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On the calendar today …
- BOARD STAFF WORKSHOP: Proposed designation of Kern County subbasin as a probationary basin (virtual) from 11am to 1:30pm. This is the first of two public staff workshops to explain the draft staff report and share more about how to participate in the State Water Board’s state intervention process. Staff will also accept verbal public comments on the draft staff report at the workshops. Staff presentation will start at 11:00 AM. Staff will begin accepting public comments at 12:15 PM. Zoom link: https://waterboards.zoom.us/j/95481583017
In California water news today …
Conflicting federal policies may cost residents more on flood insurance, and leave them at risk
“Conflicting federal policies may force thousands of residents in flood-prone areas to pay more for flood insurance or be left unaware of danger posed by dams built upstream from their homes and worksites, according to an Associated Press review of federal records and data. The problem stems from a complex set of flood policies and some national security precautions taken after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. To get the best discount on flood insurance, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s points-based rating system requires communities to chart all the homes, businesses and critical facilities endangered by a potential dam failure and warn people of their risk. But that’s difficult or even impossible in some communities, because other federal agencies restrict the release of such information for hundreds of dams that they own or regulate across the U.S., citing security risks. The quandary has persisted for years, though federal officials have been warned of its implications. Federal “dam information sharing procedures costs communities points, homeowners money, and potentially citizens lives,” a California emergency services official warned in a January 2020 presentation to FEMA’s National Dam Safety Review Board at an invitation-only meeting attended by dozens of federal and state officials. … ” Read more from KTAR.
SEE ALSO: Takeaways from AP’s report on federal policies shielding information about potential dam failures, from the Associated Press
CV-SALTS UPDATE: Environmental justice advocates frustrated by slow pace of the program
“In 2006, the Central Valley Water Board initiated the Central Valley – Salinity Alternatives for Long-term Sustainability (CV-SALTS) program to seek and implement solutions to the widespread nitrate and salt contamination in shallow groundwater and wells. In 2019, the CV-SALTS program was approved by the State Water Board. The program requires dischargers, such as irrigated agriculture, dairies, and others, to organize into coalitions to address nitrate discharges in their regions and to provide interim replacement drinking water while long-term measures are developed. Since the program was approved, significant progress has been made-coalitions have been formed, plans have been submitted, and well testing and deliveries of replacement water in the most severely impacted areas have begun. But is enough progress being made? Environmental justice advocates said no and expressed frustration during the annual CV-SALTS update at the August 6 State Water Resources Control Board meeting. … ” Continue reading at Maven’s Notebook.
Water issues confronting hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail trickle down into the rest of California
““Don’t strive to make your presence noticed, but your absence felt.” What a perfect way to describe water, I mused of the aphorism, parched and probably delirious after hiking almost nine miles without any of it. Two back-to-back streams I’d been counting on for refills were bone dry, and just like that I found myself in quite a pickle. My navigation app for the Pacific Crest Trail listed my next reliable water source as another five miles away. I had expected water aplenty throughout northern California, but I was still between Carson Pass and Yosemite National Park, just heading into the high Sierra Nevada where most of my hike would take place, and had already run dry. As I stumbled on, step after desiccating step, the whole world soon became about water. Where I would find it next and, oh, how much of it I would drink. … ” Read more from Inside Climate News.
Urban wildfires disrupt streams and their tiny inhabitants − losing these insects is a warning of bigger water problems
“A tiny, vibrant world thrives along the rocky bottom of most streams. As sunlight filters through the water, mayfly nymphs, no larger than your fingernail, cling to algae-coated cobbles. Their brushlike mouthparts scrape the greenish coating, leaving faint trails as they feed. Six spindly legs anchor them against the current, while feathery gills wave gently, drawing oxygen from the flowing water. This scene is common in well-maintained creeks and streams that flow through populated areas. But when wildfires sweep through, the toxic materials left behind can devastate this ecosystem. When you think of urban wildfires, you might picture charred trees and houses. But beneath the surface of nearby streams, fires can also cause a silent upheaval – one that affects populations of creatures that are important indicators of the water’s health. … ” Continue reading from The Conversation.
PRESS RELEASE: Tire Manufacturers Consortium 6PPD Alternatives Analysis Report receives notice of compliance from California DTSC, clearing way for stage 2
“U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) is pleased to share that members of its 6PPD Alternatives Analysis Consortium have received a Notice of Compliance from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) for its revised Preliminary (Stage 1) Alternatives Analysis report. The notice will allow the Consortium to formally launch development of a Stage 2 Alternatives Analysis report that further investigates the most promising potential replacements for the use of 6PPD in motor vehicle tires. USTMA is grateful for California DTSC’s commendation of the Consortium’s “continued efforts to seek safer alternatives to 6PPD” and the agency’s acknowledgment of “USTMA’s open communication about research updates and results.” When USTMA asked for 6PPD to be added to the agency’s priority products plan in December 2020, the tire industry became the first ever industry group to make such a request. … ” Continue reading this press release.
RELATED CONTENT: FEATURE: Toxic treads: Unveiling the environmental impact of tire wear and chemical cocktails, from Maven’s Notebook
State may declare white sturgeon threatened, seeks comments
“The white sturgeon, the largest freshwater fish in North America, may be protected as a threatened species, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said Friday. The department said it is seeking comments on a petition to safeguard the fish under the California Endangered Species Act. White sturgeon, which can live as long as 100 years, spawn in the large rivers of the Central Valley and mostly reside in the Delta and San Francisco Bay, the department said. They also sometimes range along the coast and enter bays and rivers, it said. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
SEE ALSO: CDFW Seeks Public Comment Related to White Sturgeon, press release from the Department of Fish & Wildlife
Rising from dead and dying lakes, western dust storms menace species, drivers, and public health
“Weird, milky rain started falling in Spokane in eastern Washington in February, 2015. The same kind of rain covered cars in Boise, Idaho with white crust two years ago. The same substance that made the rain milky caused a 23-car pileup this summer on 1-25 north of Albuquerque that sent 18 people to the hospital, an eight-car accident killing seven people at the Lordsburg playa in southwestern New Mexico a decade ago, and a 22-car pileup on I-10 northwest of Tucson, Arizona that left three people dead in 2015. What is it? Dust. The legacy of the earth’s history and humankind’s, dust has become an increasingly dangerous element of western life. What is dust? “Dust is…both solid and insubstantial, an element as much of air as it is of earth… matter at the very limit-point of formlessness, the closest ‘stuff’ gets to nothing,” wrote the British author Jay Owens in “Dust, the Modern World in a Trillion Particles,” his new book. Dust storms have been part of life in the Great Basin for millennia, but there has been a pronounced change in their frequency. Newer western dust storms are the byproduct of both water diversions and climate change. … ” Read more from & the West.
Renovating your landscape and irrigation for future compliance
“As California faces increasing water scarcity challenges, the state has taken significant steps to ensure sustainable water use. Central to these efforts are Senate Bill 606 (SB606) and Assembly Bill 1668 (AB1668), collectively known as “Making Conservation a California Way of Life.” These laws aim to create a long-term framework for water conservation, recognizing the need for more efficient water use in urban and agricultural sectors. On July 3, 2024, the California State Water Board adopted critical measures to enhance these efforts, which will be implemented by agencies in January 2025 and enforced starting January 2027. Here’s why it’s crucial to renovate your landscape and irrigation systems now to meet these future compliance requirements. … ” Read more from Landscape Management.
How much more water and power does AI computing demand? Tech firms don’t want you to know
“Every time someone uses ChatGPT to write an essay, create an image or advise them on planning their day, the environment pays a price. A query on the chatbot that uses artificial intelligence is estimated to require at least 10 times more electricity than a standard search on Google. If all Google searches similarly used generative AI, they might consume as much electricity as a country the size of Ireland, calculates Alex de Vries, the founder of Digiconomist, a website that aims to expose the unintended consequences of digital trends. Yet someone using ChatGPT or another artificial intelligence application has no way of knowing how much power their questions will consume as they are processed in the tech companies’ enormous data centers. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Technically, California won’t delay an oil well protection law — but Newsom axes funding to enforce it
“Gavin Newsom’s late session proposal to extend deadlines — by more than four years in one case — for oil companies to comply with a new law fizzled and died late this week. But environmental groups didn’t have a chance to cheer a rare victory over California’s fossil fuel interests: When the governor’s administration withdrew the proposal, it also eliminated from the budget bill any funding to implement the 2022 law — a law that prohibits new oil operations within 3,200 feet of homes and schools and calls for a robust monitoring system to track leaks and air and water quality. State agencies maintained that the deadlines for implementing many of the law’s requirements were never practical and did not allow sufficient time to hire staff to oversee a new state program, or to understand and put in place the complex monitoring and testing regimes to ensure public health. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
‘Can’t call this a season-ender’: Rain provides only brief respite to Northern California fire activity
“A rare August storm swept through Northern California from Thursday through Saturday and dropped considerable rainfall, temporarily suppressing fire danger and helping firefighters extinguish blazes. The Northern Operations Predictive Services reported “significant wetting precipitation” fell across a broad swath of the Cascades, Sierra and the northwest Sacramento Valley. The Boise Fire in Humboldt County received up to 1.5 inches of rain, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Cal Fire information officer Robert Foxworthy said a quarter to three-quarters of an inch of rain fell across the Park Fire, which was 78% contained Sunday. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
A Mount Shasta meadow is at risk of being ‘loved to death.’ Can a federal order save it?
“An idyllic meadow on Mount Shasta that some people feel is at risk of being “loved to death” by tourists was brought under new restrictions this month to curb visitation and bad behavior and help the environment recover. Panther Meadows, a lush and remote landscape of waist-high wildflowers and bubbling springs on Shasta’s southern flank, is sacred to the native Winnemem Wintu tribe. Headwaters flowing from the mountainside there are considered the “doorway of all life forms,” according to tribal Chief Caleen Sisk, and tribal members have made annual pilgrimages there for centuries. About a half-hour drive east of the town of Mount Shasta, the meadow is a destination for spiritualists, sightseers, hippies and hikers as well, some of whom have, over the years, flouted rules meant to preserve Panther’s special character and fragile ecosystem. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Ukiah Valley Water Authority readies for big changes: what’s next?
“The Ukiah Valley Water Authority held a regular meeting of the water executive committee on August 6 at 5 PM at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center, chaired by Adam Gaska. Currently the UVWA is comprised of the City of Ukiah, and the Redwood Valley and Millview County Water Districts. RV and Millview are managed by the Willow County Water District, but they will transition to Ukiah City management in January 2025. Other local water districts may, in the future, opt to sign on to the Joint Powers Authority document that formed the UVWA. The application for the SAFER planning grant has been submitted. SAFER is a program of the California Department of Water Resources that provides funding for communities to ensure a safe source of water. UVWA plans to eventually upgrade infrastructure using SAFER grant money. … ” Read more from Mendo Fever.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Yosemite National Park: Crews restore damaged landscape back to conditions not seen in 150 years
“Yosemite National Park is famous for towering waterfalls, giant sequoia trees and massive granite cliffs. But at an out-of-the-way spot near the park’s western boundary few visitors ever see, a landmark of a different type is taking shape. Workers are making progress this summer on an ambitious plan to turn a 400-acre property that was used for generations as a cattle pasture back into a healthy Sierra Nevada meadow. The project at Ackerson Meadow, the largest wetlands restoration in Yosemite’s history, involves filling in massive amounts of erosion — including a 3-mile long gully that is 14 feet deep and 100 feet wide — with hundreds of truckloads of dirt and mulch, along with planting 425,000 native plants and more than 700 pounds of wildflower seeds. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Vacaville council will consider selling 2,000-acre feet of water
“City council members will consider authorizing the city manager to complete negotiations and execute a transfer of up to 2,000 acre-feet of city of Vacaville state project water to a State Water Project agency at Tuesday’s meeting. The transfer of the water will be administered by the Solano County Water Agency. The fee is up to $250 per acre-foot, resulting in a projected revenue of $500,000 for the city. Transfers among SCWA member agencies happen routinely and transfers with water agencies outside Solano County have taken place in the past, the agenda states. … ” Read more from the Daily Republic.
BAY AREA
This invasive beetle has killed tens of thousands of trees in Southern California. Now it’s in the Bay Area
“An invasive species of beetle that has killed tens of thousands of healthy trees across Southern California has been detected in San Jose, posing a threat to over 65 species of trees in the area. The shothole borer tunnels into trees, introducing a fungus that serves as food for the beetles, and prevents the trees from transporting water and nutrients, often killing them in the process, the Santa Clara County Division of Agriculture announced Friday. Native to southeast Asia, the beetle was first found in Los Angeles in 2003 and is believed to have arrived via packaging materials. Agriculture officials and arborists have been fighting the epidemic for years in L.A., Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. “it is a significant threat to our urban forests,” said Rhonda Berry, the CEO of of Our City Forest, the San Jose nonprofit that’s been working to develop the urban canopy for 30 years. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
‘It reeks’: Wastewater stench has plagued Bay Area city since March — relief could be months away
“On balmy Bay Area days all summer, Sheila Johnson has arrived home in Vallejo after work, thrown open the windows to air out her stuffy house — and instead gotten a blast of a strong and foul smell from outside. “Whew!” she said. “It smells like a sewer.” She searched for how to describe the overpowering odor: “It’s not quite sulfur and rotten eggs, it’s just that strong gassy smell of sewer.” Johnson’s house is among as many as 20,000 homes and businesses plagued for months by a foul odor in South Vallejo, a diverse neighborhood along the Mare Island Strait that includes everything from historic Victorian houses to modest tract homes. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Column: Valley commuters told ‘nothing’ of California dam project’s freeway impacts
Marek Warszawski writes, “Jesse Torrez’s daily commute between Los Banos and San Jose — consistently rated among the worst in the nation — takes him past the giant holding tank known as San Luis Reservoir, whose shoreline hugs and even crosses Highway 152 on the way to Pacheco Pass. “Sometimes you can practically reach out and touch (the water),” Torrez said. Over the past two years, Torrez has taken notice of ongoing construction activity around the 2 million acre foot reservoir. He’s seen heavy equipment working on the earth dam that rises above the highway and dump trucks delivering tons of material. He knew something major was going on. But not once — at least not until I became the bearer of bad news — did Torrez have any knowledge or understanding that federally approved plans to raise Sisk Dam and expand the capacity of San Luis Reservoir would make his already taxing commute even worse. … ” Continue reading at the Fresno Bee.
Fresno County ag production reached $8.59 billion in 2023
“Fresno County’s 2023 agricultural production value rose by 6.1% compared to its 2022 crop report. Melissa Cregan, Fresno County Agricultural Commissioner, informed the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 20 that the county’s 2023 gross agricultural production value reached a record $8.59 billion, marking the fourth consecutive year of growth. This county record is just shy of Tulare County’s 2022 record of $8.61 billion. Crop reports are intended to summarize the acreage, production, and value of agricultural commodities and are not representative of gross returns to producers or actual net profit. “Fresno County’s agricultural strength is based on the diversity of crops produced, included in the 2023 report are over 300 different commodities, 73 of which have a gross value in excess of $1 million,” Cregan told the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. … ” Read more from Valley Ag Voice.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Rancho Palos Verdes faces ‘unprecedented new scenario’ over landslide danger
“The forces behind the relentless land movement plaguing Rancho Palos Verdes appear to be more complicated, and possibly more widespread, than originally thought — forcing the city to once again rethink how it can limit some of the mounting damage. Officials confirmed a very deep and active landslide plane — previously considered dormant — during exploratory drilling this summer, a discovery that has upended emergency efforts aimed at stabilizing the Portuguese Bend area. “This is an unprecedented new scenario for the city, which means we have to change our strategy,” Ramzi Awwad, Rancho Palos Verdes’ public works director, said during a City Council meeting last week. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Along the Colorado River …
Researchers urge closing outdated water rule to aid Colorado River crisis
“Researchers investigating the historic stresses of the American West’s water supply have identified a simple solution that could put parts of the Colorado River Basin on a more sustainable path. In a new paper published today, a consortium of scientists and water experts including University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Peter Debaere recommend that closing Colorado’s “free river conditions” loophole would serve as a key initial step to reducing water stress in the region. “Closing this loophole in Colorado’s water rights system could save millions of cubic meters of water and be the state’s modest contribution to solving water stress in the Colorado River Basin,” said Debaere, an expert in the economics of water and water markets. … ” Read more from The Darden Report.
Column: We bought time to fix the Colorado River. What happens when the money runs out?
Joanna Allhands writes, “We have a good story to tell about the Colorado River (I know. Since when have I typed those words?) Consider where we are: Lake Mead and Lake Powell — the nation’s two largest water reservoirs — remain relatively stable, despite only average runoff this year. That’s largely because Arizona, California and Nevada — the Lower Basin states that rely on Lake Mead — have put their water use on a heavy diet, consuming 5.8 million acre-feet of water in 2023. That’s the lowest in 40 years and well below the 7.5 million acre-feet of water to which they are entitled. … Except … (you knew that word was coming, didn’t you?) … ” Read the full commentary at the Arizona Republic.
How Boeing, Coca-Cola and Google joined to save Arizona’s Verde River
“Decades of drought and taking more water from the Colorado River than it can afford to give have put both the river and the $1.4 trillion economy it supports in jeopardy. Investing in water resilience is essential for companies operating in the region, but it requires a different approach than many are used to. A tested and successful model can be found on the Verde River, a Northern Arizona tributary of the Salt River in the Colorado River Basin. The Verde River provides water for local farms and delivers up to 40 percent of in-state surface water for major urban locations in the Phoenix metro area. But its long-term health is at risk from withdrawals, groundwater pumping, a warming climate and drought. Companies including Boeing, REI, Coca-Cola, Meta, Microsoft, Cox, PepsiCo, Google, Procter & Gamble, EdgeCore and Intel have partnered with groups such as The Nature Conservancy, Friends of the Verde River, National Forest Foundation and the Salt River Project to support dozens of resilience projects over the past decade in the Verde River. … ” Read more from Trellis.
Why Utah is suing the U.S. for control of public land
“On Tuesday, Utah filed a lawsuit, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to determine whether the federal government can retain millions of acres indefinitely – or whether the feds must dispose of those lands. “It is obvious to all of us that the federal government has increasingly failed to keep our lands accessible and properly managed,” Republican Gov. Spencer J. Cox, said in a press conference. The state is calling the suit a “Stand for Our Land,” saying the feds are restricting access with recent decisions such as the Public Lands Rule and an updated travel management plan near Moab. Conservation groups quickly responded. “Governor Cox and the state legislature need to make a U-turn before they waste millions of taxpayer dollars enriching out-of-state lawyers on this pointless lawsuit,” said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of Center for Western Priorities, a nonpartisan, conservation advocacy group focusing on public-land protection. … ” Read more from the High Country News.
Cold water shots into the Colorado River slow a bass invasion in the Grand Canyon
“A shot of cold water from Glen Canyon Dam appears to have stalled a smallmouth bass invasion of the Grand Canyon and protected rare Colorado River fish there, federal officials say. In early July, two years after first finding the predatory bass spawning below the dam and in threatened humpback chub territory, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation began releasing cold water from deep in Lake Powell in an effort to chill the river past the temperature at which bass are known to reproduce. So far this summer, numerous netting, snorkeling and electrofishing trips on the river have turned up no newly hatched bass, biologists reported to an advisory committee meeting on Grand Canyon’s South Rim on Thursday. … ” Read more from the Arizona Republic.
