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On the calendar today …
- ONLINE EVENT: Fall 2025 GSA Forum – SGMA After 10 Years – How to Keep the Momentum Going from 9am to 12:30pm. DWR hosts Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) Forums for GSA members and representatives, typically on a biannual basis. These forums are a platform for local agencies to come together to engage and exchange ideas on topics related to GSP implementation, highlight various GSA efforts, foster professional networks, and provide an opportunity for DWR staff to identify high-priority GSA needs. The theme of the Fall GSA Forum is “SGMA After 10 Years – How to Keep the Momentum Going.” Please join us to hear interviews from fellow GSA members on how they have been navigating various challenges when implementing SGMA. These conversations will include discussions of onboarding GSA staff, progress towards projects and management actions, and insights related to developing periodic evaluations. The event will also include a DWR informational session and breakout rooms to allow attendees to share experiences and resources. Click here to register.
- MEETING: CA Water Commission beginning at 9am. Agenda items include Water Storage Investment Program: Notice of Proposed Emergency Rulemaking Regarding Use of Uncommitted Funding and a State Water Project Briefing: Construction and Modernization Projects Update. Afterwards, the Commissioners will tour Pyramid Lake and Castaic Lake. Click here for the full agenda.
- PUBLIC MEETING: Second Statewide Agricultural Expert Panel from 3pm to 6pm. The State Water Board will hold Public Working Group meetings for the Second Statewide Agricultural Expert Panel (Panel) on Friday, November 14th and Wednesday, November 19th to facilitate Panel deliberations on issues relevant to the Panel charge questions, which ask the Panel to consider the approaches in State Water Board Order WQ 2018-0002, In the Matter of Review of Waste Discharge Requirements General Order No. R5-2012-0116 for Growers Within the Eastern San Joaquin River Watershed that are Members of the Third-Party Group (Eastern San Joaquin Petition Order) and State Water Board Order WQ 2023-0081, In the Matter of Review of General Waste Discharge Requirements for Discharges from Irrigated Lands Order No. R3-2021-0040 (Central Coast Ag Petition Order). Click here for the meeting notice and remote access instructions.
In California water news today …
California to get yet another storm with rain, mountain snow this week
“Another Pacific storm will push south across California later this week, bringing more rain, mountain snow and travel delays this week, AccuWeather meteorologists say. This will be the final storm in a series that has delivered months’ worth of rain to parts of the state. “The heaviest rainfall from this storm will focus on Southern California, where most areas can expect 0.50 to 1 inch of rain, with locally higher amounts in the mountains,” AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said. Rain and mountain snow will fall across much of the state. While it won’t match the weekend’s blockbuster storm that dumped several inches of rain, the new storm could still cause travel disruptions on highways and at airports. … ,” Read more from AccuWeather.
SEE ALSO: Another rainmaker is coming to California. Here’s where it’ll be wettest, from the San Francisco Chronicle
California’s water year is off to a great start. Here’s a look at the numbers
“California’s water year is off to a great start, thanks in large part to the past week’s stormy stretch for the state. The water year began on Oct. 1 and continues until Sept. 30 next year. Since the start of the water year, Sacramento has seen nearly 5 inches of rain at Executive Airport. That is more than three times the normal amount of rain for this point in the season. Stockton and Modesto have also more than tripled the normal rainfall through mid-November. … ” Read more from KCRA.
CW3E Seasonal Outlook: November 2025 – January 2026
“Experimental seasonal forecast products tilt the odds towards below-normal precipitation in Southern CA for the Nov 2025 – Jan 2026 period. CW3E’s CCA model predicts slightly below-normal precipitation in Southern CA with moderate confidence;CW3E’s Machine Learning (ML) and NOAA NMME models tilt the odds towards drier than normal conditions in Southern CA. … Experimental seasonal forecast products show greater uncertainty over Northern and Central CA; CW3E’s CCA model forecasts near-normal to slightly below-normal precipitation in Northern and Central CA with low confidence … ” Read the full article from the Center for Western Weather & Water Extremes (CW3E).
‘We do giant race tracks across the ocean’: Chasing California’s mega-storms
“It was an early morning in February, and Capt Nate Wordal, a storm-hunting US Air Force pilot, was flying out of Yokota Air Base west of Tokyo. After fighting some turbulence coming off Mount Fuji, he was headed for the vast, blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean. His destination: a type of storm known as an atmospheric river, which was developing off the coast of Japan. … “Our main mission during the year is hurricane hunting,” says Capt Wordal, a hurricane hunter with the Air Force 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. He usually spends the months between May and November flying through hurricanes and dropping weather instruments that capture real-time data for the National Hurricane Center. “And then our next season that we’ve started in the last few years is this atmospheric river mission,” he adds, where the flights gather data on those storms, typically between November and March.This year, for the first time, some of the flights started in Japan, in addition to flights out of Hawaii and the US West Coast, to measure the storms early on in their journey and create more accurate forecasts. … ” Read more from the BBC.
A rare stratospheric warming event is about to occur. Here’s what it means for California
Something strange is taking shape high above the Arctic this month. The stratosphere, a cold, still layer of the atmosphere about 20 miles up, appears to be about to experience a dramatic warm up. It’s a rare change for November and one that could set the stage for sharp weather swings across the Northern Hemisphere in December. A sudden stratospheric warming is a sharp temperature spike, where the air high over the Arctic warms dramatically over just a few days. That part of the atmosphere is usually bitterly cold, with strong west-to-east winds whipping around the north pole like a racetrack. That spinning ring of winds is called the polar vortex. Those winds are driven by the temperature contrast between the pole and the mid-latitudes.When the stratosphere warms, that temperature gradient collapses and with it, the winds weaken. If the warming is strong enough, the winds can reverse entirely, destabilizing the polar vortex and making it easier to shove off the pole or even split into two pieces. … ” Continue reading at the San Francisco Chronicle.
DELTA STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL: Ten appeals filed for the Delta Conveyance Project consistency determination
“Ten appeals have been filed for California Department of Water Resources Certification of Consistency (C20257) for the Delta Conveyance Project, which was submitted to the Delta Stewardship Council on October 17, 2025.” … ” Read more from the Delta Stewardship Council.
How California water can navigate a changing federal partnership
“Feelings were running high—and interest was evident—as hundreds of people turned out for our fall conference last week in Sacramento. The lunchtime program featured a panel of five experts representing water interests from across the state. The day opened with a short video celebrating the PPIC Water Policy Center’s first 10 years, followed by a welcome by center director Letitia Grenier, who thanked the audience for braving the rain to attend. “An atmospheric river decided to come to our water conference this year, which is very on-brand,” she said with a smile. Associate center director Caity Peterson set the stage for the day’s conversation by describing the symbiotic relationship between California and the federal government when it comes to managing the state’s water. … ” Read more from the PPIC.
The promise and growing pains of managed aquifer recharge
Around the world, groundwater mismanagement is a major driver of water crises. An emerging method for addressing such mismanagement, called managed aquifer recharge, has generated excitement among scholars and water managers. In a newly published article (Owen et al. 2025), we argue that this excitement, while often justified, should also be tempered by acknowledgment of MAR’s limitations. We also identify policy changes that can help MAR succeed. MAR’s potential has multiple dimensions. Where climate change is making water availability more erratic and where years of groundwater pumping have emptied out huge volumes of subsurface space—a description that applies, unfortunately, to many places around the world—MAR can be a valuable water-storage technique. The environmental consequences of MAR will typically be lower than the consequences of building new dams. And, done well, MAR can provide multiple benefits, including slowing subsidence and seawater intrusion and enhancing environmental flows. That’s the exciting part of the story. But reasons for concern exist and have not received the attention they deserve. … ” Read more from the Legal Planet.
ILRP: Expert panel tackles nitrate challenges with science, policy, and a touch of Halloween spirit
“The Second Statewide Agricultural Expert Panel continued to deliberate on its charge questions during a Halloween meeting that featured at least two participants in costume. In the spirit of the day, expert panelist Thomas Harter was dressed as a scarecrow and commenter Sarah Lopez of Preservation, Inc. was disguised as a bottle of ketchup. Secretary of Food and Agriculture Karen Ross kicked off presentations by providing an overview of programs offered by the California Dept. of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) that intersect with the Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program (ILRP). The expert panel has been convened to advise the State Water Board on specific aspects of the ILRP. … ” Continue reading from Jane Sooby at Maven’s Notebook.
Echoes from the past: How land reclamation slowly modifies coastal environments
“Land has been reclaimed for many centuries, and with the present-day demand for land, this process will continue in the future. The impact of such land reclamations has, up to now, been evaluated on a case-by-case basis, while studies integrating a wider range of land reclamation impacts is missing. Insights into the way tides interact with basin topography and the complex feedback mechanisms associated with fine-grained sediments is crucial to understanding the long-term response of coastal systems to a land reclamation. A new article in Reviews of Geophysics synthesizes earlier findings on the effect of land reclamations on the coastal environment. Here, the lead author gives an overview of land reclamations, their impacts on coastal environments, and challenges for future research efforts. … ” Read more from EOS.
UC water measurement training set in Davis
“The latest in the University of California Cooperative Extension’s periodic short courses on diversion reports for water right holders is scheduled for Dec. 1 in Davis. State law requires all water right holders who divert more than 10 acre-feet per year under riparian and pre-1914 claims, or have a permit to divert more than 10 acre-feet per year, to measure and report the water they take from streams. The California Cattlemen’s Association sponsored legislation in 2017 that allows diverters to self-certify if they complete an instructural course on measurement devices and methods from the UCCE and pass a proficiency test. … ” Read more from the Western Farm Press.
New study upends erosion narrative for much of California’s shoreline
“Studies on California beaches often highlight their dirtiness or the fact that they’re disappearing altogether. But a recent study from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography found some rare encouraging data about the state’s shoreline. Using satellite imaging from 1985 to 2021, Scripps found that California beaches have remained relatively stable in width, according to a new study published in Nature. That’s a surprising finding, given the prevailing narrative that erosion is causing the state’s beaches to shrink every year. “The general consensus had been within the state that we were probably losing sand,” said William O’Reilly, an oceanographer at Scripps and the report’s lead author. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
Forever California: A city is broke. Can billionaires’ urbanist dream offer it a last chance?
“Suisun City is a town of 30,000 in a neglected corner of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its two most prominent features are its marshy waterfront and its lack of money. The local government has spent the past several decades ping-ponging between the threat of insolvency and revitalization plans that work for a time and then fizzle out. Walking through the 19th-century downtown, past historic brick buildings with boarded-up windows and a redeveloped park where homeless people sleep, you see a city with good bones that wishes to be more, but can’t seem to figure out what. Enter Suisun City’s latest bid for renewal: a proposal to annex 22,873 acres of agricultural land owned by a company called California Forever, a development play backed by a group of Silicon Valley billionaires. California Forever’s hope is to build a new, up-from-the-ground city on yellow hills dotted with sheep and wind turbines. The point of the Suisun annexation is for each side to help the other solve a problem. California Forever’s problem is that it wants to build on unincorporated land in Solano County, which has a law forbidding the building of much of anything outside established cities. Suisun’s problem is that it is broke. … ” Read more from the New York Times.
In commentary today …
Desalination may be solution to rising sea levels and drought
W. “Michael” Waterman, author and retired attorney in San Diego County, writes, “Elon Musk: lend me your ear. Now that you’ve tackled free speech, the national debt and are on your way to Mars, how about taking on two pressing problems on planet earth: rising sea levels and chronic droughts. I’m not a scientist or engineer, but I’ve run an idea on solving these problems by a few experts — with interesting reactions. The plan is straightforward: vast expansion of ocean desalination plants globally to offset annual sea level rise, utilizing the increased desalinated water produced while storing the rest in lakes, reservoirs and aquifers. The magnitude of water processed to achieve this, and the location of new, massive plants in several continents could eliminate water shortages worldwide. … ” Read more from the Times of San Diego.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
‘Salmon everywhere’ one year after Klamath Dam removal
“A little more than a year after the historic removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) scientists are seeing salmon reoccupying just about every corner of their historic habitat. “The speed at which salmon are repopulating every nook and cranny of suitable habitat upstream of the dams in the Klamath Basin is both remarkable and thrilling,” said Michael Harris, Environmental Program Manager of CDFW’s Klamath Watershed Program. “There are salmon everywhere on the landscape right now, and it’s invigorating our work.” While adult returns of salmon are ongoing and final estimates won’t be available until January, initial reports indicate a stronger fall-run Chinook salmon return than last year with widespread dispersal of the fish. … ” Read more from the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Klamath basin irrigation managers say return of salmon has brought new challenges
“It’s a been a little over a year since the last of four dams on the Lower Klamath River came down in Southern Oregon, opening up hundreds of miles of prime salmon spawning habitat that had been cut off for more than a century. Chinook salmon are once again making their way up the river, but some of them have taken a wrong turn. “My district, the concern is we don’t want the fish going where the fish shouldn’t be going,” said Scott White, general manager of the Klamath Drainage District, which provides irrigation water to 27,000 acres of farmland. “We don’t want to see fish flopping around out in the fields. That’s not a good thing.” … ” Read more from KGW 8.
A new tool to process water rights and track water availability on California’s North Coast
” … For nearly two decades, Trout Unlimited’s Water Program has been working hard to identify sources of water and protect and restore critical stream flows for native fish and local communities. One obvious solution to this problem is storing water during wet seasons for use during the subsequent dry seasons. However, California’s cumbersome water rights system makes the process onerous. … Over the last four years, TU worked with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Foundry Spatial, a Canadian technology company, to build a new online tool that draws on shared water data and management resources. This will help identify available water and streamline the regulatory process to efficiently enable projects that shift water to when it is most needed for struggling populations of steelhead and coho salmon. … ” Read more from Trout Unlimited.
Some pan Mendocino supervisors’ statement on loss of Potter Valley water
“After hearing again from local residents regarding the need for increasing water storage infrastructure before the Pacific Gas and Electric Company fully decommissions its Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project and removes the dams that help fill Lake Mendocino, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors this week passed a resolution that many argued did not express their needs forcibly enough. “The previous resolution asked for help from both state and federal partners,” said First District Supervisor Madeline Cline at the Nov. 4 meeting, referring to the version she had drafted and brought before the board last month. “It’s a call for help, and it’s a statement of what we need for our community. We shouldn’t be shying away from what we need … and saying, ‘Oh, there’s nothing for us to advocate for.’ If there’s nothing for us to advocate for, then I’m not really sure what the point of this entire entity is, other than to oversee county operations.” … ” Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
Ukiah workshop to address Mendocino County’s water future post–Potter Valley dams
“The Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission will host a workshop Monday about what the future holds for water supplies in the wake of the decommissioning of the Potter Valley Project. “The workshop is intended to help the public better understand the facts, dispel misinformation, and engage constructively in one of the most significant water supply issues facing the region,” organizers said in a statement. During the three-hour workshop, presenters from the IWPC, Eel-Russian Project Authority and New Eel Russian Facility will share factual updates and data about the future of water in Potter Valley and areas in the Russian River watershed. A Q&A, moderated by Potter Valley Irrigation District Commissioner Janet Pauli, will take place after the presentations. … ” Read more from the Mendocino Voice.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Rediscovering the lost meadows of the Sierra Nevada
“Mountain meadows make up a small percentage of the land area in the Sierra Nevada, but not as small a percentage as once thought. This is exciting news as they have an outsized impact, often functioning as high-elevation floodplains. As snow melts in the springtime, meadows act like a sponge for cold water, holding on to it until the drier months of the year when downstream communities need water most. They also act as a biodiversity hotspot for birds, fish, amphibians, wetland plants, and insects. And a new model is revealing that there may be more meadows in the Sierra than previously estimated. … ” Read more from American Rivers.
The future of Lake Tahoe’s famous clear, clean waters depends on the fate of a roadside motel
“The waters of Lake Tahoe were once so clear that you could see as deep into the water as the height of a 10-story building — averaging a visibility, or Secchi depth, of 100 feet, per the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. From its charming lakeside communities to the spectacular sunsets watched from Tahoe’s best beaches, the lake’s famed clarity has been appreciated by countless generations. Starting around the mid-1900s, though, the lake’s watershed began developing rapidly, with vacation homes and hotels popping up around its shores. Runoff from these developments took its toll on the lake’s clarity (as well as its surrounding landscape), and in response to these ecological threats, nonprofits like the League to Save Lake Tahoe were founded, which gave rise to the popular local slogan: “Keep Tahoe Blue.” … ” Read more from Yahoo News.
Beloved California state park to reopen after yearslong closure
“D.L. Bliss State Park, one of Lake Tahoe’s most beloved stretches of shoreline, is finally set to fully reopen after years of closures, delays and mounting frustration over a stalled infrastructure overhaul, California State Parks announced this week. The park, in the southwestern corner of the lake, just north of Emerald Bay, has been largely inaccessible since 2023, as crews attempted to replace aging, leaking water lines. According to State Parks, the park will reopen on May 21, 2026, and reservations for campsites will go live on Nov. 21, allowing visitors to book stays up to six months in advance through Reserve California. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Over 330,000 juvenile chinook salmon released into Sacramento River as storms boost river flows
“A major boost for Northern California’s struggling Chinook salmon population is underway on Battle Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River. Earlier this month, biologists from the Coleman National Fish Hatchery released approximately 263,000 juvenile late-fall Chinook salmon, with an additional 75,000 released last week. The timing couldn’t be better. A series of winter storms is pushing higher flows through the watershed, giving the young fish a better shot at making it safely down the Sacramento River system and out to the Pacific Ocean. This release is part of a long-running effort to support salmon runs that once thrived throughout the upper reaches of the Sacramento River tributaries. … ” Read more from Active NorCal.
CENTRAL COAST
Big Basin Water Co. operations have stabilized, but long-term ownership remains elusive
“The crowd inside the Boulder Creek Fire house had thinned considerably compared to a year ago — a visual cue that the situation had become far less critical for Big Basin Water Co. and its customers. But the intractable mission of finding long-term stability has remained elusive. That was the core message delivered by those currently leading the privately owned water company along with other local officials at a town hall meeting hosted Monday by Supervisor Monica Martinez, who represents the region on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. Since a court-appointed receiver took over operational control of Big Basin Water more than two years ago, the system and its estimated 1,200 customers and 550 metered connections deep in the San Lorenzo Valley have been pulled back from the brink of collapse. The focus is now on expanding the system’s capacity and finding a suitable buyer to keep things flowing smoothly for the foreseeable future, said Nicolas Jaber, project leader with Serviam by Wright LLP, which was appointed in 2023 by a Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge to manage and stabilize the company. … ” Read more from the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
These ‘forever chemicals’ pollute Fresno more than any other county in California
“Fresno is the top county in California for the use of pesticides containing PFAS, which can contaminate drinking water, soil and produce, linked to various health issues, according to a new Environmental Working Group analysis. Between 2018 and 2023, EWG identified 2.1 million pounds of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” sprayed on Fresno County crop fields, hundreds of thousands more pounds than any other county in the state. Once sprayed, it can expose nearby communities and farming employees to the chemical studies show lead to an increased risk of cancer and reproductive and developmental harm, among other health issues, Bernadette Del Chiaro, senior Vice President of EWG California, told The Bee. “It feels really important that the people of Fresno are kind of bearing that burden for the rest of us,” Del Chiaro said. “And there are alternative pesticides out there. So, we encourage farmers of Fresno and others to look at alternatives and be aware of this problem.” … ” Read more from the Fresno Bee.
Friant retreats from holding retreat at swanky Paso resort, opts for Exeter instead
“Friant Water Authority’s annual offsite three-day retreat looks a little different this year, taking place at a venue outside of Exeter instead of a luxury Paso Robles resort as in years past. The 10th annual retreat starts Tuesday at Merryman Station, a former packing shed turned event space that is a stone’s throw from the authority’s most important piece of infrastructure — the Friant-Kern Canal. Merryman Station is also within Friant’s service area — the San Joaquin Valley. That was the thrust of a lawsuit filed last year by three Friant contractors who accused the authority of Brown Act violations for holding the retreat in Paso Robles wine country. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
SEE ALSO: Friant chief Jason Phillips announces resignation, from SJV Water
Yosemite Valley’s main river hits November flow record after rain
“A recent onslaught of storms pushed many of California’s creeks and streams to unusual territory and crushed rainfall records in other parts of the state, marking a strong start to the water year. The Merced River at Happy Isles Bridge in Yosemite National Park hit its highest November streamflow since 1973 on Friday but remained well shy of flood stage. Many other creeks and streams across California were flowing faster than ever recorded for this time of year as of Tuesday morning. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
EASTERN SIERRA
Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority initiates funding process for 50-mile pipeline to import water
“The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority approved a request for $5 million in federal funding to begin construction in fiscal year 2027 of a 50-mile pipeline to import water. The pipeline is part of the authority’s plan to bring the overdrafted Indian Wells valley groundwater basin into balance by 2040, as required by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The authority’s groundwater plan, required under SGMA, was approved by the state in 2022. It includes a $2,130-per-acre-foot “replenishment fee” charged to the certain pumpers that is intended to raise $50 million to buy water on the open market. The pipeline is a separately funded project to bring that water from the Antelope Valley. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
How much rain did we get? Parts of SoCal drenched in atmospheric river
“An atmospheric river has drenched parts of California in recent days, leaving multiple people dead while residents and travelers throughout the state braced for debris flows and flash floods. The recent atmospheric river, likened to a river in the sky by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, brought rain into more northern, coastal parts of Southern California, such as Santa Barbara, on Nov. 13. Meteorologists warned of thunderstorms and debris flows into the weekend, especially for those living near burn scars like the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles County. Following the heavy rain — which brought some regions several inches of rain in recent days — comes another chance of precipitation later in the week, including on Thursday, Nov. 20, according to the National Weather Service Los Angeles and San Diego. … ” Read more from the Desert Sun.
Shaken dry: LADWP’s failure to plan and repair for the “Big One”
“The federal government, the state of California and local governments have spent nearly two decades preparing for this earthquake. The USGS’s 2008 ShakeOut report, a critical planning document, shows that Southern California’s water infrastructure, aqueducts built in the early 1900s through the 1960s, are particularly vulnerable. … In the aftermath of a major San Andreas quake, L.A. could be cut off from the Los Angeles Aqueduct and major water supplies for more than a year. A decade ago, a city report said L.A.’s backup reserves are insufficient. Despite this, major projects to make L.A.’s water supply more secure have not been started, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) could not provide a timeline for when they would be completed. When pushed for a plan, LADWP said it will tap into reservoirs owned by other water distributors that are not seismically sound, and the contaminated San Fernando basin. The agency is also decades behind producing recycled water at a large scale for the City. … ” Read more from Afro LA News.
Lights, camera, aqueduct! How one man brought water to Los Angeles
“Los Angeles. The city of angels. Home to Paramount Pictures, Santa Monica Pier, Rodeo Drive, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Griffith Observatory, Muscle Beach, an iconic white lettered sign and close to four million people. Yet none of this would exist, let alone be famous enough for you or me to have heard of, if it weren’t for one moustached man: William Mulholland. Before Mulholland, LA was a barren zone with “no harbour, no railway, no gold”. Native Americans had adapted cautiously to “the cycles of flooding and dryness, water and dirt, fertility and barrenness” but “never considered settling permanently in such an unreliable place”. For many centuries, dwellers of the impossibly arid region accepted that “desert was a pre-existing condition, something that would never go away. Desert was a fact”. It was in 1878 that the fresh-faced Belfast-born Mulholland rocked up in the city and met a local well digger who needed an extra pair of hands, then picked up the trade himself. Newly obsessed with water (or the lack of it) he rose quickly through the ranks of various hydrology companies, eventually becoming head of the Los Angeles Water Department. … ” Read more from The Times.
SAN DIEGO
San Diego has 3 times its seasonal rainfall, and more is on the way
“The storm that darted through the region Monday night and early Tuesday pushed San Diego’s seasonal rainfall roughly three times above average, and another storm will arrive Thursday, the National Weather Service said. San Diego International Airport has recorded 2.93 inches of precipitation since the rainy season began on Oct. 1. The average for that period is 0.88 inches. The latest storm went unnoticed by many because it occurred at night, during which substantial rain fell. The airport received 1.07 inches, about what it averages for the entire month of November. Most of the heaviest rain fell west of Interstate 15, which is unusual this time of year. … ” Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Trash boom in Mexico would be more efficient, cheaper, project manager says
“As the San Diego-Tijuana region continues to get pounded by a series of storms, a trash boom strung across the Tijuana River channel is working flawlessly. Oscar Romo, project manager for Alter Terra, the group responsible for the boom, says by the time all the rain passes, the device is expected to have stopped about 50 tons of trash from Mexico. The same boom stopped 40 tons of trash during a storm last month. The trash boom, which is just inside the U.S., is made up of 160 buoyant modules tied together and anchored by 120 tons of concrete. As the water level rises, so does the boom preventing trash from floating farther into the U.S. side of the border and the Pacific Ocean. … ” Read more from the Border Report.
Along the Colorado River …
The West Slope Water Summit – Gloves come off over Colorado River
“The West Slope Water Summit drew “ranchers, ditch company leaders, engineers, city and county officials and residents who simply wanted to understand what’s happening to the river that shapes every part of life here on the Western Slope.” Summit founder and Montrose County Commissioner Sue Hansen told KVNF the series began with a simple request from the community. “The Water Summit started seven years ago out of a community suggestion to, you know, we need to know more about water,” she said. … ” Read more from KVNF.
Water Infrastructure Finance Authority to consider five proposals to shore up Arizona’s water supply
“The board overseeing the state agency charged with finding new water supplies for Arizona is poised to approve as many as five water importation proposals, one of which could reignite decades of interstate controversy. A conservation group and an Indian tribe warned the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority committee screening the projects that EPCOR’s apparent proposal is fraught with risk and can’t deliver the stable water supply Arizona needs. Details of the five projects — two involving desalination plants and the others relying on wastewater treatment, surface water and an unidentified third source — remain secret until the full board of the agency known as WIFA meets Wednesday. But the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe and the National Parks Conservation Association say it’s pretty clear EPCOR plans to rely on a controversial pumping project in the remote southeastern California desert — an area protected by environmentalists for decades. … ” Read more from the Arizona Capital Times.
Commentary: Arizona must accept its water future
Rusty Childress writes, “Arizona’s water crisis is not an unexpected disaster. It is the foreseeable result of decades of growth built on assumptions that no longer fit the climate we now inhabit. For years, the state pursued rapid population expansion and sprawling desert development under the belief that careful planning and engineering would secure a stable water future. That optimism depended on hydrology that simply doesn’t exist anymore. The Southwest is not in a temporary drought; it is undergoing aridification — a long-term shift toward less snowpack, earlier melt, hotter soils, shrinking rivers, and reservoirs that evaporate faster than they fill. The Salt and Verde headwaters are producing less water, and the Colorado River is structurally overallocated. Meanwhile, Arizona’s population has surged, and new subdivisions and industrial users have expanded across the desert as if supply were limitless. … ” Read more from the Daily Independent.
SEE ALSO: Arizona’s water future depends on confronting sprawl, more commentary by Rusty Childress at the Arizona Daily Star
Muddied waters in Glenwood Canyon
“Colorado water transfers rarely come easily. State water law ensures that every last drop of water is accounted for, litigated, and litigated some more. It is no surprise then that the attempted Shoshone purchase by the Colorado River Water Conservation District has snagged on a couple of thorny legal and policy issues. Whether those issues will prove fatal to the purchase will be taken up at a meeting tomorrow afternoon, Nov. 19, in Golden. The transferred water rights from Xcel Energy to the Glenwood Springs-based River District have huge implications. Xcel uses the water rights for hydroelectric production at the Shoshone plant in Glenwood Canyon. The hydro plant produces relatively little power. As in real estate, though, location matters entirely. … ” Read more from Big Pivots.
In national water news today …
Why Trump’s WOTUS pivot could unleash more mining
“Mining companies seeking to dump dredge or fill material into nearby streams and waterways or dig up metals in sensitive headwaters will likely face fewer federal Clean Water Act restrictions under a proposal the Trump administration unveiled on Monday. A draft rule from EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers would scale back the number of waterways and wetlands that fall under the federal government’s jurisdiction, in some cases leaving mineral- and coal-rich states — many with weaker protections — in charge. In turn, fewer companies would be required to obtain permits under Sections 402 and 404 of the Clean Water Act before disposing of mining waste and byproducts into those waterways, said Mark Ryan, a former Clean Water Act attorney for EPA Region 10 who previously worked on mining projects. … ” Read more from E&E News.
