In general, regulations are rules or laws designed to control or
govern conduct. Specifically, water quality regulations under the
federal and state Clean Water Act “protect the public health or
welfare, enhance the quality of water and serve the purposes of
the Act.”
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.
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.
The availability of potable water is not a reason to oppose
development in drought-threatened California. The view that
water should limit development is one of the false claims made
by Not-In-My-Back-Yard organizations that want to stop the
future. The NIMBY mantra that new development poses risks to
the environment, that we will run out of water, is wrong. Less
than 5 percent of annual water supply is used inside
residences. There are many NIMBY organizations making these
false claims, some with longstanding national stature. -Written by Jim Larimer, a resident
of Miramar.
The lawsuit Kern County filed this week against Gov. Gavin
Newsom is aimed at not only ending his de-facto ban on fracking
but also at easing state regulatory constraints on at least two
other oilfield techniques common locally. As part of its
larger argument that the Newsom administration has overstepped
its constitutional authority, Monday’s petition for a writ of
mandate in Kern County Superior Court asserts Newsom had no
right in 2019 to place a moratorium on high-pressure cyclic
steaming or require extensive “area of review” analyses prior
to approval of underground injections.
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.
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.
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.
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.
New groundwater agencies in the Sacramento Valley are currently
finalizing plans to manage their groundwater basins for
long-term balance, as required by the Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act (SGMA). Successful stewardship demands good
information not only about groundwater conditions, but also
about surface water availability. To help build shared
understanding of surface water for agriculture—the valley’s
main water-using sector—we produced a new dataset showing how
access to this vital resource varies across irrigated farmland
in the Sacramento Valley and the Delta.
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 quality regulators let a Sonoma County-based quarry know
last week it could face a $4.5 million-fine for multiple
alleged violations of the Clean Water Act that threaten the
survival of endangered salmon populations in tributaries of the
Russian River. The proposed fine from the North Coast
Regional Water Quality Control Board is part of a legal
proceeding known as an administrative civil liability that
alleges the operator of Mark West Quarry, Dean Soiland, doing
business as BoDean Co. Inc., discharged highly turbid
stormwater from its quarry operations into Porter Creek from
September 2018 through May 2019.
Pyramid Lake was a vital fishery for thousands of years, but
the tribe had no legal rights to Truckee River water until 1908
when the U.S. Supreme Court determined that when the federal
government established Indian reservations it implicitly
reserved sufficient land and water to serve its purpose and
that non-Indians could not interfere with a tribe’s reserved
water. The precedent-setting decision also recognized prior
appropriation rights for Western tribes.The court’s opinion
gave the Paiute the most senior claims on Truckee River dating
back to 1859 when land for the Pyramid Lake Indian
Reservation was first set aside.
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…
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.
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.
Four years after California created a legal, regulated
marijuana industry that’s largely shepherded by contentious
growers, its public lands continue to be decimated by criminal
cultivators associated with Mexican drug cartels. That
much was clear as federal investigators ended several major
probes over the summer, the incidents involving large-scale
plant and wildlife destruction from the central to northern
Sierra.
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 …
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pleasanton water ratepayers can expect a bigger water bill in
the future after the Pleasanton City Council unanimously
approved a funding plan for final design of the city’s per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) treatment and wells
rehabilitation project on Tuesday. … City officials are
currently proceeding with the estimated $46 million project’s
final design to address the detection of PFAS — synthetic
chemicals found in common household items like paint and known
to be harmful to humans — in the city’s wells.
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.
Environmental groups failed to justify blocking the federal
government from funding groundwater pumping in the Sacramento
River Valley pending a preliminary injunction hearing, a
federal court in California ruled. There’s no evidence that
pumping will immediately occur without injunctive relief,
according to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District
of California. And even if it did happen, there’s no evidence
irreparable harm would occur between that time and the
preliminary injunction hearing, Judge William B. Shubb said
Tuesday.
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.
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.
For over a century, the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge
has been crucial habitat for birds on their grueling annual
migrations between destinations as distant as Alaska and
Mexico. … For years, the refuge has been last in line for
scarce water, after farmers and endangered fish. As the drought
deepened and wetlands dried out, the lack of water led to
massive outbreaks of avian botulism, killing tens of thousands
of ducks, geese swans and other migratory water birds.
… Last week, that water started flowing into the refuge.
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.
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.
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 state’s curtailment of river diversions has drawn lawsuits
from eight irrigation districts in and near Stanislaus County,
along with San Francisco. The three filings claim that
the State Water Resources Control Board exceeded its authority
with the Aug. 20 orders. The plaintiffs also said they did not
get enough chance beforehand to make their cases for continued
diversions.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ironic how a whitewater rafting trip can be a great analogy for
water policy work. Collaborating on water policy and water
solution implementations in California is a productive pathway
forward. Be it in a coalition, at your local farm, in your
community, in the Legislature, in the Governor’s office, or
when barreling towards rapids in a raft. Without collaboration,
particularly in a dry year like 2021, we all may fail for fish,
farmers, fowl, floodplains, and for safe drinking water.
The Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service today announced the Notice of Funding Opportunity for
projects that enhance Chinook salmon and steelhead trout
production and associated habitats in the Central Valley,
consistent with the Central Valley Project Improvement Act.
Reclamation and the Service plan to award up to $40 million
(subject to appropriations) in fiscal year 2022 through
multiple grants or cooperative agreements to projects
prioritized by the CVPIA Near-Term Restoration Strategy.
A bloom of toxic blue-green algae in a Central California
reservoir has reached the danger level, the state Department of
Water Resource said Tuesday. Lab results from this week’s
tests showed an increase in toxin levels at San Luis Reservoir
in Merced County, the department said. Boating is allowed
but people and pets should avoid physical contact with the
water and algal scum. Fish and shellfish from the lake should
also be avoided.
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 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.
There have been all kinds of efforts and money allocated to
trying to solve California’s water woes. Now an organization
states it has the solution — the 2 percent solution. In what
it’s calling the 2 percent solution More Water Now is working
to place an initiative on the November 2022 ballot that would
require 2 percent of the state budget to be allocated to the
state’s water resources. If placed on the ballot and approved
the water abundance ballot initiative would set aside 2 percent
of the state budget to water.
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.
A proposed water district in northwestern Butte County won a
split-vote endorsement from the Butte County Water Commission,
after a lengthy public hearing. The commission voted 6-3 to
recommend the Board of Supervisors support formation of the
Tuscan Water District. Even though the vote was just advisory,
there were two hours of public comment. When the supervisors
take up the matter Sept. 14, their action will also just be
advisory, as the Local Agency Formation Commission is the
entity that will determine whether the district is formed.
Record dry conditions once again in the West have led the
federal and state governments to declare water supply
shortages. California’s governor has declared that 50 counties,
in which approximately 41% of the state’s population exists,
are now under a drought state of emergency. This prompted the
adoption of emergency regulations ordering water rights holders
to curtail their water diversions on numerous northern
California rivers.
A bust of an illegal cannabis grow site within Sonoma Coast
State Park has weeded out an even bigger problem for the North
Bay suffering from a drought year — water theft. “Cannabis
plants require so much water to grow,” California State Parks
Cannabis Watershed Protection Program Assistant Chief Jeremy
Stinson told the Business Journal, following his team
uncovering the illegal grow site in Bodega Bay that netted two
arrests, 1,500 plants, 1,000 pounds of trash, pollutants and
water diversion lines.
Earlier this summer, the Santa Clara Valley Water District
declared a water shortage emergency and told its 13 retailers,
including their largest retailer the San Jose Water Company, to
cut water use 15% from 2019 levels, the most recent non-drought
year…. The [San Jose Water] company has since
submitted a plan to the California Public Utilities
Commission that would require each of its residential customers
to officially cut monthly water use by 15% from their 2019
levels, or face fines of $7.13 in surcharges for every
additional unit of water used. The move could make San Jose the
first major California city with water allotments and drought
penalties.
On August 30, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the District of
Arizona vacated the April 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule
in which the Trump Administration revised the definition of
Waters of the United States (WOTUS). The court is still
weighing whether (a) to restore the Obama-era WOTUS rule, which
more broadly defines jurisdictional areas; or (b) simply to
undo the Trump rollback, which would result in a return to
pre-Obama WOTUS regulations.
Monterey County is the only county is California with a law
that prohibits private companies from operating new
desalination plants. That law, passed in 1989, will be up for a
potential repeal when the county’s supervisors meet on Sept.
21. The law has been thrust into the spotlight as
Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp., a publicly traded, $11
billion Canada-based company, has proposed construction of what
could be a massive regional desalination plant in Moss Landing.
In January 1900, Nevada Congressman Francis Newlands sponsored
a measure for the federal government to provide water for
irrigation in arid regions throughout the western United
States. The bill ran into resistance from politicians concerned
about giving up state control of water to the federal
government, but ultimately the most contentious issues were
resolved and the law passed.
Freshly cut off from their chief water supply, a group of
California water agencies in one of the state’s most fertile
farming areas sued on Wednesday to freeze the latest round of
emergency drought rules. In a lawsuit filed in Sacramento
County Superior Court, the suppliers argue they were denied due
process when state regulators ordered thousands of landowners
last month to cease diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin
River Delta due to drought conditions.
As a headwaters state, Colorado has many interstate compacts
that set rules for how the state must share the rivers that
originate within its borders with downstream states. On several
of these rivers, water users have had to modify their water use
to meet compact requirements. That day may be coming for
the Colorado River. A new report explores what Colorado
River water users can learn from experiences with compact
administration on other rivers.
Trump-era EPA appointees engaged in “considerable political
level interference” on an assessment for a controversial
“forever chemical,” documents obtained by E&E News
indicate. But the Biden administration wasted no time in
yanking that document, moving to scrub the assessment of
alterations made by political appointees and restore language
advocated by EPA career scientists shortly after the
president’s inauguration. At issue is a toxicity assessment for
PFBS, part of the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances family.
For the first time in history, the federal government has
declared a water shortage on the Colorado River, which serves
as a lifeline to more than 40 million people in western states
like Arizona and California. States that are used to
receiving substantial amounts of water from the river are going
to be receiving considerable cuts in water availability. The
river has served as a source of affordable hydraulic power and
provides water for irrigation systems to countless farms in the
region.
After the Ukiah City Council held a special meeting Monday,
City of Ukiah officials announced Tuesday that they are
preparing to deliver water to coastal communities such as the
village of Mendocino. In a press release, Deputy City Manger
said that the city staff are “working out planning, contracts
and logistics to begin delivering water supplies by truck to
coastal areas of Mendocino County.”
Environmental justice groups gathered Monday, Aug. 30, in front
of the California EPA building in Sacramento, demanding cleanup
of contaminated sites around the state … Organizers of the
demonstration said the California Environmental Protection
Agency and Department of Toxic Substances Control, the
regulatory agency overseeing the investigation and cleanup of
contaminated soil and groundwater at the SSFL, failed to hold
polluters accountable, allowing them to walk away from cleaning
contaminated sites often located in low-income and
working-class communities.
Like many farmers across California, Zack Andrade’s business is
being choked by an extraordinary two-year drought. Water cuts
could soon erase about a quarter of the irrigation he depends
on to grow leafy greens, carrots and beets on his family’s farm
in the rolling hills south of Silicon Valley, near Morgan
Hill. Andrade said the crisis has been made worse by
successive governors, including Gavin Newsom, who he says have
punted on damming rivers and building new reservoirs to help
California store more water during wet years.
In California’s water market, buyers and sellers trade water
through short- and long-term leases as well as permanent sales
of their water rights. Trading enhances flexibility in water
management.
Sierra National Forest closed numerous hiking trails, picnic
areas and campgrounds, citing “unknown hazards found in and
near the Savage Lundy Trail,” where a Mariposa family was
mysteriously found dead two weeks ago. The closures went into
effect Sunday and extend through Sept. 26. … The
Sheriff’s Office previously said known harmful algal
blooms along the south fork of the Merced River are among
the many possible causes of death being considered in the
case with “no smoking gun” clues.
Right now, Congress is debating needed investments in our water
system decades in the making. While the Senate’s compromise
bill passed earlier this month includes billions for lead pipe
replacement and helping communities prepare for future drought
and floods, the bill falls short of ensuring all families can
turn their tap on and access safe, affordable water.
… Some utilities are stepping up to help (both San
Francisco Public Utilities and East Bay Municipal
Utilities District have customer assistance programs)
… -Written by Michael McAfee, president and CEO of
PolicyLink, a national research and action institute focused on
advancing racial and economic equity, and Susana De
Anda, co-founder and executive director of the Community
Water Center, a nonprofit environmental justice organization
based in California’s San Joaquin Valley.
As unprecedented drought conditions plague much of the West,
reservoirs are running dry. Communities reliant on these
sources for drinking water are tightening restrictions to
preserve adequate supplies. … Located in California’s
Wine Country, the city [of Healdsburg] implemented water
restrictions in June to maintain its drinking water supply
through 2021. The mandate cut water use by 40 percent,
limiting individuals to 74 gallons a day. It also banned the
use of sprinklers and drip irrigation.
In the midst of a climate crisis in California, another species
has been added to the endangered species list: the Sierra
Nevada red fox, a subspecies of red foxes found only in
California. With an estimated population of about 18 to 39,
California’s distinct red fox population is now in critical
danger of extinction, joining a list that includes the
California condor and salt-marsh harvest mouse.
Expect legislation next winter in the Colorado General Assembly
that would seek to curb potential speculation in Colorado
water. But whether water speculation actually poses a problem
remains hotly debated. A report released Aug. 13 by a state
work group charged with studying how to strengthen Colorado
anti-water-speculation law identifies eight concepts to thwart
possible water hoarding that should be studied further. One
would eliminate or reduce the agricultural tax benefit for
lands from which water is removed following a water rights
purchase and transfer.
The Marin Municipal Water District has decided against
switching from bimonthly to monthly billing cycles as a way to
promote water conservation. At a meeting on Thursday, the
district’s board decided the nearly $1.2 million in added costs
yearly that would result from the change would be better spent
on a larger effort to install wireless meters for all of its
customers. … The idea to switch to monthly billing is not
new, having been proposed and rejected in 2017 because of the
costs.
The little-known federal Bureau of Reclamation just made
history by ordering some state governments to cut back their
usage of water on the Colorado River due to a historic drought
affecting the river basin. As a proud Coloradan, I was
alarmed to see this unprecedented announcement since it signals
the start of a new era of increased heavy-handedness in the
federal government’s management of state matters. -Written by Laura Williamson, political writer and a
contributor for Young Voices.
Mandatory limits on water use are likely to be imposed in the
near future on California residents, businesses and farms. Get
ready. You can’t change the weather, which has deprived the
state of its necessary rain and snowfall. But you can change
your response. After examining the state’s shockingly low
reservoirs, Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters recently that a
statewide limit on water use may be needed to head off a supply
crisis caused by California’s historic drought, which continues
to worsen.
Some activists claim the county is no longer providing them
water to take to homeless encampments—a service offered over
the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gail Osmer, an advocate
for houseless communities, said throughout the pandemic she’s
gotten multiple cases of water from the county Office of
Supportive Housing to distribute. But earlier this month, she
says the county refused to give her water, citing too many
requests. In an email to Osmer, a county worker said water is
only being given out during “inclement weather
activations”—such as certain days with extremely hot
temperatures.
Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, partnered with a
coalition of community health experts Thursday, Aug. 26 to
garner support for a proposed law that would cut the legal
limit of lead leaching from plumbing fixtures for sale by more
than half. Lead is a highly toxic metal especially dangerous to
kids and youth whose body and brains are still growing. Even
low levels can stunt children’s physical, intellectual and
behavioral development, according to Alice Kuo, a professor of
Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at UCLA.
After twenty years at or above the current level, the San
Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District Board of Directors
voted to lower its property tax rate. Valley District, a
wholesale water provider and State Water Contractor, is
required to set a property tax rate each fiscal year for the
debt service fund on its State Water Contract.
Substantial work occurs in the Sacramento Valley every year on
projects to develop and enhance habitat for the region’s
terrestrial and aquatic species. In-stream salmon
recovery projects, Pacific Flyway habitat improvements,
floodplain reactivation and many other types of habitat
projects all require environmental permits to be
implemented. There is general recognition that the work
necessary to acquire these permits greatly increases the time
and cost to get the projects done.
Extreme heat waves have made this a devastating summer for the
endangered salmon species of the U.S. West Coast. In mid July,
California wildlife officials warned that almost all of the
young Chinook salmon in the Sacramento River would likely die
because of lower water levels and higher water temperatures.
… But, amidst all the catastrophic headlines was a cool
spring of good news. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) is finally acting to protect more than two dozen
endangered West Coast salmon and steelhead species from
pesticides.
As climate-driven drought and wildfires rage in California, the
Biden administration is struggling to navigate the hard
politics that come with deciding who gets access to the state’s
precious — and dwindling — water supplies. … Now the Biden
administration is delaying action on the fundamental question
at the heart of California’s long-running water wars: How much
water should be reserved for species protections, at the
expense of the state’s powerful agricultural industry?
Congressional leaders are calling on President Joe Biden to
declare a drought disaster in the West as record temperatures
and historic wildfires batter multiple states. In letter, Reps.
Joe Neguse of Colorado and Jared Huffman of California,
Democrats whose districts have been ravaged by drought and
wildfires, ask Biden and the Federal Emergency Management
Agency to release additional resources to aid Western
communities faced with water cuts as supplies rapidly dwindle.
In 2020 the U.S. government through the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) committed $300 million in The United
States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade agreement to
identify infrastructure solutions to mitigate the transboundary
pollution. Infrastructure solutions for transboundary flows
from the Tijuana River have been studied for the past year. The
Environmental Protection Agency, which has been tasked with
creating solutions, originally proposed 10 possible
projects.
The Sacramento City Council voted on Tuesday to declare a Stage
2 ‘Water Alert’ meant to help reduce the pressure on the Folsom
Reservoir and Lower American River amid the state’s ongoing
drought. During a meeting Tuesday evening, city council also
voted to support the Regional Water Authority’s resolution
calling for a 15% voluntary water conservation from
residents. The decision is in alignment with Gov.
Gavin Newsom’s request in July for residents and businesses to
voluntarily curb water use as the state’s drought
conditions worsen.
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced
that Sixteen to One Mine, one of California’s oldest
operational gold mines, has agreed to an Administrative Order
on Consent requiring the mine to install a new treatment system
that will remove pollutants from mine drainage before entering
local waters. The mine was found to be in violation of its
permit under the U.S. Clean Water Act after consistently
discharging mine-influenced water that exceeded limits on
pollutants.
As discussed in our July 28, 2021, Policy Alert, the State
Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) recently adopted the
Draft Emergency Reporting and Curtailment Regulation
(Regulation), to authorize curtailments of water diversions in
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta). The Regulation
was approved by the Office of Administrative Law and became
effective on August 19, 2021.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s recall election in
mid-September, should he lose, will very likely terminate the
floundering politician’s career. A late-term gubernatorial
replacement would also mean a potentially major shift in
California environmental policies. … Budget spending
… could be directed away from hundreds of conservation
projects that are tentatively scheduled to begin, and directors
of wildlife, water, and resource agencies who were appointed by
Newsom would almost certainly be replaced.
A state drought curtailment regulation, adopted last week for
the Klamath River watershed, calls for minimum instream flows
but also incorporates potential voluntary actions to achieve
water savings to help fish and keep farmers farming. Montague
rancher Ryan Walker, president of the Siskiyou County Farm
Bureau, said the State Water Resources Control Board took a
balanced approach in making its decision.
California is generally known as an environmental leader, but
the state has also faced tremendous environmental degradation
and destruction. I chronicled my “top 10” worst environmental
decisions in the state’s history last year. But what about the
good things state policy makers have done? Here is my list of
the most significant environmental wins in California since the
state’s founding.
The Santa Clarita Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency
announced it will hold its final in-person workshop on Aug. 25
for residents to provide their input on a draft plan for
long-term management of the local groundwater basin. The
workshop is the last in-person opportunity for the public to
ask questions and weigh in on issues and proposed projects and
management actions designed to protect the basin from overuse.
In less than a month, a new Pacific Grove ordinance will
prohibit any new water hookups despite having been granted
earlier water entitlements by the state. The ordinance is set
to take effect in mid-September. In 2017 Pacific Grove’s Local
Water Project came online. It processes wastewater to irrigate
the Pacific Grove Golf Links and the El Carmelo Cemetery. In
November 2015 the state water board approved $2.3 million in
grant funding and $5.4 million in low-interest loan financing
for the project.
The City Council Tuesday will discuss whether Corning needs to
declare stage one drought conditions in the city, which would
require asking residents to reduce their everyday water usage
by 15 percent. The city’s staff is asking the council to
implement the voluntary measure. The city will encourage
residents to use native plants or water-conserving vegetation,
use efficient landscaping systems, water during the evening and
early morning to reduce evaporation and practice water-reducing
methods in households.
Arizona has water issues. But they are not nearly as deep
or widespread as those pummeling northern California. Some
areas there are facing mandatory 40% cuts in use. In Redwood
Valley, residents have been asked to live on 55 gallons a day –
barely enough to take a bath and flush the toilet a few times.
Meanwhile, thousands of farmers and others – even those
with senior water rights – have been barred from diverting
water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. As have irrigators
along the Klamath River near the Oregon border, which also is
seeing massive numbers of fish die. -Written by Joanna Allhands, Arizona Republic
columnist.
The Colorado River Basin covers more than 246,000 square miles
in seven U.S. states (Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico,
Arizona, Nevada, and California) and Mexico. Pursuant to
federal law, the Bureau of Reclamation (part of the Department
of the Interior) manages much of the basin’s water supplies.
Colorado River water is used primarily for agricultural
irrigation and municipal and industrial (M&I) uses; it is
also important for hydropower production, fish and wildlife,
and recreational uses.
California’s ecosystems play an essential role in protecting
the state’s water supply, minimizing unwanted flooding, and
sequestering carbon—among many other benefits. But the
unintended consequences of more than a century of water and
land development—compounded by the impacts of a changing
climate—are pushing many of these ecosystems to the breaking
point.
Water cuts aimed at farmers amid the West’s megadrought have
set the stage for bitter legal and political fights over one of
the most overlooked water uses—the right of water to remain in
streams to sustain fish and endangered species, lawyers say.
The drought is poised to call that right into question, pitting
drinking water providers and food growers against
conservationists who want to keep streams wet so that fish can
survive. … The Interior Department’s Bureau of
Reclamation this week announced a first-ever water
shortage in the Colorado River Basin …
Highlighting the deepening drought, San Jose could soon become
the largest city in California where residents are given
monthly allotments of water with financial penalties for
exceeding them. San Jose Water Company, a private utility that
provides water to 1 million people in and around San Jose, has
filed a plan with state regulators that would require each of
its residential customers to cut monthly water use by 15% from
their 2019 levels and pay $7.13 in surcharges for every unit of
water they use above that amount. The rules are a possible
precursor for similar limits in other communities across the
state, experts said.
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.
The way Brigette Mansell sees it, the drastic water
conservation measures already required of those who live in
Healdsburg make it obvious the city needs to stop and think
about how much more it can grow. Development of luxury housing
and hotels that cater to tony visitors and part-time residents
— who may not be as invested in the community’s well-being —
defies logic, she says. Mansell, a former Healdsburg
councilwoman and mayor, and other like-minded residents support
continued efforts to provide affordable housing in the town.
EPA laid out a path for states and tribes to take more time to
negotiate and tackle challenges before signing off on water
permits — an attempt to defang a controversial Trump-era rule
that allows only a year to approve or deny permits for
utilities and oil and gas pipelines. Sources say the move is an
attempt by the Biden administration to mitigate the adverse
effects of the Trump water rule finalized last year that’s
still on the books while showing sensitivity to advocates
fighting the proliferation of fossil fuel projects.
“I love the smell of diesel power in the afternoon. It smells
like victory.” The line, a play on the quote from the Vietnam
war movie Apocalypse Now, is the first uttered in a July video
by Doug LaMalfa, the US congressman for Siskiyou county. In the
background, bulldozers are destroying what appears to be a
field with marijuana plants. LaMalfa’s video was a response to
a call from the Siskiyou county sheriff, who had invited
citizens in this remote region in northern California to help
his department in the fight against illegal marijuana grows.
When it comes to water supplies in California and the U.S.
Southwest, the news has been remarkably grim in recent weeks.
One story detailed how inn owners in Mendocino County — which
has no municipal water system — were begging guests not to use
showers because their wells had dried up. Another noted that
for the first time ever, the federal government had declared a
Colorado River water shortage. The river’s large adjacent
reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, provide water to 40
million residents of California and six other Western
states.
California policymakers are now able to model reported water
use easily and quickly in any basin in the state thanks to a
new SEI tool. The tool, developed for the California State
Water Resources Control Board, captures data from the
Electronic Water Rights Information Management System (eWRIMS).
It then analyses the data to provide users with a monthly water
use estimate for every water right in any given watershed. The
tool, known as the eWRIMS Analyzer, also flags missing and
erroneous data.
Water regulators on Friday formally ordered thousands of
farmers across California to cut back their water use this
summer or face fines of up to $10,000 a day. The State Water
Resources Control Board began sending formal “curtailment
notices” to the holders of 4,500 water rights permits that
allow them to pull water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin
rivers and their tributaries.
Another dry year is the last thing the suckers need. Two
species of the bottom-feeding sucker fish that inhabit the
Upper Klamath Lake and nearby rivers are struggling to survive
after a century of water management in the Klamath Basin has
all but drained the wetlands ecosystem where these fish once
thrived. … Now, the suckers are on the brink of
extinction. During the past century, wetlands surrounding
Upper Klamath Lake were converted to farmland, while waters
from the basin were allocated to irrigators.
Thirty percent of California’s developed water supply originates high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our water supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests, which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought, wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
Join us as we guide you on a virtual journey into the foothills and the mountains to examine water issues that happen upstream but have dramatic impacts downstream and throughout the state.
Even on an overcast, dewy day at the beach, drought conditions
are of concern. In July, Governor Gavin Newsom urged everyone
across the state to cut their water use by 15%, but some water
experts say that may not be enough. … According to
NOAA’s Drought Monitor Map, most of California is under extreme
drought. San Diego County is listed as moderate. For the
first time ever, the federal government declared a water
shortage in San Diego’s largest water source (66%) — the
Colorado River — triggering mandatory water consumption cuts
for states in the Southwest.
Unlike other parts of the state, Southern California has
avoided the worst of the drought-inspired water restrictions
because of ample supplies. But that could be changing. The
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California on Tuesday
issued a supply alert, calling on the region to conserve vital
resources and prepare for continued drought. Here’s a
breakdown of what this means and what the coming months could
see…
Not only does the Turlock-native Congressman refrain from
partisan politics for the most part, although those who don’t
understand why a Democrat would vote for Nancy Pelosi as House
Speaker as opposed to Kevin McCarthy will argue that point, but
Harder knows a drought when he sees one. The second term 10th
District congressman in late July noted that California is in
dire straits. Harder pointed out the reservoirs we rely on are
at a lower point now than they were at the depth of the last
drought that ended in 2019. -Written by Turlock Journal columnist Dennis
Wyatt.
With an increasing focus on the multiple benefits of healthy
soils, the Budget Act of 2021 recently appropriated $50 million
in one-time funding from the General Fund to the California
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) for implementation of
the Healthy Soils Program and $40 million for State Water
Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) to reduce greenhouse
gases and save water. The CDFA’s Healthy Soils Initiative
promotes the development of innovative farm and land management
practices that increase water retention and infiltration …
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that he may put mandatory water
restrictions in place in as soon as six weeks from now as the
state’s historic drought continues to worsen. … Asked if he
was going to require cities to meet mandatory water
conservation targets, as former Gov. Jerry Brown did statewide
during the last drought from 2012 to 2016, Newsom noted that he
already called for 15% voluntary conservation, but that could
change soon.
The I-Team has learned a federal water shortage declaration on
the Colorado River is expected on Monday. That would trigger
some mandatory cutbacks. Lake Mead, where we get 90% of our
water, is at record low levels right now. Valley residents are
urged to conserve water. Now, the I-Team is taking a look at
residents who are considered to use the most.
Several law firms are moving to sue Los Angeles and the
Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant over the foul smells and water
pollution caused by the emergency release of 17 million gallons
of raw sewage into the ocean last month. The Bloom Law and
Parris Law firms jointly filed a claim for damages — the first
step toward a potential class-action lawsuit — in early August
on behalf of at least a dozen residents. A second group of
about 20 families, represented separately by attorney Abraham
Sandoval, is expected to submit its claims within the next
week.
As farms and communities along the Russian River feel the brunt
of the worsening drought, state regulators suspect that some
people have been siphoning off water illegally. … It
seems that some of the water released is not getting all the
way down to Healdsburg, and state regulators think some people
up river might be cheating.
Conservation groups are pushing for passage of a bill in
Congress that would revive migratory bird protections dropped
during the Trump administration. Last year, Trump’s Fish and
Wildlife Service lifted a rule, which said companies that kill
birds in the course of business, called an incidental take,
would have to change their practices and/or pay for habitat
restoration somewhere else. Jason Rylander, senior endangered
species counsel for Defenders of Wildlife, said the Migratory
Bird Protection Act of 2021 would reinstate those requirements,
and not a moment too soon.
A two-decade-long megadrought along the Colorado River is
pushing seven Western states and parts of Mexico into a formal
shortage declaration, forcing water delivery cuts to the
Southwest that are just the beginning of the pain climate
change promises to bring to the region. Climate scientists and
water managers have long seen this declaration coming, but
what’s alarming them is the speed with which the hot and dry
conditions over the past four years have shrunk the river’s two
main reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, to levels not seen
since they were first filled.
Relief may be soon be arriving to salmon imperiled by
exceptionally low flows in the Scott and Shasta rivers this
summer. The California State Water Resources Control Board
adopted regulations Tuesday to limit irrigation diversions and
groundwater pumping in both watersheds, which produce a
significant proportion of the Klamath Basin’s salmon
populations.
California’s ecosystems form the bedrock of the state’s
wellbeing and prosperity. Yet many of these ecosystems—which
are vitally important to the state’s water supply, agriculture,
wildlife, and economy—are in dire health. Climate change and
accelerating biodiversity loss threaten to further disrupt
these natural systems and the benefits they provide. While the
state urgently needs to speed the pace of ecosystem
restoration, such projects often find themselves mired in
regulations that were originally intended to prevent
environmental destruction.
The State Water Resources Control Board (“State Water Board”)
issued emergency regulations on August 3, 2021, authorizing
Board staff to curtail diversions and require informational
reporting from water users in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
watershed (“Delta Emergency Regulations”). The regulations,
which are expected to be finalized by the Office of
Administrative Law in the coming days, set parameters for
information gathering and determination of supply and demand in
the watershed as well as the issuance of curtailment orders
upon determination of water unavailability.
California’s ecosystems underpin the state’s economy: They
nurture and protect the state’s water supply, shorelines,
agriculture, fisheries and wildlife. But many of these
ecosystems are in dire health, and climate change is now
accelerating the loss of biodiversity already underway.
Ecosystem degradation is having ripple effects across the
state. Severe problems with water supply dwindling populations
of native wildlife, and the critical need to better manage and
store carbon require urgent and large-scale action. -Written by Letitia Grenier, program director at the
San Francisco Estuary Institute, and Jeffrey Mount, senior
fellow at the PPIC’s Water Policy Center.
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) is urging the public to
avoid contact with water at San Luis Reservoir in Merced County
until further notice due to blue-green algae (cyanobacteria).
Boating is allowed, but swimming and other water-contact
recreation and sporting activities are not considered safe due
to potential adverse health effects. O’Neill Forebay remains at
caution advisory. For more information on caution and warning
level advisories, go to Harmful Algal Bloom website under
Advisory Signs.
The federal government on Monday declared a first-ever water
shortage on the Colorado River, announcing
mandatory cutbacks next year that will bring major
challenges for Arizona farmers and reduce the water
allotments of Nevada and Mexico. The declaration of a shortage
by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has been anticipated for
months and was triggered by the spiraling decline of Lake Mead,
which stores water used by Arizona, Nevada, California and
Mexico.
Anti-government activists seemed primed for a violent clash
with federal authorities this summer in the Klamath Basin along
the California-Oregon border. The federal Bureau of Reclamation
had shut off water for most of the region’s 1,400 farms,
denying access to the same irrigation canal in Klamath Falls,
Ore., where during a drought two decades earlier, activists
tried to pry open its headgates and clashed with U.S.
marshals.
Like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — arid nations
with limited water supplies — California should consider
banning or limiting the cultivation of water-intensive crops.
At a time of severe water shortages, it makes sense to end the
cultivation for export of crops like almonds and alfalfa, a
plant mostly used to feed cows. Where does the world get 80
percent of its almonds? The Golden State. Where does Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (and Japan and China) get
much of their alfalfa? You guessed it. California. -Written by San Diego U-T columnist Chris Reed.
If you’ve eaten sushi anywhere in the U.S., chances are the
rice came from California’s Sacramento Valley. Fritz
Durst, a sixth-generation farmer, has grown the grain and other
crops there for more than four decades. But this year, amid a
historic drought, Durst is planting only half as many acres of
rice as usual. … Farmers like Durst would be having an
even worse year if it weren’t for water siphoned from the
Sacramento River to irrigate fields. Those diversions, though,
have dire consequences for another part of the sushi supply
chain: The salmon industry.
Organic farmer Al Courchesne of Frog Hollow Farm in Brentwood
walks through rows of his aromatic stone fruit orchard, showing
off sweet nectarines that thrive in the microclimate and rich
soils in his corner of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Weighing on his mind is the drought … Courchesne
is among several thousand water rights holders in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta watershed who could have
supplies shut off in response to drought emergency curtailment
regulations adopted last week by the State Water Resources
Control Board.
Amid extreme drought, Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking for statewide
conservation of 15%, farmers are facing cutbacks in water
deliveries, and a mass die-off of salmon is expected. Drought
affects us all, so our response must improve the natural
systems that make our water, air and food — our existence —
possible. The State Water Resources Control Board has taken the
rare drastic step of adopting emergency regulations to curtail
diversions of water rights holders when water is not
available. -Written by Sandi Matsumoto, director of The
Nature Conservancy’s California Water Program, and Julie
Zimmerman, the lead freshwater scientist at The Nature
Conservancy in California.
A harvester rumbles through the fields in the early morning
light, mowing down rows of corn and chopping up ears, husks and
stalks into mulch for feed at a local dairy. The cows won’t get
their salad next year, at least not from this farm. There won’t
be enough water to plant the corn crop. Climate change, drought
and high demand are expected to force the first-ever mandatory
cuts to a water supply that 40 million people across the
American West depend on — the Colorado River.
Just as the National Weather Service predicts no relief in
sight, neither do population analysts foresee a reduction of
the numbers of new arrivals that will drink, cook with, bathe
in, irrigate or flush with the increasingly scarce water
normally available for everyday activities. … Whether
California residents heed Newsom or whether visitors pay
attention to their lodgings’ pleas to consume less water is
beyond anyone’s control. But controlling the millions of future
water consumers pouring across the Southwest border is well
within the federal government’s power. -Written by Joe Guzzardi, an analyst with
Progressives for Immigration Reform.
A new player has entered the legal fray over the Kern River —
the public. Actually, it’s a consortium of Bakersfield and
other nonprofit, public interest groups that hope to sway the
state Water Resources Control Board to, ultimately, re-water
the mostly dry Kern River through town. The Flowing Kern
Coalition made its debut Tuesday when it filed a notice of
intent to appear at an upcoming proceeding on the Kern River.
Two motions to block the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater
Authority’s groundwater replenishment fee were shot down in
court this week. Judge Kirk H. Nakamura of Orange County
Superior Court granted motions filed by the Indian Wells Valley
Groundwater Authority to dismiss two separate actions filed by
Searles Valley Minerals and Mojave Pistachios. The actions were
aimed at stopping the collection of the groundwater
replenishment fee, which was imposed last January to fund the
cost of securing rights to water to bring to the Indian Wells
Valley Groundwater Basin.
For the second time, State Oil and Gas Supervisor Uduak-Joe
Ntuk has used his discretionary authority, as opposed to
technical standards, to reject a series of permit applications
to use the controversial oilfield technique known as fracking.
Ntuk sent a letter Monday to Bakersfield-based oil producer
Aera Energy LLC saying he has reviewed and denied applications
filed by the company to hydraulically fracture 14 wells in the
South Belridge oil field in western Kern County.
As we lumber toward a renegotiation of the operating rules on
the Colorado River, one of the challenges folks in basin
management face is the differing understandings of the Law of
the River. There’s stuff we all know, or think we know, or
stuff Lower Basin folks think they know that Upper Basin people
may disagree with, and stuff Upper Basin folks think they know
that Lower Basin people may disagree with.
The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta is one of the most-studied
ecosystems in the world—and one of the most degraded. We spoke
with PPIC Water Policy Center adjunct fellow and senior
scientist emeritus James Cloern about his new study, which
estimates just how much primary production (the largely
photosynthesis-driven process that forms the base of the
Delta’s food chain) has been lost—and how the state might
restore some of it.
An obscure farm-irrigation agency in the San Joaquin Valley,
the Panoche Water District has been struggling with a
monumental scandal the past three years, with top officials
under criminal indictment for embezzling public funds and
illegally dumping toxic waste. It turns out the district has
also been allegedly taking water from the federal government.
Earlier this year Panoche agreed to pay the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation nearly $7.5 million to compensate for “unauthorized
diversion of water” from two federal canals, according to a
settlement agreement obtained by The Bee.
Senators were laboring Sunday toward eventual passage of
a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, resigned
to stay as long as it takes to overcome Republican holdouts who
want to drag out final votes on one of President Joe Biden’s
top priorities. The bill has won widespread support from
senators across the aisle and promises to unleash billions of
dollars to upgrade roads, bridges, broadband internet, water
pipes and other public works systems undergirding the
nation.
The Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of
Water Resources announced a public negotiation session with
seven Cross Valley contractors on a long-term conveyance
contract for delivery of federal Central Valley Project water
through state-owned facilities. Reclamation, DWR, and the
contractors have previously entered into successive, short-term
interim renewal contracts pursuant to the Central Valley
Project Improvement Act, which included both federal water
service and state conveyance terms and conditions.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced on Aug. 4, 2021, the start
of a long anticipated rulemaking process to revise the
regulatory definition of “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) under the
federal Clean Water Act (CWA).1 The WOTUS Rule sets forth the
geographic reach of the agencies’ authority to regulate
streams, wetlands and other water bodies pursuant to the CWA.
Lawmakers and water utilities in the West are urging residents
to conserve water as reservoirs hit record lows amid climate
change-driven megadrought. Among the calls to action is a
reminder for residents to make choices that lessen use of
municipal water when it comes to maintaining landscaping in
desert surroundings. About 30% of water usage for the
average American family is used for the outdoors, such as
watering lawns and gardens, according to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
In the hopes of having at least 20,000 acre-feet of water
remaining in Lake Mendocino by Oct. 1, the California State
Water Resources Board this week ordered about 1,500 water
rights holders to stop diverting water from the Russian River.
However, if the current rate of outflow from the reservoir
continues, the lake could reach 20,000 acre-feet by Aug. 23,
said Elizabeth Salomone, general manager of the Russian River
Flood Control & Water Conservation Improvement District.
When it comes to California’s worsening drought, Santa Clara
County residents are falling far short in conserving water. On
June 9, the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the county’s
main wholesale water provider, declared a drought emergency and
asked all 2 million county residents to cut water use by 15%
from 2019 levels as local reservoirs dropped alarmingly and
state and federal water agencies reduced water deliveries. But
new numbers out Friday show that instead of hitting the 15%
target, residents saved 0% in June — essentially using the
same amount of water as they did in June 2019.
They are land rich and resource poor. Most have hundreds of
acres of fertile soil, some thousands, but little money in the
bank and – most importantly – no water. Now the young farmers
of the Klamath Basin, an agricultural community on the border
of Oregon and California, fear they might be the last
generation of their kind. … The area has struggled with
water scarcity for years – but this year has been unlike any
other. Amid a historic drought, in May the federal government
cut off all irrigation to farmers for the first time in more
than a century…
A federal judge has denied a request by environmental groups to
require the Biden administration to immediately provide food
and water for the largest herd of tule elk in the Point Reyes
National Seashore. The groups, represented by Harvard Law
School’s Animal Law and Policy Clinic, allege the National Park
Service failed to provide adequate resources at the Tomales
Point Tule Elk Preserve, which lost 152 elk between the winters
of 2019-2020 and 2020-21. The herd is now below 300 animals.
A deeply troubled group of high-ranking state officials, tribal
leaders, environmentalists and fishermen met July 27 to discuss
the triple whammy that is threatening some species of Pacific
salmon with extinction — a combination of record-breaking heat,
drought and disastrous federal water policies — particularly
those of the Trump administration, which drained mountain
reservoirs of cold water, sending it to the Central Valley.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack stressed innovation
and collaboration Thursday as he visited a Fresno County farm
dealing with California’s drought. … Vilsack’s visit
comes the same week the State Water Resources Control Board
imposed an “emergency curtailment” order covering the
rivers of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed —
essentially the entire Central Valley.
Regulators on the water resources control board, which oversees
the allocation of the state’s water, voted unanimously on
Tuesday to stop diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta, a vast watershed sprawling from Fresno to the Oregon
border. … But the timing of the order, which will take
effect in two weeks, could spare many growers from
hardship as the greatest agricultural demand on the watershed
tends to fall in late spring and summer …The order, which
could affect as many as 5,700 water rights holders,
includes exceptions for uses such as drinking, sanitation and
generating electricity.
Gualala Redwood Timber LLC can proceed with its logging project
in California, a federal court in the state ruled after
agreeing with the company that one plaintiff already challenged
the environmental impacts of the project in state courts.
Friends of Gualala River and the Center for Biological
Diversity argued the Dogwood Timber Harvesting Plan that
authorized logging in a private forest on the border of Sonoma
County threatened four protected species. The species include
the California red-legged frog, northern spotted owl, the
Northern California steelhead, and the California Central Coast
Coho salmon.
In the vast tract of wilderness that is the Boundary Waters
area of northern Minnesota, kayakers still ply the glasslike
surface. But they do so beneath a smoke-clogged sky, with no
campfires to warm them on chilly summer nights. In
California’s wine country, backyard gardeners still harvest
lush tomatoes and nurture feathery lavender. But they must use
water recycled from sinks and showers, risking hefty fines
should they dare run the hose amid crushing drought.
A “mega-drought” across the Southwest will force the federal
government to declare a water shortage on the Colorado River
this month. The decision would be historic for the watershed,
which serves 40 million people in seven states: California,
Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. The
river system provides irrigation that turns desert into
farmland and is an important source of drinking water and
hydroelectric power.
When Miguel Garcia was a child in small-town Mexico, he and
those around him were constantly looking forward to escaping
the farmland. But now, after earning his Masters degree and
Ph.D., Garcia is right back in the fields teaching farmers how
to preserve water while producing their grapes. And
honestly, he isn’t mad about getting back to his
roots. The conversation surrounding water use in
California is certainly not a new one, but in recent years, the
Napa County Resource Conservation District has been running a
program geared specifically toward growers and their irrigation
patterns …
Unprecedented drought conditions have forced state water
regulators to take the drastic step of officially suspending
water rights along the Russian River. Sam Boland-Brien
with the state water board said conditions have continued to
worsen in the Russian River watershed and the orders formally
direct those who have longtime permission to divert water from
the Russian River to stop, because there is no longer enough
water to support their water right.
The Water Committee of the City of Trinidad has announced a
drought notice for its residents. Trinidad draws about 2
million gallons of surface water each month from Luffenholtz
Creek and processes it for about 323 water customers. Surface
water flow of the creek has been steadily decreasing since
June. … If creek water flow were to decrease further,
mandatory restrictions of water use would be enforced.
Many agricultural regulations are implemented as a safety
mechanism to help provide some measure of protection to the
environment. These efforts generally provide a public good to
the community at large. However, farmers and ranchers are
responsible for covering the cost of compliance with these
types of regulations. Professor of Agribusiness at Cal Poly San
Luis Obispo, Lynn Hamilton suggests that more public support is
warranted in helping producers cover these costs.
California regulators cut off thousands of farmers from their
main irrigation supplies Tuesday, banning them from pulling
water from the state’s main rivers and streams as the drought
worsens. The State Water Resources Control Board, following
hours of debate and comment, voted 5-0 to impose an “emergency
curtailment” order covering the rivers of the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta watershed — essentially the entire Central
Valley. It’s the most dramatic step taken to date by state
regulators since the drought was officially declared in most of
California’s counties — and surpasses any of the moves made
during the previous drought.
A coalition of 19 attorneys general led by California,
Washington and New York urged the Environmental Protection
Agency in a letter to repeal a Trump-era rule that they say
curtails their authority to deny permits for projects that
could harm their waterways.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S.
Department of the Army announced plans for upcoming community
engagements to inform their efforts to revise the definition of
“waters of the United States” (WOTUS) to better ensure clean
and safe water for all. EPA and Army are committed to
developing a reasonable, effective, and durable definition of
WOTUS that protects public health, the environment, and
downstream communities while supporting economic opportunity,
agriculture, and other industries.
Greater buffer zones around bodies of water and more consistent
enforcement of water protection regulations are needed to
reduce agriculture-based pollution in the Western U.S., a
recent review from Oregon State University found. Prior
research has shown that agricultural pollution, both from
croplands and rangelands, is the cause of 48% of water-quality
impairment in U.S. surface waters, which in turn disrupts
habitat for fish and insects and reduces biodiversity in
aquatic environments.
At least 162 oil refineries and other petroleum-holding
facilities in California have likely stored or used materials
containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class
of synthetic chemicals that persist indefinitely in the
environment and are linked to severe illnesses, according to
state water regulators. The California State Water Resources
Control Board sent a letter to facility operators in March
ordering them to submit work plans evaluating the presence of
the toxic compounds at their facilities, including areas where
PFAS are stored or disposed of and the potential ways the
chemicals could have contaminated soil, surface water, storm
water and groundwater …
The future of Utah’s relationship with the Colorado River began
to take shape in downtown Salt Lake City on Friday, as the
newly created Colorado River Authority of Utah held its first
meeting. The organization, created by the Utah Legislature
during the 2021 session, was formed “to protect, conserve, and
develop Utah’s Colorado River system interests,” according to
the agency’s website. The agency, which is officially under
Gov. Spencer Cox’s office, consists of six appointed members
representing water interests from around the state.
The San Benito County Water District, which manages groundwater
around Hollister, has released for public review a draft plan
that will set out ways to ensure healthy, equitable supplies of
the local resource. District officials on July 29 made their
draft of the North San Benito Basin Groundwater Sustainability
Plan available for a 90-day public review as required by state
law. The periodically updated 357-page document assesses water
levels and land use conditions. It proposes ways the district
can manage water for long-term groundwater sustainability.
Thirty-five years ago, California voters approved a landmark
law meant to halt exposure to dangerous chemicals in drinking
water and everyday products like food, flip-flops, and face
shields. Decades later, the water cases are few and far
between—while hundreds of product lawsuits bring in millions of
dollars annually for plaintiffs’ attorneys, some of whom
represent environmental groups focused only on this law.
Volunteer fire chief Kathy Catron wants answers about why the
Sugar fire ever grew large enough to burn her town, why it
wasn’t put out before it exploded and turned uncontrollable.
“It never should have got here,” said Catron, a former school
bus driver who runs a 16-person department in this Lassen
County town staffed mostly by friends and family, including her
kids. … Raging July fires are becoming the norm in
California. So is the animus of Catron and others about how
they are fought— especially on federal lands and in their early
hours — and who makes those choices.
Last week, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
(OEHHA) released draft public health goals (PHGs) for
perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid
(PFOS) in drinking water. OEHHA’s announcement is several years
in the making and is relevant for water purveyors and
municipalities providing other related services such as
wastewater treatment because PHGs are used to create
enforceable drinking water standards and remediation goals for
groundwater contamination.
A review of 170 years of water-related successes in California
suggests that most successes can be traced directly to past
mistakes. California’s highly variable climate has made
it a crucible for innovations in water technology and
policy. Similar water imperatives have led to advances in
water management in other parts of the world. A close
look at California’s water model suggests that “far-sighted
incrementalism” is a path to progress.
Confronting the rise of attacks on major American
infrastructure and industry, the White House released an
executive order Wednesday in which President Joe Biden will ask
companies to layer on more cybersecurity protections. The order
follows up on a series of cybersecurity directives prompted
this year when the nation suffered a series of fuel shortages
after Russian-tied cybercriminals launched a ransomware attack
on Colonial Pipeline.
Regulatory pressures on California agriculture can have a
global impact on consumers. North American
Regional Head of RaboResearch Food and Agribusiness
for RaboBank, Roland Fumasi explained that the agriculture
industry ultimately exists to meet the global demand for food.
Restrictive policies enacted that put added pressure on
agricultural production can potentially have a negative impact
on billions of consumers that rely on California ag
products.
California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) is currently
experiencing one of the driest years in recorded history.
The US Drought Monitor recently classified large portions of
the Delta Watershed as being in a state of “Exceptional
Drought,” while the remaining portions are in a state of
“Extreme Drought.” The California Nevada River Forecast
Center also provides information that the to-date flows in
nearly all streams in the watershed are between 20 and 40
percent of the annual average. As a result, the water
supplies for many users in the region are in jeopardy.
At the monthly Mendocino City Community Services District
meeting the board discussed the ground water management
ordinance penalty options for constituents who do not comply to
the permitting and monitoring requirements. The board also
continued to discuss options for drought mitigations. The
Ground Water Extraction Permit Ordinance 2020-1 that passed in
April of 2020 reiterated the district’s authority to compel any
property owner within district boundaries to obtain a ground
water extraction permit and install a meter, monitor their
water usage and report it monthly to MCCSD.
It sounds like the plot of a post-apocalyptic movie: Water
thieves roaming scorched terrain in search of nature’s most
precious resource. But in California, water theft is a massive
reality with numbers that are hard to comprehend — and as
droughts increasingly afflict the state, so does the extent of
this illegal activity. Over 12 billion gallons of water have
likely been stolen in California since 2013, John Nores — the
former head of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Marijuana Enforcement Team — recently told CNN.
California’s courts routinely impose punitive damages awards
against polluters that knowingly release hazardous substances
which contaminate groundwater. But California has been slow to
follow the nationwide trend favoring punitive damages awards
against polluters that knowingly fail to remediate their past
hazardous releases before those releases spread and cause
greater harm.
California’s deepening drought is creating another big problem
for authorities: water theft. Water thieves, many of them
illegal marijuana growers, are tapping into fire hydrants and
drilling unauthorized water wells, according to officials,
threatening the water supply for residents. In a recent sting
in Antelope Valley in northern Los Angeles County, federal,
state and local law enforcement officers disrupted hundreds of
allegedly illegal marijuana cultivations in the area. They
arrested 131 people and seized 65 vehicles, including two water
trucks.
Drought-plagued California is poised to bar thousands of
farmers, landowners and others from pumping water from the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed, a move that irrigation
districts said exceeds the water board’s authority. The
emergency rules would be the first time state regulators have
taken such wide-reaching action during a drought to prevent
diversions from the massive Delta watershed stretching from
Fresno to the Oregon border.
Last week, the House of Representatives approved legislation
that would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to establish national drinking water standards for
regulating harmful forever chemicals, known as per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), that are linked to kidney,
liver and other health problems. … The bill now awaits
consideration in the U.S. Senate. There’s just one problem,
however, as the collective water sector opposes the bill.
How are we messaging to our summer guests about our Climate
Emergency? About our town’s precious, empty Russian River
watershed? Is this a teachable moment for these privileged
travelers who come from places of Water Security? We should all
be True Believers in Climate Change. Effective June 8, 2021,
Healdsburg’s Stage Three mandatory conservation seeks a 40%
reduction in water use citywide with additional, restrictive
rules: 74 gallons per resident per day; No
irrigation; Hand watering only; Planting is
prohibited; $1,000 fine per day…the city means business!
-Written by Brigette Mansell, former Healdsburg
mayor.
A study tracking regulatory compliance costs in California was
recently released, with striking findings. Researchers looked
at data from 22 different farms of various sizes in the San
Joaquin Valley between 2012 and 2018. During that timeframe,
regulatory costs increased by 265 percent. Professor of
Agribusiness at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and co-author
of the report, Lynn Hamilton said several factors
contributed to the significant increase.
The drought in California isn’t quite fathomable to all. In
efforts to showcase the harsh reality producers are
experiencing, Western Growers has a new campaign called “No
water= No Crops.” In a series of videos, the campaign focuses
on a few California producers who are struggling with the water
shortages. Joe Del Bosque of Del Bosque Farms is one of the
farmers in the campaign. He started out his planting year
thinking he’d have enough water but that quickly changed as the
dry water year encroached.
On July 2, 2021, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
issued an important decision regarding Section 401 of the Clean
Water Act, overturning an Order by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC). FERC’s Order had found that
the state of North Carolina had unlawfully “coordinated” with
the license applicant to delay the state’s certification that a
new FERC license for the Bynum hydroelectric project complied
with state water quality laws. FERC found that North
Carolina’s participation in the delay meant that the state had
“waived” its authority under Section 401 to issue the
certification.
Earlier this year, the Nevada legislature made turf removal a
requirement in cases where grass exists for purely aesthetic
purposes. The legislation, pushed by the water authority and
signed by Governor Steve Sisolak, requires the removal of all
decorative, or “nonfunctional,” turf in Las Vegas by 2026.
Under this law, residents can keep their lawns, and parks can
keep their fields. But that turf decorating medians and
buildings must be converted to less water-intensive vegetation.
Irrigating grass in the desert heat demands a lot of
water.
Environmental lawyers are urging a California appellate court
to overturn a pair of district court rulings that handed
significant victories to the Squaw Valley ski resort as it
moves forward with expansion plans critics say will
dramatically increase traffic in the area and harm Lake Tahoe’s
air and water quality. Justice Vance W. Raye, chief of the
Third District Court of Appeals, appeared sympathetic to their
arguments this week that Placer County may have violated a
public records law in approving part of an environmental
analysis and mitigation plan at the home of the 1960 Winter
Olympics.
Members of Siskiyou County’s Hmong community rallied outside
the county courthouse in Yreka on Tuesday over what they say is
racist treatment by police and racist enforcement of water
usage rights by the county. An ordinance passed in May
aimed at curtailing illegal marijuana grows prohibits water
trucks and other vehicles from carrying over 100 gallons of
water on certain county roads. Rally organizers say the roads
selected, primarily in the rural, unincorporated communities of
Butte Valley and Big Springs, unfairly target the Hmong
community who reside there.
Forced to reckon with a worsening drought, California’s water
regulators are preparing to forbid thousands of farmers from
tapping into the state’s major rivers and streams. It’s an
extraordinary step — and one that regulators didn’t take during
the last drought, which was considered one of the worst on
record. The State Water Resources Control Board on Friday
released an “emergency curtailment” order that would cut
thousands off from rivers and streams in the Sacramento and San
Joaquin river watersheds.
A class action lawsuit was filed against San Diego and its
public utilities department on Wednesday, alleging that
residential and commercial customers were overcharged in fees
to make up for shortfalls from industrial wastewater
dischargers.
As the drought tightens its grip on California, several Central
Coast cities are rolling out new water conservation messaging
and programs for its residents. … [Santa Maria Utilities
Director Shad Springer] noted the city receives most of its
water from a robust groundwater supply, supplemented by a small
portion of State Water. He said that although supplies continue
to remain strong, its vital the public conserve every drop.
Los Angeles received less than half its average rainfall last
year, most of the state is in a drought emergency, and Governor
Gavin Newsom has asked all residents to reduce their water
usage by 15%. But a stroll through any well-watered
neighborhood in Southern California would suggest otherwise.
… So far in Southern California, the golf courses are
almost as green as they were when it rained a lot a couple
years ago. Some Northern California communities have
already issued mandates to cut back water use, and some
homeowners have seen their wells run dry.
[C]urrent events – drought, wildfires and a flareup of
COVID-19, particularly – are a political minefield for the
governor. Newsom wants to continue bopping around the state,
under the guise of official business, proclaiming that
California is “roaring back” from the pandemic … [H]owever,
Newsom is clearly shying away from assuming public command of
the newest crises. For example, when Newsom’s predecessor,
Jerry Brown, faced a lesser drought in 2015, he ordered a
mandatory 25% cut in water usage, but Newsom has issued only a
tepid call for a voluntary 15% reduction … -Written by Dan Walters, CalMatters columnist.
Senate Bill 821, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Delta
Independent Science Board, was introduced by the Senate Natural
Resources and Water Committee in March to restore compensation
for the Delta Independent Science Board members. The bill
has been winding its way through the legislature. SB 821 was
passed out of the Assembly on Thursday, July 15 with 70 ayes, 0
noes, and 9 not voting.
Lawmakers and regulators are increasingly mobilizing behind
efforts to crack down on so-called forever chemicals as
pressure to find a solution swells to a fever pitch. At an
inaugural conference pegged to issues around per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances, EPA Administrator Michael Regan
vowed to “follow the science” on the chemicals and offer a
strong federal partner to local governments.
I recently wrote about how the U.S. Drought Monitor increased
the severity of the drought throughout the Central Coast from
an Abnormally Dry (D0) classification in late February to an
Extreme Drought (D3) level in June. On May 4, the entire
Central Coast reached a D2 (Severe Drought) classification. I
assumed that San Luis Obispo County would remain at this level
through the summer since we had moved into our historically dry
season of May through September. -Written by John Lindsey, a meteorologist and a media
relations representative for PG&E.
Whether the Kern River truly has spare water and, if so, how
much, has been left up in the air for more than a decade. Now,
11 years after the State Water Resources Control Board ruled
the Kern River was not fully appropriated, it will finally
start the process of getting at those two key questions: Is
water available? How much? A status conference hearing has been
scheduled by the board’s Administrative Hearing Office for Aug.
17 at 9 a.m., the board announced on Monday.
One day last spring, water pressure in pipelines suddenly
crashed In the Antelope Valley, setting off alarms. Demand had
inexplicably spiked, swelling to three and half times normal.
Water mains broke open, and storage tanks were drawn down to
dangerous levels. … It took a while for officials
to figure out where all that water was going: Water thieves —
likely working for illicit marijuana operations — had pulled
water from remote filling stations and tapped into fire
hydrants, improperly shutting off valves and triggering a chain
reaction that threatened the water supply of nearly
300 homes.
Marin water managers’ strategy to suspend most new water
service hookups during the historic drought is drawing
criticism from some who say little water will be saved with a
policy that comes at the expense of the county’s poorest
residents. Such a tradeoff would impact everyone from service
workers to businesses to the elderly on fixed incomes, critics
say. … Proponents of the hookup moratoriums say the
county must live within its means with regards to water supply
especially given the uncertainty of how long this drought could
last.
A South Carolina federal judge issued an order late last
week allowing the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, the Trump
administration’s “waters of the United States” rule, to remain
in place while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
Army Corps of Engineers work on rulemakings to revoke and
replace it. The final rule was issued in April 2020, redefining
“waters of the United States” and narrowing the scope of Clean
Water Act jurisdiction.
I can see my future: It’s dry, thirsty and bleak. On our farm,
we live with drought daily, working with limited groundwater
and learning to adjust and adapt, or to fail and abandon our
fields. Water will determine a farmer’s survival. I farm
organically outside Fresno, part of one of the world’s richest
and most productive agricultural oases, providing, of course,
that we have water. … A severe two-year drought is
drying out the West and Southwest from Washington to
California, Montana to Texas. Agriculture feels the impact with
crops withering and production limited. -Written by David Mas Masumoto, a farmer in Del
Rey, California.
Local water districts are suing Santa Barbara County, claiming
that they should not be subject to restrictions over certain
water sales and purchases. The districts claim that the
county doesn’t deliver or pay for any water and therefore
shouldn’t be able to dictate terms to them. The districts argue
that the county’s imposition of restrictions ultimately hurts
consumers. In response, the county claims that the
oversight is needed to maximize the entire water supply for all
consumers.
Official estimates of unpaid water and energy bills accumulated
during the pandemic verge on $2.7 billion, affecting a few
million Californians — and those figures have been
growing rapidly. The state has so far prioritized
rent relief — keeping people housed — over utilities
relief. [O]f the $158 million distributed as of July 16, less
than $40,000 had gone to utilities relief. Utility debt makes
up about 6% of all assistance requested so far. On July
11, lawmakers revealed a plan to use one-time federal relief
money to address the debt. … But it doesn’t extend current
shutoff moratoria past Sept. 30.
After two consecutive dry winters and a series of early summer
heat waves, the vast majority of California is gripped by
drought. Water levels in reservoirs like Lake Oroville, Shasta
Lake and Lake Mendocino are dangerously low. Wells in parts of
the San Joaquin Valley and along the Russian River are drying
up, and local water officials have mandated water restrictions
up to 40% in some areas. Already, more
than 85% of California is experiencing extreme
drought conditions … and experts forewarn a third year
of drought could be on the horizon if the state doesn’t see
significant winter rain storms.
With California descending deeper into drought, Santa Rosa is
getting serious about water use. So are other communities that
are increasingly urging residents to conserve, sometimes asking
for water reductions, sometimes mandating them. Gov. Gavin
Newsom joined the cause last week, issuing a statewide plea for
voluntary savings. Still, amid the growing calls for
conservation, the Bay Area’s initial response has been slow.
Nearly a dozen of the region’s largest water suppliers that
have sought cutbacks recently have come up short of their
water-savings goals, according to water agency data reviewed by
The Chronicle.
The Tehama County Board of Supervisors approved an emergency
resolution Tuesday that would allow residents with dry wells to
purchase water directly from the county. Though not in the
original agenda for the meeting, Chief Administrative Officer
Bill Goodwin added the item as an addendum, which consisted of
a presentation on why the resolution would be necessary. County
administration has been looking at different wells within its
jurisdiction to obtain the water from. Initially, the county
looked toward the well at Ridgeway Park but discovered the
water was non-potable and for irrigation only.
To finally determine a lasting definition of waterways that
qualify for federal protection under the Clean Water Act, the
Environmental Protection Agency’s new water director says
everyone with a stake in the issue will need to be engaged.
Radhika Fox recently spoke to The Associated Press about the
Biden administration’s plan to rewrite the regulation, also
called Waters of the United States. The contentious rule was
scaled back by the Trump administration after being expanded
under President Barack Obama.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said water infrastructure and
transit investments in Arizona were two key items discussed
during a meeting with President Joe Biden on
Wednesday. Gallego was part of a bipartisan group of three
governors and four other mayors who met with Biden at the White
House to build support for a proposed $1.2 trillion
infrastructure package under consideration in the U.S.
Senate…. The group also talked about… the state’s long-term
drought and its effects on the Colorado River…
