A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …
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In California water news this week …
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.
DAN WALTERS: California officials plan for a dry 2025 with grim water supply guesswork
“Each December there’s a new version of an old guessing game about how much water will be provided to agricultural and municipal users in the year ahead. Federal and state water agencies post initial, and usually very low, estimates based on the current condition of reservoirs, soil conditions that affect runoff, and assumptions of rain and snow during the winter and spring. Over the next few months, the estimates are upgraded as firmer precipitation data accumulates, often — but not always — increasing. For 2022, as drought gripped California, the state Department of Water Resources initially projected zero water deliveries, later raised them to 15% of the contracted supplies, but finally delivered just 5%. One year later, however, the department initially promised 5%, but after a very wet winter finally delivered 100%. This year began with a 10% estimate of state water supply and ended up with 40%. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
Environmental groups claim California’s State Water Project will harm endangered fish and the environment
“Environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Water Resources Wednesday, claiming that the California State Water Project will harm endangered and threatened fish and the environment in the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River watersheds, as well as the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary. The California State Water Project (SWP) is a system of reservoirs, aqueducts, power plants and pumping plants that delivers water to California. Its purpose is to provide water to California’s residents and farmland, and to control flooding. It also provides hydroelectric power for the state’s power grid. The SWP is the largest state-owned water and power system in the U.S., stretching over 705 miles from Northern to Southern California. San Francisco Baykeeper, an environmental nonprofit, was joined by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and six other plaintiffs in the lawsuit. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
Reductions in SWP deliveries expected to continue
“Roughly every two years, the California Department of Water Resources issues its “Delivery Capability Report” for the State Water Project (SWP). Those studies estimate the amount of SWP water that can be delivered each year, based on simulations of current facilities and regulations applied to over 70 years of historic hydrology. The first study conducted in 2001, indicated that on average, 72% of contracted water entitlements could be delivered annually. During a 6-year drought, average deliveries would drop to 41% of the contracted amount. Since then, regulations to protect endangered fish have reduced exports. DWR just released its 2023 Delivery Capability Report. Average annual deliveries are now estimated at 55% of contracted entitlement with deliveries through a six-year drought now expected to be 23%. … ” Read more from Valley Ag Voice.
EPA urges California to safeguard tribal cultural practices by preserving Delta water flows
“The Environmental Protection Agency urged California water regulators to protect tribal cultural practices in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta, the troubled heart of the state’s water supply. Comments to the State Water Resources Control Board by EPA regional administrator Martha Guzman at a hearing Tuesday marked rare federal intervention into state water politics as regulators weigh options to regulate how much water stays in the estuary. “The EPA strongly supports the proposal in the draft plan to designate tribal cultural uses throughout the Bay Delta watershed,” Guzman said, referring to subsistence fishing. “This proposal recognizes the centrality of vital fish populations to many California tribes.” … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
Public review begins for Bay-Delta plan revisions, comment period ends soon
“The State Water Resources Control Board staff released draft updates to the Bay-Delta plan on Nov. 6 for public review. The draft covers potential updates to the Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento San Joaquin Delta Watershed. State law requires California’s water board to create and review plans to protect water quality in rivers and other surface waters. These draft updates are focused on the Sacramento River watershed, Delta eastside tributaries, and Delta for the “reasonable protection of fish and wildlife beneficial uses.” The draft updates focus on protecting fish in the Sacramento River system and build on previous efforts to increase fish populations in the San Joaquin River. Staff have suggested regulating 45% to 65% of natural river flow for salmon and steelhead populations. … ” Read more from Valley Ag Voice.
Metropolitan Committee panel discussion considers the pros and cons of the Delta Conveyance Project
“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.
Understanding water available for recharge in the Central Valley
“Recharging more water from large winter and spring storms into California’s underground aquifers is a powerful tool for reducing groundwater overdraft, improving drought preparedness, and limiting flood risk to downstream communities. The banner wet year of 2023 saw considerable progress on this front. The state facilitated the recharge of flood flows through new executive orders and legislation (SB 122), and numerous local programs got more water into the ground. In the water-scarce San Joaquin Valley, our recent survey found that recharge had increased by 17% since 2017, another very wet year. As we enter another storm season, stakeholders are focused on understanding a key question: how to build on this success, while ensuring that enough water stays in rivers to protect the environment and the rights of downstream water users? Like much else in California water, the answer is somewhat complicated. In this explainer, we take a closer look at some of the issues at stake in the Central Valley—California’s main source of water for recharge—and we highlight how partnerships could make the most of the water that is available. … ” Read more from the PPIC.
Be flood diversion and recharge ready: Flood diversions for recharge under Water Code §1242.1
“As flood events become more frequent, being prepared for flood diversions and groundwater recharge is critical for sustainable water management. On October 9, 2024 the CA State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) held a public workshop focused on flood diversions for groundwater recharge using Water Code §1242.1. Topics included an overview of Water Code §1242.1, definition of terms, flood diversions requirements, how to file reports, report submittal timelines, diversion exclusions, and an overview of the diversion requirements specific to the Delta. … ” Continue reading from DWR.
Groups work to widen SGMA engagement
“Makhan Singh had farmed in California for more than two decades when, in 2017, he bought a 300-acre ranch in Madera County. About half the ranch was planted with almonds. The other half was bare. To qualify for a mortgage, Singh agreed to plant almonds on the rest of the land, taking on more debt to make the long-term investment in the new trees. He had little reason to doubt the business plan. Almond prices were high. And while the land was in a “white area,” entitled to no surface water from an irrigation district, farmers in the San Joaquin Valley had pumped groundwater for generations to sustain the region’s farmland. Singh didn’t know California had adopted a law in 2014 regulating groundwater for the first time. It was only in 2022, when he received a notice about groundwater fees on his property tax bill, that Singh learned of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA. “It was like a hammer to the head,” Singh said of finding out about the law. … ” Continue reading from Ag Alert.
Finding water for the San Joaquin Valley
Edward Ring, cofounder of the California Policy Center, writes, “Farmers in the San Joaquin Valley require roughly 15 million acre feet of water per year to irrigate their crops. In return they produce more than half of all California’s agricultural output. But everything is changing. Since 2000 the amount of water the farmers receive from the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project has been cut in order to protect fish, and in response the farmers increased groundwater pumping. This in turn triggered the enactment of the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in 2014, which limits how much groundwater farmers can use. Also during the past two decades two major water supply projects, both approved by voters in 2014, have failed to begin construction. The Sites Reservoir, off-stream and just west of the Sacramento River, was to have the capacity to store up to 2 million acre feet (MAF) of water. Subject to interminable delays with a design scaled back to 1.5 MAF of storage, nobody knows if Sites will ever get built. Temperance Flat, a 1.3 MAF reservoir proposed for the San Joaquin River upstream of the existing Friant Dam, was defunded and is effectively canceled. With less water from the aqueducts, less water from the aquifers, and no new water supply projects, farmers in the San Joaquin Valley now face losing up to 20 percent of their 4.5 million acres of irrigated farmland. … ” Read more from Californians Energy and Water Abundance.
California farmers are hopeful Trump administration will deliver more water to fields
“Since winning the election, President-elect Donald Trump has been talking about immigration, border security and government efficiency. But in California farm country, his comments about water are also getting top attention. In recent years, farmers have faced more limits on how much water they can access from this network because of environmental concerns, as well as on how much groundwater they can pump after years of overuse and drought.Now, farmers are hoping the second Trump administration will ensure more stable water flows to their fields from the federally managed Central Valley Project and a plan for future water supplies. Trump recently posted on his Truth Social platform a criticism of the “rerouting of MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF WATER A DAY FROM THE NORTH OUT INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN, rather than using it, free of charge, for the towns, cities, & farms dotted all throughout California.” … ” Read more from the Associated Press.
Special session brings uncertainty to water policy for California farmers
“California farmers could soon be caught up in a political fight between Sacramento and Washington. State Democrats want $25 million to sue the Trump administration. Water policy is among the issues. “I think you’re going to see the State of California be very vigorous in defending the values that we’ve already implemented into our water policies,” Democratic Assemblymember Steve Bennett of Ventura said. Bennett served on the Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee during the previous legislature. It is unclear what federal water policy will look like under the second Trump Administration, but Bennett is preparing for the possibility of significant changes. … ” Read more from Channel 30.
California water experts prepare for climate whiplash
“California officials regularly tout their global leadership on climate, yet experts warn that state preparations for a warming world need a major overhaul. The state hit its 2020 goal of mitigating climate change by reducing planet-warming greenhouse gases to 1990 levels six years early. But adapting to chaotic climate disruptions already underway while planning for an uncertain future remains a formidable challenge. California’s climate policies are underfunded and “stretching the capacity of local, state and federal agencies responding to the urgent issues of today,” wrote Letitia Grenier, director of the Water Policy Center at the Public Policy Institute of California, or PPIC, in a report released earlier this month. Global temperatures over the past quarter century are higher than at any time in recorded history and California just saw its hottest July ever. Over the past decade, the state has experienced one of its driest periods, its biggest and most destructive wildfires, record-breaking heat waves and catastrophic flooding, as already stressed ecosystems struggled to cope with land use changes and water diversions. … ” Read more from Inside Climate News.
In commentary this week …
GUEST COMMENTARY: Resilience and Readiness: Supporting final studies for Delta Conveyance Project while reflecting on our state water system’s past, present and future
Charles Wilson, Executive Director of the Southern California Water Committee, writes, “We can’t escape our history. In 1984, the Southern California Water Coalition (SCWC) was founded in response to the ballot-box defeat of the Peripheral Canal, a predecessor to today’s Delta Conveyance Project. This pivotal moment highlighted the urgent need for a unified effort to address Southern California’s water challenges. The vision back then was clear: bring together water leaders, agriculture, businesses, local governments, and labor to educate Southern Californians on where their water comes from and the need for water infrastructure investment to assure future reliability. Over the past 40 years, SCWC has steadfastly carried out that mission, spreading awareness about the region’s reliance on imported water from the Colorado River and Northern California, as well as the strides we’ve made in using water more efficiently. … ” Continue reading this guest commentary.
CA salmon, Delta fish populations are in worst-ever crisis as pumps keep exporting water to Big Ag
Dan Bacher writes, “Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations are in their worst-ever crisis ever as the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) moves forward with the controversial Delta Tunnel, Sites Reservoir and voluntary water agreements. Ocean commercial and recreational fishing and river recreational fishing for salmon has been closed for the past two years, due to the collapse of Sacramento and Klamath River salmon populations. The 2024 stock abundance forecast for Sacramento River Fall Chinook, usually the most abundant stock in the ocean fishery, was only 213,600 adults. The return of fall-run Chinook salmon to the federal Coleman National Fish Hatchery on Battle Creek in Fall 2023 was a disaster, with the hatchery officials forced to obtain eggs from the state’s salmon and steelhead hatcheries. This fall’s return of salmon to the Coleman Hatchery was shockingly low again, even with the second year of the salmon fishing closure in place. … ” Read more from the Daily Kos.
Press release: ICYMI: Rev. Jonathan Moseley: It’s Time to Address the Urgent Need for Water Equity with the Delta Conveyance Project
““In California, access to clean water is not only a growing concern—it is a crisis, especially for communities of color. This lack of access to safe, reliable drinking water is more than a matter of infrastructure; it’s a profound environmental injustice that continues to erode the health and livelihoods of millions of residents and California families. With our changing climate and extreme weather patterns growing worse by the year, we must take decisive action to protect water security for all Californians. One solution to shore up California’s water supply and address inequitable access to clean water is the Delta Conveyance Project, which would secure water for millions across the state. As California’s climate continues to warm and droughts become more frequent, this problem is only going to get worse, with many communities being denied access to the clean water they need. … ”
It’s unacceptable that thousands in California lack clean drinking water
Raoul Lowery Contreras is a Marine Corps veteran, political consultant, prolific author and host of the Contreras Report, writes, “The world views California as a leader in environmentalism and good living, but reports on the safety and availability of clean drinking water in the Golden State contradict that view. State health and water regulators recently announced that nearly a quarter of a million California residents lack safe drinking water in their homes. It is unacceptable that any residents of the sixth largest economy in the world can’t drink the water from their kitchen faucets, and even more so for low-income and less fortunate Californians who don’t have a choice in where or how they get their drinking water. For over a decade, Sacramento leaders have debated this problem — and millions of tax dollars have been spent on the issue — yet water safety and access challenges persist. Our communities must coordinate their power and push decisionmakers to find reasonable, balanced solutions to California’s water safety and access challenges. … ” Read more from the Times of San Diego.
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 this week …
After the Klamath River dams came down, salmon came back
“Three fish biologists were searching the shallows for shadows. On a chilly, late-October morning, this team, led by Mark Hereford of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, walked up a tributary of the Klamath River near the Oregon-California border. They were looking for fall chinook salmon that had returned from the ocean to spawn. The men’s boots splashed softly as they worked their way through knee-high water. Frost had turned golden streamside grasses silver, and low clouds shrouded distant conifers, but already the sun felt warm, promising a crisp, sunny day. In the creek, the dark, undulating forms of chinook were barely distinct from the rocks below, and they tended to hide under logs and hug streambanks. But before long, the biologists spotted one after another. “Holy smokes,” Hereford called from the creek’s south bank, laughing in amazement. … ” Read more from High Country News.
Decommissioning Looms: Potter Valley faces urgent water challenges
“The future of water security in Potter Valley took center stage at a November 14 town hall, where experts and community leaders outlined plans to adapt to life without year-round Eel River diversions. With PG&E’s decommissioning of the Potter Valley Project looming, discussions focused on potential groundwater storage, new infrastructure, and conservation measures—all aimed at ensuring local agriculture survives a drier summer reality. … Historically, Potter Valley and downstream users along the Russian River have depended on water from the Eel River, stored in Lake Pillsbury behind Scott Dam and in Van Arsdale Reservoir behind Cape Horn Dam. The water has been diverted through a tunnel into Potter Valley, where it flows into the East Branch of the Russian River, continues into Lake Mendocino, and ultimately serves users in Sonoma County. Locally, the diverted water has been critical for agricultural irrigation in Potter Valley. … ” Read more from the Mendocino Beacon.
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.
Accelerating permitting for floodplain forward and restoration in the Sacramento Valley
“There are significant efforts underway in the Sacramento Valley to restore habitat in harmony with farming and our local communities. This includes project portfolios like those of the Floodplain Forward Coalition, whose member organizations have planned projects with an estimated need approaching $1 billion for restoration actions benefiting over ½ million acres–the size of 2 Los Angeleses. This presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity and restoration practitioners and regulators must prepare to manage a growing volume of projects to make the most of this moment. We are excited to continue the progress to advance and scale up floodplain reactivation in the Sacramento Valley. The new report by Sustainable Conservation, Accelerating Restoration in the Sacramento Valley and Beyond, will help landowners, conservation organizations, and agencies accelerate the implementation of these fish and wildlife restoration actions by applying restoration-specific regulatory tools. … ” Read more from the Northern California Water Association.
Massive sewage leak has spilled 20 million gallons of waste into East Bay Marsh
“An underground wastewater leak that likely started weeks ago has spilled about 20 million gallons of sewage into a Contra Costa County marsh near the bank of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, officials said Tuesday. Staffers with the Delta Diablo Sanitation District had been looking for a leak after noticing reduced inflow into their treatment plant, but they weren’t able to visually identify the spillage until around 3:30 p.m. Monday. The leak, coming from a pipe that carries wastewater from a storage center along its Mouse Trap-like journey to the treatment plant, has deposited nearly 1 million gallons of waste into the nearby marsh between Port Chicago and Pittsburg every day since it started. … ” Read more from KQED.
CV-SALTS: Nitrate and Salt Control Programs end 2024 with significant progress
“As 2024 ends, the CV-SALTS program continues to make significant progress. The Nitrate Control Program Priority 1 Management Zones (MZs) remain focused on implementation, conducting outreach and offering free well-testing and bottled water delivery services. They are also working with local communities to solve the Central Valley’s long-term nitrate contamination challenges. Permittees in Priority 2 MZs have until February 26, 2025 to file their Notice of Intent with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board). In addition, Priority 2 MZs have released their draft Preliminary Management Zone Implementation Plans and are soliciting public feedback. As part of the Priority & Optimization Study, the Salt Control Program has been focused on developing an initial case study, known as Archetype #1, and has recently begun working to select the second area for Archetype #2. … ” Read more from the Central Valley Salinity Coalition.
$204 million awarded for Delta-Mendota Canal subsidence project
“Hundreds of millions of dollars are being allocated to help curtail subsidence in the Delta-Mendota Canal. The San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority announced Wednesday that the Delta-Mendota Canal Subsidence is receiving $204 million in federal funding. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being allocated to help curtail subsidence in the Delta-Mendota Canal. The San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority announced Wednesday that the Delta-Mendota Canal Subsidence is receiving $204 million in federal funding. … ” Read more from the San Joaquin Valley Sun.
Kern County desert groundwater battle may head to state Supreme Court
“A group of water users in Kern County’s Indian Wells Valley who disagree with how groundwater has been apportioned, won a legal skirmish last month in a court of appeal but the state Supreme Court may have the final word. The issue in the high desert basin is whether the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority is using an appropriate “safe yield” figure. Safe yield refers to how much water naturally accumulates in an aquifer each year in order to determine how much can safely be pumped out without putting the basin into overdraft. The groundwater authority has used a model showing the basin accumulates only about 7,650 acre feet of natural inflow each year but users pump out nearly 28,000 acre feet, creating a severe overdraft. In order to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) to bring the basin into balance, the authority severely restricted pumping for most users. The U.S. Navy, which operates the China Lake Naval Weapons Base in the basin, got the lion’s share of pumping. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Column: A forced marriage in Orange County’s Water World?
Columnist Teri Sforza writes, “How does saving more than $6 million a year sound? Like fiction if you’re Orange County’s water importer. And cool if you’re O.C.’s groundwater manager. Suffice to say things are a bit tense at the office. We often poke fun at the little government agency charged with making sure other little government agencies aren’t duplicative (there are 58 of them in California, so, yeah), and which are notoriously loath to recommend dissolving or combining other little governments (even where it makes obvious sense). Well, stop the presses! After decades of sharing a building and address and receptionist and general mission (water) but having completely separate budgets and staffs and boards of directors and M.O.s and general managers etc., the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission has dipped its wee toe into the icy waters of consolidation, saying it’s feasible to merge the county’s big groundwater manager (Orange County Water District) with the county’s not-so-big water importer (Municipal Water District of Orange County). … ” Read more from the OC Register (gift article).
RELATED: OCWD highlights benefits of OC LAFCO consolidation study, at Maven’s Notebook
