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In California water news this weekend …
Kings County Farm Bureau sues state for placing the region on probation because of groundwater woes
“The Kings County Farm Bureau and two of its farmer members have filed suit against the state Water Resources Control Board, claiming the board exceeded its jurisdiction when it placed the Tulare Lake groundwater subbasin on probation April 16. A writ of mandate was filed May 15 in Kings County Superior Court. A writ is an order asking a governmental body, in this case the Water Board, to cease an action. The farm bureau is asking the board to vacate the resolution, which was passed unanimously. “The board’s decision to place the (Tulare Lake Subbasin) on probation violated the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and expanded the board’s authority beyond its jurisdiction,” a Kings County Farm Bureau press release states. The filing asks for declaratory and injunctive relief, and cites eight causes of action under the writ that the “probationary designation is arbitrary, capricious, and lacking in evidentiary support.” … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Report shows inflation has boosted the Delta tunnel cost to $20 billion – or more
“The controversial Delta Conveyance Project will cost $20.1 billion according to a new cost-benefit analysis released by the state on Thursday. That’s up from the previous cost projection of $16 billion. Almost all of that increase is because of inflation, said David Sunding, emeritus professor at UC Berkeley, who led the benefit-cost analysis, in a media briefing. The benefits will likely far outweigh the costs, said Sunding. For every $1 spent, $2.20 will be generated by the project, according to the analysis. The Delta Tunnel would take Sacramento River water beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to thirsty towns and farms further south and relies on the end users footing the bill. The Department of Water Resources (DWR) is the agency overseeing the project. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
SEE ALSO: Kern County Water Agency Considers Delta Conveyance Project Following Release of State Benefit-Cost Analysis, press release from the Kern County Water Agency
Harder slams new Delta tunnel report after Sacramento admits the project would irreparably harm Delta communities
“Today, Rep. Harder called out Sacramento politicians and the California Department of Water Resources for trying to ship the Central Valley’s water south while causing “significant and unavoidable” impacts on Delta communities. In a benefit-cost analysis released yesterday, the state admits the cost of the project has grown to over $20 billion and would devastate Delta communities with $167 million in damages. The project would be a disaster for Delta communities by destroying farmland and worsening air quality. “This new analysis acknowledges what we’ve known all along: the Delta Tunnel is meant to benefit Beverly Hills and leave Delta communities out to dry,” said Rep. Harder. “This $20 billion boondoggle project wouldn’t create a single new gallon of water for anyone. I’m sick and tired of politicians in Sacramento ignoring our Valley voices and I will do everything in my power to stop them from stealing our water.” … ” Read more from Congressman Josh Harder.
Drought conditions have mostly disappeared in California. It’s a first in more than a decade
“For the first time in more than four years, all of Northern California is free of drought or abnormally dry conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor data released on Thursday. California now has its lowest amount of drought conditions since 2011. “Considering how long they were in some form of abnormal dryness or drought, it’s pretty significant,” said Lindsay Johnson, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It’s the first time all of Northern California is free of abnormally dry or drought conditions since October 2019. Parts of Siskiyou and Modoc counties that were previously a stronghold of dry conditions are now classified as normal for the first time since Nov. 19, 2019. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Quiet spring conditions persist in California, but late summer/autumn could look quite different
“The past month has been a fairly mild one across much of the Western U.S., with many areas near or below their most recent 30-year average (with the reminder that this recent baseline is ever-shifting in a warming climate: such temperatures would have been warmer than average for most of the cooler 20th century). In California, however, the mid-April to mid-May period was actually somewhat warmer than the recent baseline period in most regions–especially in northern CA and the SE deserts. (Coastal SoCal, however, was actually near to below the recent average during this period.) This relatively warmer period peaked over the past week, when many areas across the CA interior (including the central valley) saw hot early summer-like temperatures in the 90-100F degree range. … ” Read more from Weather West.
California bans salmon fishing for the season in Sacramento-area rivers and Klamath basin
“The California Fish and Game Commission voted this week to ban salmon fishing in the Sacramento, American, Feather and Mokelumne rivers. This is the second consecutive year the commission has voted to ban in-river salmon sport fishing in the Klamath River Basin and Central Valley rivers, according to a news release from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The fishing ban prohibits the taking and possession of Chinook salmon in the Sacramento, American, Feather and Mokelumne rivers and their tributaries, along with the ban of fishing fall-run Chinook salmon in the Klamath and Trinity rivers and their tributaries. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee. | Read via Yahoo News.
SEE ALSO: Ocean Recreational and In-River Salmon Sport Fisheries in California Closed for Second Consecutive Season, from the Department of Fish and Wildlife
Nearly all staff suddenly resign at Bay Area environmental group
“Almost the entire staff of a 43-year-old Bay Area environmental group has resigned over a dispute about the publication of a book and management of the nonprofit that runs it. Six out of seven members of the staff of the Bay Institute, which does research and advocacy work to protect the San Francisco Bay and Delta, announced their resignation last week to the board of Bay.org, the umbrella organization that runs the Bay Institute and also runs the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco and several other entities. According to a May 16, statement by the group that resigned, which included four senior staff and two junior staff members, the action was prompted in part by the decision by Bay.org CEO and president George Jacob to publish a book authored by the staff before they had a chance to finalize their own revisions and before it received a peer review. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle (gift article).
People news …
Bill Bennett: friend of fish and fisheries in the San Francisco Estuary
“William A. Bennett (1955-2024) was a top-notch scientist/biologist who spent much of his career improving our understanding of the ecology and management of native and non-native fishes in the SF Estuary (SFE) especially delta smelt and striped bass. Those of us who had the good fortune to work with him knew Bill as an insightful biologist who worked hard to retain his objectivity on controversial fish management issues in the SFE. I got to know Bill when he joined my lab as a graduate student in Ecology at UCD in 1987. I agreed to sponsor him because I was impressed by his outstanding academic record as both a teacher and researcher at U. Mass. Boston. Bill also spent time as a research assistant working with the famous ecologist Richard Levins, where he learned about ecological modeling and gained an appreciation for Loop models, dialectics and holistic approaches to theoretical ecology. His first published paper (1990) dealt with competitive interactions between house sparrows and house finches, published in the prestigious journal American Naturalist. … ” Read more from Restore the Delta.
Podcasts …
WATER IS A MANY SPLENDOR’ED THING PODCAST: Urban Planning and Water
Urban Planning and water seem to overlap each other when designing for land development. Some of the fundamental decisions for planning surround questions related to water. Water is a Many Splendor’ed Thing brings you another water relationship that has a personally significant impact to your life. Produced by Steven Baker, Bringing People Together to Solve Water Problems, water@operationunite.co 530-205-6388
ECONEWS REPORT: Remembering Petey Brucker
Sunday video …
NBC Palm Springs: Restoring the Salton Sea
NBC Palm Springs anchor Olivia Sandusky dives into the struggles and triumphs at the Salton Sea, including lithium, wetlands and the 10-year plan.
In this report, Ms. Sandusky focuses on the Desert Shores Channel Restoration project, earthquake activity, the proposed Chuckwalla Monument and popular attractions around the sea.
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Why America’s groundwater is disappearing
Unchecked groundwater use is draining aquifers across the U.S., threatening drinking water supplies and the nation’s status as a food superpower. For example, the Ogallala Aquifer beneath the Great Plains supports about 30% of all U.S. crop and animal production, but in 2022, parts of the water table reached their lowest levels since NASA started measuring two decades ago. WSJ explains why this crisis is posing an “existential threat” to many communities and looks at how the critical natural resources could be saved.
In regional water news this weekend …
CENTRAL COAST
Despite short-term gains, ‘future is still uncertain’ for Big Basin Water
“The court-appointed manager of an embattled utility provider in the Santa Cruz Mountains reported that circumstances aren’t as dire as they were six months ago, but the system and its hundreds of customers aren’t out of the woods. “We’re still standing,” is the simplest way Nicolas Jaber, an attorney with Serviam by Wright LLP, could put it during a Wednesday town hall meeting in Boulder Creek for customers of Big Basin Water Co. Jaber is also a project manager with the Irvine-based law firm assigned by a Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge last fall to assume operational control of the water system after it spent years on the brink of collapse. Only a couple of months later, a judge assigned even more responsibility to Serviam by Wright by having it take over Big Basin’s wastewater treatment plant — serving a subset of customers in the Fallen Leaf neighborhood — after raw waste was spotted spilling onto open earth at the facility. … ” Read more from the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Fresno water district plans to use a $5 million federal grant to sink more water
“Fresno Irrigation District (FID) received $5 million from the federal government for recharge projects. It’s the largest grant FID has ever received and staff were overjoyed when they heard the news. “We were elated,” said Bill Stretch, general manager of FID. “That’s a huge shot in the arm for the district. And it helps us fast track our plan to build out our future recharge basins.” The funding comes from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART program which funds projects for drought response and planning. The money for FID will go toward building two new recharge basins totaling 115 acres, said Stretch. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Sinking land, dry wells and accusations are plentiful in Kings County – but no solutions in sight
“Relations among Kings County groundwater entities have gone from bad to worse after the state put the region on probation for its inability to come up with a cohesive plan to curb furious overpumping that has sunk huge swaths of land, dried up wells and caused other problems. After a burst of collaboration to try and create a last-ditch new plan before the April 16 state Water Resources Control Board hearing that ended with a unanimous vote to place the Tulare Lake subbasin on probation, all sides are now securely in their respective bunkers. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
MEETING NOTES: More Kern water districts approve new groundwater plan in hopes of avoiding state intervention
“Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa Water Storage District, Arvin-Edison Water Storage District, and Shafter-Wasco Irrigation District all met this week to pass five motions in relation to a new Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) that water managers in the Kern subbasin hope to submit to the state Water Resources Control Board staff by May 28. Their goal is to provide a plan that meets the state requirements under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act to bring the subbasin’s overdrafted aquifer into balance by 2040. Kern’s previous two GSPs were rejected by the state, which has set a probationary hearing for the subbasin for January 2025. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
EASTERN SIERRA
Will LA take more Mono Lake water?
“Last year was notably wet, raising Mono Lake five feet—and creating a conundrum. Under rules written three decades ago, the lake’s rise over the 6,380-foot elevation threshold means that on April 1, 2024, the maximum limit on water diversions from Mono Lake increased nearly fourfold. Yet decades of evidence show that increasing water diversions will erode the wet year gains, stopping the lake from reaching the mandated healthy 6,392-foot elevation.This flaw in the water diversion rules, now obvious after 30 years of implementation, has real-world results: Mono Lake is a decade late and eight feet short of achieving the healthy lake requirement. The California State Water Resources Control Board plans to examine this problem in a future hearing. But with that critical action many months away—and still unscheduled—the question for 2024 is: Will the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) choose to maintain the same export level as recent years—and help achieve required lake recovery? Or will DWP choose to quadruple its water diversions—and push Mono Lake’s level downward? … ” Read more from the Mono Lake Committee.
30th anniversary of the water rights decision to protect Mono Lake
“Throughout the year the Mono Lake Committee is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the decision that established the mandate to protect Mono Lake at the 6,392 foot elevation level—the Public Trust lake level. Decision 1631 was issued by the California State Water Resources Control Board 1994 and is the cornerstone of Mono Lake’s protection. When the State Water Board voted unanimously to approve D1631, the crowd in the Sacramento hearing room stood in a genuine and enthusiastic ovation, a rarity for state agency decisions. Board member Marc del Piero pronounced: “Today we saved Mono Lake.” D1631 placed limitations on the excessive water diversions that the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) had been taking for more than 50 years. Without those limits, Mono Lake would have continued its precipitous decline, its salinity would have risen beyond the tolerance of the brine shrimp and alkali flies at the core of the ecosystem, and its vital role in the lives of millions of nesting and migratory birds would have ended. … ” Read more from the Mono Lake Committee.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Earlier than normal toxic algae blooms bring safety concerns for SoCal residents
“Several Southern California lakes are being impacted by earlier than normal toxic algae blooms that could cause serious harm to humans and animals alike. Experts say that the natural algae blooms are starting earlier than ever, and lasting even longer, for a number of reasons, including climate change that increases water temperatures, carbon dioxide and UV light. Additionally, several unusually wet winters have filled local reservoirs to historic levels, helping stir up nutrients that were previously settled at the bottom. So far, bodies of water like Lake Elsinore, Puddingstone Lake in San Dimas, Silverwood Lake in San Bernardino County and Diamond Valley Lake near Hemet have all had cyanobacteria detected in their waters, prompting a slew of warnings for residents and visitors. … ” Read more from CBS LA.
Coastkeeper says no more extensions for addressing water quality issues at South County riding park
“All equestrian operations have been suspended at the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park after its operators did complete a project to address water quality issues by a settlement’s deadline. In 2017, the nonprofit Orange County Coastkeeper sued San Juan Capistrano and the Ridland Group, which operates the riding park, alleging Clean Water Act violations from horse-washing water discharge that contained feces, soap and urine. As part of a settlement agreement, the city took on nearly $8 million in necessary improvements to prevent contaminated water from running off into nearby San Juan Creek. But the Ridland Group, which runs equestrian events and operations at the riding park, did not put in a storm drain before the settlement’s April 15 deadline, according to San Juan Capistrano officials. … ” Read more from the OC Register.
Couple sues Newport Beach after same water main breaks twice, destroys family’s home both times
“The trial dates for two related lawsuits filed against the city of Newport Beach accusing it of negligence in the maintenance of a water main that burst and flooded a local home twice has been set for this fall, according to attorney Jesse Creed. Amy and Marshall Senk have owned their home on Evening Canyon Road in Corona del Mar since 2002 and, after remodeling it, began living there in August 2006. In October 2020, a water main owned and operated by the city failed and burst, which led to “catastrophic” flooding of the property with 500,000 gallons of water, according to a complaint filed in Orange County Superior Court in April 2023 by the Senks’ attorneys from Panish|Shea|Ravipudi LLP. The damage left in the wake of the failure made the house uninhabitable. Because the damage made it necessary to demolish and rebuild their home, the Senks lived in temporary quarters for the two years the work was underway. They were preparing to move back into their home in November 2022 when the same water main broke and flooded the home a second time. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Along the Colorado River …
Davis Dam flows will be briefly reduced to study pesky caddisfly species
“The Bureau of Reclamation wants people to pay extra attention when recreating around the Davis Dam on Tuesday morning as lower water levels could give way to new hazards. Reduction in the flow of water released from the dam will only take place from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mountain Time on Tuesday, but newly exposed sandbars, unstable riverbanks and floating or submerged debris may pose extra risks, the agency said in a statement. Water managers are planning to resume normal operations after 2 p.m. Mountain Time. … ” Read more from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. … ” Read more from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Arizonans want state leaders to take action to protect vital groundwater supplies
“A poll conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the Walton Family Foundation shows almost 9 in 10 voters (88%) are concerned about groundwater supplies in Arizona and believe that limiting unregulated groundwater pumping should be a priority for the state. Almost three-quarters (74%) think the Governor should use existing laws to manage rural groundwater if the Arizona State Legislature fails to enable rural communities to regulate their own groundwater.Only 34% of Arizonans believe the state will have enough water to support its population in 15 years. Only 13% believe Arizona will have enough water in 50 years. Almost all (92%) of voters say that Arizona needs to prioritize the health of rivers and streams to address Arizona’s drought and decreasing groundwater supplies. … ” Read more from the Walton Family Foundation.
Utah: Hammer or money? How water providers are pushing change
“Zach Renstrom has been called a lot of things, and some of them are expletives not suitable for print. Renstrom didn’t get sideways of people when he was a Washington County commissioner, but when he accepted the position as general manager of the Washington County Water Conservancy District. His predecessor, the blunt-speaking, formidable and towering Ron Thompson, promised him it would be an easy job. He was probably winking when he said it, or at least smiling inside. He’d been in the job nearly 40 years and told Renstrom that by the time he retired, the Lake Powell Pipeline would be finished. … The highly controversial pipeline project has been years on the table and would siphon water from Lake Powell, part of the Colorado River Basin system and the second-largest reservoir in the county. … ” Read more from the Deseret News.
The pivotal role of a tiny hydropower plant in preserving the Colorado River’s future
“A sprawling water district that serves residents, ranchers and recreators on the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains is preparing to invest a mammoth $98.5 million on a tiny hydropower plant in a bipartisan, multi-sectorial effort to help secure the Colorado River’s future. In the coming weeks, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) is expected to sign into law a comprehensive water conservation bill that would include a $20 million state contribution through the Colorado Water Conservation Board to the overall purchase of the water rights associated with the Shoshone Generating Station. … ” Read more from The Hill.
Scientists aim to improve Western snowfall, water supply forecasts with research project in Colorado
“A new research project in the Mountain West aims to improve forecasts of snowfall, and estimates of how climate change will affect the region’s snowpacks and water supplies. Next winter, research scientists from several institutions, including Colorado State University and the University of Utah, will converge in the Park Range mountains of northwestern Colorado. Throughout the 2024-2025 winter season, the team will use radar technology and snow-sampling tools to measure the size and shape of snowflakes. Researchers will also use radar to detect how storm clouds change as they move over mountains and interact with the terrain. … ” Read more from Wyoming Public Radio.
