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On the calendar today …
- STAFF WORKSHOP and Q&A Session: Proposed regulation to Make Conservation a California Way of Life from 10am to 12pm. The purpose of this workshop is for members of the public to ask any clarifying questions about the revisions to the Board’s draft regulation for Making Conservation a California Way of Life. Register to ask a question via Zoom: https://waterboards.zoom.us/
meeting/register/tJUkd- utrzwuEtZdw2wN2Fx3EvxZ6or9-uWi Stream the meeting (listening-mode-only): https://www.youtube.com/live/ COpgomiF3Yk?si=U3dV_ r3na1uzLtCU - WEBINAR: California-Nevada January 2024 Drought & Climate Outlook Webinar from 11am to 12pm. The California-Nevada Drought Early Warning System Drought & Climate Outlook Webinar is part of a series of regular webinars designed to provide stakeholders and other interested parties in the region with timely information on current drought status and impacts, as well as a preview of current and developing climatic events (i.e., El Niño and La Niña). Click here to register.
- WEBINAR: Office Hours with Anecita Agustinez, DWR’s Tribal Policy Advisor from 12pm to 1pm. Join us for the next Office Hours session featuring Anecita Agustinez, DWR’s Tribal Policy Advisor. We’ll be talking about Tribal consultation and interacting with Tribes. This webinar is for government agencies, groundwater agencies, members of the public, or anybody who seeks to deepen their understanding and foster respectful engagement with Tribal governments. Click here to register.
In California water news today …
California zombie lake turned farmland to water. A year later, is it gone for good?
“For a time last year, it was difficult to drive through a large swath of central California without running into the new shoreline of a long dormant lake. Resurrected for the first time in decades by an epic deluge of winter rain and snow, by spring the lake covered more than 100,000 acres, stretching over cotton, tomato and pistachio fields and miles of roads. Tulare Lake, or Pa’ashi as it is known to the Tachi Yokut Tribe, was back. … Its resurrection sparked a flurry of visitors and news coverage. Scientists and officials predicted the lake could remain for years to come, sparking consternation among the local farmers whose land was now underwater, and excitement from others who saw the lake as a fertile nature sanctuary and sacred site. Yet today, such fears and hopes have not borne out entirely as expected. Along a narrow and dusty back road in Kings county, California’s agricultural heartland, there are sprouts of grass and thick mud, but no signs of the body of water. Despite the predictions, the lake is nearly gone. … ” Continue reading at The Guardian.
California Appellate Court determines that the “pay first” rule applies to SGMA fee lawsuits
“The Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled in Mojave Pistachio, LLC et al. v. Superior Court of Orange County, Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority (Case No. G062327, opinion published Feb. 8, 2024) that the “pay first, litigate later” rule applies to fees imposed by a local groundwater sustainability agency under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) (Wat. Code, § 10720 et seq.). In accordance with the court’s holding, a groundwater user is required to pay an outstanding fee imposed under SGMA before commencing an action to challenge the fee and to obtain a refund. (Wat. Code, §10726.6(d)). As a result of this ruling, water users must pay a fee currently due before bringing a legal challenge against a groundwater sustainability agency for imposition of the fee. Further, this ruling requires water users to pay any fee that becomes due during litigation in order to maintain an action before the court. … ” Read more from Somach Simmons & Dunn.
Small changes can yield big savings in agricultural water use
“While Hollywood and Silicon Valley love the limelight, California is an agricultural powerhouse, too. Agricultural products sold in the Golden State totaled $59 billion in 2022. But rising temperatures, declining precipitation and decades of over pumping may require drastic changes to farming. Legislation to address the problem could even see fields taken out of cultivation. Fortunately, a study out of UC Santa Barbara suggests less extreme measures could help address California’s water issues. Researchers combined remote sensing, big data and machine learning to estimate how much water crops use in the state’s Central Valley. The results, published in Nature Communications, suggest that variation in efficiency due to farming practices could save as much water as switching crops or fallowing fields. “There’s an opportunity for less obtrusive methods of saving water to be more important than we originally thought,” said lead author Anna Boser, a doctoral student at UCSB’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. “So we might not have to make as many changes in land use as we originally thought.” … ” Read more from UC Santa Barbara.
Facing SGMA challenges, Kings County stares down water pumping fees
“The Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency is looking to impose a pumping fee of nearly $100 per acre-foot. Mid-Kings River GSA is comprised of the Kings County Water District, the City of Hanford and Kings County. The big picture: The GSA is proposing a pumping fee maximum of $95 per acre-foot. This comes after the State views that the region has not made enough progress through the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). … ” Read more from the San Joaquin Valley Sun.
California could be hit by potent late-season storm this week
“Two late-season storms are forecast to impact the Golden State this week, raising the risk for flooding at the coast and multiple feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada. After mostly dry conditions Monday and Tuesday, a storm is expected to bring rain and snow to Northern California from Wednesday through Thursday. A short break is possible Thursday night into early Friday, but a second storm Friday through Sunday will likely target Central and Southern California. While the details about the second storm are still unclear, several inches of rain between Santa Barbara and San Diego could cause flooding in areas that have already been hit hard this winter. “There is relatively high confidence in a significant late-season storm,” the National Weather Service Los Angeles office wrote in its forecast discussion. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
California’s March water madness
Dr. Jay Lund writes, “March is usually the last month in California’s mostly unpredictable wet season. A dry March can make a promising water year disappointing. A very wet March can make a potentially critically dry year be only mildly dry, like the “Miracle March” of 1991 (with three times average March precipitation). Unlike basketball, nobody prevails in California’s annual March Water Madness. The outcome is usually a combination, rather than unmitigated win or loss. Below is a bracket for March 2024, where the outcome for the water year consolidates with time, with diminishing room for surprises. … ” Continue reading at the California Water Blog.
Don’t put all your (fish) eggs in one basket: Enhancing diversity to promote steelhead resilience
“Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) exhibit some of the most diverse life history traits among all Pacific salmonid species and play major cultural, economic, and recreational roles throughout the Pacific Coast. Steelhead are unique from their resident rainbow trout counterparts in that they follow an anadromous life-history, meaning they migrate to the ocean as juveniles and return to spawn in freshwater streams and rivers as adults. Rainbow trout, on the other hand, remain in freshwater streams for their entire life. Unlike most of their Pacific salmonid cousins, steelhead are iteroparous, meaning that they can spawn more than once in their lifetime. This adaptation allows steelhead to have a more flexible lifecycle that can be advantageous during warmer or drier seasons, especially near the southern end of their distribution in California’s Central Valley. … ” Read more from FishBio.
And lastly … America’s first water park dried up close to Las Vegas. Then came the skaters.
“A few miles past dusty Barstow and just a stone’s throw from the whizzing cars on Interstate 15, which runs from Southern California to Las Vegas, a strange sight seems to arise from the surrounding Mojave Desert.An empty lazy river gathers the desiccated remnants of palm trees, plastic waterslides crack further with each passing day and decaying arcade buildings seemingly melt into the Calico Mountains behind them. Improbably, this site — where the former manmade Lake Dolores and the Rock-a-Hoola Waterpark once thrived — is said to have been one of America’s first water parks. But there’s no plaque denoting that here, out in the baking sun. These days, it’s primarily layers upon layers of graffiti, abandoned buildings and empty pools. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
In commentary today …
Desert Water Agency board president: California’s new regulation makes water future more secure
Paul Ortega writes, “One thing is clear: California is facing more severe swings between drought and flood. We should not think of water conservation as an emergency response. Instead, we should work to conserve water as part of our everyday lives. As a lifelong conservationist, an efficient landscape designer and a local official, protecting our water future is very important to me. I pushed myself deeper into community involvement and planning when I joined Desert Water Agency’s board of directors in 2020. In 2009, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made 2020 the deadline for water agencies to reduce their per capita water use by 20%. This was overwhelmingly successful. Despite significant population gains, Desert Water Agency, like many of its counterparts throughout the state, saved more water than required. In fact, in 2023 our customers used about 37% less water per person than in 2009. … ” Read more from the Desert Sun.
In regional water news and commentary today …
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Snow marches on for Lake Tahoe ski resorts; more expected through Easter
“March came in like a lion and will go out like one at Lake Tahoe ski resorts. And spring in Reno and Sparks will make a few appearances through the week but will be interrupted again with more snow. … more snow is set to return, with as much as 8 inches expected over mountain passes Wednesday and Thursday. Richards said the lower elevations should see rain rather than snow. But just like March started, it’s going to end with more snow again in the forecast for Easter weekend, she said. … ” Read more from the Reno Gazette Journal.
Less trash on Nevada shoreline
“Clean Up The Lake, the environmental nonprofit responsible for the 72-mile cleanup of Lake Tahoe, recently completed a two-year monitoring effort the lake, revealing less litter in nearshore areas on the Nevada side. Conservation dive teams revisited 20 litter hot spots in the 0– to 25-foot depths that were identified during the 72-mile cleanup of Lake Tahoe in 2021, according to a press release. Analysis on cleanups on the California shoreline has not yet been completed. … ” Read more from the Tahoe Guide.
BAY AREA
This forgotten part of San Francisco is still a long way from its best self
“Thomas Avenue is an obscure street that runs through the Bayview neighborhood past Third Street, past small houses, through an industrial neighborhood to dead end at Griffith Street where there is a city facility surrounded by a high fence. It’s a neglected out of the way corner of San Francisco. But here, just around the corner, is a small gem: Yosemite Slough, a 1,000-foot-long arm of San Francisco Bay that’s both beautiful and dangerous. It’s a backwater with a trashy past, a promising future and a curious present. Yosemite Slough is part of the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, but it is almost an orphan. There is barely a sign to help visitors locate the place. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Future of Fresno’s largest pond, the ‘crown jewel of the San Joaquin River,’ is murky
Columnist writes, “Fresno’s largest body of water — and likely its most diverse wildlife habitat — shimmers in silence on a sunny spring afternoon. The quiet is interrupted only by the chirp of songbirds and the hum coming from the electric trolling motor mounted to Louis Moosios’ fishing boat. “I tell everyone I know this is the crown jewel of the whole San Joaquin River system,” says Moosios, who grew up along the river and owns a fishing guide service. “I don’t think there’s anywhere else in California that’s a more unique spot than where we’re at.” Where we’re at is Milburn Pond, a reclaimed gravel mining pit that belongs to the San Joaquin River Ecological Reserve and is managed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. … ” Read more from AOL News.
Tehachapi: District’s share of imported water increased to 30% of ‘Table A’ allocation
“Friday’s announcement that the state Department of Water Resource doubled the allocation of State Water Project water from 15% to 30% was welcome news, but “frustratingly low given the current circumstances.” That’s the opinion of Tom Neisler, general manager of Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District. “The snowpack is above the average for the year and the reservoirs are at above average storage levels and nearing capacity. Lake Oroville is above the flood storage limit and DWR has been releasing water over the spillway for weeks,” Neisler said. … ” Read more from the Tehachapi News.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
SoCal’s water resilient future looks like Ventura Water Pure
“Southern California Cities are moving towards independence from imported water from faraway watersheds and the Bay Delta Estuary. Given the extremes of dry and wet weather with climate change, forward thinking Southern California cities are relying more on local water supplies including fully treating wastewater or sewage to the point that it is cleaner than what comes out of your faucet. These programs are called PURE Water and after extensive research and testing, state issued guidelines finally came out this year. Ventura is one of the largest cities in Southern California that relies solely on local water to supply the community through rainfall, local lakes and rivers, and groundwater basins. After decades of research, Ventura decided to invest in a new solution called VenturaWaterPure. … ” Read more from the Sierra Club.
Along the Colorado River …
Letter: Every state that depends on the Colorado River should adopt the kinds of ag-to-urban partnerships that are working in California
Mike Wade, Executive Director of the California Farm Water Coalition, writes, “The recent Tribune article, “Why your burger is probably killing the Great Salt Lake and Colorado River,” hit the nail on the head when it comes to one proven solution: conservation. The Colorado River has been experiencing significant drought pressures for more than 20 years and no state has been more impacted than California. Yet early on, Imperial Valley farmers partnered with Southern California urban water agencies on a plan to conserve water with urban investments in on-farm and water delivery system improvements. This successful program has saved almost 7.75 million acre-feet of water since its inception 21 years ago and adds almost a half-million acre-feet of water to the total every year. … ” Continue reading at the Salt Lake Tribune.
Tribes seek equal status in Colorado River talks, compensation for any forced cuts
“Two-thirds of the tribes with lands and water rights in the Colorado River Basin are calling for equal status in developing new river management guidelines and protection of their senior water rights against proposed cuts or caps on developing their water. Leaders from 20 tribes, including eight in Arizona, sent a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation March 11. In the letter, obtained by The Arizona Republic, the tribes outlined what they expect in new river management guidelines that will take effect when the current guidelines expire Dec. 31, 2026. The two tribes with Arizona’s largest river allocations — the Colorado River Indian Tribes, which holds senior rights to 720,000 acre-feet of water, mostly in Arizona, and the Gila River Indian Community, with 653,000 acre-feet of Colorado River and other waters — did not sign the letter. The Gila River Indian Community opposed a plan offered by the three Lower Basin states and said it would issue an alternative plan, which it has not yet released. … ” Read more from Arizona Central.
Mining companies say they have a better way to get underground lithium, but skepticism remains
“When Kelly Dunham heard that water was gushing out from a test well earlier this month for a proposed lithium mine in the middle of this rural city of 900 residents, she went to see it for herself. Water was surging from the drilling rig and flooding the test site as berms trapped it and directed the water toward lagoons once used by an abandoned missile launch complex nearby. Trucks sucked up the water with pumps and hauled it away to disposal wells as fast as they could. The drill had hit pockets of carbon dioxide gas and more water than expected, according to state regulators and Anson Resources, the company behind the direct lithium extraction (DLE) project in which brine is pumped from deep aquifers to the surface, where lithium and other minerals are extracted from the water before it is sent back underground. … An incident like the blowout that occurred on March 8 is what locals like Dunham, a lifelong Green River resident, and environmentalists had been fearing. Green River gets its name from the waterway that runs through town, which is the biggest tributary of the Colorado River. … ” Read more from Inside Climate News.
Lake Powell is about to get a boost. How much will it help?
“Spring represents a fresh start for plants, animals, alarm clocks — and Lake Powell. Lake Powell’s levels have fallen throughout the winter, but as the weather warms, the snowpack that has accumulated in the mountains over the winter will begin to melt. That water will feed rivers and streams across the West — including the Colorado River, which fills Lake Powell on Arizona and Utah’s shared border. This year, hydrologists forecast that Lake Powell’s peak capacity this year will rebound close to its peak capacity last year. But those elevations are still far below 100% full. The National Weather Service Colorado Basin River Forecast Center predicts that 5.4 million acre-feet of unregulated runoff will spill into the reservoir between April and July. For reference, an acre-foot of water can sustain two households for a year. … ” Read more from the Salt Lake Tribune.
Data centers are proliferating. So are concerns about their effects on Colorado’s environment.
“The banks of black computer servers with twinkling amber and green lights sit in a large, nondescript, tan building, surrounded by a high, spiky steel fence on the edge of the city. It is in computer banks like these that our collective memories reside. Our photos, our videos, documents, passwords, best routes to grandma, business information and our chats with ChatGPT. The memories keep piling. And that is leading to a data center boom, with centers getting bigger, hungrier for power and thirstier for water, raising concerns about their impact on the environment and electric rates even as the sector looks to get greener and more efficient. … ” Read more from the Colorado Sun.
In national water news today …
Is tap water safe to drink? CDC report highlights deadly waterborne infections
“The United States has one of the world’s safest public water systems, but a new report might make you think twice about drinking straight from the faucet. Public health officials in more than two dozen states voluntarily reported a total of 214 intestine-related disease outbreaks associated with drinking water between 2015 and 2020, according to a recent analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreaks resulted in at least 2,140 cases of illness, 563 hospitalizations, and 88 deaths. The CDC noted that biofilms were the most common contributing factor. Biofilms, characterized as slimy coatings formed by groups of waterborne germs (like bacteria, fungi, and amoebas), create an environment where pathogens can thrive and multiply. … ” Read more from KTLA.
Water coalition testifies on PFAS CERCLA exemption for utilities
“A coalition of nation water sector associations testified before the Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee last week on the implications of listing certain per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently considering listing several PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals” for their persistence in the environment, as hazardous substances under CERCLA. Given the ubiquitous nature of PFAS and the strict legal liability CERCLA imposes on certain parties just for coming into contact with listed substances, drinking water, wastewater and stormwater utilities and their hundreds of millions of customers all across the country could be forced to bear significant financial costs to address PFAS contamination — even though these utilities played no role in the manufacture or distribution of PFAS, nor have ever profited from their sale. … ” Continue reading at Water Finance & Management.
Environmental health implications of plastic use in agriculture
“Plastics are an integral part of human life and are found in many products we use daily, such as cars, furniture, toys, and food containers. In addition to these large plastic pieces, also known as “macroplastics”, “microplastics,” and “nano plastics,” which are defined as plastic fragments less than 5 mm or 1 μm in size, respectively, are widely used in personal care products and various medical applications, including drugs (to enhance drug delivery) and bioimaging. Plastics are also widely used in agriculture. Macroplastics are used as protective wraps around mulch and fodder; they cover greenhouses, shield crops from the elements, and are used to make irrigation tubes, sacks, and bottles. There is also a rapidly expanding use of microplastics in agriculture. Agrochemical manufacturers use microencapsulation techniques to coat pesticides and fertilizers with microplastics to allow controlled release of the chemicals when applied to crops. … ” Read more from Open Access Government.
IRA funding to support 138 new conservation easements
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing approximately $138 million from the Inflation Reduction Act into 138 new climate-smart conservation easements. These easements, as part of the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), aim to conserve wetlands, grasslands, and prime farmlands, supporting climate-smart agriculture and forestry initiatives. The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) prioritized land that reduces, captures, avoids, or sequesters carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous oxide emissions. … ” Read more from Ag Net West.
More news and commentary in the weekend edition …
In California water news this weekend …
Additional storms eyeing the West Coast to end March- Forecasted State Water Project water supply allocation doubles following February storms
- Reclamation increases 2024 Central Valley Project water supply allocations
- Fresno Co. farmers disappointed after water allocation results
- Central Valley rivers see robust steelhead returns this year
- Legislation to safeguard salmon and steelhead trout from lethal storm water contaminant authored by Assemblymember Papan approved by committee
- Racial discrimination complaint names State Water Board as partly to blame for fertilizer contamination in Central Coast drinking wells
- Reclamation announces $3.4 million to improve the safety of Sisk Dam
- How big a climate threat are atmospheric rivers?
- Legal analysis: Sacramento County Superior Court rules in favor of the State Water Board’s Substitute Environmental Document for Phase I of the Bay-Delta Plan
- DWR releases a resource guide for funding SGMA implementation
- California Forever denies accusations of tricking voters to sign initiative
- The Klamath River’s dams are being removed. Inside the effort to restore a scarred watershed
- Judge hears testimony in Monterey Peninsula water battle
- Mid-Kings River GSA holds meeting ahead of state probationary hearing
- Tribes to feds: Don’t take our Colorado River water unless you replace it
- And more …
Click here for the weekend digest.
