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On the calendar today …
- WEBINAR: Tribal Engagement with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) from 12pm to 1:30pm. Legal counsel, Sara Clark, and urban planner, Kristi Bascom, will present information on – and answer questions regarding – Tribal Engagement with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The presentation will cover CEQA and NEPA basics, how they are similar (and not); Different ways Tribes and Tribal organizations may engage in a CEQA or NEPA process; Best practices for representing Tribal interests; Key CEQA and NEPA process milestones to be aware of; and Legal options to pursue if needed. Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
86780626082?pwd= bWtGcGUxNDBWQzhBN1dEOEpwMnVxQT 09 - LEG HEARING: Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water beginning at 3pm. Click here for more details and remote access instructions.
In California water news today …
California farmers depleted groundwater in this county. Now a state crackdown could rein them in
“For the first time in California history, state officials are poised to crack down on overpumping of groundwater in the agricultural heartland. The State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday will weigh whether to put Kings County groundwater agencies on probation for failing to rein in growers’ overdrafting of the underground water supply. Probation — which would levy state fees that could total millions of dollars — is the first step that could allow California regulators to eventually take over management of the region’s groundwater. State officials have issued multiple warnings to Kings County growers, irrigation districts and local officials that their groundwater plan has serious deficiencies and won’t stem the region’s dried-up wells, water contamination and sinking land, all caused by overpumping. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
New data shows huge potential for California groundwater basins
“A state-of-the-art project, three years in the making, is analyzing California’s groundwater basins and the state’s underground storage potential. The information could help California and the agriculture industry improve its water access and better prepare for inevitable drought cycles. The program, called the Airborne Electromagnetic Surveys, consists of flying over nearly 95 groundwater basins in California and mapping findings up to 1,000 in depth below the surface. Rosemary Knight, who was part of the proposal sent to the state’s governor, said they are very close to gathering all the data they need for the California Department of Water Resources, where she is part of the advisory committee. … ” Read more from the Fresh Fruit Portal.
A ‘ghost lake’ in California has disappeared for the fifth time since 1890
“Don’t call the 2023 resurgence of Lake Tulare a flood event. That lake has a history that long predates modern Californian farming—even if current water and farming practices have turned it into a “ghost lake.” As ghosts tend to do, this one has disappeared once again. Tulare Lake in the San Joaquin Valley, known as Pa’ashi by the indigenous Tachi Yokut tribe, was considered the largest body of freshwater west of the Mississippi River in the early 1800s. That all changed when land privatization helped drain the lake to make way for farming. The lake has tried to reemerge multiple times since, giving it the nickname of a “ghost lake.” Its latest attempt came in the spring of 2023, when rainstorms coupled with the runoff from the Sierras helped fill the lake. Some called it flooding, but others say it was simply a lake returning. … ” Read more from Popular Mechanics.
Video: Understanding the connection between groundwater and stormwater
“Julie Morelli, water and waste department manager at POWER Engineers, discusses the connection between groundwater and stormwater, NPDES permitting and water quality concerns. Morelli was also presented with the Outstanding Professional Award at this year’s IECA conference, so she touches on that honor as well as her career.” Watch video from Stormwater Solutions.
Robots from UC San Diego tracking climate change’s impact on oceans across the world
“Underwater robots may be a key to understanding how the climate is changing and how our sea levels are rising. This year might be a preview of what the future holds. Researchers at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography are building and deploying what they call Argo floats, all over the world. These under water robots can dive for days at a time, measuring temperature and salinity of ocean water to see how the ocean is changing. The program started in San Diego a couple decades ago, and there are now dozens of countries also building and deploying these floats. More than 4,000 of those autonomous robots are now surveying the world’s oceans. … ” Read more from NBC 7.
Death Valley is alive this year. A super bloom is the latest sign.
“Sometimes the desert holds its secrets close, whispering them only to those who carefully listen. But this year, the hottest and driest place in America might as well be shouting. In California’s Death Valley region, the last few months have been remarkably loud. And the latest bellow is still ringing out, with the area’s native wildflowers bursting into bloom. The flowers have filled a place best known for its shades of browns and grays with brilliant blasts of yellow and purple and sprinkles of pink and cream. This roaring display comes just weeks after the resurrection of a long-dead lake, which filled the park’s Badwater Basin and drew visitors from across the country for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to paddle across a body of water rarely revived since prehistoric days. … All this water set the stage for one of the best wildflower seasons since 2016, and scientists estimate that tens of thousands of acres are blooming simultaneously. … ” Read more from the Washington Post.
In commentary today …
Commentary: Bleak future if state prioritizes Delta ecosystem over human needs
Cary Keaten, general manager of the Solano Irrigation District, writes, “The governance of San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta water quality falls under the authority of the State Water Quality Control Board. Among other duties, the Water Board is responsible for adopting and updating the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta Plan). … The legal obligation of the Water Board is to create water quality control plans that “reasonably” protect the beneficial uses of water encompassing diverse needs such as municipal, industrial, agricultural, and ecological requirements. However, many commenting agencies found the Bay-Delta Plan focused on protecting ecological systems at the expense of municipal, industrial, and agricultural uses. Specifically, the Unimpaired Flow alternative proposed in the Staff Report would all but eliminate the uses of the Solano Project’s water for anything other than the state’s purposes (the Solano Project includes Lake Berryessa, Monticello Dam, Lake Solano, the Lake Solano Diversion Dam, and the Putah South Canal). There are several factors highlighting this conclusion. … ” Read more from the Daily Republic.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Klamath River salmon and steelhead recovery – the future
Tom Cannon writes, “After dam removal, the plan for recovering Klamath River salmon and steelhead is relatively straightforward. Oregon is going to focus on watching to see how steelhead repopulate the upper watershed and on having a more active role in developing spring-run Chinook salmon populations. Without an existing spring-run stock, Oregon will try establishing one by out-planting stock from California’s Trinity River Hatchery. California will focus on recovery of existing lower river spring-run Chinook and fall-run Chinook, Coho, and steelhead stocks. The new Fall Creek Hatchery will sustain the fall-run Chinook, Coho, and steelhead stocks formerly produced at the now-closed Iron Gate Hatchery. … ” Read more from the California Fisheries blog.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
After 100 years, Lake Tahoe is seeing an old friend: The sandhill crane
“Spring is a time of rebirth and renewal. And this season, Tahoe is witnessing its own rebirth in the form of a species of bird that had been previously driven out of the region. Sandhill cranes are making an unexpected return to the Lake Tahoe basin after a century long hiatus caused by overhunting. The birds stand at about 4 feet tall with a wingspan of 7 feet and boast a signature red patch on their head. The sandhill cranes are often compared to dinosaurs by those lucky enough to witness them due to their large size and loud croaks. “They actually kind of paint their feathers, which is really rare in the bird world,” said Denys Hemen of the Audubon Center at Debs Park in Los Angeles. “So they’ll take the mud and the sand that they get and they’ll actually, like, color their feathers with it.” … ” Read more from the LAist.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Mornings at the Duck Pond
“Each morning is similar, but different. As we approach the pond on the wooden catwalk, you can hear the birds calling, eventually you start to smell the freshness of the ecosystem, the glitters and splashing ahead gives some indication of bird activity on the water. Sometimes an alligator lizard scoots past along the floorwork – occasionally even two. Steam rises from my coffee cup, to varying degrees, depending on how quickly we got out the door. And then there are my three kids, also ever changing. Each day, one to three are in-tow, usually chatting it up about geology, Egypt, space, or the day’s most pressing sports news. And so it goes on most mornings, ideally when the midst is still fresh or the winter fog lingering, the Rypel family ventures to the “the duck pond” aka Julie Partansky Pond in north Davis. … ” Read more from the California Water Blog.
BAY AREA
Martinez to talk 6% water rate increase each year through 2029
“On Wednesday, the Martinez City Council will discuss a water rate increase beginning Fiscal Year 2025 and continue through Fiscal Year 2029 where residents will see a average bill increase of approximately 6% per year. The City currently provides approximately 1,520,000 CCF (hundred cubic feet) of water per year to about 10,100 connections. This total reflects a decrease from the 2019 study in overall water use due to conservation efforts. The approximate amount of revenues required from rates for the five-year period, FY 2024-25 through FY 2028-29, is approximately $127.6 million. This revenue equates to rate increases of approximately six percent each year. Another $1.1 million in revenues is projected from other sources. Expenditures during the same period are projected to be approximately $139.2 million. … ” Read more from Contra Costa News.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
L.A.’s water supplies are in good shape. But is the city ready for the next drought?
“California’s second wet winter in a row has left L.A’s water supplies in good shape for at least another year, but the inevitable return to dry conditions could once again put the city’s residents in a precarious position. After the state’s final snow survey of the season, officials with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power announced that Eastern Sierra snowpack is measuring 103% of normal, “providing ample supplies through the city’s most cost-efficient water supply from the Los Angeles Aqueduct.” … But although current conditions are promising, L.A. must maintain its ethos of conservation and prepare for dry times ahead. El Niño, the climate pattern that helped drive California’s recent stormy conditions, is expected to wane in the weeks ahead, and there is an 85% chance that its drier counterpart, La Niña, will develop by late fall or early winter. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Off-limits and tainted, Santa Susana Field Lab superfund site opens to rare tour
“San Fernando Valley residents and activists had a rare chance to tour the vast Santa Susana Field Lab superfund site on Saturday, April 6, during an onsite workshop explaining the efforts to clean the infamous site’s polluted groundwater. The massive Santa Susana Field Lab (SSFL) is home to sandstone cliffs, oak woodland, meadows, mountain vistas, cougars, deer and bobcats. It’s also the land where scientists conducted cutting-edge nuclear research and rocket testing between 1949 and 2006 to assist the nation’s most ambitious space programs, including the Mercury flights, the Apollo 11 Moon landing and the Space Shuttle missions. Those activities left the sprawling 2,800-acre lab’s soil and groundwater tainted with hazardous materials, sparking concerns as residential homes and schools sprung up near the once-remote field in the Simi Hills that separate the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley. … ” Continue reading at the Redlands Daily Facts.
Along the Colorado River …
Copper World’s proposed aquifer protection permit too weak, Pima County says
“Arizona needs to strengthen aquifer-protection requirements for the massive proposed Copper World mine to guard against groundwater pollution beneath it, Pima County officials say. The county officials say the Copper World proposal offers less protection for the aquifer than did the Rosemont Mine earlier proposed at the Santa Rita Mountains site southeast of Tucson. “Under this current application, Hudbay proposes to use water to convey tailings in a slurry pipeline, operate an unlined tailings facility, leave waste rock dumps uncovered at closure, and deploy inadequate monitoring systems,” officials of three Pima County agencies wrote to state regulators. … ” Read more from the Arizona Daily Star.
Arizona commentary: Delivering water to the West
Kari Lake, Republican candidate for the US Senate, writes of the Colorado River Basin, “The federal government’s current approach to this imbalance is the equivalent of trying to cure cancer with a Band-Aid. Instead of pursuing a long-term solution, Washington is using federal funds to pay states and tribal nations to leave water in the river instead of taking their full allocation. Mostly, that means paying farmers to stop farming. That is not a viable long-term solution, and strategically, we need to be encouraging MORE local farming and food production, not less. It does make sense to assist local farmers in switching to crops that require less water, but it does not make sense to put American farmers out of business and make us more reliant on food trucked or shipped thousands of miles before it arrives on our tables. We need an approach to the Colorado River that combines near-term conservation, water-use efficiency improvements and storage capacity enhancements with a long-term strategy to deliver a reliable, sustainable source of new water to the West. … ” Read the full commentary at the Arizona Daily Star.
The Colorado River could get a big boost from a tiny hydro plant. Here’s how that impacts everyone.
“Every day about 19,000 vehicles zip past the Shoshone Power Plant, tucked into Glenwood Canyon by Interstate 70. But few of those travelers have any idea of the history-changing deal being crafted here, where Colorado River water churns through electricity-producing turbines before returning to its channel about 2½ miles downstream. This year Western Slope leaders, led by the Colorado River District, struck a $99 million deal to buy the tiny hydro plant’s water rights from Xcel Energy and lease the water back to Xcel to generate electricity. As part of the deal, Shoshone’s rights would become the largest, most influential environmental water right in state history. The change would protect fish and habitat, but it would also beef up water security on the Western Slope by protecting reliable westward flows for farmers and tourist economies. Many western Coloradans are thrilled to see this important water right protected from any future sell-off by Xcel, the state’s largest electricity provider. … ” Read more from the Colorado Sun.
In national water news today …
Add sand, lose sand, repeat. The climate conundrum for beaches.
“Rebuilding beaches after hurricanes is costing U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars more than expected as the Army Corps of Engineers pumps mountains of sand onto storm-obliterated shorelines. Congress approved more than $770 million since 2018 for emergency beach “nourishment” projects after five megastorms struck Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. Those costs shattered government expectations about the price of preventing beaches from disappearing through decades-old programs that in many cases were created before the dangerous effects of climate change were fully understood. Four of those storms — Michael, Maria, Irma and Ian — were among the most powerful to make landfall in the United States, raising questions about the rising costs of pumping, dumping and spreading sand onto beaches that are increasingly jeopardized by the effects of climbing temperatures. … ” Read more from E&E News.
More news and commentary in the weekend edition …
In California water news this weekend …
-
Snow geese overwintering at Colusa Wildlife Refuge in the Sacramento River Valley. Photo by Sheila Sund. Split opinions lodged at hearing on possible state takeover of groundwater use in Tule Subbasin
- State board probation hearing for Tulare Lake subbasin coming up
- Solano County water war? Local leaders say state plans to take 75% of area’s supply
- Missouri could crack down on water exports to drought-weary West
- Another closure of salmon fisheries exposes state’s water politics
- Klamath farmers say new Fish and Wildlife rule would threaten agriculture on refuges
- Sonoma County: Water contamination by PFAS chemicals a growing local concern; additional tests scheduled
- Sewage backup in East Orosi renews frustration and allegations of dysfunction
- Wet March boosts Colorado snowpack, streamflow forecasts
- And more …
Click here for the weekend digest.
