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 …
Something deep in the Pacific is reshaping California’s weather. It may not stop anytime soon
“A major ocean temperature index in the North Pacific has plunged to record low levels signaling a shift that tends to lock in coastal fog, delay California’s rainy season and reroute storms to the north. This summer already bears the stamp of this setup. Around the Bay Area, mornings have been trapped in gray, afternoons unusually breezy, and inland heat has arrived in short, erratic bursts. New research suggests this isn’t just a temporary phase. The persistent sea surface temperature anomalies driving this cool phase pattern may reflect a longer-term shift in the Pacific’s ocean and atmosphere, one that climate change appears to be reinforcing. … ” Continue reading from the San Francisco Chronicle (gift article).
Santa Clara Valley Water District halts work on $3.2 billion Pacheco Reservoir amid cost overruns, delays
“Faced with new cost overruns, the board of Santa Clara County’s largest water agency on Tuesday voted to kill a plan to build a huge new reservoir in the southern part of the county near Pacheco Pass after eight years of studies and $100 million in public spending. The board of the Santa Clara Valley Water District voted 6-0 to halt planning and engineering studies, and to withdraw the agency’s application for state bond funds for the Pacheco Reservoir project. The reservoir — for which the agency has already spent $100 million on planning, environmental studies, engineering work, legal bills and other costs — would have been the largest new reservoir built anywhere in the Bay Area since 1998 when Los Vaqueros Reservoir was constructed in eastern Contra Costa County. But soaring costs, the inability of the water district to find any other water agencies to help pay construction costs and share the water, and a decision last month by the federal Bureau of Reclamation not to allow water from federal projects to be stored in the reservoir, marked the end. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
DWR: Delta Conveyance Project: Upgrading foundational water supply infrastructure makes economic sense
“Twenty-seven million Californians, including seven million in disadvantaged communities, rely on the State Water Project (SWP) for clean, affordable and safe water. Today, those supplies are increasingly at risk due to climate change, sea level rise and earthquakes. That’s why the Department of Water Resources (DWR) is moving forward with the Delta Conveyance Project to provide real water supply benefits for millions of Californians served by the SWP. For more than 60 years, California’s now $2.3 trillion economy has benefitted from the clean, affordable, and reliable water supplies provided by the SWP—a foundational source that is one of the most affordable options and less expensive than alternatives such desalination, recycling and stormwater capture according to a 2024 economic analysis. While these projects are an important component of local water supply portfolios, they can’t entirely make up anticipated future losses and many rely on the SWP as an original source of water supplies. … ” Read more from the Department of Water Resources.
SEE ALSO: DWR report supports Delta Conveyance Project, from the Santa Clarita Valley Signal
RESTORE THE DELTA: Advocates from across California confront governor’s office over push for Delta tunnel CEQA exemption and Bay-Delta Plan
“On August 26, 2025, dozens of advocates from Tribes, Delta communities, environmental justice groups, fishing groups, and conservation organizations held more than 100 meetings at the State Capitol to express collective opposition to the Delta Conveyance Project and Water Quality Plan CEQA Exemption trailer bills. Participants came from every corner of the state, spanning an age range of over 50 years, united in their call to protect the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary and California rivers. Advocates urged lawmakers to reject attempts to advance the tunnel and excessive water exports and instead support viable, community-based solutions such as local water projects in Southern California. Throughout the day, advocates learned that the State Water Contractors are advancing a strategy to secure CEQA exemptions for both the Bay-Delta Plan and the Delta Tunnel, with sunset clauses ending only when the projects are completed to their satisfaction. In effect, this strategy—backed by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Governor’s Office—would isolate Tribes and Delta residents from due process rights guaranteed under current law. … ” Read more from the Restore the Delta.
EDWARD RING: How dredging the Delta enables groundwater recharge
“ProPublica, a nonprofit news organization and winner of multiple Pulitzer prizes, recently published a report “The Drying Planet.” They report that “Moisture lost to evaporation and drought, plus runoff from pumped groundwater, now outpaces the melting of glaciers and the ice sheets of either Antarctica or Greenland as the largest contributor of water to the oceans.” That’s a big claim, but the authors base it on a study, also published last month, “Unprecedented continental drying, shrinking freshwater availability, and increasing land contributions to sea level rise,” written by a team led by Hrishikesh A. Chandanpurkar, a researcher at Arizona State University. “Unprecedented.” “The Drying Planet.” The message is clear: we face a climate emergency. What does this have to do with dredging? We will get to that. … ” Read more from Edward Ring.
SoCal’s most powerful water job is still open with big calls about the future to make
“The most important water job in this region, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, is in flux. Three people have held the position over the past five years, including two since the end of January. Now, Met Water is in the process of hiring yet another new leader, with district officials saying their goal is to find a general manager who will stay on the job for several years. “The job is obviously important,” said Adán Ortega, chairman of the board at Met Water. “Stability is important.” Actually, stability at Met Water is important far beyond the district. The 97-year-old, publicly funded district is the nation’s biggest water wholesaler, importing water from the Colorado River and Northern California that’s used by about 19 million people in six Southern California counties. … ” Read more from the OC Register.
RELATED:
- Why every Californian has a stake in who Metropolitan picks for its new GM, commentary fr Bruce Reznik, executive director of LA Waterkeeper
- Restore the Delta Calls for Accountability and Oversight in Delta Conveyance Project Financing and Metropolitan Water District Leadership Selection, from Restore the Delta
Water quality panel focuses on agricultural nitrogen use
“As California water officials consider changes to the state’s regulatory framework for nitrogen applications and discharges by farms that irrigate, those representing growers who rely on nitrogen fertilizers say more data and time are needed before strict targets are imposed. Kari Fisher, senior counsel and director of legal advocacy for the California Farm Bureau, said it is premature to adopt nitrogen applied and nitrogen removed limits at this time. She added that the industry is still gathering and evaluating data to develop realistic nitrogen targets that work for all crops in all regions. “We have found that the one-size-fits-all nitrogen and application reporting requirements don’t necessarily fit with how agriculture is grown in the state because of differences related to commodity type, where crops are grown and reliance on surface water versus groundwater and the like,” Fisher said. … ” Read more from Ag Alert.
Prop 218’s ongoing impacts on California water
“A pair of recent court decisions in San Diego—Patz v. City of San Diego and Coziahr v. Otay Water District—have thrust California’s Proposition 218 back into the spotlight. But what is this proposition, and how does it affect our water bills and the state’s water providers? As Californians grow increasingly concerned about affordability, we asked Dave Owen, a professor at UC Law San Francisco, to explain how Prop 218 and water rates are connected. … ” Read more from the PPIC.
Scrambling to study smoke on the water
“As multiple fires raged through Los Angeles in January 2025, Bernadeth Tolentino had one more thing to worry about: kelp. Tolentino, a marine biologist and graduate student at the University of Southern California, is part of a lab that runs a gene bank of kelp spores. The repository preserves genetic diversity and allows scientists to bolster struggling populations. As the roaring fires turned homes, cars, and businesses into chemical-laden ash, Tolentino realized that runoff from postfire rains would eventually carry that ash to the sea. In the ocean, the ash threatened to block sunlight and pollute the water surrounding one particular kelp population in Santa Monica Bay—a population not represented in the gene bank. She needed to reach the kelp before runoff damaged viable spores. The dive team, including Tolentino, scrambled to apply for permits, gather their equipment, and coordinate dives before rainstorms carried too much toxic runoff to the site. “It was a little bit of a rush job,” she said. Accelerated permitting from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife allowed the team to reach the kelp population just in time. … ” Read more from EOS.
Burning urban and wild land alike
“The 2025 Palisades and Eaton Fires torched scrub-lined slopes of the San Gabriel and Santa Monica Mountains, as well as buildings, streets, cars, and infrastructure. Before the flames were even contained, scientists from throughout the Los Angeles (LA) metro area turned to the skies, their labs, and their communities to study the extent of the damage. Their work is informing residents and other researchers about how hazards from the fires have shifted in the weeks and months after containment, and how they could change in the years to come. Scientists are learning how the fires, which burned along the urban-wildland interface, were distinct from strictly urban or rural fires in terms of chemistry, topographic changes, and follow-on hazards. … ” Read more from EOS.
‘Drastic’: Life-saving California weather forecast data is about to disappear
“There are close to a hundred of them, bobbing along the surface of the ocean, quietly collecting information thousands of people use every day. Now, that crucial data is in peril — and its loss could lead to dire ripple effects across the state of California.Federal funding cuts have targeted the network of ocean buoys that make up the Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP), which has been run by UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography for the past 50 years. The buoys can be found along the West Coast, the Gulf Coast, the East Coast and the Pacific Islands. (At present, 27 of them are off the coast of California.) They rise and fall with passing waves, their internal sensors tracking peak heights and directions that are then disseminated to CDIP’s website and sought out by beachgoers, lifeguards and meteorologists.Experts say that eliminating the buoys may compromise the accuracy of weather forecasts, the timing of emergency response efforts and the safety of surfers, mariners and swimmers out on the water. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
Who pays to fix America’s aging dams? Cities, states and strapped owners
“Across the United States, more than 121,000 dams quietly shape daily life by supplying water, generating hydropower and providing flood control. But according to the National Performance of Dams Program, on average about 10 dams fail each year. Sometimes these failures have devastating, even deadly consequences. Many are aging, high-hazard structures in need of costly repairs, and the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit found money is scarce and owners are often left footing the bill. Behind a locked gate and up a winding road in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is the nearly 100-year-old McClure Dam. It supplies up to half of Santa Fe’s drinking water and is owned by the city. “This is a high hazard dam,” John Del Mar said as he looked out at the dam. … ” Read more from KSBW.
State Water Board launches new webpage: Effects of Recharge on Groundwater Quality
“As part of the State Water Boards’ efforts to better understand groundwater recharge in California, the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) program has released a website entitled Effects of Recharge on Groundwater Quality and has developed the Aquifer Recharge and Groundwater Quality (ARGQ) Dashboard. The website can be accessed from the GAMA homepage under Projects or via this link GAMA – Effects of Recharge on Groundwater Quality | California State Water Resources Control Board. The website has several sections related to recharge such as the Data Visualization Dashboard, Groundwater Quality Case Studies, and Related Recharge Projects. This website will continue to be updated as projects progress. … ” Continue reading this announcement.
New groundwater demand management network launches community needs assessment survey
“”A coalition of leading water experts recently announced the launch of the Groundwater Demand Management Network, a new statewide initiative designed to create a comprehensive community of practice for managing California’s critical groundwater resources. The Network has launched its California Groundwater Community Needs Assessment to help shape programming, identify priority needs, and establish partnerships across the state. The Network encourages all interested parties to take the five-minute survey available at: https://bit.ly/gdmn-survey. The survey should be completed by September 31, 2025. The outcomes will prove invaluable to guide the services the Network will offer. … ” Continue reading this announcement.
In regional water news this week …
How Karuk ceremonial leader Ron Reed used Western science to take down the Klamath dams
“The Karuk people have lived in the thickly forested mountains along the Klamath River in Northern California for so long that they simply say since time immemorial. Chinook salmon were intrinsic to their way of life. For thousands of years and hundreds of generations, the tribe feasted on the throngs of fish that rushed upstream to lay eggs. Then, about 100 years ago, European settlers built four hydroelectric dams on the upper reaches of the river, blocking access to prime spawning grounds and pushing the river’s once-bountiful salmon runs toward extinction. Karuk ceremonial leader and dipnet fisherman Ron Reed embarked on a quest to help his tribe free the Klamath from the dams nearly 25 years ago. But the divide between his Indigenous knowledge and Western science seemed insurmountable. “I used to speak from the heart—I didn’t have the scientific vocabulary I have now,” says Reed. … ” Continue reading from Robin Meadows at Maven’s Notebook.
‘Answer to our ancestors’ prayers’: These teens paddled all 310 miles of the undammed Klamath River
“Ninety-year-old Lavina Bowers began to cry as she searched the thick morning fog for her 17-year-old great-granddaughter, Keeya Wiki. Keeya’s mother, Geneva Wiki, stood by Bowers, clutching her grandmother’s arm. “Crying is healing,” Geneva said. The two women were standing on a sand spit near the village of Rekwoi, commonly known as Requa, on the Yurok Reservation along the rocky California coast of Del Norte County. As they craned forward near the shoreline, they made out a faint, uniform line. It was about 30 kayakers bobbing forward in unison. A group of Indigenous youths, ages 13 to 20, they represented tribes from the entire Klamath River Basin. Among them was Keeya. Behind them was a fleet of boats, rafts and other kayaks paddling toward the sandy banks where the Klamath River meets the Pacific Ocean. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
ILRP regulations lifted for operations in the Central Valley region’s Pit River Subwatershed
“During its August 22 meeting, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board voted unanimously to amend the region’s Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program (ILRP) General Order and exempt growers in the Pit River subwatershed from having to enroll in the program. The Pit River Subwatershed is located in portions of Lassen, Modoc, Shasta, and Siskiyou counties where the primary crops are pasture (79%), forage crops, wild rice, and small acreages of specialty crops. The rationale for the exemption is that the Pit River area growers rarely apply nitrogen fertilizers or pesticides and pose a “minimal risk of impairing the quality of surface waters and groundwater.” In addition, the regional water board acknowledged that growers in the Pit River Subwatershed pay a higher regulatory cost in terms of percentage of per-acre earnings compared with growers in other areas. … ” Continue reading at Maven’s Notebook.
How a beautiful summer day on Lake Tahoe suddenly turned deadly
“It was a gorgeous June Saturday on Lake Tahoe, but the day turned stormy in minutes when a torrent of winds whipped up choppy waters that terrified boaters. Eight people died. The New York Times looked at videos, radar and satellite imagery, and interviewed over 30 people, including meteorologists, local officials and boaters who were on the lake that day. The investigation revealed a rare set of circumstances that led to the unexpectedly dangerous day.” Check out this cool photo interactive from the New York Times (gift article).
Sacramento groups file federal lawsuit over American River Parkway tree removal
“A national conservation organization joined two Sacramento nonprofits to file a federal lawsuit over a plan to uproot hundreds of trees on the American River Parkway by government officials who say the work seeks to protect against flooding. The Sacramento region is in one of the nation’s most flood-prone metropolitan areas, and its levee system is vulnerable to “erosion, seepage and stability,” the U.S. Army Corps said on its website. The Corps will raze trees to install riprap, or rocks, along the lower American River, as well as fortify the Natomas East Main Drainage Canal, Arcade Creek and Magpie Creek. Advocates filed the lawsuit to seek alternative flood protection measures on the American River, north of the Watt Avenue bridge, than those proposed by the Corps. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
Landfill that closed 47 years ago continues to leak trash into Pacific Ocean
“For more than 20 years, Mussel Rock, a steep stretch of oceanfront land in northern San Mateo County with breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean and the Farallon Islands, was a garbage dump. Two communities, Pacifica and Daly City, threw away thousands of tons of trash there starting in 1957, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, “I Love Lucy” ruled the airwaves, and environmental laws were few and far between. The landfill closed in 1978. The garbage, 100 feet deep in some places, was covered with dirt roughly 4 feet thick. A barrier of boulders was built along part of the beach to slow erosion. The property became a public park where today people hike and fish. The history is fading. But the garbage remains. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
Kern subbasin looks to avoid probation with new plan
“With the Kern County Subbasin’s State Water Resources Control Board hearing set to continue on September 17, an updated 2025 Groundwater Sustainability Plan is hopeful to prevent a probationary designation. Close to 1,000 pages, the revised GSP enhances coordination between over 20 different groundwater sustainability agencies and 35 water agencies — combined, these agencies cover the largest subbasin in the state. On Aug. 26, the Water Association of Kern County and the Kern County Farm Bureau hosted a technical meeting on the GSP and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. According to Intera Consulting’s principal water resources engineer, Abhishek Singh, the updated plan is the product of thousands of hours of collaborative work among local GSAs, technical experts, and state staff. … ” Read more from Valley Ag Voice.
‘Erin Brockovich’ made this cancer-causing compound famous. Now it’s been found in L.A. fire debris
“Hexavalent chromium, the metal made famous by the film “Erin Brockovich,” has been found in the air around wildfire cleanup sites in Los Angeles, potentially posing a risk to human health, according to a preliminary report released yesterday by a team of researchers. When chromium — found in the soil, electronics and in fire suppressant — burns, it can turn into hexavalent chromium, otherwise known as chromium-6. In the short term, it can irritate the skin, eyes and throat; prolonged exposure can increase the risk of lung cancer. … Researchers aren’t certain where the chromium came from or how long the compound will stay in the air after the remaining debris has been removed, Michael Kleeman, lead author on the paper and a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis, told the Chronicle. But Kleeman said residents should be aware of the potential health effects and take precautions to protect themselves. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
An endangered sea species is thriving in an urban SoCal river
Erin Rode writes, “I’d watched the viral Instagram videos of the sea turtles, I’d read a report monitoring their habitat and I’d even heard from a friend who recently saw the turtles with her own eyes. Still, the first time I witnessed the head of a large green sea turtle bob up for air from the channelized San Gabriel River, behind a complex of apartment buildings and with power plants smoking in the distance, I was hit with a wave of surprise. The endangered species has been a permanent presence in the river, which empties into the ocean between Seal Beach and Long Beach, since at least 2008, when volunteers with the Aquarium of the Pacific first recorded that the sea turtles lived in the river year-round. It’s an unusual location to find the creatures, to say the least. The San Gabriel River now represents the northernmost habitat occupied by the Pacific green sea turtles anywhere in the eastern Pacific Ocean; before their discovery, the next closest population was believed to be 120 miles south near San Diego. … ” Continue reading from SF Gate.
The stench from the polluted Tijuana River is so bad it kept a researcher up all night
“New research backs up the concerns of people who live near the Tijuana River and have long complained that foul air wafting from the polluted waterway is making them sick — irritating their eyes and noses, making breathing difficult and causing headaches. The study indicates they’re being exposed to high levels of the toxic gas hydrogen sulfide. As the river flows through Baja California, it takes in untreated sewage and industrial waste from Tijuana, then crosses the U.S.-Mexico border into San Diego County, where beaches are regularly closed because the surf is filled with bacteria from the river. Researchers have now gained new insights into how that water pollution is creating air pollution that besets nearby communities. Using an air-quality monitor nearly half a mile from the river in the community of Nestor, scientists found extremely high levels of hydrogen sulfide, a gas linked to sewage that smells like rotten eggs. … ” Read more from the LA Times. | Read via AOL News.
As November deadline nears, Colorado River states ‘nowhere close to an agreement’
“Amid tense negotiations over the Colorado River’s future, Nevada leaders came together Thursday to focus on the state’s strategy to meet the climate and drought crisis threatening Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam. Democratic Rep. Susie Lee, whose district falls within the boundaries of Lake Mead and half of the Hoover Dam, brought together regional water and hydropower leaders to highlight mounting needs the state faces during her third annual Southern Nevada Water Summit at the Springs Preserve. Before water was piped from the Colorado River to Las Vegas, the burgeoning community relied entirely on groundwater from the Las Vegas Springs located on the site where the Springs Preserve now sits. That water soon dried up after demand from the growing city depleted the aquifer. Now water managers are working to ensure Lake Mead – which provides nearly 90% of the city’s water – does not meet the same fate. … ” Read more from the Nevada Current.
