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Water news you need to know

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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Aquafornia news Eureka Times-Standard

Opinion: What happens when dams come down

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.

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Aquafornia news Mendo Fever

New water authority unites Ukiah Valley, Redwood Valley, and Millview to navigate the next era of water challenges

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.

Aquafornia news CalMatters

Displaced San Diego flood victims can get CalFresh benefits

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. 

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Aquafornia news Office of Gov. Gavin Newsom

News release: California’s landmark plastic pollution law moves forward

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.

Aquafornia news Golden State Salmon Association

News release: GSSA raises alarm about ongoing killing of protected steelhead by state water projects

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. 

Aquafornia news LAist

LA has big plans to turn a landfill into a wetland, but delays are jeopardizing the project

… 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.

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Aquafornia news The Associated Press

A Saudi business is leaving Arizona valley after it was targeted by the state over groundwater use

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.

Aquafornia news Aspen Journalism

In dry years, Colorado’s Crystal River runs at a trickle — but why?

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. 

Aquafornia news San Francisco Chronicle

Toxic water, sea level rise latest challenges in S.F. shipyard cleanup

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.

Aquafornia news Newsweek

Time lapse shows California ‘ghost lake’ suddenly disappear

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.

Aquafornia news YubaNet

Lake Spaulding powerhouse #1 offline after leak discovered

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.  

Aquafornia news Morning Ag Clips

Facing an uncertain water future

The future availability of irrigation water for California growers has never been less certain. To help growers survive a future of “water uncertainty,” the non-profit Soil Health Academy today announced an on-farm school at the Burroughs Family almond orchard April 30-May 2 in Denair, California, that will offer agricultural producers principles and tools to grow profits and resiliency with much less water. The school, sponsored by Simple Mills, will feature instruction, demonstrations and insights from world-renowned soil health pioneers Gabe Brown, Allen Williams, Ph.D., along with Chuck Schembre and other orchard, vineyard and vegetable production experts.

Aquafornia news Los Angeles Times

Friday Top of the Scroll: After winter storms, California can expect a late start to the wildfire season

A series of late-season winter storms has filled reservoirs, boosted snowpack and left forecasters anticipating a late start to California’s wildfire season. And while the odds are also tilting toward a milder than normal fire season overall, that outlook could change by July, said National Interagency Fire Center meteorologist Jonathan O’Brien. … For now, Predictive Services is forecasting below-normal large fire activity in Southern California in May and June, and normal activity in Northern California.

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Aquafornia news CNN

Arizona governor: Foreign-owned farm no longer pumping groundwater on state land to feed cattle overseas

A Saudi Arabian farm previously permitted to pump unlimited amounts of groundwater to grow alfalfa for dairy cows overseas has stopped irrigating its crops on state land in Arizona’s Butler Valley, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs announced Thursday. Hobbs and the Arizona State Land Department announced after a recent inspection Fondomonte had stopped pumping water in the Butler Valley groundwater basin and has begun to take steps to leave the property. Hobbs took full credit for the outcome, saying it was a result of her move to terminate and decline to renew Fondomonte’s leases on state land in the area, part of a broader crackdown from Hobbs and her Democratic attorney general Kris Mayes.

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Aquafornia news Los Angeles Times

‘We can do better’ – Western states divided over long-term plans for Colorado River water

With climate change compounding the strains on the Colorado River, seven Western states are starting to consider long-term plans for reducing water use to prevent the river’s reservoirs from reaching critically low levels in the years to come. But negotiations among representatives of the states have so far failed to resolve disagreements. And now, two groups of states are proposing competing plans for addressing the river’s chronic gap between supply and demand. In one camp, the three states in the river’s lower basin — California, Arizona and Nevada — say their approach would share the largest-ever water reductions throughout the Colorado River Basin to ensure long-term sustainability. 

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Aquafornia news Santa Maria Sun

LA Superior Court rules on Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin boundaries

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge confirmed that the Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin is one connected basin—not separate subbasins—allowing for the groundwater adjudication to move forward following a year-and-a-half of delays and litigation. … The Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin is one of California’s 21 critically overdrafted basins that was required under the 2014 California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) to create a groundwater sustainability agency (GSA) and corresponding groundwater sustainability plan. After the California Department of Water Resources approved the sustainability plan, which called for a 60 percent water use reduction in 20 years, agricultural corporations Bolthouse Farms and Grimmway Farms filed a groundwater adjudication against every landowner in the Cuyama Valley in August 2021. 

Aquafornia news GV Wire

One of CA’s ‘largest almond growers’ goes bankrupt. It owes millions to local companies.

A private equity farming giant with more than 1,500 acres of land in Fresno and Tulare counties and 8,600 acres statewide declared bankruptcy Monday. Even with “extremely favorable water rights and competitive water costs,” Redwood City-based Trinitas Partners could not keep up with high borrowing costs and consistently low almond prices, according to bankruptcy filings. The firm owes $190 million in secured and unsecured debt. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Northern District of California. … Trinitas Partners began buying land in the Central Valley in 2015. It focused on land with superior water rights and young almonds, making the orchards more valuable for long-term growth, according to court filings.

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Aquafornia news SJV - Water

Infrastructure the main topic at Kern’s annual water summit

With nature providing plenty of water – finally – this year, and groundwater regulation well underway, water managers, farmers and others turned their focus to infrastructure at Thursday’s Water Summit put on by the Water Association of Kern County. Early in the day’s line up of speakers, Edward Ring, senior fellow with the California Policy Center, captured the audience’s attention with an extensive cost-benefit analysis of the Delta Conveyance project, a tunnel that would take Sacramento River water beneath the ecologically sensitive Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta 45 miles to be exported south. His conclusion: the project has a whopping price tag for a “dribble” of water.

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Aquafornia news Arizona's Family - Phoenix

Phoenix approves water conservation ordinance, impacting businesses that use 250,000 gallons or more per day

Water conservation is a top issue for cities across the Southwest. Now, Phoenix continues plans to reduce water use and prepare for the future. Phoenix City Council approved a water conservation ordinance for “big water users” this week. “It is Phoenix making sure that when a large volume user comes along, there is a sufficient benefit,” said Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at ASU. It only impacts new developments. Under the ordinance, companies that use more than 250,000 gallons of water per day will have to submit water conservation plans to the city. This could impact some hospitals, resorts, and manufacturers. Then, companies that use more than 500,000 gallons of water per day need to submit a conservation plan and ensure 30% of their water usage comes from recycled water. 

Aquafornia news Los Angeles Times

New study: Microplastics may be risk factor for cardiovascular disease

Add one more likely culprit to the long list of known cardiovascular risk factors including red meat, butter, smoking and stress: microplastics. In a study released Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, an international team of physicians and researchers showed that surgical patients who had a build-up of micro and nanoplastics in their arterial plaque had a 2.1 times greater risk of nonfatal heart attack, nonfatal stroke or death from any cause in the three years post surgery than those who did not. … Petroleum-based plastics do not biodegrade. Over time, they break down into smaller and smaller pieces — known as microplastics, microfibers and nanoplastics — and have been found in household dust, drinking water and human tissue and blood.

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