Water and energy are interconnected. A frequent term to describe
this relationship is the “water-energy nexus.”
Energy for Water: Energy is needed to store water, get it where
it is needed and also treat it to be used:
* Extracting water from rivers and streams or pumping it
from aquifers, and then conveying it over hills and into storage
facilities is a highly energy intensive process. The State Water
Project (SWP) pumps water 700 miles, including up nearly 2,000
feet over the Tehachapi Mountains. The SWP is the largest single
user of energy in California. It consumes an average of 5 billion
kWh per year. That’s about 2 to 3 percent of all electricity
consumed in California
* Water treatment facilities use energy to pump and process
water for use in homes, businesses and industry
* Consumers use energy to treat water with softeners or
filters, to circulate and pressurize water and to heat and cool
water
* Wastewater plants use energy to pump wastewater to
treatment plants, and also to aerate and filter it at the plant.
Different end uses require more electricity for delivery than
others. Water for residential, commercial and industrial end-use
needs the most energy (11 percent), followed by agricultural
end-use (3 percent), residential, commercial and industrial
supply and treatment (3 percent), agricultural water supply and
treatment (1 percent) and wastewater treatment (1 percent),
according to the California Energy Commission.
Water for Energy: Water is used to generate electricity
* Water is needed either to process raw materials used in a
facility or maintaining a plant,or to just generate electricity
itself.
Overall, the electricity industry is second only to agriculture
as the largest user of water in the United States. Electricity
production from fossil fuels and nuclear energy requires 190,000
million gallons of water per day, accounting for 39 percent of
all freshwater withdrawals in the nation. Coal, the most abundant
fossil fuel, currently accounts for 52 percent of U.S.
electricity generation, and each kWh generated from coal requires
withdrawal of 25 gallons of water.
Residing less than a mile from the Salton Sea, Purépecha
farmworkers like [Meriguildo] Ortiz stand on the frontlines of
one of the greatest environmental and health justice crises in
the state. As the Salton Sea continues to evaporate, local
residents report increasingly common cases of asthma, nose
bleeds and allergies. The state has proposed solutions, such as
the 10-year Salton Sea Management Program, but Purépecha
community members who speak neither English nor Spanish, face
limited internet access and lack high levels of education can
rarely participate in decision-making.
For four years, thousands of soil samples and paint chips taken
from homes, schools, parks and parkways near the former Exide
battery facility have been stored inside shipping containers at
a Superfund site. Without consulting local officials or
residents, California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control
transported the samples to the Stringfellow facility, an Inland
Empire quarry that once served as an industrial dumping ground
— one that leaked toxic chemicals into groundwater and soil
over several decades.
As I wrote this, news arrived that Sen. Joe Manchin — the
coal-loving Democrat from West Virginia — finally agreed to
support a climate bill that would potentially cut
planet-warming emissions by some 40% by 2030. It will be a huge
step forward (fossil fuel-friendly provisions aside) if it
makes it through Congress, but it won’t do much to ease the
West’s desiccation anytime soon. That gives the collective
users of the region’s water no choice but to cut our
consumption, and fast. -Written by Jonathan Thompson, a contributing
editor at High Country News and author
of Sagebrush Empire: How a Remote Utah County Became
the Battlefront of American Public Lands.
Federal energy regulators say Pacific Gas & Electric can begin
drastically reducing Eel River water diversions bound for Lake
Mendocino, which will likely result in additional curtailments
of water rights for hundreds of landowners, ranchers and
communities in the Russian River watershed. The new flow
regime, approved last week after more than two months of
consideration by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
authorizes PG&E to divert as little water as it did last
year even though there is almost 50% more water in Lake
Pillsbury than there was at the same time last year.
In their pleas to Western states to cut back on water use from
the Colorado River Basin, federal officials are keenly focused
on keeping Lake Powell’s elevation at 3,490 feet — the minimum
needed to keep hydropower humming at Glen Canyon Dam. But if
federal efforts can’t stop the reservoir from shrinking to new
lows — its elevation is 3,536 feet as of Monday — the lights
going out might not even be the worst problem. If it dips 60
feet below its current level, the already dwindling Colorado
River could trickle down into a fraction of what is expected
for states below the dam, a new analysis by conservation groups
found.
For decades, Imperial County has been a dumping ground. Home to
one of three hazardous dumps in the state, we absorb toxic,
dangerous waste from our metropolitan neighbors. One of the few
remaining wetland habitats in California, our Salton Sea, is
today polluted by decades of agricultural runoff filled with
dangerous chemicals that create clouds of toxic pollution.
-Written by Luis Olmedo, executive director of Comite Civico
del Valle, a community-based organization focused on civic
engagement and health-based initiatives. Olmedo also leads the
Lithium Valley Community Coalition and serves on the state’s
Lithium Valley Commission.
The owner of an aging gas-fired power plant along California’s
southern coast won’t be required to pay fines for some water
pollution it causes through 2023, state water officials voted
Tuesday. The Redondo Beach Generating Station is one of four
coastal power plants that were set to close in 2020 but had
their operating lives extended to 2023. The state is keeping
them open in an effort to avoid power blackouts on hot summer
days when there may not be enough renewable energy available as
people crank up their air conditioners.
A humpback whale was spotted off San Diego’s coast on
Valentine’s Day 2020, entangled in a green plastic fishing net.
It struggled to migrate up California’s coast, leaping
repeatedly to desperately try to rid itself of the net.
But rescuers were unable to safely get close enough to
try to cut the net off. … The plague of plastic in
our oceans is steadily worsening, taking an increasingly deadly
toll on whales, dolphins, seals and other marine mammals, not
to mention other marine life. -Written by Dave Phillips, executive director of
Earth Island Institute, a nonprofit environmental organization
based in Berkeley; and Mark J. Palmer, a biologist and the
associate director of Earth Island Institute’s International
Marine Mammal Project.
As California grapples with another long drought, cities across
the state have implemented curbside collection programs to
increase the amount of available water. Composting turns
food scraps, sticks and leaves into organic material that is
then added to soil to make it more fertile. Robert Reed,
spokesperson for Recology, a waste management company, explains
compost acts as a natural sponge.
Drought conditions gripping the U.S. are shining a bright light
on a severe and emerging risk to the nation’s long-term power
supply: water scarcity…. The danger is most glaring on the
parched West Coast where California, plagued by climbing
temperatures, saw hydroelectric generation fall 48 percent
below a 10-year average last year, and output was likewise
curbed across the Pacific Northwest. The current dry spell —
considered one of the worst on record — will likely take a
bigger chunk of California’s hydropower out of commission….
We depend on fresh water to survive, and there’s not that much
to go around. California is in the midst of a historic
drought, and in San Diego, we’re constantly told that we need
to save water. We’ve heard a lot of these tips before: shorten
your showers, “if it’s yellow, let it mellow,” don’t water your
lawns, replace your garden with native plants. But with a
drought of this scale, they might not be enough. … Shop
smart, plan meals, and take steps at home to prevent food
waste. When food is wasted, so are all of the resources that
went into producing it — land, labor, fuel, energy, and water.
Every year in the United States, wasted food consumes 5.9
trillion gallons of fresh water, or 14 percent of all the water
we use. -Written by Jessica Toth, the executive director
of Solana Center for Environmental Innovation, a San Diego
area environmental nonprofit that focuses on waste, water, and
soil.
Here we go again. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration revived
the Delta tunnel project Wednesday, unveiling a downsized
version of the controversial, multibillion-dollar plan to
re-engineer the fragile estuary on Sacramento’s doorstep that
serves as the hub of California’s over-stressed water-delivery
network. After three years with little to no public activity,
the state released an environmental blueprint for what’s now
called the Delta Conveyance — a 45-mile tunnel that would
divert water from the Sacramento River and route it under the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta so that it can be shipped to farms
and cities hundreds of miles away.
California’s Gold Rush is known for making many people rich and
inflating the population of the then-young state, but it also
resulted in the creation of the nation’s first environmental
law. As gold mining went from individuals with gold pans raking
the bottom of creek beds to industries using the latest
technologies to strip precious ores from California’s
hillsides, the impact on the surrounding environment became
more severe. Hydraulic mining was a growing form of industrial
mining, in which high-pressure water would blast out of water
cannons, known as monitors, into hillsides to wash away dirt
and rocks to uncover the gold beneath.
In 1998, as nations around the world agreed to cut carbon
emissions through the Kyoto Protocol, America’s fossil fuel
companies plotted their response, including an aggressive
strategy to inject doubt into the public debate…. Nearly 25
years later, the reality of a changing climate is now clear to
most Americans, as heatwaves and wildfires, rising sea levels
and extreme storms become more common…. [Yet] Even as surveys
show the public generally has become more concerned about
climate change, a sizeable number of Americans have become even
more distrustful of the scientific consensus.
The federal government is conducting a review of four dams on a
Maine river that could result in a lifeline for the last wild
Atlantic salmon in the U.S. The last of the wild salmon live in
a group of rivers in Maine and have been listed under the
Endangered Species Act since 2000. One of the rivers is the
Kennebec River, where Brookfield Renewable U.S. owns dams. …
The review comes as the Biden administration is also eyeing
changes to dams in other parts of the country. The
administration released reports earlier this month that said
removing dams on the lower Snake River in eastern Washington
may be needed to adequately restore salmon runs in the Pacific
Northwest.
A new tax on lithium extraction in California will go into
effect next year, charging companies for each metric ton of
lithium mined out of the Salton Sea. This tax will charge
companies anywhere from $400 to $800 dollars per metric ton of
extracted lithium. 80% of the money will go to the county the
lithium was mined in and 20% will go toward Salton Sea
renovation projects. Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia says the tax
is about making sure the citizens of Imperial get their fair
share.
A company operating a sand-mining facility in Alameda County
will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle charges
that it discharged untreated wastewater into Alameda Creek last
year, officials with the state Water Resources Control Board
(WRCB) said Thursday. Mission Valley Rock must pay nearly the
statutory limit after it allegedly discharged 41,000 gallons of
untreated wastewater from its Sunol facility in March. The
total settlement is $368,940. According to the WRCB, Mission
Valley Rock failed to properly decommission a pipeline, which
then ruptured, depositing several inches of sediment in the
creek bed and along the bank.
A company seeks to drill two very deep wells in Stanislaus
County to capture some of the carbon dioxide involved in
climate change. Aemetis Inc. would sink the wells at its
ethanol plant in Keyes and another coming soon to Riverbank.
They would be perhaps 8,000 feet deep, far below groundwater
sources, and would store close to 40 million tons of compressed
gas over 20 years. The $250 million project would put the
county at the forefront of the effort to sequester CO2 that
otherwise would trap heat in the atmosphere. Experts say
climate change is already disrupting agriculture, raising sea
levels and making storms and wildfires more extreme.
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.
U.S. companies are hitting speedbumps in the race to win
contracts to extract lithium in the Americas, particularly as
the Chinese and Russian governments throw their weight around
to land such agreements. While the most easily exploitable
currently known lithium deposits are in Chile, Argentina and
Bolivia, the United States has so far not been able to
capitalize on its influence in the Western Hemisphere to
support its companies. … One of the places in the United
States with the best lithium potential is California’s Salton
Sea, which abuts [D-Calif. Rep. Raul] Ruiz’s
district. Ruiz said an environmentally exploited Salton
Sea could cover U.S. lithium requirements while creating
economic development in the area.
As the world transitions away from fossil fuels, electric
vehicles are becoming more ubiquitous. But despite their
environmental benefits, they still have a price. The batteries
that power them rely on a limited resource: lithium. But some
say California’s so-called “Lithium Valley” could be a vast
powerhouse for the next century’s battery
needs. … The Salton Sea is a land-locked salt lake
in the California desert. As odd as it sounds, the salty,
superheated water reservoir below the surface promises to
provide an abundance of geothermal energy.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
On June 30, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly
Bill 205, a legislative effort to bolster the state’s energy
resources and avoid outages like those California experienced
in August 2020. AB 205 creates a Strategic Reliability
Reserve that will secure new emergency and temporary
generators, retain existing resources, and encourage the
development of new clean energy projects and energy storage
systems. To secure the resources needed to maintain the
reliability of electric service, the legislation temporarily
relaxes some of California’s strict environmental
requirements.
The lower Colorado River has virtually every drop allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
This event explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
The majestic beauty of the Sierra
Nevada forest is awe-inspiring, but beneath the dazzling blue
sky, there is a problem: A century of fire suppression and
logging practices have left trees too close together. Millions of
trees have died, stricken by drought and beetle infestation.
Combined with a forest floor cluttered with dry brush and debris,
it’s a wildfire waiting to happen.
Fires devastate the Sierra watersheds upon which millions of
Californians depend — scorching the ground, unleashing a
battering ram of debris and turning hillsides into gelatinous,
stream-choking mudflows.
This tour explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs is the focus of this tour.
Silverton Hotel
3333 Blue Diamond Road
Las Vegas, NV 89139
We explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop
of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad
sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and
climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in
the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin
states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this
water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial
needs was the focus of this tour.
Hampton Inn Tropicana
4975 Dean Martin Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89118
This three-day, two-night tour explored the lower Colorado River
where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand
is growing from myriad sources — increasing population,
declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in
the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin
states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this
water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial
needs is the focus of this tour.
Best Western McCarran Inn
4970 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, NV 89119
This 30-minute documentary-style DVD on the history and current
state of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program includes an
overview of the geography and history of the river, historical
and current water delivery and uses, the genesis and timeline of
the 1988 lawsuit, how the settlement was reached and what was
agreed to.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
20-minute DVD that explains the problem with polluted stormwater,
and steps that can be taken to help prevent such pollution and
turn what is often viewed as a “nuisance” into a water resource
through various activities.
Many Californians don’t realize that when they turn on the
faucet, the water that flows out could come from a source close
to home or one hundreds of miles away. Most people take their
water for granted; not thinking about the elaborate systems and
testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to
households throughout the state. Where drinking water comes from,
how it’s treated, and what people can do to protect its quality
are highlighted in this 2007 PBS documentary narrated by actress
Wendie Malick.
A 30-minute version of the 2007 PBS documentary Drinking Water:
Quenching the Public Thirst. This DVD is ideal for showing at
community forums and speaking engagements to help the public
understand the complex issues surrounding the elaborate systems
and testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to
households throughout the state.
Water truly has shaped California into the great state it is
today. And if it is water that made California great, it’s the
fight over – and with – water that also makes it so critically
important. In efforts to remap California’s circulatory system,
there have been some critical events that had a profound impact
on California’s water history. These turning points not only
forced a re-evaluation of water, but continue to impact the lives
of every Californian. This 2005 PBS documentary offers a
historical and current look at the major water issues that shaped
the state we know today. Includes a 12-page viewer’s guide with
background information, historic timeline and a teacher’s lesson.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Klamath River Watershed. The
map text explains the many issues facing this vast,
15,000-square-mile watershed, including fish restoration;
agricultural water use; and wetlands. Also included are
descriptions of the separate, but linked, Klamath Basin
Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Agreement,
and the next steps associated with those agreements. Development
of the map was funded by a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
A companion to the Truckee River Basin Map poster, this 24×36
inch poster, suitable for framing, explores the Carson River, and
its link to the Truckee River. The map includes Lahontan Dam and
Reservoir, the Carson Sink, and the farming areas in the basin.
Map text discusses the region’s hydrology and geography, the
Newlands Project, land and water use within the basin and
wetlands. Development of the map was funded by a grant from the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region, Lahontan Basin
Area Office.
Redesigned in 2017, this beautiful map depicts the seven
Western states that share the Colorado River with Mexico. The
Colorado River supplies water to nearly 40 million people in
Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
and the country of Mexico. Text on this beautiful, 24×36-inch
map, which is suitable for framing, explains the river’s
apportionment, history and the need to adapt its management for
urban growth and expected climate change impacts.
The Colorado River provides water to 40 million people and 4
million acres of farmland in a region encompassing some 246,000
square miles in the southwestern United States. The 32-page
Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River covers the history of the
river’s development; negotiations over division of its water; the
items that comprise the Law of the River; and a chronology of
significant Colorado River events.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to California Water provides an
excellent overview of the history of water development and use in
California. It includes sections on flood management; the state,
federal and Colorado River delivery systems; Delta issues; water
rights; environmental issues; water quality; and options for
stretching the water supply such as water marketing and
conjunctive use. New in this 10th edition of the guide is a
section on the human need for water.
The construction of Glen Canyon Dam in 1964 created Lake Powell.
Both are located in north-central Arizona near the Utah border.
Lake Powell acts as a holding tank for outflow from the Colorado
River Upper Basin States: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
The water stored in Lake Powell is used for recreation, power
generation and delivering water to the Lower Basin states of
California, Arizona, and Nevada.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at hydraulic
fracturing, or “fracking,” in California. Much of the information
in the article was presented at a conference hosted by the
Groundwater Resources Association of California.
The connection between water and energy is more relevant than
ever. After existing in separate realms for years, the maxim that
it takes water to produce energy and energy to produce water has
prompted a re-thinking of management strategies, including an
emphasis on renewable energy use by water agencies.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at the energy
requirements associated with water use and the means by which
state and local agencies are working to increase their knowledge
and improve the management of both resources.
This printed issue of Western Water examines
desalination – an issue that is marked by great optimism and
controversy – and the expected role it might play as an
alternative water supply strategy.
This printed copy of Western Water examines climate change –
what’s known about it, the remaining uncertainty and what steps
water agencies are talking to prepare for its impact. Much of the
information comes from the October 2007 California Climate Change
and Water Adaptation Summit sponsored by the Water Education
Foundation and DWR and the November 2007 California Water Policy
Conference sponsored by Public Officials for Water and
Environmental Reform.
Hydropower generation is prevalent in the West, where rapidly
flowing river systems have been tapped for generations to produce
electricity. Hydropower is a clean, steady and reliable energy
source, but the damming of rivers has exacted a toll on the
environment, affecting, among other things, the migration of fish
to vestigial spawning grounds. Many of those projects are due to
be relicensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The California power crisis has made international headlines. But
what is the link between water and power in California? How is
the state’s dry spell affecting its hydropower generation? How
has the electric crisis affected water users in the state? These
questions and others are addressed in this issue of Western
Water.
