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On the calendar today …
- MEETING: CA Water Commission beginning at 9:30am. Agenda items include the 2025 Commission Workplan, Water Storage Investment Program update, Los Vaqueros Expansion Project update, 2024 Annual Review of the State Water Project, and and update on efforts to increase engagement in the Commission’s work. Click here for the agenda and remote access instructions.
- GRA SF BAY: Annual Water Board Update (Virtual) from 6pm to 7:30pm. Join the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Region 2) to stay informed on key topics, including Board News, Program Updates, Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), Sea Level and Groundwater Rise, Environmental Screening Levels, and Vapor Intrusion. Click here to register.
In California water news today …
$20 billion Delta tunnel plan wins endorsement from Silicon Valley’s largest water agency
“Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $20 billion plan to build a massive, 45-mile long tunnel under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to make it easier to move water from Northern California to Southern California won the endorsement of Silicon Valley’s largest water agency on Tuesday. By a vote of 6-1, with director Rebecca Eisenberg dissenting, the board of the Santa Clara Valley Water District approved spending $9.7 million for planning and geotechnical studies of the project, thus remaining as a partner. The district, a government agency based in San Jose, is expected to vote by 2027 on whether to provide $650 million in construction funding for the plan, which is one of California’s most long-running and controversial water issues. Supporters said Tuesday that the project, which would be overseen by the state Department of Water Resources and involve building a concrete pipe 36 feet wide to run roughly 150 feet under the marshes of the Delta, is key to improving Santa Clara County’s water reliability in the decades ahead. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
Valley Water District approves $9.69 million for Delta tunnel project planning
“On Jan. 14, 2025, the Valley Water District — formerly the Santa Clara County Water District — voted to fund an additional $9.69 million for planning and design work for the controversial Delta Conveyance Project (DCP). The vote follows the vote by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s vote on Dec. 11 to fund an additional $141.6 million for planning and design work for the Delta Tunnel. Valley Water District is one of 18 agencies participating in the proposed Delta Conveyance Project. The project is opposed by a large coalition of Tribes, fishing groups, conservation organizations, Delta residents, Delta counties and water districts, scientists and water ratepayers. … ” Read more from the Daily Kos.
SEE ALSO:
- DELTA COUNTIES COALITION responds to Santa Clara Valley Water District’s disappointing vote to fund harmful Delta tunnel conveyance project
- Santa Clara Valley Water Districts votes to support Delta tunnel project, from CBS Bay Area
California weather remains dry due to ‘rex block’: Here’s what it means
“A stubborn atmospheric blocking pattern, known as a rex block, is keeping California locked into a long dry spell, shunting storms away while periods of Santa Ana winds continue. Rex blocks are defined by high-pressure systems located north of a low-pressure system. On Wednesday, a large area of high pressure will continue to build over the Pacific Northwest while a dry low-pressure system pinches off over Southern California, a classic rex block. This is a favorable pattern for Santa Ana winds. Wednesday is expected to be the final push of the current Santa Ana wind event, with gusts of 40-60 mph mainly in Ventura County, strongest in the morning. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
How January’s dry weather could spell trouble for California’s water supply
“It’s been an exceptionally dry and warm January here in California and that could disrupt the water supply for the state this year unless the pattern changes. A group of retired weather and water officials walking around Lafayette Reservoir enjoyed the weather yet commiserated about it. “I think we have to be worried we could have a drought just like they are having the consequences of a terrible drought in the Los Angeles area,” said Stan McGovern, a retired general counsel with NOAA. If the snow survey on Jan. 2 was encouraging, no rain now for weeks means the statistics are dropping. … ” Read more from Channel 7.
Evaluating brackish water for drought contingency strategies
“As the effects of long-term drought raise concern for New Mexico’s agricultural producers, one New Mexico State University researcher has taken a deep dive into an underleveraged resource that could have profound changes in the industry. With an estimated 600 billion to 1.2 trillion cubic meters of brackish groundwater thought to be available in New Mexico, a sustainable use of this natural resource would help save freshwater supplies. Geno Picchioni, plant and environmental sciences professor emeritus in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, has lofty aspirations for brackish water, which is more saline than fresh water but less saline than true marine environments. “Use of brackish water on salt-tolerant crops is an important addition to drought contingency planning,” he said. … ” Read more from the Western Farm Press.
RAND Report: Learning from Crises to Build Urban Water Security: Lessons from Five Cities
“Reliable access to safe and affordable drinking water is a core service provided by city governments around the world. These services are critical to people’s health and well-being, local and regional economies, and environmental sustainability. As the climate changes, infrastructure ages, and populations grow, many cities are — or will be — facing serious threats to their ability to maintain or enhance the level of service that they can provide and ensure the long-term resilience of their water supplies. In this report, the authors examine the experiences of five cities — Cape Town, South Africa; Melbourne, Australia; São Paulo, Brazil; and Las Vegas, Nevada, and New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States — facing severe or catastrophic water supply risks to identify steps that could be taken ahead of time to mitigate those risks and build urban water security. These case studies represent a variety of national and demographic contexts. … ” Read more from RAND.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife to seek critical habitat status for Bay-Delta longfin smelt
“Federal officials this week will start the process of designating critical habitat for a distinct part of the longfin smelt population, a fish that last year received protections under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans on Wednesday to formally propose the designation of critical habitat for the San Francisco Bay-Delta longfin smelt — a fish that is is between 3.5- to over 4-inches long with a two- to three-year lifespan. Its population has declined mostly because of the loss of its habitat. The potential disappearance of the longfin smelt would affect other animals that rely on them as a food source, the service has said. “In total, approximately 91,630 acres … in California fall within the boundaries of the proposed critical habitat designation,” the service wrote in its proposal. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
SEE ALSO: PRESS RELEASE: Critical habitat proposed to protect longfin smelt in San Francisco Bay-Delta, from the Center for Biological Diversity
After wildfires, wet storms and burn scars join forces in elevating landslide risk
“The Feather River Canyon begins just outside of Quincy, California. This corridor is home to Highway 70, one of the few year-round arteries to the many mountain communities. It is known for fishing and notable whitewater rafting, as well as steep canyon walls. The holiday season brought a series of storms to this area as part of an atmospheric river, a long, narrow plume of moisture that can stretch for thousands of miles. Think of it as a rain storm that travels along the jet stream. These events not only bring increased rainfall and provide much-needed precipitation to the American West; they also bring increased risks of landslides, especially in areas affected by wildfires. Since the 2021 Dixie Fire, there have been nearly a dozen reported landslides that have closed Highway 70 along the Feather River Canyon. These slides have ranged from small to major, closing the highway from just a few hours to days or weeks at a time. The trifecta of wildfires, topography, and heavy rainfall work effectively to dislodge the exposed rock and dirt. … ” Read more from the Sierra Nevada Ally.
A national, nonpartisan study of the Los Angeles fires could improve planning for future disasters
“The Los Angeles fires are a national disaster of epic proportions. City officials, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and President-elect Donald Trump have traded accusations about what caused this crisis. But as an engineering professor who lives in Los Angeles and has studied extreme events and natural and human-caused disasters for over 40 years, I believe an event with so many lives lost and damages estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars demands a more substantive response. … I have served as a member or adviser to national- and state-level investigations of events including gas leaks, oil spills, nuclear reactor accidents, refinery explosions and, most recently, aviation mishaps. In my view, the Los Angeles fires call for a similar investigation that is technically sound, multidisciplinary, unbiased, apolitical and independent. U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff of California has called for convening such a review. … ” Read more from The Conversation.
SoCal wildfires …
‘Literally off the charts’: LA’s critically dry conditions stun scientists as fires rage
“As much of Los Angeles smolders, wind warnings return and fire crews stand guard, scientists say almost unprecedented climatic conditions throughout Southern California led up to the disaster. Last summer was one of the hottest on record, and the extreme swings between wet and dry conditions over the past two years has been unusually severe. Two rainy winters — which promoted heavy growth of brush — have been followed by near-zero rainfall for the past eight months and counting. This pattern of weather whiplash, likely exacerbated by climate change, hasn’t been seen in Southern California since 1992-1993, and before that, 1907-1908. “We find only three instances where an anomalously dry start to the wet season follows back-to-back wet water years,” a team of UCLA researchers wrote in a report released on Monday. Soil moisture levels across much of the region from Santa Barbara to San Diego hover between just 2% and 5% of average — leaving dust where there should be mud. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
Firefighters need better weather to fight California’s flames. When will they get relief?
“Fire danger remains high in parts of Los Angeles that have been ablaze for days, but there is hope that better weather over the weekend will give firefighters battling the flames some much-needed relief. After calmer weather on Tuesday helped firefighters snuff out fires, a rare warning of a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” was issued for Wednesday in an area near the two fires that killed at least 25 people and destroyed thousands of homes. A red flag warning was issued by the National Weather Service from Central Coast to the border with Mexico from 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. Forecasts suggest that conditions for firefighting will improve later in the week. … ” Read more from Channel 4.
SEE ALSO: Strong winds bring threat of new fire and destruction to Los Angeles, from the Washington Post
Here are the toxic threats that emerge after an urban wildfire
“As people in Los Angeles return to their devastated neighborhoods, now marked with burn scars and ruins, toxic hazards will persist long after the fires have been put out and the smoke has settled. Since last Tuesday, more than 40,000 acres have burned in five different fires, killing at least 24. The blazes have reduced homes, cars and power lines to ash, releasing toxic chemicals into the air that will eventually settle onto the soil. “There definitely is a large possibility that you will have lingering health effects from these wildfire smoke events,” said Jesse Berman, an associate professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Minnesota’s school of public health. … ” Read more from the Washington Post.
What threats lurk in the smoke and ash of L.A.-area fires? New health warnings
“As Santa Ana wind conditions continue to stoke fears of resurgent wildfires across Los Angeles County, health officials are warning of yet another wind-borne threat: ash and dust from active fire zones and burn scars. On Tuesday, the county Department of Public Health issued a windblown dust and ash advisory until 7 p.m. Wednesday. During this time, ash may be dispersed from the Palisades and Eaton fire areas, as well as from the Hurst, Kenneth, Line, Airport and Bridge fire burn scars, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. “Windblown ash particles may be too large to be detected by air quality instrumentation and will not influence Air Quality Index levels,” the advisory stated. “However, ash particles are typically visible to the naked eye either in the air or on outdoor surfaces.” … ” Read more from the LA Times.
What do the deadly Los Angeles fires mean for the city’s wildlife?
“People weren’t the only ones fleeing fast-moving flames and hot embers as deadly wildfires burned down entire neighborhoods in Los Angeles beginning on Tuesday night and ongoing as of publication. Footage from NBC LA showed a fawn with singed fur running down the middle of a deserted street in Altadena with no doe in sight as the Eaton Fire burned. Later that night, camera crews from ABC 7 spotted a mountain lion and two cubs running across Topanga Canyon Boulevard away from the Palisades Fire.The fires, which were still blazing as of Friday, have killed at least 10 people and destroyed at least 10,000 structures throughout greater Los Angeles. High Country News talked with Miguel Ordeñana, a wildlife biologist and environmental educator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, about the compounding threats wildlife fleeing wildfires face, and what people can do to help. Bobcats, cougars, coyotes, birds, bats and more all live in the region. Slow-moving creatures like snails and salamanders, wildlife that require specific habitats, nocturnal critters forced to move during the daytime, and animals with young are some of the most vulnerable. “I think a lot of people don’t think about our neighborhoods as ecosystems and habitats, but here, they really are,” Ordeñana said. … ” Read more from High Country News.
In-depth Analysis of California Water Challenges Amid LA Fires | Brett Barbre
Amid the ongoing Los Angeles fires, critical water management issues and infrastructure gaps are exposed. We sit down with water expert Brett Barbre as he examines California’s water crisis, explores policy impacts, and offers strategies for improving water security and firefighting infrastructure.
L.A. City Council seeks transparency on empty reservoir, dry fire hydrants
“The Los Angeles City Council member representing the Westside, including much of the area decimated by the Palisades fire, called on the city’s water utility Tuesday to explain why firefighters ran out of water early in last week’s epic firefight and why a key reservoir was offline. Councilmember Traci Park proposed that the L.A. Department of Water and Power present “its root cause analysis of the water pressure challenges that resulted in lower water pressure and dry hydrants” in some areas of Pacific Palisades, as well as recommendations for addressing the issues. In the same motion, Park urged the council to ask the utility to explain why the Santa Ynez Reservoir in Pacific Palisades has been out of commission for months. In a unanimous vote, the council approved the measure. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Contaminated drinking water is a growing concern for cities facing wildfires
“As fires continue to burn across Los Angeles, several utilities have declared their drinking water unsafe until extensive testing can prove otherwise. A warmer, drier climate means wildfires are getting worse, and encroaching on cities – with devastating impact. Toxic chemicals from those burns can get into damaged drinking water systems, and even filtering or boiling won’t help, experts say. Last week, Pasadena Water and Power issued a “Do Not Drink” notice to about a third of its customers for the first time since it began distributing water more than a century ago. With at least one burned pump, several damaged storage tanks, and burned homes, they knew there was a chance toxic chemicals had entered their pipes. “Out of the abundance of caution, you kind of have to assume the worst,” said Stacie Takeguchi, chief assistant general manager for the utility. … ” Read more from Channel 7.
FOR SPECIFIC INFORMATION: The LAist has a helpful list of advisories – what’s in effect and what they mean
An even bigger threat is looming behind California’s fires
“Fires in and around Los Angeles continue to rage as gusting Santa Ana winds drive the flames through brush and into neighborhoods. Two major blazes, the Eaton Fire and the Palisades Fire, have combined burned almost 40,000 acres since last week. Another fire, the Auto Fire, erupted Monday evening in Ventura County. The fires have killed at least 24 people. The extraordinary scale and speed of the blazes have overwhelmed responders, even in a region with a long history of fighting wildfires. That was evident last week as firefighters worked to contain the Palisades Fire when they found that some of the fire hydrants in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood ran dry. The Los Angeles Times reported that the 114 water tanks that supply the city’s water were full before the fires ignited. But when the blazes ignited, firefighters were using so much water for so long, faster than the tanks could refill. That made it hard to keep the water flowing, particularly at higher elevations. … ” Read more from Vox.
Yes, wildfires have always happened in California, but climate change is making them worse
“As the narrative of the Southern California wildfires has shifted to identifying the causes behind what could prove to be the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, a common refrain has emerged on social media that seeks to dismiss the role scientists say climate change played. “California has forest fires every year,” a commenter wrote in response to a Yahoo News story on distinguishing the singular cause of a fire from its underlying aspects. “To say California has always had wildfires, that they’ve always had extreme events, is a classic form of climate denial,” Peter Gleick, a climate scientist and the co-founder of the Pacific Institute, told Yahoo News. “For years, those of us in the climate community have heard, ‘The climate has always changed. We’ve always had floods, droughts and heat waves.’ And that’s just totally disingenuous. Of course we’ve had those things. The question is whether climate change is making those things worse, and the answer is yes.” … ” Read more from Yahoo News.
Palisades Fire: DWP sued over water availability
“A group of survivors of the Palisades Fire are suing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power over water delivery problems they claim hampered firefighters in battling the deadly blaze. “The water supply system servicing Pacific Palisades failed miserably, leaving residents and firefighters with little to no water to fight the blaze,” said Roger Behle, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, whose own family lost their home during a 2020 wildfire. His clients brought the suit Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The Santa Ynez Reservoir, a 117-million-gallon water storage complex that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system, had been empty for nearly a year, according to Behle. … ” Read more from Channel 11.
WATER, FIRE, AND POLITICS
- ‘Outrageous’: Democrats condemn threats to condition California wildfire aid, teeing up showdown, from the San Francisco Chronicle
- Water Misinformation – California’s Wildfires, from the California Farm Water Coalition
- Pistachio moguls and reservoirs: False water claims spread about California fires, from NPR
- Column: As fires rage, so do rumors and agendas, from Anita Chabria at the LA Times
- Debunking 5 claims about the California wildfires, from ABC 7
In commentary today …
Dan Walters: Disaster-prone California should adopt a preventive approach, rather than a reactive one
“As horrific as they may be, the wildfires sweeping through Los Angeles neighborhoods, destroying homes and businesses and killing dozens of people, are certainly not unprecedented. Rather, they join a California continuum of natural and human-caused disasters that have afflicted the state throughout its history — fires most recently, but also earthquakes, floods, dam collapses and deadly riots. It’s as if Californians must endure periodic calamities as the cosmic cost of enjoying unmatched attributes of weather, scenic beauty, mineral wealth and enormous amounts of arable land. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
California needs federal help after Los Angeles fires. Why is Congress so slow to act?
David Lightman, McClatchy’s chief congressional correspondent, writes, “Just before Christmas, Congress approved billions of dollars in relief funds to help victims of devastating wildfires in Maui and Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the Southeast. Congress was acting a year and a half after the Hawaii disaster, and two months after Western North Carolina and other areas were devastated. Now lawmakers are expected to try to help those affected by the still-developing Los Angeles area wildfires. While some federal emergency relief funds will come to victims quickly, additional money to rebuild infrastructure, homes and businesses is likely to flow much more slowly. “It’s unpredictable how long it will take,” said Sarah Labowitz, nonresident scholar in the sustainability, climate and geopolitics program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. That’s because disaster rebuilding efforts invariably get tied up in politics. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
The fiery and icy weather of the West and East Coasts is no coincidence
Shih-Yu Simon Wang, professor of climate science at Utah State University, writes, “The Hollywood sign stands sentinel above Los Angeles, watching as embers dance through the January night like wayward stars. Glowing debris floats on warm winds past million-dollar mansions, while emergency crews battle a blaze that shouldn’t exist — not in winter, not here, not now. Two thousand miles east, in the heartland of America, a different sort of emergency unfolds. The mercury plummets to depths not seen in a decade. Wind chills reach 40 below. Airlines ground flights by the hundreds. Roads become treacherous ribbons of ice. People huddle in warming centers, while the polar wind howls outside like a hungry ghost. Fire and ice. A nation split in two. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
$11.5 million now available for eligible Klamath Basin forest and watershed restoration projects
“The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today announced that they are seeking applicants to submit proposals to support voluntary fish and wildlife conservation, restoration, and monitoring projects across the Klamath Basin in Oregon and California. A total of $11.5 million in conservation funding is available, provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service (USFS), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). NFWF is administering the grant program. NFWF has been active in voluntary habitat restoration activities throughout the Klamath River Basin for over 30 years, awarding federal, state, and private funds to help voluntarily stabilize and increase the populations of native fish throughout the Klamath Basin. Funding in 2025 will be made available across the Klamath Basin from headwater forests to the river’s mouth. … ” Read more from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Yurok Tribe lays 11,500 pounds of native plant seeds along free-flowing Klamath River
“The Yurok Fisheries Department has completed a major milestone in the restoration of the Klamath River ecosystem. Following the removal of dams along a 38-mile stretch of the river, the department’s Revegetation crew recently hand-sowed 11,500 pounds of native plant seeds between the former Iron Gate Dam and JC Boyle Reservoir. The seeds included a diverse mix of native grasses, herbs, and forbs that historically thrived in the area. As part of this ambitious restoration project, the crew will plant 21,000 white oak acorns and 108,000 native trees and shrubs in the coming months. Since the project began, the team has planted approximately 76,000 trees, shrubs, and grass plugs, 28,000 acorns, and 4,200 milkweed starts. Wildflowers, pine saplings, and baby oaks are already thriving in the post-dam environment. … ” Read more from Active NorCal.
State Water Board readopts drought flows for Siskiyou

“Even though hydrologic conditions point to a more positive water outlook for the Scott River and Shasta River in Siskiyou County, state water officials last week readopted drought emergency regulations that curtail water rights in the region, affecting farmers and ranchers. At its Jan. 7 meeting, the California State Water Resources Control Board readopted an emergency drought regulation that took effect in 2021 after Gov. Gavin Newsom first issued a drought state of emergency. Readopted for the Scott River and Shasta River watersheds every year since, the order limits surface-water diversions and groundwater pumping. It also prioritizes minimum instream flow recommendations from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to protect threatened salmon and steelhead trout. … ” Continue reading from Ag Alert.
Environmentalists ask feds to declare Goose Lake fish species endangered
“To try to save three declining fish species that live in a lake straddling the Oregon-California border, an environmental group filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday asking the agency to declare the fish endangered. According to the Center for Biological Diversity in its petition, the Goose Lake sucker, the Goose Lake lamprey and the Goose Lake tui chub are at risk of extinction because of the tripartite threat of agriculture, livestock grazing and climate change. “These remarkable Goose Lake fish have adapted to a challenging environment and periodic droughts, but without protections they can’t survive the ravages of climate change, cattle grazing, and irrigation pumps,” said Jeff Miller, a senior conservation advocate at the center, in a statement. “With increasing competition for water from livestock and agriculture, Endangered Species Act protections are critical to making sure these native Goose Lake fish survive.” … ” Read more from Courthouse News.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Lawsuit aims to stop largest-ever fire prevention project on Plumas Nat. Forest
“The topic of wildfires and forest management is front and center amid the destructive wildfires in Southern California. A Plumas County environmental group has filed a lawsuit, demanding more study before this largest-ever forest management project moves forward in the Plumas National Forest. The Community Protection Project (CPP) is a $650 million, 200,000-acre project to protect communities in the Plumas National Forest that have not burned in the last 5-7 years. The forest service plans to use prescribed burns, forest thinning, and herbicides as part of the massive fuel reduction project. It’s designed to protect communities in Plumas and Butte Counties from future wildfires. … ” Read more from Action News Now.
What lies beneath: Can we keep Lake Tahoe’s aquatic invaders at bay?
“Aquatic invasive species (AIS) have been making trouble for Lake Tahoe’s ecosystem ever since people started sticking them in there in the mid-1800s. Invasives crowd out native plants, starve out or prey upon native animals, and kick off disastrous ecological cascades. Increasingly, limnologists are finding alliances like that of clam and algae—in which aquatic invasive species create conditions that help other undesirables spread. They’re aided by a third accomplice: climate change. Warmer waters are worse for native species, and better for invasives and potentially harmful algae. At Lake Tahoe, native fish stocks have declined, toxic algae alerts have closed down beaches, and the celebrated waters are about 30 percent murkier than they were 50 years ago. The lake’s ecosystems, along with its multibillion-dollar tourism industry, rely on clear, clean, cool water. Tahoe—jewel of the Sierra, sacred space of the Washoe Tribe, and destination for nearly six million vacationers each year (including about a million from the Bay Area alone)—is at risk. Now, what was already one of the best-funded lakes in the West is getting an extra $17 million to fight its aquatic invaders, from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), via the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. … ” Read more from Bay-Nature.
UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center researchers advance methane emission modeling techniques for freshwater reservoirs
“Researchers at the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) and Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE) have advanced greenhouse gas (GHG) emission research by advancing existing modeling techniques to enhance understanding of methane emissions from inland freshwater lakes and reservoirs, specifically focusing on the substrate (sediment) type and variability in space and time. This pioneering study, executed in collaboration with Valley Water of Santa Clara County and researchers at the University of Granada (Spain), integrates hydroacoustic measurements with sediment sampling and gas analysis to assess methane generation and release from freshwater lakes and reservoirs more accurately. By adapting older acoustic techniques to account for varying substrate types and conditions, the TERC team has significantly improved our understanding of how to quantify methane emissions from inland waterbodies, contributing vital insights to climate change mitigation efforts. Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is generated by natural processes in the sediments of reservoirs and lakes in no-to-low-oxygen environments, which usually occur in the warmer spring-fall months. … ” Read more from the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Water supply agreement to create more reliability for landowners in the Sacramento River watershed
“The Sacramento River Settlement Contractors (SRSC) this week joined the Bureau of Reclamation to sign an agreement for a Drought Protection Program (DPP) for the Sacramento River. The DPP contains a series of investments that will lead to improved water supply reliability in future years to benefit our farms, communities, economy, and the environment. The DPP is independent but related to the new plan for the Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and Delta facilities of the State Water Project adopted in December, presenting a path forward with more predictable actions for endangered fish species and a more reliable Central Valley Project response to multi-year droughts. The revised operating plan will improve regulatory certainty for water users and provide a more stable water supply for communities, farms, and fish. … ” Read more from the Northern California Water Association.
BAY AREA
Restoration project builds climate resilience in the San Francisco Bay
“A patchwork of salt evaporation ponds lines the South San Francisco Bay in vibrant greens, oranges, and blues, depending on the organisms that thrive at different salinity levels. The ponds, originally used for salt production, are now a focal point of the largest tidal wetland restoration on the West Coast. The ambitious South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project will eventually transform 15,100 acres of industrial salt ponds back into tidal marshes and other wetlands, while adding recreation areas and providing flood risk management. A group of government agencies, municipalities, and researchers are partners in the effort, including the California State Coastal Conservancy, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Coordination is important with so many experts involved and a project scope roughly the size of Manhattan. Geography serves as their common language. … ” Read more from ESRI.
CENTRAL COAST
As climate ‘whiplash’ worsens, post-CZU soil erosion in the Santa Cruz Mountains reveals post-wildfire problems
“As a torrent of mud, timber and boulders roared through Foreman Creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains on Dec. 13, 2021, video later posted to YouTube by county officials showed an avalanche of debris narrowly missing the deck on one resident’s property. While it was triggered by heavy rainfall, the terrifying debris flow was a delayed result of the CZU Lightning Complex fires, which had destroyed almost 1,500 buildings in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties just a year earlier. The flames, which came within a quarter mile of the creekside home, stripped away the trees and other vegetation that once held the soil in place, leaving an unstable landscape exposed to the relentless force of water. As residents of Los Angeles sift through wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes in January, what happened in the Santa Cruz Mountains provides a stark example of the lasting hazards posed by climate “whiplash” — drastic swings between extremes of wet and dry weather that are becoming more severe as the world warms. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
How full are Santa Barbara’s water reservoirs?
“Sparse winter rains have contributed to the devastating fires in Los Angeles, where this winter’s rainfall has measured in the tenths of inches. Locally, since September, about a third of an inch of rain has fallen at Gibraltar Reservoir, which is the third driest start to the rain year in the past 100 years, said Shawn Johnson, a hydrologist with the County of Santa Barbara. But a moderate to severe drought is prevailing across Southern California. The heavy rainfall during the past two years has moderated the effects somewhat — the creeks are still running, for example — but the effect on vegetation has brought moisture levels locally to near-critical levels. This raises concerns in Santa Barbara about the ability to fight a wildfire during such dry conditions and whether the fire hydrants would continue to deliver water, an ability rumored to have been lost in the Pacific Palisades at the height of the current firefight. … ” Read more from the Santa Barbara Independent.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Drought conditions across California raises concerns for Central Valley agriculture
“As dry weather continues to grip California, concerns are mounting over its potential impact on the Central Valley’s agricultural economy. Experts warn that prolonged drought conditions could lead to significant economic repercussions. Brad Rubin, sector manager at Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute, said, “There are so many inputs that go into farming that when one input gets fairly expensive, farmers are looking to be potentially more efficient.” The dry spell follows a moisture-lacking December, prompting drought concerns across the state. Rubin emphasized that the relationship between rainfall and market prices is complex. … ” Read more from Bakersfield Now.
Commentary: CEMEX wants to blast a 600-foot deep pit along San Joaquin River. We must stop them
Columnist Marek Warszawski writes, “The biggest threat to Fresno’s greatest natural resource is ready to strike. If community members don’t rally to the occasion and stop this predator in its tracks, a multinational mining corporation will gain permission to pillage and plunder the San Joaquin River for another 100 years. With license to employ methods that cause more environmental damage than those used for the last century. … ” Read more from the Fresno Bee.
Kaweah farms find balance under SGMA
“Blake Wilbur, whose family has farmed in Tulare County for four generations, grew up hearing stories of his grandfather’s artesian wells, the water bubbling to the surface without being pumped and irrigating the family’s cotton, wheat and barley. “It almost sounds mythical at this point,” said Wilbur, who runs a dairy and grows almonds, pistachios and forage crops. Decades of groundwater pumping in the San Joaquin Valley enabled agriculture to flourish—providing nearly half of irrigation water—but depleted the region’s aquifers. As the water table fell, shallow residential wells dried up, the ground sunk, damaging infrastructure, and farmers installed deeper wells and more expensive pumps to reach the depleted supply. “We have to do something,” Wilbur said. … ” Read more from Ag Alert.
On the Record: Aaron Fukuda talks SGMA in the Kaweah Subbasin
“Aaron Fukuda is general manager of the Tulare Irrigation District and interim general manager of the Mid-Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency. Fukuda spoke with Ag Alert® last month at the irrigation district office in Tulare and during a tour of farms and water projects in the Kaweah Subbasin. The below conversation was edited for length and clarity. Can you give an overview of agriculture in the Kaweah Subbasin?This area used to grow mostly cotton and other field crops. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, we went away from cotton and went into dairying and tree crops. Now, we’re largely a dairy industry. Intermixed in there are lots of almonds, pistachios and walnuts, and citrus on the east side. … ” Continue reading from Ag Alert.
Water district wants to increase transparency and public participation
“Kings County Water District board members hope to boost public participation at their monthly meetings by moving the start time back one hour. It will now meet at 2 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month. “I just think that transparency of the public is very important,” board member Paul Gillum said during the Jan. 9 meeting. “I think it’s important for the public to show up.” The board will open the meeting asking if the public has any comment on its listed closed session items, which typically can only include personnel matters, potential purchase of property or litigation, per California’s open meetings law. Then it will go into closed session and reopen the public portion of the meeting at least 30 minutes later. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Long stretch of Laguna Beach closed after 465,000-gallon sewage spill
“The coastal waters off Laguna Beach between Treasure Island and Table Rock at Aliso Beach have been closed due to a sewage spill, Orange County health authorities confirmed Tuesday evening. Roughly 465,000 gallons of sewage spilled due to a break in a main sewer line near Laguna Niguel Regional Park, the Orange County Health Care Agency and the Environmental Health Services said. An undetermined portion of that sewage seeped into nearby beaches. Although the sewer line breach has since been patched, area beaches remained closed to activities that include swimming, surfing and diving. The waters will remain closed until conditions improve, according to Orange County officials. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
SEE ALSO: Sewage spill forces beach closures in Orange County, from the LAist
IMPERIAL/COACHELLA VALLEYS
Coachella Valley Water District secures $39 million grant for plant expansion blending recycled and canal water for irrigation
“The Coachella Valley Water District has secured a $39 million federal grant to expand the Thermal Wastewater Treatment Plant. The funds will support Phase 1 of a multi-year project that will allow the plant to provide a blend of recycled and canal water for crop irrigation and various landscapes in the eastern Coachella Valley. This will be the first CVWD treatment plant to offer this type of blended water supply to irrigation customers. The grant, from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, is crucial to the District’s commitment to the long-term preservation of the Lower Colorado River Basin as a reliable water resource for the community. The initial phase of this project will conserve 33,600 acre-feet of Colorado River water over 30 years, contributing to the stability of Lake Mead. … ” Read more from the Coachella Valley Water District.
SAN DIEGO
Federal environmental public health agency to investigate Tijuana River sewer gas impacts
“A federal environmental public health agency said it will investigate the potential harm caused by exposure to hydrogen sulfide in the air near the sewage-tainted Tijuana River and issue recommendations to protect the public, if warranted. Following a preliminary review of available data for chemical contaminants in the air, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) determined a public health assessment was necessary. The decision is a contrast to last week’s announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency that it would not move forward with a petition from local elected officials for a potential Superfund designation because data that it reviewed from 6-7 years ago did not meet its threshold for danger. And it declined to gather fresh data, saying it would be too costly and that other efforts to improve wastewater treatment infrastructure were underway. … ” Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Along the Colorado River …
The Rocky Mountains have gotten near-average snow this year. So, why are forecasts for Lake Powell inflows so low?
“Snowpack levels across the Upper Colorado River Basin are close to average for this time of year, but forecasters say that might not translate to a comfortable year for the Colorado River. The amount of snow in the Upper Basin states — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — doesn’t only determine ski conditions. In the spring, that snowpack will melt into the Colorado River and eventually spill into Lake Powell and Lake Mead, affecting the water supply for 40 million people across the West. Cody Moser, senior hydrologist at the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center, said last week that “areas with better soil moisture conditions and better snowpack conditions are the areas where the forecasts are more favorable.” … ” Read more from the Salt Lake Tribune.
In national water news today …
PFAS in sludge spread on farmland poses health risks, EPA report says
“US regulators on Tuesday added to growing concerns about the long-standing practice of using sewage sludge to fertilize farmland, releasing a report warning that chemicals contaminating the sludge pose heightened human health risks for cancer and other illnesses. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said two types of hazardous per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) widely found in sewage sludge, a byproduct of wastewater treatment, can contaminate the milk, eggs and meat that come from farm animals raised on agricultural land where the sludge has been applied. Those “exposure pathways” are among multiple ways in which people can be at risk, the EPA said. … ” Read more from The New Lede.
SEE ALSO: In a First, the E.P.A. Warns of ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Sludge Fertilizer, from the New York Times
Supreme Court environment cases to watch in 2025
“As Donald Trump gets ready to return to the White House, the nation’s highest bench is eyeing high-profile environmental questions that — once the conservative-dominated Supreme Court answers them — may boost the president-elect’s policy agenda. Over the next six months, the justices will have the opportunity to limit the environmental impacts federal regulators can consider when approving projects, order EPA to get more specific about water permitting requirements and inhibit the power of Congress to delegate power to executive agencies. “The conservative Supreme Court supermajority has been cutting back on executive power,” said Holly Doremus, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, during a recent panel discussion hosted by the Environmental Law Institute. … ” Read more from E&E News.