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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An elected member of a Ventura County water board has pleaded
guilty to a felony charge of stealing water for his Oxnard
farm. Daniel Naumann, 66, admitted to one count of grand theft
of water, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said
in a Friday news release. As part of his plea agreement,
five other felony charges will be dropped, the Ventura
County Star reports. Naumann,
a Camarillo resident who is owner and operator of
Naumann Family Farms, was an elected board member of the United
Water Conservation District and an alternate board member of
the Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency. … Despite
those roles, Naumann took nearly $30,000 in water between 2019
and 2021 using “diversion bypasses [that] were installed on two
commercial water pumps that irrigated Naumann’s crops,” the
release stated.
Some Bee colleagues and I recently took a tour of Westlands
Water District — the nation’s largest agricultural water
district, located on the western edges of Fresno and Kings
counties. … But facing the twin challenges of drought
and new state restrictions on groundwater use, Westlands
farmers and counterparts throughout the San Joaquin Valley are
considering a new money maker for their land: solar power.
Successful aquatic restoration traditionally comes from
extensive research and knowledge of the system, collaboration
among stakeholders, and thorough planning. But what if there
was another way to ensure restorations are creating the results
we want to see? With increasing effects of climate change,
urbanization, and other anthropogenic factors, aquatic
organisms, especially ones that are endangered, need successful
restorations more than ever to aid in their survival. One Ph.D.
student at UC Davis, Madeline Eugenia Fallowfield— or Madge,
says she’s studying the “power of positive thinking” to improve
the success of aquatic restoration projects.
Aquafornia is off Friday, March 29, in honor of César
Chávez Day, a state holiday in California. We’ll return
Monday with a full slate of water news. In the meantime, follow
us on Twitter where we post
breaking water news and on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
A recent court ruling may have thrown a wrench in the state’s
funding plans for the controversial and expensive Delta
Conveyance Project – a tunnel to move Sacramento River water 45
miles beneath the ecologically sensitive Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta. In January, the Sacramento Superior Court denied
the state Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) request to
finance the project through bonds. Tunnel opponents hailed
the ruling as a blow to the project. But state staff say the
ruling will not impede funding. DWR has appealed the case and
is still planning on using bonds to pay for the project if it
comes to fruition.
On Sunday, California’s rainy season officially comes to an
end. … So, how did this wet season stack up? As of Tuesday,
California had received slightly more rain than usual this
winter — 104 percent of the average, according to state data.
The state’s snowpack, which accumulates in the Sierra Nevada
and typically provides 30 percent of the state’s water supply
for the year, is at 101 percent of normal for this time of
year. The state’s reservoirs are at an even higher 116 percent
of their normal levels, in part because they are still
benefiting from the back-to-back “atmospheric rivers” that
slammed California last winter.
Kings County growers are organizing to stop a set of
groundwater and land fees they say will wipe out small farmers,
even as the drumbeat of a looming state takeover grows louder.
Managers of the Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability
Agency (GSA), which covers the northern tip of Kings County,
have been holding a flurry of meetings asking farmers to
approve the fees – a combination of $95-per-acre-foot of water
pumped and $25-per-acre of land – at its April 23
meeting. That is after April 16, when the state Water Resources
Control Board will hold a hearing to decide whether to put all
of Kings County, known as the Tulare Lake groundwater subbasin,
into probation for failing to come up with an adequate plan to
stop over pumping.
If federal officials want tribal support for Colorado River
deals, they need to pay tribes to conserve, protect their
future water use and include them in negotiations, tribal
leaders said Wednesday at a conference in southwestern
Colorado. Basin states and the federal government are
negotiating a new set of operating rules to replace existing
drought-response agreements that expire in 2026. Tribes weren’t
included when the agreements were originally negotiated in
2007. Basin officials should not make the same mistake again,
tribes say. … Compensating tribes for not using their
water, and for choosing to cut back on the water they do use,
is another key point [for the tribes.]
On the heels of two wet winters, it’s easy to forget how close
some parts of California came to running out of water a few
short years ago. But this climate amnesia will not help us
prepare for the next inevitable drought. … the water board is
about to trample the hard-won work that’s been done so far by
allowing water utilities until 2035 or later to
implement meaningful reductions. … Because the water
board’s latest plan for implementing efficiency standards has
such an extended timeline, water will inevitably become even
more expensive, including for low-income households and
communities. -Written by Robert Hertzberg, a former speaker of
the Assembly and former majority leader of the state Senate;
and Assembly member Laura Friedman
(D-Glendale), running to replace Adam Schiff in the U.S.
House of Representatives.
Deadly heat in the Southwest. Hot-tub temperatures in the
Atlantic Ocean. Sweltering conditions in Europe, Asia and South
America. That 2023 was Earth’s hottest year on record was in
some ways no surprise. For decades, scientists have been
sounding the alarm about rapidly rising temperatures driven by
humanity’s relentless burning of fossil fuels. But last year’s
sudden spike in global temperatures blew far beyond what
statistical climate models had predicted, leading one noted
climate scientist to warn that the world may be entering
“uncharted territory.” … [R]esearchers are scrambling to
explain why 2023 was so anomalously hot. Many theories have
been proposed, but “as yet, no combination of them has been
able to reconcile our theories with what has happened,” Schmidt
wrote.
The California Natural Resources Agency has submitted its 2024
Annual Report on the Salton Sea Management Program (SSMP) to
the State Water Resources Control Board, prepared in compliance
with Order WR 2017-0134. The report provides specific updates
on the SSMP’s activities in 2023 and planning for future
projects, ongoing partnerships to help the SSMP meet its goals,
community engagement, and next steps. English and
Spanish versions of the report can be found at
www.saltonsea.ca.gov under the Featured Documents heading.
Rep. John Duarte (R-Hughson) was in Turlock, as well as other
Central Valley communities, on Monday to deliver Community
Project Funding checks — as part of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2024 — that totaled about $11 million.
Turlock received $1.2 million for its Golden State Boulevard
sewer-extension project, and $1 million for the city’s
stormwater infrastructure project. … Turlock’s Golden State
sewer-extension project focuses on extending an 18-inch
diameter sewer main near Taylor Road. The extension, according
to the city, will provide utility services to an unserved area
of Stanislaus County currently on wells and septic
tanks. The other project — the Positive Drainage Project —
involves replacement and upsizing of 1,120 feet of pipe in the
city to create a positive drainage system that would increase
flood capacity and alleviate flooding concerns.
Plastic fragments have been found at the top of the Alps, in
the deepest parts of our oceans and likely, in your local
waterways. Some of this microplastic is in the form of nurdles.
You may not be familiar with them, but these lentil-sized
plastics pose a huge threat to our waters and
wildlife. Nurdles, also called plastic pellets, are the
building blocks of plastic manufacturing. At plastic factories,
pellets that fall on the floor or get contaminated with dirt
are sometimes washed down drains. Because they’re small and
lightweight, nurdles are often spilled during transport too.
… Plastic pellets are extremely difficult to clean up once
they reach our waterways, and often polluters are not held
accountable.
The Marin Municipal Water District is taking a closer look at
storage expansion projects that could increase capacity for
billions of gallons of additional water to defend against
drought. After several months of study, district officials and
consultants are considering projects that could include raising
dam heights and some possibilities for creating new dams. Each
option would increase the storage capacity by about 20,000
acre-feet. The proposals include expansions of Alpine Lake,
Kent Lake and the Soulajule and Nicasio reservoirs. The
district is also looking at constructing new reservoirs in the
areas of Devil’s Gulch, Halleck Creek and upper Nicasio. The
proposals were presented to the water board at its meeting on
March 19.
As a homeowner, you invest a great deal of time, money, love,
imagination, and hard work into your house and property.
Of course, you hope nothing will go seriously wrong. Still, you
purchase homeowner’s insurance to give you peace of mind and to
ensure you’re financially protected if your home and belongings
are damaged by unpredictable events such as fire, vandalism,
theft, or storms. Today, climate change is causing
increasingly erratic weather patterns. Natural disasters,
including severe storms and wildfires, are becoming more
frequent and devastating. In 2023, nine “atmospheric
rivers” pummeled the western United States, dumping record
amounts of rain and snow. According to the National
Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, more
than 32 trillion gallons of water drenched California, racking
up $4.6 billion in damages. -Written by John Petrov, a contractor and public
insurance adjuster with over 25 years of experience in the
construction industry.
A special workshop on the binational sewage crisis was held
Wednesday in Imperial Beach. The meeting featured a panel of
experts from various government agencies and academic
institutions. Dozens of concerned residents gathered at the
special council workshop addressing the ongoing sewage crisis.
They heard from the International Boundary and Water Commission
shed light on cross-border sewage flows. … Scripps
Institution of Oceanography offered valuable insights into the
environmental impact of sewage contamination, while SDSU School
of Public Health discussed risks associated with chemical and
biological pollutants in water, air, and soil.
At least $11 billion would be needed to upgrade wastewater
treatment facilities across the Bay Area if regulators impose
anticipated stricter environmental rules, according to a
regional water board that seeks to protect the San Francisco
Bay. The upgrades at dozens of sewage treatment plants,
needed to prevent toxic algae blooms and protect fish, would
cost an average of $4,000 per household, and consumers may end
up funding the improvements. The key culprit? Nitrogen
found in urine and fecal matter, which feeds the growth of
algae.
The frustration for farmers continues to grow after recent news
of recent water allocation numbers. The Bureau of Reclamation
has announced a 35 percent federal allocation for Central
Valley Project recipients, as the California Department of
Water Resources has allocated 30 percent of State Water Project
requests. The news comes as the snowpack in the Sierra
Nevada sits at or near normal. … Joe Del Bosque of Del
Bosque Farms … says he and other farmers were extremely
disappointed with the recent numbers. He tells me with the
current snowpack, and recent, and potentially incoming storms,
the allocation should have been higher.
For the first time in four years, water is being pumped from
Tulelake to the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. The
historic Pumping Plant D in Tulelake Irrigation District (TID)
was constructed at the base of Sheepy Ridge in 1942. TID
Manager Brad Kirby said the five massive pumps ran year-round
for nearly 70 years. … In 2020, drought conditions and
federal regulations rendered the plant inoperative. As of
Monday morning, the D-Plant is up and running again, pumping
water from the Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge through Sheepy
Ridge to the Lower Klamath refuge thanks to the efforts of TID,
Ducks Unlimited and U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
Gov. Jared Polis and Dan Gibbs, Executive Director,
Colorado Department of Natural Resources announced Jason
Ullmann as the next Colorado State Engineer and Director of the
Division of Water Resources (DWR). … Jason brings over 20
years of experience in water resources engineering, 14 years of
which have been at DWR, most recently as the Deputy State
Engineer. Before his time with DWR, he gained valuable
experience in water resources management as a City Engineer for
the City of Montrose and as a consulting engineer for various
ditch and reservoir companies throughout Colorado.
