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In California water news this weekend …
Southern California braces for strongest storm so far this winter
“The strongest storm so far this winter is expected to make landfall in Southern California toward the end of the week, bringing with it a heightened concern about mudslides, debris flows and flooding. An up to 80% chance of moderate to heavy rain in the region is expected on Thursday and early Friday, following a 20-40% chance of light rain beginning on Wednesday, Feb. 12, the National Weather Service said. “This looks to be the first significant rainfall event of the winter season,” NWS meteorologist Adam Roser said. Los Angeles is likely to bear the brunt of the rain compared to Orange County and the Inland Empire, which raises concerns about large amounts of sustained rainfall triggering mudslides, flooding and other problems in the burned areas of the Palisades and Eaton fires. … ” Read more from the LA Daily News.
Major atmospheric river storm is barreling toward Southern California: ‘Prepare for the worst’
“A major atmospheric river storm — strong enough to potentially rival some of the extreme storms that have walloped Southern California in recent winters — is barreling toward the coast, raising the specter of damaging landslides and flooding across the region. This storm, forecast to reach Southern California sometime before Valentine’s Day, is expected to be the strongest of the winter so far, according to the National Weather Service office in Oxnard. It threatens to drop large amounts of rain — 2 to 4 inches or more along the coast and in valleys, 4 to 8 inches or more in the mountains and foothills — across a swath of the Southland. There’s a 60% chance of rainfall of that magnitude in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, and a 30% chance in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
California’s largest watershed protection mission reaches 80% completion following devastating fires in Los Angeles County
“The state’s largest watershed protection mission reached 80% completion today. Working quickly to protect hazardous runoff from entering waterways, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) mission-tasked over 500 state personnel to place emergency protective materials throughout burn scar areas in Palisades and Eaton sites. In collaboration with the California Conservation Corps, California Department of Water Resources, Caltrans, California Department of Conservation Geological Survey, and CAL FIRE, crews have placed 500,701 feet of compost socks, 21,100 feet of straw wattles, and 7,500 feet of silt fencing. With work officially beginning on January 21, crews are working around the clock, to prevent toxic runoff with ash and debris from entering our waterways as rainy weather moves into Los Angeles County. “As storm season comes on the heels of these devastating fires in Los Angeles, Cal OES is bringing a full force of technical experts to expedite watershed protection work in burn scar areas,” said Cal OES Director Nancy Ward. … ” Read more from Cal OES.
Surprise January wildfires followed near-driest rainy season since 1800s
“It didn’t just seem like there were more brush fires than usual in January, there actually were. And by a lot. Cal Fire crews responded to 28 brush fires of 10 or more acres statewide in January — almost one a day — ranging from small Santa Ana River bottom fires to the massive, deadly Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles County. That pace was dizzying compared to the previous three Januarys, when firefighters could almost have hibernated. Cal Fire rolled on zero brush fires of 10 or more acres in 2024 and 2023, and just one in 2022. Overall, Cal Fire went to 331 brush fires of all sizes in January 2025, a 134.8% increase in such fires and an astounding 75,711.8% increase in acres burned over January 2024. … ” Read more from the OC Register.
California reservoirs gained billions of gallons of water in recent storms. Charts show where
“Atmospheric river-fueled storms that soaked California over the past week benefited the state’s water supply. In addition to providing a “much-needed boost to the statewide snowpack,” storms increased storage in California’s major water supply reservoirs, said Michael Anderson, state climatologist with the California Department of Water Resources, by email. Across the state, reservoir storage is well above average for this time of year, according to the Department of Water Resources. Statewide storage was 121% of average Friday, up from 115% of average a week earlier. Check out the charts from the San Francisco Chronicle.
DWR issues an official notification of validation action for Delta Conveyance Program bond financing
“The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has issued a Notice of Validation Action for Delta Conveyance Program bond financing. This provides an official notification of the “validation action” DWR filed with the Sacramento County Superior Court in January 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. … ” Read more from DWR.
Why Trump keeps blaming the Delta smelt for California’s water woes—and what it could mean for endangered species
“It’s tiny, it’s silver and it’s at the center of a decades-long controversy over California’s water system. It’s the delta smelt. This threatened fish lives exclusively in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in northern California, where it depends on the slightly brackish water of the wetland. But the delta is also crucial for people, supplying water to around 30 million California residents and more than 6 million acres of farmland. Like in many spaces where human needs overlap with species survival, this is where the debate begins. In a Jan. 8 post on Truth Social, as wildfires raged through greater Los Angeles, then President-elect Donald Trump said California Gov. Gavin Newsom kept water from flowing into Southern California to ensure protections for “an essentially worthless fish called a smelt,” adding that there was “no water for fire hydrants.” These claims have been repeatedly debunked by scientists and water experts, which my colleagues Wyatt Myskow and Martha Pskowski covered. Nonetheless, later in January, Trump issued two executive actions aimed at changing water management in California in a way that violates environmental laws, experts say. … ” Read more from Inside Climate News.
California Delta smelt controversy ranges from lawsuits to Trump executive orders
“For a small fish found only in the San Francisco Estuary, the Delta smelt has caused much controversy over the years, ranging from lawsuits to executive orders. In 1993, the smelt was listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act and the California Endangered Species Act, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife website. The slender fish, which ranges from 2 inches to more than 4 inches long, was upgraded to endangered in 2009. The smelt used to be the most abundant fish in the estuary and numbered in the millions before state and federal projects began exporting large quantities of Delta water to San Joaquin Valley agribusiness and Southern California water agencies, according to a 2021 Stockton Record article. … ” Read more from the Stockton Record.
‘Frustrated’ and ‘confused’: Army Corps dam releases sent farmers scrambling
“Local water managers in Tulare County may have prevented a disaster last week. On the afternoon of Thursday, Jan. 30, an announcement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that it was set to immediately begin dumping water from dams at Lake Kaweah east of Visalia and Lake Success near Porterville sent farmers downstream scrambling to prevent floods. “It was a scary moment,” said Tom Barcellos, president of the Lower Tule River Irrigation District, who owns a dairy and grows pistachios and other crops in Tulare County. The Army Corps told local water authorities the dams would release water into the Kaweah and Tule rivers at “channel capacity,” the maximum flows allowed in the rivers. Alexandra Biering, a water policy expert and director of policy advocacy for the California Farm Bureau, said she had never seen anything like it. “There is a huge danger to the downstream public,” Biering said of making unscheduled releases of that magnitude. … ” Read more from Ag Alert.
Proposed U.S. bill aims to improve atmospheric river forecasting to reduce flood risks
“U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AL) on Feb. 4 announced bipartisan legislation that aims to reduce flood risks and bolster emergency preparedness by improving atmospheric river forecasting. The bill, supported by ACWA, would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish a forecast improvement program within the National Weather Service. In addition to ACWA, the bill is endorsed by a number of member agencies, including Contra Costa Water District, Irvine Ranch Water District, Kings River Conservation District, Orange County Water District, San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, San Diego County Water Authority, Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Solano County Water Agency, Sonoma Water, Valley Water and Yuba Water. … ” Read more from Smart Water Magazine.
In commentary this weekend …
L.A. wildfires exposed a confluence of bad state policy
Steven Greenhut, Western region director for the R Street Institute and a member of the Southern California News Group editorial board, writes, “One of the common themes in my writing has been the state’s commitment to expanding bureaucracy and regulation, without much regard for whether the new programs accomplish their stated goals. Residents and businesses simply deal with the new taxes and red tape and adapt. California is such a beautiful and energetic place that people here muddle through despite the burdens the state government puts in their way. But the Los Angeles wildfires – likely to be one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history – have exposed festering regulatory hurdles that have exacerbated the crisis. Many are years in the making, maddeningly complex and not given to quick solutions. It’s a confluence of bad policy involving brush clearance, water, insurance, firefighting, housing and climate change. Simply put, California has created a tangled web of regulation that renders this once-innovative state incapable of accomplishing anything efficiently. Instead of building a resilient system that handles whatever Mother Nature throws our way, our state constantly uses climate change as an excuse for inaction on nuts-and-bolts issues. … ” Read more from the OC Register. | Read via the Inland Daily Bulletin.
Why Rep. Vince Fong believes Trump’s action on water is right for California
Representative Vince Fong writes, “California’s water policies are getting needed national attention. Now more than ever, ensuring Californians have reliable, stable, and abundant supplies demands urgent and bold action. For too long, radical environmental agendas have taken precedence over the needs of the people of California. The Central Valley and Southern California have persevered through constant uncertainty of reduced water supplies due to bureaucratic decisions, and it is time to prioritize people over politics. Many want to ignore the fact that water deliveries are down, needed infrastructure projects remain trapped in red tape, and California’s water future continues to be focused on more restrictions instead of creating more abundance. The State Water Project, which sends water from Northern California, accounts for 30% of Southern California’s water supply. … ” Read more from the Fresno Bee.
President Trump is the great disrupter and California water management needs disruption
Geoff Vanden Heuvel, Director of Regulatory and Economic Affairs for the Milk Producers Council, writes, “California is in a situation right now where the northern part of the state (above Sacramento) is very wet, and the rest of the state is pretty dry. The major reservoirs in northern California, Lake Shasta and Lake Oroville, are releasing huge amounts of water to maintain flood control space in the lakes. This water flows down the Sacramento River on its way to the ocean, and the amount of water being released is staggering. Well over 100,000 cubic feet per second (200,000 acre feet per day) is flowing out to the ocean. You would think that now is the time to fully utilize the pumping capacity of the water export projects that transfer water from northern California to the dry central and southern parts of the state, but that is not happening. The federal pumps are running at full capacity, but the bigger state pumps are only running at about 40% of their permitted capacity. WHY? … ” Read more from the Milk Producers Council.
Senators must stop federal usurpation of state water rights
Jim Jones, a Vietnam combat veteran, former Idaho Attorney General (1983-1991) and former Idaho Supreme Court Justice, writes, ” … The most troubling aspect of this episode is the apparent misconception that the federal government can do whatever it wishes with water stored in a federal reservoir. Quite to the contrary, the great majority of the stored water belongs to irrigation companies and other state water right holders. Regardless of the party in control of semi-arid western states, those states have fiercely safeguarded their precious water resources from federal overreach and waste. … To prevent a repeat of the Central Valley debacle in the Gem State, our Congressional delegation should immediately educate the President and his staff of the long-standing tension between federal and state interests in the water rights field. Idaho and the other western states have spent countless hours in planning, litigating and compromising how water within our borders should be allocated and managed to best suit local conditions. We might not always make the best choices, but since we have to live with the system we devise, we are much better positioned to do the job than any unschooled eastern bureaucrat. … ” Read the full commentary at the Idaho Press.
Trump’s possible not-so-secret agenda: Canadian water exports and lots of them
Eric Reguly with Canada’s Globe and Mail writes, “Donald Trump wants to buy Greenland, own Gaza, take back ownership of the Panama Canal and turn Canada into the 51st state. The President is a liar and a con artist, but his desire to occupy vast parts of the planet does not seem a bluff or a negotiating tactic. But why Canada? The United States dominates north-south trade and plays a leading role in many Canadian industries, including oil, mining, autos and retailing. It buys any product or commodity it wants from Canada with ease. Economically, if not politically, Canada is in effect the 51st state, has been forever. But there is one crucial commodity that the United States does not have access to: water. Water may be the real reason, or one of the top reasons, propelling his desire to turn Canada into Minnesota North. … ” Read more from The Globe and Mail.
Podcasts …
DELTA DISPATCH: Silent defenders of the Delta
Why are big piles of dirt, mud, and rocks so important to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta? Did you know that without them, the Delta of today would look drastically different? Find out why in this episode of the Delta Dispatch, where we talk to levee and flood risk experts Erin Mullin (Delta Stewardship Council) and Kathleen Schaefer (UC Davis), and examine exactly how the Delta’s system of dirt piles absolutely earn the moniker “the hardest working levees in America.”
WATER TALK: Advising California Tribal policy
A conversation with Anecita Agustinez (state tribal policy advisor, California Department of Water Resources) about water governance and expertise around challenging policy issues.
WE GROW CALIFORNIA: Changing by the second
It’s finally February, and true-to-form, January has been the longest year! Los Angeles fires were and still are devastating. On the bright side, water, particularly, California Water, has been front and center. Darcy V. and Darcy B. discuss how the information is evolving, and in some cases, literally changing by the second! They also emphasize the importance of educating electeds at all levels on how California’s state, federal, and local water systems work, what they are actually capable of, (Please note that putting out a wildfire is not one of them), and what we need. (Spoiler alert – Storage, expanded system capacity, less regulations, cooperation, and improved system flexibility are all discussed!)
KVPR CENTRAL VALLEY DAILY: Trump. Executive Actions. And Central Valley Agriculture.
Agriculture. Water. Immigration. Many of President Trump’s earliest actions back in office have had direct effects on the Central Valley. Today, we speak with Casey Creamer, president and CEO of California Citrus Mutual. He discusses Trump’s recent executive orders and how his organization is wading through the politics. Plus, the latest news headlines, including the CSU faculty union’s response to working with A.I. companies and delays for Yosemite National Park entrance reservations.
WATER IS A MANY SPLENDOR’ED THING PODCAST: Groundwater Recharge
I think all of us living in the western United States will agree that Mother Nature can be most unpredictable with the amount of rain and snow delivered each year. And now, with more extremes in our weather, droughts can last longer and produce even drier conditions. I think we need more places to store rain when the good years show up. Water is a Many Splendor ’ed Thing brings you another water relationship that has a personally significant impact to your life. Produced by Stephen Baker, Bringing People Together to Solve Water Problems, water@operationunite.co 530-205-6388
In regional water news this weekend …
NORTH COAST
What $500M dam removal project on Klamath River teaches about ecological restoration
“For decades, dams represented human ingenuity at its finest. Giant walls of earth and concrete that could tame rivers, generate electricity, and irrigate crops. Yet, while some countries like China are forging ahead with ambitious dam-building plans, a growing movement in Europe and the United States is challenging whether these structures still make sense. The most dramatic example of this shift is the dismantling of four dams on the Klamath River, which flows through Northern California and southern Oregon. The $500 million removal project, the largest of its kind in the United States, was driven by concerns over environmental impact, costly upgrades required by modern regulations, and the longstanding need to restore salmon populations that had been blocked for a century. … ” Read more from Interesting Engineering.
PG&E moves closer to surrender and decommission of Potter Valley Project
“On Jan. 31, Pacific Gas and Electric Company announced that it had made available to the public its completed Final Draft Surrender Application and Decommissioning Plan for the Potter Valley Project. The company will remove the Cape Horn Dam, Scott Dam and the now non-functional Potter Valley hydroelectric facility from the Potter Valley near the origin of the Eel River. Initial regulatory work and construction are expected to take several years. PG&E plans to submit its application and plan to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, by July 29 with a period of public comment taking place from now through March 3. In an online meeting hosted by PG&E on Thursday, senior licensing project manager Tony Gigliotti outlined the company’s next steps — a complicated chain of regulatory processes involving a number of federal, state and local agency stakeholders. … ” Read more from the Eureka Times-Standard.
Update on Potter Valley Project removal, new water-diversion designs
“An update on the plans to remove the dams created for the Potter Valley Project and build a new water diversion facility at Cape Horn Dam was presented Thursday during an online meeting hosted by Pacific Gas and Electric Company officials. Most of the meeting was comprised of a presentation by Tony Gigliotti, the Senior Licensing Project Manager for PG&E, who provided a detailed outline of the long and multi-faceted process involved in the utility’s application to decommission and surrender its hydroelectric plant located in Mendocino County. … ” Read more from MSN News.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Here’s how much snow fell in Tahoe and Mammoth after a week of storms
“Tahoe ski resorts are reporting up to five feet of fresh snow so far in the month of February, according to data from Open Snow. The latest band of snow that swept through the region on Thursday night favored Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe, with 20 inches of new snow in 24 hours, pushing their snow totals for the month, so far, up to 63 inches. Farther south, in the Eastern Sierra, Mammoth Mountain also measured 9 to 20 inches of new snow that fell overnight. When it comes to ski conditions on the mountain, however, those numbers may be slightly deceiving, said Bryan Allegretto, the Tahoe forecaster at Open Snow. Tahoe isn’t getting cold enough for the storms to deliver powdery snow, Allegretto said. The reality is that Tahoe ski resorts have received a mixture of ice, rain, slush and snow that adds up to variable, if not sketchy, conditions. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
Commentary: What is the role of a water agency that does not deliver water?
Lori Parlin, District 4 El Dorado County supervisor and EDWA board chair and Rebecca Guo, general manager of the El Dorado Water Agency, writes, “When you think about a water agency, you probably wonder whether you’ve paid your bill or if there are water conservation measures in place. Questions about water quality may cross your mind if there is a distinct chlorine smell coming out of the tap or if there is a nearby wildfire where hazardous burned materials could make their way into the water supply. Many El Dorado County residents may not realize that in addition to the four urban water suppliers and hundreds of small water systems, there is another entity — El Dorado Water Agency — that is responsible for managing water resources in our county. … ” Read more from the Mountain Democrat.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Lake Shasta only 15 feet from top. What to know about Shasta Dam flows this weekend
“U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials said they plan to keep heavy flows pouring out of Lake Shasta at Keswick Dam through Sunday or longer. That’s after Lake Shasta waters went up another 2 feet in 24 hours as of Thursday, leaving the reservoir lapped about 15 feet from the top, according to the California Department of Water Resources. Increased releases, regulated from Shasta Dam to Keswick Dam, will last at least through this weekend, the bureau reported. Next week, Bureau of Reclamation officials will decide their next move — in part based on how much more rain is in Redding’s forecast. The good news is there’s a break in the rain through Wednesday. Winter storms, that dropped more than a foot of rain on the Redding area since Jan. 31, dissipated Friday, leaving drier clear skies. That is, until the next round of winter storms arrive mid-week, weather forecasters said. … ” Read more from the Redding Record-Searchlight.
Behind the scenes in Sacramento’s storm drains
“Sacramento doesn’t have gravity on its side in a flood. “We are in a bowl. Everything that we move, we have to lift and set downstream,” said Mike Wasina, who oversees drainage at several sites across the city like this one – Pumping Station 2 – which moves rain and wastewater out of central Sacramento neighborhoods. The city had already gotten a half inch of rain by Thursday afternoon. The heaviest day in this series of storms was over an inch and a half. Still, not even the biggest pump was running. Supervising Plant Operator Philip Meyer has worked with these pumps for 17 years. “The total height of the pump and the motor itself I’d say is probably close to 35 to 40 ft tall,” he said, standing next to a 4-foot-wide blue pump that spanned several floors of the building. “So it’s a very large piece of equipment and it’s one of the smaller pumps at this facility.” … ” Read more from Capital Public Radio.
NAPA/SONOMA
Sonoma County’s water battle: A temporary win for supes, but what’s next?
“Water is life in Sonoma County. It fuels our vineyards, sustains wildlife, and keeps our communities thriving. But for months, landowners, farmers, and environmentalists have been locked in a legal battle over who gets to tap into the county’s groundwater—and at what cost. Now, a judge’s decision has temporarily allowed the county to resume issuing new well permits, but the fight is far from over. After nearly two months of being unable to issue new well permits, Sonoma County has been given the green light—at least for now. A judge’s recent decision has temporarily lifted a court order that halted well permitting, allowing the county to resume processing applications for non-emergency wells. … ” Read more from the Sonoma Gazette.
SEE ALSO: Sonoma County resumes issuing new water well permits, from Northern California Public Media
CENTRAL COAST
A watchful eye on the wetlands
“Dozens of volunteers joined forces with a crew from Watsonville Wetlands Watch and the City of Watsonville on Feb. 1 for a day of tending local wetlands as part of the annual World Wetlands Day. With a slight drizzle setting the tone for the event, the crowd, which included a wide spectrum of ages, split into teams and headed into Middle Struve Slough, where WWW workers led them on an education-packed tour of the slough. World Wetlands Day is celebrated annually to raise global awareness about the role of wetlands. The theme of Saturday’s event was “Wetlands for our common future.” “This is an important day because it helps bring our community together,” said Watsonville Mayor Maria Orozco. “It’s exciting to see so many people come out and take care of the environment. This project shows that people are concerned about climate change and how it affects our quality of life.” … ” Read more from the Pajaronian.
‘This is a lifesaver’: Rain assists local farmers as regional drought continues
“Two storms are leaving the Central Coast soaked this week. As the ongoing drought continues, the rain has assisted farmers in the county who are growing crops in the winter season. “This is a lifesaver,” said Kienun Kocan, a dry farmer and rancher at Edna Valley Farming. “I think I can speak as a community. I think a lot of people as dry farmers rely on the rain for our cattle pastures and for our hay ground or, you know, grain crops or anything. We were all getting pretty nervous.” … ” Read more from KSBY.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Pollution flare-up: Offices to be relocated after more contamination found in Downtown Lodi
“More soil contamination has been found in a downtown area once thought to be satisfactorily cleaned up. This discovery has prompted the move of some professional offices while additional remediation efforts are done. Architect John Vierra says his office, along with others in the building at 212 W. Pine, across from City Hall, will be relocating for a year, starting this weekend. He says they will take up temporary quarters in the former Blue Shield office complex on the Highway 99 frontage road just south of Costco. “We’re not leaving town. We’ll still be there. We love Lodi,” says Vierra. Nancy Sarieh, the city’s public information officer, says, “Since litigation settled in 2004, the city of Lodi, under the direction of the California Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, has been working on remediation efforts to clean up soil and groundwater contamination associated with perchloroethylene (PCE) discharges that contaminated the soil and groundwater in and around the vicinity of 212 W. Pine Street. … ” Read more from the Lodi News-Sentinel.
$70m+ tunnel project will assure water reliability
“It is a scenario South San Joaquin Irrigation District wants to avoid. A major rock or land slide on the western side of the steep Stanislaus River Canyon downstream from Goodwin Dam occurs between March and October. It sends debris into the 13-foot deep main supply canal above the Stanislaus River effectively plugging it. Debris removal and emergency repairs could easily take two to three months. … That threat should be eliminated three years from now. The SSJID, in partnership with the Oakdale Irrigation District is expected to go to bid this month on a $70 million to $80 million endeavor to construct a tunnel about 2.3 miles long to replace the mostly open supply canal. Work is expected to start this summer and is targeted for completion in 2028. … ” Read more from the Manteca Bulletin.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Finally we know where toxic ash from the L.A. wildfires could end up
“Despite repeatedly warning that wildfire debris likely contains hazardous substances, public officials are preparing to dump millions of tons of contaminated ash and rubble from the Eaton and Palisades fires into Southern California landfills that were not designed to handle high concentrations of toxic chemicals. For weeks, Los Angeles County leaders have urged residents to avoid wildfire ash. Public health officials have said they suspect the debris is teeming with brain-damaging heavy metals and cancer-causing chemicals from thousands of incinerated homes and cars. Ordinarily, when these toxic chemicals are found at high levels in solid waste, they would be disposed of at hazardous waste landfills — typically located far from densely populated areas and specifically engineered with environmental protections to prevent leakage that might affect nearby residents. However, every year when disasters strike California, a series of emergency waivers and disaster exemptions allow for potentially contaminated debris — including wildfire ash — to be treated as nonhazardous waste and taken to landfills that typically only handle trash and construction debris. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Water utilities are flushing pipes to clean drinking water after the fires. Here’s what to know
“Just how much did the deadly L.A. wildfires affect the water supply? It’s an issue the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and other utility providers are learning about as they work to restore reliable and safe water to neighborhoods. During the fires, multiple areas were put under Do Not Drink or Do Not Use water advisories. And while many have been lifted, contamination is still a concern. Pipe flushing and testing is the primary way utilities are resolving this issue — which may take a month to complete. We breakdown what residents should know. The LADWP is doing rounds of pipe flushing and testing in hopes of lifting the Do Not Drink notice that’s still in effect for Pacific Palisades residents in and around the 90272 ZIP code. Lincoln Avenue Water Company, the Rubio Canon Land and Water Association, and the Las Flores Water Company are also taking similar action. … ” Read more from the LAist.
SCV Water hosts virtual meeting on rate hikes
“Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency officials held their first Proposition 218 meeting Wednesday, the first of two workshops the agency is holding to let people know about a nearly 50% rate hike that’s being planned. Kevin Strauss, spokesman for SCV Water, explained the need for the increased rates at the public hearing — rising operational and maintenance costs — also adding the agency is not allowed to charge ratepayers more than the cost of water delivery by law. Strauss also said the agency assesses the fairness of its rate increases with an affordability analysis, which is based on nationally accepted guidelines and regional salary assumptions. If residents would like to stop the increase, then a majority of affected ratepayers would need to submit a handwritten protest letter that must be submitted in person or mailed to the agency by April 1, Strauss said Wednesday, in discussing the potential rate hikes. … ” Read more from the Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
Environmental activist Erin Brockovich meets with Eaton Fire victims during town hall in Pasadena
“It’s been a month since the deadly Eaton Fire erupted, and many victims continue to search for guidance on the recovery process. On Friday, LA Fire Justice hosted the first of two town hall meetings for residents featuring attorney Doug Boxer, trial attorney Mikal Watts, and consumer advocate Erin Brockovich. Many know Brockovich’s journey in environmental activism from the 2000 Oscar-winning film starring Julia Roberts. She lives in Los Angeles and has first-hand experience with being evacuated by wildfires. “I feel very indignant for all of us that this has happened again,” she told the residents. “I’ve spent way too much time with utilities, from groundwater contamination to fire after fire after fire, and this has got to stop.” … ” Read more from ABC 7.
SAN DIEGO
Emergency repair costs to city of San Diego infrastructure soared 85% since 2022
“With a budget deficit of more than $258 million, the city of San Diego is pinching every penny it has. In his State of the City address last month, Mayor Todd Gloria didn’t mince words. “The task ahead … is to right-size our city budget,” Gloria said. “Not just for this year, but for the long-term. It is my expectation that we handle this structural deficit this year. No gimmicks, no Hail Mary passes.” What hasn’t helped the city’s coffers: spending on emergency projects to repair crumbling infrastructure. Last week, the Active Transportation & Infrastructure Committee ratified the contracts on 29 of those projects, to the tune of $52,208,454. … ” Read more from NBC 7.
Along the Colorado River …
The American dream (water not included)
“For most of human history, a simple axiom for survival seemed to prevail: Don’t build houses where there is too little water. Amid dangerous droughts, Arizona officials recently enshrined that precept by limiting development in one of the country’s fastest-growing cities — a potential turning point for water policy in a region acutely threatened by climate change. But now real estate interests have launched a dark-money legal campaign to overturn the precedent-setting regulations. Their goal: promising rent-strapped locals the American Dream of affordable homeownership in areas where officials have found there is not enough groundwater to sustain new suburban development. … ” Read more from The Lever.
Snowpack in the Rockies is lagging well below average. Colorado River forecasters still see hope on the horizon.
“This year’s dry January hurt forecasts for the Colorado River, but February may position the basin for a comeback. The Colorado River relies heavily on snowpack in the Upper Basin states — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — that melts into the river and its tributaries. That water then flows into Lake Powell. But lackluster January precipitation led snowpack to decline in those states. Last month, snow levels above Lake Powell were 94% of average. (“Average,” in forecasting, refers to the average precipitation between 1991 and 2020.) As of Feb. 6, snowpack fell to 83% of normal above Lake Powell. “It was a very poor month precipitation-wise,” Cody Moser, senior hydrologist at the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center, said at a water supply briefing Friday. … ” Read more from the Salt Lake Tribune.
Can planes and laser beams help Colorado better understand its water supply?
“Amid mounting challenges to Colorado’s water supply, lawmakers are seeking to upgrade the decades-old method of tracking the state’s primary water source — snowpack. Since the mid-1960s, scientists have been measuring the amount of liquid water frozen within the state’s snowfields using snow telemetry, or SNOTEL, sites. Today, Colorado is home to 117 of these sites, which use pressure-sensitive pillows and sensors to gauge snowpack depth and water weight. The data is critical for water districts and providers to know how much water to allocate — and conserve — throughout runoff season. But the technology isn’t an exact science, and state leaders are looking for better ways for Colorado to accurately manage its water resources. Enter House Bill 1115, a bipartisan proposal from a group of Western Slope lawmakers that would create a new statewide snowpack measurement program using emerging tools like light detection and ranging technology, also known as lidar. … ” Read more from Summit Daily.
In national water news this weekend …
1,000 EPA employees could be fired ‘immediately’: What does that mean for the water industry?
“Last week, more than a thousand employees at the U.S. EPA received a worrying email: “As a probationary/trial period employee, the agency has the right to immediately terminate you.” The email, obtained by CNN, was primarily sent to employees who had been with the agency for less than a year. Beyond the scope of what this would mean for individual employees, how would it affect the various environmental projects that so many of these employees work on closely? And how would this translate to the water industry? Nicole Cantello from the American Federation of Government Employees told The Hill, “These people work on things like getting the lead out of pipes or enforcing environmental laws like the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. They work on things like Brownfields, which turn contaminated land into usable land. They work on Superfund sites, which cleans up toxic pollution.” … ” Read more from Water Online.
Trump wants states to handle disasters without FEMA. They say they can’t.
“State and local emergency managers are facing a serious question in the wake of President Donald Trump’s first few weeks in office: When disaster strikes, will they be able to count on the federal government? Trump has called the Federal Emergency Management Agency a “disaster” and suggested it might “go away.” He said states would best take care of hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires on their own, with the federal government reimbursing some of the costs. He convened a council to review FEMA and recommend “improvements or structural changes.” But leaders in states that have been hit by disasters say they need more than the promise of an eventual federal check to manage catastrophic events. They say they’re not equipped to handle the roles FEMA currently plays — such as marshaling emergency resources from multiple federal agencies, providing flood insurance, conducting damage assessments and distributing billions of dollars in recovery funds. … ” Read more from Stateline.
‘Megadroughts’ have made themselves known in the 21st century. They’re going to get worse.
“The end of 2024 marks the 24th year of the southwestern United States’s “megadrought”—a type of drought that often last several years and exceeds drought records from the past. The term was likely coined from studies of the paleoclimate record (also known as Earth’s climate history) and has since become a more mainstream weather descriptor. A new study from the journal Science shows that these extreme or multi-year droughts have become drier, hotter, and have increasingly diminished the growth of local vegetation over time. The study identified over 13,000 multi-year droughts that lasted at least two years and found that five of the top ten most severe droughts were between 2007 and 2018. Some of the regions with the highest density of these extreme dry periods included Mongolia, southeastern Australia, and the western United States. … ” Read more from Popular Mechanics.
