Marin County plans to reroute a Bolinas Lagoon creek as part of
an effort to prevent flooding along Highway 1, prepare for
sea-level rise and restore habitat for threatened species. The
county’s Bolinas Lagoon Wye Wetlands Project aims to redirect
Lewis Gulch Creek closer to its historic route and raise a
nearby road to allow the creek more room to wind and flow
during winter storms. The project would also restore
floodplains at the northern end of the 1,100-acre Bolinas
Lagoon that were lost over more than a century as wetlands made
way for roads and pastures.
Much of the western U.S. continues to endure a long-term
drought, one that threatens the region’s water supplies
and agriculture and could worsen wildfires this year. In fact,
some scientists are calling the dryness in the West a
“megadrought,” defined as an intense drought that lasts
for decades or longer. Overall, about 90% of the West is
now either abnormally dry or in a drought, which is among the
highest percentages in the past 20 years, according to this
week’s U.S. Drought Monitor.
Congressman Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, introduced a bill
Wednesday that would extend “critical water supply provisions”
in the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN)
Act for the next seven years in an effort to improve
California’s access to water. On Wednesday, Garcia introduced a
bill that would enact a seven-year extension for “critical
water supply provisions” in the WIIN Act, which became law at
the end of 2016.
Experts in coastal science and policy at UC Santa Cruz are
teaming up with researchers at UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego,
and the U.S. Geological Survey to address the many challenges
of adapting to climate change along California’s coast.
… California’s iconic shoreline, from its communities
and beaches to coastal wetlands and intertidal habitats, is
increasingly threatened by coastal hazards such as extreme
flooding and erosion associated with climate change, sea level
rise, storms, and El Niño events.
California will face another critically dry year, and residents
will need to adapt quickly to cope with water shortages and a
warmer, drier climate that has helped fuel destructive
wildfires. Officials with the state’s department of water
resources announced on Tuesday they had found that the water
content of the overall snowpack for 2 March amounted to 61% of
the average. The state’s largest reservoirs were storing
between 38% and 68% of their capacity, officials said, meaning
that the state would have a lot less water to carry it through
the rest of the year.
Human fingerprints are all over the world’s freshwater. A new
study published Wednesday in the journal Nature shows that
while human-controlled freshwater sources make up a minimal
portion of the world’s ponds, lakes, and rivers, they are
responsible for more than half of all changes to the Earth’s
water system. … Climate change already looms large over the
world’s freshwater supply. Major sources of drinking water,
like the Colorado River, have less water and are flowing
more slowly due to climate change—even as they face increasing
demand from our water-hungry farms and cities. Rainfall itself
is becoming more erratic in some locations, such as
California…
As climate change brings an increase in the frequency and
severity of droughts, forest dieback is a key cause for
concern: forests act as reservoirs of biodiversity and also
allow vast amounts of carbon to be stored, reducing the
so-called greenhouse effect. Oak trees, iconic veterans of
European and American forests, have previously been thought to
be highly vulnerable to drought. Now, thanks to a novel
non-invasive optical technique, scientists from INRAE and the
University of Bordeaux in France, with their colleagues from
University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University have
studied a range of oak species in North America to find out
more about their resistance to drought.
Early in 2020, when the severity of COVID‐19 became evident, US
water utilities implementing conservation programs had to act
quickly to determine how to mitigate changes in their
conservation programs and staffing. Prioritization and
collaboration helped utility staff settle into their new way of
working, which included adapting to online connection with
customers and each other. These adaptations might lead to
permanent changes. Thanks in large part to the power of
technology, many water conservation and customer education
programs have continued, with interest and participation even
increasing in some cases.
The winter storms that dumped heavy snow and rain
across California early in 2021 are likely not enough to negate
what will be a critically dry year, state water officials
believe. California’s Department of Water Resources on
Tuesday recorded a snow depth of 56 inches and water content of
21 inches at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada. The water
content of the overall snowpack was 61% of the average for
March 2 and 54% of the average for April 1, when it is
historically at its maximum.
Ninety-nine percent of the state is dry, according to ABC Seven
News Meteorologist Mike Nicco. More than half of the state is
in severe drought mode and 31% is in the extreme drought
conditions which includes part of the North Bay. The Bay
Area is abnormally dry right now, but that should have changed
in January and February as they are typically our wettest
months.
Monterey One Water just celebrated the one-year anniversary of
delivering recycled wastewater via the Pure Water Monterey
project. The advanced filtration system is used on treated
sewage water, which is then injected deep underground where the
new supply will be mixed with the existing water supply.
Even before phase one of the Pure Water Monterey project was
online, the board of M1W began debating an expansion of the
project. But that expansion has been on ice for months, after
the M1W board voted 11-10 (on a weighted vote) in April of 2020
not to proceed. It’s about to come back.
San Francisco has long been an international leader on
environmental issues. However, water policy has been a stain on
that record. … Many California rivers are overtapped by
excessive pumping, but few are in worse condition than the
Tuolumne River. In drier years, more than 90% of the Tuolumne’s
water is diverted. On average, 80 percent of the river’s flow
never makes it to the Bay. It’s not a surprise that the river’s
health has collapsed. …
-Written by Bill Martin, a member of the Sierra Club
Bay Chapter Water Committee, and Hunter Cutting, a member
of the Sierra Club Bay Chapter’s San Francisco Group Executive
Committee.
Caught between climate change and multi-year droughts,
California communities are tapping groundwater and siphoning
surface water at unsustainable rates. As this year’s
below-average rainfall accentuates the problem, a
public-private partnership in the Monterey/Salinas region has
created a novel water recycling program that could serve as a
model for parched communities everywhere.
Vanderbilt paleoclimatologists using pioneering research
have uncovered evidence of ancient climate “whiplash” in
California that exceeded even the extremes the state has
weathered in the past decade. Their findings present a
long-term picture of what regional climate change may look like
in the state that supplies the U.S. with more than a third
of its vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts.
The state’s Ocean Protection Council has awarded $1.3 million
to preserving and safeguarding estuary habitat at Elkhorn
Slough, which boasts the second-largest tidal salt marsh in
California. The wetland, once degraded by farming activities
such as diking, is at risk of impacts from climate change —
particularly rising sea levels.
San Juan Bautista made progress on its water compliance
projects on Feb. 16 as the City Council unanimously approved
contracts for moving wastewater out of the city, financing, and
a formalized agreement with the San Benito County Water
District to provide water. On Oct. 15, the city opted to
send its wastewater to the Hollister Wastewater Treatment Plant
and to acquire potable water from San Benito County Water
District’s West Hills Water Treatment Plant.
The Santa Cruz City Council is poised to approve a 5-year
extension between the City and Soquel Creek Water Districts on
a pilot program that would funnel excess surface water to
Soquel Creek during winter months, in hopes of bolstering
overdrawn groundwater supply there. That surface water, on
average, is projected to be around 115 million gallons
delivered by Santa Cruz Water to Soquel Creek during the wet
season, which would take strain off pumping the Santa Cruz
Mid-County Groundwater Basin.
Texas has always seen its share of extreme weather events,
but over the past two decades they have intensified. A few
years ago, after the fifth “ 500-year flood” in five years, I
remarked to a friend, “We’re going to have to stop calling them
that.” … Of course, this uptick in extreme weather is
not limited to Texas. Numerous places across the country—and
indeed the globe—have experienced multiple “historic” weather
events in recent years. Last year, droughts in California led
to six of the largest wildfires in the state’s
history. In 2017 and 2018, British Columbia had two consecutive
record-setting forest fire seasons.
-Written by Robert Rapier, a chemical engineer
with over 25 years of experience in the energy
industry.
A few weeks after [California's late-January] storm, in early
February, eight scientists with a research consortium called
the Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network, or MARINe, hiked
towards a beach smothered by one of the Big Sur debris flows.
The sour smell of decomposing creatures hit them. A few turkey
vultures nipped at the sand. There were dead sea stars,
chitons, and likely hundreds of dead black abalone. In a
previous visit to this site, scientists were able to count 150
black abalone or “abs” in a small 50-meter area, with hundreds
left uncounted. A fraction of the site’s population remained.
Ancient giant redwoods are among the charred survivors in Big
Basin Redwoods State Park after a wildfire last year. Now
rangers and conservationists are developing plans to better
protect them out of fear that the world’s tallest trees may not
survive future blazes that are almost certain to come.
The main weather excitement of the season thus far was
certainly the major late January atmospheric event that was the
focus of my last blog post. Despite missing some the details
during the early portion of the event (winds were stronger and
precipitation less intense than originally predicted), the
storm largely evolved as expected–stalling along the Central
Coast and bringing very heavy double-digit rainfall totals
there, as well as extremely heavy snowfall throughout the
Sierra Nevada (on the order of 3-8 *feet* in many places).
A recent webinar on trading of guaranteed future water prices
on the stock market showed the potential to drive up the price
tag of water for public agencies. During a Feb. 2 California
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) virtual meeting,
water stock market advocates were clear that prices would rise.
However, they stated that it would be a good thing, because
water has been undervalued and therefore wasted. Their approach
would encourage more efficient use of water, they told the CDFA
board.
In two key developments for proposed Lake Nacimiento and Lake
San Antonio water projects, a $17 million state grant for fish
screens as part of the Interlake Tunnel project is in the works
again while a draft engineer’s report for a long list of
maintenance and repair work at the Monterey County-owned
reservoirs has been released.
Tuolumne Utilities District will continue to process
applications for new water hookups because its Board of
Directors failed Thursday to reach a determination on future
supply and availability. The TUD board held a special workshop
Thursday to grapple with the oldest challenge in county history
when it comes to water, but the big picture has not changed.
The district relies on the South Fork Stanislaus River
watershed that still provides a limited amount of runoff, an
average of 104,000 acre-feet annually, and typically has access
to less than one-quarter of that.
The state of California has changed its sea level rise guidance
for state agencies and coastal communities, now advising in new
“Principles for Aligned State Action” that Californians employ
a single sea level rise target — plan for 3.5 feet by 2050 — as
opposed to the more flexible approach the state used in the
past. But this single sea level rise number does not represent
the best available science and could make California less
resilient to climate change.
–Written by Robert Lempert, a senior scientist at
the RAND Corp. and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change, and David Behar, climate program director at
the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and co-chair of
the World Climate Research Programme’s Sea Level Rise Grand
Challenge Committee.
A large Canada-based utility service company has unveiled a
proposal to construct and operate a Moss Landing desalination
plant using brackish water from wells at the mouth of the
Salinas Valley. According to a Jan. 28 presentation by Liberty
Utilities official Kim Adamson, the proposal calls for a desal
plant capable of producing up to 32,000 acre-feet of drinking
water per year at a cost of about $1,000 to $1,500 per
acre-foot for Salinas, Castroville and Marina, and perhaps even
eventually the Monterey Peninsula.
As the first heavy rains of the season poured across the Santa
Cruz Mountains last month, emergency responders and residents
braced for debris flows, road closures and power outages.
Others also feared for their drinking water…. Across the
West, water districts are grappling with new and increasingly
common challenges as fire seasons grow longer and blazes
consume more suburbs and smaller communities. These fires are
not only destroying people’s homes and treasured possessions,
they are leaving behind an array of incinerated plastics, lead,
pesticides and other toxic particles that have the potential to
contaminate water supplies.
The City of St. Helena has agreed to monitor local groundwater
levels and stream flows, averting a potential lawsuit from an
environmental advocacy group. Following months of negotiations,
the city and Water Audit California released a joint statement
Friday announcing the city will collect monthly water levels
and annual extraction totals for local wells and provide a
public, “scientifically useful” summary of the data. The city
will conduct a comprehensive review of its water system,
develop new protocols for using the city’s own Stonebridge
wells, and work with Water Audit on the installation of new
stream gauges along the Napa River, York Creek and Sulphur
Creek.
Sub-seasonal to seasonal forecasts could someday give western
water managers as much as a two-year head start in planning for
either a wet or dry winter. The scientific methodology already
exists for what is known as S2S precipitation forecasting, but
putting it to work requires improving weather and climate
models and buying enough super-computer time to run the models
to test them. Now, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) report could spur Congress to approve the
$15 million annual investment necessary to translate S2S
forecasting from concept to implementation through pilot
projects in the West.
In a tense, two-and-a-half-hour board meeting on Feb. 4 that
included more than 100 attendees, San Lorenzo Valley Water
District (SLVWD) broached the subject of a potential merger
with Scotts Valley Water District (SVWD). The reaction from
those who attended the Zoom meeting was anything but subtle:
the majority opposed the idea, and representatives of SLVWD
found themselves back on their heels from the opening salvo.
California is in the early stages of a severe multi-decadal
drought, exacerbated by the climate crisis. As Dan Walters
pointed out in his recent commentary, we must move quickly to
prepare for water shortages and wildfires. A potent strategy to
improve the state’s water storage capacity involves an ancient
technology so ubiquitous that it is often overlooked: soil. The
urgency of California’s drought and wildfire risks require that
we invest in soil health now. -Written by Ellie Cohen, CEO of The Climate
Center, and Torri Estrada, executive director of
the Carbon Cycle Institute.
Coastal cities and farming regions can maximize supplies by
teaming up. And it could help with critical infrastructure
funding and upgrading water trading policies.
A storm is forecast to bring rain to the Bay Area on Thursday
Feb. 11, 2021. After a stretch of sunny, dry weather, the first
significant rainfall is heading to the Bay Area since an
atmospheric river storm pummeled Northern California two weeks
ago. A new storm is forecast to roll in Thursday night,
forecasters said Tuesday. It won’t be anywhere near as big as
the late January storm that triggered landslide warnings and
evacuations in Santa Cruz County communities, and washed out a
big chunk of Highway 1 in Big Sur.
There is a possibility that residents of Santa Cruz could be
asked to ration water usage in the spring after dry summer and
fall seasons. Santa Cruz Water Director Rosemary Menard gave a
preliminary presentation of the city’s water outlook to the
City Council on Tuesday, shortly after the second half of the
wet season began. The presentation evaluated four factors to
project what the city’s water outlook will look like and
whether residents will need to ration water as the dry season
approaches.
The flood of state bills addressing sea level rise this year is
surging faster than the ocean itself, as legislators recognize
the urgent need to prepare for the consequences expected in the
decades ahead.
A concern over a potential lawsuit by state water officials
against the Monterey Peninsula water district could threaten an
affordable housing project in Monterey. In May, the board of
directors of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District
reversed a staff recommendation and approved sending roughly 5
acre-feet of additional water — some 1.7 million gallons — for
one section of a Garden Road project that will be built out by
developer Brad Slama.
A new set of winery wastewater guidelines will be imposed on a
statewide basis. The State Water Resources Control Board
recently adopted a general order regulating how wastewater will
be processed and discharged. … While the wine industry
is concerned with water quality issues, there is some concern
that a statewide mandate may not be the best approach to the
issue.
Four new Monterey Peninsula representatives on key local water
and wastewater agency boards could have a big say on the future
of two Monterey Peninsula water issues — the proposed
California American Water public takeover and the Pure Water
Monterey expansion proposal. Last week, Monterey architect
Safwat Malek was unanimously chosen to replace Molly Evans as
Monterey Peninsula Water Management Agency Division 3
director …
Marina Coast Water District is small but influential in local
water issues, caught in the middle on various politically
fraught issues. For one, the water district—which is
adjacent to California American Water’s service area, but not
in it—has long been an antagonist to Cal Am. The one-time
partners on a now-defunct desalination project have been
embroiled in litigation over that former project for years. And
Marina Coast has been an outspoken leader in opposition to Cal
Am’s more recent proposed desalination project, fighting it
since the earliest steps.
If the natural water supply doesn’t meet the water needs of an
increased population, Marin is going to have to revisit the
idea of building a desalination plant. Currently, the largest
U.S. desalination plant in San Diego produces 50 million
gallons daily at a cost of one cent per gallon. That cost is
kept low given the San Diego’s plant is adjacent to a power
station. If Marin had to draw its power from MCE or Pacific Gas
and Electric Co., the cost would rise to 1.33 cents per gallon
or $10 per billing unit over and above normal water
charges. -Written by Rick Johnson, who worked 40 years with the San
Francisco Water Department as a senior inspector and revenue
recovery project manager.
Farm groups say a proposed regulatory permit known as the
Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program for Central Coast
agriculture, which regulates waste discharge from irrigated
lands throughout the Central Coast, would make it more
difficult for farmers to achieve the desired results, while
harming the region’s agricultural economy.
[FEMA] intends to provide federal financial assistance … to
the Santa Cruz County Flood Control and Water Conservation
District, Zone 7 in Santa Cruz County, California, to install a
sheet pile wall through the center of the existing Pajaro River
levee adjacent to the southern edge of the Watsonville
Wastewater Treatment Plant. The proposed action would protect
the plant flooding if the levee is compromised by river
erosion, slope failure, and seepage.
After a particularly wet week, Californians shouldn’t hang up
their snow shovels and raincoats just yet. Those in Southern
California should expect 1 to 8 inches of snow to fall in the
mountainous areas of Ventura and Los Angeles counties between
late Tuesday and Wednesday night, said Kathy Hoxsie, a
meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Elsewhere in Los Angeles County, one-quarter to one-half of an
inch of rain is forecast to fall, with 3/4 inches expected in
the foothills, Hoxsie said.
When Palo Alto officials adopted a position in 2018 in support
of the Bay-Delta Plan, which aims to protect the Yosemite
ecosystem by restricting how much water cities can draw from
the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, they knew were
swimming against the prevalent political tide. Prompted by
water conservationists and environmentalists, the City Council
went against recommendations from the city’s Utilities
Department staff and its water supplier, the San Francisco
Public Utilities Commission, which relies on the Tuolumne River
for much of its water.
In the driest years for Monterey County, the water available in
the Salinas River is not enough to supply a single household.
In the wettest year of the past three decades, 1995, there were
100,000 acre-feet of water available, more than the total urban
usage in the county. Although the flow fluctuates wildly, the
average amount is far more than what is needed, for example,
for thirsty coastal cities desperate for housing. The water has
been available for decades – the right to use it is protected,
encouraged and even required by state law – but it’s been
flowing into the ocean, a casualty of Monterey County’s
political deadlock.
Hundreds of California wineries will be governed by statewide
wastewater processing rules for the first time. The move
toward a statewide regulatory framework is a five-year effort
and was finalized this week by the State Water Resources
Control Board. The board approved an order setting up
guidelines for wastewater processing at most of the more than
3,600 bonded wineries in the state, reported the North Bay
Business Journal. The new order promises to bring at least
1,500 of those wineries into a regulatory framework for
wastewater disposal for the first time.
Ten days ago the state set new heat records and brush fires
broke out. Burn areas in the Santa Cruz Mountains rekindled.
Then, over the last three days, a 2,000-mile-long filament of
water in the sky burst over the areas that last week sat brown
and smoking. Snow fell on peaks and even some lower hills in
the Bay Area. The California Department of Water Resources
Central Sierra snow measurement station jumped from 42 percent
of average to 62 percent of average.
In order to get a wetlands permit needed for development of the
former Concord Naval Weapons Station to move ahead, the City of
Concord will investigate the source of water unexpectedly found
near the one-time airfield north of Willow Pass Road. The
Concord City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to move
$12,000 of previously approved loan money to aid in the study
of where water is coming from on that land, located east of
Olivera Road near the Pixieland Amusement Park.
Nearly half of food grown in the United States gets thrown out.
More food is tossed once it reaches a household fridge than at
any other point in the supply chain. With every strawberry that
doesn’t get eaten comes the wasted water to grow it, the wasted
gas to transport it, the methane it emits while it rots, and
crowded landfills.
A storm that pounded Northern California with rain, snow, wind
and mud rolled southwards on Thursday, prompting flood warnings
and threats of mudslides in areas burned bare by wildfires. An
atmospheric river of moisture from the Pacific Ocean was
expected to dump 1 1/2 to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain in
Southern California from Thursday night into Saturday, with
winds up to 50 mph (almost 81 kph), according to the National
Weather Service. But threats also remained in portions of
central and Northern California.
Atmospheric rivers are relatively narrow bands of moisture that
ferry precipitation across the Pacific Ocean to the West Coast
and are key to California’s water supply…. While
atmospheric rivers are necessary to keep California’s water
reservoirs full, some of them are dangerous because the extreme
rainfall and wind can cause catastrophic flooding and
damage. Their presence has been likened to the West Coast
version of the hurricane hazard posed to the southeastern
United States.
An expansion project [at Los Vaqueros Reservoir] started in
2010 and completed in 2012 raised the dam height 34 feet to 224
feet. It increased the storage capacity 60 percent to 160,000
square feet. It also expanded recreational uses and stepped up
habitat protection. The surface covers 1,400 acres and has an
elevation at capacity is 524 feet. Los Vaqueros is also
where the next significant increase in California reservoir
storage could be in place by 2028. The $915 million
project will raise the dam 55 feet to 273 feet. It would
increase storage from 160,000 acre feet to 275,000 acre feet.
A strong storm system brought heavy rain and powerful winds to
the Bay Area late Tuesday, increasing the risks of mudslides
and flash floods that have already prompted evacuations in some
parts of Northern California. An atmospheric river barreled
into the West Coast, causing flooding, evacuations and dropping
snowfall in the Sierra. In some places, including San Benito
County and Big Sur, the storm was expected to bring up to 10
inches of rain by Wednesday.
As a resident of Marina and the president of the Board of
Directors of Marina Coast Water District, I feel it is very
important to correct inaccurate statements provided by former
Congressman Sam Farr. Yes, MCWD has needed to expend legal fees
in the past few years; however, the bulk of those fees are to
protect our precious water source from California American
Water. Cal Am seeks to construct a desalination plant that will
degrade our sole water supply source, groundwater… -Written by Jan Shriner, president of the Marina Coast
Water District board of directors.
The biggest storm of the season is barreling down on Northern
California. The Sacramento region could see up to 3 inches of
rain this week – perhaps doubling the amount of rain we’ve
received for the entire winter season – as an extreme storm
arrives Tuesday afternoon. The cold, wet system will bring
dangerous winds to the region, localized flooding and up to 80
inches of snow – yes, that’s nearly 7 feet – to the summits on
Interstate 80 and Highway 50.
Winter weather is finally arriving in Northern California. And
after weeks of dry, warm conditions and growing drought
concerns, it’s coming in hard. Forecasters say a sizable storm
— the first significant atmospheric river event to hit the
greater Bay Area this winter season and likely the biggest
storm in at least 12 months — will soak much of California
starting Tuesday night, continuing Wednesday, and bringing wet
roads, downed trees, power outages and the possibility of
mudslides.
Former U.S. Rep. Sam Farr is calling for the Marina Coast Water
District to be investigated for fiscal mismanagement and merge
with the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, even as
the district is involved in a lawsuit that has successfully
challenged its water rates and could have implications for the
entire Ord Community.
Oh, that the rain of the past few days would be enough. And,
perhaps it will be, if forecasts for more during the upcoming
week hold true. At the least, however, the rain that does fall
will not dampen the possibility of more fires. Think about
that: Fires in January?
California water issues are notoriously complicated by a
massive diversity of users, ecosystems, applications and
futures. Indeed, water in the Delta has been described as
a “wicked problem” indicating that these problems cannot
be ignored and defy straightforward characterization and
solutions. Below we highlight how a Swiss cheese model might be
applied to vexing long-term declines in native fish populations
in California.
The State Water Resources Control Board adopted a general order
for how wastewater is processed and discharged at winery
locations in an ongoing effort to safeguard groundwater and
surface water from wastewater discharges. The order protects
groundwater and surface water quality while giving wineries the
flexibility to select compliance methods that best fit their
site-specific situation, including tiering the compliance
requirements to the winery size and associated threat to water
quality.
California’s wildfire threat could ease over the next few
weeks, with a series of storms bringing much-needed moisture
after heat and drought torched record acreage in the state. The
first downpour is already spreading across Northern California
Friday, and that will be followed by progressively stronger
systems through next week …
High winds, dry vegetation and unseasonably warm weather fueled
several wildfires in Northern California on Tuesday as hundreds
of residents were forced to evacuate, state fire officials
said. Fire crews were working on multiple fronts to contain at
least five active fires that ignited within the CZU Complex
Fire burn area in Santa Cruz County. Several nearby
neighborhoods were evacuated and firefighters struggled to gain
access because of hazardous tree conditions from the previous
blaze, according to state fire officials.
If 2020 taught us anything, it is that ACWA member agencies are
highly skilled at delivering essential services to their
customers even during the most unexpected and unprecedented
times. As we gear up for the new year, our members continue to
impress with their collaborative and coordinated efforts on
vital issues affecting California water management, including
the implementation of additional long-term water use efficiency
strategies to increase resiliency in dry years.
About a mile of bare, cracked earth now lies like a desertscape
between the boat ramp at the north end of Lake Mendocino and
the water’s edge of a diminished reservoir that helps provide
water for 600,000 Sonoma and Marin County residents. The
human-made lake near Ukiah is about 30 feet lower than it was
at this time last year, and Nick Malasavage, an Army Corps of
Engineers official who oversees operations at the reservoir,
said the scene is “pretty jarring.”
We’ve reached a critical moment to take action for endangered,
wild coho salmon and the forests and watersheds they need to
survive. But we can’t do it alone. From keeping an eye out for
pollution in the environment to using reusable tote bags, there
are many actions we can take as individuals to help create a
healthy planet for us all. We’ve put together five ways to be
salmon-friendly in 2021…
For many years Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has operated the
“Potter Valley Project,” a hydroelectric facility on the main
stem of the Eel River consisting of Scott and Cape Horn dams
and a tunnel diverting water into the Russian River watershed,
where it is used to generate a small amount of electricity and
for irrigation by farmers in Potter Valley and farther south in
Sonoma County. The construction of Scott Dam in 1922
completely blocked passage of critically imperiled anadromous
fish including salmon, steelhead and lamprey…
Leaders of the largest water district in Silicon Valley decided
Tuesday to move forward with a plan to build a $2.5 billion dam
near Pacheco Pass in Southern Santa Clara County — in what
would be the largest new reservoir in the Bay Area in 20 years
— despite learning that the cost has doubled due to unstable
geology on the site. Although several board members of the
Santa Clara Valley Water District expressed concerns during
their meeting about the growing price tag, others said the
proposed project’s water storage is needed for the future…
Recognizing the groundbreaking nature of the Pure Water
Monterey recycled water project, the U.S Department of the
Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation has awarded the project a
$15.5 million grant.
While nearly everyone agrees the city should pursue programs to
help provide more housing, any enthusiasm is tempered by the
elephant in the room: water. “We’re in a double bind,” Monterey
Councilman Alan Haffa said. “The state is telling us to build
more housing but when we want to convert commercial to
residential the state says that might not be acceptable. We’ve
dramatically reduced the amount of water we are using but the
state seems to be saying it’s not a new water (source) so it
doesn’t count. I’ve got a real problem with that.”
As North County water stakeholders wait for the state’s
approval of a 20-year Paso Robles Groundwater Basin
sustainability plan, the State Water Resources Control Board
recently expressed concerns about whether that plan does enough
to reverse the basin’s decline and protect domestic well users.
The latest hurdle in the effort to bring the Monterey
Peninsula’s water system under public control is a lawsuit by
the utility that currently owns it, California American
Water… Cal Am accused the government agency charged with
acquiring the system of violating the law by failing to fully
analyze how a public takeover would impact the environment. The
Monterey Peninsula Water Management District certified its
environmental analysis on Oct. 29, finding no significant
impacts.
PG&E has agreed to pay $5.9 million to a local nonprofit as
part of a tentative settlement between the company and water
regulators that resolves a long-running investigation into
Diablo Canyon Power Plant and its cooling system’s impact on
the marine environment. The draft settlement is the result of
more than 20 years of investigation and monitoring at the
nuclear power plant site.
California American Water has sued the Monterey Peninsula Water
Management District challenging the environmental review of the
district’s potential public takeover bid of the company’s local
water system. At the same time, Cal Am’s oft-delayed
desalination project suffered another setback when California
Coastal Commission staff declared a revised application
submitted last month is incomplete, asking a series of
questions and for additional information that could delay the
proposal by several more months.
San Luis Obispo County recently launched a project aimed at
developing a groundwater sustainability plan for the Arroyo
Grande Subbasin and is calling for community members with wells
that tap into the basin to help improve the county’s water
level data. The Arroyo Grande Subbasin consists of a seven-mile
stretch extending from the Lopez Dam to Highway 101 and was
established as its own entity in 2019.
Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, said he was removed from the
chairmanship of the Governmental Organization Committee over
the No. 1 issue in his district — water. The Merced Democrat
lost a previous committee assignment because of his opposition
to State Water Board proposals to take flows away from
agriculture and other water users on the Tuolumne, Stanislaus
and Merced rivers.
A free-flowing creek will replace Central California’s highest
priority fish passage barrier as the Salmon Protection and
Watershed Network (SPAWN) completes a community restoration
project along San Geronimo Creek [in Marin County], one of the
most important watersheds left for endangered coho salmon.
All of San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties are now in severe
drought. So is most of Merced County. And the three watersheds
in the Central Sierra that the Northern San Joaquin Valley
counties rely on to meet urban and agricultural needs are in
moderate drought. Topping that, all three of the Central Sierra
reservoirs that do the heavy lifting for water storage for the
Northern San Joaquin Valley as of Tuesday were all
significantly below average capacity for Dec. 8.
The fire that rampaged through the San Lorenzo Valley in August
and September burned hotter and destroyed more acreage than
anyone in these rugged, rural and breathtaking mountains can
remember…Now the region is bracing for more devastation, in
the form of potentially deadly debris flows caused by winter
storms.
The Templeton Community Services District recently looked at a
set of potential water policy priorities … It includes
an incentive program for property owners who want to sell back
or “relinquish” their water units, the ability to transfer
water units between properties owned by the same individual, a
landscape retrofit program, and updating the way the district
calculates single-family dwelling unit equivalent water demand.
Mike Hoover, a Santa Barbara geologist, wants to remind us of
the Medieval Drought, the epic dry period that held California
and the West in its grip for 400 years, beginning in 950 CE….
It was so bad, he said, that it may have led to malnutrition
and warfare among the prehistoric Chumash.
Investigating historic debris flows is paramount to get insight
on which areas of Santa Cruz County could be at risk this
coming winter and beyond. California Geological Survey
scientists working with Santa Cruz County, and the U.S.
Geological Survey, are tracking what triggers debris flows
using drones, rain gauges and cameras.
A recent exchange of letters between a public utility and a
state water authority highlights the continued stalemate in the
effort by the Monterey Peninsula to develop a new water supply
and end the overdrafting of the Carmel River.
Fewer properties over the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin will be
subject to severe water restrictions after the San Luis Obispo
County Board of Supervisors voted on Nov. 17 to revise the
basin’s “area of severe decline,” eliminating roughly 37,000
acres.
“King tides are about one-to-two feet higher than an average
tide, and it turns out that is about what we expect to see in
California in the next few decades from sea level rise,” said
Annie Cohut Frankel of the California Coastal Commission. “We
invite the public to look at how these high tides are impacting
our public beaches, our beach access ways, wetlands, roads and
other coastal infrastructure.”
With the future of the much-debated Pure Water Monterey
expansion proposal hanging on a single vote, the hotly
contested Del Rey Oaks City Council race has taken on regional
significance.
California American Water has re-filed its desalination project
permit application less than two months after withdrawing it on
the eve of a special Coastal Commission meeting. While the
company made changes to its desal project proposal in the
re-filed application, it has not yet met with Marina city
officials to resolve the issues prompting the city to oppose
the project.
Local leaders, farmers and others in the Central Valley report
additional progress in addressing salinity in surface water,
and salt and nitrates in groundwater, in compliance with a
program adopted last fall by the State Water Resources Control
Board.
Desertification is dawning on the Central Coast, according to
University of California, Santa Cruz ecology professor Barry
Sinervo, and the impact can be seen in the disappearance of a
uniquely giant and talkative amphibian from a southern Monterey
County site: the Pacific giant salamander.
In a critical step for the proposed public takeover of
California American Water’s Monterey-area water system, the
Monterey Peninsula Water Management District’s board of
directors on Thursday night certified the final environmental
impact report for the effort.
It’s little surprise California American Water’s proposed
desalination project and the fate of a public buyout effort
aimed at acquiring the company’s local water system are at the
core of the contests for two seats on the Monterey Peninsula
Water Management District board of directors…
The report analyzes the environmental effects of Monterey
Peninsula Water Management District’s proposed buyout and
operation of the 40,000-customer Cal Am-owned system within the
district boundaries, including the proposed
6.4-million-gallon-per-day desalination plant and
infrastructure
After about six months of construction, Morro Bay’s new water
reclamation facility is well underway — and it remains
politically divisive this election season, with three
candidates talking about halting or undoing the project, which
is the largest-ever infrastructure project in city history.
California American Water and Marina city officials are in the
process of setting up talks on the company’s desalination
project after exchanging letters over the past several weeks.
The Soquel Creek Water District is pleased to announce that its
low-interest loan from the US Environmental Protection Agency
has been approved, to be used toward construction of the Pure
Water Soquel Groundwater Replenishment and Seawater Intrusion
Prevention Project. The loan, up to a maximum of $88.9 million
at an interest rate of 1.34%, is part of the Water
Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act funding program.
A letter posed an excellent question to the Soquel Creek Water
District – a question that comes up often in the community. To
paraphrase: with the Mid-County groundwater basin in a state of
critical overdraft, why is development that adds water users to
the already over-burdened water system allowed to continue?
It would be an understatement to say our community has a lot on
its plate these days. Between the wildfires, COVID-19 and its
impact on human lives, not to mention our local economy, it’s
hard to imagine having more issues requiring our focus. And yet
one of the most important issues facing our community – our
water supply – is in a critical stage and needs public
engagement and attention.
From the time when the pioneers first arrived, water, or the
lack of it, was a major problem for the valley. The first water
system was started by Reuben Hart, who came to the United
States from Derbyshire, England, first settling in New Jersey
with his brother, Thomas.
Last week on these pages, you heard the President of California
American Water explain their rationale for withdrawing their
application for a desalination plant from the California
Coastal Commission the day before their Sept. 17 hearing. What
he didn’t tell you is that there is a feasible alternative
project that has less environmental impact, is more socially
just, and would be less costly to ratepayers
When governor Jerry Brown signed the Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act (SGMA) into law in September 2014, he said that
“groundwater management in California is best accomplished
locally.” With the first round of plans made available for
public comment this year, it appears that, while the state
certainly ceded control to local management agencies, those
same agencies have prioritized the interests of big agriculture
and industry over small farmers and disadvantaged communities.
The violations stretch from June 2015 to June 2020 and involve
effluent discharges, monitoring and reporting, operation and
maintenance, pretreatment, and fats, oils and greases,
according to an administrative order on consent issued by EPA
Region 9.
After years spent developing this project and making
adjustments to respond to stakeholder concerns, it became
obvious that we needed to take more time to address objections
raised by the community of Marina — namely that our project
would be built in their backyard without them receiving any
benefit from it.
For years, a stretch of Chorro Creek near Hollister Peak ran
through active farmland, where its flow was diverted for
irrigation and its banks were shored up by levees, blocking the
water’s natural access to its floodplain. … After nearly two
decades of planning and fundraising, the Estuary Program and
its partners recently completed a major restoration of the
site.
California American Water has withdrawn its Peninsula
desalination project bid at the Coastal Commission on the eve
of the commission’s special meeting, citing social and
environmental justice issues.
State and local agencies are continuing to work to implement
the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. With SGMA’s
far-reaching implications, Ph.D. candidate at UC Merced, Vicky
Espinoza has created a bilingual video series to help provide a
better understanding of the impact of SGMA and generate more
engagement.
This proposal by California American Water has become one of
the most complicated and fraught issues to come before the
California Coastal Commission, whose long-awaited vote on
Thursday could determine not only the contentious future
of water on the Monterey Peninsula — but also the role of
government in undoing environmental inequity.
The Monterey Peninsula is about to find out if a long-term
water supply will become a reality on Thursday as California’s
Coastal Commission is scheduled to hear the application for a
permit to build the desalination source water wells. The Farm
Bureau believes the permit is necessary to secure a reliable
water supply for Peninsula residents and businesses.
The most pressing risk is debris that could clog the San
Lorenzo River near River Street and Highway 1 where water
enters the city’s system, said Santa Cruz Water Director
Rosemary Menard. The San Lorenzo River is the city’s largest
water source. It represents about 45% of the water supply.
Expansion of the Pure Water Monterey recycled water project is
the best option for the Monterey region to meet its future
water supply needs. Unfortunately, California American Water
Co., a private water supplier, is discrediting the project in
hopes of getting approval for their much more costly, oversized
and environmentally harmful groundwater desalination project…
Drivers entering town these days pass a sign with an urgent
message: Do not drink or boil the tap water in your home. It
may not be safe. This town in the heart of the Santa Cruz
Mountains is the latest California community to grapple with
water problems because of a wildfire.
The project was nominated after it won California’s Engineering
and Research Achievement Award. This project was among a short
list of wastewater projects from Eqypt, China, and India.
Nine months after the Coastal Commission conducted its first
hearing on California American Water’s proposed desalination
project, commission staff has again recommended denial of the
project in favor of a Pure Water Monterey expansion proposal.
In California, Monterey Regional Waste Management District and
its neighbor, wastewater treatment plant Monterey One Water,
have entered a somewhat unusual relationship with unique
benefits to each. And the relationship has payoffs for its
shared customers too.
A main water pipeline in the San Lorenzo Valley was destroyed
by a wildfire burning in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties. The
San Lorenzo Valley Water District lost 4.5 million gallons of
water after this 5-mile long pipe melted from intense heat. The
district shut off its water supply throughout the Valley except
to Boulder Creek.
In the new study, researchers modeled the effects of rising sea
level along the entire California coastline. While results
varied with local topography, the study indicates rising sea
levels could push inland water tables higher, resulting in
damage to infrastructure and increased severity of flooding.
The two agencies inked a partnership last year to undergo the
study, which will collect and analyze data on the water supply,
land uses, and groundwater flow over the mostly rural region
west of Highway 101—north to Lake Nacimiento and south to
Atascadero.
When Brent Hughes started studying the seagrass beds of
California’s Elkhorn Slough, he was surprised by what he found.
In this highly polluted estuary, excessive nutrients from
agricultural runoff spur the growth of algae on seagrass
leaves, which kills the plants. Yet in 2010, Hughes noticed the
seagrass beds were thriving. It did not make sense.
In his Aug. 2 Herald commentary, Grant Leonard claimed that Cal
Am’s proposed Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project would be
a win-win for both Castroville, a disadvantaged community, and
Carmel, which is on the other side of the economic spectrum.
Some things challenge that claim.
The state will suffer dire long-term consequences if lawmakers
set aside concerns about rising seas to focus solely on
COVID-19, the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office warned
Monday. Sea level rise will likely put at least $8 billion in
property underwater by 2050, and could affect tens of thousands
of jobs and billions in gross domestic product, according to
studies cited by the office. Sea level rise and related
flooding and erosion … also pose threats to water treatment
plants, roads, marinas, ports and railways.
A Lompoc religious nonprofit is accusing a Wyoming-based
organic farm and cannabis company of stealing water it uses to
grow food and blocking access to a well on a neighboring
parcel, despite a decades-old legal agreement allowing them to
do so, according to a lawsuit filed in Santa Barbara County
Superior Court.
The California coast has been largely spared from sea level
rise for decades, but the trend is now set to reverse, and the
coastline has already started disappearing due to land
subsidence.
With a new water supply delayed by state regulatory agencies
and political infighting, the Monterey Peninsula Water
Management District board has asked the state water board not
to impose Carmel River water reductions due to an inevitable
violation of an approaching river cutback order milestone…
Last rainfall season was a big one for the Central and South
Coasts, with above average rainfall for many drought impacted
local communities. … But, could we be headed back to a
drought year? There are some early indications it’s a
possibility, with a nearly 50-50 chance of us being impacted by
a “La Niña” pattern of cooler ocean water in the Western
Pacific.
Almost exactly 25 years after being ordered to stop illegally
pumping water from the Carmel River, the Monterey Peninsula
will have to beg state officials for another extension. On July
20, the board of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management
District voted unanimously to send a letter to the State Water
Resources Control Board acknowledging the failure to make
progress on developing a new water supply.
Between Jan.8, 2017 and April 19, 2017, the company discharged
4,634,245 gallons of process wastewater and/or polluted
stormwater from two mushroom growing facilities located in
Royal Oaks into the tributary. The wastewater contained
ammonia, excessive nutrients, and suspended and floating
material, which can harm water quality and aquatic habitat.
Media coverage portrayed stakeholders as limited to major
economic interests, such as agriculture, the study found. And
while SGMA legislation requires disadvantaged communities to be
a stakeholder in all planning documents, such communities were
largely absent from newspaper reports.
The net pen program allows the young fish to leapfrog what
would be a 250-mile river journey to the ocean, where the
salmon would face thousands of water pumps, reverse currents in
the Delta, and the chance of poor water quality and a
procession of predators…
With support from EDF, four UC Santa Barbara graduate students
have developed a new mapping tool for California’s Central
Valley to identify the best locations for groundwater recharge
to secure these bonus benefits. The tool, called Recharge for
Resilience, is available online and also can be downloaded by
users with more technical expertise.
A fire in Paso Robles on June 22 destroyed two homes, damaged
nine others and forced a third of the city to evacuate. The
nonfatal wildfire started in a small stretch of the Salinas
River, in an area where city officials consider dry grasses and
brush an ongoing fire danger. Now, Paso Robles and the regional
water board have agreed on an emergency plan to clear out the
vegetation.
Don’t drink the water in the Del Monte area of Monterey, the
Monterey County Health Department and California American Water
announced this morning, Wednesday, July 8. A water main break
on Aguajito Road on Tuesday evening is the culprit, according
to notifications from Monterey County and California American
Water.
Over the years, many government agencies have transitioned from
the “rainfall year” to a “water year” designation. Hydrologists
define a water year as the 12-month period that starts Oct. 1
and continues through Sept. 30 the following year. The state’s
water managers and hydrologists tend to like the water year
designation because October usually has the least amount of
stream and river flows, and it tends to center on the months in
which California receives most of its rainfall.
California American Water officials are defending the company’s
proposed desalination project in response to the Monterey
Peninsula Water Management District’s move last month to
formally oppose it at the Coastal Commission in favor of a
proposed recycled water expansion.
Signing off on a historic deal with its wealthiest — and
thirstiest — neighbor, the Santa Barbara City Council voted 6-0
to ship a supply of the city’s drinking water to Montecito
every year for the next 50 years, rain or shine.
“We are extremely alarmed by this proposal, especially during
this period of economic crisis,” wrote Carolyn Larson in a
letter to the Goleta Water District, protesting the rate hikes
voted in on June 23. Public outcry against the water rate
increase proposed by the district reached a fever pitch, but
ultimately too few protested to rescind the proposal
successfully.
With the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act closing in on
growers throughout California, there are many questions. One
big one: should growers go ahead and put a meter on their
pumps?
It seems some are willing to wait forever for a new water
supply. After 25 years of failure, they still trust Cal Am to
come up with a solution. But the Monterey Peninsula Water
Management District is clearly done waiting. Last Monday, the
district board withdrew its support for Cal Am’s proposed desal
plant.
Two days after a Paso Robles vegetation fire escaped the
Salinas Riverbed and destroyed two homes, 35th District
Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham slammed regional water officials
in a letter alleging that regulators had “stymied” city efforts
to clear the river of flammable vegetation.
For the first time, the Monterey Peninsula Water Management
District has formally expressed opposition to the California
American Water desalination project, backing the proposed Pure
Water Monterey recycled water project expansion instead… At
the same time, the district took another step toward potential
acquisition of Cal Am’s Monterey water system with the release
of a draft environmental impact report on the proposed public
buyout effort.
To a large extent, the fate of several multi-million dollar
water projects on the Monterey Peninsula is in the hands of the
California Coastal Commission. The question is whether the
commission will grant a development permit for a desalination
plant proposed by California American Water…
Water agencies in California typically include water recycling
in their water supply portfolios, but the ones that serve
smaller populations may not be able to implement full-blown
reuse programs all at once. The City of Paso Robles, home to
approximately 30,000 residents, shows it’s possible to build
water resilience without building an advanced purification
plant.
The passage of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
(SGMA) in 2014, granted the state official oversight authority
of groundwater. … A new paper published in Society and
Natural Resources, examines how the state’s ongoing involvement
helped shape current policies by looking at the 120-year
history of California’s role in groundwater management…
USGS spokesman Paul Laustsen said the May 21 incident along
Pilarcitos Creek was just the most recent vandalism of the Half
Moon Bay stream gage. The vandalism only stopped the flow of
data for two days; the gage has since been replaced. He said
equipment vandalism is a big prob-lem for the agency all across
the country.
Recognizing the recovery of Coho salmon in central California’s
streams and rivers as a high priority, the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife is collaborating with NOAA’s
National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, and other partner agencies and non-governmental
organizations to develop and implement recovery actions. The
tricky part is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to
saving the species.
Thousands of people in Marina are being blocked from full
representation on the board of a regional water agency, a
casualty of a larger battle over the water future of the
Monterey Peninsula. The agency is Monterey One Water, and it is
responsible for treating sewage.
Thousands of people in Marina are being blocked from full
representation on the board of a regional water agency, a
casualty of a larger battle over the water future of the
Monterey Peninsula.
Paso Robles has an oversupply of wine grapes, according to
growers and winemakers. That’s an existing problem that’s been
exacerbated by COVID-19. … According to Jerry Lohr, owner of
J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, and some others in the wine
industry, there’s never been a better time to talk about
creating a fallowing program for the North County region, which
overlies the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin.
A Pure Water Monterey expansion proposal has narrowly survived
another attempt to shelve it indefinitely even as the main
recycled water project struggles with operational and cost
issues that have further postponed its water delivery date and
hampered its capacity.
Over email, local water activists concocted a secret plan to
derail a vote that would potentially kill one water project and
bolster the prospects of another. The idea was to stage a
“filibuster” of the Monterey One Water board meeting scheduled
for Tuesday, May 26.
In April, during the first full month of the lockdown, water
demand on the Monterey Peninsula dropped by 15 percent compared
to the same month a year ago, according to data provided to the
Weekly by local water regulators.
Monterey Peninsula water officials Monday allocated additional
water for a portion of a major Monterey housing project that
promises to bring scores of new affordable units to a city in
desperate need of housing for its beleaguered workforce.
For decades, sediment buildup in California’s Butano Creek
caused an array of issues for both fish and people. It flooded
roads and local communities, prevented steelhead and coho
salmon from migrating, and contributed to substantial die-offs
of fish. In October 2019, the NOAA Restoration Center and
partners finished a $7 million effort to remove the sediment
and restore the creek.
The board of Monterey One Water recently voted not to certify a
supplemental environmental impact report (SEIR) for an
expansion of Pure Water Monterey. While the expansion was a
technical concept that might provide additional water for the
Peninsula, the Board action injected some much-needed clear
thinking and foresight into a critical topic for the Monterey
Peninsula.
In March, the California Department of Water Resources released
a nearly completed draft report on the risk of water shortage
in rural areas and the drought vulnerability of small systems.
… Across the state, Monterey County is among the most
vulnerable counties, with one of the largest numbers of highly
impacted rural communities, according to the report. Also, the
county’s small water systems are on average the 13th most
vulnerable out of those of 58 counties.
In principle, evaluating the adequacy of these plans to achieve
sustainability should also be simple: Does the anticipated
reduction in pumping plus increase in recharge equal or exceed
the basin’s long-term rate of overdraft? In practice, however,
it’s not so simple.
Why would a public agency support an unnecessary and risky
billion-dollar desalination plant and let a private utility
profit hundreds of millions of dollars at the public’s expense?
Here’s the story.
These activists say farmers unfairly dominated groundwater
sustainability meetings and ultimately steered the planning
process in their favor. If the plans are accepted and
implemented, they warn, farmers will keep pumping water at
unsustainable rates. “All the plans we’ve looked at are going
to cause wells to go dry,” said Amanda Monaco, the water policy
coordinator for the Leadership Counsel for Justice and
Accountability…
Monterey Peninsula Water Management District officials have
requested the Monterey One Water board certify the Pure Water
Monterey expansion project supplemental environmental impact
report within 30 days and is withholding more than $600,000
representing part of its share of the environmental review.
The Lake Nacimiento water pipeline, which delivers supplemental
drinking water to several local communities including the city
of San Luis Obispo, has been out of commission since September
after leaks were discovered in a segment of the 45-mile pipe
that traverses the Salinas River.
To understand how these beloved woodlands will fare in a
rapidly warming climate, UC Santa Cruz researchers are putting
a headwaters stream in the Diablo Range under a hydrological
microscope.
A proposed Pure Water Monterey expansion at the center of a
contentious debate over the future of the Monterey Peninsula’s
water supply hit a huge roadblock on Monday night, leaving its
future in serious doubt.
In February 2020, the Water Board adopted new, lower Response
Levels for PFOA and PFOS of 10 ppt and 40 ppt, respectively.
Four of wells previously sampled under the Water Board’s order
now had had PFOA levels above this newly adopted Response Level
of 10 ppt. Atascadero Mutual Water Company immediately took
these wells out of service.
Amid continuing debate over the role the proposed Pure Water
Monterey recycled water project expansion will play in the
Monterey Peninsula’s water supply, the proposal has reached a
key stage. On Monday, the Monterey One Water board is scheduled
to consider certifying a final supplemental environmental
impact report for the expansion project…
The Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency has been working
toward sustainable management of the Pajaro Valley’s water
resources. At the 2019 Western Groundwater Congress, General
Manager Brian Lockwood discussed the projects and programs the
Agency is implementing as they work towards achieving
groundwater sustainability.
In many areas of the Central Valley and Central Coast, decades
of intensive agriculture has resulted in groundwater too
polluted to drink, and wells that have gone dry from
over-pumping. More than one million people in these regions
lack a source of clean water in their homes. This is a hardship
even in the best of times, but it puts communities at extremely
high risk during this time of crisis.
Federal and regional operators of Southern California’s
Twitchell Dam lost their bid to dismiss claims the dam causes
unlawful killing of endangered steelhead trout, but they won’t
face an emergency injunction restricting their operations, a
federal judge ruled Friday.
From the safety of their coronavirus shelters, the water
warriors of the Monterey Peninsula carry on the fight, and so
can you. … The environmental merits of removing the local
water system from private ownership and placing it under the
control of a government agency will be discussed in a virtual
public scoping meeting on April 21 at 5pm, via Zoom video
conference.
From the safety of their coronavirus shelters, the water
warriors of the Monterey Peninsula carry on the fight, and so
can you. … The environmental merits of removing the local
water system from private ownership and placing it under the
control of a government agency will be discussed in a virtual
public scoping meeting on April 21 at 5pm, via Zoom video
conference.
Since this year marked the first since 1862 that not a single
drop of rain fell in Santa Cruz County during the month of
February, efforts to sustainably manage water were at the
forefront of the conversation. The symposium kicked off with an
introduction from County Supervisor Bruce McPherson, who
discussed the ongoing work to develop sustainable groundwater
management plans…
Local agencies in the most depleted groundwater basins in
California spent months putting together plans to show how they
will achieve balance in about 20 years. Now, after submitting
those plans to the state in January, groundwater sustainability
agencies (GSAs) must figure how to pay for them.
A full environmental review of a proposed public buyout of
California American Water’s local water system is underway
despite the coronavirus pandemic that a top Monterey Peninsula
Water Management District official says has slowed work on the
takeover bid.
Sierra Ryan is a water resources planner with the County of
Santa Cruz. In this presentation from the Groundwater Resources
Association‘s 2019 Western Groundwater Congress, Ms. Ryan tells
the story of how the Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Agency
balanced the various perspectives, authorities, and
interpretations of the DWR regulations in writing the portion
of their Groundwater Sustainability Plan that pertained to the
depletion of interconnected surface water.
Most of the 6,000 gallons of crude oil that was spilled into
the Cuyama River in Santa Maria has been contained. … A
tanker truck carrying more than 6,000 gallons of crude oil
overturned and crashed into the Cuyama River east of Santa
Maria on Saturday, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire
Department.
The Pajaro Valley enjoys a temperate microclimate, in part
because it is situated at the hip of Monterey Bay. … But the
Pajaro Valley is different from the rest of the big ag regions
in California. The loamy soil isn’t irrigated with massive
surface water infrastructure like in the Central Valley.
A tanker truck overturned down an embankment Saturday, spilling
up to 6,000 gallons of crude oil into a river that flows into a
dam and reservoir near the city of Santa Maria, authorities
said.
Both water companies that serve Salinas will halt all water
shutoffs during the state of emergency brought on by the
COVID-19 pandemic. Salinas has a large population of
hospitality workers that commute to the Monterey Peninsula
daily; the hospitality industry has been one of the hardest-hit
by the coronavirus as health officials urge “social distancing”
and the closure of large gatherings. As such, many residents
may find themselves short on funds as the pandemic wears on.
A settlement was reached Wednesday in a federal lawsuit filed
by an environmental group accusing Pacific Coast Energy Co. of
illegally discharging polluted water from an Orcutt oil
facility into northern Santa Barbara County waterways and
threatening endangered species.
The City of Morro Bay is getting a $62 million loan from the
Environmental Protection Agency to replace its aging wastewater
treatment plant. The new facility will be located near the
intersection of South Bay Blvd. and Highway 1.
A multi-partner water recycling project is helping Monterey,
Calif., stabilize and replenish its dwindling groundwater
supply. The project could serve as a model for shrinking
aquifers in other regions of the country.
People on both sides of the oil argument met Wednesday night in
Santa Maria, sharing their opinions about the future of oil
drilling on the Central Coast. The meeting was one of 10 that
the California Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy
Management Division (CalGEM) is hosting.
California’s coast is truly a treasure for residents and
visitors alike. Sadly, rising seas are washing away our beach,
and for every inch of sand lost, our opportunities for joy —
and our economic future — similarly shrink.
At a time when Del Mar, Pacifica and other coastal cities are
fighting to defend their homes and roads from the rising sea,
Marina has embarked on a path less traveled. Here in this Army
turned university town, residents are learning how to adjust
with the ocean as the water moves inland.
Seawater intrusion in the Salinas Valley continues to seep into
the deeper aquifers, according to the latest Monterey County
Water Resources Agency data, even as the overall rate of
seawater intrusion continues slowing down.
A long-planned Pajaro River flooding prevention project has
secured its first federal funding for engineering and design.
Earlier this week, Rep. Jimmy Panetta announced that the Pajaro
River Flood Risk Reduction Project had been provided $1.8
million from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2020 work plan
budget.
Cal Am’s request calls for raising water rates to increase
revenue by about $8.4 million in the Monterey district to cover
new capital investment, increased labor costs, and higher
administrative and operations expenses, driving the “average”
local customer’s bill from about $89.40 to about $105.78 over
the three-year period from 2021-2023.
As the county reports advances in water protection and
conservation technologies, water use continues to remain lower
that previous years, the Santa Cruz County Water Resources
Management Status Report shows.
California American Water has received a 90-day extension of
the deadline for the Coastal Commission to consider the
company’s desalination project permit application, effectively
allowing commission staff about four more months to complete
additional analysis.
Landowners, politicians, legal experts and concerned citizens
packed the Agricultural Center Conference Room to weigh the
benefits and pitch solutions to problems within the two main
proposals, either a bond measure or a pay-as-you-go tax
increase. After hours of presentations and discussion, the Jan.
31 meeting came to no definitive conclusion on which option
would be best.
Pure Water Monterey has finally secured a critical final state
approval and is poised to begin delivering potable recycled
water to the Seaside basin by mid-February. After an all-day
inspection of the $126 million recycled water project’s
advanced water purification facility by a nine-member team on
Tuesday, the state Division of Drinking Water signed off both
verbally and by email.
The plan, put together with the help of Carollo Engineers,
Inc., lays out a 20-year road map of projects needed to
maintain and improve the city’s reservoirs, water tanks, wells,
underground pipes and pump stations.
The multi-year, multi-agency effort to transform the lower
landscape of the Carmel River into a natural floodplain took a
massive step forward Jan. 28 when the Monterey County Board of
Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the project’s final
environmental impact report.
Coastal Commission staff has recommended California American
Water withdraw and resubmit a coastal development permit
application involving the company’s proposed Monterey Peninsula
desalination project, which would likely postpone a hearing on
the desal permit and a pending appeal until September at the
earliest.
January 31 is a big day for California water. It’s the day when
21 critically overdrafted groundwater basins must submit plans
to the state for how they will bring their groundwater demand
in line with available supplies over the next 20 years.
Eight years after the regional desalination project fell apart,
the legal battle over its unraveling appears to be nearing a
conclusion. A proposed settlement has been reached among the
parties involved… It was presented on Monday in the San
Francisco Superior Court overseeing the long-running lawsuit.
