WEEKLY WATER NEWS DIGEST for Jan. 12-17: Valley Water votes to fund planning costs for Delta tunnel; State officials disappointed over collapse of Los Vaqueros expansion project; Municipal water systems aren’t designed to fight wildfires, but maybe they should be; and more …

A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …

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In California water news this week …

$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.

DWR: Validation action filed regarding financing of approved Delta Conveyance Project

“The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) filed a “validation action” with the Sacramento County Superior Court regarding DWR’s authority to, among other things, issue revenue bonds to finance the planning, design, construction and other capital costs of Delta conveyance facilities, such as the Delta Conveyance Project DWR approved in December 2023. Although DWR has existing legal authority to finance and construct the proposed project under the Central Valley Project Act, a validation action is necessary to provide the requisite assurance to the financial community for the sale of revenue bonds.  DWR is pursuing this path in parallel with its appeal of the decision issued in its previous validation action to explore all possible paths to resolve the validation question with expediency. … ”  Read more from DWR.

WATER BLUEPRINT FOR SJV VALLEY: Protecting smelt over people: Delta pumping curtailments hurt California communities

An aerial view of the Harvey O. Banks Delta Pumping Plant, located in Alameda County, which lifts water into the California Aqueduct. Photo by DWR.

“The Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley calls on state and federal leaders to avoid water supply cuts that provide uncertain short-term benefits in favor of a long-term solution for the endangered delta smelt.  State Water Project 2025 allocations are currently at just 15%. Despite above average reservoir levels, an exceptionally dry January and no promise of wetter conditions in the coming months is a reminder that drought is always on the horizon.  State and federal water regulators are now requiring that export pumping be reduced, and an estimated 12,000-20,000 acre-feet of water will be lost over the next 3-4 days to protect the endangered delta smelt, predominantly as a result of high winds in the Delta. The regulations will affect most water users in California by reducing available water supplies in the short term but are likely to provide no long-term benefit to the species at the same time that water could be used for other purposes, such as providing additional resiliency for critical water supplies used to fight wildfires in Southern California or balancing water supply in regions that supply our nation’s food. … ”  Read more from the Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley.

DWR NEWS: State Water Project operations: New framework already benefiting California’s water supply

“In December 2024, a new framework took effect to minimize harm to endangered species from the operation of California’s two biggest water projects. The framework, developed by federal fishery agencies and called a “biological opinion,” replaces a framework that had been in place since 2019.  How It Helps the State Water Project: The new science and additional flexibility that underpin the revised framework allow water project operators to respond more nimbly to real-time conditions in California rivers and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where rivers drain to San Francisco Bay. Farms and cities have the potential to gain additional water supply, while endangered species are protected.  Why It Matters: The State Water Project, a network of reservoirs and pumping plants, provides some or all of the water used by 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland. Since the new biological opinion went into effect on December 19, the State Water Project – a major source of Southern California water supply – already has gained 12,500 acre-feet of additional water supply beyond what would have been possible under the 2019 framework. The additional supply is approximately enough water to meet the needs of 37,500 households for a year. … ”  Read more from DWR News.

GOVERNOR NEWSOM: California pumping more water now than under Trump Administration

A drone provides a view of water pumped from the Harvey O. Banks Delta Pumping Plant into the California Aqueduct.  Ken James / DWR

” California has worked with the federal government to manage water delivery and increase the amount of water flowing to our farmers and southern regions  – even when federal and state law require pumps to be slowed down.  Despite recent misinformation, California is delivering more water to farmers and Southern regions of the state than under the Trump Administration. Thanks to strategic negotiations with the Biden administration, California has worked with the federal government to manage water delivery and increase the amount of water flowing to farmers and southern regions  – even when federal and state law require pumps to be slowed down. Regardless, these water flows have zero impact on the ability of first responders to address the fires in Southern California.  Under the Trump administration’s 2019 biological opinions, which help safeguard and protect species such as the Delta smelt, the state was required to hold back on pumping in even larger quantities as compared to the current policies under the Biden administration. This is because the Trump administration’s biological opinions used outdated methods, blocking the transport of water in greater quantities and for longer periods of time, rather than allowing local water managers to temporarily slow water transport based on current water conditions. … ”  Continue reading from Governor Newsom.

‘We shouldn’t have been blindsided’: State officials disappointed over collapse of $1.5 billion plan to expand Los Vaqueros Reservoir

“The collapse of a $1.5 billion plan to enlarge Los Vaqueros Reservoir in Contra Costa County and share the water with residents across the Bay Area is a disappointing setback for the state’s efforts to expand water storage, and should be studied to reduce the chances of it happening again with other projects, state water officials said Wednesday.  At a meeting in Sacramento, several members of the California Water Commission, a state agency which had promised the project $477 million in state bond funding in 2018, said Contra Costa Water District leaders should have kept them better informed when negotiations between Bay Area water agencies on costs and risks began to unravel this summer.  “I’ve been doing difficult projects in this state for 30 years,” said water commission board member Alex Makler, an executive vice president with Calpine Corporation in Walnut Creek. “And I will tell you every project dies a thousand deaths. The question is whether or not you make it fatal. And what you guys did in withdrawing from this program is you’ve taken a project out that this state has invested about a decade of valuable time and money to support.” … ”  Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.

Efforts to preserve California’s groundwater enter a new phase: a season of judgement

“The first decade of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act has been one changing seasons as farmers, engineers, lawyers, bureaucrats and environmental experts grapple with ways to stop the pumping away of the state’s groundwater.  The first season of the process, intended to preserve a resource that provides between 40 to 60 percent of California’s water supply each year, saw the painstaking work to define groundwater basin boundaries and create local agencies. This was followed by a season during which these agencies, their members and their engineering consultants wrote first-of-their-kind plans for managing their stressed resource. These were submitted to the state.  Now the season of judgment has arrived. Agencies with stressed groundwater basins have had several chances to establish adequate controls. The state’s Department of Water Resources decides whether the plans are likely to succeed – “complete” – or remain “incomplete” or worse, “inadequate.” … ”  Read more from … & the West.

Kern groundwater agency bans pumping along sinking California Aqueduct

With a view in Kern County, the 444-mile-long California Aqueduct transports water throughout California.

“A groundwater agency on the western fringes of Kern County has taken the unprecedented step of banning all pumping from wells along the California Aqueduct for a 30-mile stretch.  The move is mainly designed to protect the vital artery that moves hundreds of millions of gallons of water a day from northern to southern California and is threatened by sinking land that could crimp its ability to function.  The ban is also intended to prove whether groundwater pumping is the true culprit.  “We don’t believe the subsidence is due to groundwater pumping,”  said Mark Gilkey, general manager of the Westside District Water Authority. “But we don’t have the data to back that up. This was one of the ways we could prove groundwater pumping wasn’t the problem and safeguard the aqueduct, which is where we get all our water deliveries.” … ”  Read more from SJV Water.

Arrowhead water bottler seeks injunction after Forest Service denies pipeline permit

“The bottler of Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water on Monday asked a federal judge to issue an injunction against the U.S. Forest Service after the agency refused to renew its permit for a pipeline that runs through the San Bernardino National Forest.  U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal didn’t make a ruling on BlueTritonBrands’ request at the hearing in Riverside, California. The judge indicated he’ll issue a decision in a few days.  The company, a former subsidiary of Nestlé and since last year part of Primo Brands, claims its rights to the water that percolates to the surface at Arrowhead Springs in Strawberry Canyon predate the creation of the San Bernardino National Forest in 1893. However, this past July the Forest Service ordered BlueTriton to dismantle the pipeline that it has used for decades to transport water from the springs. … ”  Read more from the Courthouse News Service.

California rice fields offer threatened migratory waterbirds a lifeline

Birds in flooded rice fields in Yuba County. Photo by DWR

“On a misty December morning, a few dozen sandhill cranes stood in shallow water in the middle of a flooded rice field in the Sacramento Valley, about 90 miles north of San Francisco. The cranes, statuesque wading birds with a long, elegant neck and broad wings, appeared remarkably still for a gregarious species known for their dramatic dance moves.  Sandhill cranes jump several feet in the air as they kick their lanky legs helter-skelter, bow their heads and flap wings that span six to seven feet in a spectacular display associated with courtship and bonding between mated pairs. But the birds in the middle of the field did not even move. They were decoys, made of plastic. Still, they fooled one ecologist, from a distance at least.  More importantly, the decoys, aided by recordings of the crane’s otherworldly squawks—described by legendary conservationist Aldo Leopold as the “trumpet in the orchestra of evolution”—attracted a few flesh-and-blood birds to their side. It was a good sign for ecologists working to create new roost sites for species that need every inch of habitat they can get. … ”  Read more from Inside Climate News.

NOTEBOOK FEATURE: Fire and water: How cultural burns boost streamflows

“On a mild November day in California’s Sacramento Valley, Diana Almendariz ignites a clump of dry grass in a grove of cottonwoods. Landin Noland, wearing a thick, protective shirt with flames running down the sleeves, expertly wields a long-handled tool to spread the fire. Within minutes, a bright orange line dances and crackles all along one side of the grove.  As the line advances toward the other side, fireholders surround the grove, alert for any stray embers that need extinguishing. The crew knows the wind will pick up later but for now the air is still, and the fire stays right where they want it. Soon the air ripples with heat, and a dense plume of smoke shoots so high it temporarily obscures the sun.  Then, as swiftly as the flames sprang to life, they die back to a smoldering, charred mass under the trees. The cottonwoods are unscathed. While their leaves fluttered in the rising heat of the fire, they remain green and gold. … ”  Read more from Maven’s Notebook.

Delta National Heritage Area Management Plan approved by Department of Interior

“The U.S. Department of Interior today approved the Management Plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area (Delta NHA).  “The Delta Protection Commission developed a plan that promotes the continued appreciation and protection of the natural, historic, and cultural resources associated with the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area, a place important to our nation’s history and heritage,” wrote Charles F. Sams III,  Director of the National Park Service.  “We commend you for completing this well-conceived plan and for involving the interested Tribes, citizens, and organizations in the five counties of the Delta region.”  The Delta NHA, created by Congress in 2019 (PDF), is California’s first and only National Heritage Area. The Delta Protection Commission, a California state agency, was designated the local coordinating entity for the Delta NHA. … ” Read more from the Delta Protection Commission.

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.

California Water under a Trump Administration, Part 1 of 2

This blogpost is the first of a 2 part series exploring the topic from a nonpartisan perspective with a goal of predicting likely outcomes in support of those working on California water issues.  Incoming President Trump made California water policy a central talking point in his 2024 presidential campaign, with promises to increase water for farms and cities and decrease water flowing to the Pacific Ocean.  It is clear that the incoming administration—much like the first Trump administration—is focused on California Water.  In this and a following blog, I examine what this is likely to mean for California water management.  A key takeaway is that California will likely be able to continue many of its current water policies, with marginal changes, although there will likely be increased litigation between the state and federal government. The bad news is that even California’s current policies are inadequate to maintain healthy aquatic ecosystems across the state, and California is likely to find it even harder to move forward on these fronts while locked in ongoing struggles with the federal government. … ”  Continue reading at the California Water Blog.

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SoCal fires …

No ‘water system in the world’ could have handled the LA fires. How the region could have minimized the damage

“Even as flames in Southern California continued to carve a destructive path on Friday and fire officials sought to assess the damage and determine how the fires began, a larger question loomed: Could this level of devastation somehow have been minimized, or is this simply the new normal in an era of climate-related calamities?   A CNN review of government reports and interviews with more than a dozen experts suggests the ultimate answer is a mix of both.  Los Angeles city and county officials have characterized the fires as a “perfect storm” event in which hurricane-force gusts of up to 100 miles per hour prevented them from deploying crucial aircraft that could have dropped water and fire retardant on the drought-ravaged neighborhoods early on. The consensus of experts interviewed by CNN was that the combination of those winds, unseasonably dry conditions and multiple fires breaking out one after another in the same geographic region made widespread destruction inevitable. … ”  Read more from CNN.

Municipal water systems aren’t designed to fight wildfires, but maybe they should be, experts say

“Hydrants in the hills of the Pacific Palisades ran dry amid one of the worst blazes ever seen in Los Angeles County, forcing firefighters to scramble to draw water from pools and ponds or — even worse — watch as homes and businesses burned.  On the other side of the county, water pressure in Altadena dropped to a trickle at times as flames from the Eaton Fire destroyed neighborhoods.  As stories of firefighters struggling to find water circulated on social media and in the news, residents demanded answers. The response from local officials was consistent: municipal water systems just aren’t designed to fight such intense and prolonged wildfires.  But as climate change makes what were once-in-a-lifetime disasters more common and the borders between urban and wildlands further narrow, stakeholders are now questioning if that needs to change. … ”  Read more from the Whittier Daily News.

Inside L.A.’s desperate battle for water as the Palisades fire exploded

“As wildfire tore through the canyons of Pacific Palisades, firefighters waged a desperate battle to save homes and lives.  Seventeen miles east in downtown L.A., dozens of officials huddled around computers over a long conference room table in the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s emergency operations center. Screens beamed in the system’s water pressure from remote sensors stationed across the city.  With more firefighters rushing to tame the flames the afternoon of Jan. 7, it became increasingly apparent that Palisades needed more water, fast. … ”  Read more from the LA Times. | Read more via AOL News.

Through burning hills and blinding smoke: the aerial fight to save a city

“A massive California Air National Guard tanker dives into a Pacific Palisades canyon full of smoke, as the ground below rushes up and fills the windshield. Sirens blare in the cockpit, and a recorded woman’s voice warns, “Altitude! Altitude!”  The guard video, shot over the pilot’s left shoulder, shows him aggressively working the yoke to keep the enormous plane airborne and on target to release a drenching stream of fire retardant. Next to his elbow, as Hollywood-level drama fills the rest of the frame, sits a bright red, undisturbed box of Chick-Fil-A takeout.  That’s life for the roughly 100 fire pilots fighting the hot, dirty and dangerous battle to save Los Angeles from this week’s punishing flames. It’s a gritty, around-the-clock job — you eat when you can. … ”  Read more from the LA Times.

SEE ALSO: Inside the aerial attack fighting the unprecedented Los Angeles area wildfires, from CBS News

Fact check: Could brush clearance have prevented the Palisades Fire?

“As the destructive reality of the fires tearing through the greater Los Angeles area sets in, people are searching for answers about how things got so bad.  We’ve already fact checked what we know about the lack of water availability, but there have also been questions about whether enough brush prep was done in the Santa Monica Mountains ahead of the Palisades Fire.  As of Friday, that fire has burned more than 21,000 acres and killed five people.  Former L.A. mayoral candidate and billionaire businessman Rick Caruso has suggested that brush clearance would have “significantly mitigated” the destruction and losses.   “The brush clearance alone, had that happened, would have just changed the trajectory of this fire,” Caruso said during an appearance on ABC 7 earlier this week.  However, that seems unlikely. … ”  Read more from the LAist.

Mudslide risk presents double-edged sword for California wildfire victims as wettest month looms

“Ferocious Santa Ana winds combined with months of generally bone-dry weather created a deadly firestorm across the Los Angeles area last week – a pattern that will only threaten to repeat until soaking rains come to rinse the parched landscape.  While no such rain is in the current forecast, any rain would now present a double-edged sword for those whose neighborhoods were ravaged by flames in the form of an increased risk of mudslides.  “Just a short period of moderate rainfall on a burn scar can lead to flash floods and debris flows,” the National Weather Service said. “Rainfall that is normally absorbed by vegetation can run off almost instantly. This causes creeks and drainage areas to flood much sooner during a storm, and with more water, than normal.” … ”  Read more from Fox Weather.

Smoke and ash made more toxic by the contents of burning homes threaten residents of LA and beyond

“The air here has many flavors this week, none of them reassuring: Smoky. Acrid. Unidentifiable.  Ash is everywhere and comes in many sizes, from black and gray slivers collecting along curbs to a suspended white dust that settles on smartphone screens. Craving a sense of recovery instead of daily updates on the containment of the fires plaguing the city, neighbors compare air quality apps, debate the advantages of N95 versus KN95 masks and the best filters for any available air purifier they can find.  Hundreds of thousands of apartments and single-family homes in this Mediterranean climate have no AC or central filtration system. Windows are taped up. A county of 9.6 million people, whether they lost homes to the fires or not, suddenly have one thing in common: the poisoned cloud blanketing them, raining down particulate matter that public health officials warn is toxic and carcinogenic. … ”  Read more from Inside Climate News.

Palisades fire threatens last population of steelhead trout in the Santa Monica Mountains

“Rain might bring relief from wildfires searing Los Angeles County but could spell disaster for the only known population of Southern California steelhead trout in the Santa Monica Mountains.  The destructive Palisades fire appears to have scorched the entirety of the state and federally endangered trout’s accessible habitat in Topanga Creek, a small coastal mountain stream that drains into the Pacific Ocean. But experts say the secondary effects of the fire are what pose the biggest existential threat.  A heavy storm following a blaze can sweep massive amounts of sediment and charred material from the denuded hillsides into the water they inhabit — a death trap for creatures that can’t flee. Like fish.  “One of our biggest concerns is … losing that last population of fish,” said Kyle Evans, an environmental program manager for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. … ”  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 commentary this week …

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.

California regulations only make wildfires worse

Susan Shelly writes, “On Thursday morning at the White House, President Joe Biden told reporters he talked to Gov. Gavin Newsom about fire hydrants running dry as fires raged out of control across Los Angeles County.  The president said he learned that it’s not a water shortage that’s causing the problem. “The fact is, the utilities understandably shut off power because they’re worried the lines that carry the energy were going to be blown down and spark additional fires,” Biden said. “When they did that, it cut off the ability to generate pumping the water.” … The president is mixed up. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said it was able to fuel its back-up generators to move water. The problem in Pacific Palisades is that LADWP infrastructure couldn’t move enough water to refill three 1 million-gallon water tanks as fast as firefighters were using the water.  But there is a problem in California with emergency back-up generators. Air quality regulations limit their use, and some water agencies found that they could not adequately run their generators for testing. … ”  Read more from the LA Daily News.

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In regional water news this week …

State Water Board readopts drought flows for Siskiyou

Aerial shot of flooding after rains this past December along the confluence of the Scott River and Kidder Creek near Fort Jones in Siskiyou County shows the accumulation of precipitation that farmers say will help as they enter this water year. Photo by Mel Fletcher.

“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.

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.

Coho salmon remain afloat four years after CZU Fire

“Landslides. Falling trees. Scorched forests. These are just a few ways the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire transformed habitats in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  But scientists are finding that the blaze’s effects on the region’s coho salmon have been small. “Fire is part of the natural landscape here,” says NOAA research ecologist Joe Kiernan. “And these fish have evolved with fire.” The blaze consumed nearly all of the Scott Creek watershed north of Santa Cruz, but surveyors in 2022 counted more baby coho in that creek than in any year since 2002. Groups of coho salmon swim upstream from the ocean every winter to breed, a journey that has delivered fresh seafood to generations of Californians. But in recent decades their numbers have collapsed. “I have been fishing the San Lorenzo [River] for 30-40 years,” says Curtis Smith of Felton. At first, the catch limit was ten, he says. Now scientists see less than ten spawning coho there in an entire year. … ”  Read more from Knee Deep Times.

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.

Proposed ag water district could aid groundwater-dependent farmers in northern Tulare County

“A proposed new agricultural water district could brighten what had been shaping up as a grim future for a number of farmers in the northern part of Tulare County’s flatlands under the state’s groundwater law.  Four private ditch companies are working to form the new district to cover 84,000 acres, 24,000 of which are totally groundwater dependent. Pumping restrictions under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) are expected to severely limit crop production in such groundwater reliant areas.  The proposed Consolidated Water District has indicated it will use land assessment fees to buy surface water and build systems to convey surface water throughout the district.  That’s significant, said Mark Larsen, General Manager of the Greater Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA), which covers the area where the new district is proposed.  “Every drop of surface water that is provided for irrigation directly reduces a drop of groundwater pumped,” Larsen said. … ”  Read more from SJV Water.

IWVGA outlines next steps following $50M federal authorization

“At the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority board meeting on Jan. 8, the board discussed the path forward after securing a $50 million federal authorization through the Water Resources Development Act. This authorization, announced last month, sets a course for possible funding to assist groundwater sustainability projects in the IWV, particularly the construction of the IWVGA’s planned imported water pipeline. “This is monumental,” said member of the public Renee Westa-Lusk. … ”  Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent.

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Announcements, notices, and funding opportunities …

BAY DELTA PLAN NOTICE: Department of Water Resources’ proposed alternative to modular Alternative 6a for new or expanded diversion projects

NOTICE: Upcoming dates for ongoing hearing on the proposed Sites Reservoir project

NOTICE: Water Efficient Landscape Ordinances Implementation Reporting, from DWR

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