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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San Francisco has been giving Seattle a run for its money on
the precipitation front. Since Jan. 1, nearly 18 inches of
rain has accumulated in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Seattle sits
at just 13 inches. This year is unusual. San Francisco
has been rainier than Seattle in just 16 of the past 50 years
through mid-April. In a normal year, San Francisco trails
Seattle by about 2.5 inches of precipitation on April
14. Annually, Seattle averages 16.5 inches more rainfall
than San Francisco and may still surpass San Francisco this
year. While 2024’s rainfall may seem topsy-turvy, it
fits expectations with El Niño, a global climate pattern that
has its biggest influence on West Coast storms from January
through April.
The troubled Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Castaic received a new
violation last week from a state water agency for pumping
untreated leachate water from the landfill into local waterways
that empty into the Santa Clara River. A violation letter dated
April 9 was sent to the landfill operators by the Los Angeles
Regional Water Quality Control Board, raising concerns that the
landfill’s wastewater may reach groundwater sources fed by the
river and used for drinking water.
Insurers in California have sounded the alarm: A warming
climate has dramatically raised the risk of devastating
wildfires, and with it the cost of providing coverage. But now
a Peninsula lawmaker says those insurance companies should
credit the state and homeowners for the work done to reduce our
vulnerability to wildfires. State Sen. Josh Becker, a Menlo
Park Democrat, has introduced a bill that would require
insurers to consider the state’s efforts to thin flammable
brush and trees as well as property owners’ steps to make their
homes more fire resistant, such as covering vents and clearing
vegetation. Those efforts would need to be incorporated into
their risk modeling to determine coverage decisions and costs.
The Sonoma County Water Agency —Sonoma Water— Board of
Directors voted Tuesday to increase wholesale water rates to
address the pressing aging infrastructure needs. The adjusted
wholesale water rates are forecasted to have a modest impact on
household budgets of between $2-$3 per month, based on location
and water usage. The cities of Cotati, Petaluma, Rohnert Park,
Santa Rosa and Sonoma; the town of Windsor; and the Marin
Municipal, North Marin and Valley of the Moon water districts,
all purchase their water from Sonoma Water.
Pretty much every time I write about the amount of Colorado
River water that is consumed to irrigate alfalfa and hay,
readers respond with a comment or question about how much of
the alfalfa — and therefore Colorado River water — is shipped
overseas. … It is true that Western farms export alfalfa
to foreign countries. … But there’s a big caveat here: Many
farms in Arizona — and most if not all of the Saudi Arabia
owned ones — irrigate with groundwater, not with water diverted
from the Colorado River.
The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors is asking a federal
agency to monitor the Klamath River dams removal project.
Earlier today, the board approved a written request to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It formally outlines
concerns about the four Klamath River dams removal
project. It also requests FERC to address the concerns.
The board’s letter has 11 pages of issues with the
project. Concerns include dead fish, downstream silt and
large mud fields from now-drained lake beds.
El Dorado County is requesting public input while it develops
the Tahoe El Dorado (TED) Area Plan. The TED Area Plan is a
long-term planning document that will update and incorporate
the Meyers Area Plan and other communities in the Tahoe Basin
area of the County. The density, look, and character of a
community are defined by a variety of land use planning
documents. In the Tahoe Basin, land use falls under the El
Dorado County Zoning Ordinance and the Tahoe Regional Planning
Agency’s Regional Plan. Currently, the land use policies and
zoning designations in some areas conflict with each other.
This creates confusion about what is allowed and what can be
built on these properties. Conflicting land use policies
constrain new projects on those sites.
If you’re like us, you’re inspired by the natural world and
eager to see California’s beautiful mountains, forests, and
lakes protected for future generations. You also might be
surprised to hear that the health and survival of these places
depends on one species more than most: beavers. Put simply,
beavers are our partners in protecting and restoring
California. Beavers are known as a “keystone species,” meaning
they create, modify, and maintain critical ecosystems for
insects, birds, mammals, fish, plants, and trees. -Written by Kate Lundquist and Brock Dolman,
Co-Directors of the Watershed Advocacy, Training, Education, &
Research (WATER) Institute and the Bring Back the Beaver
Campaign at the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center.
How Colorado protects wetlands depends on two perspectives: Is
it a water quality issue or a land management issue? Even
assuming it’s a little of both, either answer leads to
different approaches, each to be overseen by a different
agency. And either path offers implications for construction,
permitting and management of habitats. This month,
lawmakers looked at the dueling approaches contained in two
measures seeking to implement a way for the state to manage
“dredge and fill discharge” permits tied to a recent U.S.
Supreme Court decision that redefined how a body of water can
be protected under the Environmental Protection Agency’s
“Waters of the United States” rule.
A major southern Colorado water district voted unanimously last
week to oppose an $80.4 million agricultural water purchase by
Aurora in the Arkansas Valley, saying the deal violates a 2003
agreement that prohibits the fast-growing city from taking more
water out of the valley. Aurora would lease the water back to
Arkansas Valley farmers in most years, using it periodically in
dry periods. During a special meeting April 9, the Southeastern
Colorado Water Conservancy District said it had numerous
concerns with the purchase, which is set to close this month.
Southeastern manages the federally owned Fryingpan-Arkansas
Project, which includes the Pueblo Reservoir.
The sunlight glints off a geometric shape across the glassy
surface of a reservoir in the Golan Heights. This is a solar
array, with panels mounted on floating pontoons, and anchored
to the banks, rising and falling with the water level. The
innovation of “dual use” reservoirs — providing water storage
on the one hand, and “green” energy on the other — is just the
latest advance pioneered by the Jewish National Fund (JNF),
which manages Israel’s forests and farmland. …
California has not seen a major reservoir built since the late
1970s, but Israel built hundreds of small reservoirs from 1990
to 2010, after a water crisis in the 1970s and 1980s prompted
the government to expand the system’s capacity.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife recommended
Alternative 3 – Salmon Closure during the final days of the
Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) meeting mirroring
the opinions of commercial and recreational charter boat
anglers. The department’s position is a significant change from
early March. The PFMC meetings are being held in Seattle from
April 6 to 11, and the final recommendations of the council
will be forwarded to the California Fish and Game Commission in
May.
Sustaining the American Southwest is the Colorado River. But
demand, damming, diversion, and drought are draining this vital
water resource at alarming rates. The future of water in the
region – particularly from the Colorado River – was top of mind
at the 10th Annual Eccles Family Rural West Conference, an
event organized by the Bill Lane Center for the American West
that brings together policymakers, practitioners, and scholars
to discuss solutions to urgent problems facing rural Western
regions.
Today, Congresswoman Norma Torres and Congressman David Valadao
– members of the House Appropriations Committee – announced the
introduction of the bipartisan Removing Nitrate and Arsenic in
Drinking Water Act. This bill would amend the Safe Drinking
Water Act to provide grants for nitrate and arsenic reduction,
by providing $15 million for FY25 and every fiscal year
thereafter. The bill also directs the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to take into consideration the needs of
economically disadvantaged populations impacted by drinking
water contamination. The California State Water Resources
Control Board found the Inland Empire to have the highest
levels of contamination of nitrate throughout the state
including 82 sources in San Bernardino, 67 sources in Riverside
County, and 123 sources in Los Angeles County.
Catastrophic weather events wreaked havoc on U.S. agriculture
last year, causing nearly $22 billion in crop and rangeland
losses, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
California accounted for $1.14 billion of that figure,
including nearly $880 million in damages from severe storms and
flooding. The figures represent a significant shift from
previous years, when drought and wildfires were California’s
biggest challenges. Since then, atmospheric rivers, Tropical
Storm Hilary and other weather events battered our farming
communities. - Written by Matthew Viohl, director of federal
policy for the California Farm Bureau
Water bubbles up in streets, pooling in neighborhoods for weeks
or months. Homes burn to the ground if firefighters can’t draw
enough water from hydrants. Utility crews struggle to fix
broken pipes while water flows through shut-off valves that
don’t work. … Across the U.S., trillions of gallons of
drinking water are lost every year, especially from decrepit
systems in communities struggling with significant population
loss and industrial decline that leave behind poorer residents,
vacant neighborhoods and too-large water systems that are
difficult to maintain.
A much-anticipated water bill brought by one of the most
powerful lawmakers on Capitol Hill became public Thursday.
Senate President Stuart Adams’s SB 211, titled “Generational
Water Infrastructure Amendments,” seeks to secure a water
supply for decades to come. It forms a new council comprised of
leadership from the state’s biggest water districts that will
figure out Utah’s water needs for the next 50 to 75 years. It
also creates a new governor-appointed “Utah Water Agent” with a
$1 million annual budget that will “coordinate with the council
to ensure Utah’s generational water needs are met,” according
to a news release. But combing through the text of the bill
reveals the water agent’s main job will be finding an
out-of-state water supply. … The bill also notes the
water agent won’t meddle with existing water compacts with
other states on the Bear and Colorado rivers.
… California’s 2024 Water Year could still be quite dry
and/or bring floods, but it seems unlikely to become among
California’s wettest years, if only because the water year’s
first months have been dry. Today, the Northern Sierra
precipitation index is about 66% of average for this time of
year. San Joaquin and Tulare basin precipitation indices
are at 46% and 40% of average, respectively. … Given the
precipitation so far, 2024 is highly likely to be wetter than
the very driest years of record, but is also highly unlikely to
be among the very wettest years in the past 100 years or
so.
Water, the essence of life, is an indispensable resource
intricately woven into the fabric of our daily existence. From
the food on our plates to the gadgets in our hands, water
silently plays a pivotal role in the creation of almost
everything we encounter. In a world where water scarcity is a
looming concern, it is essential to explore the profound impact
of water in the production of goods and services that shape our
lives as well as the food we feed our families. -Written by Mike Wade, executive director of the
California Farm Water Coalition
Beyond evacuations, mudslides, outages and road flooding, the
atmospheric river that drenched Southern California over the
last few days brought eye-popping rainfall totals to the region
— with still more to come Tuesday. Rainfall topped 11 inches in
some areas of Los Angeles County in three days, easily
surpassing the average amount recorded for the entire month of
February, according to the National Weather Service. “And
February is our wettest month,” said Ryan Kittell, a
meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard… As
of 10 p.m. Monday, downtown Los Angeles had recorded 7.04
inches of rain over the prior three days. The February average
is 3.80 inches. That three-day total is nearly 50% of the
average amount of rainfall for an entire year for downtown Los
Angeles.
