A collection of top water news from around California and the West compiled each weekday. Send any comments or article submissions to Foundation News & Publications Director Chris Bowman.
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On April 3, a coalition of fishing and conservation
groups said the state and federal water agencies must
“take immediate action” to stop the unauthorized killing of
thousands of Chinook Salmon and Steelhead at the State and
Federal water export pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River
Delta, The State Water Project (SWP) and Central Valley
Project (CVP) Delta “death pumps” have been the
biggest killers of salmon, steelhead, Sacramento
splittail and other fish species in California for many
decades. … The coalition said this is the second
time in 2024 the coalition has responded to an increase in
killing of legally protected fish at the pumps of the State
Water Project and the Central Valley Project (Projects or Water
Projects).
California has more than 1,000 thousand miles of coastline and
the water in the Pacific Ocean presents an opportunity for more
fresh water in the state. Unlocking the opportunity takes time,
money and resources, and some experts say it’s not for
everyone. … The massive system California has in place
now is one of the most complicated, robust and successful
systems ever created. That system has more recently
incorporated the ocean. Desalination is being put to the test
in coastal areas up and down the state. The process takes salt
out of ocean water and turns it into fresh water for people.
State officials, as well as private partners, focus on these
areas as the best fit for this water supply.
As elected officials representing Colusa and Yuba counties, we
sent a letter to Governor Newsom earlier this year encouraging
him and his administration to advance the Agreements to Support
Healthy Rivers and Landscapes (sometimes known as the Voluntary
Agreements) and the associated benefits for communities, farms,
businesses, the environment and the public. We were joined in
this letter by counties throughout the Sacramento River
Basin—we have specifically urged the State Water Board to
identify the Agreements to Support Healthy Rivers and
Landscapes alternative in its final staff report and
forthcoming program of implementation as the State Water
Board’s best pathway for updating the Sacramento/Delta portions
of the Bay-Delta Plan.
Water access in California has seen growing scrutiny as the
climate shifts from more extreme dry to wet swings. This
results in increasing year-to-year uncertainty for both
commercial and residential water availability. One area getting
more attention from an ethical and practical application is the
system of water rights, which first took shape in the late
1800s.
Yesterday, Gov. Gavin Newsom surveyed the Sierra snowpack and
outlined a new state water plan focused on climate change.
Scott and KQED climate reporter Ezra David Romero are joined by
California’s former top water regulator Felicia Marcus. As
the state’s top water czar, she navigated severe droughts,
balancing demands for scare water by cities, farms, businesses
and homeowners.
Water is a crucial topic in the American Southwest, as
continued drought and cuts to Colorado River water allocations
make more urgent the policy decisions on the future of water in
the region. Gaps in water policies have historically left
tribal communities with limited access to clean water and
infrastructure, a situation that Cora Tso is working to
correct. Tso, a new senior research fellow with the Kyl Center
for Water Policy at Arizona State University’s Morrison
Institute, is particularly well-suited to address tribal water
policy issues as both a lawyer specializing in Indian and water
law and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. She aims to
share her expertise with others, both through an assessment
tool she is creating and an upcoming free webinar on tribal
water issues April 9 that is open to the public…. Tso
was recently recognized as a Colorado River Water
Leader by the Water Education Foundation
and has strong ambitions as she continues in her career.
Almost half of all homes in the U.S. are at severe or extreme
risk of flood, hurricane winds, wildfires, heat and/or
hazardous air quality. In the 2024 Housing and Climate Risk
Report, Realtor.com looked at homes across the nation to
analyze which cities had homes at the highest risk of those
disasters, which the site calls climate
risk. … About 9% of homes across the U.S. are at
severe to extreme air quality risk. The San Francisco
Bay Area tops the list. California’s
frequent droughts, wildfires and heat waves are largely at
fault. ”Shifts in environmental conditions, including
extreme heat, drought, and wildfires, are amplifying the
likelihood of heightened air pollution risk,” wrote
analysts.
For most Northern Nevadans and Californians, Lake Tahoe is more
than a distinctive spot on the map. Whether you only go a few
times a year or every single weekend, it always feels like your
refuge. You never take it for granted. Neither do the
scientists, planners, biologists, volunteers, lawmakers and
engineers who work to protect the lake from environmental
threats. In fact, the call to protect Lake Tahoe has echoed
across America in support of one of the most comprehensive and
successful conservation programs in the nation. Since public
and private partners established the Lake Tahoe Environmental
Improvement Program in 1997, we have completed more than 800
major restoration projects to protect one of our country’s most
treasured landscapes. -Written by Julie Regan, executive director of the
Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
With California snowpack and reservoirs at above-average levels
following two wet winters, Gov. Gavin Newsom stood on a snowy
field near Lake Tahoe on Tuesday and urged the state to do much
more to make its water supplies resilient to the extreme
droughts and flooding that come with climate change. … The
governor presented a new water plan that lays out priorities
for changing how the state captures, stores and moves water,
including efforts to replenish groundwater, recycle wastewater
and restore the natural ecosystems of watersheds. Newsom said
his administration is focusing on infrastructure projects such
as building the Sites Reservoir — the first new major reservoir
in decades — and he vowed to move ahead with the proposed Delta
Conveyance Project.
California’s water resources look promising thanks to a string
of cold, wet storms since January, but the state’s leaders are
eyeing how significant the payout from those storms will be for
future years. State officials and experts from the University
of California, Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Laboratory say
the Golden State’s water and snow outlook is looking good this
spring, despite a dry start to the water year. The milestone
snowpack survey of the year, conducted Tuesday at Phillips
Station in El Dorado County, found a snowpack measuring 64
inches and a snow water equivalent — water contained in the
snowpack — of 27.5 inches. … All state watersheds
have significantly improved in water storage since Feb. 20,
with all sitting at 90% or higher. The State Water Project also
increased its forecast allocation of water supplies to 30%.
The Eel Russian Project Authority convened its second Board
meeting on March 19, 2024, addressing the debate surrounding
the fate of Scott Dam and the future of water diversion along
the Russian River. Held at the Board of Supervisors Chambers in
Ukiah on March 19, the meeting saw arguments from residents and
stakeholders, highlighting deep divisions over whether to
preserve the dam or pursue alternative solutions. Amidst calls
for preserving water storage and concerns over the impact on
fisheries, the Board ultimately voted to advance alternative
E-2, the Pumping Station, signaling a pivotal moment in the
ongoing saga of water management in the region. … Still
to be discussed are: the amount and timing of diverted water
from the planned facility, sediment transport modeling, water
allocation and water rights.
The start of April means that California’s rainy season is
coming to an end. Things are looking pretty good this year, but
there are some caveats. The snowpack across the Sierra Nevada
and the Colorado River Basin — both critical stores of water —
is hovering slightly above average, though it’s nowhere near
what we saw last winter. … It’s looking unlikely, as our
reservoirs are quite full and we’ve had a good showing of
snow. “We pulled back on restrictions last year, however,
we’re telling people to use their common sense,” said Adel
Hagekhalil, CEO of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California. The public agency will neither be drawing from
or putting water into storage, though that’ll change if the
allocation increases. According to Hagekhalil, the MWD has
enough water to help Southern California get through the next
three years.
For a place where nature didn’t intend lettuce to grow, the
southwest corner of Arizona has built a spectacular record as
“America’s salad bowl.” Thanks to copious irrigation and
decades of public investment, Yuma and the bordering Imperial
Valley of California supply as much as 90 percent of the
nation’s salad greens during the winter, making the area
pivotal to the debate over the future of American agriculture
in an era of oppressive weather made worse by the changing
climate.
Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) and Mono Lake
Committee staff met this morning at the shore of Mono Lake to
conduct the annual joint reading of the surface elevation of
Mono Lake. The consensus is that the lake stands at 6,383.70
feet above mean sea level which means that Mono Lake is only
halfway to the 6,392-foot elevation level mandated by the
California State Water Resources Control Board 30 years ago to
resolve ecological, wildlife, economic, Tribal, public trust,
and air quality harms caused by the lowering of Mono
Lake. Today’s lake level triggers an important choice for
DWP: Will the Department choose a nearly fourfold increase in
diversions (16,000 acre-feet), or will it choose to leave
exports unchanged (4,500 acre-feet) and preserve the lake level
gains of the record-wet winter of 2023?
The San Luis Valley Groundwater Basin stretches from San Luis
Obispo to Edna Valley — but a toxic chemical swirling in the
water prevents the city from using the resource for drinking
water. That will soon change, however. San Luis Obispo won a
$6.6-million grant to install wells that remove
tetrachloroethylene, a chemical also known as PCE, from the
groundwater, according to city water resources program manager
Nick Teague. The wells should be operational by 2026 and will
allow the city to fulfill about 12% of its drinking water
needs, he said.
It doesn’t look like wastewater will be turned into tap water
in Marin County any time soon. California regulators approved
new rules in December allowing water agencies to purify
wastewater and put it back into the pipes that carry drinking
water to homes, schools and businesses. Officials at the Marin
Municipal Water District said potential projects come with a
high cost and lots of complexities. “Where we stand is we look
forward to continuing to monitor the regulations and larger
agencies,” said Lucy Croy, water quality manager. With that
said, members of the district board said they are interested in
pursuing expansion of its purple pipe system that delivers
recycled water for such purposes as irrigation, toilet flushing
and industrial cooling.
Time is quickly running out for businesses, HOAs and
multifamily properties to get the most out of the cash
incentives offered by the Southern Nevada Water Authority
(SNWA) for replacing thirsty non-functional grass with
drought-friendly landscaping. The SNWA recently approved
changes to the Water Smart Landscapes rebate program that will
decrease cash incentives for non-functional grass conversion
projects on non-single-family properties. Starting Jan. 1,
2025, the rebate for such projects will be reduced to $2 per
square foot for the first 10,000 square feet of non-functional
grass converted to drip-irrigated trees and plants, and $1 per
square foot thereafter.
Years ago, in a moment of despair over the utter dead-end that
solving the Tijuana River sewage crisis seemed to be, I asked
U.S. officials why we don’t just cross the border and start
fixing broken pipes in Mexico. Nations can’t just cross
each other’s borders like that, MacKenzie, the kindly federal
official told me. At least, they shouldn’t. It would be a rude
mistake. Mexico could consider such federal intrusion without
permission as an act of war. But President Joe Biden’s pick to
rein in cross-border sewage spills has found a way to leverage
her relationships with Mexico to encourage more collaborative
U.S. involvement. Maria-Elena Giner announced to reporters
during a press conference last week that the International
Boundary and Water Commission (the binational agency that deals
with cross-border water issues) will start monthly inspections
of a key sewage pump and trash shredder in Tijuana that feeds
wastewater into San Diego for treatment. -Written by MacKenzie Elmer, Voice of San Diego
reporter.
Tahoe community organizations ranging from business
associations to nonprofits to kayak rental companies have long
been begging the lake’s visitors to be more responsible with
picking up their trash. And now, the results of a two-year
study and monitoring project in Lake Tahoe could
suggest that the messaging may just be working. The
findings come from Clean Up The Lake’s two-year
project that sent scuba divers to clean up trash in 30 “litter
hot spots” between 0 and 25 feet deep along Lake
Tahoe’s shoreline. Hot spots were areas of
heavier-than-normal trash, identified via diver observations
and garbage data. The first sweep was finished in July
2021, and the second was completed in fall 2023. The study
found a significant decrease in litter over the two-year period
on the Nevada side of the lake
(the California areas have not yet been analyzed).
It’s rather amazing to ponder: As of this year, the Lower
American River Task Force (LARTF) has been meeting regularly
for the past 30 years. The task force is a unique collaborative
venue created in 1994 as a way for environmental, recreational,
community organizations, and others to learn about and engage
with local, state, and federal agencies on their efforts to
maintain flood control, environmental protection, and
recreation on the Lower American River Parkway. Its members
include representatives from federal, state, and local
agencies, environmental and recreational groups, water
suppliers, and other interested parties.
