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On the calendar today …
- MEETING: Delta Conservancy Board from 9am to 1pm. Agenda items include an update on the Ecosystem Restoration and Climate Adaptation Grant Program and the Community Enhancement Grant program, Rice conversion and wetalnd restoration on Webb Tract, . Consideration to Take Action Outside the Delta and Suisun Marsh for Clean Vessel Act Program Proposal, and 2023 Delta Drought Response Pilot Program Report and Analysis. Click here for the full agenda and remote access instructions.
- SoCAL WATER DIALOG: Straight out of Sacramento: Update on the Climate Resiliency Bond and 2024 Budget from 12pm to 1:30pm. Water Dialogue speakers will explore the nuances of the 2024 budget and its impact on water management including safe drinking water, storage, wildfire protection, and watershed health. The $10 billion Climate Resiliency Bond has both its advocates and detractors. The Dialogue will delve into the bond’s pros and cons including whether it includes enough investment in water-related projects and California’s limited capacity to issue bonds due to its ballooning state deficit. The bond package supports parks, land conservation, and energy but only one-third of the $10 billion bond goes to water infrastructure projects. Click here to register.
- HYBRID WORKSHOP: CA Data Collaborative: What’s the Data Really Telling Us? from 1pm to 3pm in Alameda and online. This workshop (in-person & streaming) will showcase three unique approaches to uncovering data to support short and long-term water management planning: Alameda County Water District will share how its newly implemented AMI project is producing mountains of data they plan to use to shape near-term projects. Bay Area Water Supply & Conservation Agency (BAWSCA) will share a study it’s undertaking to look deep into AMI to see how impactful drought response conservation programs were and how customer demographics may have played a role. BAWSCA will also share a more comprehensive demand study it’s starting that will include water usage at large campuses and drought impacts. Click here to register.
- WATCH LIVE: Tipping Point, a PBS News discussion on the Colorado River’s reckoning at 4pm. Featured guests include Bruce Babbitt, John Fleck, JB Hamby, Pat Mulroy and many others. More information and You Tube link from KUER.
- INFORMATIONAL MEETING: 2024 American River Habitat Project at River Bend at 6pm. The public is invited to learn about a new project to enhance crucial habitat for native fall-run Chinook salmon and steelhead trout at River Bend (in the river near River Bend Park in Rancho Cordova and William B. Pond Recreation Area in Carmichael). The session offers an opportunity to learn more and ask questions of the project team, including what neighbors and park visitors can expect during construction.Information and a registration link are available at waterforum.org/habitat2024.
In California water news today …
San Francisco tells Supreme Court it’s not responsible for ocean water quality
“In a case that could limit the authority of federal and state agencies to regulate water pollution, San Francisco is arguing to the Supreme Court that it is responsible only for the pollutants its sewage-treatment plants discharge into the ocean, and not for the quality of the waters themselves. The court agreed in May to hear San Francisco’s appeal of a ruling that said the city was failing to protect swimmers and bathers from discharges of sewage into the Pacific Ocean. The ruling, due by June 2025, will determine whether local governments can be penalized for pollution near their shores, or whether — as they contend — the law requires them only to limit contaminants to levels set in advance, like specific discharges per million parts of water. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle (gift article).
Sensors guide growers on water decisions
Photo/Rob McCarthy
“Lisa Tate, a fifth-generation grower in Santa Paula, said she knew something was amiss in a block of young avocado trees planted on her family’s ranch. She had a hunch that too much water was sitting in the root zone after a second year of above-average rainfall. It was still spring, and her crew suggested it was time to irrigate. But Tate was proven right, thanks to readings from a soil-moisture sensor. As a result, her young trees didn’t get watered again until June. These days, water conservation agencies and University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisors are advocating adding soil-moisture sensors to create precision irrigation management in drought-prone California agricultural areas. They say the technology has come a long way in the past 50 years and continues to evolve with Wi-Fi connectivity and digital readings. … ” Read more from Ag Alert.
Groundwater accounting platform offers data-driven solution for the West
“As the American West faces intensifying water challenges, water managers, landowners, and water users are increasingly turning to the Groundwater Accounting Platform (Platform) as a data-driven tool that enables them to track water availability and usage with user-friendly dashboards and workflows. Developed through collaboration between Environmental Science Associates (ESA), the Environmental Defense Fund, the California Water Data Consortium, and engineering and design firm Olsson, the Platform was built to support sustainable groundwater management practices, and facilitate balancing water supply and demand throughout California. … ” Read more from ESA.
Ruling puts state’s groundwater crackdown on hold
“A Superior Court judge has temporarily blocked state enforcement actions affecting Kings County growers who faced potential state groundwater extraction fees and an order to install water meters to report annual pumping. The California State Water Resources Control Board on April 16 placed the Tulare Lake Subbasin, which spans Kings County, on probation for failing to correct deficiencies in a regional plan to protect groundwater supplies. The Kings County Farm Bureau and two local farmers filed suit May 15 to block the subbasin’s probationary designation—which marked the first such state designation for failing to meet early requirements of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA. In a July 11 ruling, Kings County Superior Court Judge Kathy Ciuffini sided with the plaintiffs. … ” Read more from Ag Alert.
State celebrates five years and secure water for hundreds of thousands of Californians thanks to the SAFER drinking water program
“State officials, advocates and residents gathered in Porterville on Monday to celebrate the five-year mark of a state drinking water program born of the crippling 2012-2016 drought. That’s when the entire community of east Porterville went dry – for months. There was no government program available to help and nonprofits could only do so much. Residents relied on the charity of neighbors and, sometimes, complete strangers who read about the disaster and brought water in by the truckload. The plight of east Porterville and other, mostly unincorporated, San Joaquin Valley communities shone a light on the precarious state of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of Californians. As a result, the Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) program to help fund drinking water solutions was passed in 2019. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
SEE ALSO: Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) Midterm Update, from the Northern California Water Association
Most California factory farms, close to irrigation canals, threaten U.S. food safety
“Almost all of the more than 1,000 large animal feeding operations in California are very close to water sources that are used to irrigate crops, threatening the food supply for the entire country, a new EWG analysis finds. Contaminants commonly found in animal manure, like E. coli and salmonella, can enter these bodies of water, and the water may then be sprayed on food crops such as leafy greens, potentially creating foodborne illness outbreaks. What happens on farm fields in the state can affect people across the U.S., since farmers in California grow more than one-third of the nation’s vegetables and three-fourths of fruits. To protect public health, the Food and Drug Administration must require farmers who use potentially contaminated irrigation water on their produce to test for these contaminants. The Environmental Protection Agency must also more rigorously oversee the large amount of manure produced by concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs. … ” Read more from the Environmental Working Group.
CalTrout launches new source water science study
“The spring waters that emerge from the volcanic rocks of northern California’s Cascade Range are of critical importance for water security for both fish and people, yet relatively little is known about them and how they have been affected by recent drought and other climate change impacts. In 2023, CalTrout and our partners embarked on a three-year study to provide a scientifically based toolset to better understand, manage, and advance the protection of the cold, clean spring waters in the Upper Sacramento Basin. Building on our past efforts to assess baseline conditions of springs in the Mount Shasta region, this study will define and quantify source areas and flows, assess ecosystem sensitivity to climate change, and determine how these systems support the diverse life history of wild cold-water fish. Study locations include the spring-fed streams above Shasta Reservoir: the McCloud, Upper Sacramento, Rising, and Fall rivers, Hat Creek, and Burney Creek, which feeds the iconic Burney Falls. … ” Read more from CalTrout.
A look at the $10B climate bond California voters will decide on in November
“In November, California voters will decide whether to approve of a bond that would fund state climate initiatives. Legislators announced the $10 billion bond will appear on the November ballot as Proposition 4 earlier this month. Dozens of environmental groups advocated for it, especially in light of state budget cuts made earlier in the year that impacted climate programs. Many advocates are optimistic voters will approve of the bond, citing a PPIC survey published earlier this month that found 59% of California voters would likely vote “yes.” Assembly member Lori Wilson was one of the legislators who introduced the measure. Before it came together, she said she’d been working to introduce a bond measure that would focus on agriculture. But she and other legislators eventually decided they’d see a better chance of success if they pooled their bond proposals. … ” Read more from Capital Public Radio.
Climate change drains reservoirs in the U.S.
“Reservoirs across the United States and globally are reporting significantly higher evaporation rates.Within the first three weeks of July’s record-breaking temperatures, for example, California’s largest reservoir, Shasta Lake, lost an estimated 4.1 billion gallons of water, due to evaporation. During July, with temperatures consistently exceeding 100 degrees, Trinity Lake and New Melones Lake in California also experienced significant water losses. Millions of gallons evaporated from these lakes, far surpassing the water-loss rates recorded over the past five years. Climate change has led to an increase in higher temperatures leading to more evaporation. Warmer air holds more moisture, increasing the rate at which water is converted from liquid to vapor. Reduced rainfall and higher temperatures cause more water to be drawn from reservoirs to meet increased agricultural and urban demand, exacerbating water loss. … ” Read more from the Circle of Blue.
In commentary today …
Farmers to benefit as Sites Reservoir nears fruition
Fritz Durst, a Yolo County farmer and chairman of the Sites Joint Power Authority, writes, “From prolonged drought to excessive flooding, water conditions in California have been anything but consistent during the past few years. That’s a problem for one of the world’s leading agricultural regions. With climate change threatening one of California’s biggest industries, we need to invest in a truly resilient and reliable water future. We need Sites Reservoir. After the worst drought on record in 2022, historic, wet winters in 2023 and 2024 produced record rain that filled reservoirs and aquifers above average levels. It was a welcome change for California’s farms, which were relying on depleted wells and aquifers in the previous two years. But it wasn’t enough to overcome losses from the state’s large groundwater deficit. If it were already operational, Sites Reservoir—a 1.5 million acre-feet off-stream water storage project planned for rural Glenn and Colusa counties north of Sacramento—would be 100% full as of this past spring. … ” Continue reading this commentary.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Forest Service collecting comments on projects including Eel River fish passage
“In a press release this week, the Pacific Southwest Region of the USDA Forest Service announced that it is collecting public comments “on existing projects funded by the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Program for implementation in fiscal years 2025 and 2026.” According to the release, “the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Program supports the mission of the Forest Service by restoring, protecting and maintaining crucial watersheds on our national forests and grasslands. This program focuses on restoring fish and aquatic passage, improving road and trail resiliency, preserving access, and decommissioning unneeded roads. … ” Read more from the Eureka Times-Standard.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Lake Tahoe sees second-highest surface temp in 25 years amid California heat wave
“One of the United States’ most iconic lakes almost saw record-breaking surface level temperatures as another heat wave hits Northern California. When is warm too warm for Lake Tahoe? “Too warm, certainly in the case of Lake Tahoe, is when the temperature starts to accelerate the things we don’t want in the lake,” said Geoff Schladow, UC Davis professor and former director of the Tahoe Environmental Research Center. Schladow said Lake Tahoe had its second-highest surface temperature recorded from the middle of the lake in the last 25 years on July 22. It was 75.7 degrees. … ” Read more from CBS Sacramento.
Forest thinning projects underway at Lake Tahoe
“Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team forest thinning projects are underway in the Lake Tahoe Basin. These projects are expected to continue for the next several weeks with some projects continuing through the fall, conditions and weather permitting. For project details, including the lead agency, start date and expected duration, view the Forest Thinning Projects Map at Tahoe Living With Fire which highlights current and upcoming projects. After decades of fire suppression, Tahoe Basin’s forests are overstocked and highly vulnerable to insects, disease, and catastrophic wildfire. Forest thinning projects are a vital forest management tool used by land managers to help protect communities by removing excess vegetation (fuels) on public lands that can feed unwanted wildfires. … ” Continue reading at the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
Several premier Tahoe trails to see controversial change
“With hundreds of miles of dirt trails and smooth singletrack, stellar views and steep terrain, the Lake Tahoe basin is considered by many to be one of the country’s mountain biking capitals. Now, it’s on the verge of becoming a bastion of off-road electric biking as well. Last week, federal officials cleared a critical bureaucratic hurdle in outlining a major — though somewhat controversial — plan that could open up 106 miles of Tahoe’s trails to e-bikes, which to date have been prohibited on those pathways because they are motorized. The plan also lays groundwork to build 45 miles of new trails at key junctures designed to stitch disparate segments together into transit routes for bicycle commuters and recreational riders. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
SEE ALSO: Forest Service update on Basin Wide Trails Analysis Project, from the Tahoe Daily Tribune
Lake Tahoe beaches remain closed after sewage spill
“Almost a week after several thousands of gallons of raw sewage washed into the waters of Lake Tahoe, the North Tahoe Public Utility District is beginning to see bacteria levels reduce. On Tuesday, NTPUD shared that recent data is showing a downward trend in harmful bacteria levels, but not enough to allow Carnelian Bay West and Patton Landing beaches to reopen. A main sewage line rupture on July 18 caused 125,000 gallons of raw sewage to reach the surface and some 85,000 gallons reached the waters of Lake Tahoe forcing a health advisory to be issued. “The health advisory will be lifted after multiple observations show that the bacteria levels have returned to a more typical range for water contact and recreation,” the NTPUD wrote in a news release. … ” Read more from Fox 40.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Ag districts to fund water projects, and more, in several disadvantaged west Fresno County communities
“Four large agricultural water districts have kicked in an initial $580,000 to pay for water projects in several communities dotting the vast farming areas of western Fresno County. The funding amount will remain the same until the districts revisit the program in three years. The four districts – Central California Irrigation District, Firebaugh Canal Water District and the Columbia and San Luis canal companies – are members of the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority, which covers 240,000 acres from about Newman down to Firebaugh mostly in Fresno County. Together they have funded the new Community Infrastructure Program, which will focus primarily on projects benefiting the disadvantaged communities of Mendota, Firebaugh, Gustine, Dos Palos, Los Banos and Newman. However, nonprofits, community organizations and local governments may apply for funding as well. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Kern County farmland values continue downward slide
“Farmland valuations continued their downward trajectory in Kern County, in some cases dropping a whopping 47.6% over the first six months of 2024, according to the second quarter Kern County Ag Land Values report put out by brokerage firm Alliance Ag Services LLC. Some farmland has dropped back to, or even below, 2005 prices. “I don’t think we’re at the bottom yet, but it feels like it’s getting closer,” said Ag Alliance broker Michael Ming. Alliance Ag has been tracking the value of farmland in Kern County by water source for nearly two decades. Since the crippling 2012-2016 drought and passage of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), the numbers have been mostly dismal. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
California environmentalists sue Port of Los Angeles, alleging clean water violations
“A California environmental group on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit against the Port of Los Angeles, accusing the defendant of unleashing toxic pollutants into the San Pedro Bay. The activists — from the organization Environment California — claimed that the port has violated the federal Clean Water Act with more than 2,000 illegal discharges in the past five years alone. Those releases, they argued, have routinely surpassed legal limits on fecal bacteria, copper and other contaminants. In addition to spotlighting the alleged pollution itself, the plaintiffs also claimed that the Port’s stormwater treatment system is problematically undersized. As a result, the activists contended, some untreated wastewater ends up bypassing the system entirely, also in violation of federal law. … ” Read more from The Hill.
SEE ALSO: Environment California sues Port of Los Angeles to stop years of polluting San Pedro Bay, press release from Environment California
LA is home to 17 of the country’s most polluted sites
“At nearly 80-years-old, Jan Kalani has been living in her home in Torrance for the past 54 years. It’s where she raised her family, where she’s formed bonds with neighbors, and where 30 years ago, she realized she’d been living feet away from a hazardous site. She didn’t know it at the time, but what started as a funky odor she still remembers on her children’s clothes turned out to be the result of contamination from industrial operations in the lot right next to her home. The site was added to the EPA’s National Priorities List in 1997 after having met the threshold deeming it needed the federal government to step in for a long-term investigation and cleaning. The sites on this list are eligible for additional funds to carry out the cleaning process, which is the Superfund program. … ” Read more from Spectrum 1.
40,000 Riverside County residents gain access to state water supply via new partnership
“A new partnership between five water agencies gives Rubidoux Community Services District (RCSD) access to high-quality, imported drinking water to meet growing demand. Over the past 50 years, the population in RCSD, a Western Municipal Water District (Western Water) wholesale customer, has increased from 4,000 to 40,000. RCSD previously relied on only local groundwater and needed a new way to bolster water supplies to serve its growing community. Now, four water agencies have joined forces with RCSD to ensure they have enough safe, reliable drinking water for every customer. Through a new agreement with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan), San Bernardino Valley Water District (San Bernardino Valley), West Valley Water District (WVWD), and Western Water, up to 2,000 acre-feet of water imported through the State Water Project will soon flow to RCSD customers’ taps every year. … ” Read more from Western Municipal Water District.
SAN DIEGO
Feds award Oceanside $15 million for water projects
“The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has awarded Oceanside $15 million to further programs that reduce the city’s reliance on imported water and increase the use of recycled and brackish groundwater sources. Oceanside is one of San Diego County’s leaders in the use of purified wastewater, which is injected into the underground water table and later removed along with the brackish groundwater and filtered for use in the local drinking water supply. Almost half of the federal grant money, or $7.1 million, will cover costs the city has already spent on the Pure Water Oceanside project, which was completed in 2022. … ” Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Along the Colorado River …
The Colorado: A lifeline under pressure
“At first glance, the photographs taken in July 2022 looked like an abstract painting. A craggy mountain shoreline surrounds the blue waters of Lake Mead, the rocky terrain a bold contrast of ivory white and rich brown hues, seemingly divided by an invisible horizontal line. The images, however, were far from abstract. That year, Lake Mead’s water levels plummeted to a historic low level of 1,040 feet—a level not seen since 1937, when the reservoir was first filled—revealing the telltale “bathtub ring,” which consists of distinct lines marking past water levels. Lake Mead, formed by the Hoover Dam, is the largest reservoir in the US and part of the Colorado River’s massive network of dams, reservoirs, and aqueducts, which supply water to more than 40 million people in seven states and tribal governments. The system is divided into two basins: the Upper Basin, which reaches Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico, and the Lower Basin, which reaches California, Arizona, Nevada, and parts of Mexico. … ” Read more from ESA.
Deficit irrigation won’t be a silver bullet
“Weighing the costs and benefits of an opportunity can be the first step in the decision-making process. Farmers know both sides of this scale hang heavy when that decision pertains to agricultural practices that are under public scrutiny, like irrigating hay crops in the western U.S. Yet another initiative has been proposed to save water from the Colorado River in one of the highest-producing hay regions of the country. California’s Imperial Irrigation District board recently approved the Deficit Irrigation Program (DIP), which is a three-year program that will allow producers to pause irrigation on three forage species for federal compensation. The benefits of the DIP and similar programs in other states are relatively clear, and they do offer solutions to the water crisis that has consumed the Colorado River Basin in recent years. With that said, the short- and long-term costs to individual operations that can occur when farmers opt for deficit irrigation are harder to predict, especially as growing conditions, local economies, and hay prices vary from one season to the next. … ” Continue reading from Hay & Forage.
Lake Powell reaches highest level in more than 3 years
“Stepped-up water conservation and a run of wet weather have raised Lake Powell to its highest level in well over three years. That has happened even though this year’s runoff into the lake will be below average. As of Thursday, Powell stood at 3,586 feet, more than 60 feet higher than in early 2023. At that time, it had fallen to a record low level and was on the edge of falling so low that Glen Canyon Dam wouldn’t be able to generate electricity. The lake is now well out of danger of falling that low in the near future. But some scientists point out that since the lake is at roughly the same level as when it began its sharp decline back in 2021, a couple of consecutive dry years could once again lower it to near-crisis levels. … ” Read more from the Las Vegas Sun.
In national water news today …
PFAS increasingly added to pesticides, study finds
“Despite widespread alarm about the health and environmental impacts of toxic PFAS, the chemicals are increasingly being added to pesticides applied in homes and crops across the US, according to a new study. The findings, published July 24 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, add to growing concerns about PFAS contamination in the US food system and waterways and highlight pesticides’ “underappreciated” role in the problem, said David Andrews, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group and an author of the study. The study revealed that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) account for 14% of all active ingredients in pesticides used in the US, including almost one-third of active ingredients approved in the last decade. Even when PFAS are not intentionally added to these products, the fluorinated containers in which they are stored have been found to leach PFAS into their contents, the study concluded. … ” Read more from The New Lede.
NOAA to provide $54 million in new funding to address marine debris
“Today, NOAA and the Commerce Department announced the availability of up to $54 million across two funding opportunities to address marine debris throughout the coastal and Great Lakes states, territories and Freely Associated States. These funding opportunities allow NOAA to support impactful, large-scale marine debris removal projects, as well as the installation, monitoring and maintenance of proven marine debris interception technologies. The opportunities are a part of NOAA’s Climate-Ready Coasts Initiative under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Climate-Ready Coasts Initiative is focused on creating climate solutions by storing carbon; building resilience to coastal hazards such as extreme weather events, pollution and marine debris; restoring coastal habitats; building the capacity of underserved communities; and supporting community-driven restoration. … ” Read more from NOAA.
Earth just sweltered through the hottest day ever recorded
“Sunday was an unprecedented day, and not just because President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race so close to the election. July 21 was the hottest day on record, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, with a global average temperature of 62.76 degrees Fahrenheit, slightly beating out the previous record set on July 6 of last year. For 13 straight months now, the planet has been notching record temperatures, from hottest year (2023) to hottest month (last July). And what was a daily temperature record eight years ago has now become worryingly commonplace. “What is truly staggering is how large the difference is between the temperature of the last 13 months and the previous temperature records,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the European Union’s Copernicus service, in a statement. “We are now in truly uncharted territory and as the climate keeps warming, we are bound to see new records being broken in future months and years.” … ” Read more from Grist.
