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On the calendar today …
- LEG HEARING: Senate Committee on Environmental Quality beginning at 9am. Click here for more information.
- WEBINAR: Delta Research Award Seminar Series from 10:30am to 12:00pm. Presentations this week: Integrating Social and Ecological Research to Control Invasive Species: Fostering collective action among private and public stakeholders; and, Reorienting to Recovery: Developing an Inclusive, landscape scale process for Central Valley Salmonids, prioritizing action and investments to achieve recovery and minimize community and economic impact. Click here to register.
In California water news today …
California Forever releases water study
“California Forever is using the release of much anticipated study on the East Solano Plan to remind voters that it will not not use water resources from Lake Berreyssa or the Solano Irrigation District for its proposed new community. The new information follows months of speculation and criticism regarding the plan’s potential impact on water resources in the area. The release is emphatic and unequivocal that the company will not use any water from Lake Berryessa or the Solano Irrigation District, and that none of the water from the 16,400 Acre Feet per Year (AFY) currently accessible to the organization comes from either of those sources, both critical to the current county water supply. “This water plan is based on the principle that the new community water usage should not negatively impact others in Solano County,” the release reads. “This includes maintaining agricultural lands currently in production by either supplying recycled water to substitute for water transferred to the new community or converting them to less intensive agricultural uses that are more compatible with the soil.” … ” Read more from the Vacaville Reporter.
Where is California Forever getting the water for its proposed new city of 400,000 people?
“California Forever released a report Tuesday addressing one of the biggest questions surrounding its billionaire-backed push to build a new city on Solano County farmland: where exactly they are getting the water to sustain a community of up to 400,000 people? Leaders say this initial review found they have secured enough water for the first stage of buildout at 100,000 residents and laid out the company’s plan for how they say they will scale their water usage for when the community grows by four times. “As a guiding principle over our entire water plan, everything we do, we want it to be protective of other municipalities in Solano and we want to make sure we are not negatively impacting them now or looking into the future,” said Bronson Johnson, head of infrastructure and sustainability for California Forever. … ” Read more from CBS Sacramento.
SEE ALSO: California Forever says it has enough water for 100K residents in proposed community, from Channel 10
Self-Help Enterprises urges reinstatement of water funds
“More than 20,000 San Joaquin Valley residents could be left high and dry, literally, by Sacramento politicians intent on using $17.5 million that had paid for water trucked to their homes to help fill California’s gaping two-year $56 billion deficit. A local nonprofit that has been hauling water to those residents sent a letter recently to Governor Gavin Newsom and top leaders in the Legislature begging them to reinstate the money in the ongoing budget negotiations. “Cutting funding for such a crucial program would have devastating effects on rural and disadvantaged communities by immediately cutting them off from their sole source of water supply, and doing so with no warning,” states the June 11 letter from Self-Help Enterprises, a Visalia-based nonprofit that helps low-income valley residents with housing and water needs. … ” Read more from the Foothills Sun-Gazette.
Chinook salmon in hot water
“There may not be tumbleweed blowing through the salty streets of California’s coastal marinas, but the collapse of the state’s Chinook salmon runs has reduced many ports to ghost towns. At Bodega Bay, Sausalito and other seaside harbors, fishing boats that once targeted the coveted fish have been idled for almost two years after officials determined there are not enough salmon off the California coast to support harvest. Once abundant, Chinook have been devastated by habitat loss, water diversions from the rivers where they spawn and drought. They are trending toward extinction. And while recovery is a possibility, it will be an upstream push. The salmon need improved spawning grounds and more floodplain nursery habitat. … ” Read more from the Bohemian.
DWR presents Delta Conveyance Project cost estimate and benefit cost analysis to Metropolitan Committee
“At the June meeting of Metropolitan Water District’s One Water and Stewardship Committee meeting, DWR Director Karla Nemeth was on hand to make the economic case for the Delta Conveyance Project. The meeting included a presentation on the cost estimate by Graham Bradner, Executive Director of the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority (DCA), and a presentation on the benefit-cost analysis by Dr. Sunding, Emeritus Professor at UC Berkeley and . … ” Continue reading at Maven’s Notebook.
CHEMICAL IN THE WATER: Wasco State Prison misses multiple deadlines to clean water supply
“Two water wells supply more than 5000 people at the Wasco State Prison with drinking water, but since May 2018, testing revealed that water has been contaminated with 1, 2, 3 Trichloropropane. Water at the prison has been contaminated for almost 6 years, according to the State Water Resources Control Board by 1, 2, 3 TCP. After discovering the contaminant in the water, the prison issued this drinking water notice to staff and inmates. “1,2,3 TCP is a byproduct from manufacturing a pesticide,” Eric Miguelino, a research scientist for the State Water Resources Control Board, said. Miguelino specializes in health risks communications and regulation development and says the contaminant went undetected for 40 years until the pesticide was reformulated in the late 1980s to early 1990s. … ” Read more from Channel 23.
Water experts encourage partnerships to address climate change
“Water experts say that officials must work closely with communities to efficiently manage groundwater systems amid climate change — despite growing animosity among landowners. Scientists and experts at the nonpartisan Water Education Foundation’s third international groundwater conference Tuesday said that, with so many styles of groundwater management, strong partnerships are the only way to sustainably handle water supplies within and beyond California. Nancy Vogel, California’s Deputy Secretary for Water, said that one of the greatest obstacles to sustainably managing water is how California farmers use groundwater — water stored within aquifers underground. For more than a century, the state regulated surface water with a very complex set of laws, Vogel said. Groundwater has been another story. “Until recently, groundwater was unregulated. Farmers in some cities essentially mined groundwater. They pumped without abandon, particularly in drought,” Vogel said. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
Video: Replenishing groundwater in the San Joaquin Valley
Ken James / California Department of Water Resources
“Overdraft has caused big problems in the San Joaquin Valley—and in our drought-prone state, groundwater recharge is one of the most promising ways to protect ourselves against hotter, longer dry periods. So are we socking away enough water during the wet periods? That was the subject of our event on Tuesday, June 11, “Replenishing Groundwater in the San Joaquin Valley.” In 2023, we asked San Joaquin Valley water agencies about their recharge activities and compared their responses to a similar survey from 2017, which was a comparably wet year. In an event last week, PPIC Water Policy Center associate director Caity Peterson kicked things off with a presentation of findings from the updated survey. Has much changed since the first survey? In 2017, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act had yet to get off the ground. Now, said Peterson, groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) are fully formed, and groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) are complete. The data show that recharge volumes rose by a whopping 17%: some 7.6 million acre-feet (maf) of water was put toward recharge valley-wide in 2023. … ” Read more from the PPIC.
State Water Board releases revised draft regulation for water use efficiency
“The State Water Resources Control Board on June 14 released the fourth version of the revised draft regulation for Making Conservation a California Way of Life with written comments due by noon on July 1. The State Water Board is expected to adopt the regulation this summer. Several of the recent changes were in response to ACWA’s June 4 comment letter. ACWA staff is reviewing the revised draft regulation and determining next steps. … ” Read more from ACWA’s Water News.
Sites Reservoir: Environmental groups file appeal to try to stop California’s largest new reservoir project in 50 years
“A plan to build the largest new reservoir in California in 50 years will face a new round of legal challenges. Less than three weeks after a judge rejected a lawsuit by a coalition of environmental groups seeking to stop construction of Sites Reservoir, a $4.5 billion project planned for rural ranchlands 70 miles northwest of Sacramento, the groups have filed an appeal. Sites would be California’s eighth largest reservoir, a 13-mile-long, off-stream lake in Colusa County providing water to 500,000 acres of Central Valley farmlands and 24 million people, including residents of Santa Clara County, parts of the East Bay and Los Angeles. Supporters, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, say with climate change making droughts worse, it is critical that California store more water in wet years to ease shortages during dry years. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
Some California state workers return to offices with tainted water
“Bacteria known to cause sometimes-deadly respiratory infections have been found in a midtown Sacramento state office complex, as more than 200,000 state workers started returning to their offices at least twice a week. Legionella, which could lead to a serious pneumonia named Legionnaires’ disease, have been detected in the water system of the five-building East End Complex, which houses three major state departments. Two of them — the California Department of Public Health and the Department of Health Care Services — confirmed the test results to CalMatters today. The California Department of Education, also headquartered in one of the buildings, did not immediately return an inquiry for comment. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
Portantino bill requiring robust study of microplastics in drinking water passes Assembly Health Committee
“SB 1147, authored by Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D – Burbank), passed the Assembly Health Committee today. The bill requires the study of the health impacts of microplastics in drinking water. “We are seeing increased reports on the health risks of microplastics and I think its past time we study its impacts,” stated Senator Portantino. “SB 1147 calls for the identification of a level of microplastics in drinking water which does or does not pose a significant risk to our health and then initiates a strategy to make drinking water safer for consumption. Additionally, the bill applies to bottled water to treat tap and bottled water consistently for public health issues.” .. ” Continue reading from Senator Portantino.
SEE ALSO: Small particles, big problems: A strategy for addressing microplastics science gaps, from the USGS
Hurtado bill protecting rural homebuyers signed by Newsom
“California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a law authored by Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D–Bakersfield) that requires home sellers to disclose any issues there may be with their water wells. The law, Senate Bill 1366, ensures that rural homebuyers are aware of potential issues and costs that they may face with wells. … ” Read more from the San Joaquin Valley Sun.
California wildfires: Acres burned to date among the highest in three decades
“Wildfire activity has taken off across California over the past few days. And data shows that the number of acres burned this year to date in California is the fourth largest in area from 1996 to 2024. That’s according to the National Interagency Coordination Center, which coordinates resources for wildfires throughout the United States and compiles statistics. Over 61,000 acres have burned so far this year in California, according to a report released Tuesday morning. The number of acres burned this year is well ahead of normal, and among the highest in the past three decades, data shows. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle. | Read via MSN News.
California braces for heavy wildfire activity this fall: ‘They’re only going to get worse’
“Experts are warning Californians to brace for a ‘very active’ wildfire season this fall as two back-to-back wet winters and forecasts for a warmer-than-normal summer are likely to prime the state’s landscape for fire. Even as recent blazes triggered evacuations in Los Angeles and Sonoma counties, those incidents may prove to be relatively tame compared with what the rest of the year could have in store, said Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist and extreme weather expert. “We could in fact see a very active finish to fire season 2024, but we aren’t there yet,” Swain said during a briefing Monday. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
US acknowledges Northwest dams have devastated the region’s Native tribes
“The U.S. government on Tuesday acknowledged, for the first time, the harmful role it has played over the past century in building and operating dams in the Pacific Northwest — dams that devastated Native American tribes by inundating their villages and decimating salmon runs while bringing electricity, irrigation and jobs to nearby communities. In a new report, the Biden administration said those cultural, spiritual and economic detriments continue to pain the tribes, which consider salmon part of their cultural and spiritual identity, as well as a crucial food source. The government downplayed or accepted the well-known risk to the fish in its drive for industrial development, converting the wealth of the tribes into the wealth of non-Native people, according to the report. … ” Read more from the Associated Press.
California to return 2,800 acres of ancestral land to Shasta nation, Newsom’s office says
“The Shasta Indian Nation will regain more than 2,800 acres of ancestral land in northwestern California from the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday. The transfer includes land previously buried under reservoirs created by Klamath River dams, whose ongoing removal project constitute the largest dam removal in history. “Any time I hear of land back, whether it’s land management back or full trust land back to the tribes, it’s huge steps forward,” Raymond Alvarez, who sits on the tribal council of the neighboring Pit River Tribe, said. “I mean, it’s small for what was taken from us, but going forward, I hope that California will keep that up.” … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Tahoe Environmental Observatory Network looks beyond the lake
“The University of Nevada, Reno, in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station and the Tahoe Science Advisory Council, is launching the Tahoe Environmental Observatory Network (TEON), a new initiative to better understand the health of the Lake Tahoe watersheds and ecosystems, and make collected data accessible to everyone. Sudeep Chandra, director of the University of Nevada, Reno’s Global Water Center and Ozmen Institute for Global Studies, and Gina Tarbell, research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service at the Pacific Southwest Research Station, have been on the project since its inception and are excited about its holistic nature. Both are members of the Tahoe Science Advisory Council. “A lot of the focus in the past has been on the lake and water quality,” Tarbell said. “In this project, we’re trying to zoom out and look at the forest and how changes to the forest can affect the lake and the watershed of Tahoe altogether.” … ” Read more from the University of Nevada-Reno.
CENTRAL COAST
SLO County to apply for state funding to protect waterways from invasive mussels
“San Luis Obispo County’s Parks and Recreation Department is applying for a grant to prevent invasive mussels from infesting Lopez and Santa Margarita Lakes. Quagga and zebra mussels disrupt food chains and clog water pipelines across California. The mussels first appeared in California in the 1980s and reached Southern California by 2007. Cara Roderick, a senior environmental scientist with the California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways, explained how they have spread over the years. “Once they got into California because of our water systems, canals, pipelines — they spread from one water body to another in Southern California, and then likely boaters are the ones that continue the spread of them,” Roderick said. … ” Read more from KCBX.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
A slew of workshops and presentations set to educate and hear from Tulare County residents about Kaweah groundwater challenges
“Tulare County residents who want to express their opinions about possible state intervention in groundwater management to members of the State Water Board will have a chance to do so next week. State water board staff will hold two public workshops June 24 (virtual) and June 27 (in person) in Visalia to explain its draft report recommending probation, what it means and how the state intervention in the Kaweah subbasin would work. The draft report recommends probation for the region, which includes the cities of Woodlake and Porterville in the east, and Visalia, Tulare and a small portion of Hanford to the west. Subsidence, in which land irreversibly collapses due to groundwater overdraft, was one of the key reasons for the probation recommendation. That was also the case for the Tulare Lake subbasin and Tule subbasin, which border the Kaweah. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
EASTERN SIERRA
Tripling water costs? Water District discusses cost study of GA’s imported water pipeline
“The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority’s responsibility is to bring the IWV groundwater basin into sustainability to ensure the future of water for this valley. At the moment, IWVGA’s primary plan for sustainability is to construct a pipeline and import water from Antelope Valley. The IWV Water District is responsible for serving water at an appropriate cost to IWV residents. This difference in missions has led to conflict between the two agencies, as IWVGA’s sustainability mission will almost certainly raise costs for the Water District’s ratepayers. How much will the costs increase? In March 2024, the Water District approved a measure to pay Clean Energy Capital to complete a cost study on building and operating a pipeline, as well as the cost of purchasing water from Antelope Valley. At the Water District board meeting on June 10, Clean Energy Capital provided their findings in a presentation to the Water District. … ” Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent.
Kern pistachio farmer ordered to pay $30 million in back fees to high desert groundwater agency
“An Orange County court on Friday approved an injunction mandating that Mojave Pistachios LLC pay $30 million in back fees owed to the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority for pumping groundwater without an allocation in Kern County’s eastern desert. That $30 million is the accumulation of a $2,130-per-acre-foot fee for non-allocated pumping that was established by the authority in its groundwater sustainability plan and approved by the state back in 2022. Mojave Pistachios objected to the fee and never paid it while it sued over the groundwater plan and continued pumping between 6,000 and 7,200 acre feet a year to irrigate 215,000 pistachio trees. An Orange County court and later an appellate court both ruled that Mojave had to pay the fee before suing under the state’s “pay now, litigate later” rule even if the fee and groundwater plan were later found to be improper. The California Supreme Court declined to review Mojave Pistachio’s petition seeking an exception to the rule. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Groundwater Authority prepares water plan for State review
“At the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority board meeting on June 12, the IWVGA board discussed their groundwater sustainability plan’s upcoming periodic review. The IWVGA formed to comply with California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014. IWVGA’s mission is to ensure the sustainability of the IWV groundwater basin. In short, that means water pumped out of the basin can be no more than water pumped in, on an average annual basis. At the moment, all water used in the IWV is pumped out of the IWV groundwater basin. It’s a large basin, but pumping vastly outweighs its natural recharge. And this has been true for decades. The Department of Water Resources approved IWVGA’s GSP in January of 2022. Now their first periodic review of the GSP is due on January 31, 2025. This review includes updating DWR on the progress of sustainability plans, as well as updates on progress of corrective actions DWR required after approving their plan. … ” Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent.
Along the Colorado River …
Can fiction show us the cost of not getting the Colorado River right?
“Seven states — Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming — rely on water from the Colorado River. The water sustains crops in California’s Imperial Valley and grew Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Pheonix into giant cities. But the river is overused and, as the world warms, its flows are shrinking. They are down 20% since the turn of the century. … What’s the big picture? What happens if the Colorado River continues to dry up as demands for its water increase? What is the worst-case scenario? Bacigalupi is an award-winning science fiction writer and former journalist who spends a lot of time imagining how bad it could get. In 2015, he published “The Water Knife,” a near-future novel where the Colorado River’s water is starting to run out. Then, as now, the states try to grab what water they can from the West’s lifeline in the desert. But in Bacigalupi’s future, the federal government is weaker and the states are using every tool — courts, money, hit men and even explosives — to take the river’s water. … ” Continue reading at the Salt Lake Tribune.
What progress is being made in the Colorado River Basin to help?
“How much money will it take to save the Colorado River? And is money the answer? It turns out with money, as is with water, every drop in the bucket helps and can work to achieve water savings, restore ecosystems, provide additional recreational opportunities and prevent flooding. These are on-ground solutions to fix a complicated watershed. The Bureau of Reclamation has already invested $2.7 billion in basin resilience, and is getting ready to deliver even more federal drought and infrastructure dollars. Overall, there have been more than 300 projects announced for new funding since 2021 in the Colorado River Basin. A Monday webinar hosted by the Water Hub featuring local elected officials, nonprofit organizations and others detailed some of the progress made so far with on-the-ground projects, particularly in the Upper Colorado River Basin and the look ahead. … ” Read more from Deseret News.
Undoing the dams: Bringing flow back to Western waterways.
” … In 1928, Congress gave authorization for the construction of a Colorado River dam on the border of Arizona and Nevada. The region’s tribes weren’t invited to the negotiations; their water rights were ignored. A couple decades later, Boulder Dam was given a new name: Hoover Dam. The project was considered a huge engineering feat, touted as a symbol of progress even as it led to the destruction of a traditional Diné economy and way of life. By the mid-20th century, the U.S. led the world with the most number of dams that tried to control water for irrigation and flood control, and — at least some — to produce energy. But dams aren’t just barriers restricting the movement of water; they have an impact on water chemistry, silt load and water temperature. They stop the movement and exchange of aquatic creatures, as well as the nutrients and sediments that make up entire ecosystems. … ” Read more from High Country News.
Oro Valley OK if CAP cut
“Oro Valley is prepared to accept an anticipated reduction in its allocation of Colorado River water, water utility director Peter Abraham asserts. In 2023, through the Central Arizona Project system, Oro Valley delivered 2,573 acre-feet of Colorado River water to customers. Every year, the water utility buys its entire 10,305 acre-foot CAP allowance — “a healthy allocation for sure,” Abraham said — and delivers about 25% of it. The remainder is sent to aquifer storage facilities west of the community, to be recovered and delivered in the future if needed, he said. … ” Read more from the Tucson Explorer.
Finalizing Arizona’s budget came at a cost. Here’s what that means for our water future
“The legislative session is officially over after Arizona lawmakers struck a deal with the governor to craft a budget over the weekend. To do it, they had to make some big cuts – big enough to fill a $1.4 billion deficit. And a lot of those big cuts came as a hit to one of the biggest challenges facing the state: water. Lawmakers completely swept funds meant for the Water Infrastructure Financing Authority (WIFA), which was bulked up under former Gov. Doug Ducey in 2022 to speed up water projects and bring water to Arizona from elsewhere. And, while they talked a good game early in the session, lawmakers went home without passing a whole lot of major efforts to address our state’s water future. Columnist Joanna Allhands writes about water in the opinion pages of The Arizona Republic and she spoke more with The Show about it all. … ” Read more or listen at KJZZ.
In late votes, AZ lawmakers pass bills that would let developers take over farm water
“Lawmakers approved a series of new water management measures on Saturday that could speed up farmland conversion in groundwater-regulated areas and transform the future growth of cities like Buckeye and Queen Creek. The measures started in separate bills, were merged into a sweeping omnibus bill, then split again last week when it became clear the omnibus legislation didn’t have the votes to pass as a package. All key provisions passed on Saturday before the session closed. “We had some beneficial tweaks and they all went up as four separate bills,” said Rep. Tim Dunn, who was at a point the lead of the omnibus bill, which proponents said could benefit both housing and water conservation in Arizona. … ” Read more from Arizona Central.
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
NOTICE: Sacramento Regional Water Bank Notice of Public Scoping and Comment Period
NOTICE of Preparation: Environmental Impact Report for the State Water Project San Joaquin Field Division Operations and Maintenance Habitat Conservation Plan
