DAILY DIGEST, holiday weekend edition: Cover crops could enhance groundwater recharge; Ninth Circuit rejects ESA challenges to 2005 water project renewal contracts; State Water Project advances efforts to prepare for future droughts; Rising temperatures will significantly reduce streamflow in the Upper Colorado River basin; and more …

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In California water news this weekend …

Cover crops could enhance groundwater recharge – a lot – but agencies aren’t embracing the concept

“Cover crops could be an important tool in groundwater management but are being unintentionally disincentivized by groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs,) according to a new study.  GSAs haven’t done enough analysis or incentivization of cover crops, according to authors of the study. In fact, the study suggests some GSAs are putting a negative spin on the use of cover crops by accounting for their water usage but excluding their water benefits.  Cover crops are planted between crop rows and are not harvested. They are often grasses or legumes and can improve underground water infiltration and storage, soil health and decrease runoff and erosion.  The study points to data that shows cover crops can increase water infiltration by more than 40% and decrease runoff by more than 40%.  The lack of cover crop interest boils down to poor understanding, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley, said Rory Crowley, farmer and one of the contributing authors of the study. … ”  Read more from SJV Water.

Ninth Circuit rejects ESA challenges to 2005 renewal of Sacramento River Settlement contracts and Delta-Mendota Canal contracts

“On May 23, 2024, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 68-page decision in NRDC, et al. v. Haaland, et al. (Case No. 21-15163), which affirmed the district court’s rulings rejecting claims brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental interest groups (collectively, “NRDC”) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In 2008, NRDC challenged the execution of the 2005 renewals of certain long-term water supply contracts between the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors (“SRS Contractors” or “Settlement Contractors”), the Delta-Mendota Canal Contractors, and the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation). Specifically, NRDC challenged the adequacy of the required ESA Section 7 consultation by and between Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) regarding alleged effects to delta smelt resulting from the renewal of such contracts (including further consultations after remand in 2015), and the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling that these consultations were adequate. … ”  Continue reading at Somach Simmons & Dunn.

State Water Project advances efforts to prepare for future droughts amid a changing climate

“The California Department of Water Resources has finalized its first comprehensive, public-facing Long-term Drought Plan for the State Water Project as part of an expanded effort to prepare for future droughts and extreme dry conditions.  Specifically, the Long-term Drought Plan includes an assessment of the potential impacts of drought on the State Water Project, including the possibility that California’s shift to a hotter, drier future may result in more severe droughts and reduced water availability. This is an important step for the State Water Project which supplies water to 27 million Californians, two-thirds of the State’s population.  “While California is coming off of two straight years of above average precipitation and adequate reservoir levels across the state, we need to plan for the next drought because it is right around the corner,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “The State Water Project’s Long-term Drought Plan keeps us on a path to ensuring continued access to a clean, reliable water supply in the future.” … ”  Read more from DWR News.

Unified command response issued for vessel leaking fuel in Delta

“Authorities in San Joaquin County have stepped up response to a boat leaking fuel into a Delta waterway on Wednesday.  A unified command with representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response and the city of Stockton has been formed to respond to the sinking vessel in Little Potato Slough near Stockton.  The sinking ship in the Delta waterway was found leaking fuel and oil into the body of water Wednesday, the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office first announced.  Aurora, a 293-foot ocean liner ship made in 1955, suffered a hole and began taking on water, causing it to leak diesel fuel and oil into the Delta at Empire Tract and Eight Mile roads in Little Potato Slough. … ”  Read more from Stocktonia.

The Elwha River: A wild ride through a decade of dam removal

““The river will never recover!”  This is one of the responses I’ve seen in recent months from skeptics of the historic dam removal project currently underway on the Klamath River – the largest such project ever to date.   This claim is eerily like claims made prior to, during and after dam removal in Washington’s Elwha River – a river system in which I’ve studied steelhead and salmon for years. … Skepticism is one of the cornerstones of science. But in the end, the story is about real-world science and outcomes. And the data from the Elwha – and from several other rivers where dams have been removed – are consistent in their story: restoring and improving connectivity benefits migratory fish species, mammals, birds and insects. … ”  Read more from Trout Unlimited.

The West’s wetlands are struggling. Some have been overlooked altogether.

“On a warm day in August, Anthony Stewart hiked through a forest on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, making his way through a tangle of ferns and grasses. Wispy, lichen-coated branches hung overhead, providing shade as he set down his backpack and shovel, and he and his team prepared to dig.  This was one of Stewart’s his favorite study sites, he said. … In a recent study published in Nature Communications, Stewart and his team reported the surprising abundance of unmapped, carbon-rich wetlands in the Pacific Northwest’s forests. The scientists studied the Hoh River watershed, which snakes westward across the Olympic Peninsula, documenting wetlands that were invisible to satellite imaging, the standard technique for measuring wetlands, owing to the thick forest canopy. Including them in estimates of the watershed’s carbon-storage capacity increased them by fivefold.  Conserving forested wetlands not only protects valuable habitat; it could help stabilize the climate. But first, the wetlands must be put on the map — and that is no easy task. … ”  Read more from the High Country News.

He set out to photograph all of California’s forests. Then they began to burn.

“The photos were like huge portals into forests all over California, ready to be entered if a spell allowed it. On one wall, you could step into a six-foot-tall image of a tangle of manzanitas, shiny and ochre-red, at Henry W. Coe State Park. On another, you could surround yourself in a spring-green fairyscape at a Briones Regional Park oak woodland. Near it was a grove of sequoias, outbeefing all other living things. Occasionally a figure, like a deer or the photographer himself, popped up in the midground like a two-inch Waldo, confronting the viewer with the enormity of the scene. But most photos had no central subject—no hero tree. “He’s not telling you where to look,” said Leslie Howard, a friend who accompanied photographer Stefan Thuilot, a Berkeley-based landscape architect, on some of his forest trips. He is giving you a way in. … ”  Read more from Bay Nature.

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In commentary this weekend …

DAN WALTERS: Decadeslong Delta tunnel water project may finally be nearing a historic decision

“It’s been almost a half-century since I first heard the term “peripheral canal” uttered by William Gianelli, who was then-Gov. Ronald Reagan’s top water official. The project, in one form or another, had already been kicking around for decades.  The California Water Project became operative in the 1960s and was the most prominent legacy project of Pat Brown, whom Reagan had defeated in 1966.  The project dams the Feather River near Oroville and releases impounded water to flow down the Feather into the Sacramento River and eventually into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Pumps at the southern edge of the Delta suck the water into the California Aqueduct, which carries it down the San Joaquin Valley to more pumps over the Tehachapi Mountains into Southern California. … ”  Read more from Dan Walters at Cal Matters.

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In regional water news this weekend …

MOUNTAIN COUNTIES

Spaulding powerhouse repairs on track, South Yuba Pipe repair delayed

“During yesterday’s Nevada Irrigation District (NID) Board of Directors meeting, the update on the ongoing PG&E infrastructure outages and repairs at Spaulding was a mixed bag. While repairs at the Powerhouse #1 are on track to be completed by mid-June, restoring half the powerhouse flow capacity through the irrigation season, the South Yuba Pipe repairs won’t be completed until late August, according to PG&E government liaison Brandon Sanders.According to a social media post by PG&E spokesperson Paul Moreno, “In February, about 240 feet of PG&E’s South Yuba Pipe was damaged in a winter storm rockslide, and snow and the wet hillside prevented crews from safely accessing the site until April. … ”  Read more from  YubaNet.

SACRAMENTO VALLEY

Shasta Lake City Council votes to increase water rates amid rising costs

“The City of Shasta Lake is considering making a change to how they charge for water.  The city council made a 4 to 1 vote at their meeting Tuesday night to move forward with an ordinance that would raise rates by 15 to almost 40 percent for some residents.  However city officials say the proposed raise in rates would match the massive increase in costs they’ve seen. Especially after the council chose in 2020 to keep rates flat until now. … ”  Read more from KRCR.

BAY AREA

Marin Municipal Water District aims to replace pipes in Tiburon

“Old water pipes along Paradise Drive in Tiburon might be getting a $2.9 million upgrade.  The Marin Municipal Water District’s operations committee is recommending that the board approve a project to replace 3,490 feet of iron pipes in the town.  The pipes along Paradise Drive and Mar West Street were installed as early as 1922 and are prone to leaking, according to district staff. The project would replace the pipes in the area with 8-inch, 6-inch and 4-inch welded steel pipes, according to Ava Pridgeon, an engineer with the district.  The project is part of the district’s capital improvement and fire flow improvement programs. About 77% would be funded by the capital improvement program and the rest by the fire flow program. … ”  Read more from the Marin Independent Journal.

A trash lake has popped up in San Francisco. Officials can’t tell why.

“San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood has a new attraction: a turbid, trash-filled lake.  The “lake” is actually a vacant lot at the corner of Shipley and Fifth streets that mysteriously flooded. On Tuesday, an SFGATE reporter observed roughly 5 feet of standing water at the site, which has been empty and fenced off for several years. Chunks of debris floated on the water’s slimy, opaque surface. Exactly how the lot flooded is unclear. SFGATE contacted several city departments, including San Francisco Public Works, the Department of Building Inspection, and San Francisco Water, Power and Sewer. Officials at those agencies, who were each unaware of the flooded lot when they spoke with SFGATE, could only guess where the water came from. … ”  Read more from SF Gate.

Sac State Professor wins EPA grant to monitor trash and clean up San Francisco Bay

“A Sacramento State professor will work with community volunteers and student interns to monitor trash and clean up San Francisco Bay, thanks to a $742,240 federal grant.  The grant – one of eight Bipartisan Infrastructure Law awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – is part of a $43 million investment in protecting and restoring San Francisco Bay as well as local watersheds and wetlands.  The funding will help reduce trash going into urban stormwater systems by utilizing the community-based monitoring system Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Julian Fulton developed with Sac State faculty and students as well as the nonprofit Keep California Beautiful.  The grant will allow Fulton to expand the Trash Rapid Assessment Data Exchange (TRADE) to Contra Costa County. … ”  Read more from Sac State.

CENTRAL COAST

Grover Beach City Council votes to reduce water rate increase

“After months of tirelessly protesting against Grover Beach’s new water rate structure, Grover H2O members finally received the answer they’ve been looking for.  During a May 13 City Council meeting, council members voted 3-1 to revise their December 2023 vote that would have increased water rates by almost 20 percent over the next four years.  “I want to retire; I don’t want to have a double water rate. Repeal these right now and bring these rates back to before they were voted on,” Grover H2O member Brenda Auer said during public comment at the May 13 meeting. “Bring the rates back to December, do the right thing, be heroes, be legendary tonight.” … ”  Read more from New Times SLO.

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY

Commentary: Perhaps the home buyers thought the levee was just a massive gopher mound

Dennis Wyatt, editor of the Manteca Bulletin, writes, “It was the defining moment of the January 1997 floods.  A KCRA-TV news crew was standing in the backyard of a Weston Ranch home that was on a street where every family was busy loading up rental vans with whatever possessions they could jam inside.  The camera was focused on a young couple with anxiety on their faces.  The husband started to speak as the camera panned from the back side of his home to his back fence.  “If we had known it could flood here we never would have bought the home.”  Just as he finished his sentence the camera stopped on the nearly 20-foot high backside of the French Camp Slough levee that was right behind his house.  One had to wonder what he thought the almost 20-foot-high mound of dirt behind his house was for anyway.  But in the homeowner’s defense, he is like other Californians living in a dreamland with no reality of where their water comes from or how it is kept from destroying half the state. … ”  Read more from the Manteca Bulletin.

EASTERN SIERRA

Little guys lost in the crossfire as water agencies feud

““To say that I am irritated with all of you is a giant understatement. Well owners do not know what to do because what has happened is as clear as mud,” said Judie Decker during public comment at the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority board meeting on May 15.  Decker and a small contingent of interested IWV residents have regularly attended IWVGA meetings since before it was even an official public agency. They offer their opinions on numerous issues related to water management, but in particular they speak up for private well owners, of which there are many dotted through the IWV basin. The IWVGA is responsible for bringing the critically overdrafted IWV groundwater basin into sustainability. … ”  Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Golden State: surface water from Claremont aquifer no cause for concern

“For the last several weeks, residents near Pilgrim Place have watched with alarm as water surged from the ground near the corner of Seventh Street and Berkeley Avenue and fell into a storm drain near Harrison Avenue.  Neighbors have shared concerns about the seemingly free flowing water amid rising water bills and well-publicized calls for conservation from Golden State Water Company, Claremont’s water supplier.  And though the alarm seems well founded — after all, Southern Californians and Claremonters have grown accustomed to living in drought conditions, despite generous precipitation over the previous two winters — officials say the flow is naturally occurring and will not impact ratepayers’ bills. … ”  Read more from the Claremont Courier.

IMPERIAL/COACHELLA VALLEYS

As lithium emerges in Imperial County, what will it take for residents to benefit?

“For the most part, Michael Luellen is excited about what the arrival of the lithium industry could mean for Imperial County.  Luellen is a city councilmember in Calipatria, a working class town of around 6,500 that sits just miles from the area where companies hope to extract the valuable mineral from deep in the ground. … Every now and again though, Luellen has his doubts.  “We have been, being honest, subject to broken promises previously,” he said. “What if lithium doesn’t come?”  Luellen was referring to the way that past renewable energy booms have unfolded in the Imperial Valley, which includes the county and its surrounding area. Geothermal energy and solar power have both pledged to bring new prosperity to the valley in the past and failed to deliver.  But experts say things could be different this time. … ”  Read more from KPBS.

SAN DIEGO

San Diego County Water Authority moves forward on rate hike

“Local water agencies are bracing for much higher wholesale water costs, after the County Water Authority board voted unanimously Thursday to move a rate hike proposal forward to a June 27 final vote.  The proposal would raise wholesale rates 19 percent in 2025 — and a total of 38 percent over three years — to help the authority cover financial losses caused by declining sales to local water agencies.  The increases will force local agencies to also raise rates — but how much of the hikes they pass on to customers could vary widely. Some agencies with groundwater basins or other local water supplies will be less affected. … ”  Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Mayor Gloria pushes back on countywide water rate hike

“It’s been a rainy couple of years – and that means the region’s water importer and seller is hurting for cash. To help cover that gap, among other growing costs of its massive water infrastructure system, the San Diego County Water Authority proposed increasing water rates by up to 39 percent in the next two years.  In response, the city of San Diego, the Water Authority’s biggest customer, said “hell naw.”  San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria told the Water Authority Wednesday in a memo obtained by Voice of San Diego that he’s not supportive of the up to 19 percent water price hike which would go into effect Jan. 1. He called upon San Diego’s 10 representatives on the 32-member board to push back. … ”  Read more from the Voice of San Diego.

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Along the Colorado River …

Rising temperatures will significantly reduce streamflow in the Upper Colorado River basin as groundwater levels fall, new research shows

“The Colorado River makes life possible in many Western cities and supports agriculture that sustains people throughout the country. Most of the river’s water begins as snowmelt from the mountainous watersheds of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, and a warming climate will drastically reduce these streamflows, new research finds.  Researchers from Desert Research Institute (DRI), USGS, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory teamed up for the new study, published May 23 in Nature Water. By applying warming to historical conditions for the East River in Colorado and using computer simulations to observe the impact on streamflow and groundwater levels, the scientists found that groundwater storage would fall to the lowest known levels after the first extremely dry year and fail to recover even after multiple wet periods. When groundwater levels fall, streamflows are drawn into the water table instead of contributing to Colorado River flows. … ”  Read more from the Desert Research Institute.

Colorado River water supply to decrease because of overlooked losses

“The Colorado River is set to lose even more water because of climate change, a study has found.  The new research comes from the Desert Research Institute (DRI), the U.S. Geological Survey and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and is published in the journal Nature Water. It found that as temperatures rise, groundwater storage depletes rapidly during dry periods and does not fully recover during wet periods. This depletion causes streamflow to be absorbed into the ground rather than flowing into the Colorado River, exacerbating the water crisis. “We found that groundwater matters a lot,” Rosemary Carroll, a DRI research professor of hydrology and the study’s lead author, said in a statement. “Even with historically observed wet periods in the model, the groundwater can’t come back from a single dry water year under end-of-century warming.” … ”  Read more from Newsweek.

Native American tribes give unanimous approval to proposal securing Colorado River water

“The Navajo Nation Council has signed off on a proposed settlement that would ensure water rights for its tribe and two others in the drought-stricken Southwest — a deal that could become the most expensive enacted by Congress.  The Navajo Nation has one of the largest single outstanding claims in the Colorado River basin. Delegates acknowledged the gravity of their vote Thursday and stood to applause after casting a unanimous vote. Many noted that the effort to secure water deliveries for tribal communities has spanned generations.  Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley and other officials stood outside the chamber in Window Rock, Arizona, under a clear blue sky as the wind whipped. She recalled learning about the fight over water rights in school when she was a girl. … ”  Read more from the Associated Press.

Is the snowpack party over? Arizona’s drought panel sees drier times ahead

“It wasn’t exactly the news anyone wanted to hear, but the West’s two-year snowpack party looks like it may be coming to an end for a while.  According to a report from the National Weather Service’s lead forecaster, the Southwest is in line for the effects of a strong “La Nina” condition in the eastern Pacific Ocean, indicating drier-than-normal months to come.  “We’re seeing the first vestiges of a La Nina effect now,” said Mark O’Malley of the National Weather Service at a meeting of the Drought Interagency Coordinating Group on Tuesday. “It’s going to be the largest climate driver of the next 12 months.” … ”  Read more from the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

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