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On the calendar today …
- MEETING: Central Valley Flood Protection Board from 9am to 3pm. Agenda items include a briefing on the Sacramento Riverbank Protection Project and a Joint presentation to discuss the Board’s Permitting process and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Section 408 Permissions process. Click here for the full agenda.
In California water news today …
‘I’m still nervous’: California’s vital snowpack below normal as winter winds down
“The big storms that pounded California in early February, after a terribly dry January, did only so much to boost the state’s lackluster snow levels. Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, southern Cascades and Trinity mountains will likely hover around 85% of average, for the date, on Friday when state water managers conduct their monthly snow survey. The survey comes after what are typically the three snowiest months in California, helping shed light on the state’s water picture for the coming year. Snow, as it melts and fills rivers and reservoirs, accounts for nearly a third of California’s water supply. The big storms that pounded California in early February, after a terribly dry January, did only so much to boost the state’s lackluster snow levels. Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, southern Cascades and Trinity mountains will likely hover around 85% of average, for the date, on Friday when state water managers conduct their monthly snow survey. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle (gift article).
It’s been a warm winter, and California’s snowpack shows it
“Measurements taken across the Sierra Nevada show that California’s snowpack, which typically supplies nearly a third of the state’s water supply, now stands at 85% of average for this time of year. The latest state data also show the amount of snow in the mountains varies dramatically depending on the region. The northern Sierra has lots of snow in most areas, while the central and southern Sierra have far less than average amounts — the result of weather patterns that have brought the heaviest atmospheric river storms to Northern California while leaving the southern mountains drier. Alongside these largely random weather conditions, scientists are also seeing a trend linked to human-caused climate change: The snowpack this year is significantly smaller at many lower-elevation sites in the mountains after months of warmer-than-average temperatures.“That’s really a signature of warmer temperatures,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA. “There has been precipitation in the mountains in many cases, but that has been more in the form of rain than snow for much of the season.” … ” Read more from the LA Times.
The La Niña’s late ambush: what’s going on with ENSO?
“For skiers across the Western U.S., the 2024-25 season has been a tale of feast or famine. In one corner, the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies have rejoiced with fairly frequent storms and healthy snowfall. In the other, the Southwest has been left high and dry, watching storm clouds bypass overhead. One culprit behind this powder disparity is La Niña—a climate pattern known to tip the snow scales—which arrived fashionably late this winter and dealt very uneven hands to different regions.La Niña, the cool-water “little sister” of El Niño, took its time coming to life this season. Sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific didn’t definitively dip below the La Niña threshold until December 2024, making for a late-developing event. Once it awakened, though, La Niña’s influence on the atmosphere kicked in with gusto. By mid-winter, the ocean’s cooling remained weak, but the atmosphere responded as if La Niña were in full swing. This unusual ocean-atmosphere mismatch helped shape our winter in subtle but significant ways. … ” Read more from Powder Magazine.
Weak storm to deliver showers, mountain snow in California this weekend
“A series of storms will bring some impacts to California into next week, including cooler air and some moisture, AccuWeather meteorologists say. The first storm will remain very weak as it pushes inland from Friday to Saturday. This storm will mostly occupy the middle part of the atmosphere but will have enough influence to turn off the offshore winds, cool down the air and bring sporadic showers along with some clouds. Even where it does not rain from the first storm, which may be in most areas, temperatures will be 10-20 degrees lower on Friday and Saturday compared to Wednesday and Thursday. A somewhat more organized storm with more moisture will come in from the Pacific this weekend to early next week. … ” Read more from AccuWeather.
Elon Musk’s DOGE layoffs hit California National Weather Service employees
“Large federal workforce firings began at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday, including National Weather Service employees in California. At least one California weather service office was impacted by the layoffs, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke to the Chronicle on condition of anonymity without authorization to speak publicly. The person was granted anonymity in accordance with the Chronicle’s sourcing policies. According to U.S. House Natural Resources Committee ranking member Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, hundreds of NOAA scientists were being terminated. Employees were told terminations would go into effect Thursday evening. “People nationwide depend on NOAA for free, accurate forecasts, severe weather alerts and emergency information,” Huffman said. “Purging the government of scientists, experts and career civil servants and slashing fundamental programs will cost lives.” … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle. | Read via MSN News.
SEE ALSO:
- Mass firings across NOAA and National Weather Service ignite fury among scientists worldwide, from the LA Times
- Mass layoffs begin at NOAA, with hundreds said to be fired in one day, from the New York Times
- ‘Cruel and thoughtless’: Trump fires hundreds at US climate agency NOAA, from the Guardian
DWR approves 15 groundwater sustainability plans in latest round of determinations
“Marking a major milestone towards sustainably managing California’s groundwater supplies, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) today announced determinations for groundwater sustainability plans in 16 basins across the state. These plans are expected to present a roadmap for how local agencies will sustainably manage groundwater, a critical water supply for millions of Californians, over the long-term. These customized plans are a critical piece towards implementing the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) which is centered around the local control of groundwater basins. Passed in 2014, the law calls for local groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) to develop and implement plans to achieve the sustainability goals of groundwater basins over a 20-year period. … ” Read more from the Department of Water Resources.
A California reservoir could disappear if PG&E gets their way
“For more than a century, the Potter Valley Project has shaped the fate of two of Northern California’s most important rivers. The dam system reroutes water from the Eel River to the Russian River, sustaining agriculture, drinking water supplies and local economies across Mendocino, Sonoma and Lake counties. Pacific Gas & Electric went public with its draft application to walk away from the project in late January, citing financial losses and aging infrastructure and setting the stage for one of California’s most contentious water battles.Conservationists and tribal leaders say this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to restore the Eel River’s salmon runs, long blocked by dams. Farmers, ranchers and local officials warn that losing the project’s diversions could devastate water supplies, cripple fire protection and threaten a multimillion dollar agricultural industry. Some have even urged the Trump administration to intervene, arguing that PG&E’s plan to dismantle the project is reckless and puts entire communities at risk. All the while, the battle over Northern California’s water future intensifies. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
SEE ALSO: Terry’s Take: Damn, Lake County, Way to Play the Trump Card to Try and Stop the Undamming of the Eel, from the Redheaded Blackbelt
State expands program that has provided free replacement water for over 1,800 nitrate-impacted wells
“Building on the success of a groundbreaking program that has already helped thousands of Central Valley residents, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board is expanding its Nitrate Control Program (NCP) to eight more groundwater basins, ensuring thousands more households that rely on domestic wells have access to safe drinking water. Launched in 2021, the Central Valley Salinity Alternatives for Long-Term Sustainability (CV-SALTS) Nitrate Control Program has had a significant impact. Since the program began, over 9,000 wells have been sampled in Priority 1 basins – those groundwater basins identified as having the most serious contamination issues – and free replacement drinking water has been provided to over 1,800 households with nitrate-impacted wells. Additionally, over 3.7 million gallons of safe drinking water have been distributed through bottled water deliveries and eight public water filling stations across the region.“We are now in the fourth year of this program, and the results speak for themselves,” said Patrick Pulupa, Executive Officer for the Central Valley Water Board. “Expanding into more zones means thousands more families will have the peace of mind that comes with knowing their water is safe—or getting immediate help if it’s not.” … ” Read more from the State Water Resources Control Board.
California rice and wildlife report released
“From ducks and cranes to giant garter snakes and salmon, flooded rice fields in California’s Central Valley offer important — often vital — habitat to many wildlife species. Yet uncertainties around crop markets, water and climate can prompt some growers to fallow rice fields or change their management practices. Will today’s rice acreage under current practices be enough to meet key species’ needs? If not, how much rice is needed? Where should it be planted? And what management practices offer the greatest benefit for species of concern? Scientists from the University of California, Davis, and Point Blue Conservation Science address these questions in a new report, “A Conservation Footprint for California Rice,” written for the California Rice Commission. “This was a highly interdisciplinary effort that I don’t think has been attempted at this scale for California rice or perhaps any other California agricultural crop working with wildlife,” said report co-lead John Eadie, a UC Davis professor emeritus in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology who coordinated the 173-page effort among 13 authors. “I think this report provides the baseline for future work to come.” … ” Read more from UC Davis.
Could putting swamp rat on your dinner plate help save California marshland?
“They look like a cross between an otter and a gopher but they taste something like a rabbit or dark meat from turkey. And conservation officials want you to eat as many of them as you can. The nutria, an invasive swamp-dwelling rodent, is wreaking havoc on California ecosystems, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. They were brought from South America for their fur decades ago and are now found in the delta, where they can consume up to one-fourth of their body weight in vegetation every day, damaging the marsh environment. Friday marks the end of national invasive species week, and officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service used the occasion to urge Californians to hunt and eat nutria to help control their numbers. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
How to stop the spread of golden mussels
“Boaters and recreationists can help combat the spread of a new invasive recently discovered in California waterways – the golden mussel. Despite its flashy name, this species poses a significant threat to infrastructure and the ecological health of all state waterways. With the 2024 discovery of the invasive golden mussel in a State Water Project (SWP) reservoir, the non-native freshwater/brackish bivalve poses a threat to California’s water delivery systems and environment as they can survive in a wide range of environmental conditions. When golden mussel populations are established, they are difficult to control since they can become very abundant and are easily spread to new waterbodies. It is important to be vigilant of these destructive invaders. … ” Read more from the Department of Water Resources.
Wildlife Conservation Board awards $37 million in grants to 14 habitat conservation and restoration projects
“The Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) approved 14 habitat protection and restoration projects spanning 14 counties across more than 4,700 acres at its Feb. 26 quarterly meeting. One of the grants restores 1,300 acres of tidal marsh habitat at the Congressman Pete Stark Ecological Reserve at Eden Landing, near the cities of Hayward and Union City on the east San Francisco Bay shoreline. This landscape-scale restoration project balances the needs of tidal marsh-dependent and estuarine species with waterbirds that rely on pond habitats by enhancing existing ponds and restoring tidal wetlands. The WCB’s $5.35 million grant to Ducks Unlimited, Inc. — in a cooperative project with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), California State Coastal Conservancy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — increases biodiversity, improves water quality, protects bayside communities against extreme weather events and improves opportunities for public access and recreation. … ” Read more from the Department of Fish & Wildlife.
Long Beach-based lab to help kick start California’s testing of microplastics in drinking water
“Admiring the beautiful view of the ocean, Shelly Moore looks beyond the surface, having trained her eyes to see the problems hidden below. On her quick walk outside, she notices the glass and plastic bottles peeking from under the ocean along the Long Beach marina. It’s a reminder of the 11 million metric tons of plastic the California Ocean Protection Council estimates enter global oceans every year. Although as the executive director of the Moore Institue for Plastic Pollution, she said the effort to change that starts at home. “I grew up here in Southern California and I’ve always loved the ocean and I really want to protect it, protect it from us,” Moore said. That is exactly what she and her team at the Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research are doing, taking a rather microscopic view of the problem. … ” Read more from Spectrum 1.
State Water Board developing statewide urban stormwater infiltration policy
“The California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) has begun its process to develop a new statewide Urban Stormwater Infiltration Policy. The goal of the proposed new policy is to establish statewide standards for stormwater infiltration to provide a consistent regulatory framework to “encourage infiltration of urban stormwater and increase local water supply resiliency, provide greater protection of stormwater quality, and develop projects with multiple benefits for communities.” The proposed policy scope includes the following components:Decision-making framework and support tools for assessing infiltration conditions, including potential prohibitions to protect groundwater quality; Minimum siting, design, operation, and maintenance requirements for new or expanded systems; Requirements for existing infiltration systems; and Antidegradation analysis of the effects of stormwater infiltration on groundwater quality. … ” Read more from Nossaman.
Californians approved $1.5 billion for wildfire prevention. How will the state spend it?
“Go broad or go deep? That’s one of the big questions state lawmakers are debating as they grapple with how to most effectively use $1.5 billion that voters approved last year for projects to reduce the impact of California wildfires. That money comes from Proposition 4, the November ballot measure that authorized a $10 billion bond to pay for climate-related projects such as water systems and wildfire mitigation. In his January budget proposal, Gov. Gavin Newsom recommended that $325 million of the bond money should be allocated in the upcoming fiscal year to a variety of wildfire prevention programs. The remainder would be spent over the next five years. But Democratic Assemblymember Steve Bennett, chair of the budget subcommittee on climate, energy and transportation, told the administration in a hearing on Wednesday that the state should pursue a focused strategy to make the most use of limited resources. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
Why bills to help prevent California fires fail
“In an educational video, the state’s fire agency set two demonstration homes on fire: one built to the latest building standards and one that did not have these protections. As you would expect, the one with new features stayed standing, while the other burned within minutes. Experts say that mitigation measures, such as clearing brush or using fire-resistant building materials, are the most effective way government can reduce the impact of wildfires. And once again, after the recent Southern California wildfires, lawmakers and experts are stressing the need for more of it. But each year, many bills aimed at protecting homes from fire fail – some due to cost and others due to conflicts with environmental regulations. This year, lawmakers have introduced about 90 bills related to wildfires, with about half related to mitigation. But prospects for the bills are uncertain, especially since several are being reintroduced after failing in previous years. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
California tribe enters first-of-its-kind agreement with the state to practice cultural burns
“Northern California’s Karuk Tribe has for more than a century faced significant restrictions on cultural burning — the setting of intentional fires for both ceremonial and practical purposes, such as reducing brush to limit the risk of wildfires. That changed this week, thanks to legislation championed by the tribe and passed by the state last year that allows federally recognized tribes in California to burn freely once they reach agreements with the California Natural Resources Agency and local air quality officials. The tribe announced Thursday that it was the first to reach such an agreement with the agency. “Karuk has been a national thought leader on cultural fire,” said Geneva E.B. Thompson, Natural Resources’ deputy secretary for tribal affairs. “So, it makes sense that they would be a natural first partner in this space because they have a really clear mission and core commitment to get this work done.” … ” Read more from the LA Times.
In commentary today …
Will Donald Trump Republicans in Congress cause a financial disaster in California?
Opinion columnist Tom Philp writes, “The political timing of liberal Los Angeles catching on fire, just as Republicans were about to take control of Washington, couldn’t have been worse. Just as the Congressional majority now looks to shed hundreds of billions of dollars in budget obligations to fund new ones, here comes Gov. Gavin Newsom, hands outstretched, asking for nearly $40 billion to help cover some of the public costs associated with the state’s worst disaster in modern time. California is so vulnerable. Congress, on a razor-thin Republican majority, struggles to agree on anything. “The impacted communities have experienced widespread devastation and the total impact on California’s economy will take years to fully quantify,” Newsom wrote to House Speaker Mike Johnson and others on Feb. 21. “The funding identified in this request totaling $39,680,737,878 will directly support these communities in both the immediate and long-term recovery work needed to rebuild lives and property from this catastrophic event.” … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
Three former E.P.A. Leaders: You’ll miss it when it’s gone
William K. ReillyChristine Todd Whitman and former Environmental Protection Agency administrators, write, “In his first official cabinet meeting of his second term, President Trump on Wednesday indicated that the Environmental Protection Agency, the arm of the federal government essential to protecting our health and environment, is among the top targets for the next wave of major work force reductions. Mr. Trump said about 65 percent of the roughly 15,000 people working there could be fired. An E.P.A. official later said the president was referring to cuts to the agency’s budget, not to personnel. As former E.P.A. heads under both Republican and Democratic administrations, we fear that such cuts would render the agency incapable of protecting Americans from grave threats in our air, water and land. While there are opportunities to make the agency more efficient and better at enforcing laws, Americans across every state, city and local community would suffer the effects of deep cuts. E.P.A. public servants defend us and the environment from harmful pollution every day not in hopes of attention or bigger paychecks or to execute the wishes, wants or needs of billionaires looking to play on a bigger stage. They do it for all Americans and because of laws such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. This is an agency that sets standards and regulations according to science and the laws and funding approved by Congress. … ” Continue reading at the New York Times.
SEE ALSO: Trump fired these expert Interior staffers. Here’s what they say, from E&E News
In regional water news and commentary today …
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
The pillars for a thriving Sacramento River basin water system
“Earlier this month, we shared our Five Year Strategic Priorities, outlining our vision for the future of water management in the Sacramento River Basin. As a follow-up to that communication, we now turn our attention to the pillars that support these priorities—key elements that provide the strong foundation necessary to achieve our long-term goals. These pillars embody the core of our work in the Sacramento River Basin, underscoring our dedication to collaborative, multi-benefit water management. They build upon years of experience and partnerships, ensuring our approach evolves while remaining firmly rooted in our mission: safeguarding water supplies for communities, agriculture, ecosystems, and future generations. … ” Read more from the Northern California Water Association.
The Sacramento and American rivers face impacts as the Trump White House rescinds rules implementing the National Environmental Policy Act
“The Trump administration’s assault on the nation’s environmental laws continues at an unprecedented pace, with its latest target being the landmark National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. On Feb. 19, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) eliminated all of the rules that implement NEPA in an effort to “unleash” oil and gas drilling at the same time that the world is heating up from fossil-fuel driven climate change. “This interim final rule removes the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) from the Code of Federal Regulations,” according to the notice signed by the CEQ Director for NEPA, Jomar Maldonado Vazquez and submitted for publication in the Federal Register. The rule will become effect 45 days after it is published. … ” Read more from the Sacramento News & Review.
BAY AREA
Bay Area’s springlike weather to give way to rain, thunderstorms
“Faux spring is coming to an end in the Bay Area. After consecutive days of widespread 70- to 80-degree temperatures, a gradual cooldown is expected through the weekend. By Sunday, temperatures will struggle to crack 60 degrees in most cities and rain will return to the region. There is even a slight chance of thunderstorms. The shift is being triggered by a tradeoff in dominating weather systems along the West Coast. An area of high pressure resulted in sunshine and well above-normal temperatures Tuesday through Thursday. That high-pressure system will gradually weaken and shift eastward Friday and Saturday, giving way to a low-pressure system Sunday. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
With Trump’s war on DEI, local environmental organizations rethink diversity commitments
“On February 13 in a quiet auditorium in Oakland, the California State Coastal Conservancy’s executive officer, Amy Hutzel, took the podium at the agency’s board meeting to propose a resolution that, three weeks earlier, would have been “self-evident”: She asked the board to reaffirm the Conservancy’s commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. “These don’t seem to be normal times,” she said. As the chair moved the resolution to approval, the room of around thirty people, many of them agency staffers, burst into applause. Commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives swept the predominantly white conservation world in the aftermath of George Floyd’s 2020 murder. Now, President Donald Trump’s new administration has declared war on them, in a fast, furious, overwhelming, and legally dubious series of orders: shutting down DEI and environmental justice (EJ) programs, placing EJ staffers on administrative leave, reviewing more than 2,600 grant programs for DEI-related language and canceling contracts. … Now, agencies and nonprofits whose environmental work is funded by federal grants face a quandary: Do they risk their funding to stand up for their values? Or do they scrub the offending statements from their public platforms—since words are, well, just words? … ” Read more from Bay Nature.
Editorial: Tiburon marine lab closure plan a loss for students, SF Bay health
The Marin Independent Journal writes, “That San Francisco State University is facing budget cuts comes as no surprise. Sadly, it’s the sign of the times. Just north of us, Sonoma State University is eliminating a number of academic departments it has offered and its athletic teams are being dropped to close its budget gap. San Francisco State is facing a similar dilemma – a “financial emergency” – caused by a reduction in state funding for the university system and a downturn in enrollment. Its leadership has decided to close the Estuary and Ocean Science Center at the Romberg Campus in Tiburon. The bayfront marine lab is the only one of its kind on San Francisco Bay. The center, which is a scientific hub, teaching space and conference center, has been on the budgetary chopping block for several years. In 2023-24, low enrollment led the university to eliminate the master’s degree offered in estuary science, instead adding it to the college’s biology graduate program. This time the ax is falling. … ” Read more from the Marin Independent Journal.
CENTRAL COAST
Rainy weekend headed for Monterey Peninsula
“Another round of rain is headed for Monterey County this weekend, but it is not expected to impact travel and events too much as the wettest months of the rainy season come to an end. The National Weather Service is predicting two storms headed for California, though the southern half of the state is more likely to see the heavier rains and wind. “Southern California is going to get hit more than we are, pretty much all of the area south of San Luis Obispo,” said Brian Garcia, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Bay Area. “We’ll get a little bit of rain but nothing significant.” The rain is expected to start Friday evening after a cloudy day. The lows will be in the mid 40s with light winds. “The Santa Lucias (mountain range) might see half an inch of rain,” Garcia said. “But that’s a might. This will not be a big storm for us.” … ” Read more from the Monterey Herald.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Merced County residents urged to immediately support MID’s voluntary settlement agreement and oppose Bay Delta Plan
“Merced Irrigation District General Manager John Sweigard is calling on all eastern Merced County residents to take immediate action in support of a Voluntary Settlement Agreement (VSA) for the Merced River and to oppose the State Water Resources Control Board’s Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan (Bay Delta Plan) and the pending 401 Water Quality Certification. Ideally, comments should be submitted by Friday, Feb. 28, but can also be sent the following week if necessary. The State Board is poised to issue its 401 certification on April 15 but could issue it sooner for MID’s federal relicensing of its Lake McClure hydroelectric facilities. “The Bay Delta Plan will have a devastating impact on our community, costing hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of lost jobs, not to mention critical impacts to our local drinking water quality,” said Sweigard. “Our community must act now and be heard.” … ” Read more from the Merced County Times.
Westside farmers receive higher water allocation from Central Valley Project in California
“Recent atmospheric rivers and a supply of water in the state’s reservoirs has boosted the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s springtime water allocation to 35% for west side farmers in Central California. The allocation, announced Tuesday, is 20% higher than the allocation this time last year. Farmers on the west side of Fresno County are among those who receive their irrigation from the Central Valley Project operated by the federal Bureau of Reclamation. The current water year has been somewhat inconsistent in California with an extremely wet November followed by an exceptionally dry January. Reclamation officials will continue to review conditions and make updates as new information and data are analyzed, and assumptions are adjusted. … ” Read more from the Fresno Bee. | Read via AOL News.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Unusual winter heat spike breaks L.A. temperature records
“Southern California’s unusually warm winter weather this week broke five temperature records Thursday as a strong high pressure system pushed the thermometer to around 15 degrees above normal across the region. Downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach both hit a toasty 88 degrees Thursday, breaking the respective 86- and 84-degree records set in 2020, according to the National Weather Service. Los Angeles International Airport saw a record high of 86 degrees, while UCLA broke its record with 85 degrees and Paso Robles with 82 degrees. Although this week’s hot weather may have prompted an early appearance of flip-flops and sundresses, forecasters warn this stretch of heat isn’t indicative of an early start to springtime. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Corona dump burdened with underground fire seeks to accept debris from L.A. infernos
“The Eaton and Palisades fires had barely broken out when Waste Management offered to accept the inevitable disaster debris at its El Sobrante Landfill in Corona. But even as the company applied Jan. 8 for an emergency waiver to accept the wildfire rubble, landfill staffers had been struggling for months to control a fiery situation of their own. In July, El Sobrante managers informed the South Coast Air Quality Management District that a chemical reaction brewing inside the landfill was causing broiling temperatures and producing toxic sulfur pollution, according to air district records. Waste Management sought approval to increase its tonnage capacity to take in wildfire debris anyway, which Riverside County officials granted the next day. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Along the Colorado River …
Editorial: Trump’s funding freeze puts Western states at risk of drying up
The Las Vegas Sun editorial board writes, “The Colorado River is drying up, and now, thanks to President Donald Trump’s unprecedented freeze on federal funding, efforts to save it are drying up too. On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order halting the disbursement of funds from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Trump claimed the order was intended to attack far-left “Green New Deal” initiatives — an inexplicable claim given that almost no Green New Deal policies have ever been implemented at the federal level. In reality, the order gutted nearly all federal environmental initiatives and anything the president simply didn’t like or considered too “woke” — a term Trump has refused to define. Among Trump’s victims was $4 billion earmarked to protect the flow of the Colorado River. Those funds were set aside to pay farmers to use less water, increase the efficiency of Western water usage and upgrade critical infrastructure and water capture technology. Now, with the West already parched by a historic megadrought, Trump’s freeze is making a dire situation even worse. … ” Read more from the Las Vegas Sun.
A new era for rural Arizona’s water future
“In Arizona, water is the lifeblood of our rural economies, where agriculture, industry, small businesses and families all depend on reliable water supplies. Right now, Arizona stands at a critical crossroads in managing our water resources. Now, we have an opportunity to change that. It’s why we, leaders from across the state, are proud to stand together — Republicans and Democrats alike — to forge a modern, collaborative path to addressing Arizona’s water challenges. The Rural Groundwater Management Act represents a long-overdue step toward securing Arizona’s water future. This initiative creates certainty, opportunity and security for everyone who calls rural Arizona home. … ” Read more from the Arizona Capital Times.
In national water news today …
The growing threat of catastrophic flooding in rural America
“Extreme precipitation events are becoming more frequent and severe throughout the United States. This leads to more catastrophic flooding, generally defined as rare or exceptional high-magnitude floods that cause widespread destruction to property and/or loss of life. According to the US Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database, the frequency of floods causing over $1 billion in damages has risen by 216%. … Catastrophic flooding events that result in large economic costs and losses of life and property pose a threat across the US. However, rural communities face heightened risks due to unique physical and social factors. Some rural areas are increasingly at risk of severe flooding because of higher poverty rates that correlate with living in flood-prone areas. Rural areas with few residents and/or population decline can mean limited capacity and resources for climate-resilient infrastructure projects, planning, and preparedness. … ” Read more from the Pacific Institute.
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
SAN JOAQUIN RIVER RESTORATION PROGRAM 2025 Restoration Flow Schedule
