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Topic: Drought

Overview April 24, 2014 All Things Drought

Drought

Lake Oroville shows the effects of drought in July 2021.Drought— an extended period of limited or no precipitation— is a fact of life in California and the West, with water resources following boom-and-bust patterns.

No portion of the West has been immune to drought during the last century and drought occurs with much greater frequency in the West than in other regions of the country.

Most of the West experiences what is classified as severe to extreme drought more than 10 percent of the time, and a significant portion of the region experiences severe to extreme drought more than 15 percent of the time, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center.

Experts who have studied recent droughts say a drought occurs about once every 10 years somewhere in the United States. Droughts are believed to be the most costly of all natural disasters because of their widespread effects on agriculture and related industries, as well as on urbanized areas. One of those decennial droughts could cost as much as $38 billion, according to one estimate.

Because droughts cannot be prevented, experts are looking for better ways to forecast them and new approaches to managing droughts when they occur.

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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Thursday Top of the Scroll: Heat and drought shape Southern California’s summer outlook

Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, is Monday. What’s in store for the upcoming season of beach days and barbecues in Southern California? To start with, it will be dry. That’s not just because California’s Mediterranean climate means rain mostly falls during a few wet winter months, but because the state is in its third year of drought…. Major reservoirs statewide were at 76% of average levels this week, with the long, hot summer months still ahead….This month, 59.64% of the state is categorized as being in extreme drought, the second-worst category, with just 0.18% in exceptional drought — but then this is May, not July.

Related article: 

  • The Union: Warm days give way to cooling trend: Chance of rain returns Saturday  
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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 Los Angeles Times

California just adopted new water restrictions: What you need to know

California water regulators strengthened the state’s drought rules this week, ordering local suppliers to take steps to reduce water usage to stretch limited supplies this summer. Gov. Gavin Newsom warned that more stringent statewide water restrictions could come if the state doesn’t make more progress on conservation soon. … As part of the new rules, the state also banned the use of drinking water for irrigating grass that is purely decorative at businesses and in common areas of subdivisions and homeowners associations. Here is a breakdown of what is going on:

Related articles: 

  • Los Angeles Times: Flush less. Bathe less. L.A. Times readers’ tips for saving water in the drought
  • Times of San Diego: California Businesses Face Turf Watering Ban Amid Historic Drought Conditions
  • EcoWatch: What is Greywater?
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 SJV Water

State funding to retire valley farmland could more than double under Gov. Newsom’s proposed budget

A state program aimed at retiring and repurposing farmland could get $60 million – more than doubling its current funding – under Gov. Newsom’s proposed budget. The Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program was created with $50 million from the 2021 state budget. The program helps pay for farmland to be taken out of production and repurposed to less water intensive uses. Farmers in the San Joaquin Valley have pumped groundwater for crops without limits for generations. But groundwater levels are plummeting …

Related article: 

  • Government Technology: Tech helps map and manage groundwater in California
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 Water Education Foundation

Announcement: Agenda now posted for special June 9 workshop in Southern California on precipitation forecasting & drought management

California’s vast network of surface water reservoirs is designed to hold carryover storage from year to year to ensure water is available for urban, agricultural and environmental purposes during dry months and years. But climate change has begun to affect our reliance on historical weather patterns to predict California’s water supply, making it even more difficult for water managers to manage drought conditions and placing a greater emphasis on better precipitation forecasting at longer lead times. Learn about efforts being made to ‘get ahead of the storms’ through new science, models and technology at our special one-day workshop June 9 in Irvine, Making Progress on Drought Management: Improvements in Seasonal Precipitation Forecasting.

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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 CNN

Lake Mead boats emerge as water level drops to 1,050 feet

The water level in Lake Mead — the nation’s largest reservoir — dropped below 1,050 feet elevation for the first time last week, a critical milestone that signals more stringent water cuts are around the corner for the Southwest…. As of Tuesday, Lake Mead’s level was around 1,049 feet above sea level…. If the lake’s water level is expected to stay below 1,050 feet by January 2023, the more significant Tier 2 shortage would be implemented. Additional cuts — each tier with rising impact on agriculture and municipal water use — are expected if Lake Mead continues to fall. 

Related article: 

  • Las Vegas Sun: Officials explain ‘dead pool’ and how to stop it in Mead
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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 KRCR - Redding

Shasta Lake levels will drop, but not as drastically as 2021

Each year, Lake Shasta brings in locals and tourists from all over, especially for Memorial Day weekend. Businesses on Lake Shasta are dealing with low lake levels and short staffing but despite the challenges, they still expect a good holiday turnout. … With a three-year drought, lake levels are front-of-mind for many frequent lake visitors, but there is good news. Lake levels are currently about 120 feet below full pool and expected to drop 155 feet later this summer, but that’s still 30 feet higher than we saw last year. Matt Doyle, general manager of Lake Shasta Caverns, said businesses around the lake are very hopeful for this year’s summer.

Related articles: 

  • ABC 10 – Sacramento: Folsom Lake is nearly full amid drought—but why are other reservoirs still dry?
  • KMPH – Fresno: Bass Lake welcomes increase in water levels ahead of summer fun
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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Delta water crisis linked to California’s racist past, tribes and activists say

Tribes and environmental groups are challenging how the state manages water in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a major source for much of California, arguing the deterioration of the aquatic ecosystem has links to the state’s troubled legacy of racism and oppression of Native people. A group of activists and Indigenous leaders is demanding that the state review and update the water quality plan for the Delta and San Francisco Bay, where fish species are suffering, algae blooms have worsened and climate change is adding to the stresses. 

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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 Grist

How the “exchange contract” pits California farmers against each other

[On the southeast side of California’s Central Valley] farmers are pumping unreliable groundwater to make up the difference, hoping their already struggling wells don’t go dry … Others will rip up their trees and leave their fields fallow. … About 100 miles away, on the northwest side of the Central Valley, the situation could not be more different. Even during an unprecedented drought, the almond and pistachio farmers around the city of Los Banos will get around 75 percent of a normal year’s water … The startling contrast is the result of an obscure and contentious legal agreement known as the exchange contract …

Related articles: 

  • NBC Palm Springs: Desert farmers concerned, prepared for extreme drought
  • The Desert Review: IID schedules public workshops on Equitable Distribution Plan
  • ABC Sacramento: California drought - Cattle ranchers struggle with conservation
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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 High Country News

Unprecedented fire, wind and snowmelt in the Southwest

It is mid-May, and a couple of days ago, the Hermits Peak Fire in northern New Mexico reached 299,565 acres in size, surpassing the 2012 Whitewater-Baldy Fire as the state’s largest wildfire on record. … It is mid-May, and a dozen other fires have already charred tens of thousands of acres across the West … It is mid-May, and the spring winds have been relentless … It is mid-May, and the temperature in Phoenix has reached 105 degrees Fahrenheit two days in a row.

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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 Ag Alert

County Corner: Our answers on groundwater leave more questions

In April, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order outlining the temporary strategies for California to manage the ongoing drought. Within this order, he outlined rules for counties, cities and other public agencies as it relates to new wells or alterations to an existing well. One rule requires farmers and ranchers to get written verification from their local groundwater sustainability agency that the new well or alterations “would not be inconsistent with any sustainable groundwater management program” for the area. 

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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 Mono Lake Committee

Blog: Surface water exports curtailed by low Grant Lake Reservoir storage

During the 2021 runoff year (April 1, 2021–March 31, 2022), the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) was allowed to export up to 16,000 acre-feet of stream diversions from the Mono Basin because Mono Lake was above 6380 feet above sea level on April 1, 2021. Yet, only 13,300 acre-feet of water was taken, consistent with the low reservoir requirements in DWP’s water licenses, which were amended last year by the California State Water Resources Control Board. The new licenses contain an overall minimum level of 11,500 acre-feet of storage for Grant Lake Reservoir, with a minimum of 20,000 acre-feet for July–September. 

Related article:

  • Mono Lake Committee: Protecting California Gulls at Mono Lake’s low levels 
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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 Modesto Bee

Assemblyman maneuvers to slow proposed river flow increases

Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, is maneuvering against a bill that seeks higher flows on local rivers. Assembly Bill 2639 would set a Dec. 31, 2023, deadline for the State Water Resources Control Board to complete its plan for tributaries to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. They include the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers. The decision would follow decades of wrangling over whether fish should get more water on the lower rivers at the expense of farms and cities.

Related article: 

  • Merced County Times: Assemblyman Gray responds to latest water grab legislation
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Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 The Sacramento Bee

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: California bans watering of ‘non functional’ lawns around businesses as drought persists

Californians can expect to see more yellow grass around hospitals, hotels, office parks and industrial centers after water regulators voted Tuesday to ban watering of “nonfunctional” turf in commercial areas. The State Water Resources Control Board also moved to order all the state’s major urban water providers to step up their conservation efforts. The moves are the strongest regulatory actions state officials have taken in the third year of the latest drought.

Related articles: 

  • New York Times: California Approves New Water Restrictions Amid Worsening Drought
  • Los Angeles Times: California bans watering ‘non-functional’ grass in some areas, strengthening drought rules
  • San Francisco Chronicle: California orders water suppliers to mandate restrictions. Here’s how much further they could go
  • San Diego Union-Tribune: State tightens drought rules as S.D. officials fear higher water rates
  • SJV Sun: Calif. officials ban watering “useless” grass over drought worries
  • Manteca Bulletin: State edict - Say goodbye green grass
  • Regional Water Authority: Statement - Local Water Providers Support Emergency Conservation Regulations
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 Mercury News

California drought: Water wasters could face fines of up to $10,000 in Santa Clara County under new rules

Residents in Santa Clara County could face fines of up to $500 — and in extreme cases, $10,000 — for wasting water, under new drought rules approved Tuesday afternoon that are among the toughest of any urban area in California. … The new rules take effect June 1, but depend largely on citizen complaints and very few “water cops” to investigate them. Under the rules, residents who see water being wasted can notify the district of the address and date of incident by calling 408-630-2000, or emailing WaterWise@valleywater.org, or reporting online…. 

Related articles:

  • ABC 10 – Sacramento: Drought tolerant landscape might be key to state water usage issues
  • KCRW – Santa Monica: Say no to gravel, yes to drought-resistant plants amid CA water shortage
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 Discover Magazine

La Niña lives! — and that’s bad news

For two winters in a row, La Niña has steered desperately needed rain and snow storms away from the U.S. Southwest, exacerbating a decades-long drought that has shriveled reservoirs and spurred horrific wildfires. Now, hopes that the climate pattern would relent and allow moisture to rebound next winter have suffered a serious blow. La Niña — Spanish for “the girl” — persisted through April, and there’s a 61 percent chance she’ll stick around for a third winter, according to the latest monthly update from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Related articles: 

  • ABC Salt Lake City: The Summer 2022 Outlook is in! What should Utahns expect?
  • Associated Press – Santa Fe: Rain, snow slow New Mexico fire, but hot, dry weather looms
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 Fox 40 - Sacramento

California Tribal communities ask the State Water Resources Board to protect the Delta

As drought conditions continue, people who rely on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are demanding California make sure their communities are protected. Early Tuesday, a group gathered in front of the California State Water Resources Control Board building to demand the state enforce the Bay-Delta plan. It’s been a long fight and the group said enough is enough. For many of the tribes, the Delta is an important lifeline.

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Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 ABC 23 - Bakersfield

Water shortage impacting California cotton farmers

The California Department of Food and Agriculture says that more than 90% of the cotton harvested in California has been grown in the San Joaquin Valley but continuing dry weather is posing significant challenges for growers. Consumer demand is driving the market for cotton, including high-quality Pima cotton now reaching record levels of more than $3 a pound. But as California faces another dry year many farmers in Kern County are impacted not only by an increase in price but also by a decrease in production.

Related articles:

  • Agri-Pulse: Inflation hits California’s food system, spurring painful memories of the 1980s farm crisis
  • Cal Ag Today: Western Drought Will Impact All Americans
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 California Water Research

Blog: California Senate proposes $2 billion program to balance water supply and water rights

The California Senate has proposed a $2 billion reconciliation framework to rebalance water supply and water rights, as part of proposed investments of $7.5 billion in state and federal funds spread over three years for climate resiliency. It is the most sweeping land retirement proposal since the landmark 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act.

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Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 The Associated Press

Explainer: How cities in the West have water amid drought

As drought and climate change tighten their grip on the American West, the sight of fountains, swimming pools, gardens and golf courses in cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Boise, and Albuquerque can be jarring at first glance. Western water experts, however, say they aren’t necessarily cause for concern. Over the past three decades, major Western cities — particularly in California and Nevada — have diversified their water sources, boosted local supplies through infrastructure investments and conservation, and use water more efficiently. 

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Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Editorial: California’s water shortage requires updates in technology, law — and mindset

Californians responded to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s request for voluntary water conservation earlier this year by using more, not less. … Already, residents face sharp new outdoor water restrictions June 1, and serious doubts over whether those limits will be enough to cope with a historic water shortage. It’s a good time to imagine the ideal California of the future, in which information technology and rational pricing make water conservation simple, understandable and a common way of life. Here’s how it should work, as a resident pulls out his or her phone and at the touch of a button checks the household’s water use for that day in real time: 

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Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 KYMA - Yuma, AZ

Southwest water shortage expected to get worse

A “Tier 1″ shortage was triggered by Lake Mead falling below 1,075 feet of water this past year.  This means less Colorado River water is flowing into Arizona. Historic drought conditions are impacting critical infrastructure that provides water and power to the region, like the Hoover Dam, and Lakes Mead and Powell…. For now, [Bureau of Reclamation official Dan] Bunk says Yuma and its agricultural industry remain unaffected by the tier one shortage. But the future is unknown.

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Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 Colorado Sun

Residents question collateral from Unaweep Canyon hydropower plan

A few months ago, [Paul] Ashcraft and several of his neighbors at the highest point in Unaweep Canyon saw a plan proposed by Xcel Energy to build a hydro power plant that will help the company reach its renewable energy goals. The plan put a 75-foot dam holding back the edge of an 88-acre reservoir in Ashcraft’s front yard. The proposal also puts his neighbors’ homes and Colorado 141 underwater. The plan would move water between a reservoir on BLM land on top of the cliffs and a reservoir on private land on the valley floor.

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Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 J- The Jewish News of Northern California

Opinion: California Jews, enough with your green, grassy Jewish cemeteries

Jewish law has a lot to say about what’s supposed to happen when you die: your lifeless body must be washed and buried quickly, with a simple headstone to mark your grave. But nowhere, in 4,000 years of Jewish law, custom or tradition does it say you need to rest eternally under bright, green grass. As California struggles with the West’s longest megadrought in 1,200 years, emergency water conservation rules are set to take effect on June 1. Yet cemeteries in L.A., including the three largest Jewish ones, remain as grassy and green as a Scottish golf course.
-Written by Rob Eshman, national editor of the the Forward.

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Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 KOLO - Reno

Some boat ramps closed in Lake Tahoe this summer

With the holiday weekend coming up a lot of people are expected in Lake Tahoe for boating and other summer activities. But, there are a few boat ramps that will be closed this weekend that could impact plans. Because of the lack of precipitation, a majority of boat ramps in Lake Tahoe will be closed this summer. Even with the winter weather we had just a few weeks ago, it only raised the lake about an inch. The boat ramps that will be closed this season are Sand Harbor, El Dorado, Kings Beach, and Tahoe Vista Recreation Area. 

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Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 The San Francisco Examiner

As Bay Area faces prolonged drought, recycling and desalination are the only two real options

Despite being surrounded by water, Bay Area residents are routinely told during dry years to take shorter showers, let lawns brown and slow the rush of water from their taps. But as climate change prolongs drought and challenges local water supply, regional water managers are warning that none of those actions will be enough. Many say the time has come to invest in technically feasible, though politically and environmentally complicated alternatives like purifying wastewater and sucking salt out of seawater to bolster stores.

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Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 Mercury News

PG&E is beginning to bury its electrical power lines

Etched in dirt, a narrow furrow is the only clue that the grasslands of Lime Ridge Open Space will soon be restored to their original splendor, cleared of dangerous power lines that could ignite nearby subdivisions. The undergrounding project, costing $3.75 million a mile, represents the beginning of a 10,000-mile-long effort by Pacific Gas and Electric to bury the state’s distribution lines to cope with the growing risk of winds and wildfires linked to global warming. The utility long resisted calls to bury its power lines as being too costly. 

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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 ProPublica

Salmon hatcheries funded by U.S. government haven’t ended fish’s decline

Today, there are hundreds of hatcheries in the Northwest run by federal, state and tribal governments … The fish they send to the Pacific Ocean have allowed restaurants and grocery seafood counters to offer “wild-caught” Chinook salmon even as the fish became endangered. The hatcheries were supposed to stop the decline of salmon. They haven’t. The numbers of each of the six salmon species native to the Columbia basin have dropped to a fraction of what they once were, and 13 distinct populations are now considered threatened or endangered.

Related articles: 

  • SJV Water: Video - Restoring salmon on the San Joaquin during three years of drought 
  • San Francisco Chronicle: Fresh California king salmon is in limited supply. Here’s where to buy it for Memorial Day
  • California Fisheries Blog: Over-summering spring-run chinook salmon in Mill Creek and Deer Creek
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 American Rivers

Blog: The reservoirs under our feet

When you picture water storage, a water tower on slanted stilts imposed upon a blue sky or a concrete reservoir piping water to the city might come to mind. The issue of water storage has become a high priority as regions such as California experience severe multi-year drought and are impacted by overextraction from aquifers. … The most climate resilient and long-term strategies to address water shortage lie at our feet, in the meadows that anchor our rivers headwaters and floodplains that extend across the broad lower river valleys.

Related article :

  • UC San Diego: Water storage - Tracking for Sierra Nevada and Upper Colorado River Basins
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 Los Angeles Times

AQUAFORNIA BREAKING NEWS: California bans watering “non-functional” grass in some areas, strengthening drought rules

California’s top water regulators adopted emergency drought rules Tuesday that scale up conservation requirements for water suppliers throughout the state and prohibit watering grass that is purely decorative at businesses and in common areas of subdivisions and homeowners associations. The regulations outlaw the use of potable water for irrigating “non-functional” grass at commercial, industrial and institutional properties.

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Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 Mercury News

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Newsom calls for increased water conservation, warning of mandatory statewide restrictions

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday warned major water agencies to show better conservation results or face mandatory statewide water restrictions as California heads into its third summer of severe drought. The threat is a sign of Newsom’s growing impatience with the state’s failure to reduce urban water use, as he has requested since last year. In fact, people have been using more. … Newsom also said the state will closely monitor the situation over the next 60 days, and he told the agencies to submit water use data more frequently to the state and to step up outreach and education efforts to communicate the urgency of the crisis to the public.

Related articles: 

  • San Francisco Chronicle: Newsom says California could get mandatory water restrictions as drought crisis deepens
  • Los Angeles Times: Newsom urges aggressive water conservation and warns of statewide restrictions
  • The Guardian: California threatens ‘mandatory water restrictions’ if people don’t cut back
  • Chico Enterprise-Record: Chico, Oroville enter new phase of water conservation
  • Associated Press: Californians could see mandatory water cuts amid years-long drought, Gov. Newsom says  
  • City News Service: Newsom warns of statewide watering restrictions if local drought efforts fall short
  • Malibu Times: Outdoor watering restrictions cause panic
  • WaterWorld: Inland Empire Utilities Agency adopts drought resolution
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 Mercury News

Heat wave this week will intensify fire danger for Bay Area, Northern California

A pre-Memorial Day heat wave will prime the Bay Area for another dry fire season, roasting the region’s landscape with some of the hottest weather so far in 2022 and pushing temperatures in some cities close to 100 degrees. A month ahead of the official start of summer, high temperatures could climb 5 to 20 degrees above normal on Tuesday and Wednesday for much of the Bay Area — a pre-Memorial Day blast of hot weather that prompted a heat advisory for the entire Central Valley and a red flag warning for a broad swath of Northern California stretching from Vallejo to Redding…. Already, California’s drought has depleted reservoirs and contributed to some of the state’s largest fires on record in recent years.

Related article: 

  • CNN: California drought and heat continue as severe storms hit central US
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 CA Water Commission

Report: Water Commission’s white paper on groundwater trading programs emphasizes safeguards for vulnerable water users

The California Water Commission approved a white paper that contains its findings and the potential next steps for State engagement in shaping well-managed groundwater trading programs with appropriate safeguards for vulnerable water users: natural resources, small- and medium-size farms, and water supply and quality for disadvantaged communities. The white paper will be shared with the Secretaries for Natural Resources, Environmental Protection, and Food and Agriculture, who requested the Commission’s engagement on this topic.

Related article:

  • State Water Resources Control Board: White Paper: A State Role in Supporting Groundwater Trading with Safeguards for Vulnerable Users: Findings and Next Steps
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 Voice of San Diego

San Diego pays a lot for abundant water. Tijuana pays a different price for water scarcity

Maria Herrera had about a quarter left in her last five-gallon water jug. On that April afternoon, though, spotty water service returned to the 67-year-old woman’s apartment, before the jug emptied. If it hadn’t, that was all she had left to bathe, do housework or drink. Herrera lives in Villas de Santa Fe, a neighborhood of cookie-cutter apartment blocks on the rapidly growing outskirts of Tijuana. Baja’s state water agency, called CESPT, shuts off her water at least once a week, she said. Last summer, Herrera said she went six days with dry taps. 

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Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Trees are critical infrastructure. Water them amid drought

The lowly sidewalk tree often stands invisible. We rest in its shade, bask in the scent of springtime flowers, and we don’t notice it until it’s gone. But the tree works hard. It captures and filters stormwater runoff and helps replenish groundwater. It cleans our air and cools our neighborhoods. It improves our mental health. It saves lives. With Southern California officials clamping down on outdoor water use amid worsening drought, the message is clear: It’s fine for lawns to go brown, but we need to keep trees alive and healthy.

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  • Los Angeles Times: Best California native plants for when summer heats up
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Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 Jefferson Public Radio

The conservation case for emergency rules on groundwater in the Scott and Shasta basins

The fish need the water, the farmers and ranchers need the water, and the fish win. Because coho salmon are on the Endangered Species List in the region, and the Scott and Shasta Rivers are important to their survival. The State of California put emergency rules in place governing groundwater around those rivers, and the people in agriculture take exception. We hear the environmental side of the issue in this interview. Craig Tucker, Natural Resources Policy Advocate for the Karuk Tribe, lays out the importance of the water for the fish …

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Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 Delta Stewardship Council

Blog: The 2022-2026 Science Action Agenda: Prioritizing integrated science

After nearly two years of a collaborative effort led by the Delta Stewardship Council’s Delta Science Program, the wait is finally over. We’re excited and proud to present the final 2022-2026 SAA for the Delta. … Scientists, managers, and those with a stake in the Delta were invited to participate in two public workshops, four online surveys, and four review periods and were engaged in various collaborative venues. The collaborative process was a critical component of this SAA and built on the success of the 2017-2021 SAA, which guided over $35 million from the Council and its partners for management-relevant research.

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Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 Steamboat Pilot & Today

Writers on the Range: A water-stressed valley needs to curb development

In my drought- and fire-plagued home valley, 40 miles north of San Francisco, a debate has been simmering for decades over a massive development planned on state-owned property. The conflict is focused on nearly 1,000 acres of rural and wildland in Sonoma Valley. The prime wine-country property has been eyed for development since long before 2018 … Water, especially, is in short supply. The valley’s 44,000-acre groundwater basin and recycled water provide only half of the community’s water. Piped-in supplies make up the other half, shipped from increasingly drought-stressed river basins farther north.

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Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 Palm Springs Life

Pacific Ocean plays key role to restoring beleaguered Salton Sea

Annette Morales Roe learned how to waterski off the north shore of the Salton Sea in the 1960s. … Her family stopped visiting in the early 1970s, around the same time scientists began warning that the Salton Sea would shrink and become inhospitable to wildlife without a sustainable water source. … Now, Roe is certain that she knows how to fix the problem — and has the team to do it. As managing partner and chief strategy officer of Online Land Planning LLC, she is advocating for a plan that would reroute recycled water that’s currently flowing into the Pacific Ocean to the Salton Sea …

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Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 Fox 10 - Phoenix

Lake Powell, producing energy to millions, majorly threatened by drought conditions

The water crisis in Arizona affects all of us. From our tap water to our crops, even our electricity. The supply is running short, so FOX 10’s Steve Nielsen headed to Lake Powell to investigate our ongoing water crisis and uncover what’s being done to safeguard our most important resource in the desert. … Lake Powell historical data in 2011 shows the water level was at 3,622 feet. It ebbs and flows a little bit every year, but there’s been a steep drop off the last two years. As of May 2022, the water level is sitting at 3,522.

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Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 Entrepreneur

Opinion: Farmers don’t have enough water. Can AI help?

For the fourth time in 10 years, farmers I know in California are facing a harsh reality — they won’t see a drop of water from federal government reserves to supplement the little bit they’ll get from Mother Nature. … Precision agriculture — the use of technology like networked sensors and artificial intelligence — is helping farmers get by without the water they once had. The efficiencies are real, and the impact is tangible. I’ve seen up close how precision agriculture is making a difference for farms facing extreme drought.
-Written by Michael Gilbert, CEO of Semios, helping farmers use data to optimize every acre.

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Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 Manteca Bulletin

Opinion: New Melones modeling & megadroughts: Setting stage for state’s water Armageddon

New Melones Reservoir is the proverbial canary in the mine when it comes to where state water policy wedded with the return of megadroughts is taking California. Using historical hydrology data on the Stanislaus River basin between 1922 and 2019: *Based on current regulatory rules New Melones Reservoir would fall below 250,000 acre feet of storage in 3 out of the 98 years. 
-Written by Dennis Wyatt, editor of The Manteca Bulletin.

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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 San Francisco Chronicle

Monday Top of the Scroll: California is about to begin the nation’s largest dam removal project. Here’s what it means for wildlife

After decades of negotiation, the largest dam-removal project in U.S. history is expected to begin in California’s far north next year. The first of four aging dams on the Klamath River, the 250-mile waterway that originates in southern Oregon’s towering Cascades and empties along the rugged Northern California coast, is on track to come down in fall 2023. Two others nearby and one across the state line will follow. … The native flora and fauna in the region are bound to prosper as algae-infested reservoirs at the dams are emptied, the flow of the river quickens and cools, and river passage swings wide open.

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  • CalMatters: Opinion - Klamath Basin dam removal needs a science-driven oversight plan
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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 ABC7 Los Angeles

California water officials urge conservation amid dim outlook for improvement in drought conditions

Outdoor watering restrictions area set to take effect in Los Angeles at the end of the month, and the prospect of an improvement in drought conditions appears dim. Just how bad is the drought? According to state figures, the first three months of the year were the driest in the state’s recorded history. California is currently in the third year of a drought. Wade Crowfoot is the state secretary for natural resources. The one resource he oversees that we all use is water. According to his agency, the drought is getting worse, not better.

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  • NBC Los Angeles: Why Trees Are Not Part of LA’s Two-Day Outdoor Watering Restrictions
  • KSBY: Why scientists believe this summer will be warmer than usual
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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 CalMatters

Sacramento Valley struggles to survive record water cuts

Three years ago, when he sank everything he had into 66 acres of irrigated pasture in Shasta County, [farmer Josh] Davy thought he’d drought-proofed his cattle operation. He’d been banking on the Sacramento Valley’s water supply… But this spring, for the first time ever, no water is flowing through his pipes and canals or those of his neighbors: The district won’t be delivering any water to Davy or any of its roughly 800 other customers.

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  • Washington Post: Tensions rise as drought worsens and heat surges across California 
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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 Eureka Times-Standard

Fishermen threaten to sue Bureau of Reclamation over Trinity River diversions

A Trump era decision has further imperiled endangered fish species in the Trinity River, and commercial fishermen and local tribes are demanding the federal government take action. This week, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and its sister organization Institute for Fisheries Research sent the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation a 60-day notice of their intention to sue the federal agency for violating the Endangered Species Act. The amount of water the bureau is diverting from the Trinity River to the Central Valley Project has decimated the river’s salmon populations … 

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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 E&E News

The West, reliant on hydro, may miss it during heat waves

When California suffers a heat wave, it leans heavily on hydropower from the Pacific Northwest to keep the lights on. But that hydropower may not always be available when it’s most needed, as climate change is shifting the ground on which the West’s dams sit. Higher temperatures means snowmelt occurs earlier in the year and leaves less water available for power generation during the depths of summer. 

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  • Bloomberg: Summer Blackouts Bring Deadly Risk as Heatwaves Grip the Globe
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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 Press Democrat

More severe droughts are looming. Could Santa Rosa’s pioneering water recycling program help stave off disaster?

Homes and businesses across central Sonoma County generated more than 5 billion gallons of wastewater last year, enough to fill more than 7,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools. That sewage flowed into Santa Rosa’s regional treatment plant south of Sebastopol, where it was cleaned up and nearly all of it put to a second use. About 4 billion gallons of recycled water was pumped north from the Llano Road treatment plant in a 41-mile pipeline and up a steep slope into The Geysers geothermal fields southeast of Cloverdale. 

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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 Comstock's Magazine

After the blaze: Climate change creates challenging conditions for California wineries

Wildfires signal perhaps the most immediate threat California’s $43 billion viticulture industry faces from a warming California. Yet they’re far from the only challenge. Wineries from the San Joaquin Valley to the Sierra Nevada foothills are all suffering from intensifying droughts and hot, almost endlessly dry seasons. Both problems are predicted to get worse in the coming decades.  For grape farmers, that could be devastating: The rainless skies of the last two years resulted in highly stressed crops and seriously diminished yields.

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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 Napa Valley Register

New signs near Napa Creek celebrate Napa’s urban beavers

Those who regularly cross the Napa Creek footbridge from Clinton Street to Coombs Street in downtown Napa might be unaware of the beavers that live below. The thick-furred, aqueous mammals are nocturnal, after all, and tend to go about their wood-gnawing, dam-building business when people aren’t around to watch them. They also haven’t been in the Downtown Napa area for all that long, though the increasing presence of them around the city of Napa in recent years has often been heralded as a sign of environmental success connected to the millions spent on flood control projects over the past few decades. 

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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board

News release: San Francisco Bay Water Board names Eileen White as new executive officer

The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board announced the appointment of Eileen White as its executive officer, succeeding Michael Montgomery. Her first day is July 11. White most recently served as director of East Bay Municipal Utility District’s Wastewater Department, where she recently led the development of EBMUD’s Integrated Master Plan for its main wastewater treatment plant, along with EBMUD’s Climate Action Plan, to guide operations, investments and priorities for decades to come. White managed a workforce of 280 people.

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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 Deseret News

Utah in for another hot summer, precipitation outlook remains unclear

Summer is just around the corner and it appears Utah is in for another hot and possibly dry one, but the door is still open for moisture to return in parts of the state. The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center published its three-month outlook for the meteorological summer months of June, July and August on Thursday, providing a general overview of what’s to come. The report lists Utah at the center of the highest probability for above-average temperatures in the nation, while the northern portion of the state is leaning toward a drier-than-average season.

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  • Arizona Republic: Lake Mead could still tank in 2023, despite all we’ve done to save it
  • Deseret News: ‘Water is not going to magically appear,’ says Interior’s Tanya Trujillo 
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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 GV Wire

Hurtado wants feds to probe hedge funds’ acquisition of water rights

State Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Bakersfield) and state Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) are calling for U. S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate possible drought profiteering and water rights abuses in the western states. … A county supervisor in Arizona joined the California state senators in calling for the investigation. … In addition to raising anti-trust questions, Hurtado and Cortese expressed concern about the potential for hedge funds to divert water intended for food production to cannabis growing operations.

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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 The New York Times

Has California’s fire season begun?

More than half a dozen wildfires broke out across California in a 48-hour span late last week, an unsettling picture of what’s to come as temperatures warm and drought conditions worsen this summer….Today and tomorrow, gusty winds, low humidity and unseasonably hot temperatures are creating high fire risk across an inland swath of California between Redding and Sacramento.

Related articles: 

  • Southern California News Group: Riverside County fire officials ban outdoor burning amid megadrought, early wildfire season
  • East Bay Times: Containment rises for two fires burning in Northern California
  • KMPH: Heat Advisory issued as Valley braces for its first triple-digit temperatures of the year
  • USA Today: Fighting fire with fire: Controlled burns remain essential as US wildfires intensify
  • Patch: CA Fire Danger Elevates Amid Hot, Gusty Weather; 4 Blazes Burn
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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 The New York Times

Bodies pulled from parched Lake Mead stir wise-guy ghosts of Las Vegas

The [discoveries of human remains on the dry bed bed of Lake Mead] come amid the Southwest’s driest two decades in more than a thousand years, as drought-starved bodies of water yield one surprise after another. At Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico, a bachelor party stumbled across a fossilized mastodon skull that is millions of years old. In Utah last year, the receding waters of Lake Powell revealed a car that had plunged 600 feet off a cliff, killing the driver. And as Lake Powell dries up, archaeologists are getting a chance to study newly emerged Indigenous dwellings.

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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 Associated Press

Priceless seeds, sprouts in New Mexico key to post-fire future in US West

New Mexico State University’s Forestry Research Center in the mountain community of Mora is one of only a few such nurseries in the country and stands at the forefront of a major undertaking to rebuild more resilient forests as wildfires burn hotter, faster and more often. … With no shortage of burn scars around the West, researchers and private groups such as The Nature Conservancy have been tapping New Mexico State University’s center for seedlings to learn how best to restore forests after the flames are extinguished. The center has provided sprouts for projects in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Texas and California … 

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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 The Revelator

The fight for an invisible fish

The Clear Lake hitch is one of 13 species endemic to California’s largest, oldest and now most toxic lake. Known as chi to local tribes, the hitch teeter on the edge of extinction, a fate to which their cousins, two other formerly endemic lake species — the thicktail chub (last seen in 1938) and the Clear Lake splittail (last seen in the 1970s) — have already succumbed. Clear Lake hitch are vanishing because of our unabated appetites for fossil fuels, sportfishing, irrigation water and wine. 

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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 ABC7 Los Angeles

CA water and energy crisis: New plan wants to install solar panel canopies over parts of Turlock Irrigation District’s canals

California needs more water and renewable energy, and Solar AquaGrid CEO Jordan Harris is trying to help. … A big idea is starting with a small stretch of canals in the Turlock Irrigation District, located just south of Modesto. This fall, groundbreaking will begin on a pilot project to build solar panel canopies over existing canals. … A study from UC Merced concluded that shading all of the roughly 4,000 miles of California canals with solar panels could save 63 billion gallons of water every year by reducing evaporation, while potentially creating about one sixth of the state’s current power capacity.

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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc.

Friday Top of the Scroll: Newsom pushes Water Commission to accelerate Sites Reservoir

As the drought deepens and an election nears, Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking extra steps to increase pressure—and responsibility—on the Water Commission for the Sites Reservoir Project proposal. During a Senate budget subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said the governor has tasked him with ensuring the commission “isn’t slowing down the progress of getting those [Proposition 1] projects online.” Newsom also charged Crowfoot with finding ways to remove regulatory barriers and accelerate the approval process for those projects.

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  • Association of California Water Agencies: STREAM Act Introduced
  • Our Valley Voice: Local solutions central to water forum
  • Fox 40-Sacramento: This 1955 dam still produces needed power for Sacramento
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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Ex-Interior secretary urges revamping of Colorado River pact

One hundred years after a landmark agreement divided the waters of the Colorado River among Western states, the pact is now showing its age as a hotter and drier climate has shrunk the river….Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who oversaw management of the river under President Clinton, said it’s become clear that the 1922 Colorado River Compact should be revamped to adapt to the reduced amount of water that is available as global warming compounds the 22-year megadrought in the watershed.

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  • Colorado Public Radio: The marinas at Colorado’s Blue Mesa Reservoir won’t open this season as the threat of a water release to Lake Powell looms
  • KOLD 13 – Tucson: Tucson votes to give up some of its CAP water to help save Lake Mead
  • Desert Review: IID Board initiates process to develop, implement revised plan to manage water supply
  • The Nevada Independent: Everyone in Nevada is talking about water. Here are five things to know 
  • AZ Big Media: Blog: Here’s how we can secure the future of water in Arizona
  • Tucson Sentinel: Tucson offers to turn off tap on some Colorado River water to try to save Lake Mead
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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Northern California’s endangered Chinook salmon trucked to cooler waters

In a stopgap measure to help struggling spring- and winter-run Chinook salmon spawn in the face of rising water temperatures and lower water levels due to climate change, state and federal wildlife officials in Northern California have begun trucking adult fish to cooler waters. The spring- and winter-run salmon are genetically different, with the seasonal labels marking when adult fish travel from the Pacific Ocean back to the Sacramento River to spawn. The spring-run Chinook, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, are being moved from traps at the base of Keswick Dam to Clear Creek in the Sacramento River.

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  • California Fisheries: State and federal hatcheries release salmon smolts to rivers, Delta, bay, and coast
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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 The Washington Post

High winds, heat boost fire threat as California faces long season

Fire danger is on the rise in California, as warm, dry and windy weather heralds a potentially long and difficult season. For several consecutive years, increasingly extreme, climate-change fueled wildfires have devastated parts of the state. The area of greatest concern late this week is in Northern California, where strong northerly winds will combine with dry vegetation in the Sacramento Valley…. The risk of fast-spreading blazes may ease this weekend, but officials have expressed serious concerns about the months ahead as the entirety of California contends with a historically severe drought that has turned many areas into a tinderbox.

Related articles: 

  • Courthouse News Service: Heat, winds stoke fears of wildfire in Northern California
  • San Francisco Chronicle: Parts of the Bay Area will be under a red flag warning starting Thursday, signaling a critical wildfire threat
  • KRON4-San Francisco: Wildfire season is on the way, says Santa Rosa Fire Dept.
  • Sonora Union Democrat: Forecasters issue red flag warning for western Tuolumne County
  • Klamath Falls Herald & News: Private forestland deal wins acclaim, though doubts remain
  • ESRI: Tribe maps where to burn to restore Northern California forest to balance
  • Arizona Republic: Forests often regenerate after wildfires. Why the climate crisis could change that
  • World Economic Forum: US wildfires threaten nearly 80 million properties as climate risks grow
  • Scientific American: If Sea Ice Melts in the Arctic, Do Trees Burn in California?
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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 The Conversation

Blog: Grim 2022 drought outlook for Western US offers warnings for the future as climate change brings a hotter, thirstier atmosphere

Much of the western U.S. has been in the grip of an unrelenting drought since early 2020. The dryness has coincided with record-breaking wildfires, intense and long-lasting heat waves, low stream flows and dwindling water supplies in reservoirs that millions of people across the region rely on. … One driver of the Western drought has been persistent La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific since the summer of 2020. … The other and perhaps more important part of the story is the hotter and thirstier atmosphere, caused by a rapidly warming climate.

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  • Benito Link: California starts its third year of drought with a record dry spell
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  • Fox 40-Sacramento: New wastewater project to help farmers, conservation
  • CBS Sacramento: ‘We’re Really Facing A Catastrophe’: Bay Area Artist’s Billboards In Oroville Blast California’s Struggles
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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 The San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego offers $33M olive branch in pipeline dispute with East County water recycling project

San Diego’s top brass offered on Thursday to pony up more than $33 million to resolve a hotly disputed pipeline deal between the city and East County concerning two large water recycling projects. The move comes as the parties inch closer to what could become a protracted legal battle, with serious implications for the East County Advanced Water Purification Project and the city’s massive $5 billion Pure Water sewage recycling venture.

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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 SJV Water

Blog: Drought, groundwater restrictions and – oh yeah, drought – pervade talk at annual Kern water summit

Local and state water leaders were practically upbeat two years ago at the last in-person Water Summit put on by the Water Association of Kern County. At least as upbeat as California water folks typically get. They advocated for new ideas, radical partnerships and solutions that could benefit both ag and environmental interests. That was then. Facing a third year of punishing drought and the bleak realities of new groundwater restrictions, the vibe at this year’s summit was more “in the bunker” than “in it together.”

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  • ABC 23 – Bakersfield: Kern County Water Summit looks for solutions to California’s drought
  • Western Farm Press: Watering the valley of the future
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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 E&E News

Grid monitor warns of U.S. blackouts in ’sobering report’

The central and upper Midwest, Texas and Southern California face an increased risk of power outages this summer from extreme heat, wildfires and extended drought, the nation’s grid monitor warned yesterday. In a dire new assessment, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) described regions of the country pushed closer than ever toward energy emergencies by a combination of climate change impacts and a transition from traditional fossil fuel generators to carbon-free renewable power.

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  • Fox Business: Drought, high temperatures could cause blackouts in large parts of the US this summer
  • KTLA: Summer blackouts could hit these U.S. states, regulators warn
  • Los Angeles Times: This tiny Utah town could shape the West’s energy future
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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 Porterville Recorder

State, county may take water from City of Porterville

City of Porterville Manager John Lollis … announced at Tuesday’s Porterville City Council meeting the County and State may exercise its right to take 3 million gallons of water a month at no charge from a city well as part of the arrangement the city, county and state reached to supply East Porterville with water after the 2015 drought. … Lollis noted the state still hasn’t fulfilled its portion of the agreement which called for the development of three wells for the City of Porterville as part of the East Porterville project.

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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 Audubon

Blog: Water for the Colorado River Delta in a dry year

The Colorado River is once again flowing in its delta. The flows, which began on May 1, are the result of binational collaboration and deliberate management. The water is dedicated to supporting the ecosystem and local communities in a landscape where the river has not flowed  for most years in the past half century. It is a heartening bit of good news for the Colorado River, which earlier this year was designated as America’s most endangered river.  

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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 The Sacramento Bee

Watering tips for Sacramento lawns during California drought

California cities are enforcing water-saving measures, summer heat has crept in early and your lush green grass is probably starting to wither. As reported by the California’s drought information system, 40% of the state is experiencing extreme drought. … In response to the record dryness, the city of Sacramento is under a “Water Alert,” asking residents to cut back on water use by 15% and to follow a seasonal watering schedule. Fines for water waste have doubled. … As you cut back on watering your home’s lawn, there are ways to still keep it green.

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  • Sacramento Bee: Video:  ‘It’s an honor to participate.’ See new river-themed mural for Wide Open Walls
  • Colorado Sun: Aurora may ban sprawling lawns, new golf courses to save water. Other Denver-area cities could follow.
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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 ABC7 San Francisco

California drought: How CA coastal communities are working to conserve, combat saltwater intrusion

For Executive Pastor Mark Spurlock, expanding classroom space at the Twin Lakes Christian School in Aptos has been addition by subtraction. At least when it comes to saving water. Following development offset rules outlined by the Soquel Creek Water District, the school engineered water-saving solutions to offset the new space they were building including replacing lawn areas with a drought-friendly plaza that catches and diverts water routed from nearby rooftops. … To better understand seawater intrusion, Duncan says the layman can think of the Santa Cruz area’s aquifer as a giant bathtub with mountain watershed on one side, and ocean on the other.

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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 Ukiah Daily Journal

Mendocino County mulling sales tax to fund water projects, fire services

Despite two board members expressing doubts that a new spending measure would be approved by voters, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to move forward with a possible sales tax ordinance to fund projects protecting local water supply and boosting local fire services.

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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 Brentwood Press

Testing to reduce blue green algae in Willow Lake at Discovery Bay to begin

Discovery Bay’s Willow Lake will be sealed off from water flow next week for an experiment to reduce the number of blue green algal blooms. The experiment is being conducted and monitored by two separate companies and will last approximately three months. The lake will still be available for residents to use, officials said. Dave Caron, owner of Aquatic EcoTechnologies, conducted tests in Discovery Bay waters in 2020 and found peroxide to be effective in reducing blooms, but not harming other plant or animal life in the water. 

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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 KneeDeep Times

Cruising the San Pablo SPINE — a green streets test lab

From tattoo parlors to senior housing, and ethnic-food vendors to world-famous record shops, it’s been said that if you can’t find what you’re looking for on San Pablo Avenue, then it doesn’t exist.  And now, the busy thoroughfare, which runs north-south through the heart of the East Bay, is also a testbed for a distributed network of rain gardens. The project, known as the San Pablo Avenue Green Stormwater “SPINE”, began nearly ten years ago (the caps are used for emphasis, not as an acronym). In the fall of 2012, the U.S. EPA issued a $307,000 portion of a larger green-infrastructure grant for the design of seven garden sites in seven different cities.

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Aquafornia news May 19, 2022 NBC Bay Area

Thursday Top of the Scroll: California’s snowpack, groundwater keep dropping

New numbers continue to show California Sierra snowpack is dropping along with the state’s groundwater but why is that important? Check out this image below and you’ll see all of the ways we use snowpack. That Spring snowmelt not only fills our streams, reservoirs and lakes, we also use it for agriculture, household, ecology and hydropower. In total providing one-third of the state’s water supply. The problem lately, we just can’t get enough storms to keep the snowpack at normal levels. This year only finished at 42% of normal.

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  • LA Times: Winter’s second wind - Mammoth Mountain resort extends ski season into June
  • Marin Independent Journal: Marin waters suppliers bolster wildfire defenses
  • San Francisco Chronicle: Temperatures to soar into the 90s in this part of the S.F. Bay Area, raising wildfire worries
  • Herald & News: Gov. Brown, fire officials warn of challenging wildfire season
  • San Joaquin Valley Sun: Madera Co. OKs incentives for new Oakhurst resort, groundwater policies
  • Ag Alert: Water storage, recharge focus of Sonoma summit
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Aquafornia news May 19, 2022 Porterville Recorder

Hurtado calls for a crackdown on water profiteering

On Wednesday, State Senator Melissa Hurtado, D-Sanger joined her colleague, Democratic State Senator Dave Cortese in sending a letter to United States Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting an investigation into possible drought profiteering and water rights abuses in the Western states.  The Senators said they’re concerned about the increasing amount of water rights being purchased by hedge funds, their potential anti-competitive practices and the devastating impact that could have on water security.

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  • Agri-Pulse Communications: As water grows scarce, California considers protecting it from foreign investors
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Aquafornia news May 19, 2022 Fox 13 - Salt Lake City

More reservoirs may run dry and the Great Salt Lake will continue to decline, state officials warn

More reservoirs across Utah may run dry and the Great Salt Lake will continue to decline, state officials warned lawmakers on Wednesday. During a briefing before the Utah State Legislature’s Natural Resources Interim Committee, lawmakers were told that 99% of Utah remains in severe or extreme drought…. A legislative commission [is] requesting a study on the idea of a pipeline to take water from the Pacific Ocean across California and Nevada into the Great Salt Lake.

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  • The Atlantic: Water Levels in Lake Mead Reach Record Lows
  • Las Vegas Weekly: Climate Change Continues To Impact Lake Mead And The Colorado River
  • Gizmodo: Utah lawmakers consider a pipeline from the Pacific Ocean to the Great Salt Lake
  • Green Matters: The Pros and Cons of Using Water Pipelines to Mitigate Droughts
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Aquafornia news May 19, 2022 Water Education Foundation

Announcement: Improvements in forecasting to better manage drought is focus of June 9 workshop in Southern California

How can California water managers get ahead of the storms to improve drought management? A special one-day workshop June 9 in Irvine will highlight some of the latest research on seasonal precipitation forecasting that could help water managers across the state plan better for what winter might bring. The workshop, Making Progress on Drought Management: Improvements in Seasonal Precipitation Forecasting, is sponsored by the California Department of Water Resources in partnership with the Water Education Foundation.

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Aquafornia news May 19, 2022 SJV Water

Accusations continue to fly between two valley ag titans in water feud

The ongoing water feud between two of Kings County’s biggest farming entities recently spilled into Kern County and up to Sacramento with allegations on both sides of misuse of water and other public resources. In a May 12 letter, the Southwest Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency complains that the J.G. Boswell Company has been pumping and storing massive amounts of groundwater for irrigation in a shallow basin, subjecting it to extreme evaporation and contributing to the area’s already significant subsidence problems.

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Aquafornia news May 19, 2022 National Fisherman

Klamath dam removal could offer promise for Oregon commercial salmon fishery

The final hurdle is in sight and expected to be overcome, in the decades-long fight to remove four dams from the Klamath River and hopefully allow restoration of the river’s Chinook salmon population which was once the third-largest in the country, but in recent years has plummeted by as much as ninety-eight percent. The four dams were built between 1903 and 1967 as part of PacifiCorp’s Klamath Hydroelectric Project and are now obsolete. Removing them will provide native migratory fish, like Chinook salmon, access to larger spawning grounds. It will also help restore the natural flow of the river, providing innumerable benefits to the entire ecosystem.

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Aquafornia news May 19, 2022 Reuters

Severe drought could pose problems for US power grid this summer

The organization responsible for North American electric reliability warned energy shortfalls were possible this summer in California, Texas and the U.S. Midwest where extreme heat from a severe drought could cause power plants to fail. 

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Aquafornia news May 19, 2022 Santa Rosa Press-Democrat

North Bay agencies seek $83 million to expand water recycling amid drought

Petaluma, one of the driest corners of Sonoma County during the past two years of drought, is making a multimillion-dollar advance into recycled water. Operator of a wastewater treatment plant that serves about 65,000 people and treats about 5 million gallons of effluent a day, Petaluma is seeking grants for four projects with a total cost of $42 million. Six other North Bay agencies — including Sonoma Water and the Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District — are proposing a dozen projects totaling $41.2 million, bringing the total to $83.2 million, as Gov. Gavin Newsom is backing water reuse as an antidote to drought.

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Aquafornia news May 19, 2022 ABC7 Los Angeles

San Gabriel Valley Water supplier issuing water conservation kits to residents

Steve Bray lives in Monrovia and is already doing what he can to save water. He has installed Wi-Fi-connected sprinklers. … The Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District worries state’s historic drought will get worse. … The district actually captures 100% of rainwater and is able to store it in spreading basins. They use that water during dry years to deliver it into the drinking water system, but it’s quickly disappearing.

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  • Daily Bulletin: New lawn-watering schedule starts June 1 in La Verne
  • Sacramento News and Review: Blog – Pressure mounts in Sacramento as Big Ag, Newsom’s corporate donors, prove that voluntary water conservation is a failure
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Aquafornia news May 19, 2022 Public Policy Institute of California

Blog: The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta

The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta lies at the confluence of two of the state’s largest rivers. Forty percent of California’s runoff flows into the Delta, which—together with the San Francisco Bay—forms one of the West Coast’s largest estuaries. The Delta watershed supplies water to roughly 30 million residents and more than 6 million acres of farmland. Water exported from the Delta goes to the Bay Area, the southern San Joaquin Valley, the Central Coast, and Southern California (first figure). 

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Aquafornia news May 19, 2022 NBC Los Angeles

It’s about water, not just illegal drugs, officials say of rampant pot grows

Illegal pot grows were already a problem in the High Desert, but during the pandemic, the number increased, and now officials say with scarce water resources in Southern California, it’s a drought problem too. The NBC4 I-Team has been following the efforts to eradicate illegal marijuana operations in the high desert region of Southern California. On May 17, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced a new operation targeting those operations. The problem exploded during the pandemic with illegal marijuana grow operations quickly multiplying in High Desert communities. 

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Aquafornia news May 19, 2022 Agri-Pulse Communications

California is spending big on repurposing—not saving—farmland, argue critics

California lawmakers and the governor are hashing out the final details for investing billions of state dollars into a drought relief plan with long-term water investments and some benefits to farmers.

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  • Ag Alert: Water shortage limits more cotton acres as price surges
  • Northern California Water Association: Listening to Farmers and Business Leaders Talk About the Unprecedented Dry Year Impacts in the Sacramento River Watershed
  • CBS 13 – Sacramento: ‘It’s A Pretty Trying Time’ - Shipping Crisis Hits California’s Walnut Industry, Forces Some Local Farmers To Turn To Other Crops
  • Ceres Courier: Duarte manager speaks up loudly for agriculture
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Aquafornia news May 19, 2022 ABC7 San Francisco

Solar power finds floating home in Healdsburg, California along Russian River

Perched along the Russian River, the town of Healdsburg is mostly known for great wine and weekend getaways. But these days the sun is doing more than ripening grapes. It’s producing power in an unusual setting. … Crowley and wastewater manager Rob Scates are showing off what’s believed to be the largest floating solar farm in the country. The panels are anchored on the surface of two ponds at the city’s wastewater treatment facility. And while they’re floating, the panels are also supplying roughly 8% of the city’s electrical needs. C

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Aquafornia news May 19, 2022 Ag Alert

Commentary: A creative approach can help Russian River, farmers

On May 10, the California State Water Resources Control Board readopted an emergency regulation that stands to force 2,000 water-rights holders to curtail water diversions for another year. (See related story on Page 10.) The emergency action is being used to make water available to senior diverters, minimum instream flows and minimum health and human safety needs. … As an alternative to a full curtailment action being applied to a diverter, water-right holders in the upper watershed (north of Dry Creek in Sonoma County) can instead voluntarily sign up to participate in the program to receive some lower percentage of their typical reported water use.
-Written by Frost Pauli, a Mendocino County winegrape and pear grower and is chair of the Mendocino County Farm Bureau Water Committee. 

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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 Ag Alert

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: Farmers across state face new water cuts

With 60% of the state now in extreme drought conditions, state officials are warning water-right holders that they should expect more curtailments during peak irrigation season in June and July. … Drought emergency curtailment regulations were issued last fall by the California State Water Resources Control Board for certain watersheds in response to persistent dry conditions and spurred by a drought emergency declaration by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Curtailment orders adopted last year are effective for up to one year unless readopted.

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  • Ag Alert: Board renews water curtailments for Russian River
  • Foothills Sun Gazette: CA’s top crop is cracking under the stress of dry winters
  • Food and Water Watch: Blog - Big water abusers ignored as California drought persists
  • North Bay Business Journal: California wine grape growers eye millions in federal aid for 2020 wildfire losses
  • KTVL – Klamath River: Water allotment to farmers in the Klamath Basin hindering food production amid high market   
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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 ABC7 - Los Angeles

Gov. Newsom pushes need for conservation during visit to SoCal water recycling facility

Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging Californians to find ways to reduce their water use in an effort to combat the historic drought and said upcoming conservation mandates are a priority. The governor visited a water recycling facility Tuesday afternoon in Carson. It was originally built as a demonstration project to recycle household wastewater and replenish groundwater supplies…. Statewide, water consumption is up just 3.7% since July compared to 2020, woefully short of Newsom’s 15% goal. Newsom pledged to spend $100 million on a statewide advertising campaign to encourage water conservation.

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  • Capitol Weekly: California’s drought, relentless and inexorable, takes its toll
  • State Water Resources Control Board: State Water Board releases draft emergency water conservation regulation
  • Washington Post: Opinion - Reasons for rising food prices go beyond pandemic and war 
  • Half Moon Bay Review: Let’s think twice before wasting precious water
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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 EurekAlert!

New research: Climate change will force big shift in timing, amount of snowmelt across Colorado River Basin

New research predicts that changes in mountain snowmelt will shift peak streamflows to much earlier in the year for the vast Colorado River Basin, altering reservoir management and irrigation across the entire region. … The basin stretches from sea level at the Gulf of California to higher than 14,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and provides critical water to cities and farmers within the basin and beyond. Significant water is diverted to large population centers, including Albuquerque, Denver, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, San Diego and Santa Fe.

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  • Weather West: Much warmer and drier second half of May, and some thoughts about summer to come
  • CBS 8 – San Diego: Ocean currents are accelerating due to climate change, UCSD study says
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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 San Diego Union-Tribune

East County’s $950M water recycling project could be in jeopardy as San Diego nixes pipeline deal

East County officials fear a $950 million sewage recycling project could get flushed down the drain because of a pipeline deal gone awry. Leaders spearheading the endeavor blame San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria — who signed off on building an eight-mile “brine line” as recently as last year but has since reneged on that commitment. The pipeline would prevent concentrated waste generated by the East County project’s reverse osmosis filtration system from entering into the city’s own $5 billion Pure Water sewage recycling project now under construction.

Related article: 

  • San Diego Union-Tribune: Column: Did wastewater recycling help defeat the Huntington Beach desalination plant? 
  • Nossaman Blog: Poseidon Water’s Coastal Commission application denied – setting up an uncertain future for desalination
  • Associated Press: Environmentalists oppose more life for California nuke plant
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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 Sen. Dianne Feinstein's Office

News release: Feinstein, Kelly, Sinema introduce bill to increase, modernize water supply

Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) yesterday introduced S.4231, the Support to Rehydrate the Environment, Agriculture and Municipalities Act or STREAM Act, a bill that would increase water supply and modernize water infrastructure in California and throughout the West.

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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 Record Searchlight

Planned Colusa County reservoir draws concerns of ‘harmful’ water quality

Most people have never heard of Sites, California. It’s just a tiny dot on maps, little more than an intersection in the road on the remote west side of rural Colusa County in Northern California. But the surrounding Antelope Valley, where wildflowers bloom and cattle graze on spring grasses, is one of the next battlegrounds in California’s water wars. Under plans endorsed by state, federal and local officials, the valley would be flooded by the Sites Reservoir, a 14,000-acre lake that would take in water pumped from the Sacramento River and store it for agricultural and municipal use during dry periods.

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  • Water and the West: Does drought-prone California need another reservoir?  
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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 Public News Service

Water wars court case to decide fate of Long Valley in rural Mono County

Conservation groups are speaking out in support of water rights in rural Mono County, saying thirsty Los Angeles is endangering wildlife, ranching and tourism. All parties are awaiting the judge’s decision after a recent hearing, where the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) argued it has the right to cut off water ranchers use to irrigate Long Valley and Little Round Valley for cattle grazing near the Crowley Lake Reservoir. Wendy Schneider, executive director of the nonprofit Friends of the Inyo, said the DWP bought up water rights 100 years ago, but the Eastern Sierra is getting the short end of the stick.

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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 Victorville Daily Press

Drought in California: Water table in Mojave basin hits record low

The Mojave Water Agency began delivering imported water last week to a storage aquifer near Barstow, bringing welcome relief to the water table there that has hit a record low. The MWA Board of Directors unanimously approved the delivery of 5,000-acre-feet of water to the Centro Basin during its April 28 board meeting. The Centro Basin is one of five subareas or sub-basins, which are defined and separated in part by earthquake faults and other geological features but also are interconnected to some extent, water engineers say.

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  • 23 ABC – Bakersfield: Drought intensity extreme, officials to discuss groundwater at Kern Water Summit
  • Ridgecrest Daily Independent: Water District board requests time to review water reports from Groundwater Authority
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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 Grist

Congress is routing climate policy through the Army Corps of Engineers

Even as President Biden’s signature climate change bill languishes in the Senate, Congress is poised to spend billions of dollars on ambitious new projects that would help the U.S. adapt to climate change. A bill that would authorize the Army Corps of Engineers to build infrastructure to protect against climate impacts is quietly sailing through Congress, demonstrating bipartisan support for measures to protect against flooding and sea-level rise. … The bill also allows the Corps to undertake drought response efforts in the West …

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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 The Pew Charitable Trusts

Blog: Water shortages threaten development in more western cities

As the Western United States endures an ongoing megadrought that has spanned more than two decades, an increasing number of cities, towns and water districts are being forced to say no to new growth. There’s just not enough water to go around. Last month, the California Coastal Commission urged San Luis Obispo County to stop all new development requiring water use in the communities of Los Osos and Cambria. 

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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 San Francisco Chronicle

Scientists have just learned an amazing new fact about California redwood trees

California’s towering redwoods have been around for thousands of years, but the trees are still yielding some surprises about what makes them so resilient. UC Davis scientists recently discovered that redwoods have two different types of leaves … The trees’ peripheral leaves, like those on most trees, are food producers that convert sunlight into sugar through photosynthesis. But the axial leaves serve an entirely different role, researchers found — absorbing water. … [T]he study is further evidence of the big trees’ ability to adapt to environmental changes — including drought.

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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 USA Today

New studies highlight health risks of modern chemicals and pollution

Tuesday, a study published in the journal The Lancet expanded on pollution concerns globally, revealing that air and water pollution causes 1 in 6 deaths worldwide. At more than 9 million deaths per year, such pollution kills more people than malnutrition, roadway injuries and drug and alcohol use combined, the study found. … Though the changing climate is often viewed as the most pressing global environmental threat, researchers warned that on-the-ground pollution poses ecological and humanitarian catastrophes of its own. 

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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 SJV Water

Tiny Allensworth on the front lines of bad water and innovative solutions

When it comes to finding innovative solutions to drinking water problems, the tiny community of Allensworth in Tulare county has long been on the front lines. This spring, community began testing a new technology that would “jolt” arsenic out of its groundwater. And since 2021, Allensworth has also been home to another new technology that “makes” water out of thin air. Both technologies are currently being field-tested in Allensworth. If successful, they could become viable paths to clean water for residents of Allensworth and other small, rural San Joaquin Valley communities …

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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 SJV Sun

Lemoore launches salvo against effort to swipe to Kings River floodwater

Lemoore is speaking out against the efforts of an out of town water entity to export water from the Kings River. The Lemoore City Council approved a letter in opposition to a petition to revoke the Fully Appropriated Stream (FAS) status of the Kings River on Tuesday. The letter is directed to the State Water Resources Control Board, which is hearing a petition from Kern County water agency Semitropic Water Storage District to revoke the FAS status.

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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 Fox 13 - Salt Lake City

Utah lawmakers consider pipeline from Pacific Ocean to Great Salt Lake

A legislative commission is floating the idea of a pipeline to bring water from the Pacific Ocean into the Great Salt Lake. “There’s a lot of water in the ocean and we have very little in the Great Salt Lake,” said Sen. David Hinkins, R-Orangeville, who co-chairs the Legislative Water Development Commission. … The study would look at the cost to actually create a pipeline from the Pacific Ocean, across California and the Sierra-Nevada mountains, across the deserts of Nevada and ultimately into the Great Salt Lake in Utah.

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  • E&E News: Western states turn to homeowners to deflect drought
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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc.

Interior authorizes $240 million for water infrastructure repair

The Interior Department is doling out more than $240 million for repairs to aging water infrastructure in the drought-ridden West, one of the first investments with ramifications for agriculture in the $1.5 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law enacted last year.

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  • WaterWorld: Oxnard, Calif. wins $48M WIFIA loan  
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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc.

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Newsom pitches $75M in drought relief for agriculture

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget proposal would set aside $75 million to aid small agricultural businesses as the drought deepens. The one-time assistance would provide grants ranging from $30,000 to $50,000, depending on the amount of lost revenue. The program would prioritize businesses in the hardest hit regions, such as the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys…. Newsom’s budget plan would allocate $100 million for repairing conveyance canals, which was part of a 2021 budget deal. But it would not add anything further.

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  • Ag Net West: Subjective almond forecast down four percent from 2021
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  • California Farm Water Coalition: News release: Without Action, Water Shortages Will Lead to Less Food Production, Food Shortages, and Price Hikes
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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 KUNC - Greeley, Colo.

New bill aims to boost tribal access to clean water

Two recent moves aim to benefit water access for tribal communities in the Colorado River basin. One, a bill in the U.S. Congress, could increase access to clean water. Another, the release of a “shared vision” statement, outlines the goals of tribes and conservation nonprofits. Tribes in the basin hold rights to about a quarter of the river’s flow, but have often been excluded from negotiations about how the river’s water is used.

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  • KNAU – Arizona: Two bills in Congress aim to expand water access on tribal lands 
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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 CalMatters

Commentary: Four strategies for managing California’s crucial watershed

Conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its watershed are changing as droughts become warmer and more intense. But as our new study highlights, California is not doing a good job of tracking these changes. That’s making it even tougher to manage the water that is available for the benefit of the state’s communities, economy and environment.
-Written by Ellen Hanak, director of the Public Policy Institute of California’s Water Policy Center, and Greg Gartrell, an independent consulting engineer and an adjunct fellow at the PPIC Water Policy Center.

Related article:

  • Public Policy Institute of California: Policy brief – Tracking where water goes in a changing Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta
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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 Colorado Sun

Hydropower generation dipping on the Colorado River system

A large provider of Colorado energy says sagging hydropower production on the Colorado River system, which has raised concern over the long-term reliability of the power source in the West, has not had a significant impact here. Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, the largest hydropower customer on the Colorado River system, has received about two-thirds of its normal hydro supply this year. But only 8% of Tri-State’s total energy comes from the Colorado River Storage Project, known as CRSP, and so the reduction only accounts for about 3% of its total system, according to figures the company provided.

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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 Fox40 - Sacramento

Folsom Lake water levels above-average — for now

Folsom Lake is 85% full, and it is once again a welcoming place for boaters and swimmers. It’s a dramatic turnaround from last July when boat docks were unusable….“We’re more than double the storage that we had this day last year,” Drew Lessard said. Lessard is an area manager for the Bureau of Reclamation, the agency that operates Folsom Dam…. Lessard explains the impressive lake level is largely the result of gradual snowmelt from the cold April storms. Those storms were well-positioned to benefit the American River watershed that flows into the lake.

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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 Comstock's magazine

The lasting agreement: California’s long legacy of trying to solve its water problem

If there’s one thing people in the West know how to fight over, it’s water. California was built on scarcity, whether it be gold or silver, land or water. In the mid-1800s, when European Americans arrived to the land where Indigenous people had lived for at least 10,000 years, they wasted no time staking their claims. A big head-scratcher for those early colonizers was how to get water to sustain burgeoning towns. 

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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 Yale E360

Blog: Laser imaging reveals how fire renews Sierra Nevada forests

Plane-mounted laser imaging has allowed scientists to map the size, shape, and density of trees in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, revealing how low- and moderate-intensity burns make forests more resilient to larger blazes. Historically, scientists could only map small plots of forest in great detail, which limited the scope of studies. But with high-resolution laser imaging, or “lidar,” scientists can gather more refined data on a broader swath of woodlands, offering greater insight into their response to fire, as scientists detailed in a recent article in Eos.

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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 The Washington Post

Blog: The Colorado River faces a climate change-driven crisis

The Colorado River plays a pivotal role in the American West, supplying water to more than 40 million people, irrigating 5 million acres of farmland, and providing critical habitat for rare fish, birds and plants. But demand for the Colorado’s water far exceeds supply in the fast-growing Southwest, as a climate change-fueled megadrought and rising temperatures place an unprecedented strain on the iconic river, The Washington Post’s Karin Brulliard, Matt McClain and Erin Patrick O’Connor report.

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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 Reuters

ESG Watch: New study sounds alarm about risk of stranded assets due to water scarcity

For something that is so crucial to all aspects of life, including the most fundamental business operations, water risk is a blind spot for many investors and businesses. There is little understanding of how overuse, pollution and increasingly frequent extreme weather events, such as the years-long drought in California, the recent heatwave in India and Pakistan, and last year’s floods in Europe, are affecting water availability, says Cate Lamb, global director of water security at disclosure not-for-profit CDP. A third of listed financial institutions do not assess exposure to water risk in their financial activities, although 69% of listed equities told CDP in 2021 that they are exposed to water-related risks.

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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 ABC7 San Francisco

Bay Area wildfire concerns rise as drier, windier conditions intensify throughout drought-stricken region

Warmer than average temperatures fill our Bay and Inland neighborhoods Tuesday through this weekend and with each day our wildfire risk increases, according to ABC7 News meteorologist Mike Nicco. Each dry day takes more moisture away from our vegetation and makes it more susceptible to critical fire conditions.

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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 Law360

Blog: Court declines to lift blockade on water laws targeting pot

A California federal judge has declined to lift an injunction on two Northern California county ordinances that require strict permits for the transport of water, saying that while the local laws were enacted to quash illegal cannabis farms, they’ve caused harm to a group of Hmong farmers. In a decision handed down Friday, Chief U. S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller found that although Siskiyou County had modified the ordinances, they were still likely to cut off water to a community of Hmong farmers within the county’s borders.

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  • KOBI Yreka: Siskiyou County Sheriff asks for ‘state of emergency’ declaration due to black market marijuana 
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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 Earth.org

Blog: California still in a drought: 3 years and counting

Climate change and water shortages are in large part responsible for causing the drought within California in the US, as well as other western states. This has been an ongoing trend for three years now, and in 2022 alone, California has experienced 1,402 wildfires that have consumed at least 6,507 acres of land. However, there is also a weather phenomenon known as La Niña, … This produces little precipitation, thereby leading to less snowmelt and runoff during the spring thaw, which then leads into optimal drought conditions. Naturally, La Niña and exacerbating climate factors would strain already dwindling water sources.

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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 CNN

Opinion: Orange County fire magnifies a stunning truth about climate change

I don’t think these disasters will convince us to curb fossil fuel pollution. Let me explain. First, available social science doesn’t support the notion that climate disasters lead to widespread changes in public opinion. A 2021 study from the journal Climate Change found hurricanes provide a modest nudge in favor of support for reducing carbon dioxide pollution. Wildfires and floods, the other disasters studied, did not sway people.
-Written by John D. Sutter, CNN contributor, National Geographic Explorer and MIT science journalism fellow. 

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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 FISHBIO

New research: Worth waiting for – The advantages of late-migrating spring-run Chinook

Rare traits and behaviors within a population often get less attention, but might sometimes be the perfect ingredient to ensure the survival of a species in the face of threats like climate change. A recent article published in the journal Nature revealed the surprising success of a rare life-history strategy for threatened spring-run Chinook salmon. Juveniles that spent the summer in cool, high-elevation habitat and migrated in the fall rather than the spring were found to be crucial to the success of the population, especially in years experiencing stressful environmental conditions.

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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 Marin Independent Journal

San Anselmo approves water conservation upgrades at park

San Anselmo has approved a plan to renovate the playing fields at Memorial Park with phased-in water conservation upgrades. After being presented with three project options Tuesday, the Town Council voted 4-1 to combine elements of two alternatives, but to do the work in stages. The project calls for new grass and an upgraded irrigation and drainage system to be installed as soon as possible. A stormwater and grey water harvesting system and a 100,000-gallon underground water storage tank will be added later.

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Aquafornia news May 16, 2022 ACWA News

Monday Top of the Scroll: Governor Newsom’s proposed budget includes funding for drought

Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled his revised state budget for the 2022-’23 Fiscal Year. The $300.7 billion budget includes several priorities of interest to ACWA members, including funding for drought, climate change, forest management and more. Building upon last year’s three-year, $5.2 billion allocation to support drought response and long-term water sustainability, the governor’s revised budget includes an additional $2 billion for drought response and water resilience. This is part of the governor’s larger $47.1 billion climate package.

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  • CalMatters: California’s $100 billion surplus: What to know about Newsom’s spending plan
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  • SF Gate: Dos Rios Ranch, California’s first new state park in 13 years, is just outside of the Bay Area
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Aquafornia news May 16, 2022 The Sacramento Bee

California drought wipes out much of Sacramento Valley rice crop

Don Bransford has been growing rice in the fertile Sacramento Valley for 42 years. Not this summer. California’s worsening drought has cut so deeply into water supplies on the west side of the Valley that Bransford and thousands of other farmers aren’t planting a single acre of rice. … It’s spring in the Sacramento Valley, normally the season for planting rice. It’s the region’s most important crop, a $900 million-a-year business that employs thousands of workers and puts Valley agriculture on a global stage.

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  • Sacramento Bee: California drought could mean ‘devastation across the board’ for fowl on Pacific Flyway
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Aquafornia news May 16, 2022 CNN

California is in a water crisis, yet usage is way up. Officials are focusing on the wrong things, advocates say

[R]esidents and businesses across the state are also using more water now than they have in seven years, despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to encourage just the opposite. … Part of the problem is that the urgency of the crisis isn’t breaking through to Californians. The messaging around water conservation varies across different authorities and jurisdictions, so people don’t have a clear idea of what applies to whom. And they certainly don’t have a tangible grasp on how much a 15% reduction is with respect to their own usage.

Related articles: 

  • Los Angeles Times: What about my koi pond? A wealthy L.A. enclave copes with water restrictions
  • State Water Resources Control Board: State Water Board releases draft emergency water conservation regulation
  • Ventura County Star: Editorial - Snapping out of drought fatigue
  • Los Angeles Business Journal: Prepping for the Dry Days Ahead
  • San Luis Obispo Tribune: SLO County cities, towns call for cutbacks as drought worsens: ‘All the easy water is gone.’
  • ABC 7 – San Francisco: Bay Area landscaping business sees 300% increase in irrigation repairs as drought worsens
  • San Jose Spotlight: Silicon Valley residents could face fines for wasting water
  • MyMotherLode.com: A Master Gardener’s Seasonal Lawn
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Aquafornia news May 16, 2022 The Washington Post

The Colorado River is in crisis. And it’s getting worse every day

It is a powerhouse: a 1,450-mile waterway that stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Sea of Cortez, serving 40 million people in seven U.S. states, 30 federally recognized tribes and Mexico. It hydrates 5 million acres of agricultural land and provides critical habitat for rare fish, birds and plants. But the Colorado’s water was overpromised when it was first allocated a century ago. Demand in the fast-growing Southwest exceeds supply, and it is growing even as supply drops amid a climate change-driven megadrought and rising temperatures. States and cities are now scrambling to forestall the gravest impacts to growth, farming, drinking water and electricity, while also aiming to protect their own interests.

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  • The Associated Press: Lake Powell to retain water to protect hydropower
  • KUNC: Listen - Climate experts worry about water supplies in Colorado River; a conversation with ‘Life on the Grocery Line’ author Adam Kaat
  • Ten Across: Podcast – Getting honest about the Colorado River crisis with Anne Castle and John Fleck
  • jfleck at inkstain: Sure, dead bodies in Lake Mead, whatever. I remain optimistic.
  • Nevada Current:What is dead pool? A water expert explains
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Aquafornia news May 16, 2022 Mercury News

Cal Am not fazed by rejection of SoCal desal project

A Thursday ruling by the California Coastal Commission denying a Southern California desalination project appears as if it could impact the prospects of California American Water Co.’s plan to construct a desal plant along the Monterey Peninsula. But Cal Am says the Commission’s decision to deny Poseidon Water Co.’s Huntington Beach project and any impacts on Cal Am’s long-proposed desal project on the Monterey Peninsula is comparing apples to oranges.

Related article:

  • Stateline: California panel unanimously quashes desalination plant
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Aquafornia news May 16, 2022 Bloomberg

How California can survive another historic drought

There is no end in sight for California’s drought. … I spoke to [professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis Jay Lund] via email this month and last. A lightly edited transcript follows. Francis Wilkinson: When we spoke last summer, you were optimistic about California’s capacity to manage drought and still prosper. Since then, the drought has not gotten better … Are you more worried now or are you still confident that California has enough water for its economy and its people? Jay Lund: Most of California’s economy and people will be fine, despite being affected by this drought. 

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  • California Waterblog: How engineers see the water glass in California 
  • High Country News: Yes, the drought really is that bad
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Aquafornia news May 16, 2022 Courthouse News Service

Judge blocks water sanctions that would affect rural Asian immigrants

A federal judge struck down a second attempt by a Northern California county to dismiss a case against them for water sanctions that would leave the local Asian community without water.  … In the original complaint, plaintiff Der Lee compared living in Shasta Vista to his days hiding out in the Laos jungles — just now without water. Others explained that they only bathe once a week, are dehydrated and have had their food sources — crops and livestock — die from the lack of water access. As a result, many resorted to filling jugs with water in streams and local parks. 

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Aquafornia news May 16, 2022 Foothills Sun-Gazette

Tooleville water connection project expected to take eight years to complete

The process of connecting Tooleville’s water system to Exeter’s, which would relieve the small community of longtime water supply and contamination issues, is expected to take eight years.  Information from the feasibility study needed to start planning the project has been unfolding bit by bit, mainly through biweekly meetings held between Exeter city officials, representatives from Tooleville, staff from Self Help Enterprises and Provost and Pritchard, the consultants in charge of the study.  

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Aquafornia news May 16, 2022 National Review

California environmentalists battle reservoir project amid drought

Jamie Traynham has spent nearly half a century in and around the lush Northern California valley, about 70 miles north of Sacramento, that is home to her family’s ranch. As a girl, she and her sister rode their horses through Sites Valley, and helped build the barn stalls where they raised livestock to show in local 4-H competitions. As an adult, Traynham and her husband rent the ranch from her mother and use the land — typically a sea of green in the rainy season — as a key winter-feeding location for their cattle.

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Aquafornia news May 16, 2022 San Luis Obispo Tribune

Lopez Lake boat ramp is closing before the summer season: ‘There’s just no water’

If you were hoping to go boating on Lopez Lake after Memorial Day, there might be a small kink to your plans. The San Luis Obispo County Parks and Recreation Department has announced it is closing the popular South County lake’s boat launch ramp on Monday, May 16, due to low lake levels. Park Ranger Miles Tuinstra told The Tribune on Friday the closure was due to the lake’s dropping water levels.  “We’ve kept it open as long as we can,” he said. “There’s just no water.” 

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Aquafornia news May 16, 2022 Ventura County Star

Opinion: Clean drinking water should be a right, but now we must fight for it

As a young person growing up in Ventura County for the past 19 years, I am no stranger to droughts. Not watering the lawn and taking shorter showers is simply a part of life in Southern California. Although water is scarce in Ventura County, there is currently a direct threat to our drinking water. Unfortunately, the oil industry wants to profit at the expense of our precious groundwater that supplies drinking water to over 400,000 Ventura County residents and irrigation water to our $2 billion agriculture economy.
-Written by Alex Masci, an undergraduate in environmental studies at UC Berkeley, a coordinator with CA Youth Vs Big Oil, and a supporter of VC-SAFE. 

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Aquafornia news May 16, 2022 Desert Sun

Opinion: Coral Mountain La Quinta wave basin irresponsible in a desert

John Gamlin’s recent defense of his Coral Mountain wave basin resort in The Desert Sun (guest column, May 8) fails to address the main issue. Planning development according to historic water levels is extremely naive in the desert, and we have seen this story pan out before. In 1959, the North Shore Beach and Yacht Club opened on the shore of the Salton Sea — a massive lake created in the early 1900s when engineers accidentally flooded the ancient basin with diverted Colorado River water intended to irrigate the dry, fertile Imperial Valley.
-Written by Sydney Hayes, a student majoring in environmental studies and economics at Bowdoin College. 

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Aquafornia news May 16, 2022 Pasadena Star News

Opinion: We are the problem in California’s housing shortage

Everything everyone — by which I mean the wrong ones, the NIMBYs — says about housing in Southern California is always wrong. … Fact: Take your average Southland single-family homestead, raze it and replace it with an eight-unit apartment building, and you’d be … saving water. That’s because, even in our xeriscaped age, unless you have Astroturfed your entire yard, your landscaping uses a lot more water than your sinks, shower and dishwasher do.
-Written by Larry Wilson, a member of the Southern California News Group editorial board.

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Aquafornia news May 13, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Friday Top of the Scroll: California Coastal Commission rejects plan for Poseidon desalination plant

After hearing hours of heated debate, the California Coastal Commission voted against a controversial plan by the company Poseidon Water to build a huge desalination plant in Huntington Beach. Despite worsening drought and repeated calls from Gov. Gavin Newsom to tap the Pacific Ocean as a source of drinking water, commissioners voted unanimously against the plan Thursday night. The decision, which was recommended by commission staff, may end the company’s plans for the $1.4-billion plant.

Related articles:

  • Orange County Register: Coastal Commission rejects Poseidon desalination bid for O.C.
  • CalMatters: A salty dispute: California Coastal Commission unanimously rejects desalination plant
  • The Associated Press:Agency unanimously rejects California desalination project
  • Reuters:California regulator rejects plan for desalination plant
  • Courthouse News Service: California Coastal Commission votes down Huntington Beach desal project
  • The Guardian: Joy for environmentalists as California blocks bid for $1.4bn desalination plant
  • Los Angeles Times: Residents celebrate as California Coastal Commission rejects plan for Huntington Beach desalination plant
  • KTLA: Coastal Commission denies permitting for seawater desalination plant in Huntington Beach
  • Manteca Bulletin: Why should Delta continued to be sacrificed for Huntington Beach, other cities in the OC?
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Aquafornia news May 13, 2022 Bond Buyer

Pressure grows on California water agencies as drought worsens

As drought conditions worsen in California and other western states, rating analysts are weighing the potential impacts. California state water officials announced during a media call Tuesday that the governor plans to increase his budget request for state conservation efforts after the state’s residents failed to heed his request in March to reduce consumption, instead increasing usage by 19% compared to the same month in 2020. Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to add an additional $180 million for a total of $300 million when he releases his revised proposed budget on Friday, said Lisa Lien-Mager, a spokeswoman with the California Department of Water Resources.

Related articles:

  • NBC Bay Area: EBMUD customers to see 8% drought surcharge starting July 1
  • Press Telegram: Long Beach to limit watering to 2 days a week in June amid drought
  • Thousand Oaks Acorn: Drought action: Providers trying to coordinate restrictions
  • Antelope Valley Press: Palmdale Water District needs $2 million for two wells
  • South Pasadenan: San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water – Upper District Adopts Emergency Water Conservation Program
  • Ripon Bulletin: Ripon water use down 6% in April to April numbers
  • Northern California Water Association Blog: Preparing for a dry summer: Ensuring safe drinking water in the Sacramento Valley
  • Sunset Magazine: Time to Kill Your Lawn—We’re in a Drought
  • Half Moon Bay Review: Opinion: It’s time to begin work on recycled water for coast
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Aquafornia news May 13, 2022 KUNC - Greeley, Colo.

For this summer’s water forecast, climate experts are looking back to winter

In the middle of a parched summer in the arid West, any amount of rain can feel like a gift. But in reality, those precious summer showers barely move the needle when it comes to water…. As a drought-stricken region looks ahead to the summer, climate scientists are keeping an eye on high-mountain snowpack and its path to streams and rivers. Snow at high altitudes makes up the majority of the water in the Colorado River – where this past winter has left low totals. On top of that, warm temperatures and dry soil mean that snow is likely to melt early and soak into the ground before it can get to the Colorado River.

Related article:

  • KUNM – Albuquerque: Mapping snowpack from the skies brings new precision to water forecasting
  • University of Nevada, Reno: News release: Study sheds light on what influences water supplied by snowmelt 
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Aquafornia news May 13, 2022 The Sun-Gazette

Proposed law makes new well permitting process permanent

New legislation introduced in the State Assembly aims to make the Governor’s March 28 order on new water well permits permanent. Assemblymember Steve Bennett (D-Ventura) and representatives from Visalia-based Community Water Center (CWC) introduced Assembly Bill 2201 on March 31 requiring local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) to evaluate new well drilling permits to ensure those wells will not negatively affect domestic wells nearby before the permits can be approved by county government. The law would codify Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order, which is temporary.

Related article:

  • Rep. Josh Harder: News release: Harder Announces $2 Million for Ceres Reservoir Project
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Aquafornia news May 13, 2022 Phys.org

Study: US forests provide 83 million people with half their water

Forested lands across the U.S. provide 83 million people with at least half of their water, according to a broad new study of surface water sources for more than 5,000 public water systems. 125 million people, or about 38% of the country’s population, receive at least 10% of their water from forests. In the arid western U.S., 39.5 million people get more than half of their surface drinking water from forests that are increasingly under threat of wildfires.

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Aquafornia news May 13, 2022 Monterey County Weekly

Monterey has four affordable housing projects in the works, but not enough water to give

On May 17, the Monterey City Council will discuss four city-owned properties it hopes to turn into affordable housing, and will be asked to wrestle with some challenging questions about how to move forward with making them a reality. At the top of that list is water, or the lack thereof: The city has 5.2 acre-feet of water annually it can allocate to the projects. But dedicating all the water to one or more of the projects, City Manager Hans Uslar says, would hinder the city’s ability to give water to public works projects….

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Aquafornia news May 13, 2022 CBS 13 - Sacramento

Drought severely affecting California rice crops

Severe drought is taking a severe toll on California rice crops as this year, hundreds of thousands of acres won’t be planted. Some call the impact on farmers and the surrounding communities catastrophic…. The Northern California Water Association expects the rice industry to lose more than $250 million statewide, including more than $70 million in lost wages.

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Aquafornia news May 13, 2022 NOAA Climate.gov

May 2022 ENSO update: piece of cake

La Niña continued through April, and forecasters estimate a 61% chance of a La Niña three-peat for next fall and early winter. Current El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO, the entire El Niño and La Niña system) conditions, the forecast for the rest of the year, and some potential impacts are all on the dessert menu today…. La Niña’s northward-shifted jet stream is associated with less rain and snow over large regions of the western and southern US …. This can cause and exacerbate drought conditions.

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Aquafornia news May 13, 2022 Salt Lake Tribune

‘It matters … when your water goes away’: Reexamining the end of Utah’s ‘lost oasis’

The entire West Desert is now about the exact opposite of what the area once was. The planet warmed as it left the Pleistocene era and Lake Bonneville receded to what is now the Great Salt Lake. And as the Great Salt Lake now dries to the lowest level in its recorded history, there is plenty more moonscape to go around.

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Aquafornia news May 13, 2022 San Francisco Chronicle

Water conservation order lifted in Benicia four days after pipe break

Mandatory water conservation orders in Benicia lifted Thursday afternoon after a leak inside the city’s water treatment plant was finally located and repaired. Residents were asked to cut back on usage by 30% on Sunday, when the leak was detected. A total of 4.5 million gallons of fresh water was saved over the four days.

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  • The Fresno Bee: Kerman residents asked to boil water — ‘slight’ potential of contamination in city’s supply
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Aquafornia news May 13, 2022 Red Bluff Daily News

Opinion: Can today’s ag techies track our precious water?

I will attempt to convince you the drought is simply an excuse to take our water and that farmers are the unfortunate victims, too. Just ask members of the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District (ACID), who thought they were safe from having their water taken because ACID holds a Sacramento River Settlement Contract with the United States Bureau of Reclamation. The contract states the irrigation district… will have their full supply of 100 percent cut to 25 percent (although some users say it’s 18 percent) even though their contract states 75 percent during critical years.
-Written by Shanna Long, a fourth generation journalist and former editor of the Corning Daily Observer.

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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 SF Gate

Thursday Top of the Scroll: California got snow in April and May. What does it mean for the snowpack?

After California saw extended periods of dry weather in the middle of winter, a series of late-season storms swept the Golden State in April and May, dusting the Sierra Nevada with fresh snow. Did those spring snow showers help bolster the dwindling snowpack that historically provides about a third of the state’s water supply? The short answer is that every little bit helps, but the snow did not come close to making up for almost no precipitation in January through March …

Related articles: 

  • Washington Post: California braces for extreme summer drought after dismal wet season 
  • KCBX: Multi-year drought continues; state water officials say Central Coast particularly vulnerable
  • AccuWeather: AccuWeather 2022 hurricane forecast eastern and central Pacific
  • Daily Republic: Solano County wildfire project funding gets Board of Supervisors backing
  • CNN: New fires breaking out across Southern California
  • Axios: Southwest “megadrought” leads to wildfires and new homicide evidence
  • Pasadena News Star: Coastal fire burns 20 homes, forces evacuations in Laguna Niguel
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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 Calexico Chronicle

IID preparing water apportionment plan

The Imperial Irrigation District is preparing a water apportionment plan for Imperial Valley growers to rein in a projected water overrun after the federal government declared a water shortage, reducing the amount of water that Arizona, Nevada and Mexico can claim from the Colorado River. The IID holds the largest and most secure federal entitlement on the Colorado River, but current Bureau of Reclamation projections show the district exceeding its allocation by more than 92,000 acre-feet of water this year…. IID’s Ag Water Advisory Committee was scheduled to review the EDP proposal on Thursday, May 12.

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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 CNN

As water runs short in California, commission will vote on whether to allow another costly desalination plant

As California battles a historic drought and a water crisis looms, the state’s coastline protection agency is poised to vote Thursday on whether it will allow a $1.4 billion desalinization plant in Huntington Beach that would convert ocean water into municipal water for Orange County residents. Poseidon Water, which has been trying to build the plant for decades, says it would be capable of producing up to 50 million gallons of drinking water a day, helping to make the region more drought resilient. But desalination opponents argue less expensive and less harmful conservation tactics should be the first resort.

Related article: 

  • ABC News: Amid drought, California desalination project at crossroads
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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 Patch - Healdsburg

CA drought: Russian River water draws in jeopardy

Thousands of water rights holders in the Russian River watershed could soon lose access to their water after state regulators approved emergency drought rules Tuesday. The State Water Resources Control Board voted unanimously to reauthorize the Division of Water Rights to issue “curtailment orders” for up to 2,000 rights holders in order to preserve water in Lake Sonoma and Lake Mendocino and to protect drinking water supplies and fish populations.

Related article: 

  • State Water Resources Control Board: Continuing drought prompts readoption of emergency curtailment regulation in Russian River
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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Far from Lake Powell, drought punishes another Western dam

The electricity generated [at Flaming Gorge Dam], in northern Utah near the Wyoming state line, helps keep the lights on across 10 states. It’s made possible by a dam that interrupts the Green River, which meanders into the Colorado River at Lake Powell hundreds of miles downstream before flowing southwest to Lake Mead — meaning as an Angeleno, I’ve been drinking this water my whole life. … The Biden administration said this month it would release an extra 500,000 acre-feet of water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir over the next year, as part of a desperate effort to stop Powell from falling so low that Glen Canyon Dam can no longer generate power.

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  • The Conversation: What is dead pool? A water expert explains 
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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 Los Angeles Times

‘May gray’ and ‘June gloom’ are disappearing

Locals call it May gray and June gloom. … The featureless marine-layer stratus clouds occur at low levels of the atmosphere, and they generally don’t produce any rain, although they’re capable of producing drizzle or mist. More important, they serve as a natural heat shield for heavily populated coastal Southern California, efficiently reflecting the sun’s rays back into space. … Scientists are studying the ways that climate change may be chipping away at the coastal marine layer. A study published in 2018 found that the frequency of coastal stratus clouds had declined by 20% to 50% since the 1970s … 

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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 Woodland Daily Democrat

Woodland City Council implements 20% water use reduction

The Woodland City Council received an update on the city’s planned water supply for 2022 and adopted a resolution implementing stage two of Woodland’s water shortage contingency plan. “The state of California is in the third year of a drought and issued a governor’s executive order in March 2022 requiring urban water suppliers to implement at least stage two of their water shortage contingency plans,” the city staff report stated. “Stage two of the WSCP implements a goal of reducing water use by 20%.”

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  • Fast Company: Lawns are terrible for the environment. California’s water restriction
  • Los Angeles Times: California drought - How L.A.’s watering restrictions work
  • Fox 40 Sacramento: Roseville renews efforts to conserve water
  • Patch – Marin County: Marin Water Among State’s Efficiency Leaders: Report
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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 12 News - Apache Junction, AZ

Arizona’s newest city already has a major water problem

There’s a city twice the size of Tucson out in the desert south of Apache Junction. It houses 900,000 people in thousands upon thousands of homes. But it just hasn’t been built yet.  The area is 276 square miles of empty desert called Superstition Vistas. It stretches from the southern border of Apache Junction, down the edge of San Tan Valley, all the way down to Florence, then across to the US 60 and beyond. … And for all that area, with all those people estimated to live there upon completion, there’s not enough water.

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  • KUER: ‘Turf takes water’ and in Utah’s arid Washington County that’s starting to be a problem
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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 USA Today

A body in a barrel, ghost towns, a crashed B-29: What other secrets are buried in Lake Mead?

A body in a barrel. Human bones along the shoreline. Ghost towns. A crashed B-29 Superfortress used to track cosmic rays. Prehistoric salt mines. What will the rapidly receding waters of Lake Mead reveal next? “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Travis Heggie, a former National Park Service official who has studied deaths at Lake Mead Recreation Area. “I’m expecting all sorts of criminal things to show up, and I mean a lot.”

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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 CNN Business

This California desert could hold the key to powering all of America’s electric cars

The Salton Sea Basin feels almost alien. It lies where two enormous chunks of the Earth’s crust, the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate, are very slowly pushing past one another creating an enormous low spot in the land. It’s a big, flat gray desert ringed with high mountains that look pale in the distance. It’s hot and, deep underground, it is literally boiling. The Salton Sea, which lies roughly in the middle of the massive geologic low point, isn’t really a sea, at all. The largest inland lake in California, it’s 51 miles long from north to south and 17 miles wide, but gradually shrinking as less and less water flows into it. 

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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 Jefferson Public Radio

Endangered fish and waterfowl find refuge at the Klamath Basin’s Lakeside Farms

[A crowd has gathered] to stock the pond with over 1,000 young C’waam and Koptu—Lost River and shortnose suckers, two endangered species that inhabit Upper Klamath Lake and that are at the heart of the area’s water conflicts. … The pond is part of an innovative restoration project at Lakeside Farms, which is just north of Klamath Falls. … Altogether, it’s a hopeful demonstration of cooperation in a region that has seen bitter fights between tribes, farmers, and wildlife advocates over who gets water.

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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 The Sacramento Bee

Are there sea lions by the Tower Bridge in Sacramento CA?

Your eyes aren’t playing tricks. That honking blob that looked like a sea lion near Tower Bridge — it probably was one. Sightings of the marine animals often make their rounds on Sacramento social media, and can send the average user down a rabbit hole (if you’re new, or younger than, say, 35 you may also be excited to learn about Humphrey, the vagabond humpback whale). But why are these creatures — who typically spend their time on the coast — appearing so far from the ocean? The answer’s rather simple: They’re are more of them, and they’re hungry.

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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 Press Telegram

Long Beach injection well designed to increase groundwater supply

Construction recently began on a well designed to inject water back into the groundwater basin beneath Long Beach. The groundbreaking last week took place at the Water Replenishment District’s advanced water treatment facility, on the southeastern border of Long Beach, next to the San Gabriel River. The plant further treats sewer effluent from the Los Angeles County Sanitation District to create purified recycled water. Recycled water already is used for irrigation and in other wells to form a barrier against salt water so it won’t get into the ground water basin.

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  • Ridgecrest Independent: IWV Groundwater Authority receives $7.6 million sustainable groundwater management grant
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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 Press Democrat

Armstrong Woods, Austin Creek reserve on the road to recovery nearly 2 years after Walbridge fire

The Walbridge fire started in densely forested country just outside the Austin Creek reserve. It started from a dry lightning storm Aug. 16 or 17 — the day it was discovered — spawning flames that roared through the steeply cut, rural landscape between Cazadero and Healdsburg. It burned for most of seven weeks, razing 156 homes and blackening 55,209 acres. But many were riveted by news of its entry into the beloved park near the Russian River town of Guerneville, where between 700,000 and a million visitors a year flock to see ancient coast redwood trees — some well over 1,000 years old.

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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 Eureka Times-Standard

Documentary highlights Klamath Salmon Run, which starts Thursday

For the 20th year in a row, people from tribal communities along the Klamath River are preparing to run the more than 300 mile length of the river, tracing the route of the salmon that are struggling to survive. … A new 13-minute documentary called “Bring the Salmon Home” by filmmaker Shane Anderson highlights the Klamath Salmon Run, which is set to begin at 7:30 a.m. Thursday. The Salmon Run was started after a historic fish kill in 2002 decimated the Klamath River’s salmon.

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  • Oakdale Leader: State Water Agencies Partner To Support Salmon Population
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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 Water Education Foundation

Announcement: Save the date for our fall tours exploring California’s two largest rivers

Mark your calendars now for our upcoming fall 2022 tours exploring California’s two largest rivers – the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers!  On our Northern California Tour, Oct. 12-14, participants can learn about key reservoirs and infrastructure that transports vital water resources statewide. Our San Joaquin River Restoration Tour Nov. 2-3 returns this year to tell the story of bringing back a river’s chinook salmon while balancing water supply needs. Registration is coming soon!

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Aquafornia news May 13, 2022 Water Education Foundation

Announcement: Latest science in seasonal precipitation forecasting focus of June 9 workshop in Southern California

With the recent news that California has officially begun 2022 with its lowest January through April precipitation level since 1895, how reliable are the historical patterns traditionally used to forecast California’s water supply? Tomorrow’s weather forecast may be spot on, but can we ever get accurate precipitation forecasts weeks to months in advance? To get the answers, register today for Making Progress on Drought Management: Improvements in Seasonal Precipitation Forecasting, a one-day workshop June 9 in Irvine sponsored by the California Department of Water Resources in partnership with the Water Education Foundation.

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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: California urban water use rose 19% in March despite drought

Despite official calls to increase conservation amid worsening drought, urban water use across California increased by nearly 19% in March, according to the State Water Resources Control Board. The startling conservation figure was among a number of grim assessments water officials offered reporters Tuesday in a California drought outlook. Others included critically low reservoir levels and major shifts in the water cycle due to climate change. … The increase was even greater in the South Coast Hydrologic Region, which is home to more than half the state’s population. In this region, which includes Los Angeles, urban water use increased 26.9%.

Related articles: 

  • San Francisco Chronicle: California drought - Water usage jumps 19% in March despite Newsom’s plea for savings
  • Mercury News: California drought - State ignores Gavin Newsom’s conservation goal, increases water use
  • Sacramento Bee: Water use grows during California drought, flouting Newsom’s call for conservation
  • The Guardian: California water use leaps 19% in March, amid one of the driest months on record
  • CalMatters: How bad is water use in California? March is the worst so far, up 19%
  • CBS Sacramento: California Water Use Up Dramatically in March
  • ABC 7 Sacramento: Despite pleas for conservation, California’s March water usage jumped nearly 19%
  • KTVU San Jose: Enforcement officers poised to crack down, fine water wasters in South Bay
  • Sacramento Bee: California wants you to stop using so much water, but Sacramento has a long way to go
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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 Los Angeles Times

LADWP orders two-day-a-week watering restrictions citywide

Nearly 4 million Angelenos will be reduced to two-day-a-week watering restrictions on June 1 under drought rules released by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power on Tuesday. … Under the rules, residents will be assigned two watering days a week based on their addresses — Monday and Friday for odd addresses and Thursday and Sunday for even ones — with watering capped at only eight minutes, or 15 minutes for sprinklers with water-conserving nozzles. No watering will be allowed between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. regardless of the watering days.

Related articles: 

  • KTLA: LADWP announces 2-days a week watering restriction
  • CalMatters: Increased water use paves way for more penalties
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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 The Guardian

California to decide fate of controversial desalination plant amid brutal drought

California officials are poised to decide the fate of a controversial desalination plant planned along its southern coast, in a vote that comes as the American west battles an increasingly perilous drought. California water use leapt 19% in March, amid one of the driest months on record. After more than a decade of debate, the California coastal commission on Thursday will finally vote on a proposal for a $1.4 bn desalination plant in Huntington Beach, south of Los Angeles.

Related article: 

  • Los Angeles Times: Opinion - Five things Gov. Newsom got wrong in supporting Huntington Beach desalination plant
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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 Denver Post

Colorado’s snowpack is expected to meltout weeks ahead of normal

Colorado didn’t see enough snow this winter to fully recover from the ongoing megadrought and now what snow the state did see is melting too quickly, experts say. “If we continue on at the rate we’re at we’re looking at probably a complete meltout by the end of May or beginning of June,” Becky Bolinger, of the Colorado Climate Center, told The Denver Post. That’s too soon. By several weeks, she said. So drought conditions are likely to worsen, exacerbating what officials are anticipating could be the worst wildfire year in Colorado’s history. Already fire restrictions appear to be more common than normal.

Related articles: 

  • Colorado Sun: Even less water is now forecast to flow into Lake Powell this year, report says
  • Colorado Sun: Opinion - Farms should not be a default source of water to growing Colorado cities 
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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 Sacramento Bee

CA weather: What recent rain, heat means for drought, wildfires

The pendulum of Northern California weather is getting ready to swing once again, from rain, hail, thunderstorms and snow showers at the start of this week to sunny and much warmer than average temperatures by the weekend. … The latest turnaround brings the same pair of questions Californians have grown used to asking: What do the latest weather trends mean for the drought, and for wildfire risk? … The anomalies are impacting reservoir levels as well. Eleven of the state’s 17 reservoirs are below 80% of average, according Department of Water Resources data updated Tuesday.

Related articles: 

  • Spectrum News 1: California water reservoirs peaked a month early this year
  • KCRA Sacramento: Central Sierra Snow Lab confirms above average snowfall this season. Here’s why California is still in a drought 
  • SF Gate: More snow falls in Tahoe as Truckee hits a chilly low of 12 degrees
  • NBC Los Angeles: Big Bear Lake Water Level Looks Dire From Satellite Image
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 The New Yorker

The biggest potential water disaster in the United States

The Delta is crucial because, if it ever failed as a hub, the resulting water crisis in California would increase existing tensions with the Colorado’s other parched dependents. … The Delta’s problems are as dire, but they receive far less public attention. The main threat to the Delta is saltwater intrusion. If an earthquake caused a major levee failure, the sunken islands would flood, drawing salt water from the Pacific into waterways that are now kept fresh by the pressure of inflows from the Sacramento.

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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 Ag Alert

State rice acreage plummets amid water reductions

This time of year, the Sacramento Valley should be buzzing with tractors working the soil and planes dropping rice seed onto flooded fields as farmers ramp up planting. … There’s a lack of activity because more rice fields will go unplanted this season due to the drought and reduced water deliveries to farms. In its prospective plantings report released at the end of March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that California rice acreage will drop to 348,000 this year, the lowest since 1983-84. That’s compared to 407,000 acres last year and 517,000 acres in 2020.

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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 UC Riverside

New research: UCR ecologists work toward post-fire rebirth of healthy landscapes 

The worst fire impacts this year are predicted to hit Northern California’s higher elevation forests and Southern California’s chaparral-clad mountainous National Forest lands. To aid recovery, UC Riverside ecologists are collaborating with the US Forest Service to target these spots with new post-fire ecological restoration strategies. Wildfires are becoming more ferocious, damaging, and expansive in the West. California just weathered its worst two years ever in terms of total acres burned. And conditions are no better this year, with the Golden State having its driest winter on record.

Related article: 

  • Cronkite News: Arizona forest health - Stressed by drought & pests, trees are losing resilience to changing climate  
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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 Ag Alert

Local solutions central to water forum

Facing a third year of drought, leadership from county Farm Bureaus, spanning all regions of California, gathered in Sacramento last week to engage with state water officials about all things water. A changing climate, shrinking snowpack, water rights, aging infrastructure, groundwater regulations and solutions to the state’s water crisis were among the topics discussed at the California Farm Bureau Water Forum. The event brought together state water officials and county Farm Bureau leaders from the Mountain, North Coast, Central Valley, Central Coast and Southern California regions.

Related article: 

  • Ag Net West: SGMA meeting brings varying interests together to work towards common action
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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 ABC30 Fresno

California Senate Bill 559 pushes for canal repairs to save water amid drought

Central California lawmakers, growers and advocates are calling on the state to invest in canal repairs that they say will help improve water security. The call for funding comes as the state experiences the third year of drought. SB 559, known as the State Water Resiliency Act, aims to fix canals that deliver water across Central California fully. Currently, $200 million has been allocated in the 2021 and 2022 budgets. But the bill’s author, State Senator Melissa Hurtado of Sanger, said that funding would only cover limited repairs.

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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 KSL - Salt Lake City

Utah water restrictions vary based on rights and state history

Why are Utah water restrictions so confusing and seemingly unfair to residents in one city yet generous to citizens of another? For example, different cities in the Weber Water Basin District have different restrictions: In West Haven, a homeowner is allowed — beginning in mid-May — to water outside once a week. But in Roy, homeowners can water their lawns and plants twice a week. Do the state’s and the West’s ongoing, historic drought play a major part in today’s water restrictions?

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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 California Water Research

Blog: On sowing doubt about extinction risks for Chinook salmon in 2022

A decade ago, Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway wrote the seminal book, Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming. Oreskes and Conway documented how scientists paid by the tobacco industry sowed doubt about the links between smoking and lung cancer, and how the same strategy has been used with climate change, acid rain, the ozone hole, and asbestos. Similar tactics have been used to sow doubt about the causes of the collapse of native fish populations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its watersheds.

Related article: 

  • California Fisheries blog: 2022 Sacramento River Operations – Temperature Management Plan
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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 KSBY - San Luis Obispo

Carrizo Plain wildflowers severely limited due to ongoing drought

A lack of rainfall across the Golden State and the Central Coast is limiting blooms and leaving some tourists disappointed about what’s missing at Carrizo Plain National Monument. Aside from increasing drought conditions, 2022 started off with the driest first three months of the year in the last century, limiting the number of wildflowers able to germinate. … This lack of blooms is not only due to the dry start to 2022 but also a buildup of several years of drought.

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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 WaterWorld

Calif. district breaks ground on drought resiliency project

The Water Replenishment District (WRD) of Southern California celebrated the groundbreaking of its Inland Injection Well Project at the WRD Leo J. Vander Lans Advanced Water Treatment Facility in the City of Long Beach. When the WRD Inland Injection Well Project is complete, it will yield up to 2 million gallons of purified recycled water per day from the WRD Leo J. Vander Lans Advanced Water Treatment Facility (LVL AWTF) and inject it into the groundwater aquifers for storage and future use.

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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 California Globe

Opinion: The abundance choice, part one

In October, and then again in December 2021, as the third severe drought this century was entering its third year, not one but two atmospheric rivers struck California. Dumping torrents of rain with historic intensity, from just these two storm systems over 100 million acre feet of water poured out of the skies, into the rivers, and out to sea. Almost none of it was captured by reservoirs or diverted into aquifers. Since December, not one big storm has hit the state. After a completely dry winter, a few minor storms in April and May were too little too late.
-Written by Edward Ring, a contributing editor and senior fellow with the California Policy Center.

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Aquafornia news May 10, 2022 The Weather Channel

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: 2022 is California’s driest year on record so far – an ominous sign for summer and fall

California had its driest start to a year since the late 19th century, raising drought and wildfire concerns heading into the summer. In data released Monday, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information found January through April precipitation in the state was the lowest on record dating to 1895. The statewide precipitation of 3.25 inches was only 25% of average, topping the previous record-dry January through April from 2013, according to NOAA statistics.

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  • Associated Press: Earth gets 50-50 chance of hitting warming mark by 2026
  • The Conversation: The window of opportunity to address increasing drought and expanding drylands is vanishing
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Aquafornia news May 10, 2022 Colorado Public Radio

The Colorado River needs a big moisture boost. Runoff forecasts suggest it won’t come from spring snowmelt

Spring snowmelt likely won’t deliver the big water supply bump the drought-stricken Colorado River and its reservoirs need, data from the latest federal river forecast shows. The May to July season is a crucial time for the river, which is replenished by snowmelt running off the mountains on the Western Slope, and the system is in need of a major moisture boost amid a 20-year drought fueled by climate change. 

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  • Climate Data: How much have Utah’s spring storms helped the state’s drought?
  • KTAR – Phoenix: Arizona water officials warn the state could move into a deeper stage of drought by August
  • 12 News – Phoenix: Data centers use a huge amount of water. Will that be a problem for Arizona?
  • Arizona Republic: Colorado River drought may be the ‘new normal’ and living with it will be costly, leaders say
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Aquafornia news May 10, 2022 Desert Sun

California water agencies get $100 million for aging dams, canals

Southern California desert water districts with aging or failing infrastructure won big federal funding Monday, with more than $100 million allocated for major dam and irrigation canal upgrades that will benefit the Coachella Valley and Imperial County. The projects are part of $240 million awarded from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds by the U.S. Department of the Interior on Monday. Among the biggest beneficiaries is the Coachella Valley Water District, which will get $60 million for lateral replacement irrigation pipelines and more for work on the Coachella Canal.

Related article: 

  • The Hill: Interior announces funding for 46 water infrastructure projects 
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Aquafornia news May 10, 2022 Mercury News

“Water cops” likely this summer as Santa Clara County misses drought goal by large margin

If you waste water in Santa Clara County, water cops could soon be on the way. Since last summer, Santa Clara County residents have been asked to cut water use by 15% from 2019 levels to conserve as the state’s drought worsens. But they continue to miss that target — and by a growing amount. In March, the county’s 2 million residents not only failed to conserve any water, but they increased use by 30% compared to March 2019, according to newly released data…. Santa Clara Valley Water District … is proposing to hire water enforcement officials to issue fines of up to $500 for residents … wasting water ….

Related articles: 

  • Los Angeles Times: Lessons in adapting to California drought and water scarcity
  • ABC 7 Los Angeles: Garcetti to give update on LADWP watering restrictions, conservation efforts amid California drought
  • NBC Los Angeles: What Are LA’s Water Conservation Plans? Mayor to Announce LADWP’s Next Steps
  • Bay City News – Benicia: Benicia adds mandatory 30% water cutbacks after city pipeline break
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Aquafornia news May 10, 2022 ABC 10 San Diego

Final vote for Huntington Beach desalination plant expected

Poseidon Water, the company that runs the seawater desalination facility in Carlsbad, is pushing to build another desalination plant in Huntington Beach. … Recently a California Coastal Commission staff report recommended that the project be denied. The California-based ’Stop Poseidon’ coalition praised that recommendation, but on May 12th, the commission will have a final vote, deciding if the company will move forward with construction. The Coastal Commission Public Hearing is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Thursday, in Costa Mesa.

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Aquafornia news May 10, 2022 San Francisco Chronicle

Cash for farmworkers? California lawmaker says new $20 million idea will help amid drought

A Democrat lawmaker from the central San Joaquin Valley wants to put cash in the hands of eligible farmworkers to help them deal with the devastation of California’s drought. Proposed by State Sen. Melissa Hurtado, a Democrat from Sanger, Senate Bill 1066 would allocate $20 million to create the California Farmworkers Drought Resilience Pilot Project, a state-funded project that would provide unconditional monthly cash payments of $1,000 for three years to eligible farmworkers, with the goal of lifting them out of poverty.

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  • Marketplace: California drought squeezes farmers, threatens food prices
  • Hay and Forage Grower: It’s mighty dry out West
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Aquafornia news May 10, 2022 Public Policy Institute of California

Blog: Maximizing benefits of solar development in the San Joaquin Valley

The implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) over the next two decades may require taking at least 500,000 acres of cropland in the San Joaquin Valley out of irrigated production (about 10%). To soften the blow on jobs and economic activity, it will be important to identify alternative land uses that generate income. Solar development is one of the most promising options.

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Aquafornia news May 10, 2022 The Sun-Gazette Newspaper

Allensworth groundwater storage project receives funding from DWR

 A plan has been put in place to help replenish groundwater supplies in Allensworth, a community historically affected by water supply issues. Led by the Tri-County Water Authority, the Allensworth Project is a multi-component plan aimed at replenishing groundwater supplies and mitigating emergency flood water damage by constructing two gravity-fed basins to catch flood runoff from the White River. The basins will divert water from the river for direct use and recharge, and will be used as a recreational park during dry seasons.

  • Modesto Bee: Stanislaus students create displays promoting free water for homes with tainted wells
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Aquafornia news May 10, 2022 Ventura County Star

Ventura agrees to lease its State Water Project supply. Here’s why

Ventura has struck a 20-year deal with a Riverside County water wholesaler that would save the city millions of dollars in costs to maintain its rights to imported state water. Under the agreement approved last month, the city would lease its share of imported water to the San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency in Beaumont, an arrangement that would reap $1.1 million this year and cover nearly half of the $2.27 million it will owe to keep its state water entitlement. San Gorgonio would increase its share of the costs starting next year. 

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Aquafornia news May 10, 2022 CalMatters

Opinion: California crises abound, but they won’t be debated

Throughout the state, water agencies are telling Californians that they must seriously curtail lawn watering and other water uses. We can probably scrape through another dry year, but were drought to persist, its impacts would likely be widespread and permanent. … It didn’t have to be this way. We could have built more storage to capture water during wet years, we could have encouraged more conservation, we could have more efficiently captured and treated wastewater for re-use and we could have embraced desalination.
-Written by Dan Walters, CalMatters columnist.  

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Aquafornia news May 10, 2022 The San Francisco Examiner

The fight for clean energy pits San Francisco against the river rafting industry

But after 5 decades of shepherding countless groups down some of the world’s most iconic and challenging runs, [river rater Marty] McDonnell never expected to find himself in a mounting battle against the changing climate, the solar industry and the City of San Francisco. Although 2021 marked another dire year for the dwindling Sierra Nevada snowpack, it’s not California’s drought that worries McDonnell. Instead, it’s how hydropower is generated along the Tuolumne River and distributed downstream.

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Aquafornia news May 10, 2022 Mercury News

Why drought makes us scared, edgy, angry

[E]ven Bay Area residents who haven’t suffered such a loss feel the dread creeping in as the hills turn brown and the Sierra snowpack shrinks to its lowest level in some 70 years. The American Psychological Association describes climate anxiety, or eco-anxiety, as fear of environmental doom. In the Bay Area, it has become easy to believe in doomsday scenarios on days when wildfire smoke chokes the air with particulate matter and turns the sky an apocalyptic orange. 

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Aquafornia news May 10, 2022 Scientific Reports

New research: The effect of reducing per capita water and energy uses on renewable water resources in the water, food and energy nexus

A significant percentage of the world’s population does not have adequate access to water, food, and energy resources (WFE). Although efforts to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals and later the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have increased access to scarce resources, still, 25.9% of the population is affected by moderate or severe food insecurity in 2019, 2.2 billion people lacked access to potable water in 2017, and 789 million people lacked electricity service in 2018. The pressure on WFE resources will increase as the world’s population grows from 7.4 billion in 2016 to 9.7 billion in 2050.

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Aquafornia news May 10, 2022 ABC News

Bodies surfacing in Lake Mead recall mob’s time in Las Vegas

Las Vegas is being flooded with lore about organized crime after a second set of human remains emerged within a week from the depths of a drought-stricken Colorado River reservoir just a 30-minute drive from the notoriously mob-founded Strip. … [B]oaters spotted the decomposed body of a man in a rusted barrel stuck in the mud of newly exposed shoreline. … A few days later, a second barrel was found by a KLAS-TV news crew, not far from the first. It was empty. On Saturday, two sisters from suburban Henderson who were paddle boarding on the lake near a former marina resort noticed bones on a newly surfaced sand bar …

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Aquafornia news May 9, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Monday Top of the Scroll: California’s two largest reservoirs are at ‘critically low’ levels

At a point in the year when California’s water storage should be at its highest, the state’s two largest reservoirs have already dropped to critically low levels — a sobering outlook for the hotter and drier months ahead. Shasta Lake, which rises more than 1,000 feet above sea level when filled to the brim, is at less than half of where it usually should be in early May — the driest it has been at this time of year since record-keeping first began in 1976. Lake Oroville, the largest reservoir in the State Water Project, a roughly 700-mile lifeline that pumps and ferries water all the way to Southern California, is currently at 55% of total capacity.

Related articles: 

  • CNN: The two largest reservoirs in California are already at ‘critically low levels’ and the dry season is just starting
  • KCRA Sacramento: Folsom Lake nearly full, but extra releases needed this summer to make up for shortages elsewhere
  • Orange County Register: What rainy season? Southern California sees little relief on drought
  • Associated Press: Spring storm delivers snow to Northern California mountains 
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news May 9, 2022 Los Angeles Times

New bill aims to limit frenzy of California well drilling

In farming areas across the Central Valley, a well-drilling frenzy has accelerated over the last year as growers turn to pumping more groundwater during the drought, even as falling water levels leave hundreds of nearby homes with dry wells. Counties have continued freely issuing well-drilling permits in the years since California passed a landmark law, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 … Some state legislators are now supporting a bill that they say would strengthen oversight and limit the well-drilling frenzy by requiring a review of permits for new wells by the same local agencies that are charged with managing groundwater.

Related article: 

  • Noozhawk: Montecito groundwater agency to discuss setting criteria for sustainable management
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news May 9, 2022 Arizona Daily Star

Colorado River’s water deficit keeps growing, with no end in sight

While the seven Colorado River Basin states including Arizona hunt for 500,000 acre-feet a year in water savings in both the Upper and Lower basins, the biggest problem facing the river lurks in the shadows: a supply-demand gap that keeps growing. Over the past five years, the river’s annual water flow, greatly diminished since 2000 compared to 20th century averages, has tumbled even faster. Water demands have also fallen, but not nearly as fast.

Related articles: 

  • Los Angeles Times: Arizona officials warn of risks on Colorado River that could eventually hit California
  • Arizona Daily Star: Water officials share grim outlook for CAP water supply
  • Los Angeles Times: More human remains found in receding Lake Mead
  • Channel 12: Next stage of water restrictions in Arizona could come as soon as August
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news May 9, 2022 The Associated Press

California prepares for energy shortfalls in hot, dry summer

California likely will have an energy shortfall equivalent to what it takes to power about 1.3 million homes when use is at its peak during the hot and dry summer months, state officials said Friday. Threats from drought, extreme heat and wildfires, plus supply chain and regulatory issues hampering the solar industry will create challenges for energy reliability this summer, the officials said. … Large hydropower projects generated nearly 14% of the state’s electricity in 2020, according to the independent system operator. 

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Aquafornia news May 9, 2022 The Washington Post

California drought could wither many Los Angeles lawns

Amid the historic drought now entering its third painful summer … the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, has demanded [millions of homes] cut irrigation by 35 percent as of June 1. If things don’t improve by September, authorities say, outdoor water use could be banned entirely. … Since the restriction warnings began, customers have bombarded the Las Virgenes water office — one of 26 public water agencies which operate under the Metropolitan Water District — with angry phone calls.

Related articles: 

  • Los Angeles Times: What’s your drought plan, Southern California? Tell us how you’re saving water
  • Patch – Benicia: Benicia Pipeline Break – Residents Required To Cut Water Use By 30%
  • Havasu News: California’s water conservation has been a bust so far. Will drought restrictions work?
  • One Green Planet: Blog – New Law in Las Vegas Mandates Removal of ‘Nonfunctional’ Grass to Save Water
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