A collection of top water news from around California and the West compiled each weekday by veteran journalist Matt Weiser.
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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.
Klamath River Renewal Corporation Director of Communications
Matt Cox said that the State Water Resources Control Board’s
recent denial of the KRRC’s request for a water quality
certification for the Lower Klamath Project will not affect the
process to remove four dams along the Klamath River.
The bulldozers came for the ghost town of Jewell in West Marin
County, ripping out a dozen or so abandoned homes as part of an
environmental effort to improve the survival chances for
endangered coho salmon on the Lagunitas Watershed.
The western pond turtle in Butte County is currently shaking in
its shell, due to habitat alteration and introduced species
that are killing off the local reptile. … The turtle is being
evaluated for listing as threatened or endangered, according to
California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials.
The Round Valley Indian Tribes announced this week that they
have signed an agreement to join with users of both the Eel
River and Russian River to seek a “Two-Basin Solution” for the
re-licensing of the Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project, which
diverts water from the Eel River into the Russian River.
Fresno County farmers and ranchers shattered the yearly record
for the value of what they produced by nearly a billion dollars
in 2018. Despite below-average surface water supplies, their
crops and livestock totaled $7.888 billion last year, according
to the Fresno County Department of Agriculture’s annual report
released Tuesday.
A California State University, Monterey Bay professor will
receive a substantial grant from the Defense Department to find
methods to harness fog. … The DoD is interested in the study
… which may be useful for military personnel in remote foggy
regions.
Why do farmers pump the water under their land (which
California law clearly states belongs to them) in the first
place? Unfortunately, you’ll rarely read the answer to this
question in the press, but it is the most important part of the
story.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California on
Tuesday, Sept. 10, approved $5 million for a stormwater pilot
project to determine the best and most efficient way to capture
the tens of billions of gallons of rainwater that flow off
roofs and pavement each year.
Saying the $32 million in projects were vital “to protect the
lives and property of Californians” Newsom swept aside
environmental reviews and competitive bidding requirements to
speed the work. But the state’s recent fire chronicles are
riddled with examples of how such fuel break projects don’t
guard against the wind-driven infernos that have laid waste to
communities the length of California.
Despite new California regulations banning surface spills in
the state’s vast oil fields, at least eight spills connected to
Chevron have occurred in just one Kern County oil field since
the new rules took effect in April, state regulators say.
The ”surface expression” spills have spewed more than
1.26 million gallons of oil and wastewater in five
months, with some still not contained.
Dates are now set for two key Foundation events to kick off
2020 — our popular Water 101 Workshop, scheduled for Feb. 20 at
McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, and our Lower Colorado
River Tour, which will run from March 11-13.
Members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee grilled
company representatives over what they say was decades of
awareness of the dangers of their products and their role
helping spread fluorochemicals known as PFAS.
A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit that alleges tile
drains in California’s Central Valley discharge pollutants in
violation of the Clean Water Act.
A major groundwater sustainability study was approved by the
Butte County Board of Supervisors which will look at different
aspects into future water allocations and conservation in Butte
County, including the possibility of building a pipeline from
Paradise to Chico.
In a new effort to balance California’s water needs, Gov. Gavin
Newsom has directed state agencies to prepare a water plan
known as the California Water Resilience Portfolio that
includes “a comprehensive strategy to build a climate-resilient
water system.”
An 11-month-old Santa Rosa dog died a “horrible death” Monday,
a day after she was in the water at a park where a city worker
subsequently found a small patch of algae responsible for
numerous public health warnings and two other dog deaths in
recent years.
The sixth annual Labor Day beach cleanup at Lake Tahoe did more
than just remove 168 pounds (76 kilograms) of trash from the
shoreline. It’s also apparently provided some clues to help
design new strategies to keep the cigarette butts and other
garbage from ending up there in the first place.
The blue ocean has turned a rusty red in Manhattan Beach — but
what is causing this change in color? The red tide, as it’s
called, is from an algal bloom, according to Valerie Hill,
administrative and development director at the Roundhouse
Aquarium off the Manhattan Beach Pier.
The Bureau of Reclamation, in coordination with the California
Department of Water Resources, today announced its decision to
move forward with a restoration project to improve fish passage
and increase floodplain fisheries-rearing habitat in the Yolo
Bypass.
Residential graywater offers up a huge potential for our city
to offset potable water use. When the next drought rolls
around, and it will, we could be sitting pretty with healthy
trees and landscapes using less water from the Sierra than we
do now.
