an ever-growing gap between supply and demand of Colorado River water, three Southwestern states today unveiled an agreement that would cut California’s supply by about 10% in most years. California, Nevada and Arizona submitted their plan to the federal government, which will weigh how to manage the drought-plagued river after 2026, when another historic deal expires. The decision will shape long-term management of a vital water source for 40 million people, including 30 tribal nations, and 5.5 million acres of agriculture for decades. For more than a century, the river’s water has been allocated among seven states, tribes and Mexico through a collection of deals, acts, treaties and legal decisions known as the Law of the River. But a decades-long mega-drought, culminating in the driest 23-year period in more than a century, has shriveled the river’s already over-allocated flows. Though water levels in Lake Mead are now the highest they’ve been in nearly three years, they remain “historically low, and long-term conservation measures will still be necessary,” the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reported Tuesday. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
Lower basin calls for upper basin cuts; upper basin says ‘no way’
“In two separate proposals for how the nation’s two largest reservoirs should be managed, the upper and lower Colorado River basin states agree on a couple things, but can’t find common ground on whether the upper basin should take cuts when reservoir levels fall. Proposals submitted to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation by the upper basin states (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico) and the lower basin states (California, Arizona and Nevada) each say that the current guidelines’ method of basing operations on 24-month forecasts and setting shortages based on critical elevations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead should be tossed out in favor of using real-time water storage levels to determine releases and who takes how much in cuts. Both proposals say that the lower basin must cut its use by 1.5 million acre-feet in most years. But the similarities stop there. Lower basin water managers say all seven states that use the Colorado River must share cuts broadly under the most critical system conditions, while upper basin officials maintain they do not have to cut their water use because they have never used the entire 7.5 million acre-foot apportionment given to them under the Colorado River Compact. … ” Read more from Aspen Journalism.
Talks to save the Colorado River just hit a logjam
“There has been a breakdown on the way toward a long-term plan to save the shrinking Colorado River. Negotiations over plans to conserve its waters starting in 2027 have bifurcated: Arizona and California, two of the biggest users of the river, said Wednesday they will give up massive amounts of water going forward, and are asking the rest of the river basin to cut back their water use in the driest years. But upriver states, led by Colorado, are standing firm against more cuts: They rely on variable snowpack for their water supply, they said, so they can’t make promises about how much water they can leave in the river from year to year. It isn’t clear how representatives for the states can bridge the gap between the dueling proposals — and whether it could fall on the highest levels of government to determine how to manage what is a vital source of water for 40 million people across seven Western states. … ” Read more from the Washington Post.
Colorado River states face off over dwindling supplies
“Officials from the seven states that share the Colorado River pitched dueling plans to the Biden administration Wednesday over how to dole out painful cuts, even as the states agreed that climate change means that water supplies could further dry up in the decades ahead. In separate proposals, the Upper Basin states and Lower Basin states each acknowledge that in extreme conditions, the Biden administration should plan for cuts of up to 25 percent of the Colorado River’s flows. But exactly how to spread the pain of those reductions remains a sticking point. Divisions also remain on how to account for existing water in the Colorado River system. This includes whether to calculate waters based solely on the contents of the two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, or to add in smaller reservoirs that have been drained in recent years to make up for shortfalls elsewhere. … ” Read more from E&E News.
SEE ALSO:
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- Colorado River states have two different plans for managing water. Here’s why they disagree, from KUNC
- States and tribes scramble to reach Colorado River deals before election, from Grist
- With new plans, Colorado River states draw battle lines over who should bear the brunt of future water cuts, from CNN
- Colorado River basin states offer divergent plans to govern operations after 2026, from Colorado Politics
In California water news today …
NOTEBOOK EXCLUSIVE: Nutrients from wastewater treatment plants may threaten coastal marine life―should California regulate them?
“The State Water Resources Control Board is exploring regulating nutrients emitted from Southern California wastewater treatment plants into the ocean. The controversial move is prompted by concerns that these discharges may accelerate acidification and oxygen loss in the region’s coastal waters, harming nearshore marine life. The wastewater treatment industry says this nutrient regulation is premature. Environmentalists say it’s overdue. To help inform decision-making, scientists are investigating this issue further. “This is a hotly debated topic right now,” says Martha Sutula, who leads biogeochemical studies at the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, a research institute dedicated to improving management of aquatic systems. The institute’s members include agencies that treat wastewater, manage stormwater, regulate water quality, and set ocean policy. … ” Read more from Maven’s Notebook.
DWR Releases Groundwater Well Permitting Report – Observations and Analysis of Executive Orders N-7-22 and N-3-23
“The Department of Water Resources (DWR) today released its Groundwater Well Permitting: Observations and Analysis of Executive Orders N-7-22 and N-3-23 report, which focuses on Executive Order N-7-22 (paragraph 9, March 28, 2022) and currently active Executive Order N-3-23 (paragraph 4, which superseded N-7-22 on February 13, 2023). The report summarizes different approaches taken by well permitting agencies and groundwater sustainability agencies to comply with the requirements of the Executive Orders, which included new well permitting requirements for local agencies to prepare for and lessen the effects of several years of intense drought conditions. The report recaps perspectives shared by some small communities, provides examples of local agency compliance measures, and contains observations of groundwater conditions that occurred during the time these actions were underway through summer 2023. Policy recommendations are also included that can be used to develop future solutions to align land use planning, well permitting, and groundwater management and use. … ” Read more and view/download report from DWR.
Understanding the underground: DWR completes first phase of innovative groundwater mapping program
“National Groundwater Awareness Week is next week, and in the spirit of promoting groundwater knowledge, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) is excited to announce that its innovative groundwater mapping project is complete and will provide critical information about our underground water supply. The Statewide Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) Survey Project has now completed surveys in all high-and-medium-priority groundwater basins in California. AEM surveys use state-of-the-art helicopter-based technology to scan the earth’s subsurface to depths of up to 1,000 feet, like taking an MRI of the earth, to visualize the aquifer structures beneath our feet. DWR collected nearly 16,000 miles of AEM data within 95 groundwater basins across California between December 2021 and November 2023. This data, which is now publicly accessible, is invaluable for identifying the most suitable locations to implement groundwater recharge projects that can capture water from winter rain and runoff events to store underground for use during dry periods. … ” Read more from the Department of Water Resources.
Harvesting urban storm runoff
Edward Ring, director of water and energy policy for the California Policy Center, writes, “In a normal year, by the end of March downtown Los Angeles receives 13 inches of rain. Last year 27.8 inches fell, and through March 3 of this year, 21.3 inches has already fallen. This suggests that both this year and last year, over 1.0 million acre feet of rainfall hit the region. Even in an average year, rainfall totals about a half-million acre feet. If Californians could somehow capture more of this runoff, it would tip the balance from scarcity to abundance in a state that has coped with chronic water shortages for several decades. A 2022 study by the Pacific Institute concluded that California’s urban “stormwater capture potential is 580,000 AFY in a dry year to as much as 3.0 million AFY in a wet year.” But can engineers design systems to capture whatever the skies deliver? More generally, is it possible for California’s coastal megacities to become completely independent of imported water through a combination of runoff harvesting, wastewater reuse, and desalination? Orange County Water District, with a service population of 2.5 million, is the furthest down the path to water independence. … ” Continue reading from the California Globe.
California Forever releases aerial rendering of proposed Solano County community
“A proposed semi-utopian community backed by tech billionaires in Solano County released a new rendering Wednesday. The rendering, described as an “aerial photo,” provides visual details of what the proposed community would look like from above. According to a news release from California Forever, the group behind the project, the new rendering “illustrates a compact, walkable community surrounded by agriculture, open space, and solar and wind farms.” The rendering is also intended to illustrate the distance between California Forever and nearby Travis Air Force Base. According to the news release, the new community will be 4.5 miles from the base. … ” Read more from KRON.
Coastal US cities are sinking as sea levels continue to rise, new research shows
“Several coastal cities around the United States are “disappearing” into the ground, according to new research, which could further exacerbate complications of sea level rise in the near future. A considerable amount of land in 32 U.S. coastal cities could be at risk of flooding by 2050 due to subsidence, the gradual caving in or sinking of an area of land, according to a paper published Wednesday in Nature. The continuous loss of land will affect most coastal cities, Leonard Ohenhen, a Ph.D. candidate at Virginia Tech University specializing in coastal vulnerability and large-scale land subsidence, told ABC News. Large cities surrounded by water — such as Boston, New Orleans and San Francisco — will be among the regions that could experience flooding in the near future due to land elevation changes combined with sea level rise — about 4 millimeters per year, said Ohenhen, who authored the paper. … ” Read more from ABC News.
SEE ALSO: Cities Aren’t Prepared for a Crucial Part of Sea-Level Rise: They’re Also Sinking, from Wired Magazine
Extreme wildfires take a toll on California wildlife
“Extreme wildfires tore through California, burning more than 4.2 million acres from 2020 through 2021. The fires were like none ever recorded in modern history. Their devastation of human communities was well-documented, but their toll on wildlife was largely unknown. Gavin Jones, an ecologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, saw possible connections between these extreme events and Australia’s deadly bushfires in 2019-2020. “Tragically, the bushfires killed or displaced almost 3 billion animals. It made me wonder what was happening to our wildlife,” Jones said. Jones and fellow researcher, Jessalyn Ayars, made it their mission to find out. Their efforts focused on how wildlife contended with extreme wildfires in the Sierra Nevada, southern Cascades, and Klamath Mountains. … ” Read more from the USFS.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Klamath River begins to find its way home
Michael Wier, CalTrout Field Reporter & Videographer, writes, “The Klamath River is in the middle of a vast transformation. Right now, it is finding its way back to its original river channel after being disrupted by a series of dams for decades. By the fall of 2024, all four dams on the mainstem of the river will be removed. This will unlock access to hundreds of miles of historic habitat for native salmon and steelhead, improve water quality for humans and non-humans alike, and mark a step towards restoring a place critical to the cultural life-ways of Indigenous peoples who have lived along the river since time immemorial. Recently, a group of CalTrout staff, including myself, had a chance to tour the restoration sites of Iron Gate, Copco 1, and Copco 2 dams. Standing above the sites of former reservoirs, it was incredibly inspiring to see the transformation taking place. Some CalTrout staff, like Executive Director Curtis Knight, have been working towards Klamath Dam removal for over 20 years. CalTrout has been at the table – with a coalition of Tribes and Indigenous peoples, environmental NGOs, agencies, and more – working to make a free-flowing Klamath River a reality. It feels rewarding to have CalTrout staff gathered together along the Klamath River to watch its restoration in action. … ” Read more and watch video from Cal Trout.
SEE ALSO: On the Klamath, Dam Removal Alone is Not Enough, from American Rivers
Karuk Tribe collects healthy juvenile Chinook salmon on mainstream Klamath River
“After the alarming report by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife that 830,000 fall-run Chinook salmon fry died after being released in Fall Creek on the Klamath River last week due to gas bubble disease, some more positive news about salmon came in today. The Karuk Tribe Fisheries Department reported that young Chinook salmon collected in the mainstem Klamath near the Scott River are “healthy and strong.” “We are pleased to say that despite the sediment loads associated with draining the reservoirs, we are finding healthy wild juvenile Chinook making their way downstream to the ocean,” said Toz Soto, Fisheries Program Manager for the Tribe, in a statement. … ” Read more the Daily Kos.
BAY AREA
Marin water managers gain edge in weather science
“Water management might look different in Marin County as agencies partner to understand extreme weather better. The North Marin Water District, the Marin Municipal Water District and Marin County joined the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes Water Affiliates Group in January. The group researches “atmospheric rivers” and other severe weather to improve water management, mitigate flood risk and increase water supply reliability. “With climate change atmospheric rivers, major storms are very dynamic and they are going to change over time,” said Tony Williams, general manager of the North Marin district. “There could be more of them, they could be all at once, they could be very different from how we’ve historically seen rainfall.” … ” Read more from the Marin Independent Journal (gift article).
CENTRAL COAST
LA Superior Court rules on Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin boundaries
“A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge confirmed that the Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin is one connected basin—not separate subbasins—allowing for the groundwater adjudication to move forward following a year-and-a-half of delays and litigation. “The court has been scrupulous to confine phase one of this adjudication to the boundaries of the court’s in rem [personal property] jurisdiction,” the judge wrote in the ruling. “Later phases of this adjudication may be used to determine whether management areas should be utilized (or not) and whether the basin should be differentially or homogeneously managed.” … ” Read more from the Santa Maria Sun.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
A closer look at SGMA fees
Dusty Ference, Executive Director of the Kings County Farm Bureau, writes, “During the February meeting of the Mid Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency (MKRGSA), the GSA’s board of directors approved a Proposition 218 fee study. This action marked the first Prop. 218 election for the MKRGSA since SGMA was adopted. Approving the study is the first step in the Prop. 218 election process before land owners in the district vote on the proposed assessment. The approved fee study includes a detailed budget outlining proposed expenses for administration, operations, reserves, the dry well mitigation program, recharge basin development, and subsidence mitigation. For 2024, the estimated budget is $11.5 million, and for years 2025 through 2028, the GSA estimates an approximate budget of $11.3 million annually. … ” Continue reading at Water Wrights.
Congressman Valadao secures $55 million for Central Valley projects
“Today, Congressman David G. Valadao (CA-22) voted in support of the first Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) Consolidated Appropriations Act, which provides discretionary resources for six of the twelve FY24 appropriations bills. Congressman Valadao, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, secured several wins for the Central Valley in the annual spending package, including $55 million in direct funding for community improvement projects. Community Projects direct existing federal dollars back to local communities through federal grants. “I came to Congress to deliver results for the Central Valley, and I’m proud that my work on this year’s government funding bills brings taxpayer dollars back to our community for local water storage projects, infrastructure improvements, and law enforcement,” said Congressman Valadao. … ” Read more from Congressman Valadao’s website.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Cadiz closes financing, secures development capital for water supply projects
“Cadiz, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDZI / CDZIP, the “Company”) announced today that it has completed a financing transaction that significantly strengthens its financial position and provides the Company with liquidity to accelerate development of its water supply projects in Southern California. The financing includes a new $20 million loan to fund operations and capital expenses associated with development of the Company’s water supply projects and extends all debt maturities to 2027.The transaction, led by the Company’s largest shareholder, Heerema International Group Services SA (“Heerema”), received strong support from the Company’s existing lenders and shareholders. With the completion of this transaction, the Company has a solid financial foundation backed by its lead strategic investor with a substantial capital base committed to the long-term growth of the Company. … ” Read more from Yahoo Finance.
SAN DIEGO
Can the ocean save the Colorado River? San Diego thinks so.
“Facing rising costs and rates, the leaders of San Diego’s water lifelines are looking to sell some of its most expensive supply: de-salted ocean water from a massive plant in Carlsbad. But, at the same time, they’re also trying to make more of it. Dan Denham, the San Diego County Water Authority’s new general manager, says he wants to expand seawater desalination not because he thinks San Diego needs more water, but because he thinks they can sell it and recoup at least a little of the massive investment local rate payers have made on the plant. It’s Denham’s latest move to try and position San Diego to be a water dealer across the drought-stricken West. “We’re looking to expand the plant as an opportunity for users, whether that’s in southern California or the lower Colorado River basin,” Denham said. … ” Read more from the Voice of San Diego.
Along the Colorado River …
Arizona’s drought turns 30 this year. ‘Toilet to tap’ may be one way to help ease the water crisis
“People born in 1994 will be turning 30 this year — and so will the drought in Arizona. Groundwater is the primary source of water for the state, along with allotments from the Colorado River. But due to a population that has nearly doubled since the drought began in 1994, groundwater is drying up. In response, Gov. Katie Hobbs put a moratorium on new housing developments last year unless developers can prove they have safe access to non-groundwater sources for 100 years before they can begin construction. Along with efforts to encourage home water use reduction, another solution being considered is a bit greener: direct potable reuse (DPR), known colloquially as “toilet to tap.” But the issue is far more complex than a catchy tagline. … ” Read more from KJZZ.
The City of Tucson plans for the future when it comes to water
“When it comes to Tucson’s water supply, it is more important how much it snows in Colorado than how much it rains in Tucson, says John Kmiec, director of Tucson Water. “The health of the Colorado (River), that being our primary water source, is what dictates eventually over time how much water we are able to import to the Tucson Basin,” Kmiec said in a recent interview with KGUN 9. “We are always very excited about great snowstorms in Colorado. That means the future Tucson water supply is being shored up.” … ” Read more from Channel 9.
In national water news today …
Global hot streak continues: February was Earth’s warmest on record
“The planet has experienced its ninth consecutive month of record-breaking warmth, with a simmering February rounding out the Northern Hemisphere’s hottest meteorological winter on record, international climate officials announced this week. The global surface temperature in February was 56.4 degrees — about 0.2 degrees warmer than the previous February record set in 2016, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. “February joins the long streak of records of the last few months,” read a statement from Carlo Buontempo, the agency’s director. “As remarkable as this might appear, it is not really surprising as the continuous warming of the climate system inevitably leads to new temperature extremes.” … ” Read more from the LA Times.
