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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The California State Water Resources Control Board issued a
$6.6 million grant for a city of San Luis Obispo project
intended to clean up contaminated groundwater. Presently, the
city does not use groundwater for its drinking water supply.
SLO’s potable water supply comes from Whale Rock Reservoir,
Santa Margarita Lake and Nacimiento Reservoir. City
officials have sought to diversify the water supply in an
attempt to achieve “greater drought and climate change
resiliency.” Previously, contamination from
tetrachloroethylene, or PCE, served as a barrier to doing so.
PCE is a toxic chemical produced by dry cleaning and industrial
activities, which took place in the city decades ago. The
cleanup project will consist of the city building two new
groundwater supply wells that are expected to be fully
operation in 2026.
A pair of new state bills are looking to crack down on some of
the polluters fueling the cross-border sewage crisis that has
hobbled access to San Diego County’s southernmost beaches for
decades. Senate Bill 1178 and Senate Bill 1208, introduced on
Monday by State Sen. Steve Padilla, add regulations to water
discharges for large corporations, as well as prevent water
authorities from issuing additional permits for waste releases
into areas in the Tijuana River system.
This month, several wildlife conservation groups petitioned the
California Fish and Game Commission to list these owls as
endangered or threatened under the California Endangered
Species Act. … [Chair of the environmental studies department
at San Jose State University Lynne] Trulio’s speciality is
urban species, and she’s contributed to the research that
underpins Santa Clara County’s habitat conservation plan on
burrowing owls. But before that she was also the lead scientist
for the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, one of
the largest tidal wetland restoration projects on the West
Coast. “One of the things that drove the effort was the
fact that there were endangered species” in wetlands, said
Trulio. She said it took years to change the perception of the
wetlands as a dumping ground and to get a ballot measure to
fund its preservation.
A search continues for a woman last seen being carried
downriver in the Angeles National Forest, California sheriff’s
officials said. The 59-year-old woman lost her footing while
crossing a river near the Heaton Flats Trail at 9:51 a.m.
Saturday, March 9, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said
in a news release. Strong river currents swept her downstream,
deputies said. She had been hiking with friends. … Some
teams have been airlifted to search areas because of the rugged
terrain and swift river currents, deputies said. The sheriff’s
office encouraged hikers to use “extreme caution” when crossing
rivers.
Time is running out for the West’s wet season, but recent
storms have done wonders for the snowpack and the drought
across much of the region, especially in California. ”The
drought situation across the western U.S. has improved
considerably as a result of a very wet winter,” Jay
Famiglietti, a hydrologist at Arizona State University, told
USA TODAY. In fact, both California and Nevada are
“essentially drought-free” at the moment, which is “really
unusual,” he said. Elsewhere, the giant reservoirs of the
Colorado River Basin, Lakes Mead and Powell, are now about
one-third full. … Specifically, only about 25% of the
western U.S. is currently in drought conditions, according to
the latest U.S. Drought Monitor, which is down from 51%
this time last year.
Ahead of a deadline next week, the seven states that share the
Colorado River have revealed competing plans for how the river
should be managed in the future. They’re split into two
factions, with the Upper Basin states of Colorado, New Mexico,
Utah, and Wyoming on one side, and their Lower Basin
counterparts—California, Arizona and Nevada—on the other. Those
two camps have been at odds over water management many times
over the past century. Now, with climate change shrinking the
Colorado River’s supply, they’re under intense pressure to rein
in demand. While the current guidelines for sharing the
river don’t expire until 2026, the Biden Administration set a
mid-March deadline for proposals for new guideline, in part
because the upcoming election in November could bring a change
of presidential administration that could complicate the
implementation of new rules.
What a difference a month makes. There has been some
hand-wringing this winter regarding California’s 2024 water
outlook, especially in the southern mountains and the Kern
River Watershed. But new reports are pointing toward a much
more favorable water year, including in the Kern River Basin,
and by extension, Isabella Lake storage.
Countries, regions, and river basins globally are struggling to
provide and manage flows in rivers for ecosystems. One
approach, of many, is a Functional Flows approach, because it
seeks to provide a range of streamflows over the year and
between years to support fundamental functions of river
ecosystems and the ecosystem services for society. … The
approach also involves a process for balancing multiple human
and ecological objectives for river systems through broad
engagement of multiple interests. In their challenge to
maintain riverine ecosystem services, Chile and California can
benefit from this dynamic approach to managing instream flows.
California officials are preparing new urban water conservation
rules intended to help the state adapt to a drier future caused
by climate change. In reality, the proposed restrictions are so
great they could actually harm those adaptation efforts by
sacrificing the tree canopy we have nurtured in our cities for
generations. The “Making Conservation a California Way of Life”
rule package, proposed by the State Water Resources Control
Board, sets conservation targets unique to each urban water
agency in the state. While conserving each and every year makes
sense, so must the restrictions. A recent report by the
non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office found big flaws in
the Water Board’s approach, describing the proposal as overly
complex, expensive and unrealistic, with potential water
savings amounting to a mere drop in the bucket statewide. -Written by Jim Peifer, executive director of the
Sacramento Regional Water Authority; and Victoria
Vasquez, grants and public policy manager
for California ReLeaf, which works to protect, enhance and
grow California’s urban and community forests.
In January, draining the reservoirs behind the Klamath Dams
began. Iron Gate Reservoir, Copco Lake, and the Boyle Reservoir
are now largely empty as blasts opened holes in culverts
beneath Copco #1 and the John C. Boyle dams and the outlet
tunnel below Iron Gate was opened. “The Klamath River flows
free,” ran some headlines. Well not exactly. Keno and Link
River dams in Oregon upstream near Klamath Falls will not be
removed. Iron Gate, Copco #1, and J.C. Boyle still stand,
although the reservoirs behind them are largely empty. Until
the dams are completely removed (slated for this
spring/summer), the flow is still impacted by the dam
structures, causing erosion and ponding. Constriction and
acceleration as the water flows through narrowed passageways
can lead to cavitation. Cavitation occurs when irregularities
in the bed lift the water. The resulting negative pressure
causes bubbles of water vapor to form. -Written by Lori Dengler, an emeritus professor of
geology at Cal Poly Humboldt.
In what one Ukiah Valley water leader calls “the next big era
of major water decisions,” the City of Ukiah has joined up with
Redwood Valley and the Millview water district to form a new
water authority. The aim is to qualify for state infrastructure
grants to create a more reliable water supply for small
communities. The new authority has around 8500 to 9000 water
users, with about half of them in the city of Ukiah. That’s
pretty small by state standards, but First District Supervisor
Glenn McGourty, who is retiring this year, thinks the water
authority will help smaller districts comply with
ever-increasing state requirements.
Almost three months after a January storm and flash floods
killed several people and displaced hundreds of San Diego-area
residents, the state is offering one-time
Disaster CalFresh benefits to help families
recover. To be eligible for disaster food benefits, people
must have lived or worked in storm-impacted areas on Jan. 21,
the day record rainfall swelled creeks and rivers, deluging
neighborhoods. About 600 people sought emergency shelter.
California’s Department of Social Services said it will provide
30 days of food benefits to families who qualify.
California today took another step in implementing the nation’s
most comprehensive measure to tackle the rise in plastic waste
polluting our communities and ecosystems. Plastic waste is a
major contributor to climate and trash pollution,
with less than 9% of plastic recycled in California
and the rest of the U.S. Governor Gavin Newsom signed
the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer
Responsibility Act (SB 54) in 2022, which requires
producers to cut single-use plastic waste and ensure the
packaging on products they sell is recyclable or compostable.
The state today released draft regulations for the
measure, kicking off the formal rulemaking process.
On March 6, a coalition of environmental and fishing groups
reiterated their request that a federal court modify federal
agencies’ proposed interim plan for operating the federal
Central Valley Project (CVP), in coordination with the State
Water Project (SWP), to protect fish species listed under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA) and California Endangered Species
Act (CESA). That coalition includes the Pacific Coast
Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, the Golden State Salmon
Association, The Bay Institute, Defenders of Wildlife, and
Natural Resources Defense Council. Coinciding with that filing
has been a recent dramatic increase of protected steelhead
dying at the projects’ water pumps. The CVP and SWP are
still largely operating under rules written in 2019 under the
leadership of, among others, Interior Secretary David
Bernhardt, a former lobbyist for the powerful Westlands Water
District.
… Los Angeles desperately needs to become more like a
sponge. That will help to capture more stormwater locally when
rain does come and lessen devastating flooding, said Edith de
Guzman, a UCLA water equity and climate adaptation researcher.
… The Rory M. Shaw Wetlands Park Project will
turn a 46-acre landfill formerly used for materials such as
concrete and gravel into an engineered wetland that can boost
local water supply and alleviate local flooding. It’ll also
become a 15-acre park with a lake and walking paths.
… But now, the biggest barrier to completing the project
is funding, said Mark Pestrella, the director of L.A. County
Department of Public Works, which is spearheading the project
(after it’s constructed, the city of L.A. will take over
maintenance). The new goal is to complete it by 2028 or 2029.
Arizona officials said a Saudi-owned company they targeted over
its use of groundwater to grow forage crops is moving its
farming operation out of a valley in the Southwestern state’s
rural west. Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona State Land
Department announced late Thursday that Fondomonte Arizona is
officially no longer pumping water in the Butler Valley
groundwater basin. Some residents of La Paz County had
complained that the company’s pumping was threatening their
wells. A statement by Hobbs says an on-site inspection had
confirmed that Fondomonte was moving to vacate the property.
Fondomonte has several other farms elsewhere in Arizona that
are not affected by the decision.
In 2012, one of the driest years in Colorado in recent memory,
the Crystal River practically dried up. Ken Neubecker, a
now-retired Colorado projects director at environmental group
American Rivers and former member of the Pitkin County Healthy
Rivers board, recalls the stream conditions. … These
extremely low-water conditions returned in the drought years of
2018, 2020 and 2021, with river flows near the fish hatchery
just south of Carbondale hovering around 8 to 10 cfs — not
enough to support aquatic life and nowhere near the 100 cfs
that the state of Colorado says is the minimum needed to
maintain a healthy stream.
A report released by the Navy confirmed concerns that for years
have been hanging over the radiological cleanup of San
Francisco’s Hunters Point Shipyard: that rising seawater
levels, and other environmental factors resulting from climate
change, could cause toxic materials that have long been buried
at the site to surface. The study, called Climate
Resilience Assessment, was included in an ongoing review
process that the Navy must undertake every five years to
evaluate its remediation plan for the former shipyard, which
has long been a designated Superfund site. The shipyard is
also slated for redevelopment into a new neighborhood, with
cleaning efforts by the Navy and its contractors underway for
more than a decade to prepare it for reuse. The report is
the first time that the Navy has studied the impacts of climate
change in relation to the shipyard, which spans hundreds of
acres and contains radioactive waste and other contaminants.
Anew time-lapse video shared on social media shows Tulare Lake,
California’s ghost lake, disappear after re-forming last year.
A series of atmospheric rivers hit California last year during
an abnormally wet winter season and caused the lake to reemerge
in the San Joaquin Valley. The original lake was once much
larger than Lake Tahoe and was known to be the largest
freshwater lake in the West, but it began to dry up in the late
1800s and fully disappeared 80 years ago when water was
diverted and the land was repurposed for agricultural
uses. Atmospheric rivers are a “long, narrow region in the
atmosphere—like rivers in the sky—that transport most of the
water vapor outside of the tropics,” according to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NID released a notice informing the public of cuts to the Bear
River water flows yesterday afternoon. The district cited
“unexpected maintenance work in the headwaters” in their
release. We can now confirm a shutdown of PG&E’s Spaulding
#1 powerhouse is the cause of what could be a prolonged outage
in water flows. According to a PG&E
spokesperson: During a routine inspection at PG&E’s
Spaulding 1 powerhouse on March 6, a leak was discovered
adjacent to a pressure relief valve. On March 7 a more detailed
inspection was made of the PRV [pressure relief valve] and
PG&E determined that repairs would need to be made before
the powerhouse could be returned to service. The estimated
return to service date is April 30.