Today Californians face increased risks from flooding, water
shortages, unhealthy water quality, ecosystem decline and
infrastructure degradation. Many federal and state legislative
acts address ways to improve water resource management, ecosystem
restoration, as well as water rights settlements and strategies
to oversee groundwater and surface water.
Fifteen Native American tribes will get a total of $580 million
in federal money this year for water rights settlements, the
Biden administration announced Thursday. The money will help
carry out the agreements that define the tribes’
rights to water from rivers and other sources and pay for
pipelines, pumping stations, and canals that deliver it to
reservations. “Water rights are crucial to ensuring the health,
safety and empowerment of Tribal communities,” U.S. Interior
Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement Thursday that
acknowledged the decades many tribes have waited for the
funding. Access to reliable, clean water and basic sanitation
facilities on tribal lands remains a challenge across many
Native American reservations.
Twenty-two early to mid-career water professionals from
across California have been chosen for the 2023 William R.
Gianelli Water Leaders Class, the Water Education Foundation’s
highly competitive and respected career development program.
This Water Leaders cohort includes engineers, lawyers, resource
specialists, scientists and others from a range of public and
private entities and nongovernmental organizations from
throughout the state. The roster for the 2023
class can be found
here. The Water Leaders program, led by
Foundation Executive Director Jennifer
Bowles, deepens knowledge on water, enhances
individual leadership skills and prepares participants to take
an active, cooperative approach to decision-making about water
resource issues. Leading experts and top policymakers
serve as mentors to class members.
Just six months ago, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his
administration were boasting a budget surplus of $97.5 billion.
Today, thanks to a falling stock market and a weakened tech
sector, California has an apparently unforeseen budget deficit
of $22.5 billion. Cuts must be made. But Newsom’s proposed cuts
seemingly come at the expense of climate-related projects, a
curious decision from a governor who often speaks about how
confronting climate change is one of his key priorities.
Unsurprisingly, his actions do not meet the weight of his
words. Newsom’s budget proposal, ironically released on the
heels of an atmospheric river that unleashed catastrophic
flooding across the state, suggests slashing approximately $6
billion dollars from climate-related projects, including $40
million that had been promised to floodplain restoration
projects in the San Joaquin Valley.
As California grappled with drought conditions over the past
three years, flooding was the last thing on most people’s
minds. That changed this month when bomb cyclone rainstorms
saturated the state and left communities reeling from rushing
water. Unbeknownst to many, work on flood control progressed
during the dry times. Chico-based River Partners has
supplemented repairs to levies by restoring watersheds in the
Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. … Much of this work is on
hold, however, after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced deep cuts to
the state budget that hit flood plain projects particularly
hard. From funding levels of $250 million a year, the governor
cut flooding mitigation to $135 million — a fraction of the
$360 million to $560 million called for in the Central Valley
Flood Protection Plan adopted in 2012 and updated last year.
Do trees suck? You bet they do, and it’s time we do something
about it, according to a group of conservative Utah lawmakers.
Claiming “overgrown” forests are guzzling Utah’s water
resources dry, rural members are now calling for a major
logging initiative as the best hope for saving the shrinking
Great Salt Lake and Lake Powell, despite a lack of scientific
evidence that tree removal would make a big difference. Water
conservation and efficiency are fine, but such measures are not
enough to replenish Utah’s drought-depleted reservoirs and
avert the ecological disaster unfolding at the Great Salt Lake,
according to presentations Thursday before the Legislature’s
“Yellow Cake Caucus,” a group of conservative lawmakers
organized by Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding.
Multiple flood protection projects in California are on hold
after Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed cutting their funding to help
cover a $22.5 billion budget deficit — a decision disappointing
environmental advocates as weeks of powerful storms have caused
widespread flooding that damaged homes and washed away roads.
Newsom’s budget proposal, released last week, cuts $40 million
that had been pledged for floodplain restoration projects along
rivers in the San Joaquin Valley, an area at high risk of
catastrophic flooding. Those projects would allow for rivers to
flood in strategic places during winter storms or the spring
Sierra Nevada snowmelt, reducing the risks for populated areas
downstream while also benefiting environmental ecosystems.
Though the recent barrage of winter storms has certainly
improved California’s drought conditions, state water leaders
are making moves to prepare for the inevitable dry season soon
to come. On Friday, the California Department of Water
Resources kickstarted a partnership between state agencies,
local governments, scientists and community members in a new
task force, called the Drought Resilience Interagency and
Partners Collaborative. The DRIP group was created in part by
the 2021 Senate Bill 552, which requires state agencies to take
a proactive stance on drought preparedness, especially for
smaller rural communities most vulnerable to droughts.
The drenching storms that hit California in recent weeks
represented a long-sought opportunity for Helen Dahlke, a
groundwater hydrologist at the University of California, Davis.
Dahlke has been studying ways to recharge the state’s severely
depleted groundwater by diverting swollen rivers into orchards
and fields and letting the water seep deep into aquifers. But
carrying out such plans requires heavy precipitation—which had
been scarce. This week, however, water managers began to turn
theory into practice. In the Tulare Irrigation District, which
supplies water to more than 200 farms south of Fresno,
officials started diverting water from the San Joaquin River
into 70 fields as well as specially constructed ponds.
While California’s drought outlook is improving, the State is
continuing to proactively prepare for a return to dry
conditions amid climate-driven extremes in weather. Today,
Department of Water Resources (DWR) is officially launching a
standing Drought Resilience Interagency and Partners (DRIP)
Collaborative, which will include members of the public.
Community members and water users are encouraged to apply.
Initiated by Senate Bill 552, the DRIP Collaborative will
foster partnerships between local governments, experts,
community representatives and state agencies to address drought
planning, emergency response, and ongoing management. Members
will help ensure support for community needs and anticipate and
mitigate drought impacts, especially for small water supplier
and rural communities who are often more vulnerable to
droughts.
By some estimates, more than 32 trillion gallons of water
have fallen on the state since the first storms hit in late
December. On a levee overlooking the swollen Sacramento River
last week, a group of Republican state lawmakers criticized
their Democratic colleagues and Governor Gavin Newsom for not
prioritizing new projects to capture the deluge. …
Republicans called it a “failure of leadership” by Democrats
and called for more investments in water storage, both above
ground and below. A large reservoir is planned for the northern
Sacramento Valley but has been undergoing a lengthy permitting
process. Construction at the Sites project is estimated to
begin in 2024 with operations beginning in 2030. According to
the Sites Project Authority, the reservoir could have captured
120,000 acre-feet of water between Jan. 3 and Jan. 15 if it had
been operational.
At their Jan. 17 meeting, Grand County commissioners heard a
presentation from Lily Bosworth, staff engineer for the
Colorado River Authority of Utah, on a water conservation pilot
program. The Colorado River Authority of Utah was established
by the Utah State Legislature in 2021. Ongoing drought and
growing evidence that the river cannot support the demand being
placed on it by users have strained water infrastructure,
policies and agreements across the Southwest; the stated
mission of the Colorado River Authority is to “protect,
preserve, conserve, and develop Utah’s Colorado River system
interests.” The Authority is overseen by a six-member board as
well as the governor.
As damaging as it was for more than 32 trillion gallons of rain
and snow to fall on California since Christmas, a
worst-case global warming scenario could juice up
similar future downpours by one-third by the middle of this
century, a new study says. The strongest of California’s
storms from “atmospheric rivers,” long and wide plumes of
moisture that form over an ocean and flow through the sky over
land, would probably get an overall 34% increase in total
precipitation, or another 11 trillion gallons more than just
fell.
Yesterday, the Biden Administration published a final rule
(Final Rule) revising the definition of “waters of the United
States” (WOTUS), which will go into effect on March 20, 2023.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of
Engineers (Corps) return to the pre-2015 regulatory definition
of WOTUS, with amendments to reflect relevant Supreme Court
decisions. With this rulemaking, the Biden administration seeks
to provide a “durable definition” by returning to the pre-2015
framework and theoretically end the definitional uncertainty
that has plagued industry (and the courts) for years. However,
the U.S. Supreme Court’s pending decision in Sackett v. EPA may
impact the durability of the Final Rule.
A chorus of Republicans and moderate Democrats in the San
Joaquin Valley has called for the Newsom administration to ease
pumping restrictions and export more water to drought-stricken
regions of the state. For two weeks a surge of floodwater
flowed nearly unimpeded through the Sacramento–San Joaquin
Delta and into the bay. It was another missed opportunity to
seize on a wet year to export and store more water, argued the
lawmakers. Climate extremes and a lack of preparation underline
the challenge. But the fault lies with an inflexible process
for updating the pumping permits rather than on water managers,
according to a group of irrigation districts and water agencies
with contracts for the exports. This week the same regulatory
inertia put up another obstacle in the way of Delta pumping.
California voters approved a ballyhooed $7.5-billion bond issue
eight-plus years ago thinking the state would build dams and
other vital water facilities. But it hasn’t built zilch. True
or false? That’s the rap: The voters were taken. The state
can’t get its act together. Republicans and agriculture
interests in particular make that charge, but the complaint
also is widespread throughout the state. There’s some
truth in the allegation. But it’s basically a bum rap. No dams
have been built, that’s true. But one will be and two will be
expanded. And hundreds of other smaller projects have been
completed. -Written by LA Times columnist George Skelton.
Happy New Year to all the friends, supporters, readers and
tour and workshop participants of the Water Education
Foundation! We’re grateful to each and every person who
interacted with us in 2022. As we turn the page to 2023,
flood-swamping atmospheric rivers have put a dent in our
drought in California and across the West. Time will tell
just how much. Ideally we want storms more spaced out through
the winter. However they come, you can always keep up with the
latest drought/flood/snowpack developments of our “feast
or famine” water world with our weekday news aggregate known as
Aquafornia. At the
Foundation, our array of 2023 programming begins later
this month as we welcome our incoming Water Leaders class.
We’ll be sure to introduce them to you and let you know what
thorny California water policy topic they’ll be attempting to
solve.
In 2014, during the throes of last decade’s drought, California
voters approved billions of dollars for infrastructure that
would catch and store much-needed water from winter storms. The
hope was to amass water in wet times and save it for dry times.
Nearly 10 years later, none of the major storage projects,
which include new and expanded reservoirs, has gotten off the
ground. California reservoir levels: Charts show water supply
across the state As the state experiences a historic bout of
rain and snow this winter, amid another severe water shortage,
critics are lamenting the missed opportunity to capture more of
the extraordinary runoff that has been swelling rivers,
flooding towns and pouring into the sea.
The Governor’s January Budget forecasts General Fund revenues
will be $29.5 billion lower than at the 2022 Budget Act
projections, and California now faces an estimated budget gap
of $22.5 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-24. … Some
highlights from the Governor’s January Budget include: The
Budget maintains $8.6 billion (98 percent) of previously
committed funding to minimize the immediate economic and
environmental damage from the current drought and support
hundreds of local water projects to prepare for and be more
resilient to future droughts. Delta Levees—$40.6 million
General Fund for ongoing Delta projects that reduce risk of
levee failure and flooding, provide habitat benefits, and
reduce the risk of saltwater intrusion contaminating water
supplies.
All legislation aimed at regulating toxic PFAS “forever
chemicals” died in the Democratic-controlled US Congress last
session as companies flexed their lobbying muscle and bills did
not gain enough Republican support to overcome a Senate
filibuster. … PFAS are a class of about 12,000
compounds used to make products resist water, stains and heat.
They are known as “forever chemicals” because they do not
naturally break down, and they have been linked to cancer, high
cholesterol, liver disease, kidney disease, fetal complications
and other serious health problems. The Environmental
Protection Agency this year found that virtually no level of
exposure to two types of PFAS compounds in drinking water is
safe, and public health advocates say the entire chemical class
is toxic and dangerous.
A New Mexico town that is intimately aware of the water supply
risks from a drying climate could receive up to $140 million to
rebuild its water system after the largest wildfire in state
history tore through its watershed last year. Besides being a
lifeline, the funds also illustrate the financial and
ecological vulnerability of small, high-poverty communities in
the face of extreme weather. In the fiscal year 2023 budget
that President Joe Biden signed just before the new year,
Congress set aside $1.45 billion for post-fire recovery in New
Mexico. That’s in addition to $2.5 billion that lawmakers had
already directed to the state, bringing the total amount of
federal aid after the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon fire to nearly
$4 billion.
The chairmen of the Ute Mountain Ute and the Southern Ute
tribes spoke in a joint address to the state legislature on
Wednesday. It was the first time, under a new state law, that
the tribal leaders were invited to address state lawmakers.
Over the course of about 30 minutes, the two leaders shared the
history of their communities and asked for lawmakers’ help on
specific issues. Here are a few. Manuel Heart, chairman of
the Ute Mountain Ute, said the tribe needs help to access the
water for which it already holds rights. … Heart said
the state should partner with the tribe to work on a pipeline
from Lake Nighthorse to Montezuma County. The tribes also
deserve a greater role in water planning among the Colorado
River basin states, he said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Jan. 10 unveiled his proposed budget for
the next fiscal year … [T]he governor has proposed
timely new funding for flood risk reduction and protection, as
well as several other important water management issues.
Specifically, the governor’s proposed budget calls for funding
in the following categories. Urban Flood Risk Reduction —
$135.5 million over two years to support local agencies working
to reduce urban flood risk. Delta Levee — $40.6 million
for ongoing Delta projects that reduce risk of levee failure
and flooding, provide habitat benefits, and reduce the risk of
saltwater intrusion contaminating water supplies. Central
Valley Flood Protection — $25 million to support projects that
will reduce the risk of flooding for Central Valley communities
while contributing to ecosystem restoration and agricultural
sustainability.
A comprehensive overhaul of water policy affecting the San
Joaquin Valley is back on the table, courtesy of Rep. David
Valadao (R–Hanford). Valadao initially introduced the Working
to Advance Tangible and Effective Reforms (WATER) for
California Act last September and is bringing it back, this
time with a Republican-controlled House. The entire California
Republican delegation joined Valadao as co-sponsors on the
bill. … What’s in it: If it passes, the act will
require the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water
Project (SWP) to be operated consistent with the 2019 Trump-era
biological opinions, which have been under fire by the Biden
administration.
As California wrangles with a projected $22 billion budget
deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed cutting most heavily
from programs designed to help the state confront the worsening
effects of climate change. Newsom’s proposed budget, which he
released Tuesday, would cut a net $6 billion from the state’s
climate efforts. Among the cuts: subsidies for electric
vehicles; funding for clean energy programs, such as battery
storage and solar panels; and money for programs to help
low-income people deal with extreme heat waves. Climate
activists and some progressive legislators said they were wary
of the move, particularly as another atmospheric river drenched
much of the state and brought flooding to communities from
Santa Cruz to San Diego….Among the other proposed cuts to
climate programs and projects in Newsom’s budget: … $194
million for drought preparation and response
The Wyoming State Legislature begins its lawmaking session this
week. One bill, called the “Colorado River Authority of Wyoming
Act,” would create a board and commissioner to manage Wyoming’s
water in the Colorado River Basin. The system drains about 17
percent of the Cowboy State’s land area and is critical for
agriculture, energy development and residential use in cities.
The entire Colorado River Basin is currently under stress due
to drought conditions and human development in the Southwest.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Albert Sommers (R-Pinedale) and
Sen. Larry Hicks (R-Baggs) is similar to those previously
passed in several other states that depend on the Colorado
River.
On September 7, California’s State Water Resources Control
Board (SWRCB) approved initial requirements for testing
microplastics in drinking water, becoming the first government
in the world seeking to establish health-based guidelines for
acceptable levels of microplastics in drinking water. …
Microplastics are tiny plastic particles, less than five
millimeters in length, that occur in the environment because of
plastic production from a wide range of manufactured products.
… The SWRCB’s implementation of Senate Bill 1422, will now
require select public water systems to monitor for
microplastics over a four year period—a daunting task as there
is no EPA-approved method to identify the many types of
microplastics in drinking water, and no standardized water
treatment method for removing microplastics from the public
water supply.
Last year was a good one for trash. Or, rather, for the
prospects of reducing it. For the last several years, lawmakers
have passed new laws aimed at curbing plastic, from the 2014
ban on single-use plastic grocery bags to restrictions on use
of plastic straws. But in 2022, they went big and broad,
enacting Senate Bill 54, a revolutionary law that will start
phasing out all varieties of single-use plastic in 2025 —
basically everything on the shelves of grocery and other retail
stores — through escalating composting and recycling
requirements on consumer products packaging. Most importantly,
the law puts the onus on the producers of the packaging to
figure out how to make it happen rather than on consumers or
state and local governments.
Our 2022 Water Leaders class completed its year with a
report outlining policy recommendations for the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta Water Quality Control Plan update. The cohort of 20
up-and-coming leaders from various water-related
fields – engineers, attorneys, planners, environmentalists and
scientists – had full editorial control to choose
recommendations. Among their key
recommendations: Establish accountability for timely
updates of the Bay-Delta Plan and give stakeholders a clear
opportunity to engage in the process
… Click here to
read their full report.
California made historic investments in climate measures this
year, as state leaders warned of current and escalating climate
risks. … California is experiencing the driest 22
years in more than a millennium, fueled by warmer, drier
conditions that have exposed critical weaknesses in the way the
state stores and manages water. … Meanwhile, close
to 1,500 wells ran dry this year. And though
California became the first state in the nation to recognize
the “human right” to water a decade ago, roughly 1 million
people, mostly in isolated rural communities, lack access
to reliable supplies of safe drinking
water. Legislators passed a bill in September to
help low-income Californians pay their water bill, but [Gov.]
Newsom vetoed it, citing a lack of sustainable,
ongoing funding.
This simple statistic may shock you: Each time a farmer plows
his or her field, the soil loses three-quarters of an inch of
moisture. The solutions? They’re more complicated and part of
new and expanding soil health programs that seek to help
farmers explore how to retain water, improve fertility, and
create greater resilience to buffer weather extremes. Now, with
the aid of $25 million in new federal funding, the Colorado
Department of Agriculture plans to expand a program called STAR
— an acronym for Saving Tomorrow’s Agricultural Resources —
from 124 producers, including both farmers and ranchers, to
450. … State officials say that fostering techniques to
improve soils, making them more sponge-like, can help Colorado
improve water quality and use existing water more efficiently.
Agriculture continues to account for more than 80% of
Colorado’s water use.
This tour traveled along the San Joaquin River to learn firsthand
about one of the nation’s largest and most expensive river
restoration projects.
The San Joaquin River was the focus of one of the most
contentious legal battles in California water history,
ending in a 2006 settlement between the federal government,
Friant Water Users Authority and a coalition of environmental
groups.
Hampton Inn & Suites Fresno
327 E Fir Ave
Fresno, CA 93720
Martha Guzman recalls those awful
days working on water and other issues as a deputy legislative
secretary for then-Gov. Jerry Brown. California was mired in a
recession and the state’s finances were deep in the red. Parks
were cut, schools were cut, programs were cut to try to balance a
troubled state budget in what she remembers as “that terrible
time.”
She now finds herself in a strikingly different position: As
administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
Region 9, she has a mandate to address water challenges across
California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii and $1 billion to help pay
for it. It is the kind of funding, she said, that is usually
spread out over a decade. Guzman called it the “absolutely
greatest opportunity.”
Groundwater provides about 40
percent of the water in California for urban, rural and
agricultural needs in typical years, and as much as 60 percent in
dry years when surface water supplies are low. But in many areas
of the state, groundwater is being extracted faster than it can
be replenished through natural or artificial means.
The bill is coming due, literally,
to protect and restore groundwater in California.
Local agencies in the most depleted groundwater basins in
California spent months putting together plans to show how they
will achieve balance in about 20 years.
Our Water 101 Workshop, one of our most popular events, offered attendees the opportunity to deepen their understanding of California’s water history, laws, geography and politics.
Taught by some of the leading policy and legal experts in the state, the workshop was held as an engaging online event on the afternoons of Thursday, April 22 and Friday, April 23.
California is chock full of rivers and creeks, yet the state’s network of stream gauges has significant gaps that limit real-time tracking of how much water is flowing downstream, information that is vital for flood protection, forecasting water supplies and knowing what the future might bring.
That network of stream gauges got a big boost Sept. 30 with the signing of SB 19. Authored by Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa), the law requires the state to develop a stream gauge deployment plan, focusing on reactivating existing gauges that have been offline for lack of funding and other reasons. Nearly half of California’s stream gauges are dormant.
The Water Education Foundation’s Water 101 Workshop, one of our most popular events, offered attendees the opportunity to deepen their understanding of California’s water history, laws, geography and politics.
Taught by some of the leading policy and legal experts in the state, the one-day workshop held on Feb. 20, 2020 covered the latest on the most compelling issues in California water.
McGeorge School of Law
3327 5th Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95817
Bruce Babbitt, the former Arizona
governor and secretary of the Interior, has been a thoughtful,
provocative and sometimes forceful voice in some of the most
high-profile water conflicts over the last 40 years, including
groundwater management in Arizona and the reduction of
California’s take of the Colorado River. In 2016, former
California Gov. Jerry Brown named Babbitt as a special adviser to
work on matters relating to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and
the Delta tunnels plan.
Groundwater helped make Kern County
the king of California agricultural production, with a $7 billion
annual array of crops that help feed the nation. That success has
come at a price, however. Decades of unchecked groundwater
pumping in the county and elsewhere across the state have left
some aquifers severely depleted. Now, the county’s water managers
have less than a year left to devise a plan that manages and
protects groundwater for the long term, yet ensures that Kern
County’s economy can continue to thrive, even with less water.
Low-income Californians can get help with their phone bills, their natural gas bills and their electric bills. But there’s only limited help available when it comes to water bills.
That could change if the recommendations of a new report are implemented into law. Drafted by the State Water Resources Control Board, the report outlines the possible components of a program to assist low-income households facing rising water bills.
One of our most popular events, our annual Water 101 Workshop
details the history, geography, legal and political facets
of water in California as well as hot topics currently facing the
state.
Taught by some of the leading policy and legal experts in the
state, the one-day workshop on Feb. 7 gave attendees a
deeper understanding of the state’s most precious natural
resources.
Optional Groundwater Tour
On Feb. 8, we jumped aboard a bus to explore groundwater, a key
resource in California. Led by Foundation staff and groundwater
experts Thomas
Harter and Carl Hauge, retired DWR chief hydrogeologist, the
tour visited cities and farms using groundwater, examined a
subsidence measuring station and provided the latest updates
on the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
McGeorge School of Law
3327 5th Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95817
There’s going to be a new governor
in California next year – and a host of challenges both old and
new involving the state’s most vital natural resource, water.
So what should be the next governor’s water priorities?
That was one of the questions put to more than 150 participants
during a wrap-up session at the end of the Water Education
Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento.
Spurred by drought and a major
policy shift, groundwater management has assumed an unprecedented
mantle of importance in California. Local agencies in the
hardest-hit areas of groundwater depletion are drawing plans to
halt overdraft and bring stressed aquifers to the road of
recovery.
Along the way, an army of experts has been enlisted to help
characterize the extent of the problem and how the Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act of 2014 is implemented in a manner
that reflects its original intent.
California voters may experience a sense of déjà vu this year when they are asked twice in the same year to consider water bonds — one in June, the other headed to the November ballot.
Both tackle a variety of water issues, from helping disadvantaged communities get clean drinking water to making flood management improvements. But they avoid more controversial proposals, such as new surface storage, and they propose to do some very different things to appeal to different constituencies.
One of our most popular events, Water 101 details the history,
geography, legal and political facets of water in California
as well as hot topics currently facing the state.
Taught by some of the leading policy and legal experts in the
state, the one-day workshop gives attendees a deeper
understanding of the state’s most precious natural resource.
McGeorge School of Law
3285 5th Ave, Classroom C
Sacramento, CA 95817
Participants of this tour snaked along the San Joaquin River to
learn firsthand about one of the nation’s largest and most
expensive river restoration projects.
The San Joaquin River was the focus of one of the most
contentious legal battles in California water history,
ending in a 2006 settlement between the federal government,
Friant Water Users Authority and a coalition of environmental
groups.
A new era of groundwater management
began in 2014 with the passage of the Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act (SGMA), which aims for local and regional agencies
to develop and implement sustainable groundwater management
plans with the state as the backstop.
SGMA defines “sustainable groundwater management” as the
“management and use of groundwater in a manner that can be
maintained during the planning and implementation horizon without
causing undesirable results.”
This handbook provides crucial
background information on the Sustainable Groundwater Management
Act, signed into law in 2014 by Gov. Jerry Brown. The handbook
also includes a section on options for new governance.
As part of the historic Colorado
River Delta, the Salton Sea regularly filled and dried for
thousands of years due to its elevation of 237 feet below
sea level.
The federal Safe Drinking Water Act sets standards for drinking
water quality in the United States.
Launched in 1974 and administered by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the Safe Drinking Water Act oversees states,
communities, and water suppliers who implement the drinking water
standards at the local level.
The act’s regulations apply to every public water system in the
United States but do not include private wells serving less than
25 people.
According to the EPA, there are more than 160,000 public water
systems in the United States.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at some of
the pieces of the 2009 water legislation, including the Delta
Stewardship Council, the new requirements for groundwater
monitoring and the proposed water bond.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at California
groundwater and whether its sustainability can be assured by
local, regional and state management. For more background
information on groundwater please refer to the Foundation’s
Layperson’s Guide to Groundwater.
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.
This issue of Western Water looks at the political
landscape in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento as it relates to
water issues in 2007. Several issues are under consideration,
including the means to deal with impending climate change, the
fate of the San Joaquin River, the prospects for new surface
storage in California and the Delta.
This printed issue of Western Water examines water
infrastructure – its costs and the quest to augment traditional
brick-and-mortar facilities with sleeker, “green” features.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the
financing of water infrastructure, both at the local level and
from the statewide perspective, and some of the factors that
influence how people receive their water, the price they pay for
it and how much they might have to pay in the future.
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 discusses low
impact development and stormwater capture – two areas of emerging
interest that are viewed as important components of California’s
future water supply and management scenario.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the
Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study and what its
finding might mean for the future of the lifeblood of the
Southwest.
20-minute version of the 2012 documentary The Klamath Basin: A
Restoration for the Ages. This DVD is ideal for showing at
community forums and speaking engagements to help the public
understand the complex issues related to complex water management
disputes in the Klamath River Basin. Narrated by actress Frances
Fisher.
For over a century, the Klamath River Basin along the Oregon and
California border has faced complex water management disputes. As
relayed in this 2012, 60-minute public television documentary
narrated by actress Frances Fisher, the water interests range
from the Tribes near the river, to energy producer PacifiCorp,
farmers, municipalities, commercial fishermen, environmentalists
– all bearing legitimate arguments for how to manage the water.
After years of fighting, a groundbreaking compromise may soon
settle the battles with two epic agreements that hold the promise
of peace and fish for the watershed. View an excerpt from the
documentary here.
30-minute DVD that traces the history of the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation and its role in the development of the West. Includes
extensive historic footage of farming and the construction of
dams and other water projects, and discusses historic and modern
day issues.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, features
a map of the San Joaquin River. The map text focuses on the San
Joaquin River Restoration Program, which aims to restore flows
and populations of Chinook salmon to the river below Friant Dam
to its confluence with the Merced River. The text discusses the
history of the program, its goals and ongoing challenges with
implementation.
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.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to
Water Rights Law, recognized as the most thorough explanation of
California water rights law available to non-lawyers, traces the
authority for water flowing in a stream or reservoir, from a
faucet or into an irrigation ditch through the complex web of
California water rights.
As the state’s population continues to grow and traditional water
supplies grow tighter, there is increased interest in reusing
treated wastewater for a variety of activities, including
irrigation of crops, parks and golf courses, groundwater recharge
and industrial uses.
The 20-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Marketing provides
background information on water rights, types of transfers and
critical policy issues surrounding this topic. First published in
1996, the 2005 version offers expanded information on
groundwater banking and conjunctive use, Colorado River
transfers and the role of private companies in California’s
developing water market.
Order in bulk (25 or more copies of the same guide) for a reduced
fee. Contact the Foundation, 916-444-6240, for details.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to Integrated Regional Water
Management (IRWM) is an in-depth, easy-to-understand publication
that provides background information on the principles of IRWM,
its funding history and how it differs from the traditional water
management approach.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Groundwater is an in-depth,
easy-to-understand publication that provides background and
perspective on groundwater. The guide explains what groundwater
is – not an underground network of rivers and lakes! – and the
history of its use in California.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to
Flood Management explains the physical flood control system,
including levees; discusses previous flood events (including the
1997 flooding); explores issues of floodplain management and
development; provides an overview of flood forecasting; and
outlines ongoing flood control projects.
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 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Central Valley Project
explores the history and development of the federal Central
Valley Project (CVP), California’s largest surface water delivery
system. In addition to the project’s history, the guide describes
the various CVP facilities, CVP operations, the benefits the CVP
brought to the state and the CVP Improvement Act (CVPIA).
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Delta explores the competing
uses and demands on California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Included in the guide are sections on the history of the Delta,
its role in the state’s water system, and its many complex issues
with sections on water quality, levees, salinity and agricultural
drainage, fish and wildlife, and water distribution.
For more than 30 years, the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta has been embroiled in continuing controversy over the
struggle to restore the faltering ecosystem while maintaining its
role as the hub of the state’s water supply.
Lawsuits and counter lawsuits have been filed, while
environmentalists and water users continue to clash over
the amount of water that can be safely exported from the region.
Passed in 1970, the federal National Environmental Policy Act
requires lead public agencies to prepare and submit for public
review environmental impact reports and statements on major
federal projects under their purview with potentially significant
environmental effects.
According to the Department of Energy, administrator of NEPA:
California has considered, but not implemented, a comprehensive
groundwater strategy many
times over the last century.
One hundred years ago, the California Conservation Commission
considered adding groundwater regulation into the Water
Commission Act of 1913. After hearings were held, it was
decided to leave groundwater rights out of the Water Code.
Federal reserved rights were created when the United States
reserved land from the public domain for uses such as Indian
reservations, military bases and national parks, forests and
monuments. [See also Pueblo Rights].
The federal government passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973,
following earlier legislation. The first, the Endangered
Species Preservation Act of 1966, authorized land acquisition to
conserve select species. The Endangered Species Conservation Act
of 1969 then expanded on the 1966 act, and authorized “the
compilation of a list of animals “threatened with worldwide
extinction” and prohibits their importation without a permit.”
California’s Legislature passed the
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1972, following the passage of the
federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act by Congress in 1968. Under
California law, “[c]ertain rivers which possess extraordinary
scenic, recreational, fishery, or wildlife values shall be
preserved in their free-flowing state, together with their
immediate environments, for the benefit and enjoyment of the
people of the state.”
The legal term “area-of-origin” dates back to 1931 in California.
At that time, concerns over water transfers prompted enactment of
four “area-of-origin” statutes. With water transfers from
Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley to supply water for San Francisco
and from Owens Valley to Los Angeles fresh in mind, the statutes
were intended to protect local areas against export of water.
In particular, counties in Northern California had concerns about
the state tapping their water to develop California’s supply.
It would be a vast understatement to say the package of water
bills approved by the California Legislature and signed by Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger last November was anything but a
significant achievement. During a time of fierce partisan battles
and the state’s long-standing political gridlock with virtually
all water policy, pundits at the beginning of 2009 would have
given little chance to lawmakers being able to reach compromise
on water legislation.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of one of the most
significant environmental laws in American history, the Clean
Water Act (CWA). The law that emerged from the consensus and
compromise that characterizes the legislative process has had
remarkable success, reversing years of neglect and outright abuse
of the nation’s waters.
In January, Mary Nichols joined the cabinet of the new Davis
administration. With her appointment by Gov. Gray Davis as
Secretary for Resources, Ms. Nichols, 53, took on the role of
overseeing the state of California’s activities for the
management, preservation and enhancement of its natural
resources, including land, wildlife, water and minerals. As head
of the Resources Agency, she directs the activities of 19
departments, conservancies, boards and commissions, serving as
the governor’s representative on these boards and commissions.
Two days before our annual Executive Briefing, I picked up my
phone to hear “The White House calling… .” Vice President Al
Gore had accepted the foundation’s invitation to speak at our
March 13 briefing on California water issues. That was the start
of a new experience for us. For in addition to conducting a
briefing for about 250 people, we were now dealing with Secret
Service agents, bomb sniffing dogs and government sharpshooters,
speech writers, print and TV reporters, school children and
public relations people.
