WEEKLY WATER NEWS DIGEST for July 15-19: Inland cities face the steepest water cuts with new conservation regs; In an era of dam removal, CA is building more; From litigation to collaboration: How environmentalists and water agencies went from fighting over fish to helping them; and more …

A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …

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In California water news this week …

Hot, inland California cities face the steepest water cuts with new conservation mandate

“Facing a future of shortages, California is entering a new phase of water conservation: Cities and towns must meet new mandates ramping down use over the next 15 years — and some will be hit harder than others.  Approved two weeks ago, the new state rules require 405 cities and other urban suppliers serving 95% of Californians to meet individualized water budgets.  Suppliers serving roughly a third of Californians won’t need to cut water use to meet the 2040 mandates. Coastal California is expected to escape relatively unscathed with its cool climate, while hot, inland communities will face far steeper conservation requirements.  Of a dozen water systems projected to face cuts of 40% or more over the next 15 years, seven are located in the Central Valley, where many suppliers already struggle with water availability and quality, according to preliminary state data. … ”  Read more from Cal Matters.

In an era of dam removal, California is building more

Sites, Colusa County. Photo by Tom Hilton.

“When the largest dam removal in U.S. history began on the Klamath River this year, it seemed as if the era of dam building was over in the West. Just a month later, however, the federal government finalized $216 million dollars in funding for a controversial dam project south of the Klamath, adding to the $1 billion in direct grants already pledged to the project known as Sites Reservoir. Rights for the water are being distributed this summer.  This would be California’s first major new reservoir in half a century. The project will require building two main dams on a pair of streams that typically only run during big winter rains. Most of the water would come from much farther away, however: Filling the reservoir means piping water from the Sacramento River uphill, away from the Central Valley. If it’s built, the reservoir will inundate Antelope Valley, 14,000 acres of hilly grassland in the California Coast Range, northwest of Sacramento. … ”  Read more from High Country News.

Kings County judge rules state overstepped by requiring farmers to meter, report groundwater extractions

“The first steps toward possible state control of groundwater pumping in Kings County were derailed under a ruling issued July 15 that said the Water Resources Control Board had overstepped its bounds by requiring meters on wells.  The temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction were issued by Kings County Superior Court Judge Kathy Ciuffini in a case brought by the Kings County Farm Bureau.  Requiring meters and reporting extractions were the first steps mandated by the Water Board in the Tulare Lake subbasin, which covers most of Kings County, as part of its enforcement of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.  The requirements were made after the subbasin was put into probationary status by the Water Board April 16 for failing to come up with a coordinated groundwater management plan. … ”  Read more from SJV Water.

From litigation to collaboration: How environmentalists and water agencies went from fighting over fish to helping them

“A decade ago, California fish advocates and water suppliers seldom crossed paths except as entrenched opponents in a court of law. Worse, both sides often drew opposite conclusions from the same science on how the state’s massive water delivery projects affect Delta smelt, salmon, and other species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. Finally, in 2013, a judge decided he’d had enough.  “The courts got tired of hearing differing interpretations of the science,” says Samuel Luoma, a University of California, Davis research ecologist who has worked in the Bay-Delta for decades. “The judge said, ‘You guys need to start talking to each other―don’t argue it out in front of me!’”  The resulting court order sparked the Collaborative Science and Adaptive Management Program (CSAMP), a surprisingly little known effort considering that it literally brings top people  from environmental nonprofits, water agencies, and state and federal fish and wildlife agencies to the same table. … ”  Continue reading from Maven’s Notebook.

Billions of gallons of water from Lake Shasta disappearing into thin air

An aerial view of Lake Shasta and the dam in Shasta County, California. Photo taken May 9, 2024.  Sara Nevis / DWR

“Hundreds of millions of gallons of water in Lake Shasta and other major reservoirs in the North State have been disappearing into thin air.  Considering the region has suffered recently through some of the most extreme heat ever recorded, water evaporating off the lakes in vast quantities hasn’t surprised water managers.  On July 3, 288.8 million gallons of water evaporated off Lake Shasta. And during the first nine days of July, 3,392 cubic-feet per second of water — or about 2.2 billion gallons — turned into vapor and floated away into the atmosphere.  That is a substantial amount of water, said Don Bader, area manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages Shasta Dam. For comparison, he said that is more than the amount of water flowing down Clear Creek south of Redding. … ”  Read more from the Redding Record-Searchlight.

C-WIN PRESS RELEASE: While fish go extinct, DWR claims no environmental impact from SWP operations

The Harvey O. Banks Delta Pumping Plant lifts water into the California Aqueduct. Photo by Ken James / DWR

“A recently released draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) purports to analyze the long-term operations of the State Water Project, which diverts massive quantities of water from the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta to San Joaquin Valley farms and Southern California cities.  The DEIR comes about nine months after the State Water Resources Control Board issued a comprehensive environmental review that found conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed are dire and that significantly higher river flows are needed to restore and maintain ecosystem health. However, DWR’s DEIR ignores the Water Board’s assessment and instead concludes that its operations plan – which is driving native aquatic species toward extinction – will not cause additional environmental damage. … ”  Read more from the California Water Impact Network.

Climate change is making it harder to estimate Sierra snowpack. AI may be able to help

“Changes in California’s climate patterns are making it more difficult for scientists to accurately estimate the state’s snowpack. This could present a problem for water managers, who rely on accurate numbers to plan for spring flood control and annual water supply allocations.  Historically, a large network of automatic sensors called “snow pillows” has been used to take automated measurements of the weight of the snow at a specific location. Knowing the weight allows scientists to calculate the amount of water in the snow.  Decades of that measured data combined with an understanding of historical snow trends have allowed scientists to make informed estimates about the amount of snow in certain areas. As California’s climate changes, the relationships informing those estimates may become less useful. … ”  Read more from KCRA.

Lithium critical to the energy transition is coming at the expense of water

“Lithium needed for batteries that power electric vehicles and store electricity from renewable energy projects is likely to deplete—and in some cases, contaminate—local water supplies, according to a new paper published this week.  From mining the mineral to processing it for battery use, water is essential for producing the soft, silvery metal with superior ability to hold a charge. With lithium demand rising as the world pivots away from the fossil fuels warming the climate, researchers are increasingly scrutinizing the environmental impacts of extracting and using the mineral critical to the energy transition.  The new paper, titled “Lithium and water: Hydrosocial impacts across the life cycle of energy storage,” is designed as a primer for community members, activists and other researchers about lithium’s impact on water supplies. It makes the situation clear—lithium products, across their entire life cycle, will have “impacts on both the quantity and quality of water resources” that will primarily affect communities already on the front lines of climate change. … ”  Read more from Inside Climate News.

The science that transformed a dry streambed into an oasis

“Laura Norman stood by the trickling stream and let the enchantment of her surroundings wash over her. The landscape was verdant, lush even, but Norman wasn’t standing in a tropical paradise. In fact, her oasis was in one of the driest, hottest regions in the world, and only a handful of years ago, this gully was virtually barren of plants.  In the arid and semi-arid southwestern United States, where Norman has studied watersheds for over 20 years, land use changes and climate change are causing increasing desertification. And yet where she stood, as if by magic, permanent wetlands had sprung up.  But it wasn’t a spell or a massive feat of engineering that caused moisture to seep into the land, allowing plants to grow and creating habitat for aquatic animals. It was simple technology that when carefully applied, allowed the laws of nature to transform the land. … ”  Read more from the USGS.

Groundwater is key to protecting global ecosystems

The Coachella Valley Preserve is an example of a groundwater-dependent ecosystem. Photo by Tom Hilton.

“Where hidden water tables meet the Earth’s surface, life can thrive even in the driest locations. Offering refuge during times of drought, shallow groundwater aquifers act like water savings accounts that can support ecosystems with the moisture required to survive, even as precipitation dwindles. As climate change and human water use rapidly deplete groundwater levels around the world, scientists and policy makers need better data for where these groundwater-dependent ecosystems exist.  Now, a new study maps these ecosystems in dryland regions globally, examines their protection status and explores how they overlap with human communities.  The research, published in the journal Nature, marks the first time that groundwater-dependent ecosystems have been mapped on a global scale. The global effort brought together researchers from universities, non-profit organizations and institutions from seven countries, including UC Santa Barbara. Their results show that 53% of these ecosystems are in areas with known groundwater depletion, while only 21% exist on protected lands or regions with policies in place for their protection. … ”  Read more from The Current.

Sisyphus of the slough: The uphill battle of removing invasive aquatic vegetation

Photo by the USGS.

“Before the turn of the 21st century, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta was dubbed one of the most biologically invaded estuaries in the world, with non-native plants at the root of the issue. Over 25 years later, the battle against invasive aquatic vegetation in the Delta continues at an even accelerated rate, despite innovative management efforts. Situated at the confluence of the Central Valley’s two main river systems and just upstream of the San Francisco Bay, the Delta is an important hub for both commercial and recreational boat traffic, leaving it highly susceptible to non-native species invasion. The Delta is not the only waterway dealing with invasives – other popular California lakes and rivers used for recreational activities like boating, camping, and fishing are fighting similar battles. Non-native species of flora that take root in important California waterways not only compromise the native plant and fish communities that live there, but can also impede human agricultural, industrial, and recreational activity that rely on clear and healthy channels. … ”  Read more from FishBio.

Zooming out: Rethinking Bay-Delta fish trends by combining multiple surveys

“This week’s Flashback Friday breaks down the way scientists can stitch together the discontinuous collection of fisheries data from the San Francisco Bay-Delta.  The San Francisco Bay-Delta is among the most intensively studied ecosystems in the world. Numerous long-term fisheries monitoring programs have been conducted there since the late 1950s, but differences in the methods, scope, spatial coverage, and timing of these surveys make it difficult to compare and combine the data collected. As a result, researchers often rely on data from only one or a few of these surveys to identify patterns and draw conclusions about species trends. This fragmented approach provides an incomplete picture, which in turn can lead to incorrect inferences. To attempt a more holistic use of available information, a recent study by researchers from the University of California, Davis combined data from numerous surveys into multi-survey indices (Stompe et al. 2020). … ”  Continue reading at FishBio.

SCIENCE IN SHORT PODCAST: Environmental DNA: An Interview with Andrea Schreier

UC Davis PhD student Anderson Tate Montenegro collects water samples containing eDNA from vernal pools in Don Edwards San Francisco National Wildlife Reserve. PHOTO CREDIT: Alana Luzzio, UC Davis

Living organisms everywhere are leaving behind clues of their presence. Known as environmental DNA, or eDNA for short, this genetic information is being used by conservation ecologists to pinpoint species in a way that they never have been able to before.  California researchers are testing out new tools that can offer up answers to our questions in a matter of minutes. With a potential to revolutionize how we do conservation science, eDNA technology presents many opportunities for us to better understand the dynamics and health of our California Bay and Delta ecosystems.  Click here to listen to the podcast or read transcript.

PPIC Survey: Californians identify climate change, wildfires, and water supply as top environmental concerns; coastal issues also prominent

“Californians have been facing a record heat wave and wildfires across the state this summer. The state’s multibillion-dollar budget deficit prompted spending cuts for climate and energy programs. In response, the legislature approved a $10 billion state bond for the November ballot that asks voters to approve more funding for drought, floods, wildfires, coastal resilience, and extreme heat mitigation. The deep partisan divide on climate and energy policies surfaced in the presidential debate on June 27.  These are the key findings of the Californians and the Environment survey on local, state, and national issues and coastal and inland topics that was conducted June 24–July 2, 2024 … Read on for the full survey results from the PPIC.

Unpacking the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the “Chevron Doctrine”

“We asked our senior fellow Brian Gray, a retired environmental law professor, to help us understand the implications of the US Supreme Court’s recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondi, which overruled the “Chevron doctrine.”  Let’s start with a basic question: what was the Chevron doctrine?  The Chevron doctrine stems from the Supreme Court’s 1984 decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. The decision basically stated that if federal legislation is ambiguous or leaves an administrative gap, the courts must defer to the regulatory agency’s interpretation if the interpretation is reasonable. Notably, Chevron required the courts to defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of the statute, even if a court—left to its own devices—would interpret it differently. … ”  Read more from the PPIC.

How bad is warming? La Niña may reveal

“The Pacific is set to shift from its warmer El Niño phase to its cooler La Niña phase in late summer or early fall, U.S. officials say, likely bringing an end to a long stretch of unprecedented warmth. The world has seen 13 consecutive months of record-breaking heat, according to the EU Copernicus Climate Change Service. The last 12 of those months have measured 1.5 degrees C warmer than the preindustrial era, meaning the world has at least temporarily surpassed the temperature target set forth in the Paris Agreement.  “This is more than a statistical oddity and it highlights a large and continuing shift in our climate,” said Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo. How much of a shift is not entirely certain, however, as the record heat is being driven both by warming and by El Niño. Scientists say the end of El Niño, which was pronounced over in June, will help clarify the role of climate change. … ”  Read more from Yale e360.

How bad are wildfires going to be in California this summer?

“After brutal wildfire seasons in 2020 and 2021, California has enjoyed two mild years in a row. The good fortune was driven largely by rain and snow that ended three years of drought.  What’s on tap for this summer and fall? Nobody knows for sure. But three points are key, experts say. First, California had a wet winter this year, with rainfall since Oct. 1 in San Francisco at 113% of normal, 157% in Los Angeles, and 92% in Fresno. The Sierra Nevada snowpack was 111% of normal on April 1.  Second, California has a Mediterranean climate, and wildfires are part of the state’s natural landscape. Third, wildfires have generally been getting worse across the West in recent decades. Climate change is raising temperatures and drying out vegetation more than in the past. Forests in many areas are unnaturally dense after generations of fire suppression by state and federal agencies. And more people are moving to fire-prone areas, increasing fire risk from power lines, vehicles and other human causes. … ”  Read more from the Mercury News (gift article).

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In commentary this week …

California’s water economy: The three biggest choices

Edward Ring, Director, Water and Energy Policy for the California Water Policy Center, writes, “If water strategy in California had to be distilled down to just three projects with the greatest impact, the answers might vary a great deal depending on who was asked. But in terms of quality of life impact, the ongoing implementation of State Water Resources Control Board to “Make Conservation a Way of Life” is the clear winner. In terms of financial impact, it’s the proposed “Delta Conveyance.” And in terms of potential to actually increase California’s water supply by a significant, game-changing quantity, it’s the San Joaquin County Blueprint’s “Fish Friendly Diversions” proposal.  Let’s consider these one at a time. … ”  Read more from the California Policy Center.

California policy czars ignore water-supply solutions in plain sight

Edward Ring, co-founder of the California Policy Center, writes, “Chronic water scarcity in California is indeed the new normal, but it’s not because of climate change. Even if the state is destined to experience lengthier droughts and reduced snowpack, most scenarios also forecast an abundance of years when the state is inundated with a series of so-called atmospheric rivers. That diluvian scenario was experienced by Californians this past winter, and even more so in the winter of 2022–23. Yet water remains scarce.  Water is scarce because Californians have been living off a previous generation’s investment in the State Water Project, a remarkable system of reservoirs and aqueducts built in the 1950s and ’60s that were designed for a state with 20 million people but that is now inhabited by a population nearly twice the size. … ”  Read more from the National Review.

The future of Central Valley farming depends on more reliable water supplies

Rebecca Kaser, the owner of Avellar-Moore Farms in Fresno County, writes, “As a fourth-generation grower, I am familiar with the challenges associated with managing my water supply. However, this year’s low water allocation from the Central Valley Project (CVP) has pushed our resilience and resourcefulness to the brink.  As a grower in Westlands Water District, we receive our water annually through the CVP. This year, our initial allocation was 15 percent. Then, after some mid to late February storms, our allocation increased to 40 percent. More storms came and our hydrology continued to improve. Finally in June, our allocation increased to 50 percent. Although 50 percent is much better than 15 percent, this final allocation is not sufficient for our agricultural needs. Furthermore, the lateness in this allocation made it exceedingly difficult to plan for the rest of our crop year. … ”  Read more from the San Joaquin Valley Sun.

California groundwater still an unsettled problem

Columnist Thomas Elias writes, “No one ever explained why the so-called Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 allowed 26 years — until 2040 — before all users of California’s ever-smaller groundwater supplies would have to meter their wells. Meanwhile, two straight winters of record-level rain and snow have not solved the problem of aquifer depletion. Sure, groundwater supplies ticked slightly upward this spring, after massive downpours filled the state’s rivers and reservoirs and piled snow on the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  But the groundwater increase was pretty slim, about 8.7 million acre feet of water was replaced over the two years. One acre foot is the amount of water need to cover an acre of ground to the one-foot level.  That hasn’t even begun restoring land levels in the Central Valley. The same old irrigation pipes and water lines that stood several feet above ground in many parts of the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys in 2014 still stand tall. … ”  Read more from the Antelope Valley Press.

U.S. seeks to propel action on groundwater

Dan Keppen, executive director of the Family Farm Alliance, writes, “The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) recently established a working group to examine America’s groundwater risks, building on a December 2023 PCAST meetingSome of the discussion at that meeting refers to agriculture as “the elephant in the room” and “the culprit” of depleted aquifers.  Our experience suggests that federal water management policies that redirect water once used for decades by agriculture towards environmental purposes may be a more realistic cause for concern.  For example, in the absence of once reliable surface water supplies provided by the federal Central Valley Project, many of California’s farmers over the past 15 years have been forced to rely on pumping groundwater from underlying aquifers. … ”  Read more from the Western Farm Press.

A resilient water future for the San Joaquin Valley is within reach.

Ashley Boren, CEO of Sustainable Conservation, writes, “The San Joaquin Valley recently received some good news about its groundwater: We are replenishing more of it whenever we have the chance. Comparing two recent wet years — 2017 to 2023 — the volume of water returned to the Valley’s groundwater aquifers through recharge increased by 17%. This finding, released by the Public Policy Institute of California, validates the hard work of all those who helped move the needle on groundwater recharge in the past six years. But we can’t let our foot off the gas now. The partnerships forged, research conducted, policies developed, risks taken and hours spent in the field charted the course for 2023’s positive momentum, and we must keep going to realize the full potential of recharge in California. … ”  Read more from the Fresno Bee. | Read via Yahoo News.

ACWA priorities connect with water stewardship and affordability

Ernie Avila writes, “ACWA member agencies are stewards of the communities they serve.  In this capacity, they are responsible for the reliability of their communities’ water supplies, the infrastructure required for their delivery on a 24/7/365 basis, the protection of its water quality from the headwaters to the tap, and for cost-effective delivery of these services, particularly to those with fixed incomes or limited means.  ACWA must continue to engage and advocate effectively for our members’ interests, especially as new state and federal standards, combined with aging infrastructure and inflationary issues, drive up the cost of service to our ACWA member agency communities. … ”  Read more from ACWA’s Voices on Water.

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In regional water news this week …

The salmon diaries: Life before and after Klamath Dam removal

The sun rises over the mouth of the Klamath River in Northern California where it empties into the Pacific Ocean near the city of Klamath. The world’s biggest dam removal is underway on the Klamath River with four dams scheduled to be removed in 2023 and 2024. (c) Alysha Beck, UC Davis

“When salmon return from the ocean to the Klamath River after the world’s largest dam removal project ends this fall, they will regain access to 400 miles of historical spawning habitat their species has been cut off from for more than a century.  From the river to the lab, looking at the very ear bones of fish, scientists with the University of California, Davis, are playing a key role helping to answer a big dam question: Will it work? Will a diverse population of salmon thrive again once the dams are removed and the Klamath River restored?  The answers are important not only for the Klamath but also for dams across the world that have outlived their usefulness. Less than 100 miles south of Klamath, for instance, is the Eel River, where a dam is slated to be removed in 2028. In 2023 alone, 80 dams were demolished across the U.S.   “It will work,” said Robert Lusardi, a freshwater ecologist and assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology. “There’s nothing better we could do for fish and for people in Northern California and throughout the world than to remove these dams. But if we don’t track and try to better understand how things are changing, we’re not going to understand their importance for future efforts.” … ”  Continue reading from UC Davis.

Federal judge approves settlement against Butte County over water contamination

“A federal judge approved a consent decree Friday in a case brought by a California environmental nonprofit against Butte County over a county-run solid waste facility.  That nonprofit, California Open Lands, maintains a wetland preserve in Butte County that leads to a Sacramento River tributary. The wetland sits near the Neal Road Recycling and Waste Facility — and during a major rainstorm in 2019, the nonprofit said the facility allowed contaminants to seep out of its facility and into the wetland.  The Butte County Department of Public Works operates the facility, which was damaged during the devastating Camp Fire in November 2018. In February 2019, a rainstorm inundated the area.  The storm caused leachate from the facility to seep into a stormwater basin and into a ditch that flows into the nonprofit’s wetland preserve, California Open Lands claimed. The group said stormwater next flowed into an unnamed creek and then into Hamlin Slough — a tributary of Butte Creek which is itself a tributary of the Sacramento River. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.

New state water conservation rules go easy on Sacramento but small cities nearby feel the pinch

“With California expecting its water supply to dwindle, new state conservation rules will encourage water suppliers to conserve 500,000 acre-feet, or 162.9 billion gallons, annually by 2040 — enough for roughly 1.4 million households. The highly detailed rules by the state water regulators vary widely. Under new targets, many urban water districts including Sacramento are under little to no obligation to conserve while smaller ones nearby are required to cut as much as 30% in a few years. The sweeping new regulations were adopted by the state Water Resources Control Board last week after years of deliberation. “The arc of conservation in this state has been an incredible one. Californians know conservation is critical,” said board chair Joaquin Esquivel of the new rules. “What this creates is really a floor. … This regulation has taken a decade worth of work.” … ”  Read more from the Sacramento Bee.

Marshes could save Bay Area half a billion dollars in floods

Ravenswood restoration by David Hasling.

“What, precisely, is the value of habitat restoration? While answers tend to aim for pristine nature and thriving wildlife, one approach — recently published in the journal Nature — has assigned salt marsh restoration projects a dollar value in terms of human assets protected from climate change driven flooding. This novel approach uses the same models engineers use to evaluate the value of “gray” solutions such as levees and seawalls.  “You can really compare apples to apples when you put these green climate adaptation solutions on the same playing field as gray infrastructure,” says Rae Taylor-Burns, a postdoctoral fellow with UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience and lead author of the study. … ”  Read more from Knee Deep Times.

Regional Water Board adopts permit requiring critical investments to protect San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay. Photo by Doc Searls

“To help protect water quality and aquatic life in San Francisco Bay for generations to come, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted a permit today that will for the first time require nutrient reductions for all wastewater treatment plants discharging into the bay.  The new permit, adopted under the Clean Water Act after years of monitoring and research, will go into effect Oct. 1. It requires that 40 sewage treatment plants must collectively reduce nitrogen discharges by 40% compared to 2022, when a “red tide” harmful algal bloom (HAB) triggered a massive fish kill in the San Francisco Bay. Nutrients are discharged into the bay from sewage treatment plants’ wastewater. Excessive nutrients are a major contributor to HABs, which cause a dramatic depletion in dissolved oxygen levels, killing aquatic species. … ”  Read more from the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board.

New(ish) Kern groundwater authority gets underway

“A somewhat new groundwater authority held its first meeting Monday with a mandate to represent Kern County lands not covered by existing water districts.  The so-called “non-districted lands” within the Kern subbasin (the San Joaquin Valley portion of Kern) had sort of been previously represented by the Kern Groundwater Authority KGA.  But the KGA has been disintegrating over the past two years as member water districts left to form their own groundwater sustainability agencies. The KGA held its final meeting on May 22 and has since morphed into the Kern Non-Districted Lands Authority (KNDLA).  The eventual goal is for owners of non-districted lands to represent their own interests under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act via the KNDLA and – more importantly – pay their own fees for studies, consultants, legal representation, etc. Water districts in the KGA had been footing those bills over the past 10 years. … ”  Read more from SJV Water.

A river runs through Los Angeles

“When you hear the word “river,” you probably picture a majestic body of water flowing through a natural habitat. Well, the LA River looks nothing like that. Most people who see it probably mistake it for a giant storm drain. It’s a deep trapezoidal channel with steep concrete walls, and a flat concrete bottom. The LA River is a surreal place to be, which has made it a great location to have edgy photoshoots or film movies like Grease or Terminator 2.  Los Angeles was founded around this river. But decades ago it was confined in concrete so that, for better or worse, the city could become the sprawling metropolis that it is today. All these years later the county is still grappling with the consequences of those actions. … ”  Continue reading at 99% Invisible.

Best practices for developing watershed management programs in southern California

“Stormwater managers are faced with solving complex and diverse environmental issues. Different watersheds have different waterbodies and supported uses, different upstream landscapes and land uses, different pollutants of concern, and different responsible agencies across jurisdictional boundaries. Under all those differences, stormwater managers are expected to implement control measures that address the most pressing water quality needs. A common planning tool used across Southern California to guide effective and efficient implementation is the development of watershed management programs. Watershed management programs are a combination of rigorous data analysis and modeling, technical engineering and extensive stakeholder coordination to provide a clear pathway towards compliance with stormwater permits for improved water quality and healthier waterways. … ”  Read more from Stormwater Solutions.

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Announcements, notices, and funding opportunities …

DWR NEWS: Public Comment Period Opens for Seven Resubmitted Groundwater Sustainability Plans Given ‘Incomplete’ Determinations in January 2024

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: Central Valley Project Conservation Program and Central Valley Project Improvement Act Habitat Restoration Program now available

NOTICE: Public Comment extended for DEIR LTO of State Water Project in Sac-SJ Delta-Suisun Marsh-Suisun Bay

NOTICE of changes to proposed ‘Making Conservation a California Way of Life’ Regulation

NOTICE of Proposed Order Setting Aside Water Quality Certification for the Yuba River Development Project

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