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On the calendar today …
- MEETING: Central Valley Flood Protection Board beginning at 9am. Agenda items include Presentation of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers System-Wide Improvement Framework program, and Overview of DWR’s recent organizational changes to support flood safety and ecosystem function. Click here for the full agenda.
- WEBINAR: Exploring the Connections Between Fish Movement and Our Communities from 10am to 11am. Join CalTrout for a webinar exploring why salmonids migrate in California, and the impacts of this journey on local ecosystems throughout history and today. Learn how modern tracking methods have revolutionized our understanding of fish movement, and why this data is essential for conservation success. Get real-time insights from the historic Klamath River dam removal project – the largest river restoration effort in U.S. history – and discover how monitoring efforts are proving crucial to its success. Through compelling case studies, our experts will demonstrate how the simple act of tracking fish movement has transformed watershed restoration across the state and why Migration Matters. Click here to register.
In California water news today …
Ex-leader of Bureau of Reclamation calls for Trump administration to eliminate it
“A progressive civil servant who led the Bureau of Reclamation under former President Clinton is now urging the incoming Trump administration to eliminate his former agency — an entity he has long deemed superfluous. Daniel Beard, who served as commissioner from 1993-95, said in a statement shared with The Hill that if the “administration is serious about reducing government bureaucracy, cutting wasteful expenditures and restructuring federal agencies, it should start by abolishing the Bureau of Reclamation.” Beard argued Congress only maintains the Bureau of Reclamation for political reasons, stressing that the agency’s every function could be overseen by the private sector or other federal, state, regional or local entities. … ” Read more from The Hill.
Let’s do the bi op again
“Central Valley agriculture’s star is rising with President-elect Donald Trump’s return to power. Now, it just needs to figure out what to do with it. Trump made a point on the campaign trail of promising California’s Republican-leaning farmers he’d “turn on the faucet” and deliver more water than ever before to them, even if he had no chance of winning California’s electoral college votes. Valley interests knew they were risking in-state ire by backing Trump, but to hear them tell it, they had no choice. “I have become a single-issue voter. It’s all about water,” said Johnny Amaral, chief of external affairs for the Friant Water Authority, one of the biggest recipients of federal water deliveries in the Central Valley. “Maybe not since John F. Kennedy, when he came out to California and dedicated the San Luis Reservoir site, has there been a president who has been so strong and so vocal on this.” … ” Read more from Politico.
A century after Owens Valley aqueduct protest, event marks tense time in L.A. water history
“It’s a chapter of California history filled with subterfuge and conflict: More than a century ago, agents secretly working for Los Angeles posed as farmers and ranchers as they bought land and water rights across the Owens Valley. Their scheme laid the groundwork for the construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which in 1913 began sending the valley’s water to the growing city 233 miles away. Residents were so enraged in the 1920s that some carried out a series of attacks on the aqueduct, blasting it with dynamite. But there was also one major nonviolent protest, an act of civil disobedience 100 years ago that is being commemorated this weekend with a series of free community events in Lone Pine. In that defiant act of resistance on Nov. 16, 1924, a group of about 70 unarmed men took over an aqueduct spillway and control gates north of Lone Pine and began releasing all the water back into the dry channel of the Owens River. That act, called the Alabama Gates occupation, grew as more than 700 residents of all ages came to celebrate the takeover during four days of festivities, bringing food and barbecuing as the protest became a community picnic. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Calif. officials warn fecal matter from embattled commune could flood nearby bay
“A secluded commune on the North Coast, known locally as “Yee Haw,” has been labeled an “urgent health hazard” by Humboldt County officials after inspectors found alarming sewage issues on the property. Owned by Charles Garth, the property of Yee Haw in Trinidad, California, has housed hundreds of people over the last four decades in homes made of scavenged materials and renovated buses. Residents celebrate Yee Haw as a hub of community and environmental stewardship, and Garth’s supporters paint him as a charitable figure who offers housing amid a statewide crisis. Critics, including some local officials, see him as a negligent landlord whose lack of oversight jeopardizes Yee Haw residents as well as the surrounding community and the environment. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
An unexpected ally in adapting to climate change: Sediment
“Sand, gravel, silt, clay…these humble sediments are the building blocks of our world. Now, some are saying sediment management could play an outsized role in helping California adapt to a changing climate. We asked Julie Beagle, Environmental Services Branch Chief with the US Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District, to tell us more. Q: First, what is sediment and why it is so important for coastal resilience? A: Sediment and water connect mountains to rivers to oceans. In watersheds, rivers flow from headwaters to a delta, a bay, or the ocean, eroding the land and carrying rock, sand, and silt downstream. Water deposits these sediments in some areas and moves them quickly through others, forming deltas, gravel bars, mudflats, and marshes. We have interrupted that process by building dams that store water and sediment upstream and structures that stop the flow of sediment along coastlines. … ” Read more from the PPIC.
Expansion of San Luis Reservoir set to boost California’s water-storing capacity
“The Biden administration and eight California water agencies have reached an agreement to share in the costs of raising a dam to expand San Luis Reservoir, a nearly $1-billion project intended to increase the state’s water-storage capacity and benefit a group of urban communities and agricultural areas. The plan to raise B.F. Sisk Dam and enlarge the reservoir near Los Banos will enable it to hold more water during wet years, boosting the reserves of water suppliers in parts of the Bay Area and the San Joaquin Valley. “It’s going to add to resilience,” said Cannon Michael, board chair of the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority. “The ability to capture more water in the years it is available, particularly given California’s dynamic hydrology, is a critical component of a more secure future.” … ” Read more from the LA Times.
The project to overhaul Prospect Island in the Delta aims to help repopulate vital smelt fish
“Located north of Rio Vista in Solano County and west of Walnut Grove in Sacramento County sits Prospect Island in the Delta region. Soon, big changes will lead to the transformation of the island’s 1,600 acres. Dan Riordan, an environmental program manager for the California Department of Water Resources, said this overhaul he and his staff are taking on is all in the name of conservation. “I love seeing this region get rebuilt,” Riordan said. “It is a lot of work. We have a great crew out here. It’s a massive effort.” … ” Read more from KCRA.
An alpine frog nearly wiped out by disease is making a remarkable comeback in Yosemite
“The cold, alpine lakes of the high Sierra once hummed with the splashing and soft, clicking chirp of the yellow-legged frog. Like many fragile amphibians, however, the small, often darkly dotted frogs with yellow undersides have seen their numbers collapse over the years, first when predatory trout were introduced to lakes for fishing, and then by a menacing fungal disease. Today, the 2- to 3-inch-long frogs are absent from about 70% to 90% of their historical range. But the fortunes of the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog may be turning. Researchers behind a 15-year effort to revive the endangered species at Yosemite National Park reported Thursday that the frog’s population at the park has begun to rebound. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
SEE ALSO: Frog populations once decimated by disease mount a major comeback, from The Current
CDFW awards $17m to critical restoration projects statewide
“The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) today announced the award of $17 million in grants for 18 restoration and protection projects throughout the state, including projects to benefit disadvantaged communities, salmon and steelhead in the Klamath-Trinity watershed, wetlands and meadows and watersheds impacted by cannabis cultivation. Today’s awards continue the ongoing efforts to support critical restoration projects with funding made available in late 2022 through the Nature Based Solutions (NBS) Initiative and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds, funding through CDFW’s Cannabis Program, as well as funding dedicated to habitat restoration through Proposition 68. “Timing is critical to restore and protect California’s biodiversity, and we’re seizing this moment to support a diverse array of projects that will benefit fish, wildlife, lands and watersheds across the state,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “By collaborating with these important conservation partners, advancing Tribally-led restoration, and by staying focused on protecting ecosystems with the greatest need, we’ll ensure these funds will help support vulnerable species and communities across California.” … ” Read more the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
When fish are free: Hundreds of salmon are now spawning in Klamath River and tributaries after dam removal completed
“Hundreds of fall-run Chinook salmon are now spawning on the Klamath River and its tributaries both above and below the former sites of the four PacifiCorp dams – now that the removal of those structures is finally complete. Craig Tucker, Natural Resources Consultant for the indigenous Karuk Tribe, made a trip to Spencer Creek in Oregon three days ago. He reported counting more than 100 Chinook in Spencer Creek and around the mouth of the creek. “Salmon are coming back to the Upper Klamath Basin!” Tucker stressed. The indigenous Yurok Tribe also reported that “hundreds of salmon” are now spawning in the river and tributaries above the former Iron Gate Dam, emphasizing the key role this fish plays in the Klamath’s ecosystem. … ” Read more from the Sacramento News & Review.
Water system report delayed and MCCSD hybrid meetings coming
“The board of the Mendocino City and Community Services District met on Monday, October 28, for its regular monthly meeting. Although the Board made no major decisions, it discussed a number of items regarding the governance and operation of the plant. The draft community water feasibility report has been delayed due in part to the consultant’s location in hurricane-effected Florida. The updated schedule is for the release of the draft report on November 11 for public comment, and a community meeting on December 3 at 6:00, which will be held at the community center. At the Board’s direction, staff is exploring enhanced ways to notify the community of the meetings, and to implement hybrid meetings that can be attended both in person and virtually. … ” Read more from the Mendocino Beacon.
BAY AREA
Flood advisory issued for parts of the SF Bay Area amid king tides, rain
“Some of the highest tides of the year are expected to impact the Bay Area this week, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a flood advisory for the region’s coastal areas. The high end of this week’s king tides is expected to peak shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday, though the advisory remains in effect until 4 p.m. Monday. Flood advisories were issued for coastal areas from Big Sur to Point Reyes, including interior valleys in the North Bay and shorelines along the San Francisco Bay. Northwest-facing beaches and shorelines are most at risk of flooding, according to the weather service. “The main impacts we’re really worried about are what happens at the high tide, when the water gets into places like roads or sidewalks or parking lots that might impact people trying to get to and from the coastal regions,” weather service meteorologist Dial Hoang said. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
SEE ALSO:
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- King Tides Offer a Glimpse into the Future of Sea-Level Rise, from Bay Nature
- King tides return to Bay Area — along with coastal flooding and dangerous waves, from the San Francisco Chronicle
California Coastal Commission reluctantly approves San Francisco seawall project
“Caught between the possibility of hundreds of thousands of people losing the ability to flush their toilets and an eroding beach, the California Coastal Commission begrudgingly approved on Thursday a project to construct a seawall along a portion of San Francisco’s Ocean Beach. Buried beneath Ocean Beach along the southern portion of San Francisco’s Great Highway lies a storm and wastewater drain called the Lake Merced Tunnel. As climate change raises sea levels, the cliffs that encase the tunnel are ever more vulnerable to erosion, and the possibility of the tunnel itself being destroyed. If that happens, wastewater could flood the beach. To prevent that from happening and to protect other nearby city infrastructure, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission proposed a $175 million project to build a 3,200-foot buried seawall. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
SEE ALSO: California regulators approve huge Ocean Beach seawall to avert prospect of ‘major emergency’ for S.F., from the San Francisco Chronicle
Valley Water urges flood preparedness
“Valley Water and the National Weather Service urged the community to prepare for winter storms during a news conference held Nov. 13 at a sandbag distribution center in San José. Last winter, Valley Water partnered with Santa Clara County and local cities to help residents stay safe by distributing 140,000 free sandbags. Valley Water works with local agencies and the community to help everyone be aware, ready and safe during extreme weather events. “Our climate is changing, and we all need to prepare for storms and the potential for floods,” said Nai Hsueh, Valley Water Board Chair. “We are asking the community to ensure they are flood safe.” … ” Read more the Gilroy Dispatch.
CENTRAL COAST
Stuck in the muck: Scientists study carbon trapped by Elkhorn Slough
“Smelly and saturated with seawater, the marsh muck sucks at the waders of UC Santa Cruz graduate student Aliya Khan as she walks along a channel in Elkhorn Slough. She places a tube into the water, which will collect samples that will help uncover the salt marsh’s ability to serve as a carbon dioxide vacuum and vault. Khan’s research is taking place at an important time. “The year 2024 is on track to be the warmest year on record,” says the World Meteorological Organization in a press release published earlier this week. It will also be the first year with global temperatures more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a milestone that will intensify fires, floods, and other climate-fueled disasters. … ” Read more from the Monterey Herald.
Elementary school in Salinas receives new water system after a year
“Graves Elementary School in Salinas may be small, but with 32 students and four staff members, it is mighty. The school didn’t have potable water for a year because their primary water source, a well, started to fail. “In reality, clean water at a school for students, for children is a basic necessity,” Michelle Ross, the superintendent and principal of Graves Elementary, said. Thursday evening celebrated the completion of the school’s new $200,000 well system. … ” Read more from KSBY.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Kern River trial date is set even as appeal over order to keep up flows continues grinding along
“The long-running lawsuit against the City of Bakersfield over how it operates the Kern River is set to go to trial on Dec. 8, 2025. Kern County Superior Court Judge Gregory Pulskamp set the trial date before a packed courtroom, though most in attendance were attorneys on one side of the case or another. This was the first hearing since the well-known environmental law firm Morrison Foerster joined the case to work with Attorney Adam Keats, who represents plaintiffs Bring Back the Kern, Kern River Parkway Foundation, Sierra Club, Audubon Society and the Center for Biological Diversity. Morrison Foerster brought five attorneys (11 others were on hand either in person or online) to the case management hearing Thursday. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
EASTERN SIERRA
Ridgecrest: Safe Yield Trial is a Go: Appellate Court declines to hear IWVGA’s challenge to trial court’s decision to hold safe yield trial
“The Indian Wells Valley Water District and Searles Valley Minerals are pleased to announce a significant development in their ongoing commitment to securing a sustainable water future for our community. The Court of Appeal has declined to hear the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority’s most recent challenge to the ongoing groundwater basin adjudication. Trial on the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Basin’s safe yield will proceed. Last month, the Authority filed a writ petition in the appellate court, asking the appellate court to consider (and ultimately reverse) the trial court’s August 2024 decision to set a trial on the basin’s safe yield. The Authority’s writ petition was the latest in a series of attempts to prevent consideration of the best available science in determining safe yield. The appellate court declined to even hear the issue, summarily stating, “The petition for writ of mandate is DENIED.” … ” Continue reading this press release.
Indian Wells Valley Water District discusses recycled water, increased fees, and GM declining pay increase
“The Indian Wells Valley Water District held a brief board meeting on Nov. 12. The board discussed a variety of topics, including updates on the proposed recycled water project and reasons for plans to increase rates, and praised new general manager George Croll for his decision to decline a scheduled pay increase. The IWVWD is preparing initial planning steps to investigate the feasibility of a recycled water project. At the moment, just about all water in the IWV comes from a large underground water basin, but this basin is overdrafted and has been for decades. … ” Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Air officials increase orders for Chiquita; judge hears arguments
“Despite garnering more than 25,000 complaints since January 2023, Chiquita Canyon Landfill continues to plague the skies surrounding Castaic, Val Verde and a growing area on the western edge of Santa Clarita with a putrid stench caused by a variety of ongoing problems. And, as a result of the facility’s continued challenges in lessening the odors and addressing the root causes, the South Coast Air Quality Management District has issued more orders for the cleanup. Thursday’s order for abatement is intended to “require Chiquita Canyon Landfill to take stricter actions to reduce odors that have been impacting the community for nearly two years,” according to an AQMD release. The new requirements include expanded air monitoring, reduced equipment downtime, increased community access to air quality data, and reducing spills, leaks and the potential for equipment failures. … ” Read more from The Signal.
SAN DIEGO
‘A perfect storm’: Oceanside to pay $1.5 million for sewage spill
“The city of Oceanside has agreed to pay $1.5 million for illegally discharging almost 2 million gallons of sewage during what water regulators called a record-breaking storm in 2020 that overwhelmed a sewage lift station and a water reclamation facility. The city released the sewage into several creeks, one of which flows into the Buena Vista Lagoon, a wildlife refuge home to a number of endangered species, eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean. The spill affected waters also used for recreational and fishing purposes. The fine is part of a settlement with the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. … ” Read more from iNewsSource.
Along the Colorado River …
Beyond water: Recapping the series on how CAP connects Arizonans
“What benefits to Arizonans lie beyond the critical source of Colorado River water CAP delivers? We recently published a three-part series explaining some of the perhaps lesser-known facts about CAP that, in one way or another, connect Arizonans. Most likely, you now know that the Colorado River water delivered by CAP serves six million people living in central and southern Arizona. CAP is also the single largest delivery system of water to tribal communities in the Colorado River basin. The CAP system’s amazing infrastructure has immense value to our economy and quality of life. We encourage you to browse the information linked above and consider how you might spread awareness of these efforts and resources, and “connect to CAP” beyond the water we rely on each day. … ” Read more from Know Your Water News.
How an ‘ocean’ under Arizona and oil companies water could reduce our water crisis
“In 2018, the United States Geological Survey reported it estimated there was 680,000,000 acre feet of brackish water under Arizona. That represents what Arizona uses in 100 years. This water was left between 500 and 1,500 feet under the surface of the state millions of years ago when an ocean covered what is now Arizona. Brackish water is not as salty as seawater, but it is more so than fresh water. It is found in geological layers lower than fresh water and does not mix with it. Brackish water costs about 50% less to desalinate than seawater. The state has a giant desalinization plant in Yuma that is hardly used and a huge atomic reactor outside of Phoenix that can make it potable/drinkable. The state could choose to make more desalinization plants. … ” Read more from the Arizona Capital Times.
Arizona AG looking to use ‘nuisance law’ to go after Saudi farms for excessive water usage
“Attorney General Kris Mayes says she may sue foreign-owned farms under Arizona’s “nuisance law” in Arizona. These farms, particularly those operated by Fondomonte Arizona – which is in turn owned by a Saudi company called Almarai – have drawn criticism for years due to their water-intensive alfalfa farming. Fondomonte/Almarai then exports the alfalfa to feed dairy cows in Saudi Arabia. Fondomonte’s farming operations began in La Paz County in 2014, after the purchased more than 10,000 acres of land West of the Valley. Under the agreement, Fondomonte paid less than the going market rate for the land and did not have to pay for the water it used. Alfalfa is one of the most water-intensive crops in the world. … ” Read more from Channel 12.
In national water news today …
Leading the way: New EPA rule gives 10 years to replace lead drinking water service lines
“Under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) announced on Oct. 8, 2024, EPA has shifted its focus from addressing lead exceedances in drinking water to preventing lead in drinking water altogether. Under the LCRI, EPA will require approximately 67,000 public water systems to identify and replace lead service lines within a decade. The LCRI also imposes additional requirements to reduce exposure to lead in drinking water by reducing the lead action level, strengthening tap sampling procedures, strengthening corrosion control treatment, reducing lead exposure during pipe replacement initiatives, and bolstering public education and consumer awareness efforts. The LCRI builds on the 2021 Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR), which required water systems to develop a lead service line inventory and set lead action levels and trigger levels. … ” Read more from Brownstein.
Logging on public lands has increased despite President Biden’s forest protection efforts
“Deep in the Stanislaus National Forest in northern California, it’s the sound you hear first. Once you get closer, it’s harder to miss. Large bulldozers and machines called feller bunchers are clearing the mountain landscape of large trees in one of the oldest national forests in the United States. “They’re taking thousands and thousands of mature trees off the landscape. They’re hauling away the tree trunks for lumber, and then they’re stripping out the branches and the treetops, and then taking the small trees and putting them in giant piles,” says Chad Hanson, a forest ecologist and director of the John Muir Project, a conservation group that wants to stop commercial logging like this on public lands. … ” Read more from Scripps News.
Working toward a world without plastic pollution
“Ending plastic pollution by 2050 is achievable but requires an ambitious and coordinated global effort, according to a new collaborative study by University of California researchers. Published today in Science, the study finds that global policy makers could reduce plastic pollution by 91% by implementing four policies governing the production, use, and disposal of plastic material. The findings come as world leaders are scheduled to meet in South Korea later this month to finalize the first-ever treaty on plastic pollution. “There are multiple pathways available to negotiators,” said the study’s lead author A. Samuel Pottinger, a senior data scientist at UC Berkeley’s Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center for Data Science and Environment (DSE), a research center shared by the Rausser College of Natural Resources and the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society. “But it does require ambition.” … ” Read more from UC Berkeley.
World on track for hottest year ever as carbon pollution hits record levels
“October 2024 was Earth’s second-hottest October on record, according to an analysis of global data going back to 1850, NASA and NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information reported November 13. The month fell just 0.05 degree Celsius (0.09°F) below the record set in October 2023. Both October 2023 and October 2024 came in well above all preceding Octobers, and the past 11 Octobers have all been warmer than any others on record. As opposed to being focused in one region or another, the record heat was unusually widespread. About 12.2% of the world’s surface experienced record heat, beating the previous October record extent set in 2015 of 8.4%. … ” Read more from Yale Climate Connections.
