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.
California is running out of water. That’s the harsh assessment
by experts who say 90% of the state is dealing with drought
conditions with the threat of mandatory statewide water
restrictions looming. The most glaring indications of the
drought in the Bay Area are the local reservoirs. The
reservoirs during the last drought were relatively full and
offered a temporary buffer to a major water shortage. That is
not the case this time around.
Could wastewater be the solution to our drought problems?
Valley Water thinks so and they are doubling down on it by
expanding their North San Jose advanced water purification
center and planning on building a new plant in Los Atos to
produce millions of gallons of purified drinking water. In the
heart of Silicon Valley, Valley Water is technology to lead the
county out of the drought.
Water districts in Riverside County have joined with districts
throughout the region to form a water banking program intended
to provide access to stored supplies in the event of drought,
it was announced Wednesday. … The Santa Ana River
Conservation & Conjunctive Use Program — SARCCUP — involves a
master compact … According to the agreement, SARCCUP
will ensure up to 137,000 acre-feet of water is set aside in
groundwater basins within the Santa Ana watershed, held in
reserve for hard times.
Area residents reviewed and learned about strategies for
groundwater sustainability on Sept. 16 at a pair of public
workshops. Representatives of the seven jurisdictions,
including Galt, that overlie the Cosumnes Subbasin set up
stations explaining the water situation in the region and the
methods proposed for stabilizing groundwater levels. Mark
Clarkson, Galt’s deputy public works director, attended the
meetings. He said Galt is in a position to “make a major
impact” on its area of the subbasin, given its more centralized
water infrastructure.
There have been plenty of historic structures revealed on
Northern California reservoirs as water continues to shrink
down to historically low levels. With multiple historic towns
sitting under the water at Shasta Lake, there have been plenty
to explore with this low water. One mysterious sunken boat is
recently turning heads on lake, leaving many to wonder what it
could possibly be. Jeremy Tuggle has been posting many of the
historic sites uncovered on Shasta Lake, including the sunken
boat near Bridge Bay Marina that certainly has a story behind
it.
For a year I have been tracking the progress of a Butte County
proposal to form a new water district. Named “Tuscan,” a name
that brims with ripe fruit and Italian luxury, the form of the
proposed district promises a bountiful harvest to two large
landowners—absentee corporations, in fact. It also promises to
leave Butte County’s water coffers empty and its aquifers dry.
In the 1950s, the seasons occurred in a predictable and
relatively even pattern in the Northern Hemisphere. … But
recently, the seasons have been out of whack. Over the past
seven decades, researchers found high summertime temperatures
are arriving earlier and lasting longer in the year because of
global warming. This summer was no exception. In
parts of California, which saw its hottest summer on record,
unusually warm temperatures arrived in May.
The Orange County Water District (OCWD, the District) and
regional water agencies worked together with the Metropolitan
Water District of Southern California (MWD) to reach a historic
agreement, the Santa Ana River Conservation and Conjunctive Use
Program (SARCCUP), to better prepare the region for future
droughts and promote water use efficiency in Orange, Riverside
and San Bernardino counties—an area serving millions of
customers.
Key staff from three water organizations along the Monterey
Peninsula have apparently reached an agreement on a deal that
will send hundreds of acre-feet of new water to California
American Water Co. for distribution up and down the Peninsula.
Monterey One Water, the Monterey Peninsula Water Management
District and Cal Am reached an agreement at a joint meeting
Wednesday whereby Cal Am agreed to purchase water from Monterey
One’s Pure Water Monterey expansion project.
For over three decades, Donald Sherman has been a local farmer
growing vegetable crops. It’s no secret California has been
dealing with the impact of the drought for several years, and
Sherman says he saw this coming about 20 years ago. … He says
that as small farmers, they don’t always have the resources to
keep up when wells begin running dry, and they have to be
mindful of how they use every drop of water.
Everyone in California has been asked to conserve water, but no
one is doing it better than one community in the North Bay.
Healdsburg has cut its water use in half. Lake Mendocino
provides the bulk of Healdsburg’s water, and early in the
summer there was talk of that lake simply running dry. Just the
thought of that scared this city into an aggressive
conservation plan. … Letting the park lawns die off was
only part of the answer. To cut overall water consumption in
half, Healdsburg set out to change the way residents think
about their own water use.
Although the current outlook for our water supply is pretty
grim in California, Sebastopol filmmaker Emmett Brennan hopes
to inspire, not depress, audiences with his new documentary,
“Reflection: A Walk with Water,” premiering at the Mill Valley
Film Festival Oct. 14 and 15. Environmental devastation, from
desertification and overdevelopment, was Brennan’s initial
motivation to make the movie. But instead of focusing on the
damage, he captures the efforts of people working to restore
and promote healthy water systems, from Santa Rosa ranchers and
Ojai farmers to L.A. greywater ecologists and Sonoma soil
experts.
Fire officials ordered more evacuations around the Tahoe Basin
Sunday evening as crews dealt with a two-week old blaze they
said was “more aggressive than anticipated,” and continued to
edge toward the pristine waters of Lake Tahoe. … Flames
churned through mountains just a few miles southwest of the
Tahoe Basin, where thick smoke sent tourists packing at a time
when summer vacations would usually be in full swing ahead of
the Labor Day weekend.
Precipitation in California is highly variable from year to
year, and climate change is increasing this variability. … To
address this and other challenges, the state passed Assembly
Bill (AB) 1668 and Senate Bill (SB) 606 in June 2018. Known
jointly as the Water Conservation Legislation, these bills were
drafted in response of Governor Jerry Brown’s 2016 executive
order to “make water conservation a California way of life.”
There are six key components…
The U.S. government released projections Wednesday that
indicate an even more troubling outlook for a
river that serves 40 million people in the American West.
The Bureau of Reclamation recently declared the first-ever
shortage on the Colorado River, which means Arizona, Nevada and
Mexico will get less water than normal next year. By 2025,
there’s a 66% chance Lake Mead, a barometer for how much river
water some states get, will reach a level where California
would be in its second phase of cuts. The nation’s most
populated state has the most senior rights to river water.
An eye-catching takeaway from a graphic shared by the
California agency overseeing the state’s water supply: The
northern part of the state has generally done a better job of
cutting water use — whether by taking fewer showers or letting
lawns go dry — than the southern half amid historic drought
conditions and a call for voluntary reductions.
On the northern edge of the Mojave Desert, a new trauma has
awakened old concerns: What happens if a town’s water gets shut
off? …Perched on the edge of a mostly dry salt lake, Trona
has no source of clean water and for at least 70 years has
relied on groundwater pumped from wells 30 miles away in the
Indian Wells Valley….That source of water, however, is in
jeopardy due to legislation passed seven years ago in
Sacramento to protect aquifers throughout the state.
Billions of dollars that could cover the loss of burned vines
and smoke-tainted wine grapes. Hundreds of millions to help
with drought, and hundreds of millions more for hazardous fuels
management. The House on Tuesday passed a nearly $30 billion
disaster relief package that could be a godsend to Northern
California’s wildfire-ravaged and drought-stricken communities.
But in classic Washington fashion, there’s a catch — the money
is tied up in a partisan game of chicken.
Today local lawmakers toured the Kern Water Bank to see drought
impact firsthand. $50 million from the state budget is going to
fund Assembly Bill 252, which calls for land repurposing all to
focus on the drought and getting water flow back to where it
matters. … Farmers are faced with the harsh reality of
choosing to grow a crop on land that may not have enough water
to maintain it or keeping up fallow land that will sit empty
for the crop season.
New buildings will need to collect and reuse much more water
than what is required for existing buildings, after the San
Francisco Board of Supervisors approved new regulations
Tuesday. The ordinance more than doubles the amount of water
that new large buildings will be required to collect and reuse
on site, said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, its author. He said
it also directs the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
to come up with a plan for expanding The City’s supply and use
of recycled water.
The creeks are desert-dry, the reservoirs are frighteningly
low, and now 150,000 tons of rock have been dumped into the
Delta. During a typical summer, carefully coordinated releases
from upstream dams help keep saltwater from intruding too far
into the interior Delta, where it could threaten the state’s
water supply. But this is not a typical year, and by early May
state water managers realized they wouldn’t have enough storage
to maintain the standard hydraulic salinity barrier. So they
resorted to rocks instead.
Peninsular Bighorn Sheep were listed as an endangered species
in 1998 due to habitat loss and human disturbance, but this
year it might be human intervention that keeps them from dying
of dehydration. …Scientists in the Anza Borrego Desert State
Park believe even the loss of a few sheep because of extremes
drought conditions could be tragic for the recovery of the
peninsular herd. With that in mind, several volunteer groups,
multiple state agencies and the US Marine corps are working
together to transport millions of gallons of water directly to
all desert wildlife, in this case, deep into the park by
helicopter.
Water is a marquee issue in Monterey County. But when it comes
to private ownership of desalination plants, something
currently prohibited under local law, county lawmakers are
divided. For some, private ownership goes against the will of
voters and could trigger a future of lengthy legal battles. For
others, private ownership offers a chance for market
competition and an accelerated path toward solving the county’s
water shortages.
The public is being warned to avoid contact with the water at
Pyramid Lake in Los Angeles County, even as it and the nearby
Los Alamos Campground are slated to reopen Thursday. Widespread
California wildfires prompted the U.S. Forest Service to order
the recent closure of the lake and campground. However, the
presence of harmful blue-green algae in the lake has California
Department of Water Resources officials concerned about its
reopening.
With the dry years in California there is the expected
increased commentary on water issues. This commentary is across
the board from all sectors, and ranges from very factual
reports to significant hyperbole. As policy makers sort through
all this commentary, a famous passage by Theodore Roosevelt
referred to as “The Man in the Arena” may be helpful.
As the United States moves into the summer months, a recent
study examines whether a drought in California can be linked to
one in the Midwest. The Stanford-led study published in
Geophysical Research Letters finds that regions may fall victim
to water scarcity like dominos across the nation, the
university news service reported.
Californians reduced their water use at home by a meager 1.8%
statewide in July compared to last year, even after Gov. Gavin
Newsom urged residents to conserve 15% and drought continues to
spread across the state. Officials today warned water
providers south of the Delta who rely on state water
allocations — already slashed to 5% this year — to brace for
the possibility of zero supply next year.
Human-caused climate change has intensified the withering
drought gripping the Southwestern United States, the region’s
most severe on record, with precipitation at the lowest
20-month level documented since 1895, a U.S. government report
said on Tuesday. Over the same period, from January 2020
through August 2021, the region also experienced the
third-highest daily average temperatures measured since
record-keeping began near the end of the 19th century,
according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration’s (NOAA) drought task force.
Phoenix is a rapidly growing metropolitan area in a desert. As
the population increases, it will be more and more challenging
to supply water, food and energy — three essential resources
that are interconnected in complex and competing ways.
Removing salt and other impurities from sea-, ground- and
wastewater could solve the world’s looming freshwater crisis.
And yet, while industrial-scale seawater desalination plants do
exist in coastal areas where the freshwater challenge is most
acute, the process of making undrinkable water drinkable is
largely out of reach for inland water sources due to the high
cost of concentrate disposal.
Inside the tower is a U.S. Geological
Survey streamgage that will mark
its centennial year of monitoring the river on
October 1, 2021. At a time when jazz music was exploding
and liquor was
prohibited, the streamgage began
collecting information about the water’s
level and flow. USGS scientists chose the site in
1921 because it was readily accessible and strategically
located to study the hydrology of the Colorado River drainage
basin. Now, seven states within
the basin depend on the river for water
supply and hydropower production.
The Butte County Department of Water Resources has opened
several locations for residential well owners who need water to
pick up potable water in Chico and Oroville. Butte County said
it will verify residents are using the water for household uses
only. On July 20, the Butte County Board of Supervisors adopted
a resolution proclaiming a local emergency due to increased
reports of residential wells going dry from drought conditions.
The proclamation has given the county increased access to
resources to assist with dry wells.
Even if you’ve never heard of California’s San Joaquin Valley,
you’ve likely benefited from its existence. Its nut groves,
fruit and vegetable fields, and industrial-scale dairy
operations contribute mightily to the US food supply. So
it’s bad news for eaters that the valley has emerged in recent
decades as a site of intensifying climate chaos;
it’s reeling under the pressure of record heat, wildfire
smoke, and its second historic drought in a decade. It’s even
worse news for people who make the valley their home. Right
now, many are worried about access to one of life’s
necessities: drinking water.
In 2013 the El Dorado Irrigation District Board of Directors
adopted an Integrated Water Resources Master Plan, since
updated in 2015 and 2020. Meanwhile water demand has declined
since 2013. Three factors affected that: 1. New conservation
trends; 2. The 2014-16 drought; 3. Slower development growth.
In 2013 the master plan predicted water demand of 50,000-59,000
acre-feet of water. However, the most current estimate for 2025
is 34,740 acre-feet of demand.
Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), which arguably has one
of the world’s most mature water markets, serves as a useful
case study to identify some complexities of a market-based
approach to governing water. While it is a mature market on
account of some two decades of implementation, this is not to
imply that it is perfect – just that it is quite sophisticated
in its governance arrangements. There remains much room for
improvement however (see ACCC 2021). Its technical nature means
that some nuances of how it operates cannot be fully explained
in a brief article of this nature.
The Water Forum has been working closely with the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation to coordinate a response to drought conditions
and reduce impacts to regional water supplies and the health of
the Lower American River. We recently welcomed Kristin White,
Operations Manager for Reclamation’s Central Valley Project, to
provide an update on drought conditions in California and
across the Western United States at the Water Forum Drought
Plenary. What she shared was both stark and sobering. It was a
glimpse into the problems facing federal and state water
managers during this extraordinarily challenging water year.
After tabling the topic at a previous meeting, the City Council
will discuss an emergency resolution Tuesday that would create
a temporary emergency water usage policy for unincorporated
area residents without water. The initial residential water
rate for water made available will be $10 per every 1,000
gallons of water plus a $25 monthly administration fee. Some
property owners in the county’s unincorporated areas have told
the city their wells have gone dry. The Tehama County Board of
Supervisors and Corning City Council have approved temporary
water-sharing policies.
Have you ever thought about how much water it takes to power
one major sporting event? Think about all of those toilet
flushes, those beers, the grass irrigation and the concession
stands. That’s a ton of water. But one Major League Baseball
team, the San Francisco Giants, has figured out how to cut that
way back. … The San Francisco Giants estimate they’re
using about 33% to 50% less water irrigating the field, a big
deal considering droughts in California and around the country
are only expected to worsen as the climate change crisis
steepens.
Two major California water agencies have settled a lawsuit that
once threatened to derail a multi-state agreement to protect a
river that serves millions of people in the U.S. West amid
gripping drought. The Imperial Irrigation District, the largest
single recipient of Colorado River water, sued the Metropolitan
Water District twice in the past two years. The agencies
announced Monday they have reached a settlement that resolves
both lawsuits.
Marin County water officials are thinking of buying three
desalination plants to bolster local supplies, but they’re
facing an unlikely competitor — Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman. The Marin Municipal Water District, which
might deplete its reservoirs by next summer if the drought
continues, had considered renting two portable desalination
plants for nearly $30 million from Osmoflo, an Australian
company. Last week, the district staff said a third plant has
become available and that purchasing them might be less
expensive than renting.
Coffee farming in California has been something unheard of—an
anomaly at most—as coffee is traditionally grown in tropical,
humid climates throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, and
Africa. But [Chris] Bailey is part of an emerging group of
growers who in recent years have been populating the state’s
southern region under a brand named FRINJ coffee.
… At the same time, the entire state is
currently plagued by water scarcity …
As Arizona’s population continues to swell by record numbers,
cities and towns housing the transplants are looking for ways
to increase their water supply. That search has pitted the
growing Town of Queen Creek against counties along the Colorado
River. Cibola, Arizona in La Paz County sits near the
border with California directly on the river. The population
ranges from 250 to 350 people depending on the time of year
according to La Paz County Supervisor Holly Irwin. She
said the river gives life to the town’s two main industries of
recreation and farming.
There isn’t much in Cal-Nev-Ari besides a cluster of homes,
some businesses and an unpaved airstrip. But the town’s
new dominant property owner believes the desert outpost might
have something else: an underground river of sorts that doesn’t
run dry. Jerry Tyler, president of mining firm Heart of
Nature, told the Review-Journal last month that there appears
to be something like a river flowing beneath the remote
community south of Las Vegas and that it replenishes when water
is pumped out.
With the House of Representatives back in session, we are
pleased that one of the first items on its agenda will be
consideration of the bipartisan infrastructure bill approved by
the Senate last month. We hope our congressional
representatives used their summer break to experience firsthand
the desperate situation all Californians face. Wildfires
threaten communities, homes and lives; devastating drought is
hurting businesses, the environment and the farms Californians
count on to grow healthy food. -Written by Dan
Errotabere, a farmer in the San Joaquin Valley town of
Riverdale, and John Monroe, who farms near the town of
Arbuckle in the Sacramento Valley.
If you love the aesthetic of a full, brightly colored lawn but
are worried about water consumption or live in a drought-prone
area, conscientious planting and a few simple steps can help
create a luscious look without water waste. Across the United
States, native plants have become an increasingly popular
landscaping option, particularly in drier areas. Although they
can grow beautifully without a lot of maintenance in the right
areas, climate and soil nutrients affect their growth, so
native plants aren’t a one-size-fits-all option, even within
one state.
Last month, the Bureau of Reclamation declared the Colorado
River’s first shortage in CAP water deliveries, with the first
cuts in water use going into effect in January. With more water
shortages looming this is forcing desert dwellers to turn to
alternate supplies of water. Rain water harvesting is not a new
concept but local governments, utilities and individuals are
increasingly turning to rain to save the desert.
It’s the dead of autumn and there’s no sign that the California
drought will ease up. When wells run dry the immediate answer
is to dig a new one, but they’re expensive. In some parts of
the state there’s been an uptick in water theft, but in Central
California many homeowners are turning to a legal water
solution that’s not dependent on city water lines.
If next year is dry in California, modeling from the Bureau of
Reclamation (linked here, dated July 6, 2021) shows that Shasta
Reservoir would store nearly 750,000 acre feet less water in
April 2022 than it did in April 2014 – a year that was an
unmitigated disaster for fish and wildlife. The
operations presented in Reclamation’s modeling could lead to
extinction for winter-run Chinook salmon and other threatened
and endangered fish populations if next year is dry.
The federal government needs a new wildfire strategy,
particularly in the American West, and several members of
Congress are looking in the right direction with bills to
create a new Climate Conservation Corps (CCC). The proposed CCC
is modeled after the Civilian Conservation Corps that worked
effectively on soil conservation, water conservation, and
recreation projects from 1933 to 1942. The new CCC, drawing in
part on funding from the recent $1 trillion infrastructure
bill, could provide similarly effective work on public
lands. -Written by James R. Skillen, an associate professor of
environmental studies at Calvin University and director of the
Calvin University Ecosystem Preserve and Native Gardens.
You don’t forget pronghorn antelope. These Western icons with
their black horns and white rumps are blazingly fast — the
fastest land mammal in the Western Hemisphere — and they show
off that speed when they spot you, reaching 55 mph in an
eyeblink if they need to. But even they are not expected to be
fast enough to outrun climate change and drought in the
Southwest. By the end of the century, half of the pronghorn
populations in the region are expected to be gone, say federal
researchers.
To the north of the Yuba Watershed, the Dixie Fire has burned
nearly a million acres. To the south, the Caldor Fire has
destroyed hundreds of homes as it continues to burn near South
Lake Tahoe. Meanwhile, the Yuba Water Agency is leading an
effort to avoid similar catastrophic fire by focusing on a plan
to treat 275,000 acres in the Yuba Watershed.
The California drought has been brutal over the past few years,
but to see just how devastating it has been, you need to see
before-and-after pictures side by side. Bay Area News Group
photojournalist Nhat V. Meyer went out to the San Luis
Reservoir in Merced County this week and took pictures in
approximately the same places that he did in January 2019. The
reservoir is one of the largest in California. The results are
startling. It shows how California’s reservoir water levels are
way below what they should be at this time of year.
The global average temperature will rise 2.7 degrees Celsius by
century’s end even if all countries meet their promised
emissions cuts, a rise that is likely to worsen extreme
wildfires, droughts and floods, the United Nations said in a
report on Friday. That level of warming, measured against
preindustrial levels, is likely to increase the frequency of
deadly heat waves and threaten coastal cities with rising sea
levels, the country-by-country analysis concluded.
As California’s drought deepens, Sacramento residents are
falling short of meeting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call for water
conservation — at least so far. Area residents reduced water
usage by an average of 6% last month, compared to August 2020,
according to data released this week by the Sacramento Regional
Water Authority. That compares with the 15% voluntary goal
announced by Newsom in an executive order in July.
Napa County continues working on a state-required plan to
manage groundwater beneath world-famous wine country, but it’s
not easy and a Jan. 31 deadline looms. Stakes are high, given
groundwater is used to irrigate vineyards, run wineries, and
serve homes, as well as sustain the environment. The goal is to
make certain the vast underground reservoir is never pumped
dry. Napa County must do more than satisfy local
interests that it’s a good steward for the Napa Valley
subbasin.
Risk Rating 2.0 has been called the Federal Emergency
Management Agency’s (FEMA)’s most significant reform in 50
years. Roughly 77% of customers of the National Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP) nationwide will see increases in their
premiums, while the other ~23% will see reductions or no
change. FEMA will formally introduce Risk Rating 2.0 on
October 1, 2021, and most premium increases will kick in on
April 1, 2022.
Water prices are soaring in California’s Central Valley, where
a quarter of the nation’s food is grown. As the West Coast’s
megadrought worsens, one farming company has long been
scrutinized for its outsized role in the arid region’s water
supply. Wonderful, the closely held company owned by
billionaires Stewart and Lynda Resnick, can buy up huge amounts
of water whenever it needs more. Most of the Resnicks’ water
comes from long-term contracts and other water from land rights
they have from the farms they own.
Two water companies are supporting local and state officials in
assisting Lake County residents who are being affected by a
health advisory related to their private drinking water
intakes. On Wednesday evening, approximately 280 properties in
the Oaks and Lower Arms of Clear Lake that use a personal,
private intake to draw their household water directly from the
lake were advised by Public Health officials not to consume
their tap water, due to high cyanotoxin levels.
Sacramento County Regional Sanitation District (Regional San)
and Sacramento Area Sewer District (SASD) serve a 400-square
mile service area, providing public infrastructure and
municipal services to protect and enrich the daily lives of
more than 1.6 million Sacramento County residents. Over his
career, Prabhakar Somavarapu, former general manager of both
districts, oversaw one of the largest infrastructure projects
in Sacramento’s history, the $2 billion EchoWater Project…
San Francisco and several Central Valley irrigation districts
with water rights dating back more than a century are suing the
state for forcing water restrictions, as California deals with
a worsening drought. The lawsuit, filed earlier this month by
the San Joaquin Tributaries Authority, claims the State Water
Resources Control Board does not have the authority to tell
those with the most senior rights to water that they can’t draw
it from the Bay-Delta reservoirs, rivers and streams, even in
the case of drought.
The San Joaquin Valley town of Corcoran is sinking. It’s
fallen as much as 11.5 feet in some places, damaging drinking
wells, changing the town’s flood zones and undermining critical
infrastructure. The story is so dramatic that the New York
Times covered it recently. The culprit here, though, is
no ordinary villain – it’s the overpumping of
groundwater. Corcoran’s story, while extreme, is not
unique. Groundwater is an increasingly important – and
threatened – resource in California. -Written by Andrew Ayres, an economist and research fellow
at the Public Policy Institute of California’s Water Policy
Center, and Ellen Hanak, director of the PPIC’s Water Policy
Center.
The changing climate is everywhere Gustavo Carranza looks when
he walks through his undulating citrus farm here in this tiny
town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The summer
temperatures are consistently higher than they used to be. The
smoke from nearby wildfires fills the sky, obscuring the sun
and speckling his mandarin trees with delicate ash. And, most
concerning, the water he needs to run his 150-acre farm has
become so scarce …
Parts of the Pacific Northwest are under a fire weather watch
through Friday, when a combination of dry conditions, high
temperatures and low humidity are creating a breeding ground
for flames should any small fires ignite. But in just 48 hours’
time, those conditions will pull a meteorological U-turn as a
show of drenching rain arrives in coastal Washington, Oregon
and Northern California.
Back when the Colorado River Compact was being negotiated about
100 years ago, water was not viewed as a problem. Officials
deemed there was plenty to go around. Fast forward a century
and the seven Colorado River Basin states – particularly the
three lower basin states of California, Arizona, and Nevada –
are using more than the system can sustain….Chris Harris,
executive director of the Colorado River Board of California,
says the basin states must grapple with the “new normal” of
reduced flows in a river system once thought to provide ample
water for the West….Harris says it’s not just the
sustainability of the Colorado River system that needs
addressing, but the wider Western water reliability of the
federal Central Valley Project (CVP) and California’s State
Water Project (SWP).
After much wrangling over how lost farmland could be used for
other purposes — and what purposes they could be — growers who
lose farmland should now have a chance to receive the help they
need to use their land for other plans. The end result is a
bill that has passed the state legislature that keeps much of
the provisions of the original bill and also contains $50
million to help farmers use lost farmland for other purposes.
A Northern California federal judge ruled this month that
Siskiyou County officials cannot stop trucks delivering water
to Hmong unlicensed cannabis growers, writing that the ban
raises “serious questions” about their right to be free of
racial discrimination. In a decision handed down earlier
this month, Chief U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller wrote
that preventing the deliveries to the Mount Shasta Vista
subdivision in the Big Springs area of inland Northern
California also leaves the families living there without a
source of water for drinking, cooking and bathing.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday
issued a new emergency drinking water order to the Oasis
Mobile Home Park, requiring management to provide alternative
drinking water to residents, reduce the levels of arsenic in
the Oasis drinking water distribution system and monitor the
water for contamination. This is the third order the EPA
has issued to Oasis since August 2019.
[I]n June 2019, Monterey City Council voted 4-1 to rezone
commercial properties along the south side of Garden Road so
that they can be converted into multifamily residential units.
In so doing, the city would have a better chance of meeting the
state-mandated goal of adding 650 housing units by 2023. But
given the chronic water shortage on the Monterey Peninsula,
that plan has faced a challenge from the start.
Four LA Sanitation and Environment stormwater capture projects
were approved for funding on Wednesday, Sept. 15, by the Los
Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The board approved
the projects for a total of $50.7 million in funding through
the Los Angeles County Safe Clean Water 2021-22 Regional
Program, which is financed by revenues from Measure W, the
parcel tax measure approved by voters in 2018 for projects
increasing the water supply, improve water quality, protect
public health and provide community enhancements.
With 88% of California in extreme or exceptional drought
conditions, counties across the Bay Area are preparing for what
could be several more dry years to come. The Bay Area Council
hosted a panel Thursday to discuss the current conditions, and
solutions. … Reservoirs across the Bay Area, which
supply water for millions of residents, are increasingly
depleting. In Marin County, images of the Nicasio Reservoir
show it shockingly low.
For the Marin Municipal Water District directors to suggest we
build a $65 million pipeline across the Richmond-San Rafael
Bridge to harvest water from the Central Valley tells me they
are walking around with blinders on. We can’t keep expecting to
get water from somewhere else. You don’t have to go far to see
the impacts of the drought in the Central Valley. The water is
so low at Lake Oroville, the hydro plant may have to close. -Written by independent filmmaker Kristi Denton Cohen, a
Mill Valley resident.
The Bureau of Reclamation is collaborating with Natural
Resources Conservation Service to make federal funding
available to improve the efficiency of agricultural water use
throughout California. The projects funded through this
partnership will help communities build resilience to drought
through the modernization of water infrastructure and efficient
use of water resources.
The first Diablo winds of the season could arrive in the Bay
Area beginning Sunday night and into Monday morning — though
they’re unlikely to be as strong as in years past,
meteorologists said. The timeline for this year’s dry, offshore
winds has come about two weeks earlier than expected, said
Warren Blier, science officer for the National Weather Service.
The winds — which can spread fires and smoke in new directions
— typically start around the fall and come and go irregularly
through the spring.
Here we go again. We are being told California water supplies
are at risk and we need to start using less water under threat
of more mandatory water use restrictions. In 2019, we had one
of the wettest years on record. At the end of the 2019 water
year, major water storage reservoirs in California were at 125%
of average capacity. That was just two years ago. In 2019,
California had enough rainfall and snow pack to satisfy several
years of water supply demands if we had dams and reservoirs of
sufficient capacity to capture this life-giving resource. -Written by Steven Smith, Village News contributor.
Water transfers, trades and sales doubled this year as drought
left San Joaquin Valley farmers scrambling for supplies. …
[Sam Boland-Brien, program manager at the State Water Resources
Control Board’s Division of Water Rights] said he’s seen
about twice the amount of transfers this year compared to an
average water year.
Social media users are playing the blame game when it comes to
California’s drought. Read enough comments online and you’ll
see many similar responses blaming the state government for its
management of water: California should have more water storage.
California dumps water into the ocean. Northern California
sends too much water to Southern California. UC Davis experts
said those assertions are incorrect.
Ocean desalination has been named as one of the South Coast
Water District’s top priorities—even more so as California
undergoes an unprecedented water shortage. In 2008, a Pilot
Ocean Desalination Project was first initiated at Doheny State
Beach, and the facility operated successfully for 21 months
between 2010 and 2012. Subsequent to this effort, the District
has proceeded with planning for an Ocean Desalination
Facility.
To expedite the delivery of much-needed drinking water to
coastal Mendocino County residents whose wells have gone dry,
the California State Water Resources Control Board has amended
its previous curtailment orders to allow the city of Ukiah to
draw water from the Russian River for emergency supplies.
More than 94 percent of the West is in drought this week,
according to the US Drought Monitor, with six states entirely
in drought status: California, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and
Montana. Parts of the West saw record-setting rainfall that
brought some slight relief to the region, but most areas remain
dry. Against the backdrop of climate change-fueled drought,
wildfires have charred nearly 6 million acres of vegetation
across the region. Fire experts say that dry and windy
conditions create a prime environment for wildfires to spark
and spread.
The Valley’s best hope to renovate its water infrastructure has
been put on the shelf for now. Senate Bill (SB) 559, the State
Water Resiliency Act of 2021, was moved to the state Assembly’s
“inactive file” on Sept. 8. … As written SB 559 offered
a holisitic, statewide approach to help restore the conveyance
capacity by created a fund to provide up to $785 million to
repair key parts of the state’s water infrastructure.
Almonds in California are no longer sustainable at current
levels. That’s the consensus of recent headlines describing the
prolonged historic drought — and increasing restrictions on
water use — currently impacting the state’s $6 billion industry
and its efforts to produce 80 percent of the world’s
almonds. The U.S. Drought Monitor is showing California
to be slowly approaching 90% of the state categorized as being
in ‘extreme’ drought —especially in the Central Valley.
Utah’s drought-induced water crisis has softened somewhat after
a string of monsoons, but the state’s water supplies are far
from safe, with reservoirs across the state falling below 40%
full, state officials told lawmakers Tuesday. Only a massive
snowpack this winter can assure adequate supplies going into
next year, and even then, Utah’s water future remains uncertain
in the face of long-term drought and climate change. In
July the entire state was in extreme or exceptional drought and
Utah’s two largest lakes hit their lowest levels ever.
Water resources managers and the leaders in Northern California
continue to advance Ridgetop to River Mouth water management
… There are unique opportunities in the Sacramento River
Basin to advance ridgetop to river mouth water management,
which can best be envisioned by looking holistically at: 1)
headwaters and forest health, 2) floodplain reactivation for
public safety and fish and wildlife, 3) sustainable groundwater
management (including groundwater recharge and banking), 4)
healthy soils and farms; 5) safe drinking water; and 6) vital
rivers and streams.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, in an eagerly anticipated
announcement, outlined the initial 2016 water allocations from
the Central Valley Project, the federal government’s massive
network of reservoirs, pumps and canals.
The Foundation’s virtual journeys will whisk you away to
explore California’s key rivers and water regions this
fall from the Sacramento River to the headwaters in the
Sierras. Plus, our annual Water
Summit will feature water managers and other
water experts who are dealing with the “new normal” as
unprecedented drought and wildfires challenge the status
quo.
Removing four hydroelectric dams along the lower Klamath River
in Southern Oregon and Northern California is expected to cost
just under $434 million and could happen by 2022, according to
a new filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
A pair of environmental groups are developing a path for Los
Angeles residents to conserve water with a goal of using just
13 gallons per day, down from the current California average of
86 gallons, officials said Tuesday. … the U.S.
Green Building Council-Los Angeles is partnering with the 50
Liter Home Coalition to develop a plan.
This year’s wine harvest is well underway throughout
California, and vintners in some parts of the state say they’re
feeling the effects of climate change more acutely than ever.
The drought has left grapevines parched. Fruit yields
are dramatically low. Vines look visibly stressed. In some
vineyards, all of the grapes seem to be ripening all at once,
presenting winemakers with a logistical impossibility. And the
threat of wildfire — which, by this time last year, had ruined
grapes up and down the state with pernicious smoke — remains on
everyone’s mind.
States in the U.S. West that have agreed to begin taking less
water next month from the drought-stricken Colorado River got
praise and a push for more action Thursday from the nation’s
top water official. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner
Brenda Burman told federal, state and local water managers that
abiding by the promises they made will be crucial to ensuring
that more painful cuts aren’t required.
The scientific consensus is that human-caused climate change
has in recent decades raised average temperatures in the West
about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, and nearly two full degrees
on maximum temperature days, according to Matthew Lachniet, a
geoscience professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
The days of Coloradans putting off climate change as a worry
for hurricane-ravaged Louisiana or a water-challenged Middle
East now seem to be over. Following are just a few of the
ways “climate change now” made its full force known in the
Rocky Mountains this year and showed its impact on everyday
life.
A month after the Visalia City Council threw out a policy
designed to prevent urban sprawl, the Sierra Club is
threatening to sue the city over the change … requesting
an injunction against implementation of the new policy, which
does not include an ag mitigation policy (AMP). … The
city attorney advised the General Plan could be “modified” due
to changes in case law since 2014, such as the Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act which could affect the availability
of water to some farmland within the city’s growth boundaries.
A complex of lightning-sparked wildfires burning in
California’s Sierra Nevada has exploded in size, prompting
evacuations and the shutdown of Sequoia national park, where
the fire is burning close to the park’s namesake trees. The KNP
Complex fire, composed of the Paradise and Colony fires, took
hold in the dense, mountainous vegetation on 9 September. By
Wednesday morning, the blaze had scorched more than 7,000
acres….Fueled by higher temperatures and extreme drought
conditions, more than 7,400 wildfires have burned in California
this year, scorching more than 2.2m acres.
Various climate models differ on whether our area will get
slightly wetter or drier with rising temperatures. But they
have one prediction in common: greater extremes. Dry
years will be drier. Rainfall could come all at once in a few
large storms rather than spread across a season. … With
this in mind, water managers are designing and implementing
projects to capture, store and access clean water. Some
irrigation for crops in the Pajaro Valley might soon come from
lake water rather than groundwater. A project in Soquel will
use recycled water to replenish a groundwater basin. Another
project in Santa Cruz will inject excess runoff from winter
storms into wells.
San Diego County Water Authority this week issued a formal
Request for Proposals seeking a full-service private partner
capable of developing a large-scale pumped energy storage
project planned jointly by the Water Authority and the City of
San Diego. Proposals are due by 2 p.m. Nov. 3, and details such
as how to file are included in the RFP document
at www.sdcwa.org/contracting-opportunities. The
partner agencies aim to maximize the value of the existing San
Vicente Reservoir for on-demand energy generation to support
the state’s clean energy goals.
Deep in the northern California wilderness, nestled among
rolling hills and magnificent pines, the Mount Shasta volcano
towers above the landscape as a lone sentinel beckoning to
those around it. Rising to 14,179 feet, Shasta is one of the
tallest mountains in the Lower 48. Given its height, snow cover
is common year-round, especially after a snowy season or two.
It is home to some of the largest glaciers in California and
includes at least seven glaciers, some named after Native
Americans in the 1800s. This year is testing the theory that
snow and ice will always be found on Shasta.
On Aug. 3, the State Water Resources Control Board completely
eliminated 2021’s surface water supplies for farms in much of
the state. It has impacted farmers like John Moore III, who
grows pistachios at Moore Farms in Arvin. … While
California is prone to drought, the last reservoir in the state
was completed in the 1980s. The state’s population has grown
tremendously since then. Moore says the state wouldn’t be
in this situation if more infrastructure was built.
As an ongoing water shortage that’s hurting ranchers and
dairies in the North Bay, the Marin County Board of Supervisors
will consider extending a local emergency declaration of
drought conditions at its meeting Tuesday. Much of the state is
facing parched conditions after two consecutive dry years and
Marin County is no exception. The county’s two largest water
suppliers, the Marin Municipal Water District and the North
Marin Water District, have declared water shortage emergencies
and put mandatory conservation measures in place.
Water has begun trickling from Ukiah to Fort Bragg, and the
county’s main task going forward is to scale up hauling to meet
demand. The city of Fort Bragg announced Sept. 9 that it had
received its first 5,000-gallon delivery of water from Ukiah
and is expected to receive 10,000 gallons per day that will
allow Fort Bragg to resume outside water sales after halting
them in mid-July. The two certified water haulers on the coast
can resume their water sales, too…
It’s always alfalfa season in Arizona. In most other parts of
the country, the perennial crop grows tall enough to harvest
just a few times a year. But in the sun-drenched Southwest, the
irrigated fields allow the crop to grow year-round, to the tune
of 8.5 tons harvested for every acre and $397 million a year.
All farmers need to do is add water. At least that’s been the
case for the many decades that alfalfa has boomed and bloomed
in the Arizona desert, providing feed to the region’s
megalithic dairy industry. Now, accelerating climate change and
depleting water availability could change this.
This year, natural disasters across the country — including
epochal drought conditions and devastating wildfires in
California — have thrown into sharp relief the urgent need for
action on climate. Despite the urgency of the issue, proposed
legislation in the state to address climate change has either
been thwarted or diluted by the powerful fossil-fuel industry’s
allies and lobbyists. Overall, ten proposed bills that included
environmental justice measures, industry accountability and
emissions reduction programs never made it to a final chamber
in the state Senate or Assembly in the face of opposition from
the oil and gas industry.
The California Legislature released the final budget language
late on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. CalTrout remains
critical of the unnecessary delay in releasing critical budget
items like emergency drought funding, wildfire relief, and
climate resilience packages. As water curtailment orders go
live throughout the state, the legislature is still waiting to
officially approve these critical funding packages to combat
the effects of climate during this year’s especially dry
drought conditions.
About 2,700 wells across the state are projected to go dry this
year. If the drought continues, 1,000 more will go dry next
year. In 2014, the California Legislature enacted a package of
new laws that aimed to stop groundwater over-pumping, but as
CalMatters’ Rachel Becker reports seven years later, little has
changed for Californians relying on drinking water wells.
Depletion of their groundwater continues. Pumping is largely
unrestricted, and there are few, if any, protections in place.
To fill the post of chief agricultural negotiator at the United
States Trade Representative’s office, the Biden administration
dipped into California’s hot, dusty, drought-plagued San
Joaquin Valley and plucked out an almond-industry lobbyist.
… Biden is favoring the $6 billion almond industry at a
particularly fraught time in its history. The ever-expanding
groves of California’s Central Valley churn out nearly 80
percent of the globe’s almonds. -Written by Mother Jones reporter Tom
Philpott.
President Biden visited California on Monday to tout his
efforts to better protect the state against the raging
wildfires that have burned more than two million acres,
displaced thousands and pushed responders to the brink of
exhaustion. “These fires are blinking code red for our
nation,” said Mr. Biden, who used the occasion to promote two
bills pending in Congress that would fund forest management and
more resilient infrastructure as well as combat global warming.
The Petaluma City Council on Monday night declared a drought
emergency, ratcheting up restrictions on residents’ water use
in the city’s latest effort to conserve the region’s dwindling
water resources. In a 6-1 vote late Monday night, the council
approved a resolution for the Stage 4 emergency. The move calls
for a 30% mandatory water reduction goal for city water
customers, up from the previous goal of 25%.
Unless you have a personal connection to the Central Valley or
work in agriculture, chances are you haven’t been able to speak
directly to a farmer about how they’re experiencing this year’s
historic drought. Recently on KQED Forum, three
farmers from the Central Valley, where roughly 40% of the
nation’s fruits, vegetables and nuts are grown, shared just how
little water they have to work with, how they’re adapting, and
what the drought means for their industry long term.
California has been experiencing drought for centuries. In
fact, the megadrought in the Golden State and across the West
right now rivals that in Medieval times but climate scientist,
Ben Cook, at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space
Studies says there is one big difference, climate change.
He says our warming world is intensifying what would be a
moderate natural drought. This makes it not only easier to get
into drought but harder to get out.
From the lake to the ocean, the waters of the Klamath are once
again teeming with toxic blue-green algae at the end of a hot,
dry summer. Microcystis aeruginosa, a species of
photosynthetic cyanobacteria that produces the neurotoxin
microcystin, has been detected in nearly all reaches of the
Klamath Basin at or below Upper Klamath Lake. The harmful algal
blooms have plagued the basin and its residents for decades,
fueled by nutrient runoff, stagnant water and summer sunshine.
[G]lobal warming is not going away. Last month, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its most
alarming report yet: Earth is on the edge of ecological
bankruptcy. That’s what California is facing this summer
with record heat, severe drought, record fires, snow
sublimation, record low reservoir levels, dry wells,
communities without safe drinking water, deaths of salmon and
whales, poisonous algae growth in lakes and streams, and record
glacier melt. -Written by Martha Davis, the former assistant
general manager for policy at the Inland Empire Utilities
Agency and former executive director of the Mono Lake
Committee.
Water management in the western United States is rooted in an
adversarial system that is highly sensitive to climate change.
Reforms are needed to ensure water management is efficient,
resilient and equitable moving forward.
-Written by Dylan R. Hedden-Nicely, Associate Professor of
Law and Director, Native American Law Program, University of
Idaho College of Law.
Thermal’s farmworkers earn, on average, between $15,000 and
$17,499 a year, and they struggle to access clean drinking
water and cool their homes adequately in the 110+ degree summer
heat. Every year the housing authority is on high alert for
heat-related deaths. Pedro Nicolas, a community leader and
undocumented immigrant living in Thermal, told reporters his
family slept in the hallway in the center of their trailer
during the summer; because of the trailer’s lack of insulation,
that was the coolest place in the house.
Historically speaking, corporate action on water-related
environmental issues has been less publicly visible than
strategies for reducing energy usage and related greenhouse gas
emissions. Consider this data point. As of its 2020 water
update, corporate data gatherer CDP reports about two-thirds of
reporting businesses are reducing their water withdrawals;
slightly more than half are monitoring the quality of their
wastewater discharges and just 4 percent are making progress
against water pollution targets. But the tide may be
turning… -Written by Heather Clancy, Greenbiz editorial
director.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has approved a request by
California’s electric grid operator to dispatch more than 200
MW of natural gas-fired generation capacity beyond currently
permitted levels to compensate for projected shortfalls in
power supply. … Due to the drought and abnormally high
temperatures, CAISO “expects the wildfire season, which began
early this year, to continue into November.” Wildfire
threats “can cause sudden de-rates of transmission capability”
and of generating facilities on the CAISO system …
Drought. Wildfires. And, for the country as a whole,
temperatures worse than the Dust Bowl. In a further bit of
evidence of the reality of climate change, California has just
experienced its hottest summer on record, according to data
released this week by the federal government. The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the average
temperature in California reached 77.3 degrees from June to
August. That topped the previous record of 76.5 degrees in
summer 2017.
A $1 trillion infrastructure bill that received bipartisan
support in the Senate last month includes billions of dollars
for Western water projects and programs. The Biden
administration has called the infrastructure bill, which
includes $8.3 billion for Western water infrastructure,
“the largest investment in the resilience of physical and
natural systems in American history.” Of the $8.3 billion
dedicated to Western water, $450 million is set aside for a
competitive grant program to fund large-scale projects that
advance water recycling….That program could help pay for
a massive recycling project in California that would
leave Nevada with access to more water in Lake Mead.
The razorback sucker fish could be downlisted from an
endangered species to threatened in the next year or so,
according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This week,
environmental groups sent the agency a letter in opposition to
the move. The letter argues the razorback sucker is still in
trouble, despite recoveries it’s made in the last 30 years,
which is when it was first listed as federally endangered. The
fish is native to the Colorado River, which is facing historic
shortages due to the west’s megadrought.
There’s a hive of PhDs at the University of California at Davis
who are working to reinvent food production in the Golden
State. Researchers have fanned out across the globe collecting
rare plant samples; others are grafting Frankenstein trees and
stitching together root systems of plums and peaches to create
better almond and walnut trees. …. Whether in a sterile lab
or in a dusty farm row, these projects are focused on one
objective: saving water. In the midst of California’s extreme
drought and scant water available for growers, the name of the
game is how to produce more crop per drop.
Officials say the City of San Luis Obispo is water-secure for
now, despite several years of drought conditions. The City of
San Luis Obispo relies on water from Santa Margarita Lake,
Whale Rock Reservoir and Nacimiento Reservoir. Mychal Boerman
is Deputy Director of Water for the city. He said Nacimiento’s
water capacity is at 13 percent, due to low rainfall years and
continuous use of the reservoir for Salinas Valley farming.
For centuries, spring-run Chinook salmon, among California’s
most iconic fish, would rest for weeks in these historically
cold waters after their brutal upstream journey. Then they
would lay eggs and, finally, perish to complete one of nature’s
most improbable life cycles. No longer. What once was a place
where life began is now one of untimely death. The creek is
simply too warm, an astounding 10 degrees warmer than average
in some parts of these spawning grounds.
The longer it takes for two new wells to be dug in Cantua Creek
and El Porvenir in western Fresno County, the deeper in debt
the towns are mired. Now, with the drought, those well projects
are in a race against dropping groundwater levels as farmers,
cut off from surface water supplies, are leaning more heavily
on the aquifer. The well projects started in 2018 and
aren’t scheduled to be completed until sometime next year.
For years, trucks have hauled thousands of gallons of water
nearly every day to 3,000 water catchments throughout Arizona
to help keep wildlife hydrated during the drought. That work
still continues, but Mother Nature has been a huge help in
recent weeks. … The constant monsoon rains have filled
nearly every Arizona water catchment to its brim.
Corporate America is making a new kind of climate pledge. In
recent months, multiple tech giants have pledged to use their
reach and resources to join the fight for water conservation.
Facebook made an announcement at the end of August declaring
their efforts to “be water positive by 2030.” And just this
week, Google made a similar announcement to make its data
centers more efficient and support water security in the
communities it operates in.
Many rely on the Klamath River Basin on the California border,
especially with the historic drought in the West. Things got
heated this summer between the area’s tribes and ranchers.
… Over the past week, our colleagues over at The
Indicator have been reporting on the historic drought in the
West. They spent some time with ranchers on the front lines,
including the Klamath River Basin. Sally Herships and Ashley
Ahearn report.
The Colorado River Basin is enduring two decades of drought,
and water shortages are on the horizon. But scientists say this
isn’t the worst-case scenario. The region has undergone longer,
deeper droughts in the past. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with
paleoclimatologist Matt Lachniet of the University of
Nevada-Las Vegas about how knowing the past can help us plan
for a warmer, drier future.
Murders of environment and land defenders hit a record high
last year as the violent resource grab in the global south
continued unabated despite the pandemic. New figures released
by Global Witness show that 227 people were killed in 2020
while trying to protect forests, rivers and other ecosystems
that their livelihoods depended on.
With climate change-induced drought causing critical low flows
in the Scott and Shasta Rivers and threatening the survival of
multiple fish species, the State Water Resources Control Board
today approved an emergency curtailment regulation that
includes measures to help maintain minimum flows to protect
fish, ensure supplies for human health and livestock needs, and
encourage voluntary efforts that may be used in lieu of
curtailments.
Central Valley water-quality regulators released a final report
Friday concluding oil field wastewater from central Kern
County, when blended with other water sources, can
safely be used to irrigate a variety of locally grown
crops. The report, based on five years’ work and
incomplete in some respects, found no evidence of risks to
human health from watering tree nuts, citrus, berries, tubers
and other ag products with the saline water that comes up from
the ground along with oil and which contains small
concentrations of toxic chemicals.
The Bureau of Reclamation is launching a new prize competition
to improve the model currently used to calculate the sediment
transport rate in a river system. It is specifically
looking for solutions to improve the execution speed
of models that simulate river hydraulics, sediment
erosion, transport, and deposition. Up to $300,000 is available
to win during this two-stage prize competition. Up to four
awards totaling $150,000 will be available in Phase 1, with the
winner receiving $65,000.
The major arteries of California’s water-delivery system are
crumbling, but a proposal in the state Legislature to spend
$785 million fixing them is dead for the year. The legislation,
SB 559 was pulled off the table this week by its chief author,
state Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger), after an Assembly
committee stripped the funding and made other changes to the
legislation. Hurtado’s decision turns SB 559 into a two-year
bill that could be revived next year.
Millions of waterfowl and other birds are going to have a tough
year due to the ongoing drought in the West. Not only is there
less water for ducks and geese, but the agriculture fields
these migrating birds depend on for food will be significantly
smaller, which means less waste grain. … That
potentially can negatively impact Pacific Flyway waterfowl
flights and hunting this year. Farmers report only 25
percent of the fields usually flooded in autumn will have
water. With reduced water, ducks and geese are impacted. They
concentrate more and diseases and bacteria can spread more
readily, including bird botulism.
California lawmakers on Thursday voted to spend more than $2
billion to prevent wildfires and address a severe drought,
closing the book — for now — on a $262.5 billion operating
budget that began the year with a record deficit because of the
pandemic and ended with a record surplus in spite of it.
Wildfire spending in California has more than tripled since
2005, surpassing $3 billion last year. But most of that money
is spent on putting out fires, not preventing them.
Emergency water shipments have begun making their way to
desperate consumers on the Mendocino Coast, a result of
collaborative efforts by county and city officials from Ukiah
and Fort Bragg. But the rollout is starting slowly, and
Mendocino County officials are still working to recruit haulers
with the right kind of tankers to meet the demand. Only one
truck hauling 5,000 gallons a trip is working at the moment,
with enough time in a day to make two deliveries from the water
source in Ukiah to Fort Bragg, according to county
Transportation Director Howard Dashiell.
California and several other Western states endured the hottest
summer on record, according to federal data released Thursday,
underscoring the ways rapid climate change is unleashing
unprecedented wildfires, deadly heat waves and drought
conditions. In addition to California, officials said Idaho,
Nevada, Oregon and Utah also set all-time heat records for the
meteorological summer, spanning June through August. Sixteen
other states also saw a top-five warmest summer on record,
according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, which issued its findings Thursday.
This whole reservoir system along the Colorado River Basin was
designed to get us through the drought years. Why isn’t it
working? A glimpse into the history of the system, how it was
designed and the impacts of climate change sheds light on why
it was destined to fail — and why it may never recover.
The bustle of birds and insect pollinators is the first thing
you notice at Full Belly Farm in Guinda, about 100 miles
northeast of San Francisco in the Capay Valley, where Judith
Redmond and her partners started farming four decades ago.
… Farmers have always labored at the mercy of the
elements, but climate change has brought overlapping calamities
of wildfires, drought, prolonged heat waves and power
outages.
The rebate for Livermore Municipal Water customers who install
drought-resistant landscaping has increased. Owners of
single-family homes are eligible to receive up to $2,000 for
the conversion, according to the city. Owners of multi-family
and commercial properties are eligible to get up to $6,000
back. The rebate will cover up to 50 percent of the cost.
The Oakdale and South San Joaquin Irrigation Districts have
joined in a lawsuit challenging the State Water Resources
Control Board’s authority to prevent the two water agencies
from diverting and storing Stanislaus River runoff in Donnells,
Beardsley, New Melones and Tulloch Reservoirs. The state water
board, in an emergency drought order issued Aug. 20, declared
that OID, SSJID and 4,500 other water rights holders in
California must immediately stop diverting water due to
unprecedented drought conditions.
The Marin Municipal Water District is considering whether to
charge new penalties for high water users during the
drought. The proposal discussed by the district’s board
this week would set varying caps on water use during the
“summer” and “winter” billing periods. Ratepayers would be
charged a fee for every 748 gallons used above that cap.
With drought sucking the Western US dry, Google announced new
plans to protect vital water resources. Google guzzles up water
to cool its data centers, three of which are in the
drought-stricken West. To offset its thirst, the company said
that by 2030, it wants to replenish 120 percent of the water it
consumes. … The company has
faced pushback from communities near its data center
in South Carolina and a new one to be built
in Arizona.
The California recall election is fast approaching, and
candidates are not wasting time. GOP frontrunner Larry Elder
made a second stop in the Central Valley this week, focusing on
crime and water shortages during a one-on-one with farmers. …
Jacobsen said farmers are hurting across the Valley and want
state leaders to take action and help solve the water crisis.
With the gubernatorial recall election looming, the Republican
contender Elder said he wants them to know he’s listening.
For the past two decades, the southwestern United States has
been desiccated by one of the most severe long-term droughts—or
‘megadroughts’—of the last 1,200 years. And now, scientists say
the risk of similar extreme megadroughts and severe single-year
droughts will increase in the future as Earth’s temperature
continues to rise, according to a new study in Earth’s Future
sponsored by CPO’s Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and
Projections (MAPP) program and led by NASA’s Goddard
Institute for Space Studies (GISS).
The Bureau of Reclamation began releasing water from the
Klamath River to Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge on
Sept. 3. Advocates hope it will improve wetland habitat on the
refuge for migrating birds this fall. Last week, California
Waterfowl Association officially purchased approximately 3,750
acre-feet of water from Agency Ranch in the Wood River Valley,
above Upper Klamath Lake, having announced the purchase and
fundraising effort this spring.
Drought in California, coupled with population growth, is
accelerating the need for energy-intensive water projects —
driving up greenhouse gas emissions and thwarting the pace of
statewide decarbonization efforts, a new study has found.
Water use, collection, treatment and management is linked to
about 20 percent of California’s statewide electricity use,
one-third of non-power plant natural gas consumption and 88
billion gallons of diesel use, according to the study,
published by the Oakland-based Pacific Institute and
commissioned by the non-profit think tank Next 10.
California is again the center of the nation’s biggest and most
destructive wildfires. Over 2 million acres have burned, with
the enormous Dixie and Caldor fires (more than 917,000 and more
than 216,000 acres, respectively) accounting for more than half
of this acreage. More than 3,050 structures have been damaged
or destroyed, and over 14,000 firefighters are battling blazes
in the state. …The entirety of the state remains in drought,
with 88 percent in extreme to exceptional drought, the two
highest categories.
This year’s unprecedented shortage declaration for the Colorado
River should galvanize all Colorado Basin states to redouble
their efforts to curtail wasteful and unnecessary uses of water
and build more resilient communities. The issue gains urgency
with the realization that next year is unlikely to bring
significant relief. Action now is needed to maintain the supply
drinking water in 2022, 2023, and beyond.
Sacramento’s American River Parkway gets more than five million
visits a year—that’s even more than Yosemite—but this year, the
nature area has suffered more destructive brush fires than ever
before. Parkway advocates came face to face with politicians,
firefighters and those who manage the area to demand more
protection.
Michael George is not a spy — but he does use some of the same
equipment. George, a gregarious talker, is a lawyer by trade,
and in his current role as Delta watermaster he oversees the
use of water in one of the country’s most contested waterways.
The Delta in this case is the Sacramento-San Joaquin, a jumble
of fertile land, diked islands, tidal flows, and meandering
sloughs that is the heart of California’s engineered water
system.
State Sen. John Laird, the former Secretary of the California
Natural Resources Agency, has been appointed to a state agency
charged with protecting and improving natural coastal lands.
Laird will serve as one of six non-voting representatives of
the state legislature to the Coastal Conservancy, after his
appointment Wednesday by Senate Pro Tempore Toni Atkins. …
Looming threats to the environment such as climate
change-driven sea-level rise, an increasingly threatening
drought cycle and other coastal access issues mean “it is time
to get to work,” Laird is quoted in a release from his office.
One of the largest water districts in the San Francisco Bay
Area is falling dramatically short of water conservation goals
amid extreme drought conditions across California. Santa
Clara Valley Water declared a water shortage emergency in June
with its reservoirs reaching historically low levels, requiring
customers to reduce water use by 15% compared with 2019 levels.
In July, the district fell short of the goal with residents
only reducing water use levels by 6% compared to 2019 levels,
according to newly available data first shared by the San
Jose Mercury News.
The North Bay could see thunderstorms this week — a
double-edged forecast for a region beset by drought but wary of
the possibility of vegetation fires sparked by dry lightning.
….Long periods without rain have dried out fields and forests
across the state and created an abundance of dry fuel for
vegetation fires to spark and spread. California is in the
middle of its fire season and on pace to match last year’s
record wildfire destruction.
Hemp production legalized under the 2018 farm bill could go
beyond offering a new crop option for farmers facing drought in
Western states—it also could save them water. Arizona,
California, and New Mexico are among the states allowing hemp
production in 2019 after the federal government removed the
marijuana relative from its list of controlled substances.
Supporters say the change comes at the right time as the region
grapples with how agriculture fits into a drier future.
The visible signs of America’s lingering drought are obvious at
reservoirs across the American West. Drive from Las Vegas and
step out of your car at Hoover Dam and Lake Mead in Nevada or
peek out at Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah border, and you’ll
see the stone-stained “bathtub rings” indicating the high-water
marks of better times. … [A]s water levels drop, the unseen
effect of these drastic reservoir declines is
that hydroelectric power is decreasing.
We all know it’s important to conserve water, but are we still
in a drought? California water officials say “no!” But a number
of residents in Selma got a notice on their door telling them
we are in a drought and that’s why stage 3 water restrictions
are in place.
Facebook announced plans Thursday to restore more water than it
consumes by the year 2030, the company’s latest initiative
targeting climate change. The company mostly uses water for
cooling the banks of computers that run in its data centers. In
2020, Facebook withdrew 3.7 million cubic meters of water for a
total consumption of 2.2 million cubic meters. Facebook intends
to focus its efforts in regions where it uses local water
resources, but it will also look at high-risk areas that face
the most challenges in terms of their water supply…
Both the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers shrunk in 2021, another
bad water year in a two-decade megadrought brought on by a
warming Western United States. Demands on the rivers —
from growing cities, agriculture, wildlife and international
treaties — are hitting the reality of a reduced supply of water
in both rivers. In August, federal officials declared the
first-ever shortage on the Colorado River lower basin,
triggering a plan to reduce water usage in several states and
Mexico.
After a wildfire, soils in burned areas often become water
repellent, leading to increased erosion and flooding after
rainfall events – a phenomenon that many scientists have
attributed to smoke and heat-induced changes in soil chemistry.
But this post-fire water repellency may also be caused by
wildfire smoke in the absence of heat, according to a new paper
from the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Nevada.
Sacramento-area residents were urged Thursday to cut water
usage by 10% as much of the state has been plunged into another
severe drought. Just three days after Gov. Gavin Newsom
declared the area officially in a drought, the Sacramento
Regional Water Authority asked for voluntary conservation
measures as its member agencies scramble to cope with drought
conditions that seemingly worsen by the day.
Santa Maria Rec and Parks crews are digging up the grass near
Seward Drive. … They’re renovating city landscapes in light
of the state-wide drought. … The project on Seward Drive of
26 other locations where crews will be renovating the
landscapes throughout the year. By replacing some of the grass
with more drought tolerant landscaping, the expectation is to
use less water.
California farmers and ranchers have no shortages of stress
this year. They face drought and water supply cuts, devastating
wildfires and pandemic impacts. There are also labor shortages
and financial pressures from fluctuating commodity prices or
trade disruptions. These impacts inspire serious discussions in
agricultural communities about looking after farmers’ mental
health.
The Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources
Control Board have developed draft groundwater management
principles and strategies to better anticipate and minimize the
impacts of drought on drinking water wells. Developed in
response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s April Executive Drought
Proclamation, the principles and strategies provide a framework
for State actions to proactively address impacts on
groundwater-dependent communities as droughts become more
frequent and intense as a result of climate change.
San Francisco, along with a handful of Central Valley
irrigation districts, is suing the state for enacting drought
restrictions that are keeping thousands of landowners and
suppliers from drawing water from rivers and creeks. The
lawsuit, filed late last week in Fresno County Superior Court,
claims that the State Water Resources Control Board — drought
or no drought — does not have the authority to suspend the
draws of those with the most senior claims to California’s
water.
On June 9, as California’s historic drought deepened, the
largest water agency in Santa Clara County declared a drought
emergency and asked the county’s 2 million residents to cut
water use by 15% from 2019 levels to preserve dwindling
supplies. … But three months later, the public isn’t heeding
the call. New water use numbers show that overall, Santa Clara
County residents reduced water use by just 6% in July, compared
with July 2019 — well short of the 15% target.
Dangerously low water levels at Shasta Lake were captured on
drone video by ABC10 reporter John Bartell and photojournalist
Tyler Horst on Tuesday. Shasta Lake is California’s
largest reservoir, capable of holding 4,552,000 acre feet of
water. Right now, it has 1,186,057 acre feet of water stored.
Breaking that down into percentages, the reservoir is at 26%
capacity and 42% of average for this date.
A brutal summer of record heat and punishing drought has
claimed yet another California victim: the majestic,
snow-covered slopes of Mt. Shasta. Just as the impacts of
global warming have revealed themselves in extreme wildfire
behavior and plunging reservoir levels, climate change is now
altering the skyline of far Northern California and wreaking
havoc on communities surrounding the dormant volcano.
A federal judge has blocked a Northern California county’s ban
on trucks delivering water to Hmong cannabis farmers, saying it
raises “serious questions” about racial discrimination and
leaves the growers without a source of water for basic
sanitation, vegetable gardens and livestock. On Friday, Chief
U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller issued a temporary
injunction against Siskiyou County’s prohibition on trucked-in
water deliveries to Hmong farmers growing marijuana in the
Mount Shasta Vista subdivision in the Big Springs area north of
Weed.
The city of Ukiah has been relying primarily on groundwater,
recycled water and conservation to get through the drought and
hasn’t been exercising its right to water from the Russian
River, which is experiencing historic low flows. That’s about
to change now that the city has agreed to help the coast
through the drought.
Some San Joaquin Valley farmers could someday have a new “crop”
to sell — their groundwater. In the face of looming
groundwater pumping restrictions, some groundwater agencies are
looking at internal markets to give growers a way to save water
and still earn a profit.
The past week brought much-needed showers to Tulare County —
but not enough to catch up to the amount of rain the area
should have by this time in the water year. … The past week
brought about .78 inches, a decent amount, considering the
average rainfall over the past 30 years for the entire
month of March is 1.9 inches. But the rainfall broke an
all-time record dry period for the season, as not a drop fell
in February.
With much of California and other western U.S. states
experiencing significant drought, the need to pursue further
advancements in desalination has never been greater. This was a
central theme of an Aug. 11 webinar, titled “Discussion on
Desalination — Treatments, Research, and the Future,” conducted
by the WateReuse Association. Historically, desalination
has been viewed as a separate component within the water
sector, but that perception is changing, said Peter Fiske,
Ph.D., the executive director for the National Alliance for
Water Innovation and one of three presenters featured during
the webinar.
While residents of the Southeast clean up from floods and a
hurricane, meteorologists are warning that Northern California
should be prepared for a third year of drought. … The
biggest immediate concern is the upper Russian River, which is
fed by Lake Mendocino and provides water for Cloverdale,
Healdsburg and some prime Wine Country agricultural areas.
Storage in the lake dipped below 20,000 acre-feet last week
… Lake Sonoma, the region’s other major reservoir, is in
a little better shape with 116,500 acre-feet of
water.
The Bureau of Land Management is rounding up more than 700
horses living on public land in northwest Colorado, a sharp
reduction of a herd that officials say is too large and roaming
in dangerously dry conditions. Over the last week, contractors
have used helicopters to corral mustangs living in the Sand
Wash Basin, which includes 155,000 acres of public land managed
by the federal agency in the northwest corner of the state.
While California will not receive a soaking rain similar to
what occurred at the beginning of the week, residents across
the state can expect unsettled weather to stick around through
Wednesday.
The Bureau of Reclamation recently declared a water shortage on
the Colorado River, but that hasn’t stopped states from
proposing new water projects. Just about every drop on the
Colorado River is accounted for. But climate change has reduced
the amount of water in the system. Gary Wockner is with
Save the Colorado, a conservation group that is tracking new
projects.
If you could save gallons of water, improve your health, and
leave our Earth a little healthier, would you do it? If your
diet is mainly meat-focused, you can effect big changes by
beginning to transition to a diet that is plant-based. This is
because pound for pound, meat has a much higher water footprint
than vegetables and legumes. -Written by Georgi LaBerge, board member of
Sustainable San Mateo County and CityTrees and the former mayor
of Redwood City.
The Central Valley’s rice fields and wetlands are widely
heralded as key rest and refuel stops for millions of migratory
birds traveling along the Pacific Flyway. The rice fields
provide more than 50% of the diet for the ducks and geese
during their fall and winter migration. To view rafts of
waterfowl feeding on public wildlife areas or seeing thousands
of geese taking flight from a rice field are indicators of a
healthy environment and visual examples of how vital the
Central Valley is to the Flyway. -Written by Jeff McCreary, director of operations for the
Western Region, Ducks Unlimited, and Tim Johnson, president and
CEO of the California Rice Commission.
First came the asparagus field. Then came the melons. And now
Joe Del Bosque is considering the unthinkable: tearing out a
sprawling almond orchard bursting with healthy, nut-producing
trees. … Two decades of almost unrelenting growth
vaulted almonds into the upper ranks of California agriculture.
Now, though, the state’s $6 billion-a-year industry is
being humbled by a devastating drought. Farmers have
slowed the pace of new orchard plantings and, in a few cases,
have plowed up trees still capable of bearing almonds.
The city of Antioch’s water supply has been challenged in
recent years by a variety of factors. But the Brackish Water
Desalination Project, the first desalination project of its
kind in the five-county Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region, is
intended to improve the reliability of the city’s water. The
city filed its notice of preparation for the project just over
four years ago and then broke ground on the plant in February
of this year.
A 20-year, climate change-fueled megadrought has dealt a double
blow to Blue Mesa this summer. The dry conditions have led to
lower levels directly, but the lake is also hurting from
drought problems in other states. For the first time, the
federal government is taking emergency action by taking water
from Blue Mesa to help out another reservoir — Lake Powell on
the Utah-Arizona border….The water taken from Blue Mesa is
being used to make sure hydroelectric power turbines at Lake
Powell can keep spinning and generating electricity for
millions of people in the West…
Water year 2021-22 begins on Oct. 1 and the stakes are whether
Napa County escapes having one the deepest droughts in its
recorded history. The county has been hit by a devastating
one-two drought punch. Rainfall at Napa State Hospital for
2020-21 is about 10 inches, following a season of 12.19 inches.
The average annual rainfall there is about 26 inches. A third
consecutive rainfall year with a total barely denting double
digits would be unprecedented in weather records dating back to
1877-78.
The cleanliness of Tokyo, the diversity of New York and the
social services of Stockholm: Billionaire Marc Lore has
outlined his vision for a 5-million-person “new city in
America” and appointed a world-famous architect to design it.
Now, he just needs somewhere to build it — and $400 billion in
funding. The former Walmart executive last week unveiled plans
for Telosa, a sustainable metropolis that he hopes to create,
from scratch, in the American desert. The ambitious
150,000-acre proposal promises eco-friendly architecture,
sustainable energy production and a purportedly
drought-resistant water system.
For decades, farm labor has kept unincorporated communities
alive throughout the Central Valley. But the drought is making
it hard to stay. The dearth of essential resources — clean
water, adequate housing and fair employment wages — has
crippled towns that are easily overlooked and triggered a slow
exodus to bigger places.
A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked a Northern
California county from enforcing water permit laws aimed at
cracking down on illegal marijuana farms, finding the
restrictions might be intended to drive a minority Asian
community out of their homes. … Siskiyou County passed two
ordinances in May 2021 requiring permits to extract and move
groundwater off site and to transport water by truck.
For much of California, the arrival of September has brought
extreme, scalding temperatures. Sunday was the hottest day in
Los Angeles in nearly 11 months, according to AccuWeather.
Temperatures in the Inland Empire and the Sacramento region
soared into the triple-digits over the long weekend. And in the
next few days, dangerous heat waves are projected for large
swaths of the state, weather officials warn.
Officials say residents of a California community where
hundreds of home wells have run dry can now take hot showers in
portable facilities set up in a church parking lot.
The Bureau of Reclamation began releasing water from the
Klamath River to Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge on
Friday afternoon. Advocates hope it will improve wetland
habitat on the refuge for migrating birds this fall. Last
week, California Waterfowl Association officially purchased
approximately 3,750 acre-feet of water from Agency Ranch in the
Wood River Valley, above Upper Klamath Lake, having announced
the purchase and fundraising effort this spring.
Almost everything about a sequoia tree is giant: It can
grow to more than 200 feet tall and live longer than 3,000
years. Yet the sequoia’s footprint is shrinking, as
human-induced climate change threatens this ancient tree’s
survival. … There are only around 48,000 acres of sequoia
groves left in the world, and the trees are now facing threats
from human-made climate change in several ways.
For months, the city of Needles has endured not just scorching
hot weather but the possibility that its single water well
could fail, a potentially life-threatening risk for this Mojave
desert community of 5,000 residents. Yet over recent
weeks, word arrived that state officials — flush with billions
of dollars in surplus tax revenue — intend to hand over $2
million to pay for a new well that could be operational later
this year. City officials are now breathing easier…
As reservoirs across California meet historic lows, we are
again faced with the reality of not enough water for the
environment, farms and people. … As our climate
continues to change, we can expect more of the same, and
possibly worse if we don’t make some meaningful changes to how
we manage water in California. We need to advance water
recycling projects, increase conservation and develop more
capacity to store water. One key part of the solution is the
construction of Sites Reservoir.
California regulators began cracking down on water use in the
sprawling Sacramento River and San Joaquin River watersheds on
Friday, ordering 4,500 farmers, water districts and other
landowners, including the city of San Francisco, to stop
drawing water in the basins — or face penalties of up to
$10,000 a day. The move comes as the state slides deeper
into an extraordinary two-year drought. Lakes, streams and
rivers no longer have enough water for everyone who is taking
it, and dwindling supplies must be rationed, state regulators
say.
When Cupertino residents Sherri Stein and her husband planted a
victory garden, it wasn’t to grow food but to help fight the
California drought. The Steins took advantage of a pilot
project by the City of Cupertino to help residents establish
Climate Victory Gardens in their front yards. These gardens are
drought-tolerant and can be irrigated with laundry-to-landscape
graywater systems.
The Guidebook is designed to assist urban water suppliers with
preparing UWMPs that are due to DWR on July 1. DWR also
released its draft 2020 Agricultural Water Management Plan
Guidebook related to long-term water supply and demand
strategies for agricultural water planning.
On Monday morning, the Caldor fire had been 44% contained, the
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said,
nearly double what the agency reported Thursday. Authorities
said lower temperatures, slowing winds and rises in humidity
allowed firefighters to take advantage of the slowed pace of
the wildfire to focus on mitigation efforts to keep the blaze
from spreading further.
