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In California water news today …
Kings County farmers frustrated with water district’s latest move worry it will hasten state pumping takeover
“Ignoring a letter signed by more than 200 landowners that requested their resignation, the Kings County Water District board of directors not only kept their seats but voted unanimously to remove the district from the Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency within 60 days. That throws another curveball into an already confusing situation in the Tulare Lake subbasin, where growers are hurriedly buying meters, registering wells and paying new pumping fees while adjusting to a probationary status handed down by the State Water Resources Control Board in a historic decision on April 16. “Contrary to what’s been said, I don’t believe we have failed,” said Kings County Water District Chairman Barry McCutcheon. “I don’t plan on stepping aside. But I will make a motion to remove the district from the (Mid-Kings) GSA.” McCutcheon was referring to a letter circulated by the Kings County Farm Bureau, that demanded the resignation of the four-member board and general manager Dennis Mills. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Kings County Water District withdraws from Mid-Kings River GSA
“During a special board meeting on May 29, the Kings County Water District voted to withdraw from the Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency and the joint powers authority it operates under. The motion to withdraw was made by KCWD president Barry McCutcheon — who also serves as the MKR GSA president — and seconded by KCWD director Ernest Taylor. The motion passed without opposition. After the Tulare Lake Subbasin was placed on probation in April, the Mid-Kings River GSA was scrutinized for not approving a revised draft groundwater plan that the five GSAs within the Tulare Subbasin planned to bring before the State Water Board at the probationary hearing. … ” Read more from Valley Ag Voices.
Clear Lake clouded by algae
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An algal bloom clouded the waters of California’s Clear Lake in mid-May 2024. Bright green swirls were visible across most of the lake’s area when the OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on the Landsat 9 satellite acquired this image on May 15. The bloom may contain blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, as well as other types of phytoplankton; only a direct sample can determine the exact composition of a bloom. Cyanobacteria are single-celled organisms that rely on photosynthesis to turn sunlight into food, and some produce microcystin, a potent toxin that can irritate the skin and cause liver and kidney damage. … ” Read more from NASA’s Earth Observatory.
Calif. wildfire smoke is changing the ecology of Lake Tahoe and other freshwater lakes
“Wildfire smoke seemed to pour into the Lake Tahoe Basin from every direction during the summer of 2021 — the Dixie Fire pushed smoke eastward from the north, up and over the Sierra Nevada crest, while the Caldor Fire burned to the southwest, marching toward the basin. For weeks, plumes of smoke washed away the horizon and made the air so toxic that it was hazardous to breathe, and ash rained down on the lake itself. Science has a lot to say about the health impacts on humans of breathing air saturated with wildfire smoke, but less is known about the impacts of wildfire smoke on landscapes, especially freshwater lakes.Scientists are just starting to open the door to that field of knowledge, said Steven Sadro, an associate professor at the UC Davis Department of Environmental Science and Policy. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
Thousands of college students trashed Shasta Lake last weekend
“A group of roughly 3,000 college students from UC Davis and the University of Oregon trashed Shasta Lake over Memorial Day weekend, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Debbie Carlisi, a recreation officer with the agency’s Shasta-Trinity National Forest division, told SFGATE in an interview that the students left several bottles, cups, wrappers and cans behind when they left for home. She said some students even threw their trash in the lake itself despite being given trash bags by forest service employees. “The problem is there was a lot of stuff that was left in the lake,” Carlisi said. “That’s going to cause a problem with our fish and wildlife, and it decreases the recreation experience for our next visitors.” … ” Read more from SF Gate.
Atmospheric river heading toward West Coast could help delay wildfire season
“An unusually potent June atmospheric river storm is forecast to make landfall in the Pacific Northwest on Sunday, with moderate to heavy rainfall continuing through early Tuesday. The National Weather Service in Portland says the atmospheric river will be fueled by “what remains of a tropical system.” Typhoon Ewiniar left multiple people dead in the Philippines this week due to flooding rain and strong winds. The tropical moisture from Ewiniar is stuck in the storm track and on its way across the Pacific Ocean toward the West Coast. With a pseudo-tropical air mass in place, the atmosphere will be extra juicy for June standards across the Pacific Northwest, helping to fuel heavy precipitation. Numerous daily rainfall records will likely be set in Washington and Oregon, and there is a chance Monday could be the wettest June day in recorded history in a few portions of Washington. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Tricolored blackbirds once faced extinction—here’s what’s behind their exciting comeback
“Biologist Ian Souza-Cole stands with his back to a balmy, manure-scented north wind sweeping over California’s San Joaquin Valley. It’s early May, and he is on a large dairy farm near the town of Planada, staring intently across a field of triticale, a wheat-rye hybrid favored as feed for milk cows. Overhead and all around, black specks zip through the air like debris in a hurricane. Getting a closer look through his binoculars, Souza-Cole points at one of them. “She’s carrying food,” he says. Souza-Cole, a senior coordinator with Audubon California’s Working Lands Program, is here to visit a nesting colony of about 25,000 adult Tricolored Blackbirds. Like shoppers in a supermarket parking lot, the birds beeline back and forth between their nests in the triticale and a barn where several thousand cows feed. … ” Read more from Audubon.
California comedown: how illicit cannabis farms have left a wilderness where ‘you’re lucky to see a lizard’
“In the shadow of Mount Shasta in northern California, a sea of makeshift greenhouses and plywood huts sprawls between the conifer trees of the high desert. From the air, many of the polytunnels look in bad shape, their plastic covers torn by the wind to reveal what’s inside: hundreds of cannabis plants packet tightly together, their distinctive green leaves easily identifiable against the volcanic soil. This remote area of Siskiyou county is known for its goldrush history, black bears and returning grey wolves, but in the last few years it has also become a hub for California’s parallel market in cannabis production. More than 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) of illicit cannabis farms cover the Republic-leaning county, which voted not to legalise commercial farming despite the statewide vote for legalisation in November 2016. … ” Read more from the Guardian.
A cruise ship sinks near Stockton
“Dreamers who bring geriatric ships to Stockton’s Delta are often so enamored by what a vessel could be they don’t see what it likely will be: derelict. So it goes with the MV Aurora, a 293-foot pocket cruise ship, which sank last week near Herman & Helen’s Marina. The old codger is resting stern-down in 13 feet of water in Little Potato Slough, leaking “petroleum product.” “The incident was completely accidental, a tragic twist of fate …” Chris Willson, the previous owner, wrote on his Facebook page, after speaking with the current owner, whom he doesn’t name. The ‘incident’ was inevitable — if not the sinking, the ship’s owner walking away and leaving the burden on taxpayers. … ” Read more from Stocktonia.
Biden-Harris administration delivers $242 million from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to expand western water storage and conveyance and ensure clean, reliable drinking water for western communities
“The Department of the Interior today announced a $242 million investment as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda that will bring clean, reliable drinking water to communities across the West through five water storage and conveyance projects. The projects in California, Colorado and Washington are expected to add at least 1.6 million acre-feet of additional water storage capacity, enough water to support 6.4 million people for a year. The funding will also invest in a feasibility study in Arizona that is designed to advance water storage capacity once completed. … ” Sisk Dam and Sites Reservoir are two of the recipients. Read more from the Bureau of Reclamation.
Sites Reservoir effort receives more fed money
“The Department of the Interior announced on Thursday that the federal government will provide an additional $67 million for Sites Reservoir, an off-stream water storage project that will be situated north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in Sites Valley, 10 miles west of Maxwell where Colusa and Glenn counties meet. According to officials, Sites Reservoir will be the second largest off-stream reservoir in the nation and would increase Northern California’s water storage capacity by up to 15%. In November 2023, the Sites Project Authority, which is the state-designated steward of the water rights for the Sites Reservoir Project, certified its final environmental impact report and approved the Sites Reservoir Project, officials previously said. … ” Read more from the Appeal Democrat.
Latest developments in standardized cost reporting for MS4 permits
“The California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) recently issued a revised draft State Policy for Water Quality Control for Standardized Cost Reporting in Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) Permits (the Policy). If adopted, this Policy would require permittees subject to MS4 permits to use a list of standardized cost categories to track and report their MS4 permit implementation costs. The State Water Board released the revised draft Policy on May 9, 2024 for a second round of public comments, which will be due on June 25, 2024, and will hold a public hearing on June 4, 2024. Once the Policy is adopted by the board and approved by the Office of Administrative Law, it would require the regional water boards to incorporate the new cost reporting requirements when they next amend or renew Phase I MS4 permits. … ” Read more from Nossaman.
Long-Term Drought Plan for the State Water Project
“The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has released its first comprehensive Long-term Drought Plan for the State Water Project (SWP). This plan addresses the potential impacts of future droughts on the SWP, which supplies water to 27 million Californians. Despite recent years of adequate rainfall and reservoir levels, the plan aims to ensure continued access to clean water amid increasingly severe droughts.“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,” DWR Director Karla Nemeth said in a press release. “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 Ag Net West.
‘Forever chemical’ discovery can aid drinking water cleanups
“A discovery by UC Riverside scientists could assist water providers across the nation as they face new federal standards to limit “forever chemical” concentrations in drinking water. Known by scientists as PFAS, or poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances, forever chemicals have been used in thousands of products, ranging from potato chip bags to fire suppressant foams. However, they are now being phased out because they have leached into groundwater supplies and are linked to certain cancers and other health maladies. Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency imposed water quality limits that restrict certain forever chemicals to only 4 parts per trillion in the nation’s tap water, spurring water providers to find PFAS cleanup solutions. … ” Read more from UC Riverside.
Defining the “snow deluge” and projecting its future
“For California’s Sierra Nevada, the winter of 2022-2023 delivered an epic snowpack that broke many records and busted a severe drought. The exceptional season, dubbed the “snowpocalypse” by some, caused havoc during the winter and flooding later in the year while also replenishing reservoirs and making skiers happy—once the roads and resorts emerged from storm closures. Both hazardous and helpful, the banner year was also of interest to snow scientists, such as Adrienne Marshall, an assistant professor of geology and geological engineering at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. Marshall was lead author of a paper published in April in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that introduces the term “snow deluge” to describe extreme snow years like the one California weathered. … ” Read more from the Water Desk.
In commentary today …
C-WIN: Hydropower or salmon? A false choice
The California Water Impact Network writes, “In a recent letter to the State water Resources Control Board, several California utilities commented on the agency’s proposed updates to the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan. The plan lists several management alternatives, including some that would increase freshwater flows through the San Francisco Bay-Sacramento River/San Joaquin River Delta Estuary. Such flows are necessary to bring California’s once mighty salmon runs back from the brink of extinction: the fish need clean, cold water delivered at critical times of the year to survive. The utilities, however, claim enhanced “unimpaired” flows are a horrible idea. … ” Read more from the California Water Impact Network.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Ukiah Valley Ground Water Basin faces new groundwater fees: what you need to know
“New fees for water use are coming from the Ukiah Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency. For those who haven’t been following the news about groundwater in California, here is the situation in a nutshell: Because the groundwater in California’s Central Valley has been drastically overdrawn, leading to land subsidence and wells running dry, and because of multi-year droughts that may occur again, the State of California decided to pro-actively monitor the groundwater not only in the Central Valley, but throughout the rest of the state. … The Ukiah Valley Groundwater Basin, which covers Hopland in the south to Redwood Valley in the north, and ridgetop to ridgetop to the east and west, is generally in good condition. The local directors of the UVBGSA intend to keep it that way. … ” Read more from MendoFever.
SEE ALSO: Notice of Public Hearing for Proposed Fee Adoption for Ukiah Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency, from MendoFever
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
The rotary screw traps are out of the North Yuba
“The Yuba Salmon Study is a collaborative planning and implementation effort led by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries and California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW). The vision of this program is to reintroduce spring-run Chinook salmon to their historical habitat in the upper Yuba River watershed through a phased, science-based, and cost-effective reintroduction project that will inform future Central Valley reintroduction decisions. In support of this effort, two rotary screw traps (RSTs) were installed on the North Yuba River. A Rotary Screw Trap — or RST — is a specialized fish trap that uses a spinning cone and live box to collect salmonids as they migrate downstream. … ” Read more from the South Yuba River Citizens League.
CPUC rejects PG&E’s proposal to transfer hydroelectric assets to new subsidiary
“We have some important news to share regarding Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) recent proposal to transfer its hydroelectric assets to a new subsidiary, Pacific Generation (PacGen). The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has rejected this proposal. As many of you may know, PG&E owns a significant portfolio of hydroelectric projects and assets, including the Drum Spaulding project on the Yuba River. This project includes 24 dams and reservoirs and 7 powerhouses including the Spaulding Powerhouse 1 that is in emergency repairs after an infrastructure failure in March. PG&E proposed to transfer all these hydro assets to PacGen, a new company that PG&E would own 51% of. This would have been the biggest and first-ever transfer of hydropower assets in California. … ” Read more from the South Yuba River Citizens League.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Environmentalists sue to block California highway expansion
“Three environmental advocacy groups on Thursday sued the California Department of Transportation to halt a planned expansion of the Interstate 80 highway through the Yolo Bypass Wilderness Area between Davis and Sacramento in Northern California. The Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Planning and Conservation League petitioned in Alameda County Superior Court, claiming that the widening of the highway would impede the state’s climate objectives, worsen air pollution in vulnerable communities and degrade valuable habitats without ultimately reducing traffic congestion. “Highway expansions are not viable long-term solutions to congestion,” the nonprofits claim. “While building more lanes may briefly increase average travel speeds and temporarily lessen traffic congestion, that very fact induces more driving by tempting more drivers onto the road.” … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
NAPA/SONOMA
On the Russian River, a slow road to good fire
“Ukiah Fire Chief Doug Hutchison knew what kind of hassle the city was getting into by acquiring some 763 acres of overgrown, fire-starved forest on the city’s western edge—but it seemed worth it. There, Doolin Creek’s two forks merge and run through a steep canyon, eventually heading straight through the city and emptying into the Russian River. Steelhead trout, which swim most of the way up the Russian River’s 110 miles to spawn in its tributaries, and year-round resident native fishes like sculpins and roaches, are kept cool by big trees shading the creek. California nutmeg, fragrant like sandalwood, has been spotted here, and spiky chinquapin. Also, the manzanita and chamise are so thick in places that it’s hard to walk through. If a big hot fire rolled through here, it would be very bad for the wildlife, the forest, and the community. The city has taken on the property to mitigate those fire risks and protect the watershed. Hutchison is eager to get a fuels crew up in here to start thinning it out and reintroduce fire in a sane fashion. In his view, protecting the forest and the community go hand in hand. … ” Read more from Bay Nature.
BAY AREA
Bay Area weather roller coaster: Drizzle this weekend, scorching heat wave ahead
“It’s not quite weather whiplash, but conditions around the Bay Area in the next few days will be striking enough to notice a difference. May ends Friday on a hot note, but it’s nothing compared to some of the temperatures expected during the first week of June. Most parts of the Bay Area this month have run just at or a bit below average in the temperature department, thanks to a more intrusive marine layer. But Friday will help to prop up the average temperatures for May just a bit. That same marine layer will start to edge back into the conversation over the weekend, keeping things cooler and a bit blustery, especially on Saturday. Similar to last weekend, pockets of drizzle are likely to break out Saturday and Sunday morning across San Francisco, Santa Cruz and the East Bay. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
SEE ALSO: ‘Biggest heat event of the year’ about to settle into Bay Area, from the San Jose Mercury News | Read via MSN News
Marin County examines options for saving Stinson Beach from rising sea
“The landscape of Stinson Beach is going to change in the coming decades. The question is whether that change will be done intentionally by people or chaotically by the rising sea. According to a recent analysis, in the event of a 1.6-foot sea level rise by 2040 to 2050, Stinson’s sandy beach and vegetated marsh along the lagoon are estimated to lose 30 to 40% of their area. According to a new report released by Marin County, there is no one perfect solution. The report provides an easy-to-read summary of over a dozen ways to engineer the water away from the homes, roads and businesses that make up the community of about 500 residents. The popular oceanside destination attracts about 750,000 visitors a year. Tourism infrastructure is at risk as well. … ” Read more from NBC News.
CENTRAL COAST
Arroyo Grande OKs domestic well despite recommended denial
“An almost two-year battle between Arroyo Grande and future resident Michael Harris over drilling a domestic water well on his property came to an end after the City Council ignored staff’s advice to deny it. Since October 2022, city staff has recommended that the council deny Harris a well permit because it was both feasible and practical for Harris to connect to the city water system, with Reservoir No. 5 50 feet away from his 55-acre parcel, according to a staff report. During the May 28 City Council meeting, Harris said it wasn’t feasible for him to connect to city water because his property is dense with California coast live oaks and sandstone rocks. … ” Read more from New Times SLO.
Lake Casitas reaches full capacity again for the first time in 25 years
“After more than two decades, Lake Casitas, a vital water source for the Ojai Valley and parts of Ventura County, has reached full capacity, to the delight of California residents who lived through the drought. Phone lines were buzzing Thursday at Casitas Boat Rentals as the news spread that the lake is currently at its fullest since 1998. “It’s a really good feeling to know California is healing from all the drought we’ve had,” says Kim Sanford of Ventura. … ” Read more from CBS Los Angeles.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Public scope meeting for Friant-Kern pump-back project
“An effort to dramatically increase the ability for Friant Division contractors to be more flexible to receive and exchange water from the Friant-Kern Canal is now proceeeding through its next step. Friant Water Authority, in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act, CEQA, will hold a public scoping meeting and public scoping review period for the $10 million Friant-Kern Canal Pump-Back Project to inform interested parties about the proposed project and to solicit agency and public input on the scope and content of the Environmental Impact Report. … ” Read more from the Porterville Recorder.
Natural flood protection is a key to the future of Tulare Lake Basin towns
Saul Ayon, mayor of McFarland, writes, “The city of McFarland and its 16,000 residents live near Poso Creek, upstream from the Tulare Lake bed. For decades, our community and others in the region have suffered from floods and been overlooked by state and federal officials. Today, it’s clear that state and federal funding for flood protection is a key to our city’s future. Over the past 30 years, many residents in McFarland have been evacuated from their homes in the face of repeated floods. It happened again in 2023 when floodwaters filled Tulare Lake for the first time in decades. And with the threat of atmospheric rivers hitting California, a tragic flood could hit our community any winter. Everyone here, including me, has family and friends whose homes have been flooded, or who have been evacuated again and again. Cleaning up from these floods isn’t easy, quick or cheap. There are dairies upstream of McFarland. So floods pass through those dairies — including their waste ponds — before they hit our homes and businesses. Imagine cleaning water, mud and dairy waste out of your family home. It’s particularly hard to recover from floods for low income families who cannot afford $1,000 each year for flood insurance. … ” Read more from the Bakersfield Californian.
AECOM exits water-use consultant role as agencies clash
“AECOM has declined to continue as consultant to the local governments working to update a Tehachapi, Calif., regional water use and shortage contingency plan—citing continuing disputes among the municipal entities and the regional water resource utility. “Due to the unexpected conflicts between participating agencies, we feel we are unable to complete the work in a way that would not result in a conflict of interest,” Dan Conquist, an AECOM department manager in Bakersfield, Calif., wrote in a letter to the general manager of the Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District. The May 13 letter said AECOM had completed no work since July 2023, was paid in full for its services and would turn over all documents and work products to the district. The firm was hired to develop the new water use plan, replacing one written in 2016, for the city of Tehachapi in Kern County and the service districts of Bear Valley, Golden Hills and Stallion Springs. … ” Read more from Engineering News-Record.
EASTERN SIERRA
Indian Wells Valley Water Authority to host workshop June 12
“The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority (IWVGA) is preparing a Periodic Evaluation of the GSP in compliance with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and State Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) regulations. This evaluation of the GSP could result in amendments to the GSP. Accordingly, the IWVGA will be holding a workshop to present the requirements and content of the Periodic Evaluation and potential GSP Amendments. This workshop is meant to inform the public, but will also provide an opportunity for any interested party to present new data and projects to be considered in preparation of the Periodic Evaluation. … ” Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Pasadena completes Sierra Madre Boulevard median renovation in wake of state water restrictions
“The City of Pasadena has completed a landscape renovation project of the center medians on Sierra Madre Blvd., from New York Drive to Hastings Ranch Drive, according to Koko Panossian, Director of Pasadena Parks, Recreation, and Community Services. The project, which was undertaken as a short-term solution to address the effects of state water restrictions on ornamental turf irrigation, included weed and gopher abatement, soil grading, irrigation system upgrades, planting, and mulching. The work was completed by in-house staff working weekends from February through May. In 2017, the California State Water Board adopted restrictions prohibiting the irrigation of ornamental turf on medians using potable water. As a result, the City turned off the irrigation to the turf areas and installed drip irrigation to continue watering the trees, leading to dead turf, overgrowth of weeds, and poor aesthetics. … ” Read more from Pasadena Now.
Unpaid water bills could begin leading to shutoff in Santa Ana again
“Amid the economic woes of the coronavirus pandemic, Santa Ana placed an emergency moratorium on shutting off the water of those who got behind on paying for the utility and now that it is set to resume it will be with more leniency than in the past. The moratorium was a financial lifeline many cities threw to struggling residents and most had already resumed shutoffs. Santa Ana officials said many of the federal and state programs the city was participating in to help with costs had limited funding and have either expired or are set to soon. The city provides water to more than 45,000 residential and commercial customers, city staffers said in a report to the City Council. “The costs associated with providing such water continually increase and it is the timely payment of water bills that help ensure the city’s water supply is well-maintained and funded for future operation.” … ” Read more from the OC Register.
OC Coastkeeper reaches agreement to reopen Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park; water quality at Doheny State Beach an issue
“Environmental nonprofit Orange County Coastkeeper reached an agreement with the owners and operators of the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park on May 20, which could allow the equestrian center to reopen as soon as early June. The public riding park owned by the City of San Juan Capistrano and operated by the Ridland Group was shut down on April 15 after failing to comply with the federal Clean Water Act. In 2017, OC Coastkeeper filed a lawsuit against the owners and operators of the equestrian center after receiving complaints from locals regarding water pollution at the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park. … ” Read more from the Capistrano Dispatch.
EPA orders Southern California water company to comply with safe drinking water law
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a Unilateral Administrative Order to the Havasu Water Company to take a series of steps to prevent further violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act. In taking this action to protect the health of the community served by the Havasu Water Company, the EPA specifically cited the company’s failure to adhere to the Act’s drinking water regulations, including violation of the maximum allowable level for total trihalomethanes. Trihalomethanes are byproducts that may form during the disinfection process and may threaten human health through long-term exposure at levels above the federal limits. “A top priority under EPA’s public health mission is to ensure that the drinking water of all of our communities – no matter how big or small, or wealthy or disadvantaged – is safe and reliable,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “We will continue to fully utilize our authority to make sure that safe drinking water standards are met.” … ” Read more from the EPA.
IMPERIAL/COACHELLA VALLEYS
We’re here, and we want our Salton Sea protected
Dora Cecilia Armenta and Mariela Loera write, “The Salton Sea is more than a district priority, and it is disheartening to learn that many state officials view it as a problem for only our local officials to solve. Over the next few weeks Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Assembly and the Senate will make crucial decisions about our state budget and a potential Climate Resilience Bond. It is vital for them to understand that protecting the Sea is a statewide priority. The Salton Sea is surrounded by several unique and rapidly growing communities across Riverside and Imperial counties, ranging in size from 231 residents in Bombay Beach to approximately 44,000 residents in El Centro. All these communities face significant health risks and environmental justice concerns related to the Salton Sea and a number of other issues in the region. … ” Read more from the Desert Sun.
SAN DIEGO
New lawsuit filed against the city of San Diego in January flooding aftermath
“The fallout continues from floodwaters that devastated several San Diego neighborhoods: On Thursday, lawyers for victims announced a new lawsuit accusing the city of negligence in maintaining the Chollas Creek flood channel. With the proposed class-action lawsuit, attorneys for the victims said they are seeking at least $50 million to $100 million in restitution, alleging that the neglect of the channel led to significant losses and a frustrating recovery process. It joins another several other pending lawsuits against the city that have been filed in the five months following the devastating flooding that destroys dozens of homes. … ” Read more from Fox 5.
Along the Colorado River …
Lake Mead’s future improves a little. At least for now
“Lake Mead’s five-year outlook is slightly better after two wet winters, according to projections released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The five-year projections, released three times a year, account for a vast range of scenarios that could result in different cuts in water use depending on how low reservoirs actually go. However, they come with a wide margin of error, providing little clarity on what’s actually to come. They’re also much more uncertain as 2007 Colorado River interim guidelines are set to expire in 2026 and two groups of Colorado River states squabble over how to address the water scarcity crisis, including how reservoir releases operate. … ” Read more from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Are we asking the right Colorado River questions?
“Before Jack Schmidt wrapped up his comments about the Colorado River in a recent webinar sponsored by the Sierra Club, he had David Brower rolling in his grave. Brower, the leader of the Sierra Club in the 1950s and 1960s, had famously fought efforts to harness the Colorado River, drowning its fabulous canyons in the process. The environmental community in the ‘50s and ‘60s had “simple, clear fights: stop dams, don’t drown spectacular canyons,” he said. Brower and other environmentalists won the argument at Echo Park, in Dinosaur National Monument. They won the argument at Marble Canyon. Those who opposed Glen Canyon lost that battle. “But it was a simple, clear fight,” said Schmidt. … ” Read more from Big Pivots.
NWS releases 2024 Arizona Monsoon Outlook. Prognosis: not awesome.
“To rain, or not to rain: that is the question. Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the summers and droughts of an outrageous state, or to just pack up and move somewhere less broiling. The start of monsoon is right around the corner. Although the summer rainy season does promise to break some of our bone-dry weather, the National Weather Service (NWS) doesn’t think it will be anything to get excited for. At least it won’t be as bad as last year’s. Monsoon 2023 was the 17th driest monsoon statewide since 1895. With only 0.15 inches of rainfall recorded in Phoenix (an area that gets 2.43 inches of monsoon rain on average), it was brutal in the Valley. No one is going to forget our 31-day streak of high temperatures over 110 degrees Fahrenheit any time soon. Only a few spots across the entire state had above-normal rainfall, according to NWS. … ” Read more from Channel 12.
Cold shot fired in battle over Colorado River invaders
“The federal government has released a 584-page document detailing possible solutions to an invasive species that poses “an unacceptable risk” to another fish that’s listed as threatened. When it’s all said and done, officials want to give smallmouth bass a cold shower — or a cool bath, anyway — to discourage them from reproducing. Make no mistake, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s plan is a detailed “Cool Mix” strategy on how to reduce the threat to the humpback chub in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam. Smallmouth bass are voracious predators, and they’ve started to establish populations below the dam where the chub is struggling to survive. Biologists say the bass will feed on the chub, their eggs, and pretty much anything else that will fit in its mouth. … ” Read more from KLAS.
Reclamation releases environmental analysis on combating nonnative fish in Colorado River using flows from Glen Canyon Dam
“The Bureau of Reclamation today released the Glen Canyon Dam Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement that analyzes various flow options from Glen Canyon Dam to prevent the expansion of nonnative fish, primarily smallmouth bass. This document supplements the 2016 Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision. The proposed updates to the 2016 plan are in response to the increasing numbers of smallmouth bass in the river below the dam. These increased numbers include indicators of spawning. As Lake Powell’s elevation has declined, the warmest, top-most layer of the reservoir, where these nonnative, warmwater fish reside, has become closer to the dam’s water intakes. As a result, these predatory fish are more likely to pass through the dam and into the Colorado River. Additionally, when this warmer water is discharged from the dam downriver, it increases the water temperature of the river, creating ideal spawning conditions for these nonnative, warmwater fish. A smallmouth bass population in the Colorado River below the dam poses a significant risk to the federally threatened humpback chub. … ” Read more from the Bureau of Reclamation.
“Sharing is important”: Elementary students dive into Colorado water issues in pen pal program
“On an early morning in mid-May, elementary school students in Cherry Creek and Glenwood Springs clicked into a video conference call. After writing letters to each other for months, they were meeting their pen pals for the first time. “Hieeee,” one student said as others shared a flurry of emoji hearts, laughing faces and thumbs ups on the video call. Then, on opposite sides of the state, teachers walked computers around their classrooms while the students giggled their way through introducing themselves. It was the final day of a water education program that uses science and old-fashioned letter writing to bridge geographical and cultural divides in Colorado. Despite going to schools 176 miles apart, the students share one water source: the Roaring Fork River on the west side of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. As participants in the award-winning Watershed Pen Pal Program, they spent the year learning about water that falls into the Roaring Fork Valley: How it reaches Western Slope communities, like Glenwood Springs, travels 150 miles over 11 days to Front Range cities — and how it should be protected and shared. … ” Read more from the Colorado Sun.
In national water news today …
Summary of the 2023 GRACE Follow-On Science Team Meeting
“In October 2023, the annual gathering of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE Follow-On [G-FO] Science Team took place in Boulder, CO, hosted at University Corporation for Atmospheric Research’s (UCAR) Center Green campus. The meeting agenda featured 15-minute presentations over three days, describing new findings from G-FO observations and the combined GRACE and GRACE-FO [G/G-FO] climate data record that now spans over 21 years (2002–2023). The meeting began with the customary G-FO project status session, covering programmatic mission and flight segment technical updates, future mission plans, and descriptions of the latest data released from the GRACE Science Data System (SDS) centers. Subsequent sessions featured more than 53 contributed presentations covering analyses, algorithms, and science results by Science Team members and attendees, totaling 57 oral and 5 poster presentations. … ” Read more from NASA.
EPA issues enforcement measures for cyber threats
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued an enforcement alert outlining the urgent cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities to community drinking water systems and the steps these systems need to take to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act. The alert is part of a government-wide effort – led by the National Security Council and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) – to reduce the nation’s infrastructure and cybersecurity vulnerabilities. EPA is issuing this alert because threats to, and attacks on, the nation’s water system have increased in frequency and severity to a point where additional action is critical. … ” Read more from Water Finance & Management.
Climate change added 26 days of extreme heat over the last year
“Over the last 12 months, the world saw, on average, 26 additional days of extreme heat as a result of climate change, a new analysis finds. “Year after year, human-induced climate change manifests through more intense and frequent extreme weather events, with heat waves being the most dramatically affected,” wrote researchers from Climate Central, World Weather Attribution, and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre. The analysis defined “extreme” heat as hotter than 90 percent of local weather since 1991. Researchers tallied days where climate change had doubled the odds of such heat. Countries nearest the equator — Indonesia, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo — saw the greatest uptick in extreme heat. In the most severe cases, Suriname and Ecuador saw more than 150 extra days. … ” Read more from Yale e360.
Climate denial group wants to subvert NOAA data with its own
“A prominent climate disinformation group is building its own network of temperature sensors across the United States in an attempt to disprove that the country and planet are warming at an unprecedented pace due to human-caused climate change. The Illinois-based Heartland Institute, along with other groups that spread climate falsehoods, has spent years attacking the temperature data gathered by NOAA. That data, widely used by scientific organizations around the world, helped lead to the conclusion that 2023 was the “warmest year since global records began” and that the 10 warmest years in recorded history have all occurred since 2014. It’s powerful proof that global warming is more than a distant threat — it’s affecting the planet right now. As a result, that data has been targeted by groups seeking to downplay the severity of climate change or cast doubt on the science. … ” Read more from E&E News.
Historic iceberg surges offer insights on modern climate change
“A great armada entered the North Atlantic, launched from the cold shores of North America. But rather than ships off to war, this force was a fleet of icebergs. And the havoc it wrought was to the ocean current itself. This scene describes a Heinrich Event, or a period of rapid iceberg discharge from the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the last glacial maximum. These episodes greatly weakened the system of ocean currents that circulates water within the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC for short, brings warm surface water north and cold deep water south. This oceanic conveyor belt is a major component of the global climate system, influencing marine ecosystems, weather patterns and temperatures. … ” Read more from The Current.
