A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …
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In California water news this week …
Trump takes step to overhaul Delta water deliveries to farms, cities
“President Donald Trump lost no time Monday in advancing his agenda for California’s water supply with a “presidential action” intended to send more Delta water south to millions of Southern Californians and San Joaquin Valley farms. The memo calls on the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the Interior to develop a new plan within 90 days “to route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state for use by the people there who desperately need a reliable water supply.” Entitled “Putting People Over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California,” Trump’s order calls for reinstating 2019 regulations drafted by his first administration. At stake are the rules that guide operation of the federal Central Valley Project and State Water Project, the two systems that deliver water from Northern California rivers to San Joaquin Valley farmers, Southern California residents and other water users in the southern half of the state. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
Trump’s bound for LA — threatening to withhold fire aid and keeping Newsom out of the loop
“For days since President Donald Trump announced his intent to travel to Los Angeles to survey fire damage, a question has hung over his planned visit: Will Gov. Gavin Newsom be with him? Tension between the newly reinstalled Republican president and California’s Democratic governor — longtime political nemeses who nevertheless routinely worked together on disaster recovery during Trump’s first term — exploded alongside the fires that have burned through Pacific Palisades, Altadena and other swaths of the Los Angeles region over the past two weeks. The clash has appeared to put federal support for California at risk, even as Newsom publicly offered an olive branch to Trump. Furious over the early response to the disaster, Trump has repeatedly railed against the governor he dubbed “Newscum,” spread misinformation about the causes of the fire and suggested that California will not receive the typical federal aid for disaster recovery unless it changes its water policy. Or its forestry policy. Or its immigration sanctuary policy. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
Trump kicks off potentially messy fight over Biden’s infrastructure money
“An executive order by President Donald Trump requiring agencies to stop paying money for two mammoth Biden-era laws could bring a wide range of infrastructure, transportation and energy projects to a halt — including those already delivering jobs to Republican-led states. The language in question, in one of dozens of orders Trump issued on his first day in office, commands agencies to “immediately pause the disbursement of funds” under former President Joe Biden’s 2021 infrastructure law and his 2022 climate statute. That wording could imperil billions of dollars in funding for projects that states have already begun working on, some lawmakers and policy experts said Tuesday, for everything from roads and bridges to broadband and withstanding the effects of climate change. … ” Read more from Politico.
With L.A. expecting rain, here’s how likely debris flows are near burn scars
“Rain is finally back in the Southern California forecast after an exceptionally dry start to the year. The precipitation is welcome news for firefighting efforts, but it also presents a risk to communities near freshly burned landscapes. Officials warn of potential thunderstorms Saturday and Sunday. Isolated downpours could trigger mudflows in the Eaton and Palisades burn areas and threaten nearby communities of Altadena, Malibu and Pacific Palisades. “Residents living near the recent burn scars should make preparations to protect their homes, businesses, and properties due to the potential for flooding,” the National Weather Service said. “Be prepared to evacuate if local authorities tell you to go. The loss of life and property with flooding after fires could be equally devastating to the actual fire itself.” … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Delta Stewardship Council set to dismiss appeal of Delta Conveyance Project geotechnical activities
“The Delta Stewardship Council released a draft decision last Friday dismissing the appeal from several NGOs, Tribes, and Delta water agencies against DWR’s certification of consistency with the Delta Plan for the Delta Conveyance Project. The draft decision will be discussed and possibly adopted at the Council’s meeting on Thursday. In October 2024, the Department of Water Resources submitted a a consistency determination for certain geotechnical activities related to data collection (cone penetration tests, soil borings, and water quality sampling within soil borings), and not for the entire project. DWR submitted the certification of consistency based on the June 20, 2024 court ruling which enjoined DWR “from undertaking the geotechnical work before certifying consistency with the Delta Plan. … ” Read more from Maven’s Notebook.
DWR submits petition to extend water rights permit
“The Department of Water Resources yesterday filed a petition with the State Water Resources Control Board to extend the timeframe to maximize its existing water rights. This is an important component of meeting the State’s climate change preparedness goals and the potential to develop additional storage of water and would help support virtually every major water initiative underway. These include California’s Water Supply Strategy: Adapting to a Hotter, Drier Future, the Department’s Climate Adaptation Plan, the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes Program, the state’s water quality control plan, and all efforts for water reliability in and through the Delta. The State Water Project has several water right permits granted by the State Water Board. These water rights provide permission to use a certain amount of water for beneficial purposes and the Department seeks to extend the timeframe for maximizing that amount of water. … ” Read more from DWR.
DWR Releases Frequently Asked Questions: Department’s Role in State Intervention under SGMA
“The Department of Water Resources (Department, DWR) has released a frequently asked questions document to address inquiries from groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) and the public at large, on the Department’s role and responsibilities when a basin is subject to State Water Resources Control Board (Board) jurisdiction and state intervention under Chapter 11 of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).” Access FAQ here.
Tulare County Farm Bureau donates $10K to Kings County Farm Bureau legal fund
“Tulare County Farm Bureau’s $10,000 contribution to the Kings County Farm Bureau’s legal defense fund has inspired donations from several of its members. The donations will help support the farm bureau’s legal fight against the California State Water Resources Control Board, which farm bureau members believe overreached in enforcing the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). On April 16, 2024, the 837-square-mile Tulare Lake Subbasin, which is almost entirely in Kings County, was put on probation for “groundwater over pumping” and as a consequence, groundwater pumpers in the basin were to be assessed $300 per well and $20 per acre-foot of water. In May, however, Kings County Farm Bureau formed the SGMA Defense Fund to contest these and other sanctions that were to be imposed by the water board. … ” Read more from the Visalia Times-Delta.
Hundreds of tiny endangered fish saved from Palisades burn area — in the nick of time
“The rescue team donned waders and marched into a murky Malibu lagoon scorched by the Palisades fire. Their mission: Save the lives of northern tidewater gobies, a tiny endangered fish. The destructive wildfire had stripped the slopes of the nearby Santa Monica Mountains and now rain could send a tremendous amount of sediment flowing into Topanga Lagoon, a death trap for fish. The squad encompassing biologists from several government agencies mobilized late last week to try to capture the swamp-colored, semi-translucent gobies before a storm arrived. But success wasn’t guaranteed. It was a seasonal population lowpoint for the species, which hunkers down in winter under rocks and vegetation. And a sandbar that had severed Topanga Lagoon from the Pacific Ocean had been swept away by high tides and an influx of water used for firefighting — an unnatural breach that could flush them into the surf. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
L.A. fires are bringing ash 100 miles offshore. Here’s how scientists think it could impact oceans
“The Eaton and Palisades fires have changed life for thousands of Los Angeles residents. Now, scientists are investigating how the blazes may also impact marine life some hundreds of miles offshore. Scientists aboard a research vessel off the California coast were collecting samples when the fires broke out. Despite their distance from the blazes, smoke carried by intense Santa Ana winds scattered ash and debris atop the ocean surface. The scientists “were sending these pictures that should have been plankton but instead (were) all these big pieces of ash,” said Julie Dinasquet, a marine microbiologist at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Smoke and ash from wildfires are linked to a number of serious health problems in humans, including heart disease, asthma and certain types of cancer and dementia. It’s a bit more unclear how wildfire smoke pollution impacts ocean species. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
In commentary this week …
State again gives farmers absurd water allocation
Columnist Thomas Elias writes, “The thousands of drivers traversing Interstate 5 on any given day this winter can see for themselves: nothing even remotely like a water shortage currently plagues the State Water Project. This is completely obvious from the major viewpoint off the east side of the interstate between Justine and Patterson, from which it’s clear that all major canals of the project just south of the Delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers are full to capacity, or nearly so. It’s much the same a few dozen miles to the southwest where the water project’s largest man-made lake, the San Luis Reservoir, is chock full. Sand-colored margins that grew steadily larger during the drought of the 2010-20 decade have long since been inundated, with the artificial lake shining bright blue on crisp, sunny winter days. Water officials also promise San Luis will soon be expanded. … ” Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record.
In regional water news this week …
Yurok Tribe restores prairie and salmon-spawning stream
“This week, the Yurok Tribe started implementing a critical phase of an ongoing project to restore more than 60 acres of prairie habitat that once blanketed a ridge above Blue Creek. Staff from three of the Tribe’s natural resources departments are hand-sowing 900 pounds of native plant seed over Steven’s Prairie as part of an integrated effort to reestablish the grassland ecosystem and renew two-miles of salmon and steelhead habitat in Blue Creek, the most productive Klamath River tributary on the Yurok Reservation. “Our goal is to restore the meadows and prairies to increase plant diversity and abundance that will provide habitat and food for wildlife from insects to elk. Furthermore, many of the prairie plants are used by Yurok people for food, medicine, and utilitarian purposes. Where our wildlife thrives, we thrive, as members of the same ecological community,” says Tiana Williams-Claussen, the Yurok Wildlife Department Director. … ” Read more from the Yurok Tribe.
State Water Board readopts emergency regulation for minimum flows in Scott, Shasta River watersheds
“In a continuing effort to protect imperiled fish, ensure adequate water supplies for human health and livestock needs, and support ongoing drought recovery in the Scott and Shasta River watersheds, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted an updated emergency regulation Jan. 7, 2025, that maintains minimum flow requirements and authorizes curtailment orders in the event flows fall below those levels. The rivers, which are key tributaries in the Klamath watershed, are crucial water sources for Siskiyou County and are important habitat for federally and state-threatened coho salmon, Chinook salmon and steelhead trout. They are also of immense economic, ecological and cultural importance to tribes and the surrounding communities. … ” Read more from the State Water Resources Control Board.
Former owner of private island in Solano County arrested after decade-long legal fight
“Outside of the Solano County Courthouse on Wednesday, a decade-long legal fight over a private island in the Suisun Bay came to an end and its former owner was arrested. The court-mandated auction of Point Buckler’s 50 acres of marshland on the southern edge of Grizzly Bear ended a fight for ownership between state water agencies and the island’s former owner, billionaire John Sweeney. Sweeney, who attended the auction on the steps of the courthouse, told CBS13 the seizure and sale of the island — one that he bought in 2011 for $150,000 — was a “decade-long crusade” against him. “It sure doesn’t seem legal but taking people’s property in California is something that’s been done many times, and I guess today is another example of that,” said Sweeney, before the auction. … ” Read more from CBS News.
Quantum leap in collecting and unifying regional metrics on wetland health
“In 1999, regional managers vowed to restore 100,000 acres of tidal wetlands in the San Francisco Estuary by 2030. More than two decades later, over 53,000 acres have been or are in the process of being restored. But the effort to track those acres, and monitor the success of tidal marsh restoration projects, has relied on a patchwork of data collection efforts, each using different sampling methods over different time scales. Managers are still often unclear on whether these wetlands are flourishing or providing good habitat for target fihs, birds and mammals. “We know very little about many of these habitats; they’ve just never been sampled in a standardized way,” says Levi Lewis, UC Davis fish ecologist. Six years in the making, an effort to close these gaps is finally gaining traction. … ” Read more from Maven’s Notebook.
Too little too late? Tulare County water managers work to hold off state pumping sanctions
“Groundwater managers and others in southern Tulare County are scrambling to comply with state mandates to try and hold off pumping sanctions. Changes in the past four months since the Tule subbasin was placed on probation by the Water Resources Control Board for lacking an adequately protective groundwater plan are in the works. But some wonder if it’s too little, too late. One of the biggest changes in the Tule subbasin will likely be a doubling of the number of groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) from six to 12. Here’s a breakdown of what SJV Water has been tracking … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Kern subbasin’s groundwater plan still not up to snuff in state’s eyes
“Kern water managers’ struck out again on their fourth attempt to write an adequate plan to protect the region’s groundwater, according to a report from state Water Resources Control Board staff released Tuesday, which recommends the board put the subbasin on probation at its Feb. 20 hearing in Sacramento. Probation would bring with it requirements for farmers to meter and register their wells at $300 each, report all extractions and pay an added $20 per acre foot pumped to the state. That’s on top of fees and assessments they already pay to their water districts and groundwater sustainability agencies. Specifically, the staff report found Kern’s recently revised plans still don’t do enough to protect water quality and domestic wells from going dry; keep land from sinking around critical canals and other infrastructure; and stem the chronic lowering of groundwater, among other issues. “It doesn’t surprise me but it is unfortunate,” said local farmer John Moore. “I think we’ve made great strides as a county. And despite the state’s continued misgivings about Kern, I’m optimistic we will be able to achieve our goal of sustainability by 2040.” … ” Read more from SJV Water..
Announcements, notices, and funding opportunities …
STATE WATER BOARD releases final staff report ahead of February 20 Public Hearing for the consideration of a probationary designation for the Kern County Subbasin
