A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …
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In California water news this week …
As La Niña strengthens, forecasters warn of a potential return to drought
“As La Niña gathers strength in the tropical Pacific, forecasters are warning that the climate pattern could plunge California back into drought conditions in the months ahead. La Niña is the drier component of the El Niño Southern Oscillation system, or ENSO, which is a main driver of climate and weather patterns across the globe. Its warm, moist counterpart, El Niño, was last in place from July 2023 until this spring, and was linked to record-warm global temperatures and California’s extraordinarily wet winter. Though ENSO conditions are neutral at the moment, La Niña’s arrival appears increasingly imminent. There is a 66% chance it will develop between September and November and a 74% chance that it will persist through the winter, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. … ” Read more from the LA Times. | Read via AOL News.
NOTEBOOK FEATURE: Trying yet again for fish friendlier exports from the Delta
“In California’s arid San Joaquin Valley, communities have long grappled with an unrelenting challenge: Their sun-blasted region doesn’t have nearly enough water—at least not to support agriculture of the scale and intensity that has been established in its fertile soils. Though water is imported from as far away as the Klamath River basin via massive conveyance facilities, supplies have been spread thin by nut orchards that now span the valley floor. Groundwater reserves are declining, and worsening droughts and warming winters aren’t helping. Neither are water pumping restrictions meant to protect imperiled fish species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. But what if there was a way to not just maintain current Delta water exports but increase them without impacting the San Francisco Estuary’s remaining fish? Water supply advocates in the region say they have a plan for one. They call the proposed system “fish-friendly diversions.” Click here to read this article from Maven’s Notebook.
Friant Water Authority pins projected canal project shortfall on four ag water districts, wants them to pony up
“Even as work on the first phase of fixing the sinking Friant-Kern Canal is nearly done, officials are worried they won’t be able to pay the bill and have come up with a plan that puts pressure on four agricultural water districts to pony up. The Friant Water Authority owes the federal Bureau of Reclamation potentially $90 million, plus interest, for its share of the massive project. It is also looking at a possible $5.1 million construction payment in summer 2026 that it may not have funds for. That bill isn’t due yet. But the Bureau has asked the authority to explain how it will get the money to pay its share of the first phase of construction, which totaled $326 million. And wants to make sure a funding path is lined up for the second phase of construction, anticipated to cost about $247.2 million. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Healthy Rivers and Landscapes Program advances before the State Water Board
“Today, DWR, Reclamation and public water agencies participating in the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes Program provided responses to questions and comments raised during the April 2024 workshops or submitted to the State Water Board during its public comment period for the Draft Staff Report in support of potential updates to the Bay-Delta Plan. The responses were developed in collaboration with program proponents across the state and highlight how transparency, enforceability and accountability are fundamental components of the program. “Public water agencies from Redding to the Mexican border are working with state and federal agencies to advance the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes Program as a new and transformational approach to managing California’s water,” said Jennifer Pierre, General Manager of the State Water Contractors. “The collaboration in developing these responses demonstrates broad commitment by these agencies to manage the delta watershed in a way that is inclusive, science-based and responsive to climate extremes.” … ” Continue reading this press release from the State Water Contractors.
PRESS RELEASE: Resounding agreement from the public: Do not rush the Delta tunnel water rights process
“[Yesterday], Friends of the River (FOR) alongside an unique and unparalleled coalition of Tribes, nonprofits, and local governments that together represent a broad array of public interests, pushed back against the State Water Resources Control Board’s (State Water Board) rushed and unreasonable schedule for permitting the proposed Delta Tunnel. Under the Board’s current proposal, the Tunnel water rights proceedings will begin on January 16th, 2025, with parties to submit testimony by December 4, 2024. The Delta Tunnel is a water export project that would take about a third of the average Sacramento River flow at the point of diversion (up to 6,000 cubic feet of water per second) near Hood, CA, and send it south to be pumped to San Joaquin Valley agribusiness and southern California cities. Taking more water will further devastate the crashing Bay-Delta ecosystem. … ” Read more from Friends of the River.
DELTA CONVEYANCE PROJECT: Dr. David Sunding responds to Dr. Jeff Michael’s critique of the Benefit-Cost Analysis
“Dr. Jeff Michael recently released a critique of the 2024 Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) of the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP). Dr. Michael is a longtime critic of the project, and his work has been supported by various Delta farming and environmental interests. In his latest report, Dr. Michael raises a number of objections to the BCA. As detailed in this memo, Dr. Michael’s criticisms reveal some significant misunderstandings about the role of the BCA, the framework of the analysis, the treatment of risk in the BCA, the choice of economic parameters like the discount rate, and other important aspects of the BCA. The economic analysis we conducted is based on industry standards and follows industry best practices. It is informed by current, applicable and documented data and policies. It carefully avoids speculation and is purposefully conservative in nature. This memo is meant to help decision-makers better understand our approach by correcting Dr. Michael’s errors. … ” Continue reading this memo from Dr. David Sunding.
Central Valley farmers like Donald Trump on water. On California’s Kamala Harris, less so
“Central Valley farmers feel former President Donald Trump more aligns with their water needs than Vice President Kamala Harris, a former U.S. senator and attorney general for California. “The reason I say that is I have not seen anything positive in supporting farmers — supporting water supply for farms, for food security — from the Democratic administration, whoever’s in charge,” said Tom Barcellos, a lifelong farmer and president of the Lower Tule River Irrigation District. “We get lip service, but we don’t get results.” Barcellos, who lives in Porterville, owns Barcellos Farms and is a partner in a dairy. He, like many others in the agriculture-dominant region home to a conservative stronghold in its south, support Republican policies and are frustrated with the Democratic super-majority in Sacramento and federal government for more reasons than water. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee. | Read via Yahoo News.
BlueTriton says order to shut down operations in US forest “has no legal merit”
“US-based packaged water major BlueTriton has filed a complaint against members of the Forest Service in San Bernadino county, California, after having been asked to shut down operations in an area of federal land in San Bernadino national forest (SBNF). According to a recent case filing, at the end of July, BlueTriton received a letter from the Forest Service that denied the renewal of its special use permit (SUP), which allows the Arrowhead water maker to use a “4.5-mile long right-of-way crossing a 4.51 acre area of Forest Service-managed land”. “As a consequence of this denial, BlueTriton’s current permit terminates, and it must cease operations on SBNF lands”, the letter said. … ” Read more from Just Drinks.
Audio: The crucial job that keeps Central Valley water flowing – commercial diving
“At the edge of California’s Sacramento River, across from the town of Princeton, there’s a trailer full of equipment and a cacophony of generators and pumps. This is clearly a worksite, but the real work is happening out of view. The only clues are some bubbles on the water’s surface, and something that sounds like walkie talkies. A team of four workers from Big Valley Divers is doing seasonal work at a pump station that’s about to supply irrigation canals across the Sacramento Valley with water. I never knew this work existed, but I’ve learned that commercial divers are everywhere. Picture contractors and construction workers, just under water. Anywhere there are lakes and rivers, anywhere we’ve manipulated water, like dams and canals, commercial divers work on the infrastructure – cleaning, maintaining, building, repairing. … ” Listen at KQED.
Reinterpreting ENSO’s role in modulating impactful precipitation events in California
“A recent study has shed new light on the seasonal behavior of winter weather patterns that impact California, revealing the intricate ways El Niño and La Niña influence the State’s hydroclimate. This research is described in a new paper entitled “Reinterpreting ENSO’s Role in Modulating Impactful Precipitation Events in California”, which was recently published in Geophysical Research Letters … This research was motivated by recent seasonal forecast challenges in which winter precipitation in California deviated substantially from the seasonal forecasts issued 1-3 months in advance. Despite predictions of dry winters due to La Niña, California experienced unexpectedly wet conditions in both 2017 and 2023. Conversely, the strong El Niño of 2016 was expected to bring wet weather, but the season turned out to be normal-to-dry across the state. … ” Read more from the Center for Western Water & Weather Extremes.
REPORT: Water Study provides a detailed overview of the legal and factual status of California Indian water rights
“California Indian Legal Services has completed a Water Study. The purpose of this Study is to provide a current review of the factual and legal status of water rights possessed by California Indian tribes as well as individual Indians (allottees) with interests in allotted trust lands (allotments). This Study will present a framework for analyzing California Indian water rights and offers suggested strategies for California tribes and allottees on how to protect and secure their rights. The Study also covers new features of California state law that tribes, including unrecognized tribes, may want to participate in, for example, Tribal Beneficial Uses, Integrated Regional Water Management projects, and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. … ” Continue reading from California Indian Legal Services.
A new plan seeks to protect California’s coast against a rising ocean. And it doesn’t require sea walls.
“Recent raging winter storms have caved in streets, wrecked piers, collapsed homes and apartment buildings, and submerged property up and down California’s coastline. Now, as sea levels continue to rise from climate change, scientists are working on a real-world experiment that could help reduce the impacts. At a 247-acre property near the Santa Cruz-Monterey county line, crews are planning to protect against flooding — not by trying to hold back the ocean by building bigger sea walls — but by converting flood-prone farmland into tidal wetlands. During big storms and high tides, this allows ocean waters to move inland in an orderly way instead of threatening homes and other property. In other words, working with nature, as opposed to trying to battle the ocean’s relentless forward march. “It’s a demonstration,” said Sarah Newkirk, executive director of the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, which is overseeing the project. “What we are doing here is applicable to other places in California, the Gulf of Mexico, and other parts of the country.” … ” Continue reading at the San Jose Mercury News (gift article).
In commentary this week …
Delta tunnel project will protect California’s vital water supply
David Bini, executive director of the Santa Clara and San Benito Counties Building & Construction Trades Council, and Tim McRae is senior vice president, sustainable growth of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, writes, “California’s history is defined by building great and innovative infrastructure projects that improve our quality of life and set our state up for continued economic prosperity. From the Golden Gate Bridge to interstates 5 and 80, these projects are symbols of how major infrastructure investments can drive incredible economic growth. Though the creation of these projects was seemingly impossible to many at their inception, they quickly became an essential part of our critical infrastructure fabric that sustains our economy and way of life. We are at a similar crossroads in building reliable water infrastructure to deliver water to two-thirds of Californians through the Delta Conveyance Project. This proposed project has been studied, refined, redesigned and rerouted due to extensive public input and thoughtful improvements by Gov. Newsom’s administration. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News (gift article).
Sisk dam raise would take more Delta water. Why are environmentalists silent?
Columnist writes of the Sisk Dam/San Luis Reservoir expansion project, ” … The expansion of San Luis Reservoir is a small part of a larger effort by the state and federal agencies to increase water storage. But unlike virtually every other dam project in California, this one was approved with little public scrutiny and zero opposition from environmentalists — even though the extra 130,000 acre feet of water would come out of the heavily scrutinized San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta. Why is that? As with everything involving water and the environment in California, there are multiple factors at play. … ” Read the full commentary from the Fresno Bee. | Read via Yahoo News.
In regional water news this week …
‘Manufactured Drought’: Ukiah demands rehearing on water flow reductions
“The City of Ukiah is taking action over impacts to the Upper Russian River, including environmental and economic harm to the region, caused by PG&E dramatically reducing flows to the Russian River from the Potter Valley Project. In a formal “Request for Rehearing” filed July 29th, the City again underscored how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval for PG&E’s reduction in water flows was made without fairly or adequately considering the harmful impacts to the Upper Russian River. For 120 years, abandoned flows diverted from the Eel through the Potter Valley Project have been the foundation for progress in the Upper Russian River. But in the past few years PG&E has made yearly requests for a “variance” to reduce these flows. This year PG&E requested to reduce flows to the East Branch Russian River to match the dry water year minimum flow requirement of 25 cfs, with the “flexibility” to drop all the way down to 5 cfs. FERC granted the request. … ” Read more from Mendo Fever.
Local environmental groups call for controversial Napa Valley dump sites to close
“A coalition of environmental groups are calling on local officials and regulators to shutter two controversial dump sites that have long operated in the Napa Valley hills near Calistoga. “We are a growing list of nonprofits that are asking for Clover Flat Landfill and Upper Valley Disposal Service to be decommissioned,” said the letter to the regional California Water Board, Napa County Board of Supervisors and Upper Valley Waste Management Agency, the oversight body for Napa County waste services. The group called for operations to be moved “to a safer, less environmentally sensitive location than the current CalFire High Fire Severity Zone at the top of the Napa River watershed.” … ” Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat (gift article)
Veggie oil, lactose key to toxic groundwater cleanup at Alameda Point
“There are faster ways to clean up industrial solvents in groundwater, but the only viable choice for a large contamination site at Alameda Point was to turn the job over to bacteria. Known as bioremediation, a unique bacteria is breaking apart the solvent trichloroethylene (TCE), also known as trichloroethylene, into a harmless substance. It takes time and the right conditions for the bacteria to thrive—namely, an absence of oxygen and the presence of a carbon source. Readily available carbon sources to pump into the contamination area just happen to be soy vegetable oil and dairy lactose. … ” Continue reading at the Alameda Post.
One Tulare County groundwater agency charges full tilt into recharge
“Farmers and water managers in the Kaweah subbasin are charging headlong into recharge as a key strategy to both keep the state’s hands off its pumping and position growers to better withstand drought years. Fifteen recharge projects have been completed, are in progress or are in the design phase in the East Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) alone. And some farmers have begun building sinking ponds on their own land as well. The goal is to catch as much wet-year water as possible to stock up for dry years that are only as far away as the next water year. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Ridgecrest: Indian Wells Valley Water District considers alternatives to imported water for future of the valley
“The Indian Wells Valley Water District board members did everything except make a formal statement of opposition to the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority’s imported water pipeline project at the Water District’s board meeting on Aug. 12. In fact, an item for formal opposition was on the agenda, but board chair Ron Kicinski tabled the item at the last minute. He indicated it’ll be back for a vote at a future board meeting. Instead, conversation at the Water District meeting kept flowing back to their desire for a recycled water project. “We have an alternative, we just haven’t publicized it,” said board member Stan Rajtora. “The only reason we haven’t made any progress on recycled water is the fact that the [City of Ridgecrest] won’t cooperate with us in any way, shape, or form.” … ” Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent.
Massive cuts to Colorado River supply for Imperial Irrigation District begin
“Less than 12 hours after the Biden Administration and the Imperial Irrigation District approved an unprecedented deal to conserve 700,000 acre feet of Colorado River water through 2026, the flow of river water to the rural valley three hours south of Los Angeles slowed. District personnel moved out before sunrise to install more than 1,600 locks on gates to canals supplying hundreds of farm fields, cutting off water deliveries for up to 60 days this year. The process will be repeated over the next two summers. In exchange, the powerful agency and farmers who volunteer to not receive the water and hold off on growing hay in hot summer months will be paid nearly $700 million in federal funds — by far the largest of numerous agreements struck with water agencies and tribes to prop up the overused, drought-ravaged river and its reservoirs. … ” Read more from the Desert Sun.
San Diego forgoes more Colorado River water in new deal
“The Colorado River’s biggest single user – farmers in Imperial Valley – made another agreement with the federal government to cut their take of the overused, threatened river for the next two years, with help from San Diego. The Imperial Irrigation District’s board announced this week it’d pay farmers to skip some harvests in the coming two years in order to keep around 700,000 acre feet of water (an acre-foot is two California households’ annual water use) in the river’s biggest reservoir, Lake Mead. San Diego is in discussions with Imperial Valley to help farmers reach that goal by selling back some of the water it purchases from the valley. The San Diego County Water Authority has more water than it can use right now after recent rainy years broke multiple years of drought. It’s in a budget pinch, facing a $2 million cut to its budget along with a 14 percent rate increase on the cost of water for its 22 customer water districts. … ” Read more from the Voice of San Diego.
Colorado River allotment cuts coming to Arizona, Nevada, Mexico
“Even though the water level on Lake Powell rose half a foot this year, the Bureau of Reclamation announced on Thursday that Lake Mead is projected to be in a “shortage condition” in 2025 — meaning Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico will see cuts in how much water they can use from the Colorado River. “We are in a base period and we are seeing decreases in our reservoirs and we expect to see decreasing storage through the winter prior to spring runoff next year. However, our reservoirs are at normal levels and look fairly good,” said Heather Patno, a hydraulic engineer at the Bureau of Reclamation’s Glen Canyon Dam, during an online presentation of the bureau’s 24-month study on the conditions of Lake Powell and Lake Mead, two large reservoirs for the Colorado River. Although precipitation has been normal this year and there were major storms in January through March this year, warm weather led to significant runoff, Patno said. Lake Mohave and Lake Havasu are 95% full, but Lake Mead is only 33% full. … ” Read more from the Associated Press via Courthouse News.
