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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For years, scientists have said that atmospheric rivers can
either make or break the water supplies of thirsty California
cities and farms. For the last two winters, a steady succession
of these giant “rivers in the sky” have dumped record-breaking
and drought-busting precipitation across the state, while
simultaneously causing catastrophic floods, landslides, and
dangerous blizzards. But now, new research has found that these
recent atmospheric rivers pale in comparison to some of the
monster storms that battered ancient California — a sobering
revelation that suggests to some experts that the state could
be revisited once again by such cataclysmic storms.
… The study’s findings do not bode well for a state
whose flood infrastructure was severely strained last year,
when a train of atmospheric rivers breached numerous levees,
flooded communities and re-filled once dry Tulare Lake.
The Pacific Northwest lays claim to well over two-fifths of
America’s dam-derived electricity. So when a drought hits the
region, the nation takes notice. That happened in 2023
when, according to a recent report, U.S. hydroelectric
power hit its lowest level in 22 years. … Last year offered
energy providers in the West a glimpse of the conditions they
may need to adapt to as the world warms and seasonal weather
patterns shift. While models predict climate change will plunge
California and the Southwest deeper into drought, what awaits
Washington and Oregon is less clear.
The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta faces significant
challenges affecting the health of its waterways and ecosystem,
and stewards say state agencies must accelerate efforts to
prepare for the impacts of climate change and a growing urban
landscape. Delta Stewardship Council staff presented the
Delta Plan Five Year Review on Thursday, recommending numerous
measures to preserve precious water and environmental habitats
against future crises such as extreme drought, sea level rise
and earthquakes. The council recommended that stewards work
with state regulators to improve the delta’s ecosystems and
reduce reliance on delta water, and with landowners to identify
affordable uses of sinking land for sustainable farming.
Water users in the Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability
Agency shot down a proposed pumping fee that would have been
nearly $100 per acre-foot. That sends the Mid-Kings River
GSA back to the drawing board, with local stakeholders calling
for more input in the next proposal. The
backstory: California views that the GSA – which comprises
of water users in the Kings County Water District, the City of
Hanford and Kings County – has not done enough to manage
groundwater pumping through the Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act (SGMA). SGMA was passed by the Legislature
in 2014, and it governs how agencies in critically overdrafted
areas achieve groundwater sustainability.
The water in Imperial Beach could soon be much cleaner. A
legislative package protecting the Tijuana River Watershed was
passed by the Senate Environmental Quality Committee Wednesday.
The two bills address corporate pollution tainting California’s
water supply. Companies responsible for sewage, garbage and
chemicals that are spilling over from south of the border and
contaminating the waters of San Diego could soon be held
accountable by having to pay fines depending on how much waste
they improperly dump.
Colorado voters may be asked to let more money flow to water
projects by allowing the state to keep all of the sports
betting tax revenue it collects, if a measure referring the
issue to the November ballot is approved by lawmakers. House
Bill 1436 … collects a 10% tax on the proceeds of licensed
sports betting. Some of the money is used to cover the cost of
regulating betting and the rest, up to $29 million total, is
funneled toward water projects. In the event tax collections
exceed $29 million, the legislature decides how to refund the
money under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
A water transfer from a small western Arizona town to a growing
East Valley community has some observers concerned. About a
decade ago, a company called Greenstone bought nearly 500 acres
of land in the town of Cibola, in La Paz County. But, a few
years later, Greenstone sold the water rights for that farmland
to Queen Creek. In the process, the company made about $14
million in profit. Since then, La Paz and two other Arizona
counties have sued the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, arguing the
agency didn’t consider the long-term implications when it
approved the deal. A judge this year sided with those counties,
and told the bureau to essentially redo its environmental
assessment of the arrangement.
Coastal wetlands—including salt marshes, tidal forested
wetlands, and seagrasses—can sequester more carbon per acre
than inland forests, making them some of the world’s most
effective natural carbon sinks. So, states [including
California] are increasingly incorporating the protection and
restoration of these “blue carbon” habitats into their broader
initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet their
climate change goals. Although states use different approaches
to incorporating coastal wetlands into their climate planning,
some common elements are high-level leadership and policy
goals, quality data and established methodologies for
understanding blue carbon trends, and partnerships for
effective implementation.
For more than 15 years, Valley Water has measured mercury
levels in reservoirs and creeks in the Guadalupe River
Watershed and studied ways to reduce the metal’s harmful
impacts. Parts of the Guadalupe River watershed, which covers
about 171 square miles, are contaminated with mercury from the
former New Almaden Mining District. The mining and processing
of mercury occurred in the area from 1845 through 1971. These
operations released large amounts of mercury into parts of the
Guadalupe River watershed, which flows into South San Francisco
Bay. Mercury-enriched sediment from mining waste made its way
into creeks and reservoirs within the watershed. Creeks flowing
in the watershed carry that sediment down the Guadalupe River
to San Francisco Bay, especially during wet years.
A generational issue for the families living in San Lucas
continues as they’ve gone decades without drinking water. Soon
federal, state, and local leaders will secure nearly a million
dollars to build a pipeline to King City. Advertisement “The
kids couldn’t even be bathed in the water. That’s how bad it is
that babies are not able to get bathed. That means there’s
something really wrong,” said Fray Marin-Zuniga, a San Lucas
resident. Plants not growing, animals dying, young children
unable to bathe, this is the reality for those living in the
unincorporated South Monterey County town of San Lucas. “Back
when I was in school here, because I graduated from San Lucas
School, the water was yellow,” Martin-Zuniga said.
Martin-Zuniga has lived in San Lucas his entire life, he shows
KSBW the dry skin condition that he’s developed on his arm. He
says as the years go by, the need for clean water has never
wavered.
Get ready for the latest scoop on the Klamath River dam removal
and restoration project! In the newest episode of the Fish
Water People Podcast, Mark Bransom, CEO of the Klamath River
Renewal Corporation, is welcomed back to discuss exciting
updates on the once-in-a-lifetime restoration effort. In recent
months, significant milestones have been achieved, with
successful dam breaching at Iron Gate, Copco 1, and J.C. Boyle
in Southern Oregon – signifying a monumental leap forward in
the journey to restoring river vitality. Despite expected
challenges such as sediment management and ecological
adjustments, the project remains steadfast on its course.
Native vegetation is already beginning to sprout, breathing new
life into the ecosystem. Curious what lies ahead on this
monumental journey of renewal?
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to
approve $15 million in funding for the construction of the
Vista Grande Drainage Basin Improvement project. The project
aims to address persistent flooding in northern San Mateo
County and parts of San Francisco. “The project is expected to
provide a range of public benefits, including improved storm
drainage, water supply, wastewater disposal, solid waste
capture, recreation, and environmental enhancement benefits,”
county staff said in a report. According to county staff, much
of the flooding can be attributed to overflowing water at Lake
Merced during heavy downpours. The project will channel and
filter rainwater from the Vista Grande Watershed before
releasing it into the Pacific Ocean.
Balancing the water supply needs of millions of Californians
while protecting the environment is no easy task. The
Department of Water Resources is committed to using and
advancing the best available science to operate the State Water
Project to get water to the people who need it while protecting
native fish species. One important way DWR is doing just that
is through the advanced use of genetics to identify different
runs of Chinook salmon to monitor and protect the runs that are
listed as threatened or endangered. Knowing which runs are
present and where they are being found in the water system
ultimately helps rebuild salmon populations in California. DWR
has released a video showing the genetic identification process
in action.
Officials are conducting tests at a drinking water reservoir in
California, after dead fish were found floating there. The Lake
Elsinore & San Jacinto Watersheds Authority (LESJWA) announced
on Wednesday evening it had launched an investigation into
oxygen levels at Canyon Lake. The reservoir, in southern
California, has historically suffered from algae blooms, which
can cause environmental concerns, according to the LESJWA
website. ”A fish die-off, is one of the first visible
signs of environmental stress when dead fish are found floating
on the surface of water or washed up on the shore,” a statement
said. “The most common cause of a fish die-off is the depletion
of dissolved oxygen in a body of water.” There was no
mention of whether the fish die-off or presence of algae could
potentially impact the quality of the drinking water.
Those who enjoy fishing and who seek trout and salmon in
particular were reminded Wednesday by California Department of
Fish & Wildlife officials that they should keep their dogs away
from the uncooked fish. A parasitic flatworm called Nanophyetes
salmincola can be transmitted to canines that eat the two types
of fish before they’re cooked, creating a bacteria-like
organism in their body and a condition called salmon poisoning
disease, officials said in a news release. The parasite is seen
only in dogs; the disease is potentially fatal but is
treatable, experts say. Signs of the disease in a dog include a
rise in body temperature, a loss of appetite, listlessness,
diarrhea and vomiting. Rapid weight loss may also occur.
College students in California have begun scanning 2 million
pages of water rights records on paper to make them more easily
available in digital form to the public as part of a $60
million project. The idea is to make it easier to determine who
has the right to use water in the state, and from what stream
and when, especially in times of drought. Here & Now’s Peter
O’Dowd learns more with Erik Ekdahl, deputy director of the
California State Water Board’s Division of Water Rights.
The Bureau of Reclamation announced Wednesday that
south-of-Delta water contractors are having their water
allocation increase from 35 percent to 40 percent of their
contracted amount. That five percent increase was
“incredibly disappointingly low” for Westlands Water
District. The big picture: South-of-Delta contractors
were initially allocated 15 percent of their contracted total
in February, but that number was boosted to 35 percent in
March. Farmers were hopeful that California’s above
average snowpack would result in a greater boost, considering
the state has had a good start to the year with precipitation.
Conservationists lost an appeal to the Ninth Circuit on
Wednesday as they attempted to force the federal government to
reconsider climate change studies in managing the Glen Canyon
Dam and Colorado River. Save the Colorado, Living River and the
Center for Biological Diversity initially asked the U.S.
Department of the Interior to consider emerging climate science
and the severe potential of climate change in updating its
management plan in 2016 for the Glen Canyon Dam on Lake Powell,
which has a water level 3,564 feet above sea level.
… [The judges] concluded that the Interior did not
violate environmental law when developing its 20-year plan for
managing water releases from the dam or the plan’s accompanying
environmental analysis.
Long-term weather models are hinting a wet storm could sweep
California in early May, but forecasters warn that people
shouldn’t arrange their plans around this potential system just
yet. On Tuesday, the National Weather Service’s Weather
Prediction Center told SFGATE that some models show the storm
could generally bring a chance of 0.5 to 1 inch of rain across
the entire state. An inch of rain is not a big deal in the
winter, but in May, it’s a little less typical.
… Weather models show the storm potentially arriving May
4, with rain chances continuing into Monday, May 6. Oravec
shared this information with a big caveat: The timing of the
storm is likely to change in the coming days, or the entire
forecast could shift.
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