A collection of top water news from around California and the West compiled each weekday by veteran journalist Matt Weiser. Send any comments to Foundation News & Publications Director Doug Beeman.
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Please Note: The headlines below are the original headlines used in the publication cited at the time they are posted here, and do not reflect the stance of the Water Education Foundation, an impartial nonprofit that remains neutral.
After only 6 months post-construction completion and levee
breach at the Tule Red Tidal Restoration Project, longfin smelt
have returned. The 420-acre restoration site converted wetlands
managed primarily for waterfowl to tidal wetlands for the
benefit of dwindling native fish populations including Delta
smelt, longfin smelt, Chinook salmon and the food web that
supports them.
The $65.8 million in grants will help fund projects such as
groundwater replenishment and habitat restoration within the
Colorado River, Lahontan, San Francisco Bay Area and Santa Ana
Proposition 1 funding areas. More than $12 million of this
amount targets projects that also help disadvantaged and
underrepresented communities, including Tribal governments.
Extended periods of inactivity in buildings can cause lead
leaching or legionella growth in water pipes and taking proper
steps can help minimize potential exposure to both these
contaminants. … Proper reopening procedures help in verifying
that water systems and equipment are in safe working order.
With our massive size, talented population and innovative
institutions, the Golden State is uniquely positioned to build
back better. … One example is the state Department of Toxic
Substances Control … charged with regulating hazardous wastes
and overseeing cleanup of contaminated sites. Increasingly, it
has come under scrutiny and even withering criticism from a
range of stakeholders – from environmental advocates to the
industries that it regulates.
The Department of Water Resources urged people to avoid
physical contact with the water at San Luis Reservoir in Merced
County until further notice due to blue-green algae. Boating is
allowed, but swimming and other water-contact recreation and
sporting activities are not considered safe under the warning
advisory due to potential adverse health effects.
The proposed Eagle Mountain project went through nearly 10
years of regulatory review, mostly under the Obama
administration, with deep investigations of potential impacts
and subsequent requirements for some of the most stringent
mitigations ever placed on a project. … The one hitch for us?
We, the very communities who will be impacted by this project
have no real voice.
While Imperial Irrigation District has the largest right within
California, it was not the Imperial Valley that was responsible
for California’s overuse. That was the Metropolitan Water
District. We are among the very oldest users on the Colorado
River and have built a community, ecology, and way of life here
in the desert dependent upon the waters of the Colorado that
have sustained us since 1901.
The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule Monday
curtailing the rights of states, tribes and the public to
object to federal permits for energy projects and other
activities that could pollute waterways across the country. The
move … upends how the United States applied a section of the
Clean Water Act for nearly a half century.
The Department of Water Resources produces groundwater level
change maps which show groundwater levels in wells throughout
the state. When looked at together, these reports give a
statewide picture of groundwater conditions and how they change
over time – through wet periods or droughts.
Across the Southwest, investors are banking on water scarcity.
They are buying up farms and ranches as states explore new
programs that could make it easier to sell and transfer water.
… Today a new type of investor has started eyeing water in
the basin, less intent on building a new community than on
supporting existing ones within one of the nation’s fastest
growing states.
The water keeps rising, shrinking the window for implementing
solutions. Sea-level rise already threatens the bay shore,
which, at about 500 miles, is half the length of the entire
California coast. The worst is yet to come: The Bay Area needs
to plan for a 2-foot rise by 2050 and up to 7 feet by 2100.
The proposed rule revision represents the first major overhaul
of the Lead and Copper Rule since 1991. The proposal includes
changes for lead tap sampling, corrosion control treatment,
lead service line replacement, consumer awareness and public
education, new requirements for community water systems to
conduct lead in drinking water testing, and public education in
schools and childcare facilities.
We have elected to suspend our regular CalifornaWaterBlog.com
posts for this week. Institutional racism is urgent and real,
and should divert us from topics of California water at this
time… At the Center for Watershed Sciences, we acknowledge
that while we strive for equity and inclusion in our science in
line with our Principles of Community, we have a long way to go
to address racism and unconscious bias.
To assist monitoring programs in staying informed and learn how
to adjust their programs, especially conducting field
activities during this time of COVID-19, the State Water
Board’s Clean Water Team has compiled this list of resources.
Few clear guidelines exist for water quality monitors, but we
can learn from other fields like wastewater management and keep
everyone safe & healthy.
The proposals from the Bureau of Land Management would
eliminate a 15-day protest period afforded to the public to
comment on timber sales and other forest management decisions.
BLM said the comment period they are proposing to cut is
repetitive, as people can already submit their thoughts when a
project is undergoing review under the National Environmental
Policy Act.
Fossil fuel companies going bankrupt in the wake of the
Covid-19 pandemic are expected to leave behind thousands of
abandoned oil and gas wells, and some congressional Democrats
are calling for a federal program to ensure they’re cleaned up.
There are 56,000 known abandoned oil and gas wells in the U.S.,
leaking methane and other air and water pollutants, said Rep.
Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.) …
U.S. policymakers understand quite well the impact of Mexico’s
wastewater management on American communities. What they fail
to comprehend is that the ongoing border sewage crisis is
rooted in a longer history of U.S. imperialism and private
enterprise in the San Diego-Tijuana region.
Las Vegas water use decreased rapidly starting in mid-March,
around the same time that Gov. Steve Sisolak instituted a
stay-at-home order and closed most nonessential businesses. But
since late April, it has gradually been increasing to more
typical levels, Las Vegas Valley Water District data shows.
In May, Cyclone Amphan made landfall in Bangladesh and eastern
India. The category 5 storm forced around 3 million people to
flee their homes. With this scenario in mind, a group of
disaster experts published guidelines for political leaders and
emergency managers so that they can prepare before the storms
hit.
The lab aims to understand not only the current circulation of
the novel coronavirus, but also project what capacity must be
built in the future to combat a potential second wave,
according to Laurie Van De Werfhorst, a senior staff scientist
who’s worked with Dr. Patricia Holden for almost 19 years.
