A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …
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In California water news this week …
California judge grants injunction in Delta Conveyance Project
“A Sacramento County judge on Thursday ruled in favor of several water districts and local governments over California’s planned delta tunnel project that would divert water from Northern California to the south of the state, saying that exploratory work can’t continue until the state completes a necessary certification process. The decision by Superior Court Judge Stephen Acquisto is a win for the groups that had argued the state Department of Water Resources hadn’t completed all documentation required by the California Environmental Quality Act and complied with the Delta Plan. The department had sought to perform geotechnical work, like initial drilling and the installation of monitoring equipment. It argued those actions were preliminary, and didn’t fall under the act’s requirements. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
Legal Analysis: Court issues preliminary injunction halting geotechnical investigations for the Delta Conveyance Project
“On June 20, 2024, the Sacramento County Superior Court stopped the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) from undertaking further geotechnical investigations implementing the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) until DWR files a certification of consistency with the Delta Stewardship Council as required under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009 (Delta Reform Act). The DCP will, among other things, include two new intake facilities on the Sacramento River in the north Delta near the community of Hood, and a concrete-lined tunnel and associated vertical tunnel shafts to convey water from the intakes 45 miles to the Bethany Reservoir Pumping Plant and Surge Basin located south of the State Water Project’s Clifton Court Forebay. The geotechnical investigations would have included thousands of borings, trenching, installation of monitoring devices, test pits, and other tests throughout the Delta and along the path of the proposed DCP facilities to gather information for further project design and construction. The DCP final environmental impact report identified over 70 significant impacts relating to the geotechnical activities and the need for over 90 related mitigation measures. … ” Read more from Somach Simmons & Dunn.
SEE ALSO:
- Court halts DWR’s geotechnical work for controversial Delta tunnel project, press release from attorneys Osha Meserve, Roger Moore, and Thomas Keeling
- State Water Contractors Respond to Narrow Interpretation of Law Creating Unnecessary Delays in Delta Conveyance Project, from the State Water Contractors
NOT ENTIRELY RELATED BUT IMPORTANT TO NOTE: DELTA CONVEYANCE PROJECT: Notice of Assignment and Pre-Hearing Conference, announcement from the State Water Board Administrative Hearings Office
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.
California environmental groups appeal court ruling in favor of plan to build new reservoir
“A coalition of environmental groups appealed a court rejection of their challenge to California’s plan to build Sites Reservoir in a valley north of Sacramento, its first new major reservoir in decades. They argue the project would harm Sacramento River ecosystems and threaten imperiled fish species. The groups include the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Friends of the River, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Water Impact Network and Save California Salmon. “For the sake of the Delta community and the fish and wildlife already struggling in this sensitive ecosystem, I hope the true environmental harms of this reservoir will be taken seriously,” said John Buse, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity. “There are still numerous hurdles before the Sites Reservoir and that’s because the state’s strong environmental laws demand a thorough review for potentially damaging projects.” … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee. | Read via Yahoo News.
California is finally awash in water, but its farmers can’t get it
“California is awash in water after record-breaking rains vanquished years of crippling drought. That sounds like great news for farmers. But Ron McIlroy, whose shop here sells equipment for plowing fields, knows otherwise. “I’ll be lucky if I survive this year,” he said. 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. Why? Endangered fish. … The decision by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and California officials, to curtail water to farmers for the silvery fish has ignited an uproar in the southern Central Valley, and threatens to upend this important agriculture region just as it was recovering. … ” Read more from the Wall Street Journal (unlocked article).
El Niño makes an exit, but La Niña could bring dry conditions back to California
“After a year of dominance, El Niño’s wrath has come to end — but it’s climate-churning counterpart, La Niña, is hot on its heels and could signal a return to dryness for California. El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation, sometimes referred to as ENSO. The climate pattern in the tropical Pacific is the single largest driver of weather conditions worldwide, and has been actively disrupting global temperatures and precipitation patterns since its arrival last summer. Among other effects, the El Niño event contributed to months of record-high global ocean temperatures, extreme heat stress to coral reefs, drought in the Amazon and Central America, and record-setting atmospheric rivers on the U.S. West Coast, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in its latest ENSO update. … ” Read more from LA Times. | Read via Yahoo News.
DAN WALTERS: In rain, snow and drought, California’s fights over water rights, supplies persist
“Legal rights to use water — particularly those obtained prior to 1914 — lie at the heart of California’s perpetual wrangling over the allocation of increasingly limited water supplies. For years state officials have been trying, with limited success, to reduce farmers’ diversions, increase river flows and restore declining numbers of fish, particularly salmon, and other wildlife. The conflict occurs even during periods when the state receives abundant rain and snow and its reservoirs are full. But it becomes more intense during the state’s periodic droughts, as illustrated by what happened in 2014 when then-Gov. Jerry Brown, citing “one of the driest years in recorded state history,” proclaimed a state of emergency. The state Water Resources Control Board began notifying agricultural water agencies that they must curtail diversions from the Sacramento and San Joaquin river watersheds — essentially the entire Central Valley — having “determined that the existing water supply … is insufficient to meet the needs of all water rights holders.” … ” Read more from Dan Walters.
Panel: A Delta County supervisor, a water district board chair, and a farmer – A conversation about how climate change is affecting Bay-Delta water issues
Consider: The Bay Delta watershed spans 75,000 square miles, stretching over 500 miles from the Cascade Range to the Tehachapi Mountains. Nearly half of California’s surface water originates as rain or snow in this watershed. .. Serving as the hub of California’s water supply system, the Delta provides drinking water to 30 million Californians and irrigates 7,000 square miles of farmland. As the largest estuary on the west coast of North and South America, the Delta is vital for two-thirds of California’s salmon population and numerous migratory waterfowl. However, the Delta faces ongoing conflicts due to the need to protect endangered or threatened species that inhabit the area. Add to that the uncertainties of climate change, and the situation is indeed very complicated. At the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) spring conference, three leaders from different parts of the state talked about how climate change impacts the Delta’s water supplies, flood control, and farming. … ” Click here to read this post.
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.
Proposed state cuts would sever water lifeline for tens of thousands of disadvantaged San Joaquin Valley residents
“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 communties 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 SJV Water.
State lawmakers axe longstanding Habitat Conservation Fund
“For 35 years, the state Habitat Conservation Fund has been a modest but consistent source of money for acquiring, conserving, and improving habitat across California. And Proposition 117, the vote that created the fund, explicitly prevents using that money for anything else. But last week the state Legislature approved doing exactly that—passing budget legislation proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that moves $45 million allocated to the fund for the next fiscal year into the state’s general fund. And if this holds, environmental groups worry it may set a precedent that endangers at least $120 million more of conservation funding. “Voters approved the HCF with Prop. 117 because they wanted a permanent source of funding for conservation of lands and waters in California: with the emphasis on permanent,” said Mark Green, the executive director at CalWild, in a statement. … ” Read more from Bay Nature.
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.
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.
The cost of building the perfect wave
“For nearly as long as surfing has existed, surfers have been obsessed with the search for the perfect wave. It’s not just a question of size, but also of shape, surface conditions, and duration—ideally in a beautiful natural environment. While this hunt has taken surfers from tropical coastlines reachable only by boat to swells breaking off icebergs, these days—as the sport goes mainstream—that search may take place closer to home. That is, at least, the vision presented by developers and boosters in the growing industry of surf pools, spurred by advances in wave-generating technology that have finally created artificial waves surfers actually want to ride. Some surf evangelists think these pools will democratize the sport, making it accessible to more communities far from the coasts—while others are simply interested in cashing in. But a years-long fight over a planned surf pool in Thermal, California, shows that for many people who live in the places where they’re being built, the calculus isn’t about surf at all. … ” Continue reading from MIT Technology.
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.
NASA satellites find snow didn’t offset Southwest groundwater loss
“Record snowfall in recent years has not been enough to offset long-term drying conditions and increasing groundwater demands in the U.S. Southwest, according to a new analysis of NASA satellite data. Declining water levels in the Great Salt Lake and Lake Mead have been testaments to a megadrought afflicting western North America since 2000. But surface water only accounts for a fraction of the Great Basin watershed that covers most of Nevada and large portions of California, Utah, and Oregon. Far more of the region’s water is underground. That has historically made it difficult to track the impact of droughts on the overall water content of the Great Basin. A new look at 20 years of data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) series of satellites shows that the decline in groundwater in the Great Basin far exceeds stark surface water losses. Over about the past two decades, the underground water supply in the basin has fallen by 16.5 cubic miles (68.7 cubic kilometers). That’s roughly two-thirds as much water as the entire state of California uses in a year and about six times the total volume of water that was left in Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, at the end of 2023. … ” Read more from NASA.
In commentary this week …
Calif. is locked out of plentiful water supplies. Why? Mismanagement.
William Bourdeau, executive vice president of Harris Farms, owner of Bourdeau Farms, and director of the Westlands Water District, writes, “California’s water crisis is a multifaceted problem that has reached a critical point, particularly for the state’s agricultural sector. Despite reservoirs being full and a favorable hydrologic year marked by substantial rain and snowpack, the mismanagement of surface water and water infrastructure has led to alarmingly low water allocations for farmers. The Central Valley Project (CVP), a federal water management project in California, plays a crucial role in delivering water to the state’s agricultural heartland. However, despite the abundance of water this year, the CVP’s water allocation for agriculture remains critically low. According to General Manager Allison Febbo of the Westlands Water District, the allocation stands at a mere 40% of the total water contract, which is unjustifiably low considering the full reservoirs and decent precipitation levels. … ” Read more from the San Joaquin Valley Sun.
Column: Biden and Newsom’s jig is up: manufactured water scarcity is a farce
Wayne Western writes, “Although a recent, science-fiction and heavily-slanted piece in Politico on California’s impending water battle is a page waster, there is some truth whether intended or not. Water allocations in California are one-hundred percent political and the Biden and Newsom administrations are working hard to guarantee more water is dumped into the ocean for the foreseeable the future. The difference we realize today versus the decades of back-and-forth on water management in our state is they currently have no hesitation in admitting what their goals are. The goal for California, in this case, is scarcity. … ” Read more from the San Joaquin Valley Sun.
Drought not over for some California farmers thanks to questionable Delta smelt regulations
Dennis Wyatt, editor of the Manteca Bulletin, writes, “It smells like cucumbers. It tops out at 4 inches in length. It is a luminous silvery blue color. That is what a Delta smelt looks and smells like in a nutshell. At one point, the fish that have a one-year life cycle were so plentiful that they were caught and sold commercially. Today, the fish that are unique to the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta are on the verge of extinction in the wild. And they are being thoroughly cursed by farmers in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. The reason is simple. The fish plays a pivotal role in California’s perennial water wars. … ” Continue reading at the Manteca Bulletin.
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.
Democrats vs. democracy
Columnist Susan Shelley writes, ““Hypocrisy,” said a French aristocrat back in the 1600s, “is the tribute that vice pays to virtue.” The “tributes” are pouring in from Democratic political leaders in California. They pose as defenders of democracy while they work full-time to destroy it. Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders are trying to assassinate three initiatives that the people of California put on the ballot using the powers of direct democracy. They are attacking two initiatives that are set to be on this November’s ballot, and one that was long ago approved by voters and now is being hollowed out. That initiative is Proposition 218 from 1996. It amended the state constitution to put some limits and controls on property-related fees and charges. For example, public agencies planning a new or increased “assessment,” such as higher rates for water service, have to comply with certain procedures. … ” Read more from the OC Register.
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.
A Climate Resilience Bond must invest in California’s water future
Rick Callender, Chief Executive Officer of Valley Water, and Dave Eggerton, Executive Director of the Association of California Water Agencies, writes, “The evidence is overwhelming. We are experiencing the impacts of climate change now. Our wet years are becoming warmer and wetter. Our dry years are becoming drier, warmer, and more frequent. This extreme weather creates dangerous and costly consequences in the Bay Area and across California. In the past 12 years, California has endured two multi-year droughts, including a stretch from 2020 to 2022 that was the state’s driest three-year period on record. California also experienced two of the wettest winters on record, fueled by a parade of atmospheric rivers that caused flooding in Santa Clara County and across the state. If we fail to invest in infrastructure now, we all will face serious challenges with disadvantaged communities bearing the worst through unaffordable water and increased flooding. … ” Read more from ACWA News.
Editorial: The nation’s filthiest beach is here. Blame Biden, Newsom.
The San Diego Union-Tribune editorial board writes, “By any objective standard, the southern coast of San Diego County is enduring a long-running environmental nightmare. Decades of billions of gallons of untreated human waste flowing north from broken sewage infrastructure in Tijuana have sickened a vast number of surfers and swimmers and many Navy SEALs training at Coronado. Especially because of ailments reported by border agents, some doctors worry that the health threat goes far beyond active ocean users to include those who spend extended time in coastal areas and breathe air that often smells like a filthy portable toilet. Now there is fresh confirmation of how uniquely awful this problem is. … ” Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
In regional water news this week …
PG&E shares new information re Spaulding at PCWA meeting
“Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) Directors and members of the public received a status update on the ongoing repairs at the Spaulding facilities from Eric Van Deuren, Sr. Director Power Generation Project Execution for PG&E. His report contained new information, including the root cause for the failed discharge horns in the powerhouse, additional issues with support columns and more. Van Deuren began by explaining why the return to service date for the Spaulding Powerhouse #1 have changed so many times, stating “I think that the key thing to recognize is this is not a normal plan project. … ” Read more from YubaNet.
EchoWater project helps relieve multiyear drought in Sacramento
“Owned and operated by Sacramento Regional County Sanitation (Regional San), the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant near Elk Grove, California, treats 135 million gallons of wastewater daily from 1.6 million people throughout Sacramento County and West Sacramento. When new permit discharge requirements were issued back in 2010, Regional San began exploring various strategies to upgrade their existing infrastructure to perform cutting-edge treatment processes that deliver safe and reliable water to be used for recycled purposes, including irrigation for local agriculture. Known as EchoWater, the project evolved into a decade-long facility expansion to improve water quality, alleviate ecological issues, and provide some relief to California’s multiyear, drought-ridden agricultural industry. … ” Read more from Water Finance & Management.
Restoring natural waterways in San Francisco’s Mission District and Mission Bay
“Beneath the streets of San Francisco’s Mission District once flowed a rich network of natural waterways. A system of creeks, lagoons, and acres of tidal wetlands oscillated their salinity with the tides, swelled and contracted with the seasons, and served as a naturally modulating microbiome for countless forms of life at the interface between land and sea.The first known people in the Bay Area were the Ohlone speaking tribes such as the Ramaytush in San Francisco. They lived as a partner with this ecosystem for over 10,000 years. But a brief 300 years ago, the Spanish and Americans arrived and changed the land and waterways for the worse. The Spanish began by diverting freshwater for farming and light industrial use, but it was the Americans who shifted environmental engineering into high gear after 1848, filling in land to make way for newly surveyed plots hosting heavier industries like woolen mills, tanneries, glassworks, steelworks, breweries, textiles, and railroads to connect them. … ” Read more from the Sierra Club.
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.
Newest California state park saved this tiny town from disaster
“Under a shaded refuge adjacent to a still pond in the Central Valley, dozens of California State Parks officials and nonprofit leaders assembled Wednesday to laud the first state park to open in a decade. Among the beaming faces was Lilia Lomeli-Gil, a community leader representing the tiny town 5 miles away that, thanks to the park’s debut, is being transformed. If Merced is the “Gateway to Yosemite,” then Grayson is the gateway to Dos Rios State Park. The 1,600-acre property lies within the floodplains outside Modesto and features the intersection of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
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.
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.
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.
Announcements, notices, and funding opportunities …
DELTA CONVEYANCE PROJECT: Notice of Assignment and Pre-Hearing Conference
NOTICE: SGMA Kaweah Probationary Hearing rescheduled for January 2025; Workshops on draft staff report next week
NOTICE of changes to the proposed ‘Making Conservation a California Way of Life’ Regulation
NOTICE: Advance notice of probable curtailments under standard water right term 91
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
