A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …
Note to readers: Sign up for weekly email service and you will receive notification of this post on Friday mornings. Readers on daily email service can add weekly email service by updating their subscription preferences. Click here to sign up!
In California water news this week …
Pending state subsidence guidelines give Valley water managers sinking feeling
“New subsidence guidelines from the Department of Water Resources are expected to drop on San Joaquin Valley water managers any day, a prospect that has them both hopeful and worried. The intent of the guidelines is to provide clarity within the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), which requires overdrafted regions to enact plans to bring aquifers into balance by 2040. One of SGMA’s primary goals is to halt subsidence, land sinking. Excessive groundwater pumping has caused huge swaths of the San Joaquin Valley to sink, damaging canals, roads and increasing flood risks. Some areas have collapsed on such a large scale, the phenomenon can be seen from space, earning the nickname “the Corcoran bowl.” Subsidence, though, has been a tricky devil to manage. Not all subsidence is the same. Some is reversible with substrata and aquifers that act like sponges, contracting in drought, refilling in wet years. In other areas, sinking is irreversible, particularly when pumping occurs deep below what’s known as the Corcoran clay layer that lies beneath the valley’s surface in intermittent patches. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Rising concerns of climate extremes and land subsidence impacts
“A recent article in Reviews of Geophysics explores land subsidence drivers, rates, and impacts across the globe. It also discusses the need for improved process representations and the inclusion of the interplay among land subsidence and climatic extremes, including their effects in models and risk assessments. Here, we asked the lead author to explain the concept of land subsidence, its impacts, and future directions needed for improved mitigation. Land subsidence (LS) refers to the relative sinking or lowering of the Earth’s land surface. LS is a pressing global issue that warrants action since subsidence can adversely impact infrastructure, humans, and the environment across various landscapes and climates (Figure 1). It may be driven by one or more natural processes and/or human activities that compound to cause localized or expansive ground deformation. Differential LS causes structures and roadways to crack and buckle. LS can also reduce the water storage capacity of aquifers. Notably, LS can be recoverable (e.g., natural variations in groundwater levels) or permanent (e.g., overdraft causing irreversible compaction). … ” Read more from EOS.
Flooding in Central Valley offers key opportunities for groundwater recharge
“California’s Central Valley — one of the nation’s most critical agricultural regions and home to over 1.3 million people — is prone to flooding. Mapping the extent of winter floods has been challenging for experts, however, because clouds can obscure the view of satellites. Recent efforts to improve satellite flood mapping have been incorporated into a new study that offers insight into where winter flooding is occurring and inform how floodwaters can be used to replenish depleted aquifers. The research, published June 4 in the Journal of Flood Risk Management, examined 20 years of satellite imagery to identify the extent and location of winter flooding in the region. The midwinter months of December through February were found to have the highest likelihood of floods, particularly when atmospheric rivers brought heavy rains when soils were already saturated. The study also identified areas where floodwaters fail to percolate through soils and offers suggestions for using the water to replenish rapidly depleting groundwater aquifers. By examining insurance claim data and overlays of floodwaters and buildings, researchers also found that flood exposure was actually higher, by value, for buildings outside of officially designated flood boundaries. The study’s findings can be visualized in three interactive maps. … ” Read more from the Desert Research Institute.
Fallowed fields are fueling California’s dust problem
“California produces more than a third of the vegetables and three quarters of the fruits and nuts in the United States. But water constraints are leaving more and more fields unplanted, or “fallowed,” particularly in the state’s famed farming hub, the Central Valley. In a study published in Communications Earth and Environment, researchers showed that these fallowed agricultural lands are producing a different problem: dust storms, which can cause road accidents and health problems and can have far-reaching environmental impacts. Using remote sensing methods, the team found that 88% of anthropogenic dust events in the state, such as dust storms, come from fallowed farmland. California’s frequent droughts could mean a rise in fallowed farmland. In 2014, the state passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), a policy aimed at ensuring the sustainability of groundwater resources. A report by the Public Policy Institute of California suggested that to meet the SGMA’s demands, farmers may need to fallow hundreds of thousands of additional acres, potentially worsening dust events. … ” Read more from EOS.
How groundwater projects in Southern California provide pulse flows on the Feather River
“Proposition 1 of 2014 dedicated $2.7 billion for investments in water storage projects, which the California Water Commission administers through the Water Storage Investment Program (WSIP). Projects approved under the Water Storage Investment Program are funded based on the public benefits they deliver. One such benefit is supplying pulse flows to the Feather River to benefit salmon. Three groundwater storage projects in the South San Joaquin Valley and Southern California have committed to providing these flows in exchange for funding. But how can a groundwater project in Southern California contribute to pulse flows on the Feather River? This question was answered at the May meeting of the California Water Commission, where Kristal Davis Fadtke, Environmental Program Manager at the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW), and David Okita, Special Consultant with the Department of Water Resources (DWR), explained the mechanics behind the pulse flows. … ” Read more from Maven’s Notebook.
Pulse flows and progress: Key highlights from the Chino Basin Program
“At the May meeting of the California Water Commission, representatives from the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, the project proponent for the Chino Basin Program, updated the Commission on the status of the project and progress toward completing the WSIP requirements. Elizabeth Hurst, Chino Basin Program Manager, and General Manager Shivaji Deshmukh gave the update. The Chino Basin Program (CBP) is designed to strengthen water supply reliability at both local and regional levels while addressing water quality issues in the Chino Basin and providing environmental benefits to Northern California. The Program aims to produce up to 15,000 acre-feet of purified water annually, which will be recharged into the groundwater basin to improve water quality, reduce salinity, and enhance preparedness for droughts and emergencies. “I’m proud of this program because it really does marry environmental protection, adaptation to climate change, and investment in local supply,” said Mr. Deshmukh. “What we are doing with this project is expanding on what IEUA is known for, and that’s developing local supplies that are drought proof, that [use] much less energy than alternative sources, and ultimately, not only provides a water supply reliability but provides an overall environment benefit to not only our region but to the state. To be able to marry that up with the pulse flow part of the Water Storage Investment Program is such a creative and innovative way to look at water management. So we’re very proud to be part of this Program.”… ” Read more from Maven’s Notebook.
Trump’s environmental protection budget cuts appear to target San Francisco Bay
“As director of the nonprofit Save the Bay, David Lewis has spent a lifetime fighting for resources – money to expand healthy tidal marshes, tighten wastewater standards, and push back on the kind of development that’s already covered miles of shoreline with landfill. But now, he feels like that work, and San Francisco Bay itself is under attack. “The Trump administration is definitely targeting San Francisco for cuts to environmental protection and leaving some programs in other parts of the country, with full funding. It’s really vindictive. And it’s going to be very damaging to San Francisco Bay,” says Lewis. He’s talking about restoration projects administered by the Environmental Protection Agency in regions around the country. While areas from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast to Chesapeake Bay keep their current funding, San Francisco Bay is targeted with more than $41 million in cuts. … ” Read more from KGO.
San Joaquin River Restoration Program set a new record for returning adult spring-run Chinook salmon
“The San Joaquin River Restoration Program set a new record this year for returning adult spring-run Chinook salmon: 448 – the highest number of captured returns recorded since the Program started reintroducing spring-run juveniles in 2014. “The high return numbers clearly demonstrate that spring-run Chinook can survive and return to spawn in the San Joaquin River” said program manager, Dr. Donald Portz. “We look forward to a future where salmon will be able to swim unencumbered all the way to spawning grounds below Friant Dam,” he said. The previous record for captured natural returns was 93 set in 2021. Due to multiple in-stream structures which halt their migration upstream, the San Joaquin’s returning spring-run Chinook must be captured in fyke traps – large-diameter, mesh cylinders placed in the river – before they are trucked in a tank approximately 120 miles to Reach 1 of the Restoration Area near Friant Dam and released. “Our fish need the cooler water and habitat of Reach 1 in order to hold over the summer before they spawn in the fall,” said the Program’s lead fish biologist, Dr. Oliver “Towns” Burgess. … ” Continue reading from the San Joaquin River Restoration Program.
State Lands Commission removes abandoned vessels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
“The State Lands Commission has conducted the largest single-site commercial abandoned vessel abatement and site restoration action in its history. Abandoned vessels have plagued waterways throughout the state for decades, but nowhere are they more concentrated than in the Delta. The abandoned vessels the Commission removed from the Sevenmile Slough area of the Delta, at a location known as the Skarry site, had been abandoned in the water for years, continued to deteriorate, and were a navigational hazard. They were highly visible, attracting scavengers and vandals and marring the serenity of this beautiful area. “The Delta is one of California’s most vital and cherished waterways, and it deserves to be protected,” said Lieutenant Governor and State Lands Commission Chair Eleni Kounalakis. “These abandoned vessels not only pose environmental and navigational hazards but also threaten the health and safety of nearby communities. As Chair of the State Lands Commission, I’m proud that we are taking decisive action to restore this site, protect our natural resources, and prevent illegal dumping in our public waterways.” … ” Continue reading from the State Lands Commission.
The fishermen allying with farmers in California’s water wars
“In California’s water wars, fishermen and farmers have long been enemies. But now that federal and state regulators have closed the salmon commercial fishing season for an unprecedented third year in a row to protect declining populations, at least one major commercial fishing group is shifting its alliances. The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations teamed up with farmers for a first-ever joint Washington, D.C., lobbying trip in early May. They met with members of Congress and federal officials to ask for more money for salmon hatcheries, which breed, raise and release young fish. … “We’ve been in water wars for 50 years, and we’re on our third year of salmon closure, so obviously we’re not winning,” said Lisa Damrosch, who joined PCFFA as executive director a year and half ago. The realignment is also coming at a time when President Donald Trump is promising more water to farmers and slashing both environmental funds and rules — which Damrosch sees as a potential opening. She spoke with POLITICO about her “America First” pitch, her group’s already-tenuous relationship with some environmental groups and the future of commercial fishing in California. … ” Read more from Politico.
Combating a rising threat to water systems: Inside the Golden Mussel Framework
“Golden mussels, an invasive mollusk, pose a significant threat to natural ecosystems and water infrastructure due to their ability to form dense colonies. First identified in the Delta in October 2024, these invasive mussels are highly adaptable, tolerating a wide range of environmental conditions, including varying salinity levels. Once established, golden mussels can disrupt ecosystems by outcompeting native species for food, altering water quality and biofouling surfaces, leading to costly damage to water systems and infrastructure. Recognizing the need for coordinated action, a dedicated task force was formed in late October 2024. This group brought together eight key agencies, including the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Division of Boating and Waterways, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, among others, all of which have authority or are directly impacted by the presence of golden mussels. By April 2025, the task force released a comprehensive response framework outlining strategies to address this issue. Martha Volkoff, Program Manager with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, provided an overview of the framework at the May meeting of the Delta Independent Science Board. … ” Read more from Maven’s Notebook.
Delta Conveyance Project …
Legislative committee rejects Newsom’s plan to fast track Delta water tunnel construction
“Gov. Gavin Newsom’s attempt to fast track the construction of the Delta Conveyance Project had a setback Tuesday. The governor’s strategy of inserting a bundle of policy changes into the state budget was rejected by a budget subcommittee, essentially sending a message to Newsom that the Legislature would rather discuss his suggestions using the normal legislative process. The Delta Conveyance Project is a proposal for a 45-mile gravity-fed canal that would carry excess water from the Sacramento River to join the preexisting aqueduct system that provides water to millions of users in Central and Southern California.In Newsom’s May revised budget, he added proposals that would speed land acquisition, require the State Water Resources Control Board to cancel certain objections, make permanent the water rights permit for the State Water Project and shorten litigation timelines. … ” Read more from Local Matters.
Temporary victory: California senate rejects delta tunnel budget power grab
“Restore the Delta is celebrating a significant win for communities, the environment, and the democratic process. Today, the Senate Budget Subcommittee rejected the Delta Conveyance Project trailer bill package and reversed $351.7 million in proposed funding for the Voluntary Agreements. This decision reflects growing concerns among legislators about the costs, legality, and rushed process behind the tunnel plan. It’s a strong signal that the Legislature will not allow environmental protections, public input, or fiscal responsibility to be cast aside for a massive, unworkable project. “This is a huge win for the Delta, for California’s rivers, and for democratic process,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. “Legislators rightly stood up for public process, environmental review, and fiscal responsibility.” … ” Read more from Restore the Delta.
State Water Contractors respond to Senate and Assembly budget proposal
“This week, members of the Senate and Assembly budget subcommittees removed Governor Newsom’s proposal for the Delta Conveyance Project from the budget package, a move that would burden ratepayers with costly and unnecessary delays. The Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) is critical to modernizing the State Water Project (SWP), California’s primary water distribution system. The SWP provides an affordable source of high-quality, clean water for 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of agricultural land. The DCP will protect California’s $2.3 trillion economy — $19 billion in agriculture alone — and 8.7 million full-time jobs. Statement from Jennifer Pierre, General Manager of the State Water Contractors: “Despite the headlines, the Governor’s proposal to expedite administrative processes for the Delta Conveyance Project and maintain affordable water supplies for California is very much alive and supported by a growing, broad and bipartisan group from across the state and Legislature. … ” Continue reading from the State Water Contractors.
Dan Walters: Newsom wanted to fast-track the Delta tunnel project. The Legislature slowed the flow
“Repeatedly Gavin Newsom has sought legislative approval of his high-priority policy proposals within the annual state budget process, even though they often have nothing to do with the budget. The unique rules governing the budget and its accompanying “trailer bills” allow them to be enacted quickly, bypassing many parliamentary hurdles and vote thresholds that other legislation must endure. The Legislature, controlled by Newsom’s fellow Democrats, generally allows him to use the budget process, in part because legislators often employ the same shortcuts for their own priorities. Their underlying motive for the sneaky use — or misuse — of the budget process is to avoid prolonged analysis and debate that might, if the bills’ contents are fully vetted, make them more difficult to enact. The trailer bills often contain favors for interest groups that would be difficult to justify in a more transparent process. … ” Read more from Dan Walters.
Column: Newsom’s power play on the Delta tunnel
Columnist George Skelton writes, “Gov. Gavin Newsom is up to his old tricks, trying to ram major policy change through the state Legislature on short notice. And again lawmakers are pushing back. Not only lawmakers, but the Legislature’s nonpartisan, independent chief policy analyst. The Legislative Analyst‘s Office has recommended that legislators hold off voting on what the governor seeks because they’re being pressed to act without enough time to properly study the complex matter. Newsom is asking the Legislature to “fast-track” construction of his controversial and costly water tunnel project in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The $20-billion, 45-mile, 39-feet-wide tunnel would enhance delivery of Northern California water to Southern California. Delta towns and farmers, environmental groups and the coastal salmon fishing industry are fighting the project and the governor’s latest move to expedite construction. If there are any supporters at the state Capitol outside the governor’s office for his fast-track proposal, they’re not speaking up. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Edward Ring: The economics of the Delta Conveyance Project
Edward Ring, Director of Water and Energy Policy at the California Policy Center, writes, “One of the most controversial water issues in California is the proposed Delta Conveyance. The 45-mile-long tunnel will have the capacity to move up to 4 million acre feet per year from the Sacramento River safely under the fragile delta ecosystem, delivering water to southbound aqueducts. That’s not bad. But the reservoir storage necessary to allow the tunnel to operate year-round at capacity, or even at half-capacity, is unlikely to ever be met. The state’s own estimate of the tunnel’s eventual throughput is only 500,000 acre feet per year. A clarifying way to evaluate the cost effectiveness of water supply infrastructure investments is to examine a simple ratio: the total project construction cost divided by the expected average annual yield. Using that method, at a cost of $20 billion and operating year after year at its full capacity of 4 million acre feet of annual throughput, equates to a cost/yield ratio of $5,000 per acre foot. But this is a theoretical best case estimate. How would it compare to other cost-effective ways to increase California’s water supply? … ” Read more from Edward Ring.
California’s water crisis is a question of infrastructure: It’s time for the Delta Conveyance Project
Charley Wilson, Executive Director of the Southern California Water Coalition, and Richard Lambros, the Executive Director of the Secure Water Alliance, write, “California has often positioned itself as a leader in responding to the dangers of climate change. From pioneering clean energy initiatives to enforcing some of the strictest emissions regulations in the nation, the state has consistently taken bold steps to prepare for the future. Yet when it comes to water infrastructure, which is also an important part of our response to climate change, we are falling dangerously behind. For decades, California has relied on the Sierra Nevada snowpack to store water through the winter, gradually replenishing reservoirs as it melts in the spring and summer. But with climate change, more of California’s precipitation is now falling as rain instead of snow, and the Department of Water Resources projects that climate change could reduce the state’s water supply by up to 23% over the next 20 years. … ” Continue reading this commentary.
In commentary this week …
Water scarcity is forcing tough decisions. This legislation can keep our family farm afloat
“My family is proud of our farm in Kerman. At VF&B Farms, we’ve grown just about everything over the years — cotton, tomatoes, almonds, sugar beets, cantaloupes, barley, and wheat. If it grows in the Valley, we’ve probably had a go at it. Farming here has never been easy, but it’s always been worth it. We take pride in feeding our neighbors and contributing to California’s economy. But like so many of my fellow farmers, I’m worried about the future. Not because we can’t keep farming, but because we may no longer have the water to do it. Water scarcity is no longer a distant threat. It is here. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act is forcing many of us to drastically reduce groundwater use. And while we support responsible water management, the reality is sobering: Large portions of our farmland could become unusable in the near future. … ” Read more from GV Wire.
California’s water crisis: Time to turn policy into action
Nick Papagni, Ag Net West, writes, “Despite direct orders from both President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom to prioritize delivering fresh water to the people and farms of California, more than 300,000 acre-feet of usable fresh water have been lost to the ocean over the past 60 days. This water loss occurred while key pumping facilities in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta remained idle, hamstrung by outdated and questionable environmental regulations. To put the scale of this loss into perspective, 300,000 acre-feet is enough water to supply 3.3 million people for an entire year. Instead of serving communities or irrigating California’s vital agricultural lands, this water was diverted to the ocean—wasted due to regulatory inaction and a system mired in policies that many consider obsolete. … ” Read more from Ag Net West.
To save ecosystems, sometimes hands-off is not enough
Edward Ring writes, “One of the biggest debates over environmental stewardship is whether a degraded ecosystem is best left completely alone to recover or whether it should instead be restored by increasing human intervention and management. A perfect example of this is the conifer forests of California, extending over nearly 30,000 square miles. For millennia, lightning strikes ignited fires that routinely thinned the underbrush and most of the smaller trees, a process that was essential to maintaining a healthy ecosystem. But California’s forests have been transformed. Forest fires have been suppressed, which has caused these forests to develop tree densities 5–10 times greater than historic levels. More recently, environmental regulations have suppressed human activities—logging, grazing, prescribed burns, and mechanical thinning—that mimic the role that natural fires used to play. As a result, California’s forests are tinderboxes, and the wildfires that aren’t immediately suppressed become catastrophic rather than quickly contained. Hence, the debate grows: do we permit activities that manage California’s forests or adopt a completely hands-off approach and trust ecosystems to eventually rebound? … ” Read more from Edward Ring.
One way Trump’s DOGE cuts could actually help environmentalists in the West
Author Tom Zoellner writes, “No big government infrastructure project made an imprint on the landscape and economy of the West more than the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s 20th century dam-building spree, which peppered 490 dams across the country, created an agricultural civilization dependent on federal hydrology civil engineering and brought about a welter of environmental difficulties after drying up dozens of once-healthy rivers. Today, the agency claims a $1.4 billion budget to maintain its fleet of aging dams. It was perhaps inevitable that the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, would seek to cut it down. Approximately 400 workers at the bureau — including dam tenders, emergency management specialists and hydrologists — received “reduction in force” letters in March, raising fears that poorly monitored dams could fail, creating catastrophic flooding. This, just five weeks after President Donald Trump stoked fears of mismanagement by ordering billions of gallons of water released from two Central Valley dams, against the objections of officials, water experts and farmers. Turmoil in the federal dam management system represents potential disaster but also a prime opportunity: It offers environmentalists an opening to make a vigorous case for dam removal — a move that could save costs and please business interests while achieving a longstanding goal of getting rid of the most harmful and obsolete blockages on Western rivers. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
In regional water news this week …
California’s massive dam removal hit a key milestone. Now, there’s a problem
“Last year, after the historic removal of four dams on the Klamath River, thousands of salmon rushed upstream into the long-blocked waters along the California-Oregon border, seeking out the cold, plentiful flows considered crucial to the fish’s future. The return of salmon to their ancestral home was a fundamental goal of dam removal and a measure of the project’s success. However, a problem emerged. The returning salmon only got so far. Eight miles upriver from the former dam sites lies a still-existing dam, the 41-foot-tall Keno Dam in southern Oregon. The dam has a fish ladder that’s supposed to help with fish passage, but it didn’t prove to work. While many proponents of dam removal say they’re thrilled with just how far the salmon got, most of the 420 miles of waterways that salmon couldn’t reach before the dam demolition still appear largely unreachable. This stands to keep the fish from spreading and reproducing in the high numbers anticipated with the project. Other migratory fish, including steelhead trout and Pacific lamprey, may face similar straits.The shortcoming has opened a new chapter in the decades-long effort to liberate the Klamath River, this one focused on Keno Dam. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Yurok Tribe restores sacred lands and salmon in historic conservation deal
“The Pacific Ocean fog hung densely over the narrow mouth of the Klamath River in this coastal rainforest in northern California. Redwood, Douglas fir and alder disappeared into the mist. Seals bobbed nearby, hungry and waiting. An osprey swooped overhead, breakfast clenched in its claws. It was late July, 2024. The salmon run wouldn’t start for several months. But a few chinook salmon arrived early, some poached by birds and mammals, some caught in nets by Yurok fishing from their johnboats. Pergish Carlson, a river guide and Yurok — a member of California’s largest Indigenous tribe — captained a modern motorboat on that morning. We were there to try and get a glimpse of the future, to witness a crucial ecological element connected to the largest river restoration project in U.S. history: the return of nearby Blue Creek and its vast watershed to the Yurok Nation. But Carlson couldn’t help but look to the past; it helped him savor the renewal that lay upstream, he told Mongabay. “Not that many years ago,” he said, “the Indian people, my people, could only fish here at night, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. We were run off by the government if we tried to fish earlier. This was always our river, our salmon. But the daylight hours were reserved for sport fishermen.”… ” Read more from Mongabay.
Water deliveries from Spaulding Reservoir near as repairs ahead of schedule
“Repair work continues on the Spaulding powerhouses and water deliveries from the reservoir are near, Nevada Irrigation District General Manager Jennifer Hanson reported Wednesday, while adding that PG&E is reporting that they are two days ahead of schedule. “We should start seeing water filling in the tunnel into June 28-June 29,” said Hanson. “We will be getting South Yuba Canal ready a little bit prior to that. We expect water supply to have a little bit more of a decrease than last year but hopefully we can get water getting in sooner and we can flatten that out, just because it was so much hotter this year and we didn’t have that May storm like we did last year. That storm really topped us off last year.” Full service of the powerhouses are expected to return in August, depending on how testing goes during July. The testing requires a release of water into the related tunnels. It is still unknown, Hanson said, whether or not PG&E will place restrictions on flow intake. … ” Read more from The Union.
Town hall presents opposing views on controversial plan to decommission Potter Valley Project
“The vastly different viewpoints around whether or not the Potter Valley Project should be decommissioned — and dismantled — took center stage at a special event in Lakeport at the end of May. The Lake County Chamber of Commerce hosted the Lake Pillsbury and Potter Valley Project town hall on the evening of Wednesday, May 28, at the Soper Reese Theater in Lakeport. The Potter Valley Project includes the Potter Valley powerhouse, Cape Horn Dam and Van Arsdale Reservoir, Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has operated the project for decades but in 2019 the corporation abandoned its license for the hydroelectric facility after determining it was “uneconomic” for its customers to maintain. The negotiations about the future of the project, and in particular Lake Pillsbury — located in northern Lake County — have seen Lake County largely sidelined by larger regional and political interests. … ” Read more from the Lake County News.
A creek on California’s most famous vineyard is the site of a contentious, yearslong fight
“A four-mile creek that runs through California’s most famous vineyard is at the center of a yearslong battle between a fourth-generation Napa Valley grape grower and major wine corporation Constellation Brands. After a 16-page appeal, repeated delays and even a fraud allegation, the conflict may finally get resolved this week. The farmer, Graeme MacDonald, “grew up on and in” the creek, which babbles through land his family has owned since 1954. The property is part of the hallowed To Kalon Vineyard — made famous by California wine pioneer Robert Mondavi — and the unassuming creek is a geological star. Within its ancient bed, mineral deposits of gravel, sand and silt formed and spread, creating what’s known as an alluvial fan: rocky, fertile and well-draining soil that’s widely believed to be the best in the world for growing wine grapes. Known for producing some of the most complex and sought-after wines worldwide, these alluvial soils are famously found in renowned wine regions such as Burgundy and Bordeaux. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Monterey: How much water will we need by 2050?
“David Schmalz here.Having reported on water on the Monterey Peninsula for the better part of the last decade, it’s remarkable to reflect on what has transpired in that time: A political movement for public water, a political movement to stop Cal Am’s desal project in Marina, an innovative recycled water project and its expansion, and a conditional approval for Cal Am’s desal project, which is still being litigated on multiple fronts. The Peninsula’s water demand has steadily droppedover that time while its legal supply continued to increase. Cal Am was finally able to stop its illegal overpumping of the Carmel River, and with the completion of Pure Water Monterey’s expansion coming later this year, the Peninsula’s annual supply will be over 12,000 acre-feet, according to the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District’s estimates. … ” Read more from Monterey Now.
Diablo Grande residents demand answers over threat of water shut off
“Residents of Diablo Grande packed a heated meeting on June 4, demanding answers from the Western Hills Water District as the community faces the threat of having its water shut off at the end of the month. The Kern County Water Agency has notified Western Hills that it will halt water deliveries on June 30 unless the district catches up on unpaid bills dating back to 2019. Western Hills currently owes Kern more than $13 million. Now the water district is proposing a significant rate hike, raising monthly water bills from roughly $200 to nearly $600, giving residents a difficult choice: accept the increase or risk losing water service entirely. If approved, the higher rates would keep water flowing through the end of the year while the district searches for alternative water sources. The situation stems from a contract created in 2000, originally designed to serve more than 5,000 homes. Only about 600 homes were ever built in the community, leaving a small group of homeowners responsible for the major debt. … ” Read more from CBS News.
Federal judge tasks Port of Los Angeles with cleaning up contaminated water
“The Port of Los Angeles will need to clean up widespread water contamination in the city’s harbor by shoring up sewage treatment operations, according to a settlement approved by a federal judge. The settlement was the result of a lawsuit filed by the organization Environment California last summer accusing the port of violating the Clean Water Act by unleashing toxic pollutants into the San Pedro Bay. The group maintained that the port had conducted more than 2,000 illegal wastewater discharges in the previous five years alone — release that routine surpassed limits on fecal bacteria, copper and other contaminants. “Californians count on having a clean, vibrant coastline, but that’s not compatible with contaminated effluent that can lap up on our world-renowned shores,” Laura Deehan, Environment California’s state director, said in a statement on Wednesday. … ” Read more from The Hill.
Salton Sea is emitting foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide gas, triggering health concerns
“On scorching days when winds blow across the California desert, the Salton Sea regularly gives off a stench of decay resembling rotten eggs. New research has found that the shrinking lake is emitting the foul-smelling gas hydrogen sulfide more frequently and at higher levels than previously measured. The findings document how the odors from the Salton Sea add to the air quality problems and health concerns in communities near the lake, where windblown dust drifts from exposed stretches of lakebed and where people suffer from high rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses. “The communities around the Salton Sea are on the front lines of a worsening environmental health crisis,” said Mara Freilich, a co-author of the study and assistant professor in Brown University’s Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences. … ” Read more from the LA Times. | Read via Yahoo News.
