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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 July 25, 2022 Marin Independent Journal

Marin water officials scrutinize costs for bigger reservoirs, new pipelines

Marin Municipal Water District officials, continuing their quest to boost supply, met this week for a detailed cost assessment on expanding reservoirs and connecting to new sources. District staff stressed to the board that — unlike other options under review such as desalination and recycled water expansion that can produce a continual flow of water — enlarging reservoirs or building pipelines to outside suppliers does not guarantee water will be available when needed. 

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Aquafornia news July 25, 2022 The Sacramento Bee

Sacramento xeriscaping: What is it, how it affects drought

Sacramentans can get paid up to $3,000 for saving water in the form of replacing their grassy yards with drought-tolerant landscaping. Summer weather in Sacramento exacerbates ongoing drought conditions in the region, and the city has been promoting a program that incentivizes residents to switch to a “drought-tolerant landscape” in their yards. But what exactly is xeriscaping and what can it look like in California?

Related article: 

  • Desert Sun: Rancho Mirage adds $750K to turf rebate program with CVWD to meet demand
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Aquafornia news July 25, 2022 California WaterBlog

Blog: Follow the water!

People often have strange ideas about how water works.  Even simple water systems can be confusing.  When water systems become large complex socio-physical-ecological systems serving many users and uses, opportunities for confusion become extreme, surpassing comprehension by our ancient Homo sapien brains. When confused by conflicting rhetoric, using numbers to “follow the water” can be helpful.  The California Water Plan has developed some such numbers.  This essay presents their net water use numbers for 2018, by California’s agricultural, urban, and environmental uses by hydrologic region. 

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Aquafornia news July 25, 2022 Ag Alert

Opinion: A bad bill undermines cooperation on groundwater

The ink is barely dry on the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and here comes more legislation to redo what has been the most significant change in California water law in over 100 years. The California Department of Water Resources has not finished evaluating Groundwater Sustainability Plans submitted by local agencies under SGMA, which established a cooperative framework to protect California’s groundwater resources. But already legislation—Assembly Bill 2201 by Steve Bennett, D-Ventura—seeks to change SGMA in ways that would bring unnecessary confusion and disruption into the process. 
-Written by Danny Merkley, director of water resources for the California Farm Bureau; and Jack Gualco, president of The Gualco Group Inc.

Related article: 

  • Ukiah Daily Journal: Column - People’s thoughts on groundwater well ordinance 
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Aquafornia news July 25, 2022 Chico Enterprise-Record

Butte County supervisors to get latest water updates

As the California drought continues to impact agriculture as well as the lives of residents, local government bodies have requested regular updates on water resources. Once again, the Butte County Board of Supervisors will hear the latest updates regarding the drought, groundwater and water-related activities within the county. In December, the board contracted Luhdorff and Scalmanini Consulting Engineers to create an analysis of drought impacts on the county in 2021.

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Aquafornia news July 25, 2022 Lake County News

High cyanotoxin levels raise concerns for individual private intakes that draw water from Clear Lake

Health and tribal officials are reporting that, due to persistent drought and heat, they are finding unprecedented levels of cyanotoxins in some areas of Clear Lake. For Lake County residents with individual water systems that draw water directly from the lake using a private intake, drinking water may become unsafe when high levels of toxins are present, Lake County Health Services reported. Of particular concern are those with individual water systems who live around the Sulphur Bank Mine, and along the shore of Clear Lake’s Lower and Oaks Arms.

Related article: 

  • Visalia Times-Delta: Potentially toxic algal mats discovered at Kaweah River
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Aquafornia news July 25, 2022 Arizona Department of Water Resources

News release: AZ water leaders lay out plans for facing the emerging crisis in the Colorado River system

Arizona’s water leaders on July 13 laid out the path forward for contending with the extraordinarily difficult choices facing all of the Colorado River system’s water users over the next several months. In a sobering presentation to the Arizona Reconsultation Committee (the panel assembled to help develop an Arizona perspective on new operational guidelines for the river system by 2026), Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke and Central Arizona Project General Manager Ted Cooke described the unprecedented challenges facing the system currently.

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Aquafornia news July 25, 2022 Environmental Defense Fund

Blog: Taking a big leap to solve California water problems: How uncommon partners are finding common ground on the water

There we were, 19 of us on the stony shore of the Tuolumne River, feeling a bit stranded like the crew of Gilligan’s Island. Our “Finding Common Water” rafting excursion was planned around “no water Wednesday,” when river releases are held back for water conservation and infrastructure maintenance. The trip’s goal: Get off our desk chairs and onto rafts, out of the ordinary and into an extraordinary setting — a hot, highly regulated, wild and scenic river —  to push us out of our comfort zone and get to work on addressing real water problems.

Related article: 

  • Manteca Bulletin: San Joaquin River: Born in the pristine waters of Thousand Island Lake, it feeds the stomachs and souls of countless people
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Aquafornia news July 25, 2022 The Nevada Independent

Opinion: Reducing consumptive water use must be our main focus to safeguard Southern Nevada’s economic stability

I have lived in Las Vegas and have worked in the development industry for 30 years. Since day one, water has been an important issue. The current volume of Lake Mead compared to years prior is clear evidence there is a serious water issue. Residents, businesses and all those who depend on the Colorado River should be paying close attention to the facts and focusing on conservation policies that will help ensure we utilize our water in the most responsible way possible to preserve our future.
-Written by Nat Hodgson, CEO of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association.

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Aquafornia news July 22, 2022 The New York Times

Friday Top of the Scroll: A painful deadline nears as Colorado River reservoirs run critically low

States in the Colorado River basin are scrambling to propose steep cuts in the water they’ll use from the river next year, in response to a call by the federal government for immediate, drastic efforts to keep the river’s main storage reservoirs from reaching critically low levels. The request comes with the Southwest still in the grip of a severe two-decade drought that shows no signs of letting up…. [E]xperts in Western water issues writing Thursday in the journal Science say significant policy changes could stabilize the river over the long term, even if the drought continues. But concessions that “may be unthinkable at the moment” must be implemented soon, they wrote.

Related articles: 

  • Courthouse News Service: Proportionate limits may float Colorado River users through water crisis
  • AZ Big Media: Stanton introduces $500M plan to protect Colorado River
  • Los Angeles Times: Dramatic NASA photos reveal Lake Mead water levels at lowest point since 1937
  • WION: America’s largest reservoir Lake Mead is 73% empty. NASA shares stark pictures
  • Arizona Public Media: What will Arizona do as its share of Colorado River water diminishes?
  • Daily Beast: My Western Road Trip Turned Into the Apocalypse 
  • Western Farm Press: Arizona – Where will a growing economy get its water?
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Aquafornia news July 22, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles has plans to put recycled water in your tap

Water has always been recycled. The water molecules in your shower or cup of coffee might just be the same molecules that rained on dinosaurs more than 65 million years ago. With the technological advancements in water recycling, however, the water that went down your sink this morning might be back in your tap sooner than you think. The city of Los Angeles and agencies across Southern California are looking into what’s known as “direct potable reuse,” which means putting purified recycled water directly back into our drinking water systems. …. Their efforts hinge on the State Water Resources Control Board, which has been tasked by legislators to develop a set of uniform regulations on direct potable reuse by Dec. 31, 2023.

Related articles: 

  • Antelope Valley Press: Plans for water treatment plant in development
  • Redlands Community News: Ceremony will celebrate completion of wastewater treatment plant
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Aquafornia news July 22, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Shasta Lake at 38% capacity heading into the hottest months of the year

[Aquafornia Editor's Note: The Los Angeles Times story below wrongly states that Shasta Lake is part of the State Water Project. It is part of the federal Central Valley Project. We still believe this photo essay is worthy to share because of the importance Shasta Lake plays in California.] 

Shasta Lake, one of the state’s largest reservoirs, is currently at 38% capacity, a startling number heading into the hottest months of the year. Part of the State Water Project, a roughly 700-mile lifeline that pumps and ferries water all the way to Southern California, the reservoir is the driest it has been at this time of year since record-keeping first began in 1976. California relies on storms and snowpack in the Sierra Nevada to fill its reservoirs. The state received a hopeful sign of a wet winter in late December when more than 17 feet of snow fell in the Sierra Nevada. But the winter storms abruptly ceased, ushering in the driest January, February and March ever recorded. 

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Aquafornia news July 22, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Drought leaves Mexico’s second biggest city without water

Drought has drained the three reservoirs that provide about 60% of the water for the [Monterrey, Mexico] region’s 5 million residents. Most homes now receive water for only a few hours each morning. And on the city’s periphery, many taps have run completely dry. … “It should be a wake-up call,” said Samuel Sandoval Solis, an expert in water management at UC Davis who described the situation in Monterrey as a “crystal ball” for Southern California. Both are densely packed metropolitan centers that rely heavily on faraway water sources. … Southern California cities, which import about 55% of their water from the Colorado River and Northern California, have already been forced to reduce water usage and face the prospect of further cuts as drought persists …

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Aquafornia news July 22, 2022 The Sacramento Bee

Opinion: California State Fair should be rescheduled to spring or fall

It’s common to come away from the California State Fair with stuffed animals, some sweets, sunburn, and the sticky, sweat-soaked skin of someone who has spent too long in California’s summer sun. It all comes part and parcel with the event, just like the wine slushies or walking through the giant misters outside exposition halls. But what if it didn’t have to be this way? With climate change worsening summer heat waves, the State Fair board of directors should consider moving the fair to spring or fall. At the very least, it should move to earlier in the summer, before Sacramento’s 100-degree-plus days set in.
-Written by columnist Robin Epley.

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Aquafornia news July 22, 2022 Public Policy Institute of California

Report: Land transitions and dust in the San Joaquin Valley

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires groundwater users to bring their basins into balance over the next two decades. In the San Joaquin Valley, this will mean taking more than 500,000 acres of agricultural land out of intensive irrigated production. Among other issues, this could potentially lead to air quality impacts if the lands become new sources of dust, especially windblown dust, which can have numerous negative short- and long-term health and environmental impacts. In addition, the changing climate may exacerbate risks as warmer temperatures can dry out soils and increase dust emissions.

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Aquafornia news July 22, 2022 KRNV - Reno

Ask Joe Investigates: Underwater trees evidence of “mega drought”

The impacts of our western drought are hard to ignore. From devastating wildfires which threatened Lake Tahoe last summer to a shrinking shoreline at Lake Mead in Southern Nevada. And the dry months are turning into years. “Since October of 2019 we’re seven inches of rain short over three years,” said UNR Climatologist Stephanie McAfee. “It’s still a lot to be down.” But our current drought pales in comparison to what researchers discovered years ago in the dark depths of Fallen Leaf Lake, just a few miles from South Lake Tahoe. Scott Cassell with the Undersea Voyager Project came upon the sight from the driver’s seat of his submersible exploration vehicle:

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Aquafornia news July 22, 2022 California Fisheries Blog

Blog: The Delta in April-June 2022 under TUCP

A lot has been said about the drought’s effect on water supplies for cities and farms, but little is said about how Delta fish are faring.  Freshwater inflow to the Delta was about half of normal in April through June 2022 because of the State Water Board Order approving the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Bureau of Reclamation’s Temporary Urgency Change Petition  (TUCP) for Delta operations.  With some of this limited Delta inflow going to water users during April, May and June, little was going to the fish. The State Water Board granted the TUCP because Central Valley reservoir storage was so low at the end of winter in this third year of drought.  

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Aquafornia news July 22, 2022 The Nevada Independent

Nevada’s Natural Resources acting director on collaboration, drought, smart-from-the-start planning

With hundreds of full-time employees, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is one of the state’s largest agencies, responsible for a wide array of activities, from overseeing state parks and wildland fire crews to regulating industrial pollution and managing water rights. Earlier this month, the agency got a new leader. Gov. Steve Sisolak appointed Jim Lawrence, who has worked at the agency since 1998, to serve as the acting director. … The leadership change comes at a time when the state — and the region — face a number of ongoing interconnected environmental issues, including a prolonged drought that has strained water supplies, pressures on public land, increasingly risky wildfire behavior and extreme heat.

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Aquafornia news July 22, 2022 KTVL - Medford

“Rally for the C’waam and Koptu” brings awareness to plight of endangered Klamath fish

Citizens of the Klamath Tribes will host a two-day community event, “Rally for the C’waam and Koptu”, highlighting the importance of these endemic fish, also known as the Lost River suckerfish and shortnose suckerfish. This free event will take place this Friday July 22 and Saturday 23 in Chiloquin with a caravan rally to nearby Klamath Falls on Saturday. … C’waam and Koptu once inhabited the Upper Klamath Lake in the millions, but today, only 4,000 Koptu and less than 20,000 C’waam remain.

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Aquafornia news July 22, 2022 NPR

California’s water restrictions aren’t impacting people equally

Cities across California are tightening water restrictions as the drought drags on. But those restrictions are not hitting people equally. While some neighborhoods are turning brown and dusty, others are as lush as they’ve ever been. Caleigh Wells from member station KCRW reports.

Related articles: 

  • ABC 7: LA residents double reports of water waste amid drought and irrigation restrictions
  • Manteca Bulletin: Manteca may not get serious about cutting water use until September
  • CBS – San Francisco: New eco-friendly San Jose car wash uses minimal amount of water
  • Times of San Diego: Couple in Chula Vista Leading by Example in Water Conservation
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Aquafornia news July 22, 2022 SJV Sun

California policies choking off water from Valley hasn’t been savior for fish, report finds

A new policy brief from the Public Policy Institute of California is recommending cost-effective water storage investments as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is seeing less inflow. It also offers a damning picture of the thirty-year shift in how the Golden State divvied up water, largely pitting fish species against millions of its residents. The institute – a nonpartisan think tank – initially published the brief in early spring, focuses on the Delta that supplies water to about 30 million residents and over six million acres of farmland. 

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Aquafornia news July 22, 2022 SJV Water

Kern River advocates accuse utility of “lawless” water diversions on behalf of a long closed fish hatchery

As water in the North Fork of the Kern River dwindles, controversy over its diminished flows is ramping up. At least some river watchers are accusing Southern California Edison of misusing a portion of the flows by continuing to divert water, ostensibly, for a state-owned fish hatchery that has been closed since 2020. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) even sent a letter to Edison in January 2022 directing the utility to stop taking water out of the river for the hatchery, saying the facility and its pipeline are inoperable. 

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Aquafornia news July 22, 2022 The San Diego Union-Tribune

Drought drives Las Vegas to cap size of home swimming pools

Limiting the size of new swimming pools in and around Las Vegas might save a drop in the proverbial bucket amid historic drought and climate change in the West. Officials are taking the plunge anyway, capping the size of new swimming pools at single-family residential homes to about the size of a three-car garage. Citing worries about dwindling drinking water allocations from the drying-up Lake Mead reservoir on the depleted Colorado River, officials in Clark County voted this week to limit the size of new swimming pools to 600 square feet (56 square meters) of surface area.

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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 E&E News

Thursday Top of the Scroll: Huge wildfire, drought package readied for House votes

A package of 48 bills related to wildfire, forest management and drought will reach the House floor in one giant measure next week as Democrats try to push through their version of how best to tackle the climate crisis on public lands. The bill, called the “Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act,” H.R. 5118, would boost pay and benefits for wildland firefighters, help the Forest Service fill gaps in fire management staff and promote bigger forest management projects to reduce hazardous fuels … Among the measures, the act would authorize up to $500 million to the Interior Department through fiscal 2026 to prevent Lake Powell and Lake Mead from “declining to critical low water elevations.”

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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 Courthouse News Service

Despite more stored water than in 2021, California will keep closing spigots

As drought conditions persist and with the potential for another dry winter due to La Niña, some good news: the California State Water Resources Control Board learned Wednesday reservoirs in the northern and central parts of the state have more water than at this time last year. State Water Project reservoirs across Northern and Central California remain below historical averages after three consecutive years of drought. But with a combination of people cutting water use, curtailments, farmers fallowing fields and a focus on storage, the reservoirs in the State Water Project are either above or near where they were last year. 

Related articles: 

  • Northern California Water Association: A Devastating Water Year in the Sacramento Valley! Yet, the California Water Rights System is Working and Continually Improving
  • Siskiyou Daily News: Big Springs must follow state drought rules, judge orders
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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 Denver Post

The West’s most important water supply is drying up. Soon, life for 40 million people who depend on the Colorado River will change

[Lake Powell's] water is receding because the Colorado River is drying. Climatologists aren’t sure when, or if, Powell will ever fill again. Rather, they expect conditions to worsen. The chalky ring around Powell is just one sign of many that the 40 million people who directly depend on the Colorado River must fundamentally change their way of life, experts agree. And it’s going to hurt, experts say. “This is not a drought, this is aridification,” Rhett Larson, a water law professor at Arizona State University, said. “This is not something we can wait out. This is not something we can survive. This is the new world we live in.”

Related articles: 

  • Newsweek: Lake Mead drought shown in dramatic new NASA images
  • Boulder City Review: Lake Mead level decline worse than anticipated
  • Colorado Public Radio: Colorado and other upstream states have a plan to help save the Colorado River. It doesn’t include any mandatory water cuts
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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Indigenous leader calls for changing Colorado River management

It’s crunch time for the Colorado River. The river’s badly depleted reservoirs keep dropping, and the federal government has announced that major water cutbacks need to happen soon to prevent supplies from reaching perilously low levels. The future of the Southwest’s main water lifeline hinges on whether the seven states of the Colorado River Basin will effectively address the river’s chronic overuse and shrinking flows after more than two decades of drought intensified by global warming. … There are also 30 federally recognized tribes in the Colorado River Basin, and I’ve been interested in learning more about the roles they will play in shaping how dwindling supplies water are apportioned and conserved.

Related article: 

  • Cronkite News: Hualapai leader urges Senate to OK water plan, as wells fail in drought
  • Western Water rewind: A Colorado River Tribal Leader Seeks A Voice In the River’s Future–And Freedom to Profit From Its Water 
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 Circle of Blue

Big water pipelines, an old pursuit, still alluring in drying west

Across the country’s western drylands, a motley group of actors is responding to the region’s intensifying water crisis by reviving a well-worn but risky tactic: building water pipelines to tap remote groundwater basins and reservoirs to feed fast-growing metropolitan areas, or to supply rural towns that lack a reliable source. Government agencies, wildcat entrepreneurs, and city utilities are among those vying to pump and pipe water across vast distances — potentially at great economic and environmental cost. Even as critics question the suitability of the water transfers in a new climate era, supporters in California, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, the federal government, Indian tribes, and other states are prepared to spend billions on water-supply pipelines.

Related article: 

  • Desert Sun: 3 plans to import water from Sea of Cortez to Salton Sea advance in state review 
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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 Courthouse News Service

As West evaporates, experts plot ways to help businesses save water

As models predict another La Niña for the coming winter, which could lead to another dry year, leaders of water agencies and other groups from across California and the western United States met Tuesday to discuss how best to get commerce and industry to use less water. While residential water use has declined, commercial and industrial users need retrofits, new equipment and new ways of doing business when it comes how much liquid “gold” they consume. One thing meeting attendees agree on is that it will take more than financial incentives to push enterprises to make the switch. They will need to be convinced that shifting to new systems will increase efficiency, production and more.

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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 Public Policy Institute of California

Blog: Exploring the potential for water-limited agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley

The rollout of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is altering the state’s agricultural landscape. As groundwater sustainability measures are implemented and water scarcity increases, at least half a million acres are projected to come out of irrigated production in the San Joaquin Valley, the state’s agricultural heartland. Rather than widespread land idling—which comes with unintended consequences such as dust, weeds, pests, and soil degradation—a switch from summer irrigated crops to winter crops produced with limited water (including winter cereals and forage crops, among others) might keep some of this land in production.

Related articles: 

  • Vision Times: California water crisis to leave 800,000 acres of farmland empty this year
  • Ag Alert: Fertigation is ‘dialed in’ to deliver targeted nutrients
  • Dairy Herd: Water shortage is the number one concern for this California dairy producer  
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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 KCRW - Santa Monica

Flouting drought rules? You can’t hide from this science teacher’s map

Satellite imagery can show which households in Southern California are likely following watering rules during the drought — and which ones are failing to comply. Data from the Sentinel-2 satellite isn’t coming from a local water agency, but from a hobbyist. Ben Kuo likes using high-tech tools to understand natural disasters. … The free, publicly available data allows users to zoom in to view a specific house and see how wet the yard is. A dry lawn might show up orange on the satellite data. A household that’s flouting drought restrictions with lots of damp grass will show up blue.

Related articles: 

  • ABC7 – Los Angeles: During California drought, waterless-wash methods becoming more popular for cars
  • ABC 10 – Sacramento: No, homeowners in Stockton can’t be fined for dry grass
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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 Salt Lake Tribune

Yes, Utah got ‘lackadaisical’ about water, Gov. Spencer Cox concedes. Here’s why he remains hopeful.

Utahns’ water consumption habits have drawn national scrutiny in recent weeks, sometimes to an embarrassing degree. The Great Salt Lake sank to a record low for the second time in less than a year, with its plight grabbing the attention of The New York Times and CBS. HBO’s John Oliver famously took Utah to task this summer for its dwindling water resources and a video of Gov. Spencer Cox calling on people to “pray for rain.” Cox has been quick to defend his home state amid all the negative press, pointing out in a Twitter thread earlier this month the major steps taken to save the Great Salt Lake from further decline. 

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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 Las Vegas Sun 

Las Vegas water district OKs proposal for pool-size limits 

The Clark County Commission approved a new measure to mitigate the falling water level of Lake Mead on Tuesday, limiting residential pool sizes in the Las Vegas area. The commission Tuesday unanimously approved a new ordinance prohibiting the Las Vegas Valley Water District from serving residents with pools with a total surface area of over 600 square feet. The new code will only apply to single-family residential customers who received a pool permit for their “pool(s), spa(s), and/or water feature(s)” after Sept. 1, 2022.

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  • Nevada Current: Colorado River crisis requires confronting sacred cow 
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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 SJV Water

Going, going….water at some of Bakersfield’s most popular parks is almost gone

The lake at the Park at River Walk is fast disappearing, as are the Truxtun Lakes and some other city-owned water features. Blame the drought. The City of Bakersfield Water Resources Department has cut off flows to city-owned recreation and water recharge facilities to hold on to what little surface water it’s receiving from the dwindling Kern River for drinking water, according to Daniel Maldonado, a water planner with the department. … Local resident Calletano Guiterrez understood the city has to contend with the drought but hoped at least some water could be set aside for what he said he and his family have come to love about Bakersfield.

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  • Coast News Group: Commentary - State water restrictions should be a wake-up call
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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 Sonoma Index-Tribune

New rules for well permits in Sonoma County proposed

The Board of Supervisors will consider new standards for well permits at their meeting Aug. 9 in response to California case law to protect rivers and other “public trust resources,” according to a July 11 press release. The county will hold a public hearing on the proposed amendment to the county’s well ordinance, which would create new guidelines for Permit Sonoma’s evaluation of environmental impact to drill new or replacement groundwater wells. The ordinance may effect approximately one-third of well permit applications sent to Permit Sonoma and new wells may be subject to hundreds of dollars in fees and new equipment based on the proposal.

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  • Porterville Recorder: ETGSA approves amended groundwater sustainability plan
  • Ridgecrest Independent: Groundwater Authority clarifies well permit process 
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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 State Water Resources Control Board

News release: State Water Board delivers $3.3 billion to California communities to boost drought resilience and increase water supplies

Seizing a generational opportunity to leverage unprecedented state funding to combat drought and climate change, the State Water Resources Control Board provided an historic $3.3 billion in financial assistance during the past fiscal year (July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022) to water systems and communities for projects that bolster water resilience, respond to drought emergencies and expand access to safe drinking water. The State Water Board’s funding to communities this past fiscal year doubled compared to 2020-21, and it is four times the amount of assistance provided just two years ago. The marked increase also comes as a result of last year’s $5.2 billion three-year investment in drought response and water resilience …

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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 Ramona Sentinel

Ramona water district adopts regional water management plan, pursues $4.8M in grants

The Ramona Municipal Water District board on July 12 adopted the San Diego Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) Plan as an avenue to $4.8 million in grants. The water district has already applied for the funds available through IRWM grants. The source of the funds is Proposition 1 — the Water Quality, Supply and Infrastructure Improvement Act — which was approved by California voters in 2014 and authorizes $510 million in IRWM funding. Grants available to the Ramona water district are nearly $2.43 million for The Acres safe drinking water project and $2.43 million for the Ramona/Barona recycled water pipeline project.

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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 KRON - San Francisco

Toxic algal mats growing in Russian River

The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board is urging the public who visit the Russian River to be cautious of potentially toxic algal. It was confirmed through testing that toxic algal mats are growing on the bottom of the Russian River. Algae or cyanobacteria can both grow on the bottom of waterways and while floating in water. … Children and dogs are the most at-risk to the health impacts caused by toxic algal mats. Individuals should avoid touching or ingesting algal material in the water.

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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 KALW - San Francisco

Chinook salmon reintroduced above Shasta Dam to a river where they once swam

Chief Caleen Sisk says she and her people, the Winnemem Wintu, are following a prayer. To bring salmon back to their homelands on a river above Shasta Dam. Overall, there was a prayer that came down from Mt. Shasta, Bulium Puuyuuk about the Landata Nur, which means the old time salmon,” says Chief Sisk. “The old time salmon want to come back to their rivers. They want to be upstream. They want to do the things they’re supposed to be doing.” To support the prayer and draw attention to their cause, the Winnemem Wintu started an annual ceremony called the Run4Salmon.

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Aquafornia news July 21, 2022 Restore the Delta

Blog: Delta flows - Failed drought planning for the Delta 

Yesterday, Restore the Delta sent the following scoping comment letter to the Army Corps of Engineers in response to a “Dredge and Fill (404) Application from California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to construct North Delta Drought Salinity Barriers Project.” DWR proposes in its application to add two more temporary rock fill barriers along Steamboat and Miner sloughs in the North Delta intending to prevent intrusion of high-salinity tidal waters into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta should critical drought conditions persist into 2023 and beyond.

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Aquafornia news July 20, 2022 KUNC - Greeley, Colo

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: On the Colorado River the feds carry a big stick. Will the states get hit?

The seven Colorado River basin states have until mid-August to come up with a plan to drastically cut their water use. Federal officials say the cuts are necessary to keep the river’s giant reservoirs from declining to levels where water cannot be released through their dams and hydropower production ceases. If state leaders fail to devise a plan, they could face a federal crackdown. 

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  • CapRadio: Arizona cities respond to the worst drought in over a thousand years with a new plan
  • Farm Progress: Water Lines - Basin states must come up with an emergency deal by mid-August to conserve between 2 and 4 million acre-feet of water.
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Aquafornia news July 20, 2022 The Sacramento Bee

California wildfires: 2022 season off to comparatively slow start

Blazes have burned thousands of acres, cued mandatory evacuations and threatened some of the state’s oldest and most impressive trees, but far fewer acres have burned in California wildfires through the first few weeks of summer than at the same point last year. The tides may turn in the coming weeks as conditions stay hot and grow drier, but the numbers to date suggest the state may have averted a particularly nasty start to this wildfire season. …And while the Golden State is immersed in its third straight year of severe drought, a few storms in April and June helped to dampen fire fuels.

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  • San Francisco Chronicle: California’s fire season is so unusually quiet that it resembles a ‘normal summer’
  • New York Times: Will These Ancient Trees Survive a Drying West?
  • Nature: Wildfire plumes in the Western US are reaching greater heights and injecting more aerosols aloft as wildfire activity intensifies
  • Los Angeles Times: California forests are vanishing as wildfires burn larger and more intensely
  • KUNR – Reno: As wildfire threats grow, defensible space business booms
  • Cal State Fullerton: California’s Drought – Geology Researchers Investigate How Mega Dry Spells Spark Urban Wildfires
  • NPR: Climate change is threatening Joshua trees — California will decide whether to protect them
     
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Aquafornia news July 20, 2022 SJV Water

Agencies looking to “Plan B” as more San Joaquin Valley towns on brink of going dry and emergency water suppliers are tapped out

Groundwater levels are dropping and domestic wells throughout the San Joaquin Valley are going dry as California’s third year of drought grinds on. That includes entire towns, such as East Orosi and Tooleville in Tulare County, which both went dry last week. It’s bad. But it may get worse. Area water suppliers are “locking down” and may not have enough to share, equipment is in short supply and so are people to get the water to those in need.

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Aquafornia news July 20, 2022 Arizona Republic

Smallmouth bass: The newest threat to Grand Canyon’s endangered fish

The day’s first gillnet haul of nonnative fish on lower Lake Powell was already alarming: three striped bass, three gizzard shad and a channel catfish. Any one of them or their offspring would be unwelcome intruders were they to slip through the massive concrete dam’s hydropower tubes and turbines to swim a few dozen miles downstream into the heart of Grand Canyon. Above Glen Canyon Dam, state fisheries managers in decades past would introduce alien species to support recreational angling on the lake. But below the dam, the fish could drift downstream to eat or outcompete Grand Canyon’s threatened humpback chub population, swelling the ranks of nonnatives that biologists are already battling.

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  • Navajo-Hopi Observer: Low Lake Powell water levels could unravel years of native fish restoration work at Grand Canyon 
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Aquafornia news July 20, 2022 Center Square

After $100 million Huntington Beach denial, what’s the future of desalination in California?

After a high profile, decades-long battle to build a desalination plant in Huntington Beach ended in denial, all eyes will be on the California Coastal Commission as it considers whether or not to approve two smaller desalination projects this fall. Commissioners are tentatively scheduled to consider the Doheny Ocean Desalination project in October. The project, based in Orange County, could produce up to 5 million gallons of potable water per day, according to the project’s environmental impact report. The project is expected to cost $140 million, and $32.4 million in grants have been secured thus far, Southern California Water District Public Information Specialist Sheena Johnson told The Center Square.

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  • C-WIN: What about desal?
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Aquafornia news July 20, 2022 Northern California Public Media

Santa Rosa encouraging water conservation through free audits, rebates and expertise

There’s a lot of big ideas for solving California’s perpetual water shortages. Desalinate ocean water. Tow giant bags of water or use a pipeline to pull water out of the mouth of the Columbia River. But there are also less ambitious and perhaps more practical ways too. The city of Santa Rosa is looking to help, one drip at a time. Thomas Hare and Holly Nadeau are water resource specialists from the Santa Rosa’s water department, On a recent Wednesday, in the Oakmont district, they were welcomed to the home of Leslie and Greg Gossage…ready to get down to some detective work.

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  • County of Sonoma: Jenner by the Sea to get water system upgrade
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Aquafornia news July 20, 2022 The San Diego Union-Tribune

Opinion: What will happen if Lake Mead dries up? Look to the Salton Sea.

Recently, historic record-low water volume in Lake Mead and Lake Powell has been headline news. While the trend of dropping water levels at two of the nation’s largest water reservoirs has been widely recognized for years (perhaps decades), a discussion about what it truly means for those who rely on its source for water and electricity downstream is rarely heard. Lake Mead’s water level continues to fall to historic lows, bringing the reservoir less than 150 feet away from “dead pool” — so low that water cannot flow downstream from the dam. The loss of water entirely from this source would be catastrophic.
-Written by Richard Thomas, a retired business owner and author in La Mesa. 

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Aquafornia news July 20, 2022 SF Gate

Two tidal habitat restoration projects in the works to protect Delta smelt

Environmental agencies on the local, state and federal levels are commending the efforts of two tidal habitat restoration projects in Solano County. The California Department of Water Resources is aiming to preserve smelt and other fish populations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by improving food sources and habitat conditions in the Suisun Marsh, specifically by restoring Bradmoor Island and Arnold Slough. The 161-acre restoration project in Arnold Slough, located in eastern Suisun Marsh, was recently completed in the fall of 2021.

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Aquafornia news July 20, 2022 National Center for Atmospheric Research

New research: Water resources to become less predictable with climate change

Water resources will fluctuate increasingly and become more and more difficult to predict in snow-dominated regions across the Northern Hemisphere by later this century, according to a comprehensive new climate change study led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The research team found that, even in regions that keep receiving about the same amount of precipitation, streamflow will become more variable and unpredictable. As snowpack recedes in a warmer future and fails to provide reliable runoff, the amount and timing of water resources will become increasingly reliant on periodic episodes of rain.

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Aquafornia news July 20, 2022 Public Policy Institute of California

Blog: Our experts weigh in on the drought

The water news in California has been grim. As PPIC Water Policy Center senior fellow Jeff Mount says, “we’re in year three of a miserable drought”—with “miserable” being the operative word. We sat down with Mount, senior fellow Alvar Escriva-Bou, and center director Ellen Hanak to discuss recent water news. We’re in year three of a serious drought. How different is it from last year? Jeff Mount: One difference is that the State Water Board has been very proactive. They announced curtailments earlier and they are moving much more quickly than last year. They have the right authorities to deal with the drought.

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  • California Water Research: The eye of the storm and the State Water Resources Control Board
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Aquafornia news July 20, 2022 Mercury News

Pittsburg’s Marsh Fire getting doused with 10 to 20 million gallons of water

Firefighters and air quality experts are cautiously optimistic that a plan to flood the stubborn Marsh Fire with 10 million to 20 million gallons of water could finally end a two-month nightmare for several eastern Contra Costa County cities perpetually shrouded in a fog of acrid smoke from the long-simmering blaze. ConFire crews flipped on three additional water pumps Wednesday, bringing to five the number of pumps pulling water from nearby Mallard Slough onto the 200-acre property outside Pittsburg, which has been burning since late May. 

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Aquafornia news July 20, 2022 Mercury News

East Bay city increases water rates

Pittsburg water customers will soon see a 5% increase in their water rates for each of the next five years as a result of council action this week. Paul Rodrigues, city finance director, cited increases in the cost of energy and raw water, and the need to make capital improvements – at a $76.5 million price tag – in the water treatment plant as reasons for the increases. Both commercial and residential customers will be affected, but seniors will pay less, seeing only a 2% increase each year. 

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Aquafornia news July 19, 2022 CNN

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Lake Mead forecast: More Southwest water cuts likely in 2023

More extreme water cuts are all but certain in the Southwest starting next year – including new water cuts for California – according to the latest government forecast for the Colorado River and Lake Mead, the country’s largest reservoir. Lake Mead, which provides water to roughly 25 million people in Arizona, Nevada, California and Mexico, is losing water at an alarming rate amid an extraordinary, multi-year drought made worse by the climate crisis.

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  • The Gazette: The Colorado River is in the throes of a 22-year-old megadrought. What’s at stake? 
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Aquafornia news July 19, 2022 SJV Water

Second Tulare County town goes dry as water tables plummet in drought

The town of Tooleville in Tulare County is once again without water. The town, which has struggled for years with dropping groundwater levels and contamination issues, saw its wells dry up over the weekend.  On July 15, residents called nonprofit Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability reporting very low water pressure and some with no water at all, said Elvia Olea, policy advocate for Leadership Counsel.  This is the second town in Tulare County to lose water this summer. East Orosi, about 30 miles north of Tooleville, was without water for 24 hours when one of its two wells went down July 12, according to news reports. A pump was installed and restored water to East Orosi.

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  • Sonoma Magazine: As wells run dry, Sonoma Valley reckons with new water regulations
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Aquafornia news July 19, 2022 Reuters

Water battle in drought-plagued wildlife refuges ends in draw

A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a 15-year plan for several drought-stricken wildlife refuges along the Oregon and California border against challenges by agribusiness and conservation groups alike. The three decisions by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals mark a stalemate in a century-old water war in the Klamath Basin, where a federal irrigation project to support farming began in 1906 and the nation’s first wildlife refuge was established in 1908. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2017 Comprehensive Conservation Plan drew fire from agribusiness for regulating farming practices in the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex, while conservationists argued the restrictions did not go far enough.

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Aquafornia news July 19, 2022 CNN

Dangerous heat grips more than 40 million people in the US

More than 40 million people are under heat alerts across the Plains and Central California today and Tuesday as temperatures surge 10 to 15 degrees above normal. “Dangerous heat will continue to impact much of the central and parts of southwestern US today,” the Weather Prediction Center said. Temperatures will warm up into the 90s and 100s today, breaking dozens of high temperature records across the central US. … Excessive heat warnings have also been issued for the San Joaquin Valley, where high temperatures could reach 108 degrees.

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  • Washington Post: Crushed by heatwaves, more cities are hiring ‘Chief Heat Officers’
  • CBS News: La Niña creating sweltering temperatures across much of U.S., expert says
  • Fox 26: Here in the Valley it’s a “dry heat”
  • Fortune: The psychology of why heatwaves don’t capture our attention the way other natural disasters do
  • Fast Company: A list of all the climate disasters the world is facing right now
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Aquafornia news July 19, 2022 E&E News

Climate-focused bill collapses as nation is gripped by impacts

Water levels have fallen so low on the Colorado River that they are threatening a dam relied upon by millions of Americans. In Texas, it was so hot last week the state’s grid operator had to twice ask people to conserve electricity. And in western Kansas, it is so dry that barely any wheat sprouted this year, further straining global agricultural markets upended by the war in Ukraine. Such events are a sign of how climate change is altering life in the United States. Yet they have yet to provoke a serious response in Washington, where Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia told his Democratic counterparts last week he could not support climate provisions in a wider budget bill …

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Aquafornia news July 19, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Wastewater recycling provides hedge against drought

When it comes to slaking Southern California’s colossal thirst for water, more and more local governments are searching their own sewer lines for a solution. In the face of dire drought, cities and water agencies are now investing heavily in large-scale wastewater recycling facilities — systems that will purify the billions of gallons of treated sewage that are currently flushed out to sea. Among the massive water recycling initiatives now under development in Los Angeles County are a $3.4-billion plant at the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant in Carson and Operation Next — a roughly $16-billion plan from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to purify up to 100% of the wastewater processed by the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant and put it to good use.

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Aquafornia news July 19, 2022 San Francisco Chronicle

These maps show how alarmingly fast California is losing trees as climate warms

California’s forests are in rapid retreat, which bodes ill for the future. Using satellite data, researchers from the University of California, Irvine found that trees in the state’s mountainous regions declined 6.7 percent between 1985 and 2021 thanks to wildfires, drought and other climate-related sources of stress. The drop was even steeper in the Sierra Nevada, which suffered 8.8% tree cover loss during that time period. … ”We’re a little worried that relying on these forests as a means for protecting water quality or erosion protection or carbon sequestration (is) becoming more and more at risk as a result of these increasing fires,” said Jon Wang, a postdoctoral researcher at UC Irvine and lead author of the study.

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Aquafornia news July 19, 2022 Vallejo Sun

American Canyon sues Vallejo over water dispute

The city of American Canyon has filed a lawsuit asking a court to force the city of Vallejo to provide drinking water to certain areas of American Canyon under a 1996 service agreement that Vallejo has sought to limit because of severe drought. American Canyon filed its lawsuit last week in Napa County Superior Court, which alleges that Vallejo breached the water service agreement between the two cities by failing to provide water to the Canyon Estates development, a new water delivery location for Vallejo that American Canyon said was “designed and constructed with Vallejo’s oversight and approval.”

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Aquafornia news July 19, 2022 Santa Maria Times

Solvang water customers must cut back usage by 20% or face steep penalties

Solvang commercial, industrial and institutional water system customers will face steep financial penalties if they don’t immediately cut back their water usage at least 20%. City Council members on July 11 unanimously adopted a drought ordinance update that clarifies rate tier penalties in relation to declared drought stages. The city has been in a Stage 2 drought stage since August 2021. 

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Aquafornia news July 19, 2022 Pasadena Now

Drought doesn’t mean fewer mosquitoes

Southern California is experiencing a drought of historic proportions. In fact, some scientists are now referring to this uber-drought as “aridification.”  While droughts are thought of as somewhat temporary, aridification signals a whole new condition, one that Matthew Kirby, a paleoclimatologist and professor at California State University Fullerton, says, could mean living “under a permanent state of water conservation.” Meanwhile, while the summer months can mean mosquitos, a drought doesn’t necessarily mean that their threat is diminished. 

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Aquafornia news July 19, 2022 Monterey Herald

New Central Coast nonprofit focuses on water quality, access

A new nonprofit is emerging along the Central Coast with its sights set on ensuring clean, safe drinking water and access to waterways for all, particularly those in disadvantaged communities. The fledgling nonprofit is called Waterkeeper Monterey, formerly known as Monterey Coastkeeper. Monterey Waterkeeper’s Executive Director Chelsea Tu … told the Herald this week that Waterkeeper will be working with the State Water Resources Control Boards, often just called Water Boards, to limit levels of contaminants in drinking water, mostly in well water that doesn’t have the benefit of municipal treatment facilities that urban areas of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties have.

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Aquafornia news July 19, 2022 The Atlantic

Why we remember floods and forget droughts

[R]ather than planning for dry conditions that, because of climate change, are likely to become far more frequent and deadly, Americans seem incapable of even remembering them. Around the world, the landscape itself records our long history of floods. Recent inundation is easy to see in high-water marks, which trace the edges of the tide with soil and seed deposits. Sometimes people memorialize these marks, carving into stone and labeling the lines with dates, like a child’s growth chart drawn on a door frame. … As John Steinbeck wrote in the opening pages of East of Eden, “It never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way.” 

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Aquafornia news July 18, 2022 Bloomberg

Monday Top of the Scroll: California’s idle cropland may double as water crisis deepens

California’s historic drought may leave the state with the largest amount of empty farmland in recent memory as farmers face unprecedented cuts to crucial water supplies. The size of fields intended for almonds, rice, wine grapes and other crops left unworked could be around 800,000 acres, double the size of last year and the most in at least several decades, said Josue Medellin-Azuara, an associate professor at University of California Merced.

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Aquafornia news July 18, 2022 San Francisco Chronicle

California is desperate to stop mega-fires. But controversy rages over tree thinning

Firefighters in Yosemite National Park have been celebrated for preventing this month’s Washburn Fire from destroying the nearly 3,000-year-old giant sequoias at Mariposa Grove. But it wasn’t just hand tools and hose lines that kept the fire at bay. Past forestry projects, which slashed the amount of brush and trees fueling the flames, made the job much easier, park officials say. And yet, the topic of forest management remains a fraught one in California, especially in Yosemite.

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  • ZME Science: California is losing its trees — perhaps permanently — as climate change is shifting its ecosystems
  • The Nature Conservancy: Let’s fight fire with fire - There is a future where fire restores our forests instead of destroying them
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Aquafornia news July 18, 2022 Weather West

Blog: Slow-building heatwave across interior; possible very hot end to July with fire season accelerating

[A] very prolonged (2-3+ weeks in some areas) period of very hot conditions can be expected from the Plains states to the interior West. This, in combination with the subsequent suppression of monsoon precipitation, will probably push fire season into high gear across the interior Western forests that have already been suffering from extreme to unprecedented drought. It is also, decidedly, not great news for the Colorado River Basin–where the water crisis is now rapidly worsening. At the moment, I do not expect California to be at the epicenter of this heatwave–while record high temperatures are likely in some other parts of the U.S. with this event, they are somewhat less likely during this event in California.

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  • KTLA – Los Angeles: Why a triple-dip La Niña could be bad news for California
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Aquafornia news July 18, 2022 Ag Info

Delta smelt: CA wants to “step away” from single-species management

A small fish called the Delta Smelt has been a big topic for farmers in California, as the state cites its 2016 Delta Smelt Resiliency Strategy for limiting the amount of water from the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta, earmarked for agriculture. Wade Crowfoot, California Natural Resources Agency Secretary, spoke during the Western Food and Ag Issues Summit hosted by Agri-Pulse. He says although the state of California is bound by the federal Endangered Species Act to protect the fish, the agency is working towards a more encompassing solution.

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  • CA Department of Water Resources: State Celebrates Two Tidal Habitat Restoration Projects Benefitting Delta Smelt
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Aquafornia news July 18, 2022 Phys.org

‘Water police’ patrol drought-hit Los Angeles streets

Damon Ayala patrols the streets of drought-stricken Los Angeles every day, inspecting the sidewalks. Each time he sees a puddle, he stops. He is part of the city’s Department of Water and Power team, which looks into hundreds of community complaints filed by neighbors each week about water waste. … Ayala’s patrol comes as California and the western United States are in the grip of a severe, years-long drought. … With reservoirs and rivers at historic lows, Los Angeles authorities have brought in water restrictions, such as limiting lawn irrigation to as little as eight minutes, twice per week.

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  • Mendocino Voice: Mendocino County water restrictions in 2022: what you need to know
  • Stockton Record: Stockton declares Stage 2 Water Shortage Emergency, adds watering restrictions
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Aquafornia news July 18, 2022 Marin Independent Journal

Marin water district vets desalination, recycled water cost

The Marin Municipal Water District took a deeper look at some of the more complex and expensive options on the table for new supply: desalination plants and recycled water. The district board and consultants with the Jacobs Engineering firm held discussion Tuesday on the preliminary cost estimates, water yields and challenges of building desalination plants and expanding the district’s recycled water system.

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Aquafornia news July 18, 2022 Arizona Republic

Opinion: Saving water is complicated. Metro Phoenix can make this simpler

Most cities across metro Phoenix have enacted the first stages of their drought preparedness plans. It’s a smart move. Because even if those first stages don’t mandate action, they place more emphasis on saving water.  Which is a message we all need to hear. … It’s true. We could completely cut off taps across metro Phoenix and still not change the trajectory of shortages on the Colorado River. … Cities don’t use enough water to make up that difference. But saving water is still in our best interest …
-Written by Joanna Allhands, Arizona Republic columnist. 

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Aquafornia news July 18, 2022 KJZZ - Tempe, AZ

As drought worsens, will Arizonans see higher water bills?

The Colorado River is facing a catastrophic drought. But will a shrinking water supply mean higher utility bills for Arizonans?  The short answer is, yes. Arizonans are likely to see their water bills increase in coming years. But water experts say the long answer is a lot more complicated. … [Kathryn Sorensen, director of research at the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University and former director for Phoenix and Mesa’s water departments] said the Colorado River is facing severe shortages, but not everyone in Arizona is relying on Colorado River water to the same degree.

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  • KSUT: Blue Mesa Reservoir near Gunnison is threatened by longtime drought and downstream obligations
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Aquafornia news July 18, 2022 The Fresno Bee

Opinion: Valley residents key concern is having safe drinking water

Growing up in Dinuba, my family and I worried about whether the water coming out of our tap was safe to drink. We knew that our groundwater was likely contaminated by nitrates and other toxic chemicals from agriculture. Like many other immigrant families, we would fill up three 5-gallon containers of water at a vending machine station on a weekly basis. To this day, we still don’t trust that the water in our home is safe to drink.
-Written by Emmanuel Agraz Torres, an ambassador with California Environmental Voters Education Fund and a student at California State University, Fresno.

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Aquafornia news July 18, 2022 VC Star

Opinion: Mulch helps keep your trees, plants alive while saving water

As local gardeners and farmers look for ways to keep their fruit trees alive while meeting water conservation goals, they can consider the water savings gained by applying organic mulch, as documented in an influential 1999 University of California study. The study’s findings and recommendations have gained relevance today as water supplies tighten and watering restrictions take effect during the severe drought. … Rather than promoting growth, the main purposes of mulch are to reduce erosion, suppress weed growth, moderate soil temperature, and save water by retaining soil moisture.
-Written by David Goldstein, an environmental resource analyst with the Ventura County Public Works Agency​

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Aquafornia news July 18, 2022 Southern California News Group

Opinion: Build more houses! Use less water! California, can you have it both ways?

Thousands of new apartments will be built in Irvine, and this create cognitive dissonance for Stan Jones. The planned 24-acre lagoon at “Cotino, Storyliving by Disney” in Rancho Mirage, and the 17-acre Wavegarden Cove Pool and Resort in Palm Desert, do much the same for Paul Burt of San Pedro. Larry Anderson shakes his head, too. He tracks construction within a 40-mile radius of Hemet and counts more than 7,000 new units planned or already rising, even as the governor implores Californians to dramatically cut water use to deal with historic drought and officials scold us for falling short.
-Written by columnist Teri Sforza. 

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Aquafornia news July 18, 2022 CalMatters

Opinion: Every Californian holds the key to drought response

All Californians play a role in preserving and enhancing our water supplies for a drought-resilient future. California again is in a familiar state of drought, although not all communities are affected equally. Some regions are in extreme water shortage; others are not. We must address these differences. That starts with all Californians understanding where their water comes from and what they can do to use it wisely.
-Written by Steve Welch, general manager of the Contra Costa Water District; and Sandy Kerl, the general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority.

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Aquafornia news July 18, 2022 Daily Democrat

Woodland residents urge city for climate action during community input event

Nearly 50 Woodland residents and stakeholders took part in the city’s Sustainability Advisory Committee community input forum on the environment last week at the Leake Center, located inside the Woodland Public Library, located at 250 First St. … The range of topics discussed varied from water conservation to waste management to alternate modes of transportation and air quality, but they also frequently tied back into concerns over climate change.

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Aquafornia news July 18, 2022 On the Public Record

Blog: On your watch.

Yesterday Max Gomberg had his last day at the State Water Resources Control Board. He sent this on his last day, and cc’ed me. With his permission: Hello everyone:  I am sharing my parting thoughts because I believe in facing hard truths and difficult decisions. These are dark and uncertain times, both because fascists are regaining power and because climate change is rapidly decreasing the habitability of many places. Sadly, this state is not on a path towards steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions reductions, massive construction to alleviate the housing crisis, quickly and permanently reducing agriculture to manage the loss of water to aridification, and reducing law enforcement and carceral budgets and reallocating resources to programs that actually increase public health and safety.

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Aquafornia news July 15, 2022 San Francisco Chronicle

Friday Top of the Scroll: Third year of La Niña could deepen California drought

Climate scientists with the National Weather Service delivered disappointing news Thursday for anyone hoping for drought relief this fall or early winter. According to the weather service’s Climate Prediction Center, there’s a 62% to 66% chance that La Niña conditions will prevail in the Northern hemisphere until at least the end of 2022, marking the third straight year of the weather pattern. La Niña conditions, measured by surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, typically mean that there will be drier conditions in California, especially in the southern part of the state, though no one knows for certain.

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Aquafornia news July 15, 2022 Los Angeles Times

They sounded alarms about a coming Colorado River crisis. But warnings went unheeded

The Colorado River is approaching a breaking point, its reservoirs depleted and western states under pressure to drastically cut water use. It’s a crisis that scientists have long warned was coming. Years before the current shortage, scientists repeatedly alerted public officials who manage water supplies that the chronic overuse of the river combined with the effects of climate change would likely drain the Colorado’s reservoirs to dangerously low levels. But these warnings by various researchers — though discussed and considered by water managers — went largely unheeded.

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Aquafornia news July 15, 2022 San Francisco Chronicle

Terrifying video shows a glacier completely collapsing. Could that happen in California as the climate warms?

The avalanche seems to starts off slow, like whipped cream melting off a sundae. But the icy flow picks up speed as it heads downhill, crests an embankment and finally explodes into a huge cloud of ice particles that engulfs the hapless videographer — who miraculously survives — in seconds. The extraordinary footage was from a massive glacier collapse in Kyrgystan on July 8, and it was actually the second major avalanche caused by a glacier collapse in a single week. The first, which occurred in Italy’s Dolomites on July 3, killed 11. Could something similar happen in California, home to seven glaciers on Mount Shasta and many more along the crest of the Sierra Nevada?

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Aquafornia news July 15, 2022 NPR - WHYY

Climate change means some coastal groundwater may soon be too salty to drink. What can cities do?

Picture the ocean shore, but underground, there’s a line where the freshwater and the seawater meet, called the salt line. This salt line moves with the tides. But rising sea levels and an increase of people living by the shore tapping into freshwater underground can also pull more saltwater from the ocean toward the land. … [P]laces all around the U.S. and the world are now starting to study this problem. … California is going through drought conditions. Aridification refers to the climate getting drier in the long term, not just in seasonal drought cycles.

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Aquafornia news July 15, 2022 SJV Water

Vulnerable domestic wells will be focus of $10 million farmland retirement grant in Madera County

Three San Joaquin Valley water agencies are gearing up to spend $10 million each in grant funding from the state Department of Conservation to retire or repurpose farmland. Valley agencies that received grants so far include the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District, Pixley Irrigation District Groundwater Sustainbility Agency (GSA) and Madera County. SJV Water will look at how each agency plans to use its $10 million in separate articles.

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Aquafornia news July 15, 2022 California Department of Water Resources

News release: One year later, DWR has provided nearly half a billion in drought relief to communities

A year after receiving funding from the Budget Act of 2021, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) has successfully awarded more than $440 million to date in drought relief assistance to small and urban communities to address water supply challenges and help build local resilience. The Budget Act of 2021 allocated $500 million in total drought-relief funds to DWR following extreme dry conditions and Governor Newsom’s statewide drought emergency declaration.

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Aquafornia news July 15, 2022 PBS NewsHour

Environmentalists argue California home developments create wildfire risks

Preston Brown knows the risk of wildfire that comes with living in the rural, chaparral-lined hills of San Diego County. He’s lived there for 21 years and evacuated twice. That’s why he fiercely opposed a plan to build more than 1,100 homes in a fire-prone area he said would be difficult to evacuate safely. Brown sits on the local planning commission, and he said the additional people would clog the road out. … Opponents like Brown, a member of the Sierra Club and California Native Plant Society, scored a win last year.

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Aquafornia news July 15, 2022 ABC 10 - Sacramento

California’s drought: Could Sacramento get normal rainfall?

California as a whole continues to be in its third year of drought, but earlier in the water year, it had a strong chance to see a normal water year. After a strong atmospheric river arrived in October, the first month of the 2021-2022 water year. Forecast models from the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, showed the Sacramento region as having about an 80% chance of meeting an average water year.

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Aquafornia news July 15, 2022 Sacramento Business Journal

Sacramento’s almond industry poised to adapt to climate change

In California’s fields, farmers are already facing the impacts of climate change every day. They are heading into yet another potentially devastating fire year, and the third year in a row of drought.

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  • California Ag Info: California Drought Reaching Catastrophic Levels
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Aquafornia news July 15, 2022 California Trout

Blog: New actions for recovery of endangered winter-run Chinook salmon

For the first time since the construction of the Shasta Dam in the 1940s, endangered winter-run Chinook salmon have returned to the McCloud River upstream of Shasta Reservoir by way of egg release from a cohort of partners … Two-way trap and haul programs are a controversial recovery strategy with few, if any, programs exhibiting unambiguous success. Research … found that two-way trap and haul strategies have a number of uncertainties associated with them. The scientists recommend using extreme caution when employing such methods and clearly defining measureable success criteria.

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Aquafornia news July 15, 2022 KCET - Los Angeles

How a 19th-century drought gave us the L.A. we know today

1795 had been a drought year, as were the years between 1807 and 1809. Drought returned in 1822-1823, followed by floods in 1825, and three years of little rain from 1827 to 1829 and again in 1844-1846. Travel writer Emma Adams described the “annual panic” in Los Angeles when winter rains were overdue and “all classes of businessmen are at a white heat of anxiety.”

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Aquafornia news July 15, 2022 KUSI - San Diego

Efforts underway to replenish dying Salton Sea in Imperial Valley

It was once called the Salton Riviera and a miracle in the desert. The Salton Sea is different now; dead fish, decaying area, foul odor , and dangerous toxic fumes. It’s a wasteland. Once California’s largest lake, now it’s on the verge of extinction, many claiming it is beyond repair. Rodney Smith PhD., Managing Partner of the Sea To Sea Bi-National Canal Co., joined KUSI’s Logan Byrnes on “Good Evening San Diego” to discuss how he will save the dying Salton Sea.

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Aquafornia news July 15, 2022 Northern California Water Association

Blog: Watch these films! Floodplains reconnected

It may seem counterintuitive in this very dry year to be thinking and talking about floodplains; yet, these years highlight the importance of the floodplain in the Sacramento Valley and the opportunities we have in all years–including critically dry years–to reactivate our floodplains as part of ridgetop to river mouth water management. To learn more about these opportunities, we encourage you to grab some popcorn and watch several award-winning films that explore how reconnecting our landscape with our vital rivers can have a profound impact on recovery of endangered fish and wildlife populations in harmony with our cities, rural communities and farms. 

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Aquafornia news July 15, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Wild Rivers water park returns with promises to conserve

Starting Thursday, Southern Californians will see triple-digit temperatures as a heat wave sweeps into the weekend. The high temperatures will peak Saturday, and no one could be blamed for wanting to cool off in a pool or swish down a water slide. Earlier this month, Wild Rivers water park in Irvine reopened after an 11-year hiatus. The newly constructed 20-acre water park is nearly twice the size of its earlier iteration, but Wild Rivers reemerges in a drier California, at a time when the state’s largest reservoirs are at historic lows and water restrictions are in effect across the Golden State.

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Aquafornia news July 14, 2022 Record Searchlight

Thursday Top of the Scroll: Winter-run salmon return to McCloud River 77 years after Shasta Dam was built

As part of a long-term effort to return winter-run chinook salmon to the McCloud River, 20,000 salmon eggs were placed in the river for the first time since Shasta Dam was built in the early 1940s. The fertilized eggs were placed in a special incubator to keep them safe until the eggs hatch, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. After they hatch, the young fish will later be trapped in the river and then released downstream of the dam so they can migrate out to the ocean.

Related article: 

  • CA Department of Fish and Wildlife: Partners Return Winter-Run Chinook Salmon Eggs To McCloud River: Drought Action Moves Endangered Salmon Back Into Their Historical Habitat For First Time Since Construction Of Shasta Dam
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Aquafornia news July 14, 2022 Los Angeles Times

On a brutal summer day, one California town ran out of water. Then the fire came

There is a state mandate to consolidate [small] water systems with larger nearby communities by 2024. But that wasn’t soon enough for East Orosi, an unincorporated Tulare County hamlet southeast of Fresno. The water went off Tuesday afternoon. A temporary fix allowed the water to run sporadically on Wednesday. By then, a family had lost their home to a fire they had no water to fight. Children had spent a day scrambling to keep pets and livestock from dying. And in this community that already depends on bottled water for drinking, everyone knew the taps could soon go dry again. 

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Aquafornia news July 14, 2022 Sacramento Bee

Porta potties and dirty buses: Hearst Castle cuts down water use in response to drought

Visitors to Hearst Castle can expect to see some changes as California combats its worst drought in years. California State Parks is implementing stage 3 of its drought contingency plan in an effort to cut back on water use at the former San Simeon estate of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. It’s the highest stage in State Parks’ drought contingency plan for the Castle. The agency’s efforts mirror how the entire state of California has worked to reduce water consumption during the driest megadrought in the West in 1,200 years.

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Aquafornia news July 14, 2022 Fresh Water News

Two new Colorado River reservoirs are rising on the Front Range, are they the last of their kind?

As two major new water storage projects designed to capture the flows of the drought-strapped Colorado River are rising on Colorado’s urban Front Range, observers say they represent the end of an era on the river. The projects, Northern Water’s Chimney Hollow Reservoir west of Berthoud, and Denver Water’s Gross Reservoir Expansion, in Western Boulder County, both more than 20 years in the making, will store an additional 167,000 acre-feet of water, the majority from the Colorado River. That’s enough water for more than 320,000 new homes.

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Aquafornia news July 14, 2022 Produce Blue Book

Agriculture minus three basic things

American agriculture is going to have to do without three things that it has long taken for granted, according to a recent article by Chloe Sorvino, who leads food and agriculture coverage for Forbes. Those things are cheap energy, free water, and a reliable climate…. Permanent crops are obviously more vulnerable than annual ones. If the latter are plowed under or the land for them is fallowed, there is always next year. But trees and vines take a certain number of years to mature and produce. To say that water in California is free is simply not true.

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Aquafornia news July 14, 2022 Dana Point Times

Orange County Grand Jury says county needs consolidated approach to water

Orange County needs a unified approach to water conservation and drought as California faces the driest 22-year period in over a thousand years, the Orange County Grand Jury recommended in a new report published late last month. The June 22 Grand Jury report stated that Orange County water providers need to “consolidate their resources and establish a unified voice to lead the County more efficiently in its water policies and planning.” Orange County has two water supply agencies: Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) and Orange County Water District (OCWD).

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Aquafornia news July 14, 2022 Eos

New research: Atmospheric rivers help coastal wetlands build up sediment

Extreme precipitation from hurricanes and atmospheric rivers can lead to increased flooding in the world’s coastal zones, where more than 630 million people reside. Tidal marshes act as important buffers in these areas, absorbing the initial impact of storm surges and strong winds. In addition, tidal marsh ecosystems rely on storm events to deposit sediments that help with marsh accretion. In a new study, Thorne et al. focused on tidal marsh accretion and elevation change in the San Francisco Bay after an atmospheric river event in 2016-2017. 

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Aquafornia news July 14, 2022 Byron-Bethany Irrigation District

Alert: State lifts curtailments

Just days after ordering the Byron-Bethany Irrigation District (BBID) to shut off its pumps and halt water deliveries at the height of the growing season, the State Water Resources Control Board (Board) lifted the curtailments of BBID’s water rights. At 4:07 on Tuesday, the Board issued a Drought Update advising that the pre-1914 water right serving much of BBID’s service area, and the post-1914 water right serving the District’s West Side Service Area, are no longer curtailed.

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Aquafornia news July 14, 2022 Fronteras

Gray water’s untapped potential is clouded by complexity

Every day, Arizonans dump a small flood of drinking water down the drain, whether by running the shower or washing their clothes. It seems like an untapped reservoir for water conservation: Unlike “black water” — from sewage, kitchen sinks and dishwashers — much of the “gray water” from clothes washers, bathtubs, showers or sinks remains clean enough for other household uses. … Although the state has some loose guidelines for gray water systems, homeowners can install them with little or no oversight …

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Aquafornia news July 14, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Times photographer embarked on a watershed journey

It was late 2020, less than a year into the pandemic, but Luis Sinco wasn’t thinking about COVID-19. He was overwhelmed by catastrophe. Fires were burning, glaciers were melting, and the West was again in drought. But from talking to his kids and friends and people around him, the award-winning Times photographer sensed little dire urgency, little connection between the climate crisis and the routines of everyday life. … [Sinco] set off on his own. In between assignments, he traveled roughly 1,500 miles, from the river’s headwaters in the Rocky Mountains down to where the Colorado once regularly reached its terminus, in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico.

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Aquafornia news July 14, 2022 FairPlanet

Tapping solar canals

In California, climate change is already a reality. Annual devastating wildfires, years long droughts and over-pumped groundwater systems are symptoms of the onset of a global environmental catastrophe. Researchers worldwide are desperately looking for ways to avert the worst case scenario and, should it already be too late, deal with the new environmental challenges in the most effective way possible. The Solar Canal Project, a kilometer-long network of irrigation canals in California which will be used to generate renewable energy, is emerging as one promising solution to these challenges.

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Aquafornia news July 14, 2022 Mendocino Voice

Mendocino County BOS looks to regulate private extraction, sale of groundwater

After a long back-and-forth on Tuesday afternoon, all but one Mendocino County supervisor approved a draft of a water hauling ordinance created by concerned community members.  The ordinance draft will move on to the planning commission for review, despite lingering questions around how to fund it. Board Chair Ted Williams voted against the ordinance because of those concerns. The ordinance’s purpose is to protect the county’s groundwater resources by regulating the sale and transport of groundwater from private wells. 

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Aquafornia news July 14, 2022 Visalia Times Delta

Yosemite fire supercharged by climate change threatens giant sequoias

A wildfire that threatened a grove of California’s giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park was burning eastward into the Sierra National Forest on Wednesday. The Washburn Fire is one of dozens of blazes chewing through drought-parched terrain in the Western U.S. It has increased in size to more than 5.8 square miles, pushing containment from 22% down to 17%.

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Aquafornia news July 14, 2022 The Log

Catalina Island and SoCal Edison’s desalination plants are quenching thirst

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Southern California Edison’s (SCE) first desalination plant on Catalina Island. The desalination process strips salt out of ocean water from two underground saltwater beach wells to make it drinkable. The desalination plant was considered a developing technology in 1992. It was the first ocean water to drinking water plant on the West Coast and one of the first prototypes in the country. SCE built the first desalination plant in response to the development of the nearby Hamilton Cove condominiums and the drought in the late 1980s.

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Aquafornia news July 14, 2022 ABC7 - Los Angeles

Inspired by ‘Star Wars?’ Innovative technology allows you to drink water from thin air

As students at Kelly Elementary School in Compton finish up their P.E. class, they race over to their new Skywell Water Dispenser to fill up with cold, clean water. But it’s also water that doesn’t come from a pipe. Instead, quite literally from thin air! … Fresh drinking water made from thin air. … So, how does it work? ”It basically draws the ambient air in, and runs it across a cold surface,” said Dorfman. “When air gets to a certain temperature, it can no longer hold onto the moisture in it, and it basically drops into a lower tank. We clean it, we pump it, and it’s ready to be dispensed.”

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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: L.A. water use plunges a record 9% as unprecedented water restrictions bring savings

Damon Ayala … is a member of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s water conservation response unit, and he spends his days patrolling the streets of L.A. looking for homes and businesses in violation of the new drought rules. The restrictions went into effect June 1 and include the city’s strictest-ever outdoor watering limitations…. During a board meeting Tuesday, DWP officials announced that demand for water from city residents plummeted 9% in June compared with the same month last year. It was the lowest water use for any June on record.

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  • Pasadena Now: Pasadena Water and Power Plans to Ratchet Up Water Restrictions: Once A Week Watering Beginning September 
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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 Monterey Weekly

Blog: We need more water in order to build more housing. But sometimes, the lack of water is a convenient excuse not to build.

David Schmalz here, thinking about the Seaside Basin, which, along with the Carmel River and recycled water from Pure Water Monterey, is one of three major water sources serving residents in the Monterey Peninsula.  Water is a highly complex topic on the Peninsula and in the county at large, and what follows is no exception. Still, it’s important: water facilitates life, and its availability, or lack thereof, changes the world we live in. It’s one fundamental reason we can, or cannot, build much-needed housing.  I’m thinking about the Seaside Basin for this reason: recent decisions made by the Seaside City Council, as it relates to that water supply, will have an impact on housing in the city in a major way. 

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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 The Guardian

As drought shrivels Lake Powell, millions face power crisis

Dwindling water levels at Lake Powell, which is now at 28% of its 24m acre-feet capacity, have put the Glen Canyon dam at risk. In March, water levels fell below 3,525 feet – considered a critical buffer to protect hydropower – for the first time. If the lake drops just another 32ft, the dam will no longer be able to generate power for the millions who rely on it…. The Bureau of Reclamation… forecasts that even with significant proposed cuts to water allowances there is a 23% chance power production could halt at dam in 2024 due to low water levels and that it is within the realm of possibility that it will happen as soon as July 2023.

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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 Los Angeles Times

How dangerous is extreme heat in your neighborhood?

Extreme heat is fueling more than 1,500 excess emergency room visits per “heat day” in Los Angeles County, with some neighborhoods facing far more danger than others, according to a new UCLA mapping tool. The heat map tracks the number and rate of excess emergency room visits on heat days down to the community level and highlights a stark disparity between wealthier, leafier neighborhoods and those that are home to fewer trees, more concrete and higher occurrences of underlying health issues. 

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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 Salt Lake Tribune

Yes, data centers use a lot of water. But a Utah company shows it doesn’t have to be that way.

Beyond all the gadgets, Novva offers one innovation that should at least pique the curiosity of Utah’s drought-stricken communities: Compared to most massive data centers around the state and the world, Novva uses a fraction of the water. There are those who might shrug off the center’s technology, like security drones so finely tuned they can detect vibrations that aren’t due to wind. Or those who turn up their nose at more data centers along the Wasatch Front, given the amount of land they consume and other environmental concerns. But with the rise of the internet, the surge of streaming, an influx of smart devices and a future of autonomous vehicles, big server farms are increasingly a mainstay of life.

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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 Reuters

Giant sequoias may benefit from fire in California’s Yosemite, official says

 The fire in California’s Yosemite National Park may benefit some of the world’s oldest giant sequoias by helping release seeds and clear debris from the forest floor, preventing more severe blazes that could wipe out many of the massive trees, an official said on Tuesday. The fire started on Thursday in the park’s Mariposa Grove, home to more than 500 mature giant sequoias, the largest tree species by mass. The trees have survived thousands of years despite regular fires touched off by lightning.

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  • Fresno Bee: Editorial - Environmentalists don’t like prescribed fires. Irony is that may save Yosemite’s sequoias
  • Mercury News: Yosemite fire - Why giant sequoia trees are surviving now when others died in recent fires
  • New York Times: Killing what saves us
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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 AccuWeather

Calif. farmer says worsening drought could have big impacts on consumers

As much of the Western United States suffers from drought and cities turn to water restrictions to help conserve water, farmers in California are becoming increasingly worried about how it will impact consumers around the country. Fresno County Farm Bureau CEO Ryan Jacobsen’s farmers in California’s Central Valley are preparing to harvest almonds in an area that produces about 80 percent of the state’s supply. … Jacobsen is a fourth-generation farmer on both sides of his family, meaning he and his ancestors have seen many good and bad years for harvesting.

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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 SJV Sun

Feds bump up supplies for Friant water users

Months after crying foul over a diversion of water resources, it appears that water agencies reliant on Friant Dam will see a boost in water supplies, Federal water officials announced on Friday. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation raised allocation to Class 1 contractors within the Friant Division of the Central Valley Project from 15 to 20 percent. Class 2 Friant contractors have not received an allocation for two straight years. The trend, Federal officials announced, will continue for the time being.

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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 NBC 7 - San Diego

San Diego City Council unanimously approves water rate hike to start 2023

The San Diego City Council unanimously approved the city’s second water rate hike in two years on Tuesday. In May, the San Diego County Water Authority proposed increasing its rates by about 5% for treated water and nearly 4% for untreated water, citing inflation, increased energy costs and rate hikes set by the Southern California Metropolitan Water District The city has said it would not pass on more than 3% of cost increases to customers.

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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 California Water Research

Blog: Expert panel recommended that Water Board require documentation of model weaknesses

On June 27, 2022, the legislature authorized the Acting State Auditor to perform an audit of the reasons for major errors Department of Water Resource’s snow runoff forecasts in 2021. The Department of Water Resources’ Director, Karla Nemeth, told the legislature that “the forecasting work is undertaken exclusively by the Department of Water Resources. The State Water Board is not responsible for this action and as such should not be a party to the audit.” The State Water Resource’s Control Board’s Executive Director, Eileen Sobeck, agreed.

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  • Sierra Nevada Conservancy: California’s 2021-22 snowpack – prelude to a drought
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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 Redheaded Blackbelt

Fish fight: Two new developments in the ongoing damming of the Eel via the Potter Valley hydropower project

There have been two developments in the ongoing saga of the Potter Valley hydropower project this week. The 20-year license has expired, but PG&E still owns and operates the project on an annual license. On Monday, PG&E submitted a rough schedule to surrender the license to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In a separate filing, PG&E argued that it should be allowed to continue operating the project under the biological protections that were attached to the license when it was issued in 2002.

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  • California Trout: News release - CalTrout & TU statement on PG&E’s Potter Valley Project
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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 Capitol Weekly

Blog: Desalination – Should California use the ocean to quench its thirst?

This May, the California Coastal Commission unanimously rejected the proposed $1.4 billion dollar Huntington Beach Desalination Plant for environmental reasons. Set on a low-lying coastal site, the Commission was concerned that the facility’s location exposed it to rising sea levels, and that its process for converting 50 million gallons of drinking water per day would harm marine life in 100 billion gallons of seawater each year. … Gov. Newsom supported the plant, calling desal “more tools in the tool kit,” … So who do you believe?

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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Blog: Feeling the effects of drought in the Twelfth District

At the San Francisco Fed, we are students of the economy. We monitor ongoing and future risks to the economy, including climate risk. The economic impacts of a changing climate—including the frequency and magnitude of severe weather events—affect each of our three core responsibilities: conducting monetary policy, regulating, and supervising the banking system, and ensuring a safe and sound payment system. … Of course, it’s not just California and Utah grappling with a record drought—impacts are being felt across the Twelfth District. According to the journal Nature Climate Change, the megadrought in the Western United States has produced the region’s driest two decades in at least 1,200 years

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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 Sierra Club

Blog: Mapping a state’s secret water

To survive this climate-changed future, the state needs to capture those torrents—and the tools to do so are right beneath our feet. In California, hidden under the ground are aquifers that have the capacity to store an estimated 1.3 billion acre-feet of water—26 times all of the state’s reservoirs combined. All California needs to do is guide the floods caused by torrential rainfall into the ground, instead of out to sea. … Here’s the problem: We don’t know where to build this infrastructure. Because we can’t see groundwater, our understanding of it—where it is, which direction it flows, and how it connects to the surface—is limited.

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  • Action News Now: Over $2.4 million in drought relief coming to Shasta County 
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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 MSN.com

Bay Area water agencies set to discuss severe drought conditions

The Bay Area’s largest water agencies on Tuesday were expected to assess their current drought situations and possibly discuss further restrictions on water use. Valley Water in the South Bay, which supplies water for thousands in the Santa Clara Valley, will report that between June 2021 and May 2022, customers used 3% less water compared to 2019. That’s far short of the 15% reduction goal set by the district’s board.

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Aquafornia news July 13, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Opinion: Can dowsers help us through the drought?

He walked to and fro, holding the rods parallel to the ground and several inches apart. Every once in a while, the rods crossed. In each spot where they did, he bent down and planted a little blue flag and said that’s where I’d likely find my bad pipe. “I thought that was voodoo,” I said politely. … Well, this piqued my interest, and I began to do a little digging of my own. Is there anything to dowsing, and if so, might a battalion of dowsers help get us through the drought by identifying underground aquifers and streams?
-Written by Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times columnist.

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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 Weather Underground

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: 2022 is California’s record driest year, so far, NOAA says

2022 is California’s driest first half of any year on record, according to a just released government summary. In data released on Monday, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information found that over the period from January through June precipitation in the state was the lowest on record dating to 1895. Elsewhere, Nevada had its second lowest precipitation tally, Utah its third least and Arizona its ninth lowest over the same period. Drought conditions had improved significantly at the end of 2021 as California received record snowfall in the Sierra. After a dry start to the year and now the dry season in place, drought conditions have worsened yet again.

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  • The Hill: Over three quarters of U.S. states experiencing some form of drought
  • Mashed: What You Need To Know About The Water Crisis On The West Coast 
  • NOAA: Exacerbated by a record-dry June, Alaskan wildfires grow at near-record pace
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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 KCRA - Sacramento

California officials study drought benefits of salinity barrier

On Monday, California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) released a draft Environmental Impacts Report, which looked into the benefits and potential negative impacts of repeated use of a temporary drought salinity barrier in the delta. This drought barrier is in the West False River. It is a wall of earth that helps to keep salt water from the Bay Area from infiltrating into the freshwater delta system during times of severe drought…. If the delta were to become contaminated with saltwater, millions would lose access to fresh drinking water, including farmers, who rely on the delta for irrigation.

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  • CA Department of Water Resources: DWR Releases Draft Environmental Impact Report for Future Drought Salinity Barriers
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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 Circle of Blue

Blog: “A new zone of uncertainty” – What West Virginia v. EPA means for water and environment

In a 6-3 decision last week, the Supreme Court restricted the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to curb climate pollution from power plants. … The decision leaves intact the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and even allows it to regulate power plants on a case-by-case basis. The greater significance of the case, rather, may be the new inroad it creates for challenges to environment and water protections…. Hesitancy on the part of federal agencies could be damaging for U.S. water issues, many of which cut across state boundaries. James Eklund, an environmental lawyer and architect of the Colorado Water Plan, said that ambitious action by the Bureau of Reclamation has been central to averting the worst water shortages in the American West.

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  • E&E News: When SCOTUS meets WOTUS 
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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 CNBC

California firefighters gain against Yosemite wildfire

California firefighters gained ground Monday in the battle against a wildfire that poses a threat to a grove of giant sequoias and a small community in Yosemite National Park. The Washburn Fire on the western flank of the Sierra Nevada had scorched about 4.2 square miles (10.9 square kilometers) but was 22% contained as of Monday night, according to an incident update. The fire was a threat to more than 500 mature sequoias in the park’s Mariposa Grove and the nearby community of Wawona, which has been evacuated.

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  • USDA Climate Hubs: Coping with Wildfire in California
  • Inside Climate News: Is burying power lines fire-prevention magic, or magical thinking?
  • Scientific American: Wildfires Followed by Severe Rain Will Become More Common
  • Sierra Nevada Ally: Why have all the trees been dying?
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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 The Sacramento Bee

New CA climate change tool shows heat projections by city

If the effects of climate change continue unchecked, Sacramento could exceed 90 degrees for about one-third of the calendar year beginning in 2035, and reach triple digits nearly 50 days a year by the middle of the century. That’s according to a new online tool created by the Public Health Institute, released Monday in collaboration with UCLA researchers. … Extreme heat indicators for those locations include projections of days above 100 degrees and above 90 degrees, for the periods of 2035 to 2064 and 2070 to 2099. The map shows Sacramento County is projected to average 49 days above 100 degrees and 122 days above 90 degrees for the period from 2035 to 2064. 

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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 CalMatters

California housing: Drought

As state officials and experts continue to push for more housing to address the state’s worsening affordability crisis, people often bring up another issue gripping California: drought. How is it that California Gov. Gavin Newsom can call for the creation of millions of new housing units while demanding that people cut back on long showers and watering their lawns? In fact, new research shows there’s plenty of water to accommodate the growing population as long as the decades-long trend of diminishing water use per capita continues. 

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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

News release: Shasta Dam construction relic emerges again in dry year

When Shasta Reservoir levels drop 90 feet down from the top of the dam remnants of the “head tower,” a structure used during the dam’s construction in the early 1940s, becomes visible. To locals and water wonks alike, it’s a reminder that it’s going to be another dry year. … The lake’s historic lowest level was in the summer of 1977 when it was down 230 feet below the dam’s crest. Last year’s lake level was the second lowest on record, and yes, the head tower was exposed — along with roads, train tunnels, and car bridges.

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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 Western Farm Press

Arizona to spend $1.2 billion on water security

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed B1740 yesterday, investing $1.2 billion over three years to fund projects that will bring additional water to the state to secure Arizona’s water future, improve existing water infrastructure and implement effective conservation tools. The projects will help ensure that Arizona families, businesses and agriculture continue to have adequate long-term water supplies.

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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 Desert Review

Calexico celebrates $28M in New River funding

After a decade of immense effort, the New River Project received $28 million in funding to begin the first phase of restoration said to bring public health safety and environmental justice to Calexico, Mexicali, and Baja California, at a press conference at the Women’s Improvement Club in Calexico July 7. Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia and Senator Ben Hueso, along with California Secretary for Environmental Protection Jared Blumenfeld and his team, were welcomed to The City of Calexico by the Mayor of Calexico, Javier Moreno. 

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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 U.S. Department of Agriculture

News release: Biden-Harris administration announces members to wildfire commission

Ten people from California — including a Placer County water manager, a North Coast tribal representative, and experts in fire science, prescribed fire and the health impacts of air pollution from wildfire – have been named as primary or alternate representatives to a new federal Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission. They are among 36 non-federal members, 11 federal members and three co-chairs on the commission, which will play a key role in recommending ways that federal agencies can better prevent, mitigate, suppress and manage wildland fires. It will also recommend policies and strategies on how to restore the lands affected by wildfire. 

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  • Placer County Water Agency: News release: PCWA General Manager Andy Fecko named to federal commission on wildland fire mitigation
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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 Cronkite News

Fissures appearing in southern Arizona as aquifers decline

Cities and agricultural operations across the West put intense pressure on groundwater supplies. In some rural regions, few rules govern how, when and how much water can be pumped. That’s true in rural southern Arizona, where wells are drying up as cities grow, large farms move in and the megadrought continues. … [Tara] Morrow and her neighbors are seeing the water wells they use for their basic needs – cooking, cleaning and showering – dry up as large farming operations move in and have to drill deeper for groundwater.

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  • Inverse: A Water Expert Reveals How Farmers Could Save U.S. Southwest Cities From Drought
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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Removing her Southern California lawn was therapy

Even here, in the scorching summer heat of Altadena, Seriina Covarrubias’ front yard feels cool and inviting under the dappled shade of a magnificent elm tree. … More than thirsty birds have flocked to her garden since she tore out her lawn and replaced it with mostly drought-tolerant plants native to Southern California. Other wildlife has returned, including lizards, ladybugs, praying mantises, bees and caterpillars. … Two years before the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California declared a water shortage emergency and ordered outdoor watering limited to two days a week, the couple knew they wanted to install plants that could endure the heat with little watering.

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  • CBS – Sacramento: ‘It Is What It Is’: Sacramento Residents Step Up Water Conservation Efforts As State Mulls Drought Measures
  • Manteca/Ripon Bulletin: Ripon to consider resolution ordering water conservation
     
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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 J. - Jewish News of Northern California

This ‘water warrior’ is walking 200 miles to trace East Bay water source

Where does your drinking water come from? Berkeley native and self-described “water warrior” Nina Gordon-Kirsch wants you to know. This month, Gordon-Kirsch, 33, is walking roughly 200 miles from her home in Oakland to the headwaters of the Mokelumne River, the source of drinking water for most of the East Bay. She aims to call attention to the knowledge gap between urban residents and their water, a resource she says is taken for granted.

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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 KJZZ

Every last drop: How much can at-home conservation impact Arizona’s water shortage?

The Southwest’s ongoing drought has put the spotlight on water conservation. Experts agree it’s an important part of the solution. But what does conservation mean to the average Arizonan? Shorter showers? No more grass lawns? What really matters might surprise you. Let’s say you’re standing at the kitchen sink with an empty peanut butter jar. You want to put it in the recycling bin, but you’re going to rinse it out first. Is it worth the water? In our daily lives, there are many ways to save water …

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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 Bloomberg

This old Bay Area golf course is now a nature preserve

In a rural Bay Area valley framed by redwood- and oak-covered hills, hawks circle above a meadow of native grasses where golf carts once trundled over acres of manicured, well-watered turf. Fairways are nothing but flowers now, and the remnant of a sand trap is a pop-up playground. Here and there, small stone obelisks inscribed with the words “San Geronimo Par 5” poke through a riot of yellow-and-white petals like signposts from a lost civilization. … The San Geronimo Golf Course in Marin County, California, though, isn’t being developed so much as devolved to a state of nature to build resilience to climate change and revive endangered salmon while creating a new public park.

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  • Marin Independent Journal: Opinion - Salmon protection agreement hamstrings fire safety efforts
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Aquafornia news July 12, 2022 CalMatters

Opinion: New state park could help California answer climate change

Los Angeles County has 25 state parks, recreation areas, historical sites and beaches. There are 24 more in Orange and San Diego counties. But in the eight counties of the San Joaquin Valley, which stretches from the Tehachapis to the northern edge of San Joaquin County, there are only 15 state sites, and only five of those are state parks.  That is about to change. In the budget just signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, enough money has been dedicated to start creating California’s first new state park since Fort Ord Dunes in Monterey County joined the system more than a decade ago.
-Written by Julie Rentner, president of River Partners, a nonprofit conservation organization; and Assemblymember Adam Gray, a Democrat representing Merced County and part of Stanislaus County, including Dos Rios Ranch.

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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 The Sacramento Bee

Monday Top of the Scroll: California urban water use shrank in May as drought wears on

Californians are starting to save water, but not enough to meet Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call for conservation in the face of one of the worst droughts in recorded history. Urban water use fell 3.1% in May compared to the 2020 baseline set by the governor, according to figures released Friday by the State Water Resources Control Board. While that’s well short of the 15% call issued by Newsom last July, it does show that Californians are beginning to heed the governor’s call for reduced consumption. Water use actually rose in March and April … preliminary results for June show that water usage fell by nearly 8% compared with two years ago.

Related articles: 

  • San Francisco Chronicle: Californians are starting to save water. Finally. And not much
  • Los Angeles Times: Tracking the California Drought
  • Noozhawk: Cities around Santa Barbara County limit irrigation, urge conservation amid drought
  • LA Daily News: You’re not saving enough water, Southern California
  • State Water Resources Control Board: Statewide urban water use 3.1% lower in May 2022 than water use in May 2020
  • KRCR: Update on City of Shasta Lake’s water situation
  • KNBC: Save water and money with these LADWP rebates and programs 
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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 Arizona Daily Star

Lower Colorado River farmers fear economic calamity from water cuts

Farmers along the Lower Colorado River in Southern Arizona and Southern California are bracing for severe reductions next year in their river water supplies — cuts they say could lead to widespread crop production cutbacks, major economic dislocation and, possibly, food shortages. “Mass fallowing” is a prime concern among representatives of several big irrigation districts along the river. The concern is growing as farm, city, state and federal officials seek to negotiate a compromise solution to carry out cuts in water use across the entire Colorado River Basin that were ordered last month by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. 

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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 CNN

Megadrought: As the West runs out of water, property owners and officials find ways around century-old laws

With a megadrought draining water reserves in the West, states are looking for alternatives to handle water rights, many of which were set more than 100 years ago when water supplies were far more abundant. Back then, just posting a sign next to a water diversion was enough to be considered a right, one which could still be honored now. But the climate crisis is now straining those rights. There just isn’t enough water in California to satisfy what’s been allotted on paper.

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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Hotter, drier conditions heighten danger as Yosemite fire threatens ancient sequoias

A fire threatening hundreds of ancient sequoias in Yosemite National Park continued to spread Sunday as firefighters braced for more difficult conditions this week with warmer and drier weather approaching. The Washburn fire had grown to at least 2,044 acres by Sunday evening and was burning on the southern end of the park near the historic Mariposa Grove, home to about 500 giant sequoias, officials said. The blaze is also threatening the community of Wawona and prompted officials to close Highway 41 near the south entrance to Henness Ridge Road.

Related articles: 

  • Los Angeles Times: Abraham Lincoln preserved majestic Yosemite sequoias. Now Washburn fire threatens them. 
  • SLO Tribune: Update - Washburn Fire in Yosemite National Park tops 2,000 acres as hotter weather looms
  • KCRA – Sacramento: How the climate crisis is forever changing our national parks
  • Lost Coast Outpost: Biden-Harris Administration Selects Karuk Tribal Leader to Serve on Federal Wildfire Commission
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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 Porterville Recorder

FWA announces allocation increase to 20 percent

Ask and ye shall receive — at least partially. And the Friant Water Authority is hopeful there’s more to come. FWA announced on Friday the Bureau of Reclamation has increased its 2022 water allocation for Friant Division Class 1 contractors from 15 to 20 percent. FWA added as in the past two years, Friant Division Class 2 contractors continued to received 0 percent, “which continues to reflect the hydrology for the 2022 water year is very dry.”

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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 Aspen Journalism

Recent drop in Lake Powell’s storage shows how much space sediment is taking up

The Bureau of Reclamation last week revised its data on the amount of water stored in Lake Powell, with a new, lower tally taking into account a 4% drop in the reservoir’s total available capacity between 1986 and 2018 due to sedimentation. Bureau data on the reservoir’s water-storage volume showed a loss of 443,000 acre-feet between June 30 and July 1 — a 6% drop in storage from 6.87 million acre-feet (which is 28.28% of live storage based on 1986 data) to 6.43 million (26.46% of full).   

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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 Lodi News

Water agencies once at odds collaborating on ‘Dream’ project

Historically, the relationship between the North San Joaquin Water Conservation District and the East Bay Municipal Utilities District has been tense at times, hindering the opportunity to collaborate on regional projects. The tension, NSJWCD attorney Jennifer Spaletta said, was over EBMUD building the Camanche and Pardee reservoirs and ending up with senior water rights along the Mokelumne River. But over the last two decades, the two agencies have worked to resolve their issues, and ultimately came to the mutual understanding that they needed to work together in order to solve future water supply challenges.

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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 Vogue

A new series, “Tokala,” spotlights BIPOC youth climate activists

At just seven years old, Hoopa activist and water protector Danielle Rey Frank attended her first protest on the Hoopa Valley Reservation in Northern California where she grew up. “I went to my first in-person water dam protest with my father,” says Frank, now 18. “It’s been an intergenerational fight to get these dams taken down. My great uncle was the one who actually proposed it—and the fight is still happening right now.” Since that first rally, Frank has been heavily involved in the fight to restore water levels in her community. “If these rivers dry up, the salmon will die, and we’re not going to be able to make baskets or do our traditional boat dances,” she says.

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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 Gizmodo

A devastating look at the impacts of wildfires beyond the burn

News coverage of wildfires tends to focus on the acute events: A blaze erupts, people are evacuated, homes burn down, sometimes lives are lost. And rightfully so—it’s important to know what’s happening as it’s happening. As a result though, there are lots of articles and images out that describe and show flames engulfing forests and communities, and wildlands firefighters battling active burns. But what’s left when the smoke clears? At minimum, it takes years for ecosystems to recover from the worst wildfires. Often, years means decades. One 2011 study found that desert environments need more than 65 years to fully re-establish after the flames …

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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 Olive Oil Times

Blog: Preliminary estimates suggest significant drop in California production

Olive oil pro­duc­tion in California is expected to drop sig­nif­i­cantly in the 2022/23 crop year com­pared with the pre­vi­ous har­vest. According to the Olive Oil Commission of California (OOCC), which rep­re­sents 90 per­cent of the Golden state’s pro­duc­tion, its mem­bers will pro­duce 1.8 mil­lion gal­lons (8.2 mil­lion liters) in the cur­rent crop year. Previously, OOCC mem­bers com­bined to pro­duce three mil­lion gal­lons (13.6 mil­lion liters) in 2021/22 … [P]ro­duc­ers faced a range of chal­lenges, from high winds dam­ag­ing trees dur­ing blos­som­ing to the state’s unre­lent­ing drought.

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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 Food and Environment Reporting Network

In Ojai, California, home of the Pixie tangerine, climate change has citrus farmers on edge

The climate in California’s Ojai Valley has been ideal for citrus, but that climate is changing—getting windier, drier, and hotter. A recent study showed that Ventura County’s temperature has warmed more in the last 125 years than any other county in the lower 48 states … 

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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 The Washington Post

The monsoon is delivering desperately needed rain to the Southwest

For about three months every year, the Desert Southwest turns into a magical landscape of pastel hues, arcing bolts of electricity and oases of life in an otherwise sandy, cactus-studded chaparral. Some communities pick up half of their annual rainfall in a few short afternoons, while others flood as dry arroyos transform into gushing rapids. The culprit? The Southwest monsoon — a seasonal wind shift that pumps both Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean moisture northward to New Mexico, Arizona and parts of Southern California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. 

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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 Los Angeles Times

How to tear out your lawn by yourself

You can almost hear it: the crunch of crisping lawns all over L.A., thanks to the ongoing drought and recent restrictions on outdoor watering. It’s no surprise, then, that many Angelenos are thinking seriously about ripping out their lawns in exchange for less thirsty landscapes and a $2-a-square-foot rebate from the Metropolitan Water District ($3 a square foot in Orange County). Hiring a landscape contractor can make the project much easier but far more expensive, even with MWD’s rebate (and potentially more in some jurisdictions), so some people, especially those with smaller yards, are considering the DIY approach.

Related article: 

  • Mercury News: Why planting trees to cool your garden is a good idea
  • San Francisco Chronicle: There’s a simple way to cut your water use — but many Californians don’t even know about it
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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 The Sacramento Bee

Sacramento’s drought level? Status map + no rain this summer

It is unlikely the Sacramento area will receive a substantial amount of rain anytime soon, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasts for this weekend show temperatures climbing above the average for this time of year which is around 94 degrees, weather service spokesman Craig Shoemaker said. And it’s expected to remain dry in the area for awhile. … This interactive map depicts drought status levels in Sacramento and throughout the country, using data from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

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  • Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes: Extended Lack of Atmospheric Rivers Driving California Drought
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  • USA Today: ‘Not much relief in sight’: Temperatures from powerful ‘heat dome’ lead to record-breaking highs
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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 Greeley Tribune

How this tribe survives in Colorado’s worst drought region with as little as 10% of its hard-won water supply

Ute Mountain Ute irrigation manager Michael Vicenti looked out from his reservation — toward the Navajos’ sacred “winged rock” and across the arid Southwest — then focused in front of his feet on three-foot-high stalks of blue corn. They stood straight. But these growing stalks, established on one inch of water per week, now would require twice that much. And Vicenti winced, confiding doubts about whether Ute farming can endure in a hotter, drier world. Each evening he calls operators of McPhee Reservoir to set the flow into a 39-mile clay canal — the Utes’ only source of water — and makes a difficult choice. Either he saves scarce water or he saves corn. 

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Aquafornia news July 11, 2022 The Ukiah Daily Journal

Opinion: Proposed law allows extra regulation of wells

The governor of our state and the state legislature are getting into the act of exercising never-before-seen public control of privately owned groundwater wells. Assemblyman Steve Bennett (D-Ventura) and representatives from Community Water Center (CWC) are sponsoring legislation that would change the way new and expanded water wells are approved in California, and focusing on areas that are experiencing rapid decline in groundwater reserves. … Bennett’s bill, AB 2201, took a step forward last week as it survived a fight in a California state Senate committee.
-Written by Jim Shields, editor and publisher of the Mendocino County Observer and district manager of the Laytonville County Water District.

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Aquafornia news July 8, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Friday Top of the Scroll: California deepens water cuts amid drought, hitting farms

California regulators have begun curtailing the water rights of many farms and irrigation districts along the Sacramento River, forcing growers to stop diverting water from the river and its tributaries. The order, which took effect Thursday, puts a hold on about 5,800 water rights across the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers’ watersheds, reflecting the severity of California’s extreme drought. Together with a similar order in June, the State Water Resources Control Board has now curtailed 9,842 water rights this year in the Sacramento and San Joaquin watersheds, more than half of the nearly 16,700 existing rights.

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  • KALW – San Francisco: California orders ban on pumping river water in Bay Area and San Joaquin Valley
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Aquafornia news July 8, 2022 The Gazette

Colorado tells Lower Basin states to cut water use to meet federal demand to conserve

Colorado has no plans to make additional cuts to water use next year to meet the Bureau of Reclamation’s demand to conserve millions of acre-feet of water, a step needed to preserve power production in Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Instead, Colorado officials insist that other states should do the cutting. … [Amy Ostdiek, a section chief with the Colorado Water Conservation Board,] told The Gazette the Upper Basin states — Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah — dramatically reduced their water use in 2021 because of drought conditions. …But, at the same time, total water use in the Lower Basin has not been cut enough to preserve levels in the lakes, said Ostdiek.

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  • St. George News: ‘It’s not doomsday yet’ for Lake Powell, but continuing drought poses litany of challenges 
  • Newsweek: Lake Mead Water Levels Dropping, Could Soon Be at Dead Pool Level
  • KJZZ: As the Colorado River falls, projects for new diversions remain
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Aquafornia news July 8, 2022 Los Angeles Times

L.A. wins water battle with Mono County amid worsening drought

A state appellate court has reversed a judge’s ruling that would have required the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to conduct an environmental review before making annual decisions about deliveries of water on pastureland it owns east of Yosemite. The city agency on Thursday said the previous ruling had “set an impossible standard” as it faces the complex challenges of servicing ratepayers and meeting environmental requirements in a time of drought, dwindling snowpack and changing water availability. 

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Aquafornia news July 8, 2022 NBC News

Wildfire closes Yosemite National Park’s famed Mariposa Grove, home to 500 giant sequoias

A wildfire has led to the closure of Yosemite National Park’s Mariposa Grove in California, home to over 500 towering sequoias, park officials announced Thursday. The Washburn Fire, which is burning near the lower part of Mariposa Grove, spans 60 to 70 acres, the park said on social media. … California has been ravaged by decimating wildfire seasons that last year burned more than 2.5 million acres in over 8,800 incidents and killed three people, according to Cal Fire’s 2021 data. 

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  • KAKE: Fire threatens Yosemite’s Mariposa Grove, home to more than 500 giant sequoia trees
  • Forbes: 65 Million Face Heat Warnings–And It Will Get Worse This Weekend
  • Herald & News: Fire season heating up in Klamath, Lake counties
  • San Francisco Chronicle: Effects of climate change in Yosemite on display during Congressional tour
  • Advanced Earth and Space Science: Losses of Tree Cover in California Driven by Increasing Fire Disturbance and Climate Stress
  • Lake County News: New Mendocino Land Trust conservation easement preserves nearly 6,000 acres in Eel River watershed
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Aquafornia news July 8, 2022 Colorado Sun

How much water can be saved on Colorado high country agricultural land?

In the middle of 300 acres of picturesque hay meadows just north of Kremmling, not far from the headwaters of the Colorado River, a metal pillar surrounded by fencing rises 10 feet from the ground. It looks something like a miniature cellphone tower with various technical instruments and antennas jutting out at the top. … It is providing farmers and researchers with critical information about how much water Colorado agriculture could potentially conserve in the drought-stricken West.

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Aquafornia news July 8, 2022 Red Bluff Daily News

Moderate water shortage declared in Red Bluff; residents asked to cut back

With the City Council passing an ordinance declaring a stage II moderate water shortage Tuesday night, Red Bluff residents will be asked to cut back on their water usage. City water customers must refrain from landscape watering except between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m., equip any hose with a shutoff nozzle and promptly repair all leaks in plumbing fixtures, water lines and sprinkler systems. Residents will be prohibited from hosing off sidewalks, driveways and other hardscapes, washing vehicles with hoses not equipped with a shutoff nozzle …

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  • Los Altos Crier: Local water agency uses tech to limit water use 
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Aquafornia news July 8, 2022 NBC 7 San Diego

Stinky water coming from some San Diego taps isn’t harmful, city says

Too many San Diegans smelled something funky last week when they turned on their water faucets. Turns out there was something funky growing in nearby Lake Murray Reservoir. Biologist Peter Vroom, Ph.D. with the city’s Public Utilities Department said an algal bloom formed in the lake after the weather turned warm for a sustained period of time. … MIB is one of the hardest things to remove during the water treatment process before it is piped to homes and businesses, according to Dr. Vroom. Vroom said the city tests its reservoirs for these issues every week, and said the naturally-forming MIB is not going to hurt anyone.

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Aquafornia news July 8, 2022 E&E News

California lawmaker nabs Natural Resources slot

California’s newest member of Congress will be serving on the House Natural Resources Committee. Rep. Connie Conway, a Republican who represents the 22nd District in the agriculture-heavy Central Valley, got assigned to Natural Resources by House GOP leadership, Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) the ranking member of the committee, announced today. In a statement, Conway said that she understood “the diverse water and energy challenges impacting the livelihoods of Central Valley residents and farmers.” She added that she looked forward to “working with my colleagues to address the drought and rising energy costs by modernizing outdated environmental laws and improving water storage infrastructure.”

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  • SJV Water: Valley pols to give water update
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Aquafornia news July 8, 2022 Press Democrat

Signs of blue-green algae at Villa Grand beach just one of many local drought impacts discussed in town hall

Sonoma County health officials posted warnings at a lower Russian River beach on Thursday after finding cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, in the water off shore. Test results from samples collected by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board were not available Thursday evening, so it was unclear if any toxins were associated with the substance found off Patterson Point in Villa Grande. But anyone visiting the beach was advised to be alert to any slimy mats and practice care in recreating. 

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Aquafornia news July 8, 2022 The Hill

Predator fish penetrate last precarious preserve

A virulent and voracious species of invasive fish has penetrated the ecologically delicate waterways of the lower Colorado River, The Associated Press reported.  The presence of smallmouth bass below the critical barrier of the Glen Canyon dam means an existential threat to chub, an ancient native fish, according to the AP.  Wildlife biologists have long dreaded the day when the bass — a sport fish introduced into the freshwater lakes of the West — would make it through the dam to attack the threatened chub, as we reported in June. 

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Aquafornia news July 8, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Laguna Beach OKs expansion, water recycling plans proposed by Marine Mammal Center

Despite being completely landlocked, Laguna Beach’s nonprofit Pacific Marine Mammal Center — which coordinates the rescue, rehabilitation and release of ill or injured seals and sea lions — is the second largest consumer of water in the city after the municipality itself. The smallish Laguna Canyon Road facility uses up to 17,000 gallons of water each day in the maintenance of seven onsite pools, not to mention furnishing the needs of the many recuperating pinnipeds in residence there. But an ambitious new expansion plan, key portions of which were unanimously approved Wednesday by members of the Laguna Beach Planning Commission, aims to cut that consumption by up to 90% with the installation of a new water reclamation facility.

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Aquafornia news July 8, 2022 Marketshare

KESQ Palm Springs examines what happened to California’s largest lake

In the 1960s, Hollywood flocked to its shores. Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis and the Beach Boys partied at the lake. But by 1985, the tourist industry was over and the heyday of Old Hollywood was gone. Just a short drive south of Palm Springs, you’ll find California’s largest lake, the Salton Sea. Back in its heyday, hundreds of thousands of people visited the area, attracting more visitors than Yosemite Park at the time. Fishing, water-skiing and boat-racing reigned on high, earning the lake the nickname “the fastest body of water.” 

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Aquafornia news July 7, 2022 SJV Water

Thursday Top of the Scroll: Farmers who helped sink the Friant-Kern Canal reject a fee to pay off their share of the fix

Farmers in southern Tulare County on June 30 soundly rejected a proposed land fee that would have helped pay a lump sum settlement of  $125 million toward fixing the Friant-Kern Canal, which has sunk because of excessive groundwater pumping. The Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency agreed in 2020 to pay a portion of the cost to repair the canal to Friant Water Authority. … The settlement agreement between Eastern Tule and Friant laid out two payment options. The GSA would either pay a lump sum of $125 million by the end of 2022, or $200 million over the next decade through pumping fees charged to its farmers.

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Aquafornia news July 7, 2022 The Sun-Gazette Newspaper

East Valley farmers and cities may get more surface water this summer

Farmers and cities on the east side of the Valley may get more water than they originally thought.  Friant Water Authority, which operates the Friant-Kern Canal, said in a recent memo on its website it is confident its contractors will not only get the 15% allocation of surface water deliveries announced in February but that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will likely increase the amount to 20%, possibly as early as this week. … Better snow and rainfall in the Sacramento area late in the spring has allowed the Bureau of Reclamation to budget more water to be delivered to the San Joaquin Exchange Contractors …

Related articles: 

  • California Ag Today: American Farm Bureau Drought Survey
  • TurnTo23 – Bakersfield: Drought continues to affect crops, dairy in California
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Aquafornia news July 7, 2022 Riverbank News

Drought concerns deepen as snowpack melts away

The snowpack on the far reaches of the Stanislaus River watershed in late June was as anemic as it gets in mid-August. Atop the 11,404-foot summit of Sonora Peak — the highest and eastern most point where water from melting snow makes its way into the middle fork of the Stanislaus River — the view was reminiscent of a typical precipitation year leading up to Labor Day and not the Fourth of July weekend. Small splotches and not wide swaths of snow were on the horizon looking south toward Yosemite. … This is the result of 60 percent of California being in an exceptional drought — as in exceptionally bad.

Related articles: 

  • Los Angeles Times: A year’s worth of California rainfall has gone missing
  • Associated Press: Warming world creates more hazards for Alpine glaciers
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Aquafornia news July 7, 2022 The Associated Press

Ducey signs $1.2B water plan as Arizona faces cutbacks

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation Wednesday that will provide $1.2 billion over three years to boost long-term water supplies for the desert state and implement conservation efforts that will see more immediate effects. The legislation that was hammered out over months during the just-completed legislative session is viewed as the most significant since the state implemented a groundwater protection plan in 1980. Climate change and a nearly 30-year drought forced the move, which comes as Arizona faces cutbacks in its Colorado River water supply and more loom.

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  • Futurity: More water evaporates from lakes than we thought​
  • Foothills Focus: City appears confident as water alarm shakes the West
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Aquafornia news July 7, 2022 Colorado Public Radio

Colorado outlines its plan for how the state will deal with water shortages worsened by climate change and population growth

Colorado’s water leaders have released an updated blueprint detailing how the state will manage and conserve water supplies as climate change and population growth strain the system in unprecedented ways. The first Colorado Water Plan was released in 2015 after back-to-back years of historic drought and sought to address the possibility that the state might not have enough water in the next few decades…. The reservoirs on the Colorado River, which starts in the mountains of Colorado and supplies more than 40 million people in the West with water, have hit critically low levels in the last year. 

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Aquafornia news July 7, 2022 Pacific Institute

Blog: Ensuring water conservation and efficiency programs are accessible to all—in California and beyond

Californians and others in the Western United States need to save water. This is true now amidst a historic megadrought, and it will continue to be true when this drought ends. But many water conservation and efficiency programs aren’t accessible to low-income households. … Making such programs more widely accessible would both help those struggling to afford their utility bills and save water. Notably, these water savings would occur immediately and into the future, helping provide immediate relief for households, as well as building long-term water resilience and contributing to system-wide affordability. 

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Aquafornia news July 7, 2022 Santa Cruz Good Times

Local water resource managers prepare for another dry summer

Summer is here, and water resource managers around the state are gearing up for another dry season. In Santa Cruz County, unique geology and three distinct basins make protecting the water supply a complicated and fractured process involving multiple water agencies. From the Pajaro Valley to the Santa Cruz Mountains, here’s what they’re doing.

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Aquafornia news July 7, 2022 Prism

Blog: Indigenous tribes and the environment pay the price for new reservoirs

A coalition led by Indigenous leaders from the Pit River, Hoopa Valley, Winnemem Wintu, Yurok, Karuk, Pomo, and Miwok Tribes, along with Indigenous scientists, and water protectors say that the Sites Reservoir is a continuation of the state’s original racist water policies, which prioritized dispossessing land from its Native stewards to fuel the economic interests of farmers and ranchers. Rather than manage water levels to prepare for climate impacts, the reservoir’s construction will likely exacerbate the very conditions of climate change that state officials argue it will protect against, like flooding, parched river beds, algal blooms, and other types of pollution. 

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Aquafornia news July 7, 2022 Petaluma Argus Courier

Oak Hill neighbors express concerns as Petaluma plans for new well

Petaluma residents neighboring a planned groundwater well project in the Oak Hill Park area are asking city leaders for more transparency and review before approving its construction, following concerns that the area’s foundation may be too fragile. The Oak Hill Municipal Well Project would install a well on a 5.58-acre, city-owned property at 35 Park Avenue, as city officials look to offset the need for purchased water and increase the reliability and diversity of local water supplies during the ongoing drought. But neighbors are concerned the well will have a negative impact on the environment and make way for sinkholes.

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  • Edhat: Groundwater sustainability fee adopted in Carpinteria
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Aquafornia news July 7, 2022 WaterWorld

Calif. invests $2M in urgent drought relief projects

California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced financial support to four urgent drought relief projects in Humboldt, Los Angeles, Modoc, Shasta, and Siskiyou counties through the Small Community Drought Relief Program. In coordination with the State Water Resources Control Board, DWR awarded $2 million in funding to support four projects that will improve drought resilience and address local water needs.

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Aquafornia news July 7, 2022 Spectrum News 1

The importance of watering trees during the drought

Trees are a very essential part of California’s infrastructure, with some of them taking 20 to 30 years to mature. Despite the drought, watering these important resources remains vital. … Trees in a drought should still be hand watered about twice a month at a minimum. During the hottest parts of the summer, and especially in hotter and dryer areas of California, trees need watering twice a week. … A mandatory two-day outdoor watering restriction took effect across Los Angeles on June 1 …

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Aquafornia news July 7, 2022 KCRW

Saltwater toilets and stormwater drains: How to beat drought

There are two schools of thought on how to navigate the West’s historic drought: Use less water or find new ways to make more of it usable. A few cities are trying to do both, and so far, it’s spared them from some of the most stringent drought restrictions. In the last drought, Santa Monica used to rely heavily on water imported from Northern California. But now less than half of Santa Monica’s water is imported, which spared them from the mandatory outdoor water restrictions that began at the beginning of June.

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Aquafornia news July 6, 2022 Mercury News

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: California is missing an entire year of rainfall since mid-2019, new figures show

California’s water issues may be complicated. But the rainfall shortage driving the state’s current drought comes down to basic math. … Over the three-year period that ended June 30, most Northern California cities received only about half to two-thirds of their historical average rainfall, according to data that [Jan Null, a meteorologist with Golden Gate Weather Services in Half Moon Bay] compiled. And each passing year without soaking winter rains has been steadily drying the state out a little more — further dropping reservoirs, parching soils and forests and depleting groundwater.

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  • Nature: ‘Snow droughts’ followed by extreme heat are striking more of the planet
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Aquafornia news July 6, 2022 Politico

The Southwest is bone dry. Now, a key water source is at risk.

California and six other Western states have less than 60 days to pull off a seemingly impossible feat: Cut a multi-way deal to dramatically reduce their consumption of water from the dangerously low Colorado River. If they don’t, the federal government will do it for them. A federal Bureau of Reclamation ultimatum last month, prompted by an extreme climate-change-induced drop in water levels at the nation’s largest reservoirs, reopens years of complicated agreements and political feuds among the communities whose livelihoods depend on the river. The deadline represents a crucial moment for the arid Southwest, which must now swiftly reckon with a problem that has been decades in the making.

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  • Arizona Republic: Editorial - How would the next Arizona governor handle a water crisis?
  • Summit Daily: Competing for resources, varying flows are expected of Colorado River Basin, draft water plan states
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Aquafornia news July 6, 2022 Sacramento Bee

There are no simple solutions to California’s complicated water problem. This is why

In March the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency invited the backers of Sites Reservoir — a mammoth water storage project in the Sacramento Valley that’s being personally led by [Fritz Durst, a farmer in Yolo County] — to apply for a $2.2 billion construction loan. … But the reservoir, planned for a spot straddling the Glenn-Colusa county line, 10 miles west of the Sacramento River, won’t dig California out of its current mega-drought. Even if all goes according to plan — a pretty big if — Sites wouldn’t finish construction until 2030. … The only way out of this, for the time being, is conservation, forcing farmers and homeowners alike to make do with less water.

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  • Ag Alert: Sites Authority closing in on fulfilling water promise
  • U.S. Bureau of Reclamation: Officials visit key water infrastructure sites in California amid extreme drought 
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Aquafornia news July 6, 2022 The 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. 

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Aquafornia news July 6, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Electra fire nears 4,000 acres, threatens power grid, officials say

A fast-growing wildfire burning along the border of Amador and Calaveras counties was poised to become one of the biggest of the season as it approached 4,000 acres Tuesday, prompting evacuations and contributing to widespread power outages across the region. The Electra fire ignited Monday afternoon near the North Fork of the Mokelumne River and spread quickly amid dry brush and steep terrain, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

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  • The Guardian: California - Explosive wildfire more than doubles in size overnight 
  • Sonoma Index-Tribune: How PG&E monitors tree death from the sky
  • New York Times: How to Prepare for California’s Wildfire Season
  • SF Gate: Evacuations lifted for Nelson Fire in California’s Solano County
  • AccuWeather: Return to Paradise - California town rebuilding to better withstand future wildfires
  • Washington Post: Summer in America is becoming hotter, longer and more dangerous
  • Tahoe Daily Tribune: Work begins this summer to rescue Hope Valley aspens
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Aquafornia news July 6, 2022 Herald and News

As wells run dry, Klamath County residents depend on a state program that trucks in water

Rhonda Nyseth’s well dried up on Sept. 15, 2021, nine months after she bought her house in Klamath Falls. … Last summer, she helped oversee the distribution of more than 100 water tanks, each holding 500-gallons, to residents in Klamath County with empty wells. Neighbors saw their wells dry up, but she thought if hers still had water by Sept. 1, after the heavy agricultural irrigation season, she wouldn’t be personally affected by the ongoing drought. Just a few weeks later, she was on the free water delivery list. She is among hundreds of people relying on weekly water deliveries through a state and county water program established to deal with the county’s third year of drought. 

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  • McClain Capital Press: A conversation with Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton about the Klamath Basin
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Aquafornia news July 6, 2022 Voice of OC

Is Poseidon’s Huntington Beach desal plant proposal gone for good?

After more than 20 years, a June letter to Southern California water officials might spell the end for the Poseidon Water company’s desalinated dreams in Huntington Beach, once and for all.  The fatal blow came in May, from within the Hilton in Costa Mesa, where California Coastal Commissioners unanimously rejected Poseidon’s bid to build a desalting plant by the AES generating station in the city’s south end. In striking the project down, commissioners cited what would be higher water rates, marine life loss, and impacts to poor households already living near industrial areas, from a project that would have taken 100 million daily gallons of seawater, desalted half of it, and discharged the other half back as saltier brine.

Related article: 

  • California Policy Center: The Abundance Choice – Part 11: The Desalination Option
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Aquafornia news July 6, 2022 High Country News

Can Arizona citizens use the tools of democracy to preserve the state’s dwindling water?

On a sunny morning in southern Arizona this spring, members of the Arizona Water Defenders gathered at a park in the small town of Douglas to answer residents’ questions about water — and to collect signatures for a citizen-led ballot initiative that would, for the first time, regulate the region’s aquifer. …The Arizona Water Defenders, a grassroots group, was formed in March 2021 by southeastern Arizona residents who were concerned about local wells going dry and increasingly visible ground fissures and land subsidence. … [I]n recent years, as large-scale dairy and nut producers have bought land in the area and drilled deep new wells, water table drawdown has become more noticeable and worrisome. 

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Aquafornia news July 6, 2022 The Guardian

Utah’s Great Salt Lake hits new historic low amid drought in western US

The Great Salt Lake has hit a new historic low for the second time in less than a year, a dire milestone as the US west continues to weather a historic mega-drought. The Utah department of natural resources said in a news release on Monday that the Great Salt Lake dipped over the weekend to 4,190.1ft (1,277.1 meters). … The giant lake near Salt Lake City is the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi. Its dwindling water levels have put millions of migrating birds at risk and threaten a lake-based economy that is worth an estimated $1.3bn in mineral extraction, brine shrimp and recreation. 

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Aquafornia news July 6, 2022 NPR

Airplanes shooting lasers sounds sci-fi, but in Colorado, it’s just science

Laser technology is being used to more accurately measure mountain snowpack — crucial information for farmers and water managers in drought-stricken areas like the Colorado River Basin. … Let’s escape now to Colorado, where some mountains are still covered with snow. Scientists there have been using lasers aimed from airplanes to assess how much water is in that snow. It’s crucial information for the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin. Stephanie Maltarich reports from high in the rocky mountains.

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Aquafornia news July 6, 2022 Escalon Times

Waterfowl breeding survey results show steep decrease

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has completed its 2022 waterfowl breeding population survey. The resulting data indicate the overall number of breeding ducks has decreased by 19 percent, including mallards that are the most abundant duck in the survey. … The full Breeding Population Survey Report, which can be found on the CDFW website, indicates the total number of ducks … is 30 percent below the long-term average. The estimated breeding population of mallards decreased from 239,830 in 2019 to 179,390 this year, which is below their long-term average. The decline is attributed to the ongoing drought and the loss of upland nesting habitat for ducks.

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Aquafornia news July 6, 2022 Fresh Plaza

California pistachio growers face more water challenges

The next six weeks, California pistachios will be on close watch around how much–if any, the current drought in the state is affecting its growth or “nut fill.” … So while some growers are located in areas with good groundwater and/or are receiving some supply of surface water, others have zero surface water and also limited sources of groundwater. … At the same time, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is starting to be implemented. This legislation, which passed in 2014, requires that all groundwater basins in California be sustainable and agencies were formed to ensure compliance with the act.

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  • California Department of Food & Agriculture: UC Study — drought to cause more than $1.3 billion in losses in Sacramento Valley
  • Your Central Valley: Central Valley tomato crop impacted by drought
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news July 6, 2022 Monterey Herald

Recycled water meeting Monterey Peninsula needs

Monterey Peninsula water officials are reporting that not only did they meet the obligation to provide the agreed-upon amount of water from the Pure Water Monterey water recycling project, they were able to bank more than 100 acre-feet in groundwater reserve. Pure Water Monterey — a project of Monterey One Water, the area’s wastewater service provider — takes recycled water that has been treated to a potable level and in a joint effort with the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District injects it into the Seaside Groundwater Basin for later extraction. 

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