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Golden Mussel, California’s Newest Delta Invader, Is Likely Here To Stay – And Spread
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Aquatic hitchhiker adds to burden of invasive mussels challenging water agencies across the West

Image shows golden mussels clustered on a buoy, found during a survey in November 2024 at O'Neill Forebay at the foot of San Luis Reservoir in Merced County. The mussels were also discovered for the first time in North America last fall in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and O'Neill Forebay. A new aquatic invader, the golden mussel, has penetrated California’s ecologically fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the West Coast’s largest tidal estuary and the hub of the state’s vast water export system. While state officials say they’re working to keep this latest invasive species in check, they concede it may be a nearly impossible task: The golden mussel is in the Golden State to stay – and it is likely to spread.

Announcement

Registration Now Open for Popular Bay-Delta Tour in May; Water Summit Set for Oct. 1
Seats Filling Quickly for Water 101 Workshop and Central Valley Tour in April

Register today for the return of our Bay-Delta Tour May 7-9 as we venture into the most critical and controversial water region in California. Get a firsthand look at the state’s vital water hub and hear directly from experts on key issues affecting the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay.

The 720,000-acre network of islands and channels supports the state’s two large water systems – the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project – and together with the San Francisco Bay is an important ecological resource. You’ll learn firsthand how the drought is affecting water quality and supply that serves local farms, cities and habitat. Much of the water also heads south via canals and aqueducts to provide drinking water for more than 27 million Californians and irrigation to about 3 million acres of farmland that helps feed the nation.

Water News You Need to Know

Aquafornia news Arizona Daily Star (Tucson)

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Colorado River water conservation funds frozen by Trump

Hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds to conserve water in the Colorado River Basin — including $86.6 million for advanced wastewater treatment in Tucson — have been frozen by the Trump administration, Arizona’s senators say. U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly’s office said funding for all projects related to the river that were to be financed by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act — which include the Tucson project — are frozen. Specifically, the Tucson project to treat wastewater to drinking-water standards is on a federal website’s list of frozen projects, said David Wegner, a retired U.S. Bureau of Reclamation official.

Other funding freeze and federal agency news:

Aquafornia news Record Searchlight (Redding, Calif.)

Lake Shasta waters still high after heavy dam releases; February rain breaking records

Lake Shasta water levels are still higher than usual for this time of year, even after U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials released 10 times the amount of water flowing through Shasta and Keswick dams during the second week of February. At just under 1,037 feet, Shasta Dam was lapping almost 30 feet from the top of the reservoir (1,067 feet) on Thursday, according to the California Department of Water Resources. But the amount of water in the state’s largest reservoir is much closer to its historical average for this time of year than it was a week ago, days after record breaking rainfall drenched the greater Redding area and the North State. 

Other storm impact news and analysis:

Aquafornia news Los Angeles Times

Inside the battle to restore drinking water in Altadena and the Palisades

… Today, most Altadena and Pacific Palisades residents still don’t have clean drinking water, with “do not drink” and “do not boil” notices still in effect. They pick up packages of bottled water from the stoop of the utilities’ offices, and while they’re technically allowed to use the tap water for showers, washing hands and laundry, many still don’t trust it. As residents question why it’s taking so long to bring back clean drinking water, the utilities are pushing through a lengthy process of restoring water pressure throughout their sprawling system, then repeatedly testing hundreds of sites for dangerous carcinogens and attempting to flush them out until the water is safe.

Other wildfire impact news:

Aquafornia news Office of Gov. Gavin Newsom

News release: Governor Newsom marks new milestone in Delta Conveyance Project

Governor Newsom announced (Feb. 14) another important step in the state’s work to modernize its water infrastructure through the Delta Conveyance Project. Passing yet another critical milestone, the project received a required Incidental Take Permit. The permit includes measures to minimize, avoid, and fully mitigate impacts on threatened or endangered species as a result of the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Delta Conveyance Project.

Related article:

Online Water Encyclopedia

Wetlands

Sacramento National Wildlife RefugeWetlands are among the world’s most important and hardest-working ecosystems, rivaling rainforests and coral reefs in productivity. 

They produce high oxygen levels, filter water pollutants, sequester carbon, reduce flooding and erosion and recharge groundwater.

Bay-Delta Tour participants viewing the Bay Model

Bay Model

Operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bay Model is a giant hydraulic replica of San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. It is housed in a converted World II-era warehouse in Sausalito near San Francisco.

Hundreds of gallons of water are pumped through the three-dimensional, 1.5-acre model to simulate a tidal ebb and flow lasting 14 minutes.

Aquapedia background Colorado River Basin Map

Salton Sea

As part of the historic Colorado River Delta, the Salton Sea regularly filled and dried for thousands of years due to its elevation of 237 feet below sea level.

The most recent version of the Salton Sea was formed in 1905 when the Colorado River broke through a series of dikes and flooded the seabed for two years, creating California’s largest inland body of water. The Salton Sea, which is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, includes 130 miles of shoreline and is larger than Lake Tahoe

Lake Oroville shows the effects of drought in 2014.

Drought

Drought—an extended period of limited or no precipitation—is a fact of life in California and the West, with water resources following boom-and-bust patterns. During California’s 2012–2016 drought, much of the state experienced severe drought conditions: significantly less precipitation and snowpack, reduced streamflow and higher temperatures. Those same conditions reappeared early in 2021 prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom in May to declare drought emergencies in watersheds across 41 counties in California.