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On the calendar today …
- WORKSHOP SERIES: Bay Delta Plan, Sacramento/Delta update, beginning at 9:30am. The State Water Board will hold a workshop series on the draft Sacramento/Delta update to the Bay-Delta Plan. This is the third of six workshops. The topic is VA Habitat Accounting and Tribal Focused Topics. Click here for the full workshop notice.
- MEETING: Department of Food & Ag from 10am to 2pm. Agenda items include a discussion on Defining Regenerative Agriculture for State Policies and Programs and a discussion on 2025 priorities & agenda items. Click here for the full agenda and remote access instructions.
In California water news today …
DWR Announces Initial State Water Project Allocation for 2025 at 5%
“Today, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced an initial State Water Project (SWP) allocation forecast of five percent of requested supplies for 2025. The SWP provides water to 29 public water agencies that serve 27 million Californians. The December initial water supply forecast is the first allocation of the new water year and is based on current reservoir storage and conservative assumptions for precipitation to come. For comparison, last year, the initial allocation for Water Year 2024 was 10 percent of requested supplies and it eventually increased to 40 percent by the end of the season. The initial allocation forecast announced today does not take into account the series of strong storms that brought precipitation to above average across Northern California in the last two weeks of November. These storms will be taken into account along with other variables for future allocation updates. Prior to these storms, the start of the water year had been dry and warm. … ” Read more from the Department of Water Resources.
SEE ALSO:
- State issues meager water delivery totals in year’s first estimate, from SF Gate
- California water officials warn of scant deliveries from reservoirs next year, from the San Francisco Chronicle
- California sets initial State Water Project allocation at 5% following hot, dry stretch, from the LA Times
California’s second-largest reservoir sees sudden change in water level
“Lake Oroville in California last month saw one of the biggest water-level changes the reservoir has ever experienced in November. A bomb cyclone brought dangerous weather conditions across the Pacific Northwest last month, causing power outages for more than a half-million people and killing at least two. Several atmospheric rivers pummeled California at about the same time. A bomb cyclone occurs when a storm’s pressure drops quickly, which intensifies the storm and ramps up wind gusts. Atmospheric rivers are a “long, narrow region in the atmosphere—like rivers in the sky—that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. … ” Read more from Newsweek.
Metropolitan Committee panel discussion considers the pros and cons of the Delta Conveyance Project
Paul Hames / DWR
“The November meeting of Metropolitan’s One Water and Stewardship Committee, a joint meeting with the entire Board of Directors, was a marathon of over five hours with many topics covered. However, front and center was the Delta Conveyance Project with the Board vote on funding the remaining planning costs for the controversial Delta Conveyance Project coming up in December. The meeting included an agenda item, and a panel and discussion with both supporters and non-supporters of the project. … ” Read coverage at Maven’s Notebook.
Report finds decline in almond acreage, but exports remain steady
“California’s total almond acreage dropped again in 2024, marking three consecutive years that acreage has decreased, something that hasn’t occurred since1995, according to a new report from Land IQ to the Almond Board of California. But fear not, consumer, it’s not going to affect your ability to buy your favorite healthy snack. Total acreage dropped by about 40,000 acres in the last crop year, from nearly 1.6 million acres to just over 1.5 million in 2024. Bearing acres — defined as orchards producing almonds and planted in 2021 or earlier — increased by just 9,000 acres, the smallest amount in more than two decades. The total bearing acres during the 2024 growing season was 1.383 million acres, compared with 1.374 million acres at this time the previous year. … ” Read more from Westside Connect.
Californians pay billions for power companies’ wildfire prevention efforts. Are they cost-effective?
“Diane Moss lost her home in the Santa Monica Mountains after power lines ignited the apocalyptic Woolsey Fire in 2018. Since then, she’s pressed for a safer electric grid in California. “It’s so easy to forget the risk that we live in — until it happens to you,” said Moss, a longtime clean energy advocate. “All of us in California have to think about how we better prepare to survive disaster, which is only going to be more of a problem as the climate changes.” In recent years, California’s power companies have been doing just that: insulating power lines and burying lines underground, trimming trees, deploying drones and using risk-detection technology. As wildfires across the U.S. intensify, California is on the leading edge of efforts to prevent more deadly and destructive fires ignited by downed power lines and malfunctioning equipment. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
Legislative Analyst’s Office: Cal Facts 2024
“CalFacts presents a wide range of facts and trends about the state’s economy, finances, and programs.” Click here for the PDF.
In commentary today …
Hope springs eternally at Vernalis for everyone but Northern SJ Valley
Dennis Wyatt, editor of the Manteca Bulletin, writes, “Take a trip to ground zero in the California water wars. It is not the pumps at Tracy. It is not the Owens Valley. It is not where Gov. Newsom wants to plop down his myopic tunnel vision to siphon life giving water away from the Delta to guarantee non-native Kentucky bluegrass can make Beverly Hills estates shine like emerald fields while slowly destroying the Delta ecological system. Ground zero is just a short eight mile drive down Airport Way south of Manteca. … ” Read more from the Manteca Bulletin.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
How Indigenous activists lead the largest dam removal project in American history
“Molli Myers was pregnant with her firstborn when the salmon began to die. It was 2002, during the depths of a yearslong drought, and farmers far upstream of her community on the Yurok reservation in Northern California had pressured the George W. Bush administration to divert water from the Klamath River in Oregon to irrigate their fields. Water temperatures rose as the river slowed through the summer, and in September, Chinook salmon returning to spawn began to die, littering the banks with as many as 70,000 carcasses. Two years later, with her young son in her lap, Myers testified in Orleans, California, before a panel of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission officials charged with renewing the operating licenses of four hydroelectric dams that had contributed to the fish kill. None of the panelists looked her in the eye as she described the structures as an existential threat to the river and the salmon that have sustained her Karuk people since time immemorial. … ” Read more from Outside.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Lake Tahoe Dam Rehabilitation Study kicks off with collection of concrete core samples
“The Bureau of Reclamation will begin collecting concrete core samples next month in Lake Tahoe Dam as part of the Lake Tahoe Dam Rehabilitation Study. While the dam is currently safe to operate, the study, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is being conducted to evaluate alternatives for needed repairs. Restoration repairs are needed to address deterioration in the 115-year-old dam structure, which was constructed prior to the introduction of air-entraining admixtures in concrete that allow space for expansion and contraction of water molecules as the concrete goes through natural freeze-thaw cycles. As temperatures at the dam routinely drop below freezing at night and climb above freezing during the day, the dam experiences freeze-thaw cycles regularly, which are known to cause deterioration of the concrete. Additionally, analysis of the concrete in 2005 indicated signs of deterioration from alkali-aggregate reactions. Gate operations have also been affected as gates have become temporarily immobile or unable to close due to the concrete deterioration. … ” Read more from the Bureau of Reclamation.
Tahoe National Forest invites public to provide feedback on community wildfire risk reduction project in Nevada County
“Interested individuals are invited to provide feedback on Tahoe National Forest’s South Yuba Roadside Fuel Break Project by Jan. 6, 2025. The project would treat dense and hazardous fuels along approximately 50 miles of roads across 3,000 acres of Tahoe National Forest lands. The project aims to establish a network of fuel breaks and reduce wildfire risk for Western Nevada County communities including Nevada City, Cascade Shores, North Bloomfield, North Columbia, North San Juan, Washington and Graniteville. Fuel breaks can provide improved opportunities for fire suppression and serve as a location to hold or slow a wildfire. Along roads, they also help establish safe ingress and egress routes for the public and firefighting resources should a wildfire impact the area. … ” Read more from YubaNet.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Water fee found unconstitutional by Tehama County court
“A Tehama County Judge on Wednesday, Nov. 20 found that the Tehama County flood control and water conservation district’s attempt to levy a .29-cent per acre fee was illegal. In 2022, the Tehama County Flood Control and Water Conservation District had adopted a resolution requiring all wells in the county to be registered and all qualified APNs to pay $0.29 per acre per year to the cost of the registration program. Judge Bradley Boeckman’s decision confirmed the Court’s tentative ruling that while the county’s fee levy was “well-intended,” it was not “a proper valid regulatory fee but in fact in a tax.” The decision comes following a lawsuit filed by Dennis Garst in April 2023, which alleged, in part, that the fee violated Propositions 13, 218, and 26. … ” Read more from the Appeal-Democrat.
NAPA/SONOMA
‘It’s been a week’: Guerneville’s Surrey Resort mopping up again after fourth flood in 5 years
“Joey Luiz, manager of Guerneville’s Surrey Resort was warned about wintertime along the Russian River. “Be ready for storms in January and February,” he was told when he took over day-to-day resort management in May. So, when he learned one of those storms was set to arrive earlier, the week of Nov. 17, he didn’t ignore the forecast. Nearly half the 22 tents for which the glamping resort is known had already been put away for the season. And in preparation of the rains and the projected flooding, Luiz and his crew moved the resort’s vehicles to high ground. What Luiz didn’t prepare for — or expect — was a 100-year-storm to inundate the town and property. … ” Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
BAY AREA
Albany park has areas of unusually high radiation, report finds
“Elevated levels of radiation have been detected at the Albany Bulb, an East Bay landfill that has been converted to an art park popular with hikers and dog walkers. The radiation was revealed after a “Gamma Radiation Walkover Survey” by a hazardous waste specialist hired by the City of Albany to sample the waste left over by a Richmond chemical plant that operated there in the 1960s and ’70s. As first reported in the Los Angeles Times, the test by GSI Environmental, Inc. revealed 10 spots that registered levels of gamma radiation high enough to merit further measurements. Of these, three locations had levels consistent with the “the disposal of alum mud and are recommended for additional investigation,” the report stated. Alum mud, also known as red mud, is an industrial waste. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Westlands reelects four members to the board, brings back Ryan Ferguson
“Four members of the Westlands Water District Board of Directors have been reelected to their positions, while a former board member also regained his position with the district. The five members will serve four-year terms on the nine-member board. The big picture: Current directors William Bourdeau, Jeff Fortune, Frank Coelho and Jim Anderson won their reelection bids to the board. … ” Read more from the San Joaquin Valley Sun.
Commentary: Show me the plan for water
“Regarding the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, we can safely surmise that our leadership doesn’t intend to meet its requirements. Why else, while the State Water Board wants us to balance water out of the ground with water into the ground, would our city and county pass out water hookup permits by the multiples of thousands for public, private and commercial new and expansion projects — making SGMA compliance all but impossible. It’s probably because our governor has mandated us (with penalties) to build multiple thousands of new dwelling units for the homeless. Kern County has been allocated a target of building 57,650 housing units by 2031 under the Regional Housing Needs Allocation. Of these, 44% must be affordable housing to meet the needs of lower-income residents. Kern County is expected by mandate to make significant progress or face enforcement measures for non-compliance. RHNA and SGMA are irreconcilable with each other, and our leadership has failed to implement the one solution to voluntary homelessness that guaranteed would work. By playing one mandate against the other our city and county leadership get to play their “get out of jail free” cards. … ” Continue reading at the Bakersfield Californian.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Claiming Negligence: Phillips 66 indicted for violating Clean Water Act
“A federal grand jury indicted Phillips 66, a Houston-based oil and gas company, for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act, the Justice Department announced on Nov. 21. The six-count indictment accuses the energy company of illegally discharging hundreds of thousands of gallons of wastewater from its Carson oil refinery into the Los Angeles County sewer system. The indictment alleges that on Nov. 24, 2020, for approximately two and a half hours, Phillips’ Carson refinery discharged non-compliant industrial wastewater into the Los Angeles sewer system. They repeated the act for over five hours on Feb. 8, 2021, the indictment claims, and in total discharged over 700,000 gallons of non-compliant industrial wastewater in the sewer system. … ” Read more from Downtown Los Angeles.
SAN DIEGO
La Niña looms. Will San Diego’s luck hold this winter?
“San Diego County, as far as weather is concerned, often carries the smug air of a guest at the Thanksgiving table who neither brings nor takes too much—just clear skies and dry streets to boast about, while its neighbors to the north dabble in calamity. This week has been no exception. While Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo have been slapped about by rain and snow like hapless travelers on the West Coast’s stormy highway, San Diego dodged the “atmospheric river” entirely. The city watched from afar, as one might observe a quarrel next door—curious but unaffected. Not that San Diego is always spared from nature’s untidiness. Back in 2019, a Thanksgiving storm arrived like an uninvited in-law, hurling 50-mile-per-hour winds and soaking the county in rain so heavy it carved rivulets into the coastline and left folks in the valleys slogging about like ducks. … ” Read more from the Escondido Grapevine.
Along the Colorado River …
The Biden administration weighs in on Colorado River management
“On Nov. 20, the Biden administration released a list of proposals for long-term management of the Colorado River. The river, which provides water to 40 million people across seven Western states, 30 tribes and parts of Mexico, is in crisis. Climate change, drought and overuse have depleted its flow by 20% since 2000. After months of stalled negotiations among the Colorado River Basin states over how to address the chronic water shortages, the federal Bureau of Reclamation has now released four alternatives for managing the Colorado River. It’s unclear how the states will respond to the proposals, despite dire warnings that climate change will further stress the already overtaxed water supply. Meanwhile, there is uncertainty over whether or how the incoming Trump administration will impact negotiations. … ” Read more from High Country News.
Colorado River states hold an uncomfortable reunion in Las Vegas
“It’s the holiday season, and for some of us, that can mean uncomfortable reunions and disagreements with family members. This week, there’s a family reunion of sorts in Las Vegas as the states that use the Colorado River get together in the middle of tense talks about how to share the shrinking water supply. Instead of Christmas dinner, this reunion is the annual meeting of the Colorado River Water Users Association. Farmers, tribal leaders, city utility managers, environmentalists, scientists, journalists, and a host of other people will pack into a hotel ballroom at the Paris Hotel. Amid the roughly 1,500 people in attendance, the spotlight will be on seven. They’re the top water negotiators from the states that share the Colorado River. … ” Read more from KUNC.
ADWR helps finalize two historic Tribal water rights settlement agreements
“Governor Katie Hobbs on Nov. 19 officially concluded decades of negotiations and court battles over tribal water rights when she signed two settlements involving four Arizona Native American tribes. The Arizona Governor signed the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement, which settled long-standing claims with the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe. In addition, she signed the Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Agreement with the Yavapai Apache Nation of north-central Arizona. Both agreements with the federally recognized tribes are now before Congress. “I want to thank Governor Hobbs for her leadership in helping us reach this historic agreement,” said President Buu Nygren of the Navajo Nation. … ” Read more from the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
Utah monitors disappearing water across state
“Utah is taking significant strides to understand and manage one of its most elusive water problems: evapotranspiration. The Utah Geological Survey (UGS), in collaboration with the Utah Division of Water Rights, is developing a statewide network of advanced weather stations under the banner of the Utah Flux Network. These stations are designed to measure evapotranspiration, which accounts for the water evaporated from soil and water bodies and the water transpired by plants. The initiative is critical because much of Utah’s water doesn’t flow out of the state via rivers, but instead dissipates into the air. For decades, evapotranspiration has been poorly understood, hampering efforts to conserve and manage water resources effectively in the increasingly dry region. “Evapotranspiration is a major part of the water cycle, and it’s often the one that’s hardest to constrain,” Paul Inkenbrandt, a senior geologist and hydrogeologist with the UGS, told Newsweek. … ” Read more from Newsweek.
In national water news today …
Are water resources keeping up with US economic needs?
“Access to water is necessary to sustain human civilization and agricultural production. Recent analysis finds that most of U.S. land area, economic activity, and agricultural production are in regions with stable to positive trends in local water availability. This provides reassuring news about overall U.S. vulnerability to water resource depletion. However, some Western and Southwestern regions are facing serious water risks that scientists expect to become more severe over time, suggesting that efforts to alleviate this concern should have a regional focus. … ” Read more from Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
Trump allies begin attack on EPA and rules protecting US drinking water
“Donald Trump’s allies have fired the opening salvoes of his coming administration’s attack on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the federal agency that enforces and regulates laws on air, soil, and water quality among other crucial environmental and health issues. In a letter from Republican House leadership to the EPA administrator Michael Regan, Republicans trained their sights on the agency’s scientific integrity policies that are designed to insulate scientists and research from political interference. Meanwhile, the incoming chair of the Senate environmental committee in a hearing last week promised to target portions of new PFAS regulations put in place over the last year, a top priority for Trump’s chemical and water utility industry allies. … ” Read more from The Guardian.
Environmental groups demand EPA to start monitoring microplastics in water
“A new legal petition filed by more than 170 top environmental groups demands that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) begin monitoring for microplastics in drinking water, an essential first step to reining in pollution viewed as one of the nation’s most pressing public health threats. The scale of microplastic water pollution, the extent to which the substance is lodged throughout human bodies, and the many health implications have come into sharp focus in recent years, but the EPA still has not taken meaningful action, public health advocates say. The petition pushes the agency to begin monitoring microplastics as an emerging contaminant under the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2026. “The EPA has been thinking about it, but they have not been acting, and the goal here is to get them to act,” said Erin Doran, a senior attorney at Food & Water Watch, one of the petitioners. … ” Read more from The Guardian.
