Several news sources featured in the Daily Digest may limit the number of articles you can access without a subscription. However, gift articles and open-access links are provided when available. For more open access California water news articles, explore the main page at MavensNotebook.com.
On the calendar today …
- EVENT: Salinity Management Workshop Day 2 beginning at 9am. The Delta Science Program is hosting a two-day virtual workshop to discuss tools and strategies, identify knowledge gaps, and build shared goals for adaptively managing ocean saltwater intrusion in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Today, conversations will be directly focused on discussing modeling results that compare scenarios with different management actions and amounts of sea level rise. Click here to register.
- MEETING: Delta Conservancy Board beginning at 9am. Agenda items include update on grant programs, outcomes and lessons learned from Fish Friendly Farming Program in the Delta, Delta Adapts Draft Adaptation Plan Overview, Delta agency updates. Click here for the full agenda and meeting materials.
- WEBINAR: LA County Water Plan – Ushering in a New Era of Collaboration from 12pm to 1:30pm. The LA County Water Plan has been adopted. The Plan is the product of three years of meetings between water agencies, local and tribal leaders, community members, and advocacy groups. It has been acclaimed by agencies and environmentalists alike. This first-ever countywide plan sets a high bar decreeing a shift from importing 60 percent of our water to locally sourcing 80 percent of our water by 2045 which is an increase of 580,000 acre-feet of new water. All acknowledge that the goals cannot be met without the collaboration of multiple stakeholders. Join the Water Dialogue as LA County’s Lee Alexanderson shares details of the Plan and learn why it has the potential to move from aspirational to achievable. To discuss how a neighboring county is moving beyond aspiration to implementation will be Heather Dyer of San Bernardino Valley MWD. Many of their multi-benefit projects serve as a prototypes of multi-stakeholder collaboration for county and regional benefits. Click here to register.
- WEBINAR: Understanding the Science: Reproduction of a Serotinous Conifer, the Giant Sequoia, in a Large High-Severity Fire Area beginning at 5:30pm. Join the Muir Institute for a discussion on the challenges facing giant sequoia groves, located on the western slope of the central and southern Sierra Nevada mountains in California, have been experiencing regeneration failure for more than a century due to the exclusion of wildfires. Click here to register.
In California water news today …
Rain, snow return to California. Here’s how long the weather systems could linger
“It may be late March, but winter isn’t letting go in California. At least a chance of rain is in the forecast for each of the next five days thanks to a series of wet weather systems approaching the state. First, a cold front will move across Northern California on Wednesday, reaching the Bay Area in the late afternoon and evening. Isolated showers are expected Thursday before a strong low-pressure system moves close to Central California on Friday. Both systems combined could drop more than an inch of rain in San Francisco and Oakland, with 2 to 3 inches possible in the highest elevations of the Bay Area. … ” Read more from the San Francisco (gift article).
Stormy weekend weather for California
As one storm pushes inland over the West early this weekend with spotty low-elevation rain and mountain snow, a new storm will be hot on its heels. “A secondary storm diving southward along the coast of California this weekend will send extra moisture into the state,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Courtney Travis said. Aside from the deserts, almost anywhere across the state could have precipitation. While up to an inch of rain may be possible in Central California, like San Francisco, the heaviest rain will likely focus on Southern California. Enough rain may fall on the Los Angeles area over the weekend, leading to localized flooding. … ” Read more from AccuWeather.SEE ALSO: Winter storm warning: Spring snow could bring travel delays to Sierra, from the San Francisco Chronicle
Solano County to protest DWR tunnel project petition
“The Solano County supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to challenge the state Department of Water Resources petition to add two new division points and one rediversion point along the Sacramento River for the Delta tunnel project. The action was taken in closed session. “The proposed project would develop new (State Water Project) diversion and conveyance facilities in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect the reliability of this important water supply,” Karla Nemet, director of the Department of Water Resources, stated in a letter to Eric Oppenheimer, executive director of the State Water Resources Control Board. … ” Read more from The Daily Republic.
Tiny, endangered fish hinders Imperial Valley water conservation plan
“Southern California’s Imperial Irrigation District, which supplies water to farmers who grow most of the nation’s winter vegetables, planned to start a conservation program in April to scale back what it draws from the critical Colorado River. But a tiny, tough fish got in the way. Now, those plans won’t start until at least June so water and wildlife officials can devise a way to ensure the endangered desert pupfish and other species are protected, said Jamie Asbury, the irrigation district’s general manager. … “Drains are created for farmers to be able to convey irrigation runoff, and the pupfish decided it was a good place to live,” Asbury said. … ” Read more from the Associated Press.
NOW AVAILABLE: Final Water Board Staff Report for the Consideration of a Probationary Designation for the Tulare Lake Subbasin
“On April 16, 2024, the State Water Board will hold a public hearing to consider designating the Tulare Lake Subbasin as a probationary basin under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), as part of efforts to ensure groundwater resources will be available into the future for people to use. Staff have released the Final Tulare Lake Subbasin Probationary Hearing Staff Report, outlining their recommendations to the Board. In developing their recommendations, staff considered public comments provided at public workshops and submitted in writing. … ” Click here to continue reading from the State Water Board.
Study explores groundwater recharge areas near local communities
“To address the concern of historic groundwater overdraft in the San Joaquin Valley, the California Water Institute at Fresno State, with assistance from students and faculty, conducted a feasibility study to explore the potential for groundwater recharge within disadvantaged communities. The study, carried out in 2023, focused on improving water quantity in communities heavily reliant on groundwater for drinking water. “This study brought real-world challenges to the classroom for students and marked a significant step toward addressing the critical issue of groundwater overdraft in the San Joaquin Valley,” said Laura Ramos, interim director of the California Water Institute – Research and Education Division. … ” Read more from Fresno State.
Court green lights state’s flows plan, rejects all claims
“A state plan that requires affected water users to leave unimpaired flows of 30% to 50% in each of three San Joaquin River tributaries—the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers—can move forward, according to a Sacramento County Superior Court ruling. More than a dozen lawsuits, including a case filed by the California Farm Bureau in early 2019, challenged different aspects of the state’s first phase of the water quality control plan update for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, known as the Bay-Delta plan. Districts, farmers and residents of the affected region protested the plan, saying it would do little to restore salmon and other fish populations, while cutting water supplies to the northern San Joaquin Valley. … ” Read more from Ag Alert.
With snowpack at normal, what’s the hold up with Ag water allocation?
“The frustration for farmers continues to grow after recent news of recent water allocation numbers. The Bureau of Reclamation has announced a 35 percent federal allocation for Central Valley Project recipients, as the California Department of Water Resources has allocated 30 percent of State Water Project requests. The news comes as the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada sits at or near normal. While it is an improvement to February’s number of 15 percent allocation for both state and federal recipients, farmers argue that with the current water year allocations should be far greater. “A 35 percent water supply isn’t enough for all of our crops,” said Joe Del Bosque of Del Bosque Farms. … ” Read more from Your Central Valley.
Sierra Nevada snowpack spells a healthy water year for hydropower
“For those trained to study the Earth’s surface, looking at the pristine snowpack atop the Sierra Nevada is like looking into the future. Most of the snow blanketing the Sierra peaks today eventually melts and flows downstream, filling rivers and lakes and providing water to millions of California residents, farms and recreation sites. Each year, Southern California Edison conducts several snow surveys where hydrographers scale the Sierra to measure snow density at multiple points along the more than 400-mile-long mountain range. Their job is to anticipate how much snowmelt will flow when it gets warmer. Capturing an accurate forecast is critical to determining a significant portion of the state’s water supply and as a key indicator of the hydroelectric power that can be safely generated from the runoff. … ” Read more from SoCal Edison.
State works to better adapt to extreme dry, wet periods
“As California farmers struggle through impacts of rapid swings between intense drought and severe deluge, the state’s water chief emphasized the need to better manage flood flows and groundwater during wet periods to improve water supply reliability during dry periods. Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources, highlighted some of the work already underway during the state’s weather whiplash in recent years. She also outlined long-term plans to help the state adapt more broadly. Nemeth spoke during the California Farm Bureau Capital Ag Conference in Sacramento last week. … ” Read more from Ag Alert.
Companies are poised to inject millions of tons of carbon underground. Will it stay put?
“After more than a century of pulling carbon from underground, a rush is underway to pump it back down. Companies have applied for scores of permits across the country to inject carbon dioxide deep into the earth. Several projects have already been approved. With industry planning to inject tens of millions of tons annually, a looming question is whether the climate-warming gas will stay underground. The most likely points of failure, experts say, could be some of the millions of abandoned oil and gas wells that perforate the nation, often in the same areas targeted for storing carbon dioxide underground. … The regulations say companies must identify each of the wells within a certain radius of the project and make sure they are properly plugged or secured. For any that are not, companies must plug the well, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per well. The pending project in California will require plugging 157 nearby oil and gas wells, according to the draft permit. … ” Get the full story from Inside Climate News.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Water pumped from Tulelake through historic D-Plant to Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge for the first time in four years
“For the first time in four years, water is being pumped from Tulelake to the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. The historic Pumping Plant D in Tulelake Irrigation District (TID) was constructed at the base of Sheepy Ridge in 1942. TID Manager Brad Kirby said the five massive pumps ran year-round for nearly 70 years. The D-Plant moves water flows through the mountain ridge along a 6,000-foot tunnel to the Lower Klamath refuge. At the entrance to the tunnel, Kirby said a pinpoint of light can be seen at the other end. But in 2020, drought conditions and federal regulations rendered the plant inoperative. … ” Read more from the Herald & News.
Siskiyou County declares local emergency over Klamath River water quality concerns
“On Tuesday, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors proclaimed a local emergency and requested that the governor proclaim a state of emergency based on water quality concerns in the Klamath River as four dams are being removed. The goal of removing the dams on the Oregon-California border is to improve the river ecosystem and the health of salmon populations. Some residents are worried because a round of water testing commissioned by the county earlier this year showed elevated levels of naturally-occurring heavy metals like arsenic and lead. Many residents spoke during public comment periods during the nearly six-hour meeting, expressing concerns about fish killed as the reservoirs were drained, deer trapped in mudflats and potential human health issues. … ” Read more from Jefferson Public Radio.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
South Lake Tahoe and Truckee ban single-use plastic water bottles
“Two Tahoe towns are saying no to plastic water bottles. South Lake Tahoe’s ban on single-use plastic water bottles and paper cartons is slated to go into full effect next month, soon after neighboring Truckee passed an ordinance to implement a similar ban. South Lake Tahoe passed an ordinance in 2022 banning single-use plastic water bottles. The ban went into effect in 2023 for city facilities and city events, and it will apply to all commercial vendors on Earth Day, April 22, this year, according to a statement posted by the city. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
NAPA/SONOMA
Napa County supervisors approve groundwater sustainability work plans
“The Napa County Board of Supervisors this week approved work plans for implementing the county’s groundwater sustainability plan. The work plans — prepared by water consultants Luhdorff & Scalmanini Consulting Engineers and ERA Economics — aim to help the county meet its goal to reduce pumping from the subbasin by 10%. They offer guidance on conserving water at vineyards, wineries and other places where water is used throughout the county; reducing groundwater pumping, and protecting and supporting terrestrial and aquatic groundwater dependent ecosystems. … ” Read more from NorCal Public Media.
Editorial: Progress toward water security for Sonoma, Mendocino counties
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat editorial board writes, “Water is life, and Californians don’t need to watch the “Dune” movies to know it. Recent droughts have reinforced not only just how precarious the water supply is but also the myriad competing demands on limited water. It’s heartening, then, when local communities and tribal interests are able to work together to manage scarce water resources responsibly, as is happening with the Eel and Russian rivers. Last year, Pacific Gas & Electric announced that it would demolish the Scott and Cape Horn dams and decommission the entire Potter Valley power project. Potter Valley had become a money loser for PG&E and hasn’t generated power since 2021. Removing the dams will help restore natural river flows, which will improve fish habitat along the Eel River. That’s been a longtime objective of the Round Valley Indian Tribes. The tribes have strong historic and cultural ties to the river and its bounty. … ” Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
BAY AREA
Marin Municipal Water District explores projects to add storage capacity
“The Marin Municipal Water District is taking a closer look at storage expansion projects that could increase capacity for billions of gallons of additional water to defend against drought. After several months of study, district officials and consultants are considering projects that could include raising dam heights and some possibilities for creating new dams. Each option would increase the storage capacity by about 20,000 acre-feet. The proposals include expansions of Alpine Lake, Kent Lake and the Soulajule and Nicasio reservoirs. The district is also looking at constructing new reservoirs in the areas of Devil’s Gulch, Halleck Creek and upper Nicasio. The proposals were presented to the water board at its meeting on March 19. “We’ve got options,” Paul Sellier, the district water resources director, told the board. … ” Read more from the Marin Independent Journal.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Duarte brings Turlock $2.2 million for sewer, drainage projects
“Rep. John Duarte (R-Hughson) was in Turlock, as well as other Central Valley communities, on Monday to deliver Community Project Funding checks — as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 — that totaled about $11 million. Turlock received $1.2 million for its Golden State Boulevard sewer-extension project, and $1 million for the city’s stormwater infrastructure project. “Every congressional office has the option to participate in community projects,” said Duarte. “Now, these used to be known as earmarks, and they got a bad name because, in the old days, they were abused. So, community projects have real restrictions on them now. They have to be shovel-ready, you can’t just put the money in the bank account. They have to be for a community-public entity … so a lot of the abuses have been curtailed and cut away, and that’s great, because it’s a great program.” … ” Read more from the Turlock Journal.
IMPERIAL/COACHELLA VALLEYS
2024 Salton Sea Management Program Annual Report submitted to State Water Board
“The California Natural Resources Agency has submitted its 2024 Annual Report on the Salton Sea Management Program (SSMP) to the State Water Resources Control Board, prepared in compliance with Order WR 2017-0134. The report provides specific updates on the SSMP’s activities in 2023 and planning for future projects, ongoing partnerships to help the SSMP meet its goals, community engagement, and next steps. Significant, measurable progress continued at the Salton Sea in 2023. The largest restoration project in the Sea’s history neared completion, which will suppress dust and restore habitat across thousands of acres at the south end of the Sea. In other areas along the Sea, hundreds of acres now host native vegetation recently planted to suppress dust over coming decades. These plants have taken root, are growing and are beginning to serve their purpose. This year also witnessed the first major investment by federal agencies to stabilize the Sea; the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation granted $70 million to accelerate local restoration projects. This funding is being put into action to start expanding the Species Conservation Habitat Project by an additional 1,000 acres. … ” Continue reading from the Natural Resources Agency.
Environmentalists talk Salton Sea at Bombay Beach Eco Event
“Environmental activists from close to home and around the globe gathered for the annual Bombay Beach Environmental Day recently to take part in important discussions about the Salton Sea’s past, its present and future. Through a combination of science and environmental justice discussions, the event focused on bringing awareness to the issues facing the Salton Sea, to educate locals and others on the current mitigation plans that are already in place and to speak on possible future solutions for the sea. “What we’re trying to do here is bring different voices and see the whole picture in all the different shades; environmental shades, social shades, fairness things like justices, engineering lenses, so on and so forth,” said the German award-winning visual journalist Uwe H. Martin. The daylong discussion was March 17. … ” Read more from the Calexico Chronicle.
Along the Colorado River …
Chasing a troubled river
“I’ve known the Colorado River my entire life,” Pete McBride writes in “The Colorado River: Chasing Water.” “I grew up in its headwaters and learned to swim in alpine lakes and tributaries fed by Rocky Mountain snow.” So when he was searching for a close-to-home story to cover after two decades working as a globe-trotting photojournalist, he turned to his backyard. McBride’s father, who moved the family to a high-mountain cattle ranch in the 1970s, suggested the river project after observing how the snowpack and meltwater that nourished their land were changing. “Around 2007, I started following — quite literally — our irrigation supply as it returned to the creek and then to the Colorado River,” McBride writes. “Over the next 15 years, that personal mission would become a cornerstone for much of my life’s work.” … ” Read more from the National Parks Conservation Association.
More willing water rights sellers in NV than money, say water regulators
“Landowners in Nevada have been more than willing to surrender their groundwater rights in exchange for cash payments thanks to a water conservation program financed by the federal government, said state water regulators — but time and money are running out. Lack of storage infrastructure, drought, and warming trends have led to long-term over-pumping of groundwater basins in northern and central Nevada. Throughout the Central Nevada Regional Water Authority region — an agency created to proactively address water resource issues in the region — there are 25 over-appropriated groundwater basins, eight of which are also over-pumped. … “There’s no doubt that groundwater pumping in the Humboldt Basin has affected surface flows,” said Fontaine during a meeting of the Interim Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Public Lands last week. … ” Read more from the Nevada Current.
Legislation would break out $45 million for Hoover Dam locked up by red tape
“When Hoover Dam was built in the 1930s, it cost $49 million — about $760 million in today’s dollars, adjusted for inflation. Now, congressional leaders are mounting an effort to free up $45 million in the Colorado River Dam Fund that has been “inaccessible for decades due to bureaucracy and federal red tape.” U.S. Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., and U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., have introduced the bipartisan Hoover Dam Act. The legislation seeks to put the money to work for operations, maintenance and improvement projects at the dam. Companion legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate by Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema. Every senator from Nevada, Arizona and California is listed as a cosponsor. The House legislation is cosponsored by every representative from Nevada, along with six other representatives from Arizona and California. … ” Read more from Channel 8.
Water wars: Distrusted and loathed, the BLM is asked to save the west from itself
“Pity the official sent to distant places to enforce unpopular edicts. Now that US occupation authorities implanted in Afghanistan and Iraq have run their course, the closest thing in American government to the unlucky Roman proconsul described above might be Tracy Stone-Manning, Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). A division of the Interior Department, the BLM was ordered by the Trump administration to relocate its headquarters from Washington to this high-plains town in eastern Colorado in order to be closer to the 247 million acres of public land it controls. The Biden administration reversed that decision, to the relief of many career BLM bureaucrats who had given notice that they would quit rather than be relocated if the plan were carried through. But the decision did not go over well here in Colorado. … ” Read more from The Breakthrough Institute.
In national water news today …
‘Humbling, and a bit worrying’: Scientists fail to fully explain record global heat
“Deadly heat in the Southwest. Hot-tub temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean. Sweltering conditions in Europe, Asia and South America. That 2023 was Earth’s hottest year on record was in some ways no surprise. For decades, scientists have been sounding the alarm about rapidly rising temperatures driven by humanity’s relentless burning of fossil fuels. But last year’s sudden spike in global temperatures blew far beyond what statistical climate models had predicted, leading one noted climate scientist to warn that the world may be entering “uncharted territory.” “It’s humbling, and a bit worrying, to admit that no year has confounded climate scientists’ predictive capabilities more than 2023 has,” wrote Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, in a recent article in the journal Nature. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Sinking coastal lands will exacerbate the flooding from sea level rise in 24 us cities, new research shows
“Flooding could affect one out of every 50 residents in 24 coastal cities in the United States by the year 2050, a study led by Virginia Tech researchers suggests. The study, published this month in Nature, shows how the combination of land subsidence—in this case, the sinking of shoreline terrain—and rising sea levels can lead to the flooding of coastal areas sooner than previously anticipated by research that had focused primarily on sea level rise scenarios. “One of the things we wanted to do with this study is really emphasize the impact of land subsidence, which is often not reflected in most of the discussion around sea level rise,” said Leonard Ohenhen, the lead author of the study and a graduate student at Virginia Tech’s Earth Observation and Innovation Lab. … ” Read more from Inside Climate News.
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
NOTICE of Proposed Emergency Rulemaking for SGMA fees
