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In California water news today …
As California farms use less Colorado River water, worries grow over shrinking Salton Sea
“It was 111 degrees when Mark McBroom stepped from his air-conditioned pickup and onto a dry alfalfa field. Remnants of desiccated hay crunched underfoot, and the sun-baked soil was fragmented with deep cracks. McBroom and other Imperial Valley farmers agreed to leave many hay fields unwatered for seven weeks this year in exchange for cash payments from a federally funded program designed to alleviate the water shortage on the Colorado River. Many farmers decided that the payments — $300 per acre-foot of water conserved — would pencil out for them this year, in part because hay prices have recently fallen. “Most of the farming community felt like our water is worth a lot more than that, but we wanted to help,” McBroom said. “We want to be good neighbors.” … ” Read more from the LA Times. | Read via Yahoo News.
The flip side to Colorado River conservation? A drying Salton Sea
“Southern California farmers are conserving a lot more Colorado River water, but that’s also causing the Salton Sea to dry up faster. That’s because the Salton Sea is filled primarily by agricultural runoff from farms in the Imperial Valley in far Southern California. Those farms have a single source of water: the Colorado River. The Salton Sea is a landlocked, shallow lake in Riverside and Imperial counties. The lakebed has been contaminated for more than 100 years with pesticides and other chemicals that create dangerous air pollution for surrounding communities. Balancing conservation with the impact on the Salton Sea is a long-running conundrum. … ” Read more from the LAist.
SEE ALSO: Rural community seeks to benefit from lithium boom, from the Public News Service
Changing winters are impacting Lake Tahoe and other freshwater ecosystems
“As temperatures rise, particularly in alpine regions, lakes are feeling the heat. Research published today in the journal Science, led by researchers at the Carnegie Institution for Science, indicates that climate change impacts critical winter processes including lake ice conditions. Changes in lake ice conditions impact the function of ecosystems and the communities that live nearby. With climate affecting this critical winter process one can ask, what other critical changes to freshwaters might occur from changing winters whether at Lake Tahoe, or the small lakes and streams in the mountains of California and Nevada? Sudeep Chandra, a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, was part of the study and has been studying lake ecosystems for over two decades. “Winter change from a human-altered climate is an important area of focus for scientists and policy makers,” Chandra said. “We need to learn more about how this change in winter, whether from snowpack dropping on to a watershed or the loss of lake or stream-ice, may have lasting ramifications for what we might observe in the ice-free summer season.” … ” Read more from the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
Reducing fire risk in the headwaters of California’s rivers
“Hand-thinning, Mastication, Prescribed fire: These terms may be unfamiliar. In the Yuba River watershed, we are using these methods alongside our partners to manage the forests of the Sierra Nevada and create climate resilience, enhance public safety, and most relevantly to the name and mission of American Rivers, protect river health by reducing wildfire risk. The Hoyt-Purdon Prescribed Fire and Fuel Reduction Project will treat 570 acres within a 918-acre project area along the South Yuba River at a strategic location between the river and surrounding local rural communities. The project will use a combination of the approaches described above to reduce the risk of wildfire and increase forest and watershed resilience. … ” Read more from American Rivers.
The largest groundwater recharge plant in the world
The Orange County Water District Ground Water Replenishment System is the largest advanced water treatment plant in the world for groundwater recharge. Since it was commissioned, it has produced 445.8 billion gallons of water to serve 1 million people. That amounts to 130 million gallons per day that is treated through microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet disinfection. Mehul Patel, executive director of operations for the OCWD GWRS, took WaterWorld editors on a tour of the plant to share how it is bolstering Orange County’s water supplies through water reuse” Watch video from Water World.
How are drifting sensors used to study the salt content and pollution in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta?
“Learn about how drifting sensors are used to collect data on water salinity and pollution in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, California” Watch video from Britannica.
Black bass diversity in California
Peter B. Moyle and Andrew L. Rypel write, “When both of us began studying the freshwater fishes of California, we independently discovered most fishes found in reservoirs and other highly altered habitats belonged to non-native species. Anglers and many fishery managers had pretty much accepted the reality that freshwater recreational fisheries are focused on non-native species, except for a few species of salmon and trout, mostly of hatchery origin. Especially important in the fisheries are ‘black bass’, a name given to all members in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) that belong to the genus Micropterus. Bass fisheries command high economic and recreational value across the USA. Chen et al. 2003 estimated that in one year, a single trophy bass fishery in Texas generated $18.6M ($39.5M today) in economic activity, and supported at least 367 jobs. California lakes produce gigantic black bass (Fig. 1), including fish potentially weighing 20-25 lbs – sizes that put California in competition for a future world record. It is unclear why California bass grow to be so large but it could be related to comparatively low density populations overall in large reservoirs and lakes, long growing seasons, and abundant energy-rich prey, including hatchery raised trout. … ” Read more from the California Water Blog.
Proposition 4: California’s $10 billion ballot measure for wildfires, water projects and heat waves explained
“California has endured three severe droughts over the past 15 years. Its five largest wildfires in recorded history have all occurred since 2018. Heat waves with temperatures above 110 degrees are breaking records summer after summer. With that backdrop, along with a state budget that lawmakers have struggled to balance over the past year, California voters will decide the fate of Proposition 4, a bond measure on the November ballot that would authorize $10 billion in spending to address climate change and its impacts. The money would fund a range of programs, from increasing forest thinning to planting more trees in cities to reduce temperatures during heat waves. It also would pay for programs to expand water conservation and recycling, enlarge state parks and create coastal wetlands to buttress rising sea levels. … ” Read more from The Mercury News.
Study: Wildfire smoke cuts nut production in California orchards
“Long-term exposure to smoke from wildfires can significantly reduce the energy reserves of orchard trees and slash nut production by up to 50%, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis. The study, published on October 2 in Nature Plants, highlights a new risk for agriculture from wildfires. Lead author Jessica Orozco, a postdoctoral researcher in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, explained that while much research has focused on the effects of smoke on humans, plants are also vulnerable. “Our study suggests that trees are just as vulnerable as humans,” Orozco said. … ” Read more from Ag Net West.
NRCS announces $100 million in federal assistance for California farmers and ranchers
“The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California has announced federal assistance opportunities for agricultural producers for Fiscal Year 2025, which runs from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025. Farmers and ranchers interested in applying for the first round of funding through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) should submit applications by November 15, 2024. Carlos Suarez, NRCS California State Conservationist, highlighted the program’s significance, noting, “With the addition of the Inflation Reduction Act, we will be investing approximately 50 percent more federal funding to help producers address their unique resource concerns.” … ” Read more from Ag Net West.
The shifting jet stream has magnified wildfires and plagues. What’s next?
” … The patterns of Earth’s high winds have surprisingly widespread effects on life on the ground. A recent study in the journal Nature shows that when the summer jet stream over Europe veers north or south of its usual path, it brings weather extremes that can exacerbate epidemics, ruin crop harvests, and feed wildfires. “The jet stream has caused these extreme conditions for 700 years in the past without greenhouse gases,” said Ellie Broadman, a co-author of the study and a researcher at the University of Arizona. “To me, that’s a little scary, to think about the compound effects of simply adding more heat to the atmosphere and imagining how those extremes might get more extreme in the future.” … ” Read the full story at the LAist.
The fate of thousands of U.S. dams hangs in the balance, leaving rural communities with hard choices
“Sheldon Auto Wrecking is a local institution in southwestern Wisconsin’s Vernon County. It’s tucked in a lush valley just downstream of a 50-foot earthen dam, locally known as “Maple Dale.” … The dam “was put in place for a reason,” said owner Greg Sheldon. But it might soon go away. Maple Dale is one of thousands of dams constructed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, beginning in the mid-20th century, for the purposes of flood control. In 2018, five similar dams in the region failed during a massive rainstorm that caused property damage in the tens of millions of dollars. A study determined that several other dams in the watersheds hit hardest by the flood, including Maple Dale, were also vulnerable to failure but would be too expensive to replace. … ” Read more from Grist.
California tries ‘Trump-proofing’ its climate policies
“California officials have been working for months on a plan to “Trump proof” the state’s leading edge environmental and climate policies, in the event that former President Donald J. Trump returns to White House and follows through on his promise to gut them. Whether California succeeds could affect more than a dozen other states that follow its emissions rules, and could have global impact because the state’s market muscle compels auto makers and other companies to conform to California standards. The strategy now being crafted in Sacramento includes lawsuits designed to reach wide-ranging settlements with industries that generate greenhouse gases, and new rules and laws that rely on state authority and would be beyond the reach of the administration. … ” Read more from the New York Times.
Winter forecast for the US in the 2024-25 season
“Meteorological winter is just around the corner, officially beginning in less than two months on Sunday, Dec. 1. The season will have some meteorological twists and turns that may end with a surge of snow and blasts of bitterly cold air. As people prepare their skis and snowblowers with snow on their minds, AccuWeather forecasters predict that the season will be mild for most of the United States, similar to last winter, which was the warmest on record. However, that is only part of the story, as waves of frigid air will periodically send freezing air across the country, along with more chances for snow. So dig out your winter coats from the closet and get ready for the colder days ahead with AccuWeather’s 2024-2025 U.S. winter forecast. … ” Read more from AccuWeather.
In commentary today …
Does California stand a chance of preserving our precious groundwater?
Ann Hayden, vice president for climate resilient water systems at the Environmental Defense Fund, writes, “One of the most consequential environmental laws in state history turned 10 years old last month. You’d be forgiven if you didn’t notice. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act remains, like the declining resource it aims to protect, largely invisible to most Californians. Despite this, the first decade of SGMA (“sigma” to those who know it well) has laid the foundation, still somewhat creaky in places, for nothing less than the transformation of our rural landscape and economy. If we allow it to, this law could nurture a genuinely resilient landscape capable of thriving in an era of climate whiplash. On paper, this is a law solely about managing a finite, limited and largely unseen resource. In implementation, it needs to be about revitalizing the very visible land and communities at the heart of the state. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Ensuring affordability and climate resilience: The critical role of decoupling in California
Mary Ann Dickinson, founder and past CEO of the Alliance for Water Efficiency, and Tia Fleming, Co-Executive Director of the California Water Efficiency Partnership, write, “As a world leader in environmental stewardship and with aggressive climate goals, California stands at a pivotal moment in addressing its water supply challenges. The climate crisis, intensifying droughts, and a growing population are putting increasing pressure on our water resources. Our state has often turned to temporary conservation measures, but it’s clear that we need sustainable, long-term solutions to secure California’s water future and protect our most vulnerable communities from the rising costs of inaction. Currently, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is considering a flawed proposal that threatens to dismantle a mechanism called decoupling, a proven method of incentivizing water conservation while keeping consumer costs affordable. … ” Read more from Capitol Weekly.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Nearly 100,000 birds dead in botulism outbreak linked to climate change, water diversions
“An ongoing outbreak of botulism, a bacterial illness that causes muscle paralysis, has killed more than 94,000 birds at Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Northern California, the worst such outbreak at the lake ever recorded, according to federal scientists. Affected birds often cannot control their muscles and often suffocate in the water, said biologist and ornithologist Teresa Wicks, with Bird Alliance of Oregon, who works in the area. “It’s a very traumatic thing to see,” Wicks said. Though local in scale, the outbreak and catastrophic die-off are tied to global problems including declining wetlands, increasing demand for limited water resources, hydrological diversions, and a warming climate. These kinds of outbreaks can happen around the world and the phenomenon seems to be on the rise, according to Andrew Farnsworth, a scientist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology who studies bird migration. … ” Read more from The New Lede.
Ukiah Valley Water Authority pushes forward with district integration
“The Ukiah Valley Water Authority (UVWA) is gearing up for its launch on January 1, 2025. The launch will bring together water districts across the region under one streamlined system. The October 1, 2024, meeting of the UVWA Executive Committee outlined efforts to prepare. Jared Walker, General Manager of Redwood Valley, Millview, and Willow County Water Districts, and Sean White, Water Manager for the City of Ukiah arrived at the meeting after spending a day in triple-digit temperatures with engineers from Carollo Engineering. They toured over 20 sites in the Millview and Willow County Water District. They planned to spend the following day touring water infrastructure in Calpella, Redwood Valley, and Ukiah. This is to give Carollo a big picture of all the infrastructure and geographic areas that will be consolidated into the new UVWA. … ” Read more from Mendo Fever.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Rocks, riffles & floodplains: Restoration creates salmon habitat on the Tuolumne
““The Tuolumne River used to have the largest run of salmon throughout the entire San Joaquin Valley region, now it has the smallest run, and this is due to a lot of things: lack of habitat and lack of flows, but we’re hoping by creating better habitat we’ll be able to have more salmon coming up the river,” shared Sara Sacks, TRT’s River and Meadow Restoration Project Manager. Before California’s Gold Rush, the stretch of the Tuolumne River near La Grange, California was an abundant and biodiverse stopover for spawning salmon, migrating birds, and the many insects and invertebrates that support this life web. Speckled salmon slid through glassy waters by the hundreds of thousands; young fry feasted on abundant caddisflies and mayflies; birds, and even grizzly bears, feasted on young fry in a thriving food web. … ” Read more from the Tuolumne River Trust.
CENTRAL COAST
White House announces first California marine sanctuary managed by Indigenous peoples
“The Biden administration, members of Congress and native tribes will commemorate the designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary on Monday — the first such preserve in California to be managed in cooperation with Indigenous peoples. The 4,543-square-mile sanctuary, located off California’s rugged Central Coast, would prohibit oil drilling and offer other protections to an area that encompasses numerous cultural resources, including the suspected remains of ancient, submerged villages. The preserve could one day serve as the final puzzle piece of an effort to protect virtually all of California’s coast from the Channel Islands to Point Arena, north of the Bay Area. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
SLO Supervisors vote to help farmers lessen dependence on Paso Robles Groundwater Basin
“A divided San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors has voted to devise a plan to help local farmers lessen their reliance on the depleted Paso Robles Groundwater Basin. The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to spend about $300,000 to hire a Los Angeles-based consultant to design a study involving local farmers. This study will identify ways local farmers can cut their reliance on groundwater through things like more water-efficient crops and treating industrial wastewater for field use. … ” Read more from KCBX.
Protecting small farmers: Groundwater symposium held at CSUCI
“A group of local farmers spoke out against large corporations making recent water grabs that are threatening their small farms. Save Open-space and Agricultural Resources hosted a Sept. 21 groundwater symposium at Cal State Channel Islands. The symposium focused on how corporate farming interests are drilling deep wells and depleting groundwater basins, according to SOAR Executive Director Linda Parks. By using legal maneuvering, corporations could receive a large share of water allocations, often undercutting small farmers. SOAR aims to protect agricultural land and support small farmers. If large corporations succeed, Parks said, local growers who sell at beloved, historical farmers markets risk losing their farms. “We hope to bring a better understanding of groundwater in Ventura County,” Joe Pope, director of water and sanitation for Ventura County Public Works Agency, told attendees. … ” Read more from the Moorpark Acorn.
Nearly 10 years after California oil spill, plan to reactivate pipeline sparks anger
“Nine years ago, when an aging oil pipeline ruptured near the coast of Santa Barbara County, an inky darkness spread over the waters. The massive slick of oil engulfed and killed hundreds of marine animals, including, seals, dolphins and pelicans. And the acrid smell of petroleum polluted the coastline’s air. On May 19, 2015, a corroded section of an oil pipeline burst and released more than 140,000 gallons of oil near Refugio State Beach. The incident — which revived memories of a massive 3-million-gallon spill almost 50 years earlier — sullied some of the state’s most pristine beaches and a rare stretch of undeveloped coastline. Oil migrated as far away as Orange County, closing fisheries and costing hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Welcome to the first new state park in over a decade: Dos Rios
“If you’ve got a bucket list item labeled “visit all of the US state parks,” well, your list just got a bit longer. This new state park is the first one to join the fold in over a decade, and visitors say spending time there is like journeying into the past. It’s located in the San Joaquin Valley at the junction of the Tuolumne River and the San Joaquin River, which is why it’s been dubbed Dos Rios. It’s goal is to show visitors what California’s Central Valley looked like before the advent of modern agriculture. It opened on June 12, 2024 and is the first state park to open since the Eastern Kern County Onyx Ranch State Vehicular Recreation Area opened in November of 2014. … ” Read more from Twisted Sifter.
Tehachapi: Comment by Oct. 28 on city plan to discharge treated wastewater on farm land
“A public comment period is open through Oct. 28 for the draft environmental review of a project by which the city of Tehachapi plans to treat and recharge up to 1,400 acre-feet of recycled water into the Tehachapi groundwater basin. Last month, the city published an initial study and draft mitigated negative declaration for its Tehachapi Reclaimed Water Project. The 352-page report describes the planned project and documents support for the city’s position that with mitigation, the project will have no significant environmental impact. … ” Read more from the Tehachapi News.
Along the Colorado River …
Deb Haaland and Camille Camlimlim Touton: We’re looking at every viable option to sustain the Colorado River
Deb Haaland (Interior Secretary) and Camille Calimlim Touton (Bureau of Reclamation) write, “No one knows better than those in Arizona the critical importance of the Colorado River. The lifeblood of the American West, the Colorado River Basin provides water for more than 40 million people and fuels hydropower resources in seven U.S. states. It is a crucial resource for 30 tribal nations and two states in Mexico, and it supports 5.5 million acres of agriculture and agricultural communities across the West, in addition to important ecosystems and endangered species. In 2021, historic drought along the river brought the communities it serves to a near crisis. … ” Continue reading from Arizona Central.Will exploratory lithium mining in Arizona continue near a sacred hot spring?
“One of the things Ka-Voka Jackson, the cultural resources director of the Hualapai Nation, most appreciates about Ha’Kamwe’ is its peacefulness. Located on a former ranch in western Arizona, the hot spring is framed by rolling desert hills. Though trucks may sometimes drive down a nearby dirt road, it’s mostly quiet. That serenity is an important part of Hualapai cultural practices that have taken place here for millennia, from gathering plants to holding ceremonies. “When we visit and we look across the landscape, that’s the same landscape that our ancestors looked at and that our ancestors lived in, and so we hold a deep connection with the integrity of that landscape,” Jackson said. … ” Read more from Grist.
Last chance to submit thoughts on plans for nonnative fish at Glen Canyon Dam
“The National Park Service is requesting public review and comment on an environmental assessment containing options to reduce the number of nonnative fish in the Colorado River. And it’s Southern Utahns last chance to submit comments before the deadline. The assessment analyzes a proposal to pursue options to prevent reproduction of smallmouth bass and other warm water nonnative fish in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, according to a news release issued by the park service. The proposed action would channelize the river mile -12 slough, or side channel, in order to reduce water temperature and increase water velocity to help eliminate smallmouth bass reproduction, which has been documented in this part of the river, the service states. … ” Read more from the St. George Spectrum.
River runners are celebrating whitewater rapids re-emerging in Colorado’s Lake Powell
“There’s a lot of anxiety about climate change shrinking Lake Powell, but it also means whitewater rapids upstream have re-emerged. Thrillseekers can now run them for the first time since the 1960s. At the bottom of a deep red canyon in Southern Utah, the Colorado River is restoring itself, or at least a part of itself, even as climate change shrinks its volume. And that has river enthusiasts celebrating. Long-forgotten whitewater rapids are re-emerging upstream. Reporter Luke Runyon set out to find out more. … ” Listen to radio show or read transcript from NPR.
