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On the calendar today …
- EVENT: Delta Drought Response Pilot Program Forum from 10am to 12pm at the Ryde Hotel. Sign-in will begin at 9:30 a.m. with food and drinks available for purchase. The forum will start at 10:00 a.m. Hear about the outcomes of the 2022 & 2023 Delta Drought Response Pilot Program; Learn from the UC Davis and The Nature Conservancy research teams; Share your experience and hear about the experiences of other program participants; and Provide program feedback to Delta Conservancy staff. Click here to register.
- WEBINAR: Water Watchers Panel On Machine Learning/AI in Water Resources from 6pm to 7pm. Artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) are so topical they’ve become cliché. We’ve become saturated with news of ChatGPT updates and AI job replacement. Still, these technologies are impacting the world, and the world of groundwater is no exception. Join us for a panel discussion featuring groundwater experts who are at the forefront of integrating artificial intelligence into their work. This interactive session will delve into the everyday applications of AI in groundwater modeling, monitoring, and management from Large Language Models like ChatGPT, to bespoke machine learning solutions. Click here to register.
- WEBINAR: Serendipity and salt ponds beginning at 7pm. California experienced rapid and widespread destruction and modification of natural hydrological ecosystems and wetlands after the Gold Rush, including the loss of nearly all tidal wetlands in San Francisco Bay, many of which were converted to commercial salt production ponds. The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project is now restoring large swaths of tidal marsh habitat, but they are faced with a new dilemma: many bird species that had used wetlands lost or degraded elsewhere in California, including the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada, have come to use the salt ponds as accidental habitat. Click here for information on how to join.
In California water news today …
This giant freshwater fish — North America’s largest — gains California protection
“Killed by algae blooms and dwindling from dams and droughts, the largest freshwater fish in North America is at risk in California. Today, wildlife officials took the first major step toward protecting it under the state’s Endangered Species Act. White sturgeon, which can live longer than 100 years, historically reached more than 20 feet long and weighing almost a ton. Facing an array of threats, this shark-like, bottom-feeding fish with rows of bony plates, whisker-like sensors and no teeth has declined — and their numbers will likely keep dropping. California’s Fish and Game Commission unanimously approved white sturgeon as a candidate for listing, which launches a review by the Department of Fish and Wildlife to evaluate whether it is in enough danger to warrant being declared threatened or endangered. The review is expected to take at least a year. In the meantime, white sturgeon will be protected under the California Endangered Species Act until the commission makes a final decision whether to list it as threatened or endangered. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
Is the white sturgeon yet another endangered species in the embattled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem?
“Five fish species that reside in or pass through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta had been declared endangered or threatened by federal and state wildlife agencies when the California Fish and Game Commission added the longfin smelt to the state’s list of imperiled species a decade and a half ago. That action by the Commission was precedent setting. … So, lesson learned, a consortium of environmental organizations and sport-fishermen have petitioned the state to list the California white sturgeon. Any “person” can submit a petition to list a species under CESA. To be accepted, a petition must include “sufficient scientific information” such that the Department can find that the petitioned action “may be warranted.” Well, until very recently the white sturgeon was so abundant that it supported a fairly aggressive fishery regulated by the same Department and Commission that received the petition for its protection. … ” Read more from the Center for California Water Resources Policy and Management.
Managing natural and built backbone infrastructure to provide California water needs
“The most recent California Water Plan Update included a new concept for describing the varied natural and man-made elements that work together to store, manage and convey water resources in the state. In the plan, a distinction is made between “natural” and “built” backbone infrastructure. According to the Water Plan, “Backbone infrastructure refers to the natural and built systems that connect and benefit multiple regions throughout the state…[and] the State’s water resiliency depends on the effective management of these integrated backbone systems.” Successful water management in the state requires that the two types of backbone infrastructure are managed in coordination with each other. … ” Read more from the Northern California Water Association.
REPORT SUMMARY: 2021–2022 Comprehensive Emergency Drought Barrier Effectiveness Report
The Department of Water Resources has released a report summarizing the construction, monitoring, effectiveness, and impacts of the 2021–2022 West False River Emergency Drought Salinity Barrier. This report was prepared to fulfill the reporting requirement by the State Water Board’s May 2021 Water Quality Certification and the commitment detailed in the DWR’s Monitoring Plan. In spring 2021, DWR was authorized to install an emergency drought barrier to manage critically low water supplies due to forecasted drought conditions in multiple consecutive years, low levels of reservoir water storage, the high risk of exceeding water quality objectives, and the results of drought modeling and monitoring. … ” Continue reading this report summary.
Culvert rehabilitation project minimizes environmental impacts
“The city of Orinda, California, sits within the Diablo Mountain Range just 9 miles east of Oakland. Local roads wind through the rolling hills next to several large streams that run through the mountain range. These tributaries are fed by seasonal runoff from the mountains and residential areas and empty into the San Pablo Reservoir and the Upper San Leandro Reservoir. … In the 1940s and 1950s, several large culverts, made from corrugated metal pipe, were installed to take these environmentally sensitive streams under the roads. But these conveyances are showing signs of fatigue; some even have inverts – the lowest point in the cross section of the pipes – that are completely corroded. Recognizing this corrosion as an issue that had to be corrected, city officials contacted international engineering firm HDR Inc. to evaluate which technologies offered the most feasible repair option. Only trenchless approaches were considered, as they are proved to eliminate traffic and pedestrian access issues and deliver minimal disturbance to creek beds and vegetation. … ” Continue reading from the Civil Engineering Source.
Old cruise ship with Hollywood past sinking into Delta now refloated
“The decommissioned cruise ship that was sinking into the Delta near Stockton has now been refloated, officials say. Work to refloat the Aurora got underway over the weekend, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Spill Prevention & Response. CDFW announced on Wednesday that the refloating had been completed. Last week, crews had installed dewatering pumps onto the Aurora. The old ship – notable for its historic Hollywood connections – had been docked in Potato Slough when it started taking on water in late May. … ” Read more from CBS Sacramento.
California still has ‘ton of unburned fuel’ after early explosive wildfire season
“California’s summer is off to a hazy start as multiple massive wildfires fueled by hot temperatures and gusting winds are blanketing the state in smoke. So far early in this wildfire season, fires have consumed nearly 90,000 acres in California. Last year, by mid-June, wildfires were burning more than 5,700 acres. This year’s fire season has already consumed more than 5 times the 5-year average burned by this time, according to CAL Fire. Most of the acres burned were from two of the largest wildfires outside of major cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco. … ” Read more from Fox Weather.
Risk of new fires is ‘around 100%’ as blazes rage across Northern California
“The fast-growing Sites wildfire that has engulfed some 15,656 acres in Colusa County since Monday afternoon remained just 5% contained on Wednesday afternoon as fire crews worked through the night to construct control lines around the blaze. Officials warned that the risk of new fires erupting in Northern California remained high. While humidity levels were higher than in the past days, the increase is “not enough to impact the probability of ignition,” which is “still up at around 100%, especially out in that really cured grass,” said fire behavior analyst Jonathan Pangborn of Cal Fire. “We have light flashy fuels, a very receptive fuel bed — it wants to move,” he said about the fire. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Wildfire risks in California heightened by upcoming heat dome
“Another bout of dangerous, triple-digit heat is headed for much of California’s interior this weekend, creating new concerns for firefighters battling wildfires across the state, including two that have surpassed 15,000 acres. “Friday will kick off a fairly dramatic warm-up as a large and hot upper-high over the middle of the [country] expands westward,” the National Weather Service wrote in its Wednesday morning forecast. The upper-level ridge of high pressure — known colloquially as a heat dome — will most directly affect the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California deserts, but almost all of the Golden State can expect elevated temperatures this weekend. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
In commentary today …
Salmon restoration must address bass predators
Edward Ring, director of water and energy policy for the California Policy Center, writes, ” … Between 1967 and 2000, there were only 6 years when the State Water Project didn’t allocate 100 percent of the water they had contracted with farmers to deliver. But between 2000 and 2021, the farmers got a 100 percent allocation only once, in 2006. Unable to get enough water from the state aqueducts, farmers pumped more up out of the ground, and with limited water supplies, they abandoned flood irrigation which would have replenished the aquifers. To cope with aquifer depletion, the state now rations groundwater pumping. Meanwhile, farmers go bankrupt and 20,000 San Joaquin Valley residents rely on water delivered on trucks. Water allocations were cut to save salmon and other threatened species of fish. It hasn’t worked, and will never work, until it accounts for a key variable: predation. … ” Read more from the California Globe.
Editorial: California farmers are an endangered species
Joe Beach writes, “California is awash with water after years of drought, but farmers aren’t getting what they need because of endangered smelt and steelhead in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. It’s a situation that has played out before, but California must reconsider its priorities before an important center of agricultural production is lost forever. The California farmer is an endangered species. We read with interest a report over the weekend by our colleagues at the Wall Street Journal. Reporter Jim Carlson writes that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and state water officials are curtailing water deliveries to farmers in Southern California. “Illustrating how broken California’s vast water-delivery system is, many farmers in Central Valley, America’s fruit and vegetable basket, will get just 40% of the federal water they are supposed to this year.” … ” Continue reading at the Capital Press.
Kings County Farm Bureau on what Tulare Lake subbasin groundwater pumpers need to know
Dusty Ference, Executive Director Kings County Farm Bureau, writes, “Following the April 16, 2024, State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) decision placing the Tulare Lake Subbasin (TLSB) on probation, Kings County Farm Bureau challenged that decision in Superior Court. KCFB believes the SWRCB violated California’s Code of Civil Procedures, Government Code, Water Code, and the California Constitution.Fighting the probationary determination by the SWRCB is more significant than KCFB, Kings County, and the Tulare Lake Sub-basin. The court’s decision will impact every sub-basin in California. It is crucial to agriculture in California that the KCFBs challenge reaches success. … While KCFB is optimistic about the potential outcome of this case, it is essential to note that the TLSB is currently on probation and that groundwater pumpers are subject to new regulations by the SWRCB.Several regulations applicable to groundwater pumpers are included in the eleven-page resolution approved by the SWRCB, which places the TLSB on probation. … ” Read more from Water Wrights.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Shasta Indian Nation to get homeland back in largest land return in California history
“Gov. Gavin Newsom has set in motion the largest land return in California history, declaring his support for the return of ancestral lands to the Shasta Indian Nation that were seized a century ago and submerged. The 2,800 acres in Siskiyou County are part of the Klamath River dam removal project, which will rehabilitate more than 300 miles of salmon habitat. “This is a down payment on the state’s commitment to do better by the Native American communities who have called this land home since time immemorial,” Newsom said in a statement. The governor’s announcement Tuesday marked the fifth anniversary of California’s official apology to its Native American peoples for the state’s historical wrongdoings. … ” Read more from the LA Times. | Read via AOL News.
PG&E requests extension for Eel River dam decommissioning plan, delays expected
“On Thursday, June 6 the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) informed federal regulators that it would like a 6-month extension to submit its Final License Surrender Application and plan to decommission two Eel River dams that block access to hundreds of miles of prime salmon habitat. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) was expecting the utility to file its Draft Surrender Application plan this month, with a final version due in January 2025. PG&E now says it will fail to meet that deadline and instead file its draft plan in January 2025 followed by the final version in late July 2025. In announcing the delay, PG&E expressed support for the still vague proposal for the New Eel-Russian Facility and stated that its six-month delay was to allow proponents of that proposal to have more time to work out the details. … ” Read more from the Lost Coast Outpost.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Column: Politics and water are a bad combo
Columnist Shanna Long writes, “Some ironies need to be explained. Like this one: Tehama County is ranked in the top 10 for domestic well installations in the entire state of California. That means more domestic wells in the rural areas of Tehama County have been installed than in 48 other counties between 2018 and 2023. This fun fact was reported on by Quinn Little of the Regional Planning Branch of the Department of Water Resources Northern Region Office at the Tehama County Flood Control meeting on Monday (talk about a bunch of government-isms in that sentence). Let me provide more details from an agricultural perspective. Supervisor Matt Hansen campaigned on well moratoriums for irrigation wells only and tried multiple times to sneak moratorium language into Flood Control ordinances and Groundwater Commission meetings in hopes our Groundwater Sustainability Plans will pass if we just cut off ‘Big Ag’ out west. … ” Read more from the Red Bluff Daily News.
BAY AREA
Nearly $1 billion Contra Costa County project reveals the changing science of keeping drinking water safe
“As the Bay Area’s drinking water is increasingly clouded with particles from wildfires, atmospheric rivers, algae blooms and chemical contaminants, the East Bay’s largest water district is set to undertake the most ambitious infrastructure project in the region to try to keep it clean. The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) is tackling nearly $1 billion in infrastructure upgrades to help safeguard 1.4 million residents’ drinking water supply. Officials hope to transform the way it treats the Mokelumne River Watershed that feeds the Pardee and Briones reservoirs. One of the biggest projects began in fall 2021, when the 101-year-old agency began conceptualizing a $420 million plan to add new pretreatment facilities at its Walnut Creek Water Treatment Plant — and smaller upgrades to the Lafayette plant nearby — to speed up how quickly EBMUD can filter out the dirt, microorganisms, algae, chemicals and other particles that are swept into drinking water, 90% of which is sourced from Sierra Nevada snowmelt. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
Calaveras County asks residents to conserve water in wake of wildfires
“An urgent call has gone out to Calaveras County residents to conserve water due to the ongoing firefighting around the Aero Fire. In a social media post on Wednesday, the Calaveras County Water District said “cooperation is vital in keeping our community safe.” Water conservation requests are being made directly to the residents living within close vicinity of the Aero Fire, which is burning in the southwest corner of Calaveras County. “We are coming out of the midst of the Aero Fire and I would just ask that you be sensitive to the fact that there has been a considerable amount of water use in your community and as we push forward towards normalcy I would ask that you conserve water as much as possible,” Calaveras County Water District Director of Operations Damn Wyckoff said in a video on Wednesday. … ” Read more from Fox 40.
The long-term plan to ready the Great Highway for climate change
“Closures of the Great Highway are common due to the buildup of windblown sand on the two-mile stretch north of Sloat Boulevard, known as the upper Great Highway. This has worsened in recent years due to climate change. Further complicating matters are the limitations to when the work can be done. Ocean Beach is home to the Western Snowy Plover, a small shorebird on the endangered species list. Southbound traffic lanes on the Great Highway between Sloat Boulevard and Lincoln Way will remain closed to vehicles during the work. People who walk and bike are encouraged to use the northbound lanes while crews are on the job, weekdays, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. … ” Read more from KALW.
San Jose approves sanctioned encampment plan to move 500 homeless people away from waterways
“The San Jose City Council has agreed to an ambitious plan to move about 500 homeless people living along waterways to sanctioned encampment sites throughout the city by the middle of next year — but it’s already gotten pushback from community members about its choice of locations. At the direction of state regulators pushing the city to clean up its creeks and rivers, councilmembers voted unanimously this week to continue evaluating eight properties as potential locations for the managed camps, dubbed “safe sleeping sites” or “basic needs sites.” The number of final locations has yet to be determined. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
CENTRAL COAST
Commentary: The College Lake Water Supply Project is essential for the water security of all who call the Pajaro Valley home
Amy Newell, chair of the board of directors of PV Water, writes, “On an overcast day last spring, I stood with my fellow Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PV Water) board members, staff, elected leaders and state water officials to mark the groundbreaking of the College Lake Water Supply Project in a muddy field north of Watsonville. Today I can report that we are almost done constructing the 6-mile water pipeline, the most disruptive aspect of this once-in-a-generation water supply project. I wanted to pause and thank all of you for your patience and explain its significance. The College Lake Water Supply Project will significantly increase our ability to combat seawater intrusion while also supporting the Pajaro Valley’s job-creating agricultural sector, helping it to remain strong to help feed the people of this region and beyond. How will all this happen? … ” Read more from Lookout Santa Cruz.
For Mark Tanous, water helps create ceramics while his ceramics convey the importance of water.
“There’s a new exhibit in the Monterey Museum of Art’s Currents space, a section dedicated to emerging California artists. Mark Tanous’ Water: A Story to Be Told, features 19 pieces of ceramics with water as the theme. “I’m very attracted to water,” Tanous says. “Water is so vital to us and we take it for granted.” Tanous has been working with clay all his life. He calls it a “delicious medium” that at first has living organisms in it and is filled with water. Then this “good mud” is treated by ceramic artists who fire the clay until it becomes a parched skeleton, with water removed. Then, with the use of glaze, one brings it back to life. … ” Read more from Monterey Now.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Judge rules in favor of water district in dispute over city’s approval of Sage Ranch project
“A Sacramento County Superior Court judge found in favor of Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District on Tuesday, ruling that the city of Tehachapi’s environmental analysis for the proposed Sage Ranch residential development in 2021 was inadequate. “The district’s main contention is that the (Environmental Impact Report) contained an insufficient analysis of the water supply for the project. The court agrees,” Judge Stephen Acquisto wrote in a ruling posted to the court’s website just before 5 p.m. Tuesday. The ruling came late in the day and comments from the city and Jeff Ciachurski, CEO for Greenbriar, the Sage Ranch developer, were not immediately available. Ciachurski and a spokesman for the city said they had not seen the ruling. Tom Neisler, general manager of the water district, said the district’s legal counsel will provide a response. … ” Read more from the Tehachapi News.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
SCV Water to develop Water Use Efficiency Strategic Plan
“The Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency, with the help of consultant A&N Technical Services, is set to develop SCV Water’s first Water Use Efficiency Strategic Plan. It is a critical planning component that will provide the agency with strategic objectives and effective conservation program elements to comply with the state’s new Conservation Long-Term Framework and performance measures as well as measures and programs to service the community’s water conservation goals, according to a news release from the agency. “We’re excited to start this venture,” SCV Water Sustainability Manager Matt Dickens said in the release. “Successful development of the Water Use Efficiency Strategic Plan will help the agency to achieve several of its strategic plan goals including advancing demand management in the valley and achieving state mandated water use efficiency targets.” … ” Read more from the Signal.
L.A. water department customers say tap water smells, tastes ‘moldy,’ ‘musty’
“Some San Fernando Valley residents have taken to social media to complain about their water smelling and tasting…well, dirty or moldy. “The water in Reseda smells like soil and is musty,” Daniel Nakamura posted to X, formerly Twitter, while tagging the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. “Is it safe to drink?” Another X user, Rena Durham, also tagged LADWP, saying nearly the same thing. “What’s going on with the water,” she asked. “It tastes like moldy dirt…What are you doing about it?” Michael Sakamano said on X that for the last three days, the tap water in the San Fernando Valley has had an “earthy-pond-water smell.” … ” Read more from KTLA.
SAN DIEGO
San Diego County faces nearly 40% water price hike
“Water districts across San Diego County are grappling with a dramatic price hike from the San Diego County Water Authority, which is projected to increase water prices by nearly 40% over the next few years. Olivenhain Municipal Water District board members on Wednesday night voted to approve a budget that will affect 87,000 customers. A spokesperson for the district says they don’t know yet exactly how much this will cost their customers. “If you think gas prices are high, imagine paying nearly 40% more for water over the next two years,” said Dee Dee Camarillo, a local customer. “I think we already pay quite a bit, and I wouldn’t be happy if it went up any higher.” … ” Read more from Fox 5.
Ramona water district’s higher water rates to show on August bills
“Ramona Municipal Water District directors approved water rate increases for customers starting July 1 and will decide whether to continue raising rates each year through fiscal year 2028-29. The rate increase was approved at the water district’s June 11 meeting by a 4-1 vote with Director Gary Hurst opposed. The new rates for the 2024-25 fiscal year are based on volume of water used, monthly service charges and water pumping costs, according to a staff report. The average water bill will increase from roughly $129 per month to $142, an increase of about $13.68, said the water district’s Chief Financial Officer Joe Spence. But the actual charges on a water bill will vary depending on the volume of water used each month and the size of the customers’ water meter. Increases are being applied to water use in increments of 748 gallons; a monthly service charge to cover meter reading, customer billing and infrastructure expenses; and fees to pay for pumping water up the hill from Poway to individual customers. … ” Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Along the Colorado River …
Potential relief for the Colorado River’s near future
“Drought has plagued the Colorado River for the past 2 decades, but a recent study showed that the river’s flow could bounce back for the next 25 years due to increased precipitation. … “The narrative that we read a lot about is that there’s no chance of recovery from our recent woes, as temperatures will keep warming and deplete more water,” said climate scientist Martin P. Hoerling at the University of Colorado Boulder, a coauthor of the study. “And we need to therefore confront a very dire outlook for the future.” Hoerling’s previous research, however, indicated that precipitation, not temperature, has been the predominant factor affecting the flow in the Colorado River. A couple of decades of extremely low precipitation have been the main cause of the recent decline, Hoerling said. “Nature has inherent variability in its precipitation patterns—at times these deliver abundant moisture, at other times the opposite,” he said. … ” Continue reading from EOS.
Nevada leads as 40-year low is reached in Colorado River water use
“Efforts to stretch the overused Colorado River appear to be working: The total amount of water used across Nevada, California and Arizona is the lowest it’s been in 40 years. That’s for myriad reasons, including a good snowpack year allowing for more use of groundwater, increased conservation efforts and millions of dollars in Inflation Reduction Act funding to incentivize farmers to use less water. “Congratulations to the water users in Arizona, California and Nevada,” former Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman, who manages the Central Arizona Project, said in a statement. “Through mandatory reductions, extraordinary conservation, investments and sacrifice, we are demonstrating our ongoing commitment to protect all who rely on the Colorado River.” … ” Read more from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Arizona’s ‘surprising’ source of winter water revealed
“Scientists have discovered a surprising source of winter water in an area of Arizona, according to a new study. The study focused on the Sun Corridor—a region known for being one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the U.S. The area in Phoenix, Arizona, is facing an uncertain future largely due to threats on water supply brought on by drought and unpredictable seasonal patterns. The researchers noted that the Salt-Verde watershed, which is a crucial water source for Phoenix, located north-northeast of the city, feeds a series of rivers that supply about half the municipal, industrial, and agricultural water needs of the region. The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres and led by a team of researchers from Arizona State University (ASU), Salt River Project (SRP), and Universidad de Santiago de Compostela in Spain, mainly found that the primary moisture source for winter precipitation in Arizona is not from the equatorial tropical Pacific region typically associated with El Niño/La Niña events. … ” Read more from Newsweek.
In national water news today …
How to address agriculture’s water woes
“From the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s in North America to the droughts in Ethiopia in the 1980s, Australia in the early 2000s and Syria, Iraq and Iran in 2020, the spectre of water shortages has long hung over the world’s farmlands. When rain fails to arrive season after season, crops wither and cattle starve, and famine and conflict often follow. Climate change brings a whole new level of unpredictability to the rainfall that farmers rely on, either to water their crops directly, or to feed the rivers, lakes, ground water and snowpack from which they draw water for irrigation. And that means agriculture is having to adapt — quickly. … ” Read more from Nature.
Oil industry tries to escape water crunch
“The U.S. oil industry has a double-edged problem: It’s running out of fresh water in one of the most productive U.S. regions while being overwhelmed by chemical-laced liquids. In some areas of the Permian Basin, nearly five barrels of briny water comes out of the ground for every one barrel of crude. Until recently, operators in the prolific region in Texas and New Mexico relied almost exclusively on reinjecting that liquid back into the ground or pumping it into open air waste pits. But after earthquakes were linked to reinjenctions — and water officials warned of dwindling freshwater and groundwater supplies in drought-stricken areas — states, oil companies and critics have been looking at ways to reuse this so-called produced water. That is raising concerns, however, of the long-term impacts of reusing produced water and its potential impact on groundwater. … ” Read more from E&E News.
When $20 billion isn’t enough: water infrastructure
“The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 included more than $50 billion in funding for drinking water, wastewater and stormwater management projects. It was a welcome federal investment for many communities that have struggled to keep water infrastructure in good repair in recent decades. And it anticipates a growing need for water infrastructure funding as existing systems age and climate change causes more extreme weather. Still, it doesn’t come close to matching the estimated demand in coming decades. Some states, including many in the West and Southeast, are making extra investments in water infrastructure using flexible funding from an earlier bill, the American Rescue Plan Act. Governing recently spoke with Aleena Oberthur, a project director with Pew’s state fiscal policy project, about how states are using federal funds for water needs. … ” Read more from Governing.
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
NOTICE: Advance notice of probable curtailments under standard water right term 91
