A collection of top water news from around California and the West compiled each weekday by veteran journalist Matt Weiser.
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The Friant-Kern Canal, which delivers water to farms and
communities on the east side of the Valley, is literally
sinking in some areas due to groundwater pumping. And with one
week to go before the California legislature wraps up its 2019
session, many hope the state will help fund the canal’s repair.
UC Davis researchers have seized on a new explanation for the
continued dinginess of Lake Tahoe’s blue waters — tiny invasive
shrimp. … To make Tahoe shrimp-free, the researchers are
proposing to remove the crustaceans with trawlers and to mass
market Omega-3 fatty acids extracted from the catch.
“We never were a people that would fight fire,” said William
Tripp, the Karuk Tribe’s eco-cultural restoration specialist.
“We worked with fire. Fire was inevitable and still is and
forever will be on this landscape and many landscapes like it.”
That’s why the Karuk Tribe is making the use of fire a central
component of its climate adaptation plan.
The board easily approved a cooperation agreement with Butte
County and the California Water Service Company on an Intertie
feasibility study. … The intertie helps Paradise Irrigation
District restore revenue lost when the Camp Fire destroyed
about 90 percent of its customers.
To end a labor dispute that’s halted work on one of the largest
and most important water projects in San Diego history,
Assemblyman Todd Gloria rolled out a bill Friday to require
union-friendly terms for work on the project.
More than $670 million in water projects … are options under
a draft plan for helping get the Salinas Valley Basin to
sustainability by 2040. A draft Salinas Valley Basin
groundwater sustainability plan includes 13 projects ranging
from Salinas River invasive species eradication … to a
seawater intrusion barrier using a series of wells to head off
saltwater contamination …
Using dairy lagoon water to irrigate silage corn is standard
practice. Running the thick, nutrient-rich water through
subsurface drip systems could someday be just that as two
California dairy farms, an irrigation company, and an
environmental organization are working together to solve the
challenges involved in the water thrifty practice.
A recent analysis by ECONorthwest, an economic consulting firm
based in Portland, Ore., estimates that a restored Hetch Hetchy
Valley, drained of its water and offering recreation options
and infrastructure in the same vein as Yosemite Valley, could
attract orders of magnitude more visitors.
As homes along San Geronimo Creek face the threat of erosion
and coho salmon face the threat of extinction, a series of
projects nearly a decade in the making is working to find a
win-win solution.
If you see something hopping around in Big Chico Creek, chances
are it could be the foothill yellow-legged frog. This frog is
currently being evaluated by the California Department of Fish
and Wildlife to possibly be placed on the state’s endangered
species list.
Lomita has stopped using a 5 million-gallon emergency reservoir
that blends local groundwater and more expensive imported
water, another fallout from the discovery of cancer-causing
chemicals in the water supply…
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has
agreed to fund a study of possible contamination of the indoor
plumbing of homes that survived the Camp Fire in Paradise and
Magalia.
Valley farmers and water districts will be facing a new reality
of pumping less water and are worried about the land that will
be taken out of crop production. But the water and agriculture
industries are drafting a large-scale plan to fill the gap with
more dams and water deliveries from the Delta. Vic Bedoian
reports from Fresno.
Utilities typically turn to groundwater to make up for surface
water depleted by drought. University of Arizona hydrology
professor Laura Condon is using computer models to predict what
climate change will do to the availability of groundwater. She
is exploring a series of “what if” scenarios on how to respond
to water shortages.
The city of Ukiah made its first delivery of recycled water
through its extensive Purple Pipe system this week, putting
about 2 million gallons of water reclaimed from local sinks,
showers and toilets into an irrigation pond just south of the
Ukiah Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The study, expected to be completed by early 2020, builds on
the last such fish survey conducted more than a decade ago.
“We’re hoping to find an improvement in the fishery,” Lake
Elsinore Mayor Steve Manos said, “and to identify ways in which
we can continue to improve the fishery.”
A contractor could start dredging Anaheim Bay toward the end of
the year, kicking off a $154-million endeavor by the Navy that
will allow larger ships to dock at Naval Weapons Station Seal
Beach.
The city council approved paying Zenner USA … $1.6 million to
purchase automatic metering infrastructure, water meters,
communications equipment and software and hardware at its Aug.
27 meeting. The meters themselves will be made in Banning. …
The city is in the process of converting from manual meter
reading to relying instead on automatic meter reading…
This delivery, on top of water already being provided, comes at
a critical time for fall waterfowl migration, and has become
available through extensive coordination and efforts by Klamath
Project irrigators.
An ancient spring near Lukeville has slaked the thirst of
desert travelers for centuries, but its days may be numbered as
groundwater is pumped to build a 30-foot border wall.
