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.”
As a homeowner, you invest a great deal of time, money, love,
imagination, and hard work into your house and property.
Of course, you hope nothing will go seriously wrong. Still, you
purchase homeowner’s insurance to give you peace of mind and to
ensure you’re financially protected if your home and belongings
are damaged by unpredictable events such as fire, vandalism,
theft, or storms. Today, climate change is causing
increasingly erratic weather patterns. Natural disasters,
including severe storms and wildfires, are becoming more
frequent and devastating. In 2023, nine “atmospheric
rivers” pummeled the western United States, dumping record
amounts of rain and snow. According to the National
Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, more
than 32 trillion gallons of water drenched California, racking
up $4.6 billion in damages. -Written by John Petrov, a contractor and public
insurance adjuster with over 25 years of experience in the
construction industry.
A special workshop on the binational sewage crisis was held
Wednesday in Imperial Beach. The meeting featured a panel of
experts from various government agencies and academic
institutions. Dozens of concerned residents gathered at the
special council workshop addressing the ongoing sewage crisis.
They heard from the International Boundary and Water Commission
shed light on cross-border sewage flows. … Scripps
Institution of Oceanography offered valuable insights into the
environmental impact of sewage contamination, while SDSU School
of Public Health discussed risks associated with chemical and
biological pollutants in water, air, and soil.
Plastic fragments have been found at the top of the Alps, in
the deepest parts of our oceans and likely, in your local
waterways. Some of this microplastic is in the form of nurdles.
You may not be familiar with them, but these lentil-sized
plastics pose a huge threat to our waters and
wildlife. Nurdles, also called plastic pellets, are the
building blocks of plastic manufacturing. At plastic factories,
pellets that fall on the floor or get contaminated with dirt
are sometimes washed down drains. Because they’re small and
lightweight, nurdles are often spilled during transport too.
… Plastic pellets are extremely difficult to clean up once
they reach our waterways, and often polluters are not held
accountable.
A recent court ruling may have thrown a wrench in the state’s
funding plans for the controversial and expensive Delta
Conveyance Project – a tunnel to move Sacramento River water 45
miles beneath the ecologically sensitive Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta. In January, the Sacramento Superior Court denied
the state Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) request to
finance the project through bonds. Tunnel opponents hailed
the ruling as a blow to the project. But state staff say the
ruling will not impede funding. DWR has appealed the case and
is still planning on using bonds to pay for the project if it
comes to fruition.
Kings County growers are organizing to stop a set of
groundwater and land fees they say will wipe out small farmers,
even as the drumbeat of a looming state takeover grows louder.
Managers of the Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability
Agency (GSA), which covers the northern tip of Kings County,
have been holding a flurry of meetings asking farmers to
approve the fees – a combination of $95-per-acre-foot of water
pumped and $25-per-acre of land – at its April 23
meeting. That is after April 16, when the state Water Resources
Control Board will hold a hearing to decide whether to put all
of Kings County, known as the Tulare Lake groundwater subbasin,
into probation for failing to come up with an adequate plan to
stop over pumping.
On the heels of two wet winters, it’s easy to forget how close
some parts of California came to running out of water a few
short years ago. But this climate amnesia will not help us
prepare for the next inevitable drought. … the water board is
about to trample the hard-won work that’s been done so far by
allowing water utilities until 2035 or later to
implement meaningful reductions. … Because the water
board’s latest plan for implementing efficiency standards has
such an extended timeline, water will inevitably become even
more expensive, including for low-income households and
communities. -Written by Robert Hertzberg, a former speaker of
the Assembly and former majority leader of the state Senate;
and Assembly member Laura Friedman
(D-Glendale), running to replace Adam Schiff in the U.S.
House of Representatives.
Karrigan Börk, UC Davis professor of law and Associate Director
at the Center for Watershed Sciences, has been awarded the
prestigious $10,000 Morrison Prize for his paper on water
rights. The Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State
University recognizes Börk’s paper as “the most impactful
sustainability-related legal academic paper published in North
America” for 2023. Börk’s winning paper, “Water Exaction
Rights,” published in the Harvard Environmental Law Review,
proposes a solution to address current and future water crises
in the US: an exactions framework.
For the first time in four years, water is being pumped from
Tulelake to the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. The
historic Pumping Plant D in Tulelake Irrigation District (TID)
was constructed at the base of Sheepy Ridge in 1942. TID
Manager Brad Kirby said the five massive pumps ran year-round
for nearly 70 years. … In 2020, drought conditions and
federal regulations rendered the plant inoperative. As of
Monday morning, the D-Plant is up and running again, pumping
water from the Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge through Sheepy
Ridge to the Lower Klamath refuge thanks to the efforts of TID,
Ducks Unlimited and U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
Fishers are fighting tire companies’ attempt to dismiss an
Endangered Species Act suit over the use of a rubber additive
known as 6PPD, which harms salmon, telling a California federal
judge the companies are trying to delay accountability…
Southern California’s Imperial Irrigation District, which
supplies water to farmers who grow most of the nation’s winter
vegetables, planned to start a conservation program in April to
scale back what it draws from the critical Colorado River. But
a tiny, tough fish got in the way. Now, those plans won’t start
until at least June so water and wildlife officials can devise
a way to ensure the endangered desert pupfish and other species
are protected, said Jamie Asbury, the irrigation district’s
general manager.
The Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency is
looking to impose a pumping fee of nearly $100 per
acre-foot. Mid-Kings River GSA is comprised of the Kings
County Water District, the City of Hanford and Kings
County. The big picture: The GSA is proposing a
pumping fee maximum of $95 per acre-foot. This comes after
the State views that the region has not made enough progress
through the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
(SGMA). The state wants agriculture and industrial water
pumpers to cut back or pay to mitigate the impacts on
other users. The state could move to put the subbasin in
probation if it does not feel confident in local groundwater
management, and could completely take over operations in 2025.
California State Parks’ Division of Boating and Waterways is
offering grant funding to prevent the further spread of quagga
and zebra mussels into California’s waterways. Funded by the
California Mussel Fee Sticker (also known as the Quagga
Sticker), the Quagga and Zebra Mussel (QZ) Infestation
Prevention Grant Program expects to award a total of up to $2
million across eligible applicants. Applications will be
accepted from Monday, April 1 through Friday, May 10, 2024.All
applications must be received by 5 p.m. on May 10, 2024. The QZ
grants are available to entities that own or manage any aspect
of water in a reservoir that is open for public recreation, is
mussel-free, and do not have an existing two-year QZ Grant
awarded in 2023.
A Senate panel voted to shut the public out of the key business
of the state agency tasked with finding new water for Arizona.
HB 2014 authorizes the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority
to enter into agreements to facilitate the construction of a
project that would bring water from outside the state into
Arizona. It also empowers the agency to negotiate deals with
others to agree to purchase the water once it becomes
available. But what HB 2014 also would do is exempt all
communications and information gathered related to water
augmentation from all provisions of the state’s Public Records
Law. And the only time anyone could get information would be
“on the consent of the authority.”
Does the public sector need the private sector’s help to
address the freshwater crisis? That’s the controversial thesis
of Stanford law and environmental social sciences professor
Barton “Buzz” Thompson’s provocatively titled new book: Liquid
Asset: How Business and Government Can Partner to Solve the
Freshwater Crisis. (Buzz is also a member of the PPIC Water
Policy Center’s research network.) We sat down with him to hear
more. … The private sector is already involved in water in
many ways, some more controversial than others. … We
think of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) as a
public program, and it is. The legislature passed the law, and
public agencies are implementing it. But if you look carefully,
you’ll see private handprints all over SGMA’s success.
A new research paper published recently in Annual Review of
Earth and Planetary Sciences, coordinated by scientists from
The University of New Mexico and collaborating institutions,
addresses the complex nature and societal importance of Grand
Canyon’s springs and groundwater. The paper,
“Hydrotectonics of Grand Canyon Groundwater,” recommends
sustainable groundwater management and uranium
mining threats that require better monitoring and
application of hydrotectonic concepts. The data suggest an
interconnectivity of the groundwater systems such that uranium
mining and other contaminants pose risks to people, aquifers,
and ecosystems. The conclusion based on multiple datasets is
that groundwater systems involve significant mixing.
The Colorado River is relied upon by roughly 40 million people.
That includes members of 30 federally-recognized tribes, as
well as residents across seven states. Four of those are in the
region known as the Upper Basin – that includes Colorado, Utah,
Wyoming, and New Mexico – and the other three are in the Lower
Basin – California, Arizona, and Nevada. In Colorado alone,
half of Denver’s supply – as well as half of Colorado Springs’
supply – rely on the river. Tribal nations in Colorado,
New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming have been left out of key
agreements involving the Colorado River for well over a century
now.
Water Audit California has voiced concerns about Napa County in
recent months, appealing two Planning Commission decisions and
calling new county plans for storing paper records a “black
hole.” The environmental advocacy group appealed a Dec. 20
county Planning Commission decision approving a Nova Business
Park project. But its bigger claim is that the county fails to
do adequate due diligence, something the county denies.
Reclamation today announced a $5.5 million investment from
President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to repair the
Willow Creek Dam in Montana and the B.F. Sisk Dam in California
as part of the Investing in America agenda. Willow Creek Dam in
Montana will use $2.1 million to fund temporary spillway
improvements by installing rock in the spillway to reduce risk
of spillway erosion until a permanent dam safety modification
is completed. Construction will include purchase and placement
of 9,100 cubic yards of rock. Reclamation will reserve another
900 cubic yards on site for flood fighting activities.
Reclamation’s project stakeholder, Greenfields Irrigation
District, will perform the work. B.F. Sisk Dam in California
will use $3.4 million to modify the Phase 1 contract, to adapt
to delays caused by high precipitation levels in 2023.
Two-thirds of the tribes with lands and water rights in the
Colorado River Basin are calling for equal status in developing
new river management guidelines and protection of their senior
water rights against proposed cuts or caps on developing their
water. Leaders from 20 tribes, including eight in Arizona, sent
a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation March 11. In the
letter, obtained by The Arizona Republic, the tribes outlined
what they expect in new river management guidelines that will
take effect when the current guidelines expire Dec. 31, 2026.
The two tribes with Arizona’s largest river allocations — the
Colorado River Indian Tribes, which holds senior rights to
720,000 acre-feet of water, mostly in Arizona, and the Gila
River Indian Community, with 653,000 acre-feet of Colorado
River and other waters — did not sign the letter.
State officials on Friday doubled the amount of water
California agencies will get this year following some strong
storms that increased the snowpack in the mountains. The State
Water Project is a major source for 27 million people. The
majority of contractors who supply the water are located south
of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Previously, the
Department of Water Resources had told them to expect 15% of
their requests this year. The department increased that to 30%
on Friday. The department said contractors north of the delta
can expect 50% of their requests, while contractors in the
Feather River Settlement can expect 100%.
Years after a massive spill at a Los Angeles water treatment
facility dumped millions of gallons of raw sewage into the
Pacific, officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency have ordered several improvements at the plant to help
prevent another such disaster, even when facing more intense
storms from a changing climate. The administrative order of
consent, issued this month, requires the Hyperion Water
Reclamation Plant in Playa del Rey to make significant fixes to
its operations and infrastructure, including improving
monitoring systems and overflow channels, after the federal
agency’s review of the 2021 spill. The agreement, between the
EPA and the Los Angeles Sanitation and Environment division,
mandates the updates be implemented by the end of 2025, though
some are required to be completed as soon as within 30 days,
according to the order.
In what has been a years-long fight to fend off efforts to mine
sites and areas the Quechan Indian Tribe say are culturally
significant, the tribe was victorious in preserving those sites
this week with an unexpected win against Canada’s SMP Gold
Corp. … The federally protected land, under the
U.S. Bureau of Land Management, is culturally significant and
important to the Quechan Indian Tribe and its members have been
vehemently fighting the Oro Cruz mining project for years, with
the support of other tribes, and numerous environmental and
social justice groups and concerned residents behind them.
… After the hearing, White elaborated further and told
the Calexico Chronicle that the tribe is trying to dedicate the
Cargo Muchacho Mountains area as the “Kw’tsán National
Monument”
Outrage over the Trump-packed U.S. Supreme Court rolling back
federal reproductive rights has in some ways overshadowed the
now 6-3 conservative majority’s relentless assault on
environmental regulations that for decades protected Colorado’s
clean air and water. … Now Colorado lawmakers are trying
to step into that regulatory void with Wednesday’s filing of
the Regulate Dredge and Fill Activities in State Waters bill
(HB24-1379). If passed, it would require a rulemaking process
by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment’s Water
Quality and Control Division to permit dredge and fill
activities on both public and private land. -Written by contributor David O. Williams.
Klamath Project irrigation districts are preparing to move
water as concerns grow about potential flood releases on Upper
Klamath Lake in the coming weeks. The Klamath Water Users
Association says its members have been concerned over water
management in Upper Klamath Lake. The Klamath irrigation
district says given the possibility of flood conditions in the
coming weeks, it could pose a risk for everyone along the
Klamath River, including those working on dam removals.
Irrigation District Executive Director Gene Souza says their
request to discuss these concerns with the Bureau of
Reclamation has gone unanswered.
Last winter’s big rain and snow brought immediate benefits to
California’s water supply and data now shows that there are
long-term benefits, too. According to data gathered by
Sacramento’s Regional Water Authority, a surplus of surface
water following the 2022-2023 winter allowed water managers to
use 17% less groundwater compared to 2022. Historically,
groundwater throughout California’s Central Valley had been
severely overdrawn. Over the past 20 years, policy changes and
more nuanced water management have helped groundwater levels
recover.
California wineries appear to be complying with the Water
Board’s statewide Winery General Order’s winery wastewater
requirements, but the pace is slow, state statistics reveal.
And many are not in the compliance reporting pipeline at all,
data shows. (An overview page is provided here.) The order was
passed, the water boards said, for two major reasons. One was
because, “Winemakers requested the order to address the
statewide inconsistencies in permitting.” This request was from
large wineries that operate numerous facilities throughout the
state. (Smaller wineries opposed this in the public
hearings.) … As of Feb. 20, 2024, 201 wineries had
begun the process of filing, leaving a gap of 1,449 wineries
(the difference between 1,650 and 201, based on the initial
estimates).
Chevron has agreed to pay more than $13 million in fines for
dozens of past oil spills in California. The California-based
energy giant agreed to pay a $5.6 million fine associated with
a 2019 oil spill in Kern County. The company has already paid
to clean up that spill. This money will instead go toward the
state Department of Conservation’s work of plugging old and
orphaned wells. The department said it was the largest fine
ever assessed in its history. … The 2019 oil spill
dumped at least 800,000 gallons (3 million litres) of oil and
water into a canyon in Kern County, the home of the state’s oil
industry. Also, Chevron agreed to pay a $7.5 million fine
for more than 70 smaller spills between 2018 and 2023.
A Sacramento judge upheld a decision by California’s water
regulator to cut back agricultural and municipal water use from
the San Joaquin River. The decision could lend support for
future regulations in the rest of the Sacramento-San Joaquin
River Delta system. It comes amid declining fish populations
and increasing pressure on water supply due to climate change.
But rather than move forward with strict regulations, the state
agency is considering a plan pushed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that
would grant water districts more flexibility.
Thousands of leaking, idle oil wells are scattered across
California, creating toxic graveyards symbolic of a dying
industry. To tackle this “urgent climate and public
health crisis,” Santa Barbara Assemblymember Gregg Hart
introduced Assembly Bill 1866 last week. The bill would mandate
oil operators to develop plans to plug the 40,000 idle wells
(and counting) in the state within a decade, prioritizing those
within 3,200 feet of vulnerable communities. … Ann
Alexander, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense
Council, calls the system “very badly broken.” Companies “just
sit indefinitely on their defunct wells” as they leak methane
gas, pollute the air, and contaminate groundwater.
… Last fall, the county announced its plan to
spend $3.7 million to repair an “unpluggable” well at
Toro Canyon Creek. Drilled in the 19th century, this idle well
has leaked thousands of gallons of crude oil since
the 1990s, contaminating waterways and killing wildlife as a
result.
The California water conservation crisis continues as lawmakers
may delay rules that could significantly help improve
California water. Environmentalists are expressing concerns
after regulators proposed delaying the timeline of implementing
lawn water regulations by five years until 2040. KRCR
spoke with Butte Environmental Council Member, Patrizia
Hironimus, who said despite the delay of California rules, they
are still aiming to educate the community on how to cut down on
their lawn water use. While also collecting local data to give
to the state to help them understand the water crisis even just
in Butte County.
A court has upheld a key decision by California’s water board
calling for reductions in water diversions from the San Joaquin
River and its tributaries to help revive struggling fish
populations. In his ruling, Sacramento County Superior Court
Judge Stephen Acquisto rejected lawsuits by water districts
serving farms and cities that would be required to take less
water under the standards adopted by regulators. The judge also
rejected challenges by environmental groups that had argued for
requiring larger cutbacks to boost river flows. The judge’s
ruling, issued in a 162-page order last week, supports the
State Water Resources Control Board’s 2018 adoption of a water
quality plan for the lower San Joaquin River and its three
major tributaries — the Tuolumne, Merced and Stanislaus rivers.
Members of the state Water Resources Control Board voted
unanimously on Tuesday, March 19, to reduce pumping fees for
groundwater users in subbasins that come under state control,
known as “probationary status.” The controversial fee was
lowered from $40 per-acre-foot of pumped water to $20 per acre
foot. The board will hold its first probationary hearing
on the Tulare Lake subbasin, which covers Kings County, on
April 16. … Groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) for
Tulare Lake and five other San Joaquin Valley subbasins were
rejected twice by the state as inadequate, which is why they
are now coming before the Water Board to determine if they
should be put into probationary status.
The Kern subbasin, composed of 22 water entities across the
valley portion of Kern County, is working on a groundwater
sustainability plan its members hope will be accepted by the
State Water Resources Control Board after the subbasin’s
initial plan was deemed inadequate. Currently the subbasin has
two main objectives. One is partnering with Self-Help
Enterprises to assist with the administration of a program to
fix domestic wells harmed by over pumping. The other is
gathering support among the 22 entities to participate in the
Friant-Kern Canal subsidence study. Proposed partnership: Under
the proposal, Self-Help would assist with subbasin’s well
issues in several ways.
California officials are trying to boost state wetlands
protections in order to guard against a 2023 Supreme Court
decision that slashed federal oversight of wetlands.
Assemblymember Laura Friedman’s A.B. 2875 would declare it the
state’s policy to ensure long-term gain and no net loss of
California’s wetlands. And Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s
administration is proposing to add 38 new positions to enforce
the state’s existing wetlands protection laws and scrutinize
development permits.
A state policy that seeks to protect California’s major rivers
and creeks by cracking down on how much water is pumped out by
cities and farms can move forward despite widespread
opposition, the Superior Court has ruled. The long-awaited
decision on what’s known as the Bay-Delta Plan denies 116
claims in a dozen separate lawsuits that seek to undo a 2018
update to the policy, most of which are from water agencies
saying the limits on their water draws go too far. The 160-page
verdict, released Friday by Sacramento County Judge Stephen
Acquisto, specifically notes that arguments made by San
Francisco against the regulation fell short.
Ten years. That’s how much time the Bay Area’s 37 wastewater
treatment plants will have to reduce fertilizer and sewage in
their water by 40%. The estimated price tag for the facility
upgrades is $11 billion. The San Francisco Regional Water
Quality Control Board plans to adopt the change as part of its
new discharge permit requirement beginning June 12. Previous
permits did not require reductions …The regulatory change
follows a damaging algae bloom in 2022 and 2023. A brown algae
species called Heterosigma akashiwo, which feeds off the
nitrogen in wastewater, infected the Bay and damaged aquatic
ecosystems.
The United States suffers the world’s second-highest toll from
major weather disasters, according to a new analysis — even
when numbers are adjusted for the country’s wealth. The report
released late last month by Zurich-based reinsurance giant
Swiss Re, which analyzed the vulnerability and damages of 36
different countries, suggests that weather disasters may become
a heavy drag on the U.S. economy — especially as insurers
increasingly pull out of hazardous areas. Those disasters are
driving up insurance rates, compounding inflation and adding to
Americans’ high cost of living. … Some insurers have
stopped offering home insurance policies in California, which
has seen numerous large wildfires in the past few years.
California regulators this week proposed delaying new rules
aimed at reducing how much water people use on their lawns,
drawing praise from agencies that said they needed more time to
comply but criticism from environmentalists who warn that the
delay would damage the state’s already scarce supply. Last
year, California proposed new rules that would, cumulatively,
reduce statewide water use by about 14%. Those rules included
lowering outdoor water use standards below the current
statewide average by 2035. On Tuesday, regulators proposed
delaying that timeline by five years, until 2040. The State
Water Resources Control Board is scheduled to vote on the rules
later this year. The state would not punish people for using
too much water on their lawns.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council is considering three
options for the ocean salmon season, set to begin May 16. The
federal council that manages water from California, Oregon and
Washington state came up with two options that would entail a
short salmon season, and it’ll come with small harvest limits
for both commercial and sport fishing. The last option includes
closing off the ocean fisheries for the second consecutive
year. Last year, commercial and recreation salmon fleets in
California were left anchored following the PFMC’s decision to
cancel the 2023 fishing season due to years of drought, low
river level and dry conditions affecting the Chinook salmon
populations in the Klamath and Sacramento rivers.
In a Sacramento office building, university students carefully
scan pieces of paper that underpin California’s most
contentious and valuable water disputes. One by one, they’re
bringing pieces of history into the digital era, some a century
old and thin as onion skin. The student workers are beginning
to digitize the state’s water rights records, part of a project
launched by the state’s water regulator earlier this year. It
may seem simple, but scanning two million musty pages is part
of a $60 million project that could take years. The massive
undertaking will unmask the notoriously opaque world of
California water. Right now, it’s practically impossible to
know who has the right to use water, how much they’re taking
and from what river or stream at any given time in the state.
The Sacramento Superior Court has ruled in favor of the State
Water Board’s 2018 Bay Delta Plan update, denying all 116
claims by petitioners. In December 2018, the State Water
Resources Control Plan adopted revised flow
objectives for the San Joaquin River and its three major
tributaries, the Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Merced rivers. The
new flow objectives provide for increased flows on the three
tributaries to help revive and protect native fall-run
migratory fish populations. The Board also adopted a revised
south Delta salinity objectives, increasing the level of
salinity allowed from April to August. Several petitions
were filed in several counties challenging the Board’s
action.
California environmental groups are urging a federal court to
intervene amid a “dramatic increase” in the deaths of
threatened steelhead trout at pumps operated by state and
federal water managers. Since Dec. 1, more than 4,000 wild and
hatchery-raised steelhead have been killed at pumps in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, according to public data
for the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley
Project. The agencies are now at about 90% of their combined
seasonal take limit, which refers to the amount of wild
steelhead permitted to be killed between January and March
under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. A coalition of
environmental and fishing groups — including the Golden State
Salmon Assn., the Bay Institute and Defenders of Wildlife — are
involved in ongoing litigation that seeks to challenge current
federal operating plans in the delta, an estuary at the heart
of the state’s water supply.
The states that use the Colorado River have put out their
latest proposals on how to manage the river’s shrinking amount
of water, and the two plans reveal that there are still big
differences in how upstream and downstream states want to divvy
up future cuts to their water consumption. While state water
negotiators say they’re committed to figuring out how they can
compromise in the age of climate change when there is less
water available to the 40 million people who rely on it, the
Southern Ute tribal government in southwestern Colorado doesn’t
believe either proposal addresses their concerns or helps them
secure their water future.
The Biden administration will be allocating more than $120
million to tribal governments to fight the impacts of climate
change, the Department of the Interior announced Thursday. The
funding is designed to help tribal nations adapt to climate
threats, including relocating infrastructure. Indigenous
peoples in the U.S. are among the communities most affected by
severe climate-related environmental threats, which have
already negatively impacted water resources, ecosystems and
traditional food sources in Native communities in every corner
of the U.S. “As these communities face the increasing
threat of rising seas, coastal erosion, storm surges, raging
wildfires and devastation from other extreme weather events,
our focus must be on bolstering climate resilience …”
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of
Laguna, said in a Wednesday press briefing.
On the eve of its first subbasin probationary hearing, the
state Water Resources Control Board announced it will vote on
whether to reduce a controversial groundwater extraction
fee. The board will vote at its March 19 meeting on
whether to cut the fee from $40 to $20-per-acre-foot for well
owners in a subbasin placed on probation. It will hold
its first probationary hearing on the Tulare Lake subbasin,
which covers Kings County, on April 16. Then the Tule subbasin,
in the southern half of the valley portion of Tulare County,
will come up for hearing Sept. 17. The extraction fee would
only be charged if the Water Board had to step in and
administer a subbasin in cases where it finds local groundwater
agencies aren’t up to the job.
Sacramento and cities across California caught a break from the
state’s water regulator this week after the agency faced
criticism that its water conservation rules were too
complicated and costly to meet. Regulators at the State Water
Resources Control Board proposed new conservation rules Tuesday
that would ease water savings requirements for urban water
suppliers and will ultimately lead to less long-term water
savings than initially planned. Under the new rules, the city
of Sacramento would have to cut its overall water use by 9% by
2035 and 14% by 2040, far less than an initial proposal that
would have required it to cut back water use by 13% by 2030 and
18% by 2035.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge confirmed that the
Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin is one connected basin—not
separate subbasins—allowing for the groundwater adjudication to
move forward following a year and a half of delays and
litigation. … The Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin is one of
California’s 21 critically overdrafted basins that was required
under the 2014 California Sustainable Groundwater Management
Act (SGMA) to create a groundwater sustainability agency (GSA)
and corresponding groundwater sustainability plan.
Can Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado agree to a new
apportionment of the Rio Grande’s waters without the U.S.
government’s approval? The Supreme Court of the United States
is set to hear a case next week that may affect access to water
for millions of Americans — and set a precedent that could
impact millions more, as increased usage and climate change
further strain supply of the precious resource. On March 20,
the Court will consider Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado, a
tangled case involving water rights to the Rio Grande, a
1,896-mile river that begins at the base of the San Juan
Mountains and runs into the Gulf of Mexico. The case, which has
been in litigation for more than a decade, centers around a
1939 compact between the three states over how to apportion the
river’s waters.
The Gila River Indian Community says it does not support a
three-state proposal for managing the Colorado River’s
shrinking supply in the future. The community, which is located
in Arizona, is instead working with the federal government to
develop its own proposal for water sharing. The tribe is among
the most prominent of the 30 federally-recognized tribes that
use the Colorado River. In recent years, it has signed
high-profile deals with the federal government to receive big
payments in exchange for water conservation. Those deals were
celebrated by Arizona’s top water officials. But now, it is
diverging from states in the river’s Lower Basin — Arizona,
California and Nevada. Stephen Roe Lewis, The Gila River Indian
Community’s Governor, announced his tribe’s disapproval of the
Lower Basin proposal at a water conference in Tucson, Ariz.,
while speaking to a room of policy experts and water
scientists.
The European Commission said on Wednesday it was taking Greece
to the EU’s top court for failing to revise its flood risk
management plans, a key tool for EU countries to prepare
themselves against floods. The action comes five months
after the worst rains in Greece flooded its fertile
Thessaly plain, devastating crops and livestock and raising
questions about the Mediterranean country’s ability to deal
with an increasingly erratic climate. Under EU rules,
countries need to update once in six years their flood
management plans, a set of measures aimed to help them mitigate
the risks of floods on human lives, the environment and
economic activities. Greece was formally notified by the
Commission last year that it should finalise its management
plans but the country has so far failed to review, adopt or
report its flood risk management plans, the Commission said in
a statement.
A new recommendation from the California State Water Quality
Control Board in its Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan
(Bay-Delta Plan) for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta Estuary could see Solano County forced to adapt
to a fraction of the water it is currently allocated from Lake
Berryessa. The implications for Solano County cities could be
enormous, leaving Solano County with about 25 percent of its
current allocation. Spanning hundreds of miles from north of
Lake Shasta to Fresno, the tributaries of the Sacramento and
Sac Joaquin rivers that feed into the San Francisco Bay reach
well into the Sierra Nevadas and Central Valley. The State
Water Quality Control Board has noted that diminished river
flows in these areas are harming fish habitats and are
detrimental to the water system as a whole ecologically.
California State Parks’ Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW)
today announced the availability of grant funding to prevent
the further spread of quagga and zebra mussels into
California’s waterways. Funded by the California Mussel Fee
Sticker (also known as the Quagga Sticker), the Quagga and
Zebra Mussel (QZ) Infestation Prevention Grant Program expects
to award a total of up to $2 million across eligible
applicants.
Still water in the Tijuana River Valley reflects the chirping
birds who live there, giving the impression it is as nature
made it — until you see the floating trash and smell the
stagnant, polluted water. For decades, activists tried to clean
up the Tijuana River’s watershed as it flowed from Tijuana into
San Diego’s coastal waters, which are contaminated with both
human and industrial waste. A recent study from the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography found that coastal pollution is
also transferring to the air. “This is nothing short of an
environmental and public health crisis, and it has been made
worse by the fact that California companies are part of the
problem,” said State Senator Steve Padilla Monday, while
announcing SB 1178, a bill to address cross-border pollution.
A dozen tire companies are asking a California federal judge to
toss a suit claiming a rubber additive is harming protected
salmon, arguing that the litigation stretches the Endangered
Species Act “beyond its breaking point” and that regulation of
the substance belongs with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, not in courts.
Across the parched West, there are signs the region’s
decades-long population and housing boom is confronting the
realities of dwindling water supplies. These have come in
recent months from court rulings and executive edicts alike, as
states crack down on the potential for new users to draw from
already oversubscribed aquifers and surface waters. The
skeleton of a would-be subdivision outside Las Vegas
illustrates the coming constraints, stymied by a lack of water
to support the new community. Water shortages also forced
difficult decisions in other places, such as new restrictions
in the Phoenix suburbs and a Utah town that halted all new
construction for more than two years until it could secure a
new well.
Drought or no drought, California water regulators are pushing
ahead with a new conservation policy that could force some
communities to cut water use upward of 30% permanently — though
on more lenient terms than originally proposed. The
first-of-its-kind regulation is intended to help the state
confront chronic water shortages as climate change makes for
hotter, drier weather. The initial draft of the regulation,
released last year, was widely criticized for asking roughly
400 cities and water agencies to cut back too much too quickly.
The cost of compliance was also a concern. Acknowledging the
burden, the State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday
unveiled a revised set of rules that would allow some
communities to use more water than originally planned as well
as extend deadlines for meeting the conservation mandates.
The California State Water Resources Control Board issued a
$6.6 million grant for a city of San Luis Obispo project
intended to clean up contaminated groundwater. Presently, the
city does not use groundwater for its drinking water supply.
SLO’s potable water supply comes from Whale Rock Reservoir,
Santa Margarita Lake and Nacimiento Reservoir. City
officials have sought to diversify the water supply in an
attempt to achieve “greater drought and climate change
resiliency.” Previously, contamination from
tetrachloroethylene, or PCE, served as a barrier to doing so.
PCE is a toxic chemical produced by dry cleaning and industrial
activities, which took place in the city decades ago. The
cleanup project will consist of the city building two new
groundwater supply wells that are expected to be fully
operation in 2026.
This month, several wildlife conservation groups petitioned the
California Fish and Game Commission to list these owls as
endangered or threatened under the California Endangered
Species Act. … [Chair of the environmental studies department
at San Jose State University Lynne] Trulio’s speciality is
urban species, and she’s contributed to the research that
underpins Santa Clara County’s habitat conservation plan on
burrowing owls. But before that she was also the lead scientist
for the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, one of
the largest tidal wetland restoration projects on the West
Coast. “One of the things that drove the effort was the
fact that there were endangered species” in wetlands, said
Trulio. She said it took years to change the perception of the
wetlands as a dumping ground and to get a ballot measure to
fund its preservation.
Monday marked a key cutoff time by which Colorado River states
had been tasked with proposing a consensus-based plant for
long-term water conservation in the overtaxed system. But
with the arrival of that deadline, set by the Department of the
Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, no such agreement was on the
table. Instead, the river system’s two main contingents — the
Upper and Lower basins — submitted their own competing
plans. The proposals pertained to an upcoming update of
the rules — known as the 2007 Interim Guidelines for Lower
Basin Shortages — that govern where, when and how much the
seven basin states must conserve water from the 1,450-mile
river.
The Friant-Kern Canal was called out specifically as one of the
reasons the state should take over pumping in the Tule
groundwater subbasin in Tulare County. The recommendation was
contained in a recently released staff report to the Water
Resources Control Board. While the report stated groundwater
management plans covering the subbasin didn’t adequately
address subsidence and continued depletion of the aquifer and
degradation of water quality in general, it also noted the
significant harm to the Friant-Kern Canal, which brings water
152 miles south from Millerton Lake to Arvin. Excessive
overpumping caused land beneath a 33-mile stretch of the
Friant-Kern Canal to collapse, creating a sag that reduced the
canal’s carrying capacity south of Pixley by 60%.
California’s fishing industry is bracing for another bad year
as federal managers today announced plans to heavily restrict
or prohibit salmon fishing again, after cancelling the entire
season last year. The Pacific Fishery Management Council
today released a series of options that are under
consideration, all of which either ban commercial and
recreational salmon fishing in the ocean off California or
shorten the season and set strict catch limits. The council’s
decision is expected next month; the commercial season
typically begins in May and ends in October. … [P]opulations
are now a fraction of what they once were — dams have
blocked vital habitat, while droughts and water diversions have
driven down flows and increased temperatures, killing large
numbers of salmon eggs and young fish.
California officials are preparing new urban water conservation
rules intended to help the state adapt to a drier future caused
by climate change. In reality, the proposed restrictions are so
great they could actually harm those adaptation efforts by
sacrificing the tree canopy we have nurtured in our cities for
generations. The “Making Conservation a California Way of Life”
rule package, proposed by the State Water Resources Control
Board, sets conservation targets unique to each urban water
agency in the state. While conserving each and every year makes
sense, so must the restrictions. A recent report by the
non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office found big flaws in
the Water Board’s approach, describing the proposal as overly
complex, expensive and unrealistic, with potential water
savings amounting to a mere drop in the bucket statewide. -Written by Jim Peifer, executive director of the
Sacramento Regional Water Authority; and Victoria
Vasquez, grants and public policy manager
for California ReLeaf, which works to protect, enhance and
grow California’s urban and community forests.
California today took another step in implementing the nation’s
most comprehensive measure to tackle the rise in plastic waste
polluting our communities and ecosystems. Plastic waste is a
major contributor to climate and trash pollution,
with less than 9% of plastic recycled in California
and the rest of the U.S. Governor Gavin Newsom signed
the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer
Responsibility Act (SB 54) in 2022, which requires
producers to cut single-use plastic waste and ensure the
packaging on products they sell is recyclable or compostable.
The state today released draft regulations for the
measure, kicking off the formal rulemaking process.
Almost three months after a January storm and flash floods
killed several people and displaced hundreds of San Diego-area
residents, the state is offering one-time
Disaster CalFresh benefits to help families
recover. To be eligible for disaster food benefits, people
must have lived or worked in storm-impacted areas on Jan. 21,
the day record rainfall swelled creeks and rivers, deluging
neighborhoods. About 600 people sought emergency shelter.
California’s Department of Social Services said it will provide
30 days of food benefits to families who qualify.
On March 6, a coalition of environmental and fishing groups
reiterated their request that a federal court modify federal
agencies’ proposed interim plan for operating the federal
Central Valley Project (CVP), in coordination with the State
Water Project (SWP), to protect fish species listed under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA) and California Endangered Species
Act (CESA). That coalition includes the Pacific Coast
Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, the Golden State Salmon
Association, The Bay Institute, Defenders of Wildlife, and
Natural Resources Defense Council. Coinciding with that filing
has been a recent dramatic increase of protected steelhead
dying at the projects’ water pumps. The CVP and SWP are
still largely operating under rules written in 2019 under the
leadership of, among others, Interior Secretary David
Bernhardt, a former lobbyist for the powerful Westlands Water
District.
Arizona officials said a Saudi-owned company they targeted over
its use of groundwater to grow forage crops is moving its
farming operation out of a valley in the Southwestern state’s
rural west. Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona State Land
Department announced late Thursday that Fondomonte Arizona is
officially no longer pumping water in the Butler Valley
groundwater basin. Some residents of La Paz County had
complained that the company’s pumping was threatening their
wells. A statement by Hobbs says an on-site inspection had
confirmed that Fondomonte was moving to vacate the property.
Fondomonte has several other farms elsewhere in Arizona that
are not affected by the decision.
… Los Angeles desperately needs to become more like a
sponge. That will help to capture more stormwater locally when
rain does come and lessen devastating flooding, said Edith de
Guzman, a UCLA water equity and climate adaptation researcher.
… The Rory M. Shaw Wetlands Park Project will
turn a 46-acre landfill formerly used for materials such as
concrete and gravel into an engineered wetland that can boost
local water supply and alleviate local flooding. It’ll also
become a 15-acre park with a lake and walking paths.
… But now, the biggest barrier to completing the project
is funding, said Mark Pestrella, the director of L.A. County
Department of Public Works, which is spearheading the project
(after it’s constructed, the city of L.A. will take over
maintenance). The new goal is to complete it by 2028 or 2029.
In what one Ukiah Valley water leader calls “the next big era
of major water decisions,” the City of Ukiah has joined up with
Redwood Valley and the Millview water district to form a new
water authority. The aim is to qualify for state infrastructure
grants to create a more reliable water supply for small
communities. The new authority has around 8500 to 9000 water
users, with about half of them in the city of Ukiah. That’s
pretty small by state standards, but First District Supervisor
Glenn McGourty, who is retiring this year, thinks the water
authority will help smaller districts comply with
ever-increasing state requirements.
Countries, regions, and river basins globally are struggling to
provide and manage flows in rivers for ecosystems. One
approach, of many, is a Functional Flows approach, because it
seeks to provide a range of streamflows over the year and
between years to support fundamental functions of river
ecosystems and the ecosystem services for society. … The
approach also involves a process for balancing multiple human
and ecological objectives for river systems through broad
engagement of multiple interests. In their challenge to
maintain riverine ecosystem services, Chile and California can
benefit from this dynamic approach to managing instream flows.
A Saudi Arabian farm previously permitted to pump unlimited
amounts of groundwater to grow alfalfa for dairy cows overseas
has stopped irrigating its crops on state land in Arizona’s
Butler Valley, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs announced Thursday.
Hobbs and the Arizona State Land Department announced after a
recent inspection Fondomonte had stopped pumping water in the
Butler Valley groundwater basin and has begun to take steps to
leave the property. Hobbs took full credit for the outcome,
saying it was a result of her move to terminate and decline to
renew Fondomonte’s leases on state land in the area, part of a
broader crackdown from Hobbs and her Democratic attorney
general Kris Mayes.
Water conservation is a top issue for cities across the
Southwest. Now, Phoenix continues plans to reduce water use and
prepare for the future. Phoenix City Council approved a water
conservation ordinance for “big water users” this week. “It is
Phoenix making sure that when a large volume user comes along,
there is a sufficient benefit,” said Sarah Porter, director of
the Kyl Center for Water Policy at ASU. It only impacts new
developments. Under the ordinance, companies that use more than
250,000 gallons of water per day will have to submit water
conservation plans to the city. This could impact some
hospitals, resorts, and manufacturers. Then, companies that use
more than 500,000 gallons of water per day need to submit a
conservation plan and ensure 30% of their water usage comes
from recycled water.
With climate change compounding the strains on the Colorado
River, seven Western states are starting to consider long-term
plans for reducing water use to prevent the river’s reservoirs
from reaching critically low levels in the years to come. But
negotiations among representatives of the states have so far
failed to resolve disagreements. And now, two groups of states
are proposing competing plans for addressing the river’s
chronic gap between supply and demand. In one camp, the three
states in the river’s lower basin — California, Arizona and
Nevada — say their approach would share the largest-ever water
reductions throughout the Colorado River Basin to ensure
long-term sustainability.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge confirmed that the
Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin is one connected basin—not
separate subbasins—allowing for the groundwater adjudication to
move forward following a year-and-a-half of delays and
litigation. … The Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin is one
of California’s 21 critically overdrafted basins that was
required under the 2014 California Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act (SGMA) to create a groundwater sustainability
agency (GSA) and corresponding groundwater sustainability plan.
After the California Department of Water Resources approved the
sustainability plan, which called for a 60 percent water use
reduction in 20 years, agricultural corporations Bolthouse
Farms and Grimmway Farms filed a groundwater adjudication
against every landowner in the Cuyama Valley in August
2021.
The ocean and river salmon seasons in California are likely to
be closed or severely restricted this year based on low
abundance forecasts for Sacramento and Klamath River fall-run
Chinook salmon that were released by state and federal fishery
scientists at the CDFW’s annual salmon information meeting via
webinar on March 1. California representatives are now working
together to develop a range of recommended ocean fishing season
alternatives taking place now at the March 6-11 Pacific Fishery
Management Council (PFMC) meeting in Fresno. Final season
recommendations will be adopted at the PFMC’s April 6-11
meeting in Seattle, Wash. Due to the collapse of fall-run
Chinook salmon on the Klamath/Trinity and Sacramento River
systems in 2022, all commercial and recreational salmon fishing
on the ocean was closed in California and most of Oregon last
year.
As water supplies come under more stress across the West, some
states are seeing increased legal activity related to water
rights. Bloomberg has reported some states, including Utah, are
setting up specific water courts, or judges who deal mainly in
water law. Colorado has had this kind of a setup for more than
50 years. Holly Strablizky is a water referee for
the Water Court in Colorado. The Show talked with her
about what her job entails.
The oil and gas industry could be on the hook for billions of
dollars as a growing number of states consider making the
sector pay for climate impacts such as floods and sea-level
rise. At least four states are debating legislation, modeled on
the federal Superfund program for contaminated land, that would
hold major fossil fuel companies liable for damage caused by
the historical emissions of their products. In Vermont, which
saw record flooding last year, a majority of the House and a
supermajority of the Senate have signed onto the proposal, all
but ensuring it will pass. Similar bills have been introduced
in New York — where it already has passed the Senate — as well
as Massachusetts and Maryland.
At a recent listening session hosted by Attorney General Kris
Mayes, Cochise County residents called on state officials to do
more to protect Arizona’s groundwater — and pointed the finger
at one rural lawmaker for blocking progress. Cochise
County residents such as Anne Carl reported that mega farms,
dairies and lithium mines are sucking the groundwater out of
the earth and leaving it dry which causes the ground to shake
and crack. … Residents blamed Rep. Gail Griffin
(R-Hereford), the powerful chair of the House Natural
Resources, Energy and Water Committee, for blocking bills that
they say would protect their water rights. Mayes, a Democrat
who’s spoken strongly against drill permits previously awarded
to foreign-owned companies, suggested they vote her out and
vowed to act if the Legislature will not.
The State Water Resources Control Board received a letter from
the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)
submitting instream flow recommendations to inform a long-term
flow-setting process to support anadromous salmonids and
year-round ecological stream function on Mill, Deer, and
Antelope Creeks. Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creeks are
tributaries to the Sacramento River and provide aquatic habitat
for several native fish species including Chinook salmon
(spring-run, fall-run, and late fall-run), Steelhead, and
Pacific Lamprey. Additional information will be forthcoming on
the next steps in considering the recommendations. Additional
information related to this matter can be found on the Mill,
Deer, and Antelope Creeks – Flow Recommendations webpage.
The seven U.S. states that draw water from the Colorado
River basin are suggesting new ways to determine how the
increasingly scarce resource is divvied up when the river can’t
provide what it historically promised. The Upper Basin and
the Lower Basin states, as neighbors, don’t agree on the
approach. Under a proposal released Wednesday by Arizona,
California and Nevada, the water level at Lake Mead — one of
the two largest of the Colorado River reservoirs — no longer
would determine the extent of water cuts like it currently
does. The three Lower Basin states also want what they say is a
more equitable way of distributing cuts that would be a 50-50
split between the basins once a threshold is hit.
With National Groundwater
Awareness Week approaching and 2024 marking
the 10ᵗʰ anniversary of the Sustainable Groundwater Management
Act in California, upcoming Water Education Foundation
tours and events will help you gain a deeper understanding of
groundwater fundamentals. Join us April 5 for our
annual Water
101 Workshop, which includes a session that
will provide an overview of the state’s groundwater
resources, its importance in the state’s water supply, its
history of use and overuse and the Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act (SGMA). Learn what other topics will be covered
and register
here. Workshop participants can also join
the Groundwater
Tour the day before the workshop. And in
April, our three-day Central Valley
Tour will have a strong focus on groundwater as it
moves through the San Joaquin Valley.
The Environmental Protection Agency has granted approval to a
North County tribe to administer a water quality standards
program on its reservation. The Rincon Band of Luiseño
Indians has become the 11th tribe to secure the right to uphold
its own water quality standards out of the 148 federally
recognized tribes in the Pacific Southwest region, which is
comprised of Arizona, California and Nevada. The move
means the tribe can operate in a manner akin to a state,
allowing it to implement and manage specific environmental
regulatory functions and the ability to secure grant funding to
support its programs.
The Pleasanton City Council will be reviewing a staff
presentation on the city’s proposed plan to authorize and
approve a bond sale for as much as $19 million to finance a
portion of planned water infrastructure upgrades during
Tuesday’s meeting. According to the March 5 staff report, staff
will be presenting a debt financing overview and a resolution
for the council to approve, which will declare the city’s
intent to “reimburse expenditures relating to capital
improvement projects from the proceeds of tax-exempt
obligations.”
As salmon and Delta fish populations continue to crash due to
massive water diversions to corporate agribusiness, the
State Water Resources Control Board just issued a public
notice regarding the Delta Conveyance Project Change in Point
of Diversion (CPOD) Petition that was submitted by
the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to the State Water
Board on February 22, 2024. This notice acknowledges receipt of
the change petition and details the process to submit a protest
against the petition. You can expect a wave of formal
protests against the change petition by fishing
groups, Tribes, environmental justice organizations,
conservation groups and Delta region cities and counties.
Protests against the change petition must be filed
by April 29th, 2024, with a copy provided to the petition,
according to the Water Board.
… On Monday, the Upper Colorado River Commission — an
interstate agency composed of one federal representative and
commissioners from the Upper Colorado River Basin states of
Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — took a step toward
greater collaboration between the states and the
tribes. The commission unanimously approved
a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with six Colorado
River tribes: the Jicarilla Apache Nation, Navajo Nation, Ute
Mountain Ute Indian Tribe, Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Ute
Indian Tribe and the Shivwits Band of Paiutes. The
agreement states that the Upper Colorado River Commission and
the six tribes will meet about every two months to discuss
shared interests on the Colorado River. Other tribes are
welcome to join the agreement. The MOU does not give the
tribes a permanent seat on the Upper Colorado River Commission,
like the states and federal government.
It’s difficult to build big water infrastructure projects in
California. It takes collaboration and agreement across
geographic and political divides. It takes time, funding, and
the will of diverse stakeholders to advance solutions to
address our state’s biggest water challenges. When you have a
project that boasts all the above, you can get the job done.
For us, that project is Sites Reservoir. Sites Reservoir is a
new way of capturing and storing water – rather than damming a
major river, the proposal involves utilizing existing
infrastructure to convey and store water off-stream and deliver
it back into the system when it’s needed the most. When
flows are high on the Sacramento River – and once all other
senior water rights are met – a portion of the water will be
piped into Sites Reservoir. -Written by Congressman Mike Thompson,
representing California’s 4th Congressional District;
and Congressman Doug LaMalfa, lifelong farmer representing
California’s 1st Congressional District, which includes the
physical footprint of Sites Reservoir.
With many areas of Southern California starved for shade, the
region’s largest water supplier has launched a rebate program
offering residents and businesses up to $500 as an incentive to
plant trees. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California on Tuesday announced the addition of the tree
incentive to its long-standing turf-replacement program, which
offers cash to property owners who rip out water-guzzling grass
and replace it with drought-tolerant landscaping. Starting
this week, new applicants can seek a $100 rebate for each
eligible tree planted — up to five trees total — as part of
their turf-replacement project, according to a spokesperson for
the district.
A split California appellate panel threw out a trial court
ruling finding drinking water regulations put in place by the
California Geologic Energy Management Division are invalid,
saying, instead, the challenged regulations are consistent with
…
… Verlon Jose is one of several tribal leaders nationwide who
are growing frustrated with the Biden administration and its
ambitious plans for clean-energy projects that could affect
their ancestral lands. While the White House has worked to
repair the federal government’s relationships with Indigenous
peoples, that effort is conflicting with another Biden
priority: expediting projects essential for the energy
transition.
After years of groundwater decline and failed legislative
action, a court decision in January affirmed the state’s right
to limit groundwater pumping using the most current scientific
data, but full implementation of the ruling may take some time.
Last week, the state engineer — Nevada’s top water regulator —
expanded on how the state will manage water resources in the
aftermath of the recent Nevada Supreme Court decision that
affirmed the state’s authority to develop science-based
solutions to over-pumping, including managing surface water and
groundwater as a single connected source when determining water
rights. In the coming years, the court’s decision will have
sweeping ramifications for Nevada, state engineer Adam Sullivan
told lawmakers.
In 2019, the city of Ukiah completed three of the four phases
required to build a water recycling system, often referred to
as the purple pipe project. The fourth phase is currently
underway. As of now, the city produces about 1,000-acre feet of
recycled water annually, which it uses for agricultural
irrigation, parks, the golf course, schools, and industrial
needs (things like dust control). Although it is rare for me to
praise government projects, this one is a good one. The project
reduces the amount of water pumped from aquifers, rivers, and
lakes. It meets state water conservation objectives, promotes a
healthy agriculture sector, and improves fish habitat. It’s a
win all around. -Written by Dick Selzer, a real estate broker who
has been in the business for more than 45
years.
Transitioning towards sustainable groundwater usage is becoming
more accessible for farmers and Groundwater Sustainability
Agencies (GSAs) through involvement in the LandFlex Grant
Program. The Department of Water Resources (DWR), which
developed the program, prioritizes access to those living in
rural areas with critically overdrafted basins. LandFlex
provides farmers with resources to comply with requirements of
the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) while
increasing availability of groundwater to surrounding local
communities. With depleting underground water availability, the
DWR hopes to accelerate sustainable groundwater usage
immediately, rather than SGMA’s goal of groundwater
sustainability by 2040.
One the most closely watched water bills in the Wyoming
Legislature this session moved decisively through committee
this week in a sign of hope for some of the state’s
water-dependent industries. The bill, SF 66, seeks to address
heightened anxiety around the Colorado River, whose diminishing
flows have set off a scramble by its seven user states to draft
new rules and contingency plans ahead of a 2026 deadline from
the Bureau of Reclamation, the agency charged with overseeing
water management in the west. In the meantime, the amendments
aim to provide a sense of security to junior water rights
entities who depend on water transfers, including
municipalities, trona mine operators and oil refineries in the
Green River Basin.
After years of dangerous decline in the nation’s groundwater, a
series of developments in Western states indicate that state
and federal officials may begin tightening protections for the
dwindling resource. In Nevada, Idaho and Montana, a string of
court decisions have strengthened states’ ability to restrict
overpumping of groundwater. California is considering
penalizing local officials for draining their aquifers. And the
White House has asked scientists who focus on groundwater to
advise how the federal government can help.
Residents in Grover Beach are feeling the pinch as water rates
surged this month, but a new bill could ease their burden. “We
had a rate increase of $26, which we were billed once every two
months,” said Dave Browning, who lives in Grover Beach. “That
was roughly $13 per month.” Grover Beach residents recently
felt the impact of a long-discussed water rate hike. “We did
send a couple of letters, and I know they’ve received quite a
few from what I was being told,” Browning said. And while many
still have strong opinions about it moving forward, those
facing the reality of the hike now are concerned about how
they’ll pay for it.
The Navajo Nation is nearing completion of a settlement of
water rights claims in Arizona, ending decades of negotiations
and giving hope for thousands of people who have long gone
without running water. For the past 60 years, Navajo leaders
have worked to settle water claims in Arizona. The aim of the
Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement
is to affirm and quantify the nation’s rights to water in the
state and to secure funding to build much needed water delivery
infrastructure to homes on the Navajo Nation, according to a
summary of the agreement. … The U.S. Supreme Court held
last summer that the United States did not have an
affirmative treaty or trust obligation to identify and
account for Navajo Nation water rights on the Colorado River.
Curley said that ruling was a pivotal moment that led the
Navajo Nation and its water rights negotiation team to focus on
completing on the settlement.
A Native American tribe with one of the largest outstanding
claims to water in the Colorado River basin is closing in on a
settlement with more than a dozen parties, putting it on a path
to piping water to tens of thousands of tribal members in
Arizona who still live without it. Negotiating terms outlined
late Wednesday include water rights not only for the Navajo
Nation but the neighboring Hopi and San Juan Southern Paiute
tribes in the northeastern corner of the state. The water would
come from a mix of sources: the Colorado River that serves
seven western states, the Little Colorado River, and aquifers
and washes on tribal lands. The agreement is decades in the
making and would allow the tribes to avoid further litigation
and court proceedings, which have been costly.
Pain and hurt continue to linger through the Pajaro community
as the anniversary of the devastating floods approaches. On
Tuesday, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors approved the
final rollout plan for the $10 million allocated directly to
help survivors. … Six million dollars will be allocated
for individual households and $4 million for small businesses.
Residents who sustained damages to property can qualify for up
to $15,000 dollars, and small businesses up to $85,000. All
residents, regardless of citizenship status, will be able to
apply in person for aid. The county, ultimately decided how
much would be dispersed on a case-by-case basis.
An effort toward a public takeover of the private water utility
California American Water has taken years to get to this point.
Activists asked voters to approve a ballot measure to that end
in 2005, and it failed. They tried again in 2014, and lost
again. They prevailed in 2018 with the passage of Measure J,
which compelled the Monterey Peninsula Water Management
District to acquire Cal Am’s local system “if and when
feasible.” More than five years later, the matter has moved to
the courts. In October 2023, the board of the water district
determined that yes, it was feasible—and that it would pursue
acquisition of Cal Am’s system. Because the utility company had
rejected the public district’s previous offer of $449 million
to buy it, the district would proceed by filing an eminent
domain case.
Green groups are pushing the Ninth Circuit to revive their
petition asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to
craft new, stronger Clean Water Act regulations for the large
animal feeding facilities …
Arizona’s Auditor General has released a scathing report,
criticizing the State Land Department for leasing land to a
Saudi-owned company in western Arizona at cheap rates. The
company, Fondomonte, used the land — and the groundwater
beneath it — to grow alfalfa for dairy cattle in the
Middle East. State Auditor General Lindsey Perry says the Land
Department’s practices for valuing the land it leases don’t
align with what’s recommended. In addition, state law requires
the department to conduct a mass appraisal of its properties at
least once every 10 years to determine its agricultural rental
rates. But the last one was done in 2005. This resulted in $3.4
million less in revenues going into the land trust that
provides revenues for K-12 education and other beneficiaries.
The environmental impact report prepared by the city of
Tehachapi for the proposed Sage Ranch residential development
made the case that the project would not result in any
significant, unmitigated impacts — and included a water supply
assessment suggesting sufficient water exists for the project
over the required 20-year horizon. The city of Tehachapi and
Sage Ranch developer Greenbriar filed documents they believe
support that position in Sacramento County Superior Court on
Monday, Feb. 26 to defend the EIR approved by the Tehachapi
City Council in September 2021. At the same time, the council
approved a masterplan for the project that would
transform 138 acres near Tehachapi High School by adding 995
residential units over seven years.
Federal tax deadlines have been extended until June 17 for San
Diego County residents affected by last month’s rainstorms, the
Internal Revenue Service announced Tuesday. The amended
deadlines will offer relief “for individuals and businesses in
parts of California affected by severe storms and flooding that
began on Jan. 21,” according to the IRS. The relief extends to
any areas designated by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, which includes San Diego County.
Recreational and commercial fishermen are holding their breath
for this Friday’s California Department of Wildlife’s annual
Salmon Information Meeting to be held by webinar only. Although
the escapement of fall-run salmon in the Sacramento River Basin
exceeded the minimum of 122,000 returning hatchery and natural
spawners, 133,638 returners fell short of the projected
spawning escapement of 164,964 salmon. The 2023 salmon closure
below Cape Falcon in Oregon throughout California was
devastating to commercial salmon fishermen along with coastal
communities due to the loss of economic activity by
recreational anglers. According to the Golden State Salmon
Association, Central Valley salmon have provided over $2
billion in economic activity to communities in California and
Oregon along with 23,000 jobs in California and half that again
in Oregon.
Negotiations among the seven states that share the
drought-stricken Colorado River have stalled ahead of a March
target date to propose new operating plans for the waterway, as
officials split over which states should absorb the brunt of
cuts triggered by the region’s ongoing drought. The states —
Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in the Upper Basin and
Arizona, California and Nevada in the Lower Basin — are now
expected to submit separate plans to the Biden administration
early next month, rather than a single cohesive plan, according
to representatives of states from both regions. “If there
is interest in getting to a seven-state consensus compromise,
all seven states have to actually compromise and recognize this
is a massive problem that needs solving, not a party primary or
campaign rally,” J.B. Hamby, chair of the Colorado River Board
of California, told E&E News.
With warmer temperatures on the horizon, the city of Sacramento
is switching to a new watering schedule. The spring and summer
watering schedule, which governs how residents irrigate their
lawns and landscaping during the hotter months, goes into
effect on March 1 and runs through Oct. 31. Here’s what you
need to know about the change. From Nov. 1 to Feb 28,
watering guidelines in Sacramento allow residents to turn on
their sprinklers one day per week, on either Saturday or
Sunday. On March 1, Sacramento will add an additional day to
its weekly watering schedule — allowing residents to use
sprinklers two days a week instead of one. On those days
automatic sprinklers can be used for irrigation before 10 a.m.
or after 7 p.m.
Arizona officials are proud of their 1980 state water policy.
The Arizona Groundwater Management Act (GMA), after many
earlier attempts, was approved only after the federal
government threatened to withhold funding for the Central
Arizona Project (CAP) unless Arizona controlled groundwater
pumping. Without the CAP, California would have claimed “our”
Colorado River water and restricted future economic development
in Arizona. The environment wasn’t at the negotiating table
then, so our rivers were on the menu. The GMA managed
groundwater only in limited areas and sacrificed some rivers.
We have now seriously degraded five of Arizona’s major
perennial rivers: the Colorado, Gila, Salt, Santa Cruz, and San
Pedro. Additionally, future perennial flow in the upper Verde
River is deeply threatened. -Written by Gary Beverly, a member of the
Sustainable Water Network steering committee.
To conserve water as California heads into the drier spring and
summer months, the city of Sacramento announced new
watering regulations set to go into effect March 1. According
to the city’s watering schedule ordinance, residents and
businesses in the city of Sacramento are required
to follow a seasonal schedule when watering landscapes
using sprinklers. Here is the
seasonal watering schedule from the
ordinance: Spring and summer From March 1 to October
31: Customers with even-numbered addresses can water
Wednesday and Sunday. Customers with odd-numbered addresses can
water Tuesday and Saturday. Watering must be done before 10
a.m. and/or after 7 p.m. Watering is not allowed 48 hours
after one-eighths inch of rain.
The Biden administration announced Thursday that it will be
expanding a program offering small disadvantaged communities
help in applying for $50 billion in infrastructure act funding
to improve drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, disadvantaged
and underserved communities often struggle to access federal
funding because they lack the money to do the assessments
required to apply for grants. To try to help, the EPA said it
will now be offering engineering assistance to communities to
identify water challenges, develop plans, build capacity
and develop their application materials through its WaterTA
program. The program is free, and local governments, water
utilities, state and tribal governments, and nonprofits are
eligible for the assistance.
Like a lot of homeowners in neighborhoods with decades-old
plumbing, Ken Hoag experienced a leak in the pipe leading under
his yard from the curbside city meter to his house. Only this
was no trickling stream, but a gusher that would cost him more
than $1,000. City meter readers must check meters manually or,
at homes with updated meters, they must at least drive through
the neighborhood for it to ping their equipment with current
water volumes. In Hoag’s case last fall, that took long enough
that no one from the city alerted him of unusual readings until
160,000 gallons had drained away under his yard over parts of
two billing cycles. He hadn’t noticed so much as a puddle to
suggest a problem and was shocked when he got the first of
those bills on Nov. 22.
California’s Bay-Delta is in trouble, and its outdated water
regulations need to catch up with the challenge. For a
generation, the State Water Resources Control Board has not
updated legally required and much needed rules for sharing
water between the environment and other water uses throughout
the Bay-Delta watershed. These new rules should result in
additional flows for this water-starved system to protect fish
and wildlife and improve water quality. Instead of finishing
more than a decade of work and establishing long-overdue
protections for the Bay-Delta ecosystem, the state is banking
on voluntary agreements among water users to guide its actions.
Some voluntary agreement proponents suggest there must be a
choice between such agreements to provide flows and habitat and
updated environmental protections. -By Felicia Marcus, visiting fellow at Stanford
University Water in the West Program; Michael Kiparsky,
water program director at UC Berkeley’s Center for Law,
Energy & the Environment (CLEE); Nell Green Nylen, senior
research fellow at CLEE; and Dave Owen, a professor at UC
Law San Francisco.
California and Chile share a history of water allocation with
little regard for instream uses of water, especially
environmental uses. In California, for example, many water
rights were obtained with no consideration of the environmental
impacts of the water use, often because few environmental laws
existed or were enforced when users obtained the rights.
Similarly, in Chile, environmental considerations in the
granting and exercise of water rights weren’t expressly
included in the Water Code until 2005. More broadly, both
places traditionally required diversion and use as key elements
of water rights, making it difficult or impossible to use water
rights to keep water instream. As a result, both Chile and
California struggle to protect the minimum instream flows
needed for ecosystems and other instream uses.
Quechan tribal members Elan and Donald Medart were excited for
the opportunity to see some of their tribe’s most significant
lands along Haquita — known to the greater world as the
Colorado River — from the air. The day was especially
noteworthy for Elan, who’s 14, because it was his first-ever
flight over the rugged peaks and washes of Indian Pass, about
30 miles north of here. The six-passenger Cessna took load
after load of tribal members and other interested people over
the Colorado River Valley in Imperial County, California, to
see Indian Pass, Picacho Peak and the nearby Picacho Peak
Wilderness, the Colorado, and glimpses of trails, sleeping and
prayer circles and an occasional geoglyph that hasn’t yet been
ground to death under the wheels of ATVs and RVs.
For five years, a $24 million water transfer agreement has
threatened to establish a potentially dangerous precedent, and
turn the Colorado River into a commodity. Now that deal will be
put on hold under a decision in U.S. District Court. U.S.
District Judge Michael Liburdi ruled against that water
transfer agreement on Wednesday. It was a decision made on the
grounds that federal Reclamation officials’ approval of the
agreement last year, absent an environmental impact study in
that agreement, may have been “arbitrary and capricious.”
Report details importance of groundwater to California’s water
resources and poses questions on funding and policies for the
Legislature to consider in moving forward with implementing the
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
Some of the thorniest debates over water in California revolve
around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, where pumps send
water flowing to farms and cities, and where populations of
native fish have been declining…. State water regulators are
considering … “voluntary agreements” in which water agencies
pledge to forgo certain amounts of water while also funding
projects to improve wetland habitats. … To learn more
about these issues, I spoke with Felicia Marcus and Michael
Kiparsky, two experts who wrote a report outlining what they
say should be “guiding principles for effective voluntary
agreements.” … Marcus said if voluntary agreements go
forward without adequate standards in place, “the ecosystem
will continue to collapse and more species will go extinct.”
After years of controversy, the Nevada County Board of
Supervisors unanimously struck down a Grass Valley gold mining
project. … Rise Gold first submitted an application to resume
gold mining operations at the Idaho Maryland Mine, which is in
Grass Valley, in 2019. The site had been inactive since its
closure in the 1950s, but Rise Gold said it had untapped
potential. But the company was quickly met with mass
opposition. Christy Hubbard, a Grass Valley resident and
volunteer for a couple local groups opposing the project …
said she was particularly concerned with the potential for
mining operations to contaminate or otherwise negatively impact
local groundwater supply. As a member of the Wells Coalition, a
local group of well owners, and an owner of a well herself, she
worried mining could reduce water flows or contaminate
them.
The California Water Resources Control Board said it still
needs more than 40% of the required water usage reports that
were due at the beginning of the month.
California is taking advantage of this year’s storms to expand
water supplies, building off of last year’s actions to
capture stormwater. Last year, the Newsom Administration’s
actions resulted in three times more groundwater recharge
capacity than would have otherwise occurred. Since 2019,
the Governor has allocated $1.6 billion for flood preparedness
and response, part of the historic $7.3 billion investment
package and to strengthen California’s water resilience. Here’s
what the state is doing this year to capture water:
Toxic “forever” PFAS chemicals are a serious environmental
health issue in California and across the globe, linked to
numerous health harms. California has been a leader in
addressing PFAS, including banning PFAS use in multiple
products (such as fire-fighting foam and textiles). Yet PFAS
continue to be used in hundreds of different consumer and
industrial products and our new analysis, released today,
shows drinking water sources serving up to 25 million
Californians are or have been contaminated with PFAS. A
bill by Senator Nancy Skinner, also introduced today, proposes
a much needed comprehensive, efficient, and health-protective
approach to phasing out the use of these highly problematic
chemicals. Such preventative legislation will be key to helping
to address the PFAS crisis. We also need to tackle current
contamination by setting drinking water standards for PFAS.
As California continues to adapt to the impacts of a changing
climate, the State must work to identify future sources of
safe, reliable water for all. This week, the Department of
Water Resources (DWR) released a report identifying future
planned desalination projects to help meet the brackish water
supply goals identified in California’s Water Supply Strategy:
Adapting to a Hotter, Drier Future. As a key strategy in the
Water Supply Strategy, desalination is the process of removing
salts and minerals from brackish water and seawater to produce
water suitable for drinking water, irrigation and other supply
needs. Brackish water is a mix of freshwater and saltwater and
occurs in a natural environment that has
more salinity than freshwater, but not as much
as seawater. In 2020, over 100,000 acre-feet of brackish
water was desalinated for drinking water, which was two-thirds
of the desalinated water produced and used in California.
The State Water Resources Control Board handed environmental
and fishing groups a surprise loss Friday when it denied their
petition for permanent instream flow restrictions on the
drought-stricken Shasta River in Northern California. The
denial came as a surprise because both the water agency and
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom have said they want to prioritize
making some emergency drought rules for rivers permanent this
year in order to better insulate the state from recurring
drought. The board already extended the emergency limits it put
on the Scott and Shasta rivers during the drought in a December
decision, but the temporary rules run out in February 2025.
Even after all the rain and snow in California this month,
state and federal water managers announced Wednesday that
they’re planning to limit deliveries from the state’s biggest
reservoirs this year because seasonal precipitation has lagged.
Their plans, however, don’t fully account for the recent
storms. The State Water Project, with Lake Oroville as its
centerpiece, expects to ship 15% of the water that was
requested by the mostly urban water agencies it supplies,
including many in the Bay Area. The estimate is up from 10% in
December but still low. The federally run Central Valley
Project, which counts Shasta Lake among the many reservoirs it
operates primarily for agriculture, expects to send 15% of the
water requested by most irrigation agencies in the San Joaquin
Valley and 75% to most in the Sacramento Valley.
Don’t miss a once-a-year opportunity to attend our
Water
101 Workshop on April 5 to gain a deeper
understanding of California’s most precious natural resource.
One of our most popular events, the daylong workshop at
McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento offers anyone new to
California water issues or newly elected to a water district
board — and really anyone who wants a refresher — a chance to
gain a solid statewide grounding on California’s water
resources. Some of state’s leading policy and legal experts are
on the agenda for the workshop that details
the historical, legal and political facets of water management
in the state.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management recently awarded $20.9
million for six projects along the Colorado River aimed at
reducing the costly amount of salt in its water. Five of the
projects are in Colorado. In a Feb. 12 press release, the BLM
estimated economic damages currently caused by excess salinity
in the Colorado River water at about $332 million per year.
That economic damage mostly comes from the inability to plant
certain types of crops which need the river’s water for
irrigation, as well as costs associated with treating the
river’s water for residential and commercial usage, according
to a BLM report released six years ago. ”This funding will
prevent approximately 11,661 tons of salt each year from
entering the Colorado River,” the BLM announced in its press
release.
A judge ruled last month to allow the company that bottles
Arrowhead Spring Water to continue taking water from the San
Bernardino National Forest. Activists are now calling on the
Forest Service to stop the company’s operations. Fresno County
Court Judge Robert Whalen on January 25 ruled to pause the
state water board’s cease and desist order against BlueTriton
Brands. BlueTriton took over Nestle’s operations in the
national forest in 2021. The board last September stopped the
company from extracting water from Strawberry Creek — the
watershed in the forest that feeds local rivers, creeks and
streams.
The plastics industry has worked for decades to convince people
and policymakers that recycling would keep waste out of
landfills and the environment. Consumers sort their trash so
plastic packaging can be repurposed, and local governments use
taxpayer money to gather and process the material. Yet from the
early days of recycling, plastic makers, including oil and gas
companies, knew that it wasn’t a viable solution to deal with
increasing amounts of waste, according to documents uncovered
by the Center for Climate Integrity. … But the industry
appears to have championed recycling mainly for its public
relations value, rather than as a tool for avoiding
environmental damage, the documents suggest.
Conservationists are calling a recent decision by the Nevada
Supreme Court updating the state’s water law a significant
victory because the ruling paves the way for the state to
restrict groundwater pumping if it will affect other users and
wildlife. The court’s decision last month gives the state’s top
water official the authority to regulate how underground
supplies are distributed. The ruling, a blow to stalled plans
for the Coyote Springs master-planned community north of Las
Vegas, enhances the survival for an endangered species of fish
native only to natural springs in the area. The Center for
Biological Diversity was a respondent in the case to protect
the Moapa dace, a rare fish that only resides in the warm
springs of the upper Muddy River and earned endangered status
in 1967.
A bill that allows farmers and ranchers who optimize their
water use to sell their conserved water for conservation
purposes without losing their water rights cleared the Utah
Legislature on Wednesday, as efforts to better track “saved”
water intensifies. The Utah House of Representatives voted 66-3
on Wednesday to adopt SB18 after the Senate approved
the measure with a 27-0 vote last month. The bill will head to
Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk for his signature. The vote happened
after members of the House Natural Resources, Agriculture and
Environment Committee unanimously voted to
advance HB448 earlier in the day. That bill would
require the Utah Division of Water Resources to monitor state
legislative water optimization efforts along the Great Salt
Lake, Colorado River and Sevier River basins, and report its
findings back to the state.
The seven Colorado River states face a quickly approaching
deadline to present a unified plan for how to manage the
drying river that provides water for 40 million people
across the West. But major disagreements remain ahead of next
month’s target — and the Upper Basin states, including
Colorado, say they may submit their own proposal to the federal
government instead. … The Upper Basin states are
creating their own proposal to present to federal officials in
case a seven-state consensus is not reached in time, according
to the basin’s statement.
Below-average precipitation and snowpack during 2020-22 and
depleted surface and groundwater supplies pushed California
into a drought emergency that brought curtailment orders and
calls for modernizing water rights. At the Water Education
Foundation annual water summit last week in Sacramento,
Eric Oppenheimer, chief deputy director of the California State
Water Resources Control Board, discussed what he described as
the state’s “antiquated” water rights system. He spoke before
some 150 water managers, government officials, farmers,
environmentalists and others as part of the event where
interests come together to collaborate on some of the state’s
most challenging water issues.
It was exactly the sort of deluge
California groundwater agencies have been counting on to
replenish their overworked aquifers.
The start of 2023 brought a parade of torrential Pacific storms
to bone dry California. Snow piled up across the Sierra Nevada at
a near-record pace while runoff from the foothills gushed into
the Central Valley, swelling rivers over their banks and filling
seasonal creeks for the first time in half a decade.
Suddenly, water managers and farmers toiling in one of the
state’s most groundwater-depleted regions had an opportunity to
capture stormwater and bank it underground. Enterprising agencies
diverted water from rushing rivers and creeks into manmade
recharge basins or intentionally flooded orchards and farmland.
Others snagged temporary permits from the state to pull from
streams they ordinarily couldn’t touch.
Managers of California’s most
overdrawn aquifers were given a monumental task under the state’s
landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act: Craft viable,
detailed plans on a 20-year timeline to bring their beleaguered
basins into balance. It was a task that required more than 250
newly formed local groundwater agencies – many of them in the
drought-stressed San Joaquin Valley – to set up shop, gather
data, hear from the public and collaborate with neighbors on
multiple complex plans, often covering just portions of a
groundwater basin.
This tour traveled along the San Joaquin River to learn firsthand
about one of the nation’s largest and most expensive river
restoration projects.
The San Joaquin River was the focus of one of the most
contentious legal battles in California water history,
ending in a 2006 settlement between the federal government,
Friant Water Users Authority and a coalition of environmental
groups.
Hampton Inn & Suites Fresno
327 E Fir Ave
Fresno, CA 93720
Martha Guzman recalls those awful
days working on water and other issues as a deputy legislative
secretary for then-Gov. Jerry Brown. California was mired in a
recession and the state’s finances were deep in the red. Parks
were cut, schools were cut, programs were cut to try to balance a
troubled state budget in what she remembers as “that terrible
time.”
She now finds herself in a strikingly different position: As
administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
Region 9, she has a mandate to address water challenges across
California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii and $1 billion to help pay
for it. It is the kind of funding, she said, that is usually
spread out over a decade. Guzman called it the “absolutely
greatest opportunity.”
For more than 20 years, Tanya
Trujillo has been immersed in the many challenges of the Colorado
River, the drought-stressed lifeline for 40 million people from
Denver to Los Angeles and the source of irrigation water for more
than 5 million acres of winter lettuce, supermarket melons and
other crops.
Trujillo has experience working in both the Upper and Lower
Basins of the Colorado River, basins that split the river’s water
evenly but are sometimes at odds with each other. She was a
lawyer for the state of New Mexico, one of four states in the
Upper Colorado River Basin, when key operating guidelines for
sharing shortages on the river were negotiated in 2007. She later
worked as executive director for the Colorado River Board of
California, exposing her to the different perspectives and
challenges facing California and the other states in the river’s
Lower Basin.
On average, more than 60 percent of
California’s developed water supply originates in the Sierra
Nevada and the southern spur of the Cascade Range. 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.
This tour ventured into the Sierra to examine water issues
that happen upstream but have dramatic impacts downstream and
throughout the state.
As California slowly emerges from
the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, one remnant left behind by
the statewide lockdown offers a sobering reminder of the economic
challenges still ahead for millions of the state’s residents and
the water agencies that serve them – a mountain of water debt.
Water affordability concerns, long an issue in a state where
millions of people struggle to make ends meet, jumped into
overdrive last year as the pandemic wrenched the economy. Jobs
were lost and household finances were upended. Even with federal
stimulus aid and unemployment checks, bills fell by the wayside.
As California’s seasons become
warmer and drier, state officials are pondering whether the water
rights permitting system needs revising to better reflect the
reality of climate change’s effect on the timing and volume of
the state’s water supply.
A report by the State Water Resources Control Board recommends
that new water rights permits be tailored to California’s
increasingly volatile hydrology and be adaptable enough to ensure
water exists to meet an applicant’s demand. And it warns
that the increasingly whiplash nature of California’s changing
climate could require existing rights holders to curtail
diversions more often and in more watersheds — or open
opportunities to grab more water in climate-induced floods.
Groundwater provides about 40
percent of the water in California for urban, rural and
agricultural needs in typical years, and as much as 60 percent in
dry years when surface water supplies are low. But in many areas
of the state, groundwater is being extracted faster than it can
be replenished through natural or artificial means.
Voluntary agreements in California
have been touted as an innovative and flexible way to improve
environmental conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
and the rivers that feed it. The goal is to provide river flows
and habitat for fish while still allowing enough water to be
diverted for farms and cities in a way that satisfies state
regulators.
Shortly after taking office in 2019,
Gov. Gavin Newsom called on state agencies to deliver a Water
Resilience Portfolio to meet California’s urgent challenges —
unsafe drinking water, flood and drought risks from a changing
climate, severely depleted groundwater aquifers and native fish
populations threatened with extinction.
Within days, he appointed Nancy Vogel, a former journalist and
veteran water communicator, as director of the Governor’s Water
Portfolio Program to help shepherd the monumental task of
compiling all the information necessary for the portfolio. The
three state agencies tasked with preparing the document delivered
the draft Water Resilience Portfolio Jan. 3. The document, which
Vogel said will help guide policy and investment decisions
related to water resilience, is nearing the end of its comment
period, which goes through Friday, Feb. 7.
It’s been a year since two devastating wildfires on opposite ends
of California underscored the harsh new realities facing water
districts and cities serving communities in or adjacent to the
state’s fire-prone wildlands. Fire doesn’t just level homes, it
can contaminate water, scorch watersheds, damage delivery systems
and upend an agency’s finances.
To survive the next drought and meet
the looming demands of the state’s groundwater sustainability
law, California is going to have to put more water back in the
ground. But as other Western states have found, recharging
overpumped aquifers is no easy task.
Successfully recharging aquifers could bring multiple benefits
for farms and wildlife and help restore the vital interconnection
between groundwater and rivers or streams. As local areas around
California draft their groundwater sustainability plans, though,
landowners in the hardest hit regions of the state know they will
have to reduce pumping to address the chronic overdraft in which
millions of acre-feet more are withdrawn than are naturally
recharged.
Dates are now set for two key
Foundation events to kick off 2020 — our popular Water 101
Workshop, scheduled for Feb. 20 at McGeorge School of Law in
Sacramento, and our Lower Colorado River Tour, which will run
from March 11-13.
In addition, applications will be available by the first week of
October for our 2020 class of Water Leaders, our competitive
yearlong program for early to mid-career up-and-coming water
professionals. To learn more about the program, check out our
Water Leaders program
page.
Californians have been doing an
exceptional job
reducing their indoor water use, helping the state survive
the most recent drought when water districts were required to
meet conservation targets. With more droughts inevitable,
Californians are likely to face even greater calls to save water
in the future.
Bruce Babbitt, the former Arizona
governor and secretary of the Interior, has been a thoughtful,
provocative and sometimes forceful voice in some of the most
high-profile water conflicts over the last 40 years, including
groundwater management in Arizona and the reduction of
California’s take of the Colorado River. In 2016, former
California Gov. Jerry Brown named Babbitt as a special adviser to
work on matters relating to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and
the Delta tunnels plan.
Groundwater helped make Kern County
the king of California agricultural production, with a $7 billion
annual array of crops that help feed the nation. That success has
come at a price, however. Decades of unchecked groundwater
pumping in the county and elsewhere across the state have left
some aquifers severely depleted. Now, the county’s water managers
have less than a year left to devise a plan that manages and
protects groundwater for the long term, yet ensures that Kern
County’s economy can continue to thrive, even with less water.
The growing leadership of women in water. The Colorado River’s persistent drought and efforts to sign off on a plan to avert worse shortfalls of water from the river. And in California’s Central Valley, promising solutions to vexing water resource challenges.
These were among the topics that Western Water news explored in 2018.
We’re already planning a full slate of stories for 2019. You can sign up here to be alerted when new stories are published. In the meantime, take a look at what we dove into in 2018:
In 1983, a landmark California Supreme Court ruling extended the public trust doctrine to tributary creeks that feed Mono Lake, which is a navigable water body even though the creeks themselves were not. The ruling marked a dramatic shift in water law and forced Los Angeles to cut back its take of water from those creeks in the Eastern Sierra to preserve the lake.
Now, a state appellate court has for the first time extended that same public trust doctrine to groundwater that feeds a navigable river, in this case the Scott River flowing through a picturesque valley of farms and alfalfa in Siskiyou County in the northern reaches of California.
There’s going to be a new governor
in California next year – and a host of challenges both old and
new involving the state’s most vital natural resource, water.
So what should be the next governor’s water priorities?
That was one of the questions put to more than 150 participants
during a wrap-up session at the end of the Water Education
Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento.
Sixty 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.
We headed into the foothills and the mountains to examine
water issues that happen upstream but have dramatic impacts
downstream and throughout the state.
GEI (Tour Starting Point)
2868 Prospect Park Dr.
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.
Spurred by drought and a major
policy shift, groundwater management has assumed an unprecedented
mantle of importance in California. Local agencies in the
hardest-hit areas of groundwater depletion are drawing plans to
halt overdraft and bring stressed aquifers to the road of
recovery.
Along the way, an army of experts has been enlisted to help
characterize the extent of the problem and how the Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act of 2014 is implemented in a manner
that reflects its original intent.
For decades, cannabis has been grown
in California – hidden away in forested groves or surreptitiously
harvested under the glare of high-intensity indoor lamps in
suburban tract homes.
In the past 20 years, however, cannabis — known more widely as
marijuana – has been moving from being a criminal activity to
gaining legitimacy as one of the hundreds of cash crops in the
state’s $46 billion-dollar agriculture industry, first legalized
for medicinal purposes and this year for recreational use.
As we continue forging ahead in 2018
with our online version of Western Water after 40 years
as a print magazine, we turned our attention to a topic that also
got its start this year: recreational marijuana as a legal use.
State regulators, in the last few years, already had been beefing
up their workforce to tackle the glut in marijuana crops and
combat their impacts to water quality and supply for people, fish
and farming downstream. Thus, even if these impacts were perhaps
unbeknownst to the majority of Californians who approved
Proposition 64 in 2016, we thought it important to see if
anything new had evolved from a water perspective now that
marijuana was legal.
Joaquin Esquivel learned that life is
what happens when you make plans. Esquivel, who holds the public
member slot at the State Water Resources Control Board in
Sacramento, had just closed purchase on a house in Washington
D.C. with his partner when he was tapped by Gov. Jerry Brown a
year ago to fill the Board vacancy.
Esquivel, 35, had spent a decade in Washington, first in several
capacities with then Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and then as
assistant secretary for federal water policy at the California
Natural Resources Agency. As a member of the State Water Board,
he shares with four other members the difficult task of
ensuring balance to all the uses of California’s water.
Sixty 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.
Participants of this tour snaked along the San Joaquin River to
learn firsthand about one of the nation’s largest and most
expensive river restoration projects.
The San Joaquin River was the focus of one of the most
contentious legal battles in California water history,
ending in a 2006 settlement between the federal government,
Friant Water Users Authority and a coalition of environmental
groups.
Water conservation has become a way of life throughout the West
with a growing recognition that water supply is not unlimited.
Drought is the most common motivator of increased water
conservation. However, the gradual drying of the West due to
climate change means the amount of fresh water available for
drinking, irrigation, industry and other uses must be used as
efficiently as possible.
Wastewater management in California centers on the collection,
conveyance,
treatment, reuse and disposal of wastewater. This process is
conducted largely by public agencies, though there are also
private systems in places where a publicly owned treatment plant
is not feasible.
In California, wastewater treatment takes place through 100,000
miles of sanitary sewer lines and at more than 900 wastewater
treatment plants that manage the roughly 4 billion gallons of
wastewater generated in the state each day.
As part of the historic Colorado
River Delta, the Salton Sea regularly filled and dried for
thousands of years due to its elevation of 237 feet below
sea level.
The federal Safe Drinking Water Act sets standards for drinking
water quality in the United States.
Launched in 1974 and administered by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the Safe Drinking Water Act oversees states,
communities, and water suppliers who implement the drinking water
standards at the local level.
The act’s regulations apply to every public water system in the
United States but do not include private wells serving less than
25 people.
According to the EPA, there are more than 160,000 public water
systems in the United States.
Dams have allowed Californians and others across the West to
harness and control water dating back to pre-European settlement
days when Native Americans had erected simple dams for catching
salmon.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at some of
the pieces of the 2009 water legislation, including the Delta
Stewardship Council, the new requirements for groundwater
monitoring and the proposed water bond.
This issue of Western Water looks at the political
landscape in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento as it relates to
water issues in 2007. Several issues are under consideration,
including the means to deal with impending climate change, the
fate of the San Joaquin River, the prospects for new surface
storage in California and the Delta.
2002 marks the 30th anniversary of one of the most significant
environmental laws in American history, the Clean Water Act
(CWA). The CWA has had remarkable success, reversing years of
neglect and outright abuse of the nation’s waters. But challenges
remain as attention turns to the thorny issue of cleaning up
nonpoint sources of pollution.
This printed issue of Western Water, based on presentations
at the November 3-4, 2010 Water Quality Conference in Ontario,
Calif., looks at constituents of emerging concerns (CECs) – what
is known, what is yet to be determined and the potential
regulatory impacts on drinking water quality.
This printed issue of Western Water discusses low
impact development and stormwater capture – two areas of emerging
interest that are viewed as important components of California’s
future water supply and management scenario.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the issues
associated with the State Water Board’s proposed revision of the
water quality Bay-Delta Plan, most notably the question of
whether additional flows are needed for the system, and how they
might be provided.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at hydraulic
fracturing, or “fracking,” in California. Much of the information
in the article was presented at a conference hosted by the
Groundwater Resources Association of California.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the
Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study and what its
finding might mean for the future of the lifeblood of the
Southwest.
This printed issue of Western Water features a
roundtable discussion with Anthony Saracino, a water resources
consultant; Martha Davis, executive manager of policy development
with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and senior policy advisor
to the Delta Stewardship Council; Stuart Leavenworth, editorial
page editor of The Sacramento Bee and Ellen Hanak, co-director of
research and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of
California.
This issue of Western Water looks at the BDCP and the
Coalition to Support Delta Projects, issues that are aimed at
improving the health and safety of the Delta while solidifying
California’s long-term water supply reliability.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at California
groundwater and whether its sustainability can be assured by
local, regional and state management. For more background
information on groundwater please refer to the Foundation’s
Layperson’s Guide to Groundwater.
20-minute version of the 2012 documentary The Klamath Basin: A
Restoration for the Ages. This DVD is ideal for showing at
community forums and speaking engagements to help the public
understand the complex issues related to complex water management
disputes in the Klamath River Basin. Narrated by actress Frances
Fisher.
For over a century, the Klamath River Basin along the Oregon and
California border has faced complex water management disputes. As
relayed in this 2012, 60-minute public television documentary
narrated by actress Frances Fisher, the water interests range
from the Tribes near the river, to energy producer PacifiCorp,
farmers, municipalities, commercial fishermen, environmentalists
– all bearing legitimate arguments for how to manage the water.
After years of fighting, a groundbreaking compromise may soon
settle the battles with two epic agreements that hold the promise
of peace and fish for the watershed. View an excerpt from the
documentary here.
As the state’s population continues to grow and traditional water
supplies grow tighter, there is increased interest in reusing
treated wastewater for a variety of activities, including
irrigation of crops, parks and golf courses, groundwater recharge
and industrial uses.
The Water Education Foundation’s second edition of
the Layperson’s Guide to The Klamath River Basin is
hot off the press and available for purchase.
Updated and redesigned, the easy-to-read overview covers the
history of the region’s tribal, agricultural and environmental
relationships with one of the West’s largest rivers — and a
vast watershed that hosts one of the nation’s oldest and
largest reclamation projects.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Central Valley Project
explores the history and development of the federal Central
Valley Project (CVP), California’s largest surface water delivery
system. In addition to the project’s history, the guide describes
the various CVP facilities, CVP operations, the benefits the CVP
brought to the state and the CVP Improvement Act (CVPIA).
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Delta explores the competing
uses and demands on California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Included in the guide are sections on the history of the Delta,
its role in the state’s water system, and its many complex issues
with sections on water quality, levees, salinity and agricultural
drainage, fish and wildlife, and water distribution.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights Law, recognized as
the most thorough explanation of California water rights law
available to non-lawyers, traces the authority for water flowing
in a stream or reservoir, from a faucet or into an irrigation
ditch through the complex web of California water rights.
30-minute DVD that traces the history of the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation and its role in the development of the West. Includes
extensive historic footage of farming and the construction of
dams and other water projects, and discusses historic and modern
day issues.
Water truly has shaped California into the great state it is
today. And if it is water that made California great, it’s the
fight over – and with – water that also makes it so critically
important. In efforts to remap California’s circulatory system,
there have been some critical events that had a profound impact
on California’s water history. These turning points not only
forced a re-evaluation of water, but continue to impact the lives
of every Californian. This 2005 PBS documentary offers a
historical and current look at the major water issues that shaped
the state we know today. Includes a 12-page viewer’s guide with
background information, historic timeline and a teacher’s lesson.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Klamath River Watershed. The
map text explains the many issues facing this vast,
15,000-square-mile watershed, including fish restoration;
agricultural water use; and wetlands. Also included are
descriptions of the separate, but linked, Klamath Basin
Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Agreement,
and the next steps associated with those agreements. Development
of the map was funded by a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
A companion to the Truckee River Basin Map poster, this 24×36
inch poster, suitable for framing, explores the Carson River, and
its link to the Truckee River. The map includes Lahontan Dam and
Reservoir, the Carson Sink, and the farming areas in the basin.
Map text discusses the region’s hydrology and geography, the
Newlands Project, land and water use within the basin and
wetlands. Development of the map was funded by a grant from the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region, Lahontan Basin
Area Office.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, explains how
non-native invasive animals can alter the natural ecosystem,
leading to the demise of native animals. “Unwelcome Visitors”
features photos and information on four such species – including
the zerbra mussel – and explains the environmental and economic
threats posed by these species.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, explains how
non-native invasive plants can alter the natural ecosystem,
leading to the demise of native plants and animals. “Space
Invaders” features photos and information on six non-native
plants that have caused widespread problems in the Bay-Delta
Estuary and elsewhere.