The San Francisco Bay (Bay) drains water from 40 percent of
California. This includes flows originating from the Sierra
Nevada mountain range and the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers
that make their way down through Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta
through the Bay to the Pacific Ocean.
The Bay is the largest harbor on the U.S. Pacific Coast and
covers about 400 square miles with an average depth of 14 feet.
Its deepest point is 360 feet at the Golden Gate.
Every year, more than 67 million tons of cargo pass through the
Golden Gate. The Bay also supports commercial bait shrimp,
herring and Dungeness crab fisheries.
The Bay is a vital estuary and a key link in the Pacific Flyway,
and millions of waterfowl use the shallow portions of the bay as
a refuge each year.
This year’s wine harvest is well underway throughout
California, and vintners in some parts of the state say they’re
feeling the effects of climate change more acutely than ever.
The drought has left grapevines parched. Fruit yields
are dramatically low. Vines look visibly stressed. In some
vineyards, all of the grapes seem to be ripening all at once,
presenting winemakers with a logistical impossibility. And the
threat of wildfire — which, by this time last year, had ruined
grapes up and down the state with pernicious smoke — remains on
everyone’s mind.
As an ongoing water shortage that’s hurting ranchers and
dairies in the North Bay, the Marin County Board of Supervisors
will consider extending a local emergency declaration of
drought conditions at its meeting Tuesday. Much of the state is
facing parched conditions after two consecutive dry years and
Marin County is no exception. The county’s two largest water
suppliers, the Marin Municipal Water District and the North
Marin Water District, have declared water shortage emergencies
and put mandatory conservation measures in place.
The Petaluma City Council on Monday night declared a drought
emergency, ratcheting up restrictions on residents’ water use
in the city’s latest effort to conserve the region’s dwindling
water resources. In a 6-1 vote late Monday night, the council
approved a resolution for the Stage 4 emergency. The move calls
for a 30% mandatory water reduction goal for city water
customers, up from the previous goal of 25%.
The Oro Loma Sanitary District Board of Directors recently
approved low-cost financing to replace old sewer collection
system infrastructure serving its customers and communities
while protecting the environment. With this financing, the
Board maintains its 10-Year Strategic Plan and implements
priorities to maintain its infrastructure in a pro-active
manner to avoid any impacts to customer service.
When 700,000 gallons of water from a broken pipe valve flooded
into Stern Grove, the onrush pushed the dirt from beneath 50 or
so eucalyptus trees, seriously weakening the hillside they had
anchored. The next day, Stern Grove Festival’s executive
director, Bob Fiedler, stepped into 4 feet of fresh mud and his
mind shifted from the prospect of canceling the finale concert
of the 2021 series to whether the 2022 season could happen.
Corporate America is making a new kind of climate pledge. In
recent months, multiple tech giants have pledged to use their
reach and resources to join the fight for water conservation.
Facebook made an announcement at the end of August declaring
their efforts to “be water positive by 2030.” And just this
week, Google made a similar announcement to make its data
centers more efficient and support water security in the
communities it operates in.
It’s clear the climate crisis is washing away an integral piece
of our California life. Sea level rise, coastal flooding and
erosion pose major threats to our state — where nearly 85% of
people live and work in coastal counties such as San Francisco.
Left unchecked, the climate crisis jeopardizes our health,
homes, safety and economy. In San Francisco alone, for example,
sea levels are projected to rise up to 55 inches by the end of
the century. This increase could put nearly half a million
people at risk of flooding and threaten $100 billion in
property and infrastructure. -Written by Amelia Fortgang, chair of the Bay Area
Youth Climate Summit, a Youth Leadership Council member at
EarthEcho, and a senior at Lick-Wilmerding High
School.
Drought. Wildfires. And, for the country as a whole,
temperatures worse than the Dust Bowl. In a further bit of
evidence of the reality of climate change, California has just
experienced its hottest summer on record, according to data
released this week by the federal government. The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the average
temperature in California reached 77.3 degrees from June to
August. That topped the previous record of 76.5 degrees in
summer 2017.
The rebate for Livermore Municipal Water customers who install
drought-resistant landscaping has increased. Owners of
single-family homes are eligible to receive up to $2,000 for
the conversion, according to the city. Owners of multi-family
and commercial properties are eligible to get up to $6,000
back. The rebate will cover up to 50 percent of the cost.
Pleasanton water ratepayers can expect a bigger water bill in
the future after the Pleasanton City Council unanimously
approved a funding plan for final design of the city’s per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) treatment and wells
rehabilitation project on Tuesday. … City officials are
currently proceeding with the estimated $46 million project’s
final design to address the detection of PFAS — synthetic
chemicals found in common household items like paint and known
to be harmful to humans — in the city’s wells.
The Marin Municipal Water District is considering whether to
charge new penalties for high water users during the
drought. The proposal discussed by the district’s board
this week would set varying caps on water use during the
“summer” and “winter” billing periods. Ratepayers would be
charged a fee for every 748 gallons used above that cap.
One of the largest water districts in the San Francisco Bay
Area is falling dramatically short of water conservation goals
amid extreme drought conditions across California. Santa
Clara Valley Water declared a water shortage emergency in June
with its reservoirs reaching historically low levels, requiring
customers to reduce water use by 15% compared with 2019 levels.
In July, the district fell short of the goal with residents
only reducing water use levels by 6% compared to 2019 levels,
according to newly available data first shared by the San
Jose Mercury News.
Drought in California, coupled with population growth, is
accelerating the need for energy-intensive water projects —
driving up greenhouse gas emissions and thwarting the pace of
statewide decarbonization efforts, a new study has found.
Water use, collection, treatment and management is linked to
about 20 percent of California’s statewide electricity use,
one-third of non-power plant natural gas consumption and 88
billion gallons of diesel use, according to the study,
published by the Oakland-based Pacific Institute and
commissioned by the non-profit think tank Next 10.
The North Bay could see thunderstorms this week — a
double-edged forecast for a region beset by drought but wary of
the possibility of vegetation fires sparked by dry lightning.
….Long periods without rain have dried out fields and forests
across the state and created an abundance of dry fuel for
vegetation fires to spark and spread. California is in the
middle of its fire season and on pace to match last year’s
record wildfire destruction.
The state’s curtailment of river diversions has drawn lawsuits
from eight irrigation districts in and near Stanislaus County,
along with San Francisco. The three filings claim that
the State Water Resources Control Board exceeded its authority
with the Aug. 20 orders. The plaintiffs also said they did not
get enough chance beforehand to make their cases for continued
diversions.
On June 9, as California’s historic drought deepened, the
largest water agency in Santa Clara County declared a drought
emergency and asked the county’s 2 million residents to cut
water use by 15% from 2019 levels to preserve dwindling
supplies. … But three months later, the public isn’t heeding
the call. New water use numbers show that overall, Santa Clara
County residents reduced water use by just 6% in July, compared
with July 2019 — well short of the 15% target.
When Cupertino residents Sherri Stein and her husband planted a
victory garden, it wasn’t to grow food but to help fight the
California drought. The Steins took advantage of a pilot
project by the City of Cupertino to help residents establish
Climate Victory Gardens in their front yards. These gardens are
drought-tolerant and can be irrigated with laundry-to-landscape
graywater systems.
San Francisco has pledged to invest another $600 million into
the city’s sewer system in an effort to prevent chronic
flooding in low-lying areas as part of an agreement with state
water quality officials. The San Francisco Bay Regional Water
Quality Control Board announced the tentative pact, which was
negotiated with city officials but needs final approval from
the Board of Supervisors and Mayor London Breed. The city’s
Public Utilities Commission has recommended approval.
Water year 2021-22 begins on Oct. 1 and the stakes are whether
Napa County escapes having one the deepest droughts in its
recorded history. The county has been hit by a devastating
one-two drought punch. Rainfall at Napa State Hospital for
2020-21 is about 10 inches, following a season of 12.19 inches.
The average annual rainfall there is about 26 inches. A third
consecutive rainfall year with a total barely denting double
digits would be unprecedented in weather records dating back to
1877-78.
When Jenny Hess visited her sister in Healdsburg, Calif., in
May of 2020 to get out of New York City during Covid, she was
entranced by the area’s temperate weather, natural beauty and
sophisticated food and wine culture. The attraction
endured—even when she had to flee for 12 days due to a raging
wildfire right behind her sister’s house.
More than 50 years and millions of dollars of damage later —
and after spending hundreds of thousands more on studies and
plans — Marin County and the town of Ross are moving forward on
improving flood protection along Corte Madera Creek. The two
have reached a consensus on a $14 million plan that is headed
to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its approval and
funding. For too long, reaching a constructive consensus seemed
an erstwhile political exercise.
Earlier this summer, the Santa Clara Valley Water District
declared a water shortage emergency and told its 13 retailers,
including their largest retailer the San Jose Water Company, to
cut water use 15% from 2019 levels, the most recent non-drought
year…. The [San Jose Water] company has since
submitted a plan to the California Public Utilities
Commission that would require each of its residential customers
to officially cut monthly water use by 15% from their 2019
levels, or face fines of $7.13 in surcharges for every
additional unit of water used. The move could make San Jose the
first major California city with water allotments and drought
penalties.
The drought emergency in the Bay Area is not only affecting
humans, but also wildlife. From turkeys strolling along
streets, to wild pigs appearing on surveillance video digging
up yards, bone dry conditions in the hills has sent thirsty
wildlife into neighborhoods, particularly in the East Bay.
Other creatures spotted in neighborhoods recently include
mountain lions and even the occasional bear. Wildlife experts
say its the season for these visitors. Dry hillsides causing
wildlife to stroll to low lying areas to find food and precious
water.
A pipeline stretching all the way across the Richmond-San
Rafael Bridge could partly address the water shortage. It
hasn’t been fully approved, but millions of dollars are being
spent to see if it could be a viable solution. Nearly
200,000 Marin County residents rely on the Mount Tamalpais
watershed for drinking water and other needs. But lack of
rainfall for years, and maybe many more, is drying up its
reservoirs.
Pack a few extra water bottles the next time you head to Mount
Diablo State Park. Due to the drought, faucets, showers and
flushing toilets have been turned off at various parts of the
mountain. The California Department of Parks and Recreation
says water springs on Mount Diablo State Park have been reduced
to a trickle and the water storage tanks are close to empty.
California grape growers in coastal areas can use less water
during times of drought and cut irrigation levels without
affecting crop yields or quality, according to a new study out
of the University of California, Davis. The findings, published
today (Sept. 1) in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science, show
that vineyards can use 50% of the irrigation water normally
used by grape crops without compromising flavor, color and
sugar content.
Like many farmers across California, Zack Andrade’s business is
being choked by an extraordinary two-year drought. Water cuts
could soon erase about a quarter of the irrigation he depends
on to grow leafy greens, carrots and beets on his family’s farm
in the rolling hills south of Silicon Valley, near Morgan
Hill. Andrade said the crisis has been made worse by
successive governors, including Gavin Newsom, who he says have
punted on damming rivers and building new reservoirs to help
California store more water during wet years.
Right now, Congress is debating needed investments in our water
system decades in the making. While the Senate’s compromise
bill passed earlier this month includes billions for lead pipe
replacement and helping communities prepare for future drought
and floods, the bill falls short of ensuring all families can
turn their tap on and access safe, affordable water.
… Some utilities are stepping up to help (both San
Francisco Public Utilities and East Bay Municipal
Utilities District have customer assistance programs)
… -Written by Michael McAfee, president and CEO of
PolicyLink, a national research and action institute focused on
advancing racial and economic equity, and Susana De
Anda, co-founder and executive director of the Community
Water Center, a nonprofit environmental justice organization
based in California’s San Joaquin Valley.
The Marin Municipal Water District has decided against
switching from bimonthly to monthly billing cycles as a way to
promote water conservation. At a meeting on Thursday, the
district’s board decided the nearly $1.2 million in added costs
yearly that would result from the change would be better spent
on a larger effort to install wireless meters for all of its
customers. … The idea to switch to monthly billing is not
new, having been proposed and rejected in 2017 because of the
costs.
Lake Mead, which serves 20 million people, is at a shocking 40%
of capacity, triggering the first ever shortage declaration. As
the Colorado River crisis demonstrates, drought is pervasive.
Even the mightiest reservoirs do not offer a panacea in the
face of climate change. As we grapple with persistent droughts,
the path to a climate resilient water future in Marin County,
as elsewhere, requires a diverse supply portfolio and culture
change.
Few people visit a public garden bearing their own name, but
that was what Bette Boatmun experienced as she strolled through
the drought-resistant, waterwise and blooming plants in the
Bette Boatmun Conservation Garden last month. The Concord
resident left more than her name when she retired from the
Contra Costa Water District board of directors in December. Her
legacy includes the historic Los Vaqueros Reservoir, guiding a
community through two severe droughts, and nearly a half
century of local and statewide governance.
Some activists claim the county is no longer providing them
water to take to homeless encampments—a service offered over
the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gail Osmer, an advocate
for houseless communities, said throughout the pandemic she’s
gotten multiple cases of water from the county Office of
Supportive Housing to distribute. But earlier this month, she
says the county refused to give her water, citing too many
requests. In an email to Osmer, a county worker said water is
only being given out during “inclement weather
activations”—such as certain days with extremely hot
temperatures.
The Bay Area water system is a byzantine patchwork of agencies
— more than 50 in all — that provides water to customers. Some
are the ones you see on your water bill. Others are middlemen
that provide water to local agencies at the wholesale level.
And some of that water makes a long journey. Southern
California has the reputation for tapping far-flung sources for
its water needs, but the Bay Area is in the same boat.
With the state in the grips of a historic drought, reservoirs
in Santa Clara County are at extremely low levels, as seen in a
new video from the county’s water provider. Santa Clara Valley
Water, which provides for and manages the water needs of two
million people in the county, released a new video illustrating
the dire state of the county’s reservoirs. … After 2017, when
the state saw reservoirs in the county were full, Valley Water
said reservoirs are currently at just 12.5% of capacity.
A collapsed underground pipe leaked at least 12,500 gallons of
raw sewage into Martinez storm drains and residents are being
cautioned to avoid surface water in the area, authorities said.
The leak, first noticed on Monday by oil refinery workers, was
blamed on the deterioration of a municipal sewer line just
south of the PBF oil refinery, formerly known as the Shell
refinery.
San Francisco’s Stern Grove will remain closed at its east end
“until further notice,” the city’s Recreation and Park
Department said, because of a ruptured water main on Sloat
Boulevard. As a result of flooding, Sunday’s series finale for
the 84th annual Stern Grove Festival has been canceled. The
free concert, featuring the always popular Oakland funk band
Tower of Power and the rapper Too Short, will not be
rescheduled.
NPR climate correspondent Lauren Sommer talks with Emily about
a dilemma facing many local governments now. Should they
develop in areas vulnerable to rising sea levels? On today’s
episode, we look at Sunnyvale, California, in the San Francisco
Bay Area. It’s a situation complicated by a landowner that
really wants to continue expanding there, Google. In an episode
last week, we asked who should be paying for climate change —
taxpayers or private landowners with waterfront property?
When Bolinas farmer Peter Martinelli decided to help coho
salmon by boosting summer water levels in Pine Gulch Creek,
which runs through his land, he had no idea that the project
would take two decades to complete. Now he’s happy he saw it
through. Coho are endangered in most of their California range,
and droughts like the one we’re experiencing now are among the
biggest threats to these coastal salmon.
Highlighting the deepening drought, San Jose could soon become
the largest city in California where residents are given
monthly allotments of water with financial penalties for
exceeding them. San Jose Water Company, a private utility that
provides water to 1 million people in and around San Jose, has
filed a plan with state regulators that would require each of
its residential customers to cut monthly water use by 15% from
their 2019 levels and pay $7.13 in surcharges for every unit of
water they use above that amount. The rules are a possible
precursor for similar limits in other communities across the
state, experts said.
The North Marin Water District will explore options for
expanding local water supply in our Novato Service Area. The
district will consider options including expanding recycled
water distribution, capturing stormwater runoff from nearby
areas such as Bowman Canyon, and groundwater banking, in which
the groundwater aquifer can be recharged during wet years and
drawn from during drought years. Local Water Supply Enhancement
Study will cost $150,000, district officials said in a
statement.
Starting in 2023, the state wants Sonoma County to approve over
14,500 new homes for residents of all income levels over the
following eight years. Though no final target has been
approved, officials in some of the county’s largest cities have
made ramping up home construction a priority with the goal of
alleviating the region’s shortage of affordable housing. At the
same time, though, the state is also mandating water cutbacks
across the region during what is shaping up to be the worst
local drought in more than four decades.
In 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, Kimsey was looking
through old notes and realized it had been 50 years since she
surveyed the Bay as a high school student. She still had all
the notes and the records. Furthermore, she knew, San Francisco
Bay biodiversity surveys are surprisingly rare. … In short,
Kimsey saw, she was sitting on unpublished data from a
50-year-old survey that had never been done before or
after.
Benicia residents could see their water and wastewater bills
increase following a recommendation by city staff. City council
would have to ultimately approve it. On Aug. 11, 2021, staff at
the City of Benicia publicly released their recommendations on
the revised draft water and wastewater utility rate study. Of
the four possible funding scenarios for each utility, staff is
recommending city council select Water Scenario 3 and
Wastewater Scenario 3 and is further recommending that Council
consider a public hearing date in November.
The second-biggest wildfire in California history is in its
second month of immolation. Dozens of northern towns report
they’re running out of water. Around Sacramento, heat-stressed
cockroaches are pouring into homes so profusely one backyard
looks like it moves at night. What’s this climate
change-worsened drought doing around Berkeley? Head up into the
bone-dry hills for an answer.
Experts studying the issue agree that sea level rise in coming
decades could pose an enormous threat to San Francisco Bay’s
shoreline. So perhaps it’s no surprise that there’s now talk of
looking into an equally enormous response. Why not build a
barrier to keep rising tides outside the Golden Gate?
Researchers in the past have dismissed this seemingly
straightforward concept on environmental grounds. Engineers are
skeptical, too. But the enormity of the challenge has some Bay
Area leaders saying it should at least be studied.
Contra Costa County was hit by two lawsuits Thursday, a month
after the Board of Supervisors approved a boundary change to
allow construction of 125 homes in protected open space near
Danville. In a controversial decision on July 13, the
supervisors voted 4-1 to stretch the urban limit line east of
Blackhawk so developers could build the homes on 30 acres in
the Tassajara Valley. … [East Bay MUD] has
maintained for years that it doesn’t have enough water to
supply the homes…
Napa Valley Country Club golf course is lush and green, thanks
to the purple pipe. A two-year drought is helping to
boost Napa County’s recycled water use to record levels. The
Napa Sanitation District wastewater treatment plant provides
enough non-potable irrigation water annually to fill St.
Helena’s Bell Canyon reservoir and more. Napa Valley Country
Club in rural Coombsville started piping water from the plant
six miles away in late 2015. That allows it to depend less on a
well in an area where groundwater levels have long been a
concern.
We are carefully assessing long-term options like desalination,
and weighing a myriad of factors including cost, timing,
environmental issues and how much additional water supply each
project may provide. During all of this careful consideration,
the Board of Directors has not lost the sense of urgency.
Reliably providing high-quality water to our customers is our
charge, and it is a charge not taken lightly. As we
continue to evaluate projects to secure additional water
supply, constructing a pipeline across the Richmond-San Rafael
Bridge has emerged as a strong option to increase Marin Water’s
supply long-term. -Written by Larry L. Russell, vice president of the
Marin Municipal Water District Board of Directors.
Angela Ramirez Holmes has been chosen as the new president of
the Zone 7 Water Agency board of directors. She was unanimously
voted in during the board’s July 21, annual reorganization
meeting. First elected to the board in 2012, Ramirez Holmes has
served one term as vice president and succeeds past board
president Olivia Sanwong.
[A]s we sit squarely in the middle of another drought, adding
more seawater desalination facilities has become a louder
discussion. Right now, California has 12 desalination
facilities in operation, but there are calls for more.
There are three in the Northern California area near Monterey
and San Francisco. As for proposed desalination facilities,
there are 15 in all, including seven in Northern California.
Construction is underway in nearby Antioch on a brackish water
desalination facility that’s the first of its kind in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The welcome arch across Modesto’s main street proclaims,
“Water, wealth, contentment, health.” In essence, water, the
first word, directly leads to the following benefits. The same
formula applies to Marin. Now it’s the scarcity of water that
endangers our county’s ability to enjoy the benefits of wealth,
contentment and health. The entire American West is enduring a
drought of epic proportions. The globe’s climate will only get
warmer in the next 50 years. Marin is late preparing for that
eventuality. Doing so isn’t impossible but it comes with a
hefty price tag and can’t happen overnight. -Written by Dick Spotswood, Marin IJ columnist.
As the drought deepens, industries that rely on water are
facing a desperate situation and that includes the wine regions
of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys where one producer has literally
run dry. Chris Loxton, of Loxton Cellars, spends so much time
in his Glen Ellen vineyard that he can spot the slightest
changes in his grapevines and the news isn’t good. …
Vineyards across this famous wine-growing region are beginning
to show signs of stress from lack of water.
Reading projections from the recent United Nations climate
report is a like watching an invading army heading for San
Francisco Bay, with rising tides threatening long sections of
shoreline. … The Institute has produced detailed maps and
projections of what those changes might look like. At a full
five feet, cyclical flooding coupled with other impacts of
climate change could begin to cause havoc in the Bay Area.
The overall pattern over California has been remarkably
consistent thus far this warm season: exceptional, unrelenting,
and record-breaking heat across interior and higher elevation
areas (especially in NorCal), but relatively unremarkable
temperatures along the immediate coast that have actually felt
pretty chilly at times. It has been a summer of incredible
contrasts between the beaches and…virtually everywhere else in
California.
With the drought rapidly drying up reservoirs, farmers are
desperately searching for new sources of water and some of them
are turning to a mysterious method, thousands of years old. …
[Rob] Thompson, who owns Thompson Well Location in Sonoma
County, practices the mysterious art of dowsing, locating
underground water with nothing more than a pair of bent steel
rods. He touches his rods to the ground to reset them, then
begins to move them. When they point toward water, the rods
magically cross each other, almost like they become magnetized.
When it comes to California’s worsening drought, Santa Clara
County residents are falling far short in conserving water. On
June 9, the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the county’s
main wholesale water provider, declared a drought emergency and
asked all 2 million county residents to cut water use by 15%
from 2019 levels as local reservoirs dropped alarmingly and
state and federal water agencies reduced water deliveries. But
new numbers out Friday show that instead of hitting the 15%
target, residents saved 0% in June — essentially using the
same amount of water as they did in June 2019.
Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) announced that he
secured over $71 million in federal funding for 20 projects
across California in the Senate’s Agriculture, Energy and
Water, and Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee
bills. The bills were approved by the Senate Appropriations
Committee this week and now await passage by the full
Senate.
The biggest sip of the straw from the Bay Area’s water supply
comes from people living in just three water districts: They
consume nearly three to four times the amount of water as
residents in 23 other municipalities and districts, according
to data from the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency,
whose member agencies receive most of their potable water from
the Hetch Hetchy system.
California is in the early stages of its latest drought, one
that could worsen as another dry year continues across much of
the Golden State. With calls from Gov. Gavin Newsom and
regional agencies like Santa Clara Valley Water District for
15% water use cutbacks, residents are looking for ways to
conserve at home and work. Despite the need for broad
conservation, however, water parks in the South Bay remain
open, full of visitors seeking a refreshing cool down from the
region’s frequent summer heat waves.
In the vast tract of wilderness that is the Boundary Waters
area of northern Minnesota, kayakers still ply the glasslike
surface. But they do so beneath a smoke-clogged sky, with no
campfires to warm them on chilly summer nights. In
California’s wine country, backyard gardeners still harvest
lush tomatoes and nurture feathery lavender. But they must use
water recycled from sinks and showers, risking hefty fines
should they dare run the hose amid crushing drought.
When Miguel Garcia was a child in small-town Mexico, he and
those around him were constantly looking forward to escaping
the farmland. But now, after earning his Masters degree and
Ph.D., Garcia is right back in the fields teaching farmers how
to preserve water while producing their grapes. And
honestly, he isn’t mad about getting back to his
roots. The conversation surrounding water use in
California is certainly not a new one, but in recent years, the
Napa County Resource Conservation District has been running a
program geared specifically toward growers and their irrigation
patterns …
For over two years, Santa Clara County has been facing
below-average rainfall and extreme weather, causing a decrease
in the reservoirs that keep the creeks full, according to the
Santa Clara Valley Water District. Both the creeks and fish are
suffering as a result. Jae Abel, a biologist at the water
district, said water is stored in the reservoirs during the wet
season and is released during the dry season to maintain steady
streamflow. This has lessened during the drought. … The
water district says that as of now, there is not enough water
to support the fish.
As the drought deepens across the West, coastal cities are
considering whether or not to filter ocean water as a solution
to their water woes. In the Bay Area, Marin Water is mulling
plans to draw its drinking water from the San Francisco
Bay. Reservoir levels in Marin County are at historic lows this
year, and water leaders are calling for a 40% reduction. So far
the county has reached a 23% reduction, says Cynthia Koehler,
president of the agency’s board of directors.
When Salesforce Tower in San Francisco fully reopens this year
after 16 months of pandemic-induced closure, one of its more
unusual features will be found in the basement. … Taking
up the space of 16 cars, the black-water system, so called
because it treats all wastewater, including from toilets and
showers, will filter an estimated 30,000 gallons per workday,
or 7.8 million a year. [Water recycling efforts
are] gaining traction as a severe drought punishes
industries in
states like California, Montana, New
Mexico and Utah.
The waters of the Tuolumne River flow through Modesto two
ways. One is in the natural riverbed that cuts through the
city just south of downtown. The other is in the original
“Delta bypass tunnel” — the 46.7 mile pipeline across the San
Joaquin Valley beneath the Hetch Hetchy Trail that moves water
diverted from the reservoir the urban trail is named after. -Written by Dennis Wyatt, columnist for the Manteca
Bulletin.
I am a big fan of having as many solutions in the toolbox as
possible, including anything that produces more water, but the
reality is that we must live within our current supplies short
of buying more rights to Russian River water, piping in water
from the East Bay or desalination. So how do we do that?
Collectively, we waste a lot of water in our homes, mostly in
our landscapes. We often fail to fix a leak, rarely check out
irrigation systems for problems and overwater most of our
plants. -Written by District 4 Supervisor Dennis
Rodoni.
Once upon a time, a rich wetland flourished, nurtured by the
tidal waters of San Francisco Bay. Sunrise crowned the
glistening shoreline of a pristine channel of water that came
to be known as Yosemite Slough. The word Yosemite originates
from the native Miwok word for grizzly bear. Yosemite
Slough was a marshland, a nesting area for migrating birds
along the Pacific Flyway and a sanctuary for endangered
mammals. … Yosemite Slough originated in the lakes of
McLaren Park streaming east through the Portola and Bayview
Districts to enter San Francisco Bay. This is called a
watershed.
Google is expanding its campus in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The company is planning to build offices as well as housing and
green space near the shoreline, which is at risk from rising
sea levels. And that’s raising the question of whether building
there should happen at all. NPR’s Lauren Sommer has the story.
The state’s severe drought is transforming the landscape of our
streams, lakes and reservoirs as the supply of water is
depleted day by day. The changes at Uvas Reservoir in the
hills above Morgan are readily apparent. The waterline has
receded significantly as the footprint of the reservoir
shrinks. … According to the Santa Clara County
Water District, Uvas is currently at roughly 20% of its total
capacity – basically 80% empty. And a district spokesperson
says the situation is bad at all of the county’s reservoirs.
Though next-door neighbor American Canyon declared a “Drought
Emergency Stage 2” last week, Vallejo has refrained from
pushing such stringent water restrictions. That could change
soon, however, according said Beth Schoenberger, operations
manager of the city’s water department, with an assist from
Associate Engineer Melissa Cansdale. … Last year and this
year are expected to be the second driest two-year period on
record, behind only 1976-’77, Schoenberger said, emphasizing
that “Stage 1” restrictions have been in place in Vallejo
since the 2015 drought.
The House of Representatives approved a $715 billion
infrastructure plan, and if the Senate passes it, it will mean
$20 million for the Valley Link project to connect Bay Area
Rapid Transit to the Altamont Corridor Express commuter train.
… California would be a big winner under the proposed
law. The bill includes more than $900 million for projects
throughout the Golden State. They include bridges, bike lanes
and express lanes … wastewater and drinking water
projects and other infrastructure to prepare for rising sea
levels.
The California Water Environment Association (CWEA) selected
Eshani Jha from Lynbrook High School in San Jose as
California’s first place winner of the Stockholm Junior Water
Prize, 2021. Jha’s project, Thiol Functionalized and
Manganese Doped Biochar for the Removal of Toxic Organic and
Inorganic Contaminants from the Water was selected as the
first-place project for California out of 21 papers submitted.
Jha, one of 43 state winners announced by the Water Environment
Federation (WEF), represented California in the national finals
in June where she was declared as the U.S. winner.
After a very dry winter and spring, all of California is now in
some level of drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
One year ago, just 58 percent of California was in drought. In
the East Bay, the East Bay Municipal Utility District’s
reservoirs total system capacity is currently at 61% full,
which is 73% of average. The district is in decent shape for
now, but is encouraging its customers to conserve water as much
as possible. … EBMUD has worked for decades to diversify
its water sources, and if the drought gets worse next year, the
district will look at purchasing water from other
entities.
American Canyon is requiring residents and businesses to up
their water conservation efforts from 10% to 20%, though it’s
not yet ready to impose penalties. … While all five Napa
County cities are taking water conservation measures, each is
in a different situation when it comes to water sources. The
south county city of American Canyon has no local reservoir and
relies on State Water Project supplies that have seen a drastic
cutback.
Surrounded on three sides by the San Francisco Bay, residents
of Richmond are used to being near the ocean. But as rising
seas threaten to bring it even closer, Mayor Tom Butt is candid
about the risks. … Parts of Richmond are estimated to be
at risk from a three-foot increase in sea levels, even as the
waters of the Pacific Ocean along California’s coast are
projected to rise by more than twice that due to climate change
this century.
Environmentalists say the San Joaquin watershed needs more
water. So do state officials, who in 2018 ordered water users
to give a large share of water back to the San Joaquin and its
tributaries, notably the Tuolumne. But the fight to restore
this ailing ecosystem has turned political, and
environmentalists leading the effort are facing an unlikely foe
the water service provider for one of the most liberal cities
in the country.
Los Angeles received less than half its average rainfall last
year, most of the state is in a drought emergency, and Governor
Gavin Newsom has asked all residents to reduce their water
usage by 15%. But a stroll through any well-watered
neighborhood in Southern California would suggest otherwise.
… So far in Southern California, the golf courses are
almost as green as they were when it rained a lot a couple
years ago. Some Northern California communities have
already issued mandates to cut back water use, and some
homeowners have seen their wells run dry.
The water is back on at a South Bay apartment complex, but a
big question remains: what was in the pipes from which tenants
obtained gallons and gallons of water to use in their bathrooms
and kitchens and possibly to drink? Tenants at the Foxdale
Apartments were without water from Saturday until Monday after
a buried water main broke. During that time, some tenants
tapped into an emergency fire sprinkler supply line to get
water.
San Francisco set new, more ambitious climate change goals
Tuesday, including getting to net zero greenhouse gas emissions
produced in the city by 2040, as wildfires, drought and heat
waves worsened by climate change plague California and floods
in Europe grab headlines. The Board of Supervisors unanimously
approved an update to the environment code that pledges the
city will cut its greenhouse gas emissions to at least 61%
below 1990 levels by 2030.
Marin water managers’ strategy to suspend most new water
service hookups during the historic drought is drawing
criticism from some who say little water will be saved with a
policy that comes at the expense of the county’s poorest
residents. Such a tradeoff would impact everyone from service
workers to businesses to the elderly on fixed incomes, critics
say. … Proponents of the hookup moratoriums say the
county must live within its means with regards to water supply
especially given the uncertainty of how long this drought could
last.
Today, as a water economist, my job is to help customers
stretch their limited water resources. This means managing
supplies wisely and getting a handle on collective demands.
Fortunately, one of our available tools is an old one: water
markets that can help reallocate the resource to the places
it’s needed most. I’ve learned a lot more about water and water
markets since I was a second-grader determined to help fish in
the San Francisco Bay. One lesson is that even well-intentioned
water markets can have bad outcomes if poorly designed or
executed, as was my first water transfer.
I can see my future: It’s dry, thirsty and bleak. On our farm,
we live with drought daily, working with limited groundwater
and learning to adjust and adapt, or to fail and abandon our
fields. Water will determine a farmer’s survival. I farm
organically outside Fresno, part of one of the world’s richest
and most productive agricultural oases, providing, of course,
that we have water. … A severe two-year drought is
drying out the West and Southwest from Washington to
California, Montana to Texas. Agriculture feels the impact with
crops withering and production limited. -Written by David Mas Masumoto, a farmer in Del
Rey, California.
Marin Municipal Water District announced Friday that it has
found a potential vendor for temporary desalination plants and
four Central Valley water suppliers that could transfer water
to the county through a pipeline across the Richmond-San Rafael
Bridge. The emergency water projects are being explored based
on forecasts that the majority of Marin residents could run out
of water by July 2022 if the upcoming winter is as dry as last
year’s. The district serves about two-thirds of the county
including 191,000 residents in central and southern
Marin.
Official estimates of unpaid water and energy bills accumulated
during the pandemic verge on $2.7 billion, affecting a few
million Californians — and those figures have been
growing rapidly. The state has so far prioritized
rent relief — keeping people housed — over utilities
relief. [O]f the $158 million distributed as of July 16, less
than $40,000 had gone to utilities relief. Utility debt makes
up about 6% of all assistance requested so far. On July
11, lawmakers revealed a plan to use one-time federal relief
money to address the debt. … But it doesn’t extend current
shutoff moratoria past Sept. 30.
The American West was once seen as a place of endless
possibilities: grand vistas, bountiful resources and cities
that somehow grew out of deserts. Now, manifest destiny has
become a manifest emergency. A scorching drought made worse by
climate change is draining reservoirs at an alarming pace,
fueling massive wildfires and deadly heat waves and withering
one of the most important agricultural economies in the
country.
With California descending deeper into drought, Santa Rosa is
getting serious about water use. So are other communities that
are increasingly urging residents to conserve, sometimes asking
for water reductions, sometimes mandating them. Gov. Gavin
Newsom joined the cause last week, issuing a statewide plea for
voluntary savings. Still, amid the growing calls for
conservation, the Bay Area’s initial response has been slow.
Nearly a dozen of the region’s largest water suppliers that
have sought cutbacks recently have come up short of their
water-savings goals, according to water agency data reviewed by
The Chronicle.
Temperatures are up, and Stanford researchers are worried the
record highs don’t bode well for the future of wildfire and
drought in California. Though mitigating the effects of climate
change is the only long-term solution, the researchers said
there are short-term adaptations communities can make to stay
safe. This June, Stanford reached a high of 103 degrees
Fahrenheit, with the Pacific Northwest recording widespread
average highs over 100 degrees in the recent, record-breaking
heatwave that enveloped the West.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a state bill on July 9 that
will allow Valley Water to use a method known as “best value”
to select a contractor for the Anderson Dam Seismic Retrofit
Project. Under current California law, Valley Water must select
the contractor with the lowest bid, regardless of their
experience. But Assembly Bill 271, signed by Gov. Newsom and
overwhelmingly passed by the California Legislature, authorizes
Valley Water to use a method known as “best value” to select a
contractor for the Anderson Dam Seismic Retrofit Project.
When Gov. Gavin Newsom asked Californians to voluntarily
conserve water last week as he stood in front of the retreating
shoreline at Lopez Lake in San Luis Obispo County, some must
have had déjà vu. It was only six years ago when former Gov.
Jerry Brown stood in a field near Lake Tahoe that was bereft of
normally plentiful snow and called for water restrictions amid
the state’s punishing years-long drought. … As Californians
wonder when mandatory water restrictions might be coming,
officials and experts including those who played roles in
addressing the 2012-2016 drought say the pace and strategy of
Newsom’s current response sufficiently incorporates insights
gained from the past.
It started with a warning from state officials more than a
decade ago that a major earthquake could cause the crest of
Anderson Dam to slump, allowing water to cascade over the top
and leave Morgan Hill underwater in mere minutes. Last week,
the Santa Clara Valley Water District finally broke ground on
the first phase of what has become a 10-year, $648 million
project to retrofit the dam. The district first started
its planning process in 2012.
The city of Mountain View is planning for a surge in new
offices and homes in North Bayshore, placing dense new
development just a short jaunt away from the baylands. But new
sea level rise estimates show that future development could
very well end up underwater without flood protection, and it’s
unclear who is going to pick up the costly bill. Earlier this
year, Google announced its proposal to build 7,000 homes in
North Bayshore alongside 3 million square feet of offices less
than a mile from the bay.
The city of Santa Clara has unveiled a detailed and aggressive
blueprint for conserving water during the state’s extreme
drought, laying out rules for everyday activities like watering
landscaping and washing cars. … The city of Santa
Clara’s plan gets specific. The conservation plan limits
landscape watering to three days a week with an elaborate
system based on even and odd numbered address. It also
bans washing driveways, sidewalks, porches and parking lots
with water.
With drought on everyone’s mind, city leaders from Palo Alto
and Mountain View held a brief summit on June 18 at the
Regional Water Quality Control Plant to highlight a project
that both cities hope will help make water consumption more
sustainable for decades to come. Mayors Tom DuBois and Ellen
Kamei met with Valley Water board member Gary Kremen at the
Palo Alto facility to accept a $16 million check from the water
district.
This could be a good time to downsize the lawn. Thanks to your
water provider, you may get more cash for your grass. The
reason? We’re in a drought – again. But this may be no ordinary
dry spell. … Sacramento’s new rebates, which went
into effect July 1, double the amount available for River
Friendly Landscape conversions. Customers can receive up to $3
per square foot of turfgrass removed. That adds up quickly; a
10- by 10-foot block of gone lawn equals $300.
Communities trying to fight sea-level rise could inadvertently
make flooding worse for their neighbors, according to a new
study from the Stanford Natural Capital Project. The
research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences, shows how seawalls constructed along the San
Francisco Bay shoreline could increase flooding and incur
hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for communities
throughout the region.
Aarushi Wadhwa, a student at Campbell’s Westmont High School,
has discovered a unique way to conserve water and combat
drought. Her team’s project, Aqua-Pods, took the top prize in
the environment category in this year’s Ashoka Changemaker
Challenge. … In developing Aqua-Pods, Aarushi’s team
conducted research, met with experts and visited local
nurseries; Julie Reynolds-Grabbe, a University of California
Master Gardener, became her mentor. In essence, Aqua-Pods
soak up excess water and, infused with nutrients, release it
periodically to water plants.
Community members in Alameda County are outraged by the huge
amount of trash blown into the Bethany Reservoir in Alameda
County. They believed it was coming from a nearby landfill and
were demanding action. … Residents of nearby Mountain
House came with cameras to document it. They believed high
winds carried trash from the Altamont Landfill.
The Contra Costa Water District is asking customers to reduce
their water use by 10% amid worsening drought conditions in
California. The district’s Board of Directors on Wednesday
voted unanimously to declare a Stage 1 water shortage level,
which includes calling for 10% voluntary
conservation … The district provides water to about
500,000 people in central and eastern Contra Costa County, from
the city of Martinez to Brentwood. Its main source of water is
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which conveys water allocated
from the Central Valley Project through a contract with the
federal government.
Although 41 of California’s 58 counties are in drought
conditions, legislators are debating bills, such as Senate Bill
9 and Senate Bill 10, that address the construction of housing
to meet the state’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation. Between
2023 and 2031, the state mandate for the nine-county Bay Area
is 441,000 units, representing an expected population increase
of 1,102,500. The allocation for Los Angeles County is
1,327,000 housing units to accommodate an expected population
increase of 3,317,500. The state’s propensity to accept the
RHNA numbers ignores our drought conditions. -Written by Rick Johnson, a retired 40-year
veteran of the San Francisco water department.
Dublin San Ramon Services District’s new temporary supplemental
recycled water supply project not only aims to boost their
irrigation water, but it also doesn’t let anything go to waste
— especially human waste. Putting a new spin on the old
adage “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” DSRSD
recently launched a program to divert one to two million pounds
of sewage a day for three years from its sister agency Central
Contra Costa Sanitary District to the Jeffrey G. Hansen Water
Recycling Plant in Pleasanton, according to a statement from
DSRSD.
How can Marin County effectively address the severe drought
we’re in? Right now, many are reasonably urging the Marin
Municipal Water District to explore desalination and a water
supply line on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Apparently our
water district is proceeding expediently with this
exploration, so they can implement those measures as
quickly as possible if needed. However, we should recognize
that with urgent competition for water throughout the
southwestern U.S., these measures have uncertainties, will take
time and require very large expense and energy use. -Written by Tom Flynn, team lead at
GreenChange.net.
California and the Bay Area experienced the driest rainy season
on record, with average statewide precipitation reaching
126-year lows, according to Golden Gate Weather Services, a
meteorological consulting firm. The Bay Area got only 9.88
inches of rain this season, 39% of its normal amount of 25.28
inches, Golden Gate Weather Services said. That’s the least
ever, going back to 1895. California got 11.46 inches, or 49%
of its normal 23.61 inches. That’s also the least ever.
Migrating agriculture north to the Sacramento Valley can’t be a
one-to-one trade where every venture survives. The Sacramento
Valley is approximately one-half the size of the San Joaquin
Valley, and at most, 15 to 20 percent of the land could host
relocated agriculture. The majority of San Joaquin agricultural
businesses won’t survive in their current form—but some could
find new life by converting their fallowed fields into solar
farms to help the state achieve its goal of fossil fuel-free
electricity by 2045. Or we can allow the San Joaquin Valley to
revert to the desert it was before our forefathers planted a
garden in it.
Major renovations will begin Wednesday on the Anderson Dam
tunnel project in Santa Clara County. The project will
require the reservoir to be drained – and it will be unable to
be used for 10 years. The timing is not great as
California remains in a drought but water officials say this is
a vital project for flood protection that will protect the
public for years to come. The reservoir can hold more than
300,000 gallons of water and is the water district’s largest
drinking water reservoir.
If you’re a Sacramento homeowner, the city is now offering
twice as much money for you to conserve water. According
to a press release, the city’s Department of Utilities
announced it is doubling its River Friendly Landscape
rebates while funding is available. The program
includes: Turf conversion, which doubled from $1.50 to $3
per square foot of grass replaced. Irrigation upgrades of up to
$800 for new sprinklers or smart irrigation
controllers. Installing a smart controller in the
home.
The Bureau of Reclamation is awarding $1.14 million in
WaterSMART Water Marketing Grants to seven projects in
California, Colorado, Utah, and Washington. These grants will
provide cost-shared financial assistance for the selected
entities to develop water marketing strategies to establish or
expand water markets or water marketing activities.
The Marin Municipal Water District, facing the possibility of
running out of water next summer, is scrambling to plan for two
emergency projects to keep the taps flowing in case of another
dry winter: a temporary desalination plant and a pipeline
across San Francisco Bay. But nearly 11 years ago, the district
chose not to build a desalination plant that could have
supplied as much as 60% of its current yearly potable water
demand — though at a high price. The district, which serves
191,000 residents in central and southern Marin, had been
exploring desalination since the early 1990s and has tested two
pilot desalting sites.
Drought can gradually parch the coffers of companies, while for
others it’s an economic boom. For some, it’s driving
innovation. One hair salon is using biodegradable towels, water
well drillers are turning away potential clients,
drought-resistant plants are all the rage, and watersports
proprietors are figuring out how to survive with less water to
play in. In spite of this resiliency, things could get worse
before they get better because the rainy season is still months
away.
California’s rain year officially ended Wednesday, and the data
reflects what the dry landscape in much of the Bay Area already
shows: It wasn’t pretty. Data shows that for many of the major
regions of California, the July 2020-June 2021 rain year was
one of the top 10 driest ever. Even more troubling is that the
extreme dry spells are starting to stack up, especially in the
Sierra Nevada watersheds that supply so much of the state’s
water.
Vineyards, towns and roads have transformed the landscape, but
one thing hasn’t changed since the days when indigenous people
camped alongside the Napa River. Water is still, after
all these years, life. Descendants of the Pomo, Mishewal
Wappo and other native peoples gathered at Wappo Park on Sunday
to pay tribute to the Napa River through speech, song and
prayer.
Wildfire season came early this year in the Bay Area after a
meager rainy season left the landscape tinder-dry, offering an
abundance of fuel for wildland blazes. In just the past few
years, California has seen some of the largest, deadliest and
most destructive fires in state history. Last year was a
record-buster, with nearly 10,000 blazes burning more than 4
million acres. Meanwhile, most of the state is in extreme or
exceptional drought conditions, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to
declare a drought emergency in a majority of the state’s
counties.
The effort to change a former military aircraft taxiway along
San Francisco Bay into wetlands has gotten a setback after the
City Council balked at setting aside money to create a master
plan for the $14 million project. Known as “DePave,” the park
is proposed for the former Alameda Naval Air Station. It’s
expected to feature walking paths and overlooks, where people
can watch birds and harbor seals resting on floating platforms.
Last year, the city’s Recreation and Parks Commission
unanimously endorsed a draft “vision plan” for the future
16-acre park. The council also has broadly supported it, at
least vocally.
The 2021 California drought is as bad if not worse as the one
in 2014, which endured for five long, dry years. As of Friday,
33 percent is in a state of “exceptional drought,” the most
severe drought category given by the federal U.S. Drought
Monitor. … Yet San Diego officials aren’t just calm in
the face of these troubling conditions, they’re downright
celebratory. The Water Authority initially scheduled a
press conference and photo op to tout its “drought-safe” status
and “how far the region has come since prior droughts,” but
postponed the event when Mayor Todd Gloria couldn’t make it.
Bay Area-born startup Lumineye began with a goal of giving
soldiers power to see through walls. But climate change has
broadened the market, and Lumineye is now working with
firefighters to tweak its product — a hand-held device that
uses radar to see people inside buildings and in thick brush.
… California’s drought, plus forests full of fuels and
communities along narrow roads in heavily treed areas make for
a lethal recipe, tragically exemplified by the 2018 Camp Fire
that killed 86 people in Paradise.
Nearly all of the Bay Area is under an exceptional
drought and some local water agencies are now imposing
restrictions in an effort to conserve. NBC Bay Area has
reached out to water agencies for information on how they plan
to move forward during the drought. Bookmark this page as we
will be updating it once we get more information. Visit
our drought page for more coverage.
Brown lawns and dirty cars will soon be the norm in the South
Bay. San Jose’s largest retail water provider on Wednesday
announced new rules aimed at increasing water conservation as
the state’s drought grows more serious — chief among them a
limit on watering lawns and landscaping to no more than two
days a week, and a ban on washing cars at home.
The move to end mining in a Tri-Valley lake became official
this week. Alameda County planning commissioners on Monday
approved plans for restoring the Eliot Quarry, where more than
a century of rock mining in the unincorporated area between
Livermore and Pleasanton will eventually be turned into lakes
surrounded by open fields and recreation trails. … [T]he
project will include the planting of native trees and shrubs,
creating passages for fish, and reducing the amount of
groundwater lost to San Francisco Bay by deepening the lake so
it can hold more water.
Marin Municipal Water District will soon study the idea of
returning the long-gone water pipeline to the upper deck of the
Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. It’s a smart move if the district
can locate another agency to sell them additional water. They
also should understand times have changed in the past 55 years.
Installing a new, hopefully permanent, pipeline won’t be the
snap it was in 1977. -Written by Dick Spotswood.
Using drinking water to keep our parks luscious and green isn’t
uncommon in San Francisco, but it’s something the city is
working to change. Golden Gate Park currently uses its own
groundwater wells to irrigate the park, which has water quality
permitted for drinking water standards. The Panhandle uses
water from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
(SFPUC). By summer 2022, barring any delays, the water used for
irrigation and lake fill would instead come from a recycled
water system that’s currently under construction to replace the
current watering system.
In Los Angeles, people have been hearing about the dangers of
drought for decades. But in this land of infinity pools and
backyard putting greens — better suited for rattlesnakes and
scrub — water never seems to run out. Yet little Redwood Valley
in Mendocino County, which gets a bountiful 38 inches of rain
in an average year and sits near the headwaters of the Russian
River, has been devastated by this year’s drought. Each
resident has been told to use no more than 55 gallons per day —
enough to fill a bathtub and flush a toilet six times.
… When it comes to the impact of drought, location is
key.
San Francisco Bay may be one of the most famous stretches of
waterway in the world, but when it comes to federal spending,
it’s recently been one of the most overlooked. Hundreds of
millions of dollars flowed to other areas like Puget Sound and
the Chesapeake Bay during the Trump years. … This week,
Speier took a big step towards turning the tide. Pushing
through a $125 million Bay Restoration bill in the House. The
money would be spread out over five years, and target projects
that could be key to the Bay’ survival.
This report describes the Delta Landscapes Primary Production
project, which quantifies how landscape change in the Delta has
altered the quantity and character of primary production.
Combining historical and modern maps with simple models of
production for five dominant plant and algae groups, we
estimate primary production across the hydrologically connected
Delta. We evaluate changes in primary production over time
(between the early 1800s and early 2000s), between wet and dry
years, and with future targets for landscape-scale
restoration.
Before last year’s devastating fire season, Gov. Gavin Newsom
directed firefighters to clear huge lines of trees and shrubs
near more than 200 communities to help stop or slow a potential
blaze. Much of the work was done in the Bay Area. These widely
promoted fuel breaks, a centerpiece of the governor’s
billion-dollar strategy to protect California from catastrophic
wildfire, however, have had limited success, according to data
reviewed by The Chronicle.
I’ve spent my whole life near San Francisco Bay. But the amount
of time that I’ve actually spent out on the water has been
minimal — a few ferry rides, a dinner cruise or two, a trip to
Alcatraz and back in grade school. That’s it. I like to blame
my yacht-less friends, who have been amazingly inconsiderate
over the decades and never bought fancy sailboats to take me
out on the water. The real reason, of course, is that I’d never
explored some relatively inexpensive ways to explore this
area’s most famous feature. Turns out it’s pretty easy to
do, especially if you like to paddle.
Islais Creek is an unassuming waterway along San Francisco’s
eastern industrial shoreline, meandering its way inland and
providing a natural border between The City’s Bayview and
Dogpatch neighborhoods. There’s a nice little park there,
tucked under a bridge, that locals visit. But it’s not the kind
of place most people think about much. Environmentalists
and urban planners, on the other hand, think about it a lot.
Here’s why: Rising sea levels and flooding.
Water Audit California sued the City of St. Helena this week
over its management of water. The watchdog group says the city
is violating its “public trust” responsibilities relating to
the Napa River and its aquatic habitat. It cites the city’s
policies on groundwater pumping, well permitting, and water
consumption by vineyards and wineries.
Zone 7 directors have approved spending $2 million to design a
facility to treat potential human health threats in Cope Lake’s
water should chemicals accumulate above legally acceptable
levels. Those chemicals are called per- and polyfluoroalkyl
substances (PFAs and PFOAs), which are found in consumer
products, such as cookware, food packaging and stain
repellents. They make their way into drinking water sources.
Routine maintenance repairs on a portion of water system pipes
along Cordilleras Creek left some San Mateo County residents
concerned water was being wasted as the state enters a drought.
… The Cordilleras Creek, one of two creeks running through
Redwood City, also cuts through Redwood High School where
[Redwood City resident Rudy] Tureillo works as a
custodian. Typically the creek is “bone dry,” Tureillo said,
but starting Wednesday, June 9, staff at the school noticed it
was flowing strong.
The Marin Municipal Water District has taken the first steps
toward building an emergency water pipeline across the
Richmond-San Rafael Bridge for the first time in nearly 50
years to avoid potentially running out of water next summer.
The district said Friday that it has hired a consulting firm,
Woodard & Curran, to find potential water rights holders in the
Central Valley willing to sell their allotments. This water
could be pumped across the bridge via the pipeline and into
Marin’s water system should the drought stretch into winter.
After two decades at the helm of the California State Coastal
Conservancy, Sam Schuchat retires on June 25. His
replacement is yet to be named. But the emotional and political
intelligence he brought to the job will be missed. In the
coming years, Schuchat says he hopes to spend more time riding
his bike and playing music, not to mention travelling post
shelter-in-place. But he also expects to keep his finger on the
pulse of the California coast and to delve more deeply into
national climate change work.
A hacker accessed the computer system of a Bay Area water
treatment plant in January and deleted programs the plant used
to treat drinking water, a senior intelligence official
confirmed Thursday. NBC News
first reported Thursday that the unidentified hacker
used a former plant employee’s username and password to gain
entry to the unidentified Bay Area water treatment facility on
Jan. 15.
Unlike most Bay Area cities, Morgan Hill gets 100 percent of
its water from underground wells. And that’s a big reason why
the city became the first in Santa Clara County to issue
mandatory water use restrictions. … The mayor said he
enjoys his green grass as much as the next person, but said
mandatory watering cutbacks to just two days a week and only in
the early morning or late evening hours mean it won’t look lush
for long.
Mayor London Breed could announce a new city attorney within
weeks, following the San Francisco Public Utility Commission’s
Wednesday decision to formally recommend the city’s top lawyer,
Dennis Herrera, as the agency’s next general manager. Breed
nominated Herrera to the position in April, months after the
FBI charged the previous general manager, Harlan Kelly, with
allegedly accepting bribes from a city contractor and permit
consultant. Kelly resigned in November.
The state’s decision this week to cut off Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Delta access to thousands of farmers and water
agencies highlights the need for serious and immediate
conservation throughout the Bay Area and California. It’s been
obvious for months that the state faces its most serious water
shortage since the historic 2012-16 drought. Bay Area water
agencies should be imposing mandatory water restrictions on
users now.
Two more ambitious lawsuits would be hard to image: in 2017 the
cities of Oakland and San Francisco filed separate public
nuisance lawsuits against five of the world’s biggest energy
companies, seeking to hold them responsible for the local
effects of sea level rise. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court
declined to throw the suits out of court, although the cases
still face many daunting obstacles ahead.
At Crocker Amazon Park in the Excelsior, six acres of formerly
underutilized land owned by the San Francisco Public Utilities
Commission has been turned into an urban farm through the
efforts of People Organizing to Demand Environmental and
Economic Rights, known as PODER. The urban community
agriculture project, dubbed Hummingbird Farm, provides organic
food as well as medicinal plants, and serves as a community and
education hub in particular for young people.
California is known for its history of natural disasters, and
in the Silicon Valley, two potential calamities — drought and
earthquake risk — are converging to dry up water supplies in
the hub of the state’s tech economy. In a meeting on Wednesday,
board members of the Santa Clara Valley Water District voted
unanimously to declare a water shortage emergency — in part
because a key county reservoir had to been drained to reduce
earthquake risks highlighted by federal regulators.
Creeks and springs at Point Reyes National Seashore haven’t
completely dried up but they’re looking parched enough that
park staff set up three large troughs last week to ensure tule
elk herds get enough water to make it through what could be an
unprecedented drought. The 250-gallon troughs at the south end
of the Tomales Point Tule Elk Reserve will stay in place at
least until rains return next winter, National Park Service
officials said.
With a worsening drought gripping the West and wildfire season
looming, California is bracing for the most severe heat wave of
the year — one that promises to tax the state’s power supplies
while also offering a grim preview of challenging months to
come. The heat wave will bring triple-digit temperatures to the
valleys and inland regions of Southern California as well as
many parts of the rest of the state, heightening fire risks. It
comes as parts of Northern and Central California are turning
to water restrictions as the drought rapidly alters the
landscape.
California is rolling out a fresh strategy to keep its economy
afloat — releasing 17 million salmon into the San Francisco
Bay. Millions of Chinook salmon raised in hatcheries will
bypass California’s drought-stricken riverbanks to be released
directly into colder, downstream sites in the San Francisco
Bay, in an attempt to maximize their survival rate amid some of
the most extreme environmental conditions the state has ever
faced.
Higher bills will soon be on the way for the roughly 1.4
million people who get their water from the East Bay Municipal
Utility District, but at least for now they won’t be required
to cut their water use despite the drought. Beginning July 1,
the agency will charge customers 4% more for both water and
sewer services. And a year later, on July 1, 2022, the rate
will climb another 4%. The district’s board of directors
unanimously approved the rate increases at its meeting Tuesday
as part of the $2.25 billion budget it adopted for the next two
fiscal years.
One of the largest water districts in the San Francisco Bay
Area announced mandatory restrictions Wednesday and declared a
water shortage emergency, signaling the seriousness of drought
conditions across the region and state after two consecutive
dry winters. The Board of Directors for Santa Clara
Valley Water District, which serves 2 million customers,
unanimously approved a resolution requiring customers to reduce
water use by 15% compared with 2019 levels. The board is also
urging Santa Clara County to proclaim a local emergency.
Officials are raising the prospect of a permanent water
pipeline over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge as a potential
drought-fighting strategy for Marin County. … [Ben]
Horenstein, the general manager of the Marin Municipal Water
District, was among the participants of a teleconference on
drought and wildfires organized by Assemblyman Marc Levine on
Wednesday. … For Marin, Horenstein said, the focus now
is on promoting as much conservation as possible through
mandatory water use restrictions and rebates for
water-efficient appliances and landscaping.
California’s drought is accelerating the start of the 2021
wildfire season — and intensifying the pressure on PG&E
Corp. to prevent more mega-fires of the sort that drove the
state’s largest utility into bankruptcy. Pacific Gas and
Electric Co. executives said Wednesday they’ve begun gearing up
for wildfire season weeks earlier than usual, including putting
helicopters in the air to practice for PG&E’s “public
safety power shutoffs.”
Santa Clara County on Wednesday became the most populous county
in California to impose mandatory water restrictions, saying
that the worsening drought poses a significant threat to the
local groundwater supplies that provide nearly half the
drinking water for 2 million residents. On a 7-0 vote, the
Santa Clara Valley Water District board declared a water
shortage emergency and set a target of reducing water use
33% countywide from 2013 levels, a year the state uses as
baseline.
When a historic drought gripped California and the Bay Area,
water managers came together to keep drinkable water in the
homes of vulnerable areas in Marin and Contra Costa Counties.
Two veterans of those efforts describe the dramatic process,
and consider lessons it offers for today’s imminent drought.
Normally, the biggest vegetable grower in Sonoma County,
Humberto Castañeda Produce, grows heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers,
corn, watermelons and other crops on 180 acres outside of Santa
Rosa. But this year, Humberto Castañeda and his son, Gabriel,
are farming only 17 acres after receiving a fraction of their
normal allotment of water from the city of Santa Rosa.
… The Castañedas are among countless farmers across the
state taking drastic measures to deal with the drought…
Five years ago Bay Area voters wisely approved Measure AA, a
nine-county, 20-year, $12 per parcel annual tax to restore San
Francisco Bay and guard against the threat of rising sea levels
due to global warming. … An estimated 355,000 Bay
Area residents live within a 100-year flood plain that includes
800 miles of roads and highways, 70 miles of critical rail
lines, 46 wastewater plants, 35 schools and 15 hospitals.
San Rafael Creek could be dredged — at least in part — next
summer. The Biden administration’s proposed budget sets aside
$6.75 million for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin
working on the $13 million project. The budget must be approved
by congressional committees and is expected to be finalized in
October, according to the city. Due to years of neglect and
minimal funding, the creek has not been fully dredged since
about 2003. It was partially dredged in 2011, but storms have
carried sediment into the channel and shoaled it to depths as
shallow as 2 feet in some parts…
Among the nearly one hundred development projects pending on
the county of Napa Current Projects website comes a sleeper of
a project likely to go unnoticed by Napa city residents and
businesses who will be most negatively impacted. The remote
vineyard development project, proposed deep in the
headwaters above Lake Hennessey, seeks to clear 156.8 acres of
existing vegetation including oak woodlands, foothill pine
communities, and grasslands in order to construct a vineyard in
the Conn Creek/Lake Hennessey watershed. -Written by Kellie Anderson, resident of Angwin.
In a major sign of California’s worsening drought, Santa Clara
County’s largest water provider announced Monday that it is
moving forward with plans to declare a water shortage emergency
and to urge cities and water companies that serve 2 million
residents in and around San Jose to impose mandatory water
restrictions. The move will be the first time since the
historic drought of 2012 to 2016 that Santa Clara County
residents will face mandatory restrictions as the county
becomes the most populous area in California to impose such
severe measures.
When the Palo Alto City Council publicly backed the Bay-Delta
Plan in 2018, it was swimming against the political tide. The
plan, formally known as the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta Estuary plan, sets limits on how much water
agencies can siphon from the three tributaries of the San
Joaquin River. While it aims to protect salmon, steelhead and
other river species, it has also attracted intense opposition
and litigation from water districts that claim that the new
restrictions will undermine the reliability of their water
supply.
San Franciscans are pretty proud of their tap water.
Sourced from the Hetch Hetchy watershed in Yosemite National
Park, the complex supply system of reservoirs, tunnels,
pipelines, and treatment systems stretching from the Sierra to
San Francisco is uniquely almost entirely gravity fed. The San
Francisco Public Utilities Commission even boasts on its site
that their water is “among the purest water in the
world.” So the 2.7 million residents who benefit from the
supposed crème de la crème of tap water may be surprised to
learn that the water coming out of the faucets in SoCal has
been named the best tasting tap water in America, on qualities
including odor and “mouth feel.”
A gene-editing tool that has led to new cancer therapies and a
rapid test for COVID-19 is now helping scientists find
endangered species of salmon in the San Francisco Bay. The
CRISPR-based Sherlock tool can identify four types of Chinook
salmon, including Sacramento winter-run and Central Valley
spring-run, which are both protected under the federal
Endangered Species Act.
Drought conditions in California remain at record highs, with
most of the state now classified in “extreme” or “exceptional”
drought, reflecting conditions across the Southwest, according
to a new report from climate scientists. Much of the Bay
Area and the northern Central Valley have been included in the
most severe “exceptional drought” zone, along with much of
southeast California, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported.
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released its
first assessments of groundwater sustainability plans developed
by local agencies to meet the requirements of the Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). DWR has completed its
assessment and approved plans for the Santa Cruz Mid-County
Basin in Santa Cruz County and 180/400 Foot Aquifer Subbasin in
Monterey County.
Water Audit California is suing to make Napa County increase
oversight of groundwater pumping for vineyards, wineries, and
other uses, claiming that the pumping affects the Napa River.
The lawsuit said the county has a “public trust” duty to care
for the river. The idea is that too much groundwater pumping
from wells can keep groundwater from seeping into the river
during dry months, to the detriment of fish and other aquatic
life.
Too often, ocean water is laced with sewage and pollutants,
affecting how safe beaches are for swimming and surfing –
that’s the message of this year’s Clean Water Report released
Tuesday, May 25, by the Surfrider Foundation. …
[T]he report highlights inefficiencies in sewer
infrastructure and a need to stop urban runoff before it
reaches the coast, both main contributors to dirty water that
plagues the country’s coastlines.
After farming squash, corn, melons, peppers and tomatoes by his
father’s side since childhood, Gabriel Castañeda is stepping
out largely on his own this year. With water in such short
supply, his dad, Humberto, thought he might forgo raising
summer fruits and vegetables this season and focus only on the
15 acres of wine grapes he grows near Fulton instead. But Gabe
Castañeda, who had helped his father build Humberto Castañeda
Produce into Sonoma County’s largest produce grower, wanted to
see what he could do to keep the family’s 40-year farming
tradition alive — even if on a very reduced scale.
Hidden from view when driving by is the [Rise Gold]
mine that is filled with water contaminated with
byproducts of hard rock mining. The water now forms a murky
lake several hundred yards wide. Rise Gold plans to pump out
3.6 million gallons of water every single day for six months
and after that another 1.2 million gallons a day for up to 80
years from this site. Let that sink in. Get your mind
fully around this. This is real. They will dump this water
into the little creek alongside the site and send it on its way
down Wolf Creek to the Feather River to the Sacramento River to
San Francisco Bay … -Written by Billy Packard.
Climate change has created new “seasons” that challenge
communities across the nation. California now has a “fire
season,” and sadly, we are embarking on harmful algal bloom
(HAB) season again. NRDC has updated its national map of
state-reported freshwater HABs, which tracks the HABs reported
by states from 2008-2020 and shows that these toxic outbreaks
are increasing across the country, making our rivers, lakes,
and beaches unsafe for swimming, boating, and drinking. Between
2008 and 2020, over 44,000 HAB events were recorded across 38
states.
There is dry, and then there is desiccated. As any movie
fan knows from the classic film Chinatown, California is
an infamously thirsty place. But this year, even by its own
standards, the state is shockingly, scarily parched. So far in
2021, the state has received half of its expected
precipitation; that makes it the third driest year on record
according to California’s Department of Water Resources.
The California Urban Water Agencies (CUWA) today announces
Brown and Caldwell’s Wendy Broley will assume the role of
executive director effective July 1, replacing Cindy Paulson
after 10 years in the role. CUWA is a non-profit corporation of
11 major urban water agencies responsible for serving drinking
water to over two-thirds of California’s population.
It feels like California’s 2011-2016 drought, our worst on
record, had barely ended when the next one began. This is our
second dry year in a row and, according to the state Department
of Water Resources, the past winter tied for the third-driest
on record. … [UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain] calls this
our second major drought within a decade and, if you’re like
me, you’re wondering if we’ve done anything since the last one
to help keep water flowing from our taps. The answer is yes.
Two weeks ago, the “greenest city in America” sued California’s
State Water Board to prevent measures that would restore the
beleaguered San Francisco Bay-Delta. After more than a decade
of studies based on the best available science, the state wants
to require San Francisco to release more water from its dams
into the Tuolumne River — the source of our Hetch Hetchy
drinking water — to benefit fish, wildlife and downstream water
quality. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission,
meanwhile, wants a “voluntary agreement” for the Tuolumne
River. -Written by Peter Drekmeier, policy director of the
Tuolumne River Trust.
Urban water agencies are planning to impose mandatory
conservation orders after federal water managers slashed
deliveries this week amid a rapidly deepening drought. The
Bureau of Reclamation cut water deliveries from the Central
Valley Project by about half. That has prompted the Santa Clara
Valley Water District, which serves 2 million residents in the
Silicon Valley region, to consider a potential conservation
order at its board meeting next month.
[R]esearchers collected water during heavy rainstorms from 12
streams flowing into the San Francisco Bay. … Microscopic
fibers and black rubbery fragments were the most common
microparticles, while natural debris, glass, paint and wool
were only minor components. Then, the team identified a subset
of plastic- or rubbery-looking fragments as being made mostly
of plastic polymers or other synthetic materials, and many of
the black rubbery particles originated from tires.
The impacts of California’s deepening drought hit home for
Central Valley farmers earlier this week, when federal
officials announced they didn’t have enough water to supply
many of their agricultural customers. Urban users south of San
Francisco in Santa Clara County saw their normal water
deliveries cut in half. California ships water to cities and
farms through a combination of state and federal programs that
oversee a complex network of hundreds of miles of dams,
reservoirs and aqueducts throughout the state.
The state’s extensive water system supplies cities and farms;
prevents pollution of lakes, rivers, and coastlines; protects
against floods; and supports freshwater ecosystems and the
forested headwaters that are a major source of water supply.
Many local, state, and federal agencies oversee this system and
raise revenues from a variety of sources. California spends
about $37 billion annually, with the lion’s share (84%) coming
from local water bills and taxes. The balance comes from state
(13%) and federal (3%) contributions.
In just a few weeks, California’s water conditions have gone
from bad to terrible. Sacramento residents have been asked to
cut water usage 10%. Their counterparts on the Russian River
are being told to reduce their consumption 20%. Farmers across
the Central Valley are letting fields lie fallow and
dismantling their orchards. Government agencies are warning of
massive fish kills on the Sacramento River. After
a warm spring dried up practically the entire Sierra
Nevada snowpack — and robbed California of enough water to fill
most of Folsom Lake — state and federal officials have been
forced to dramatically ramp up their drought response plans.
A new local district aimed at combating the effects of sea
level rise and flooding is making waves this year starting with
a series of public meetings as it works to define its budget
and priorities. The San Mateo County Flood and Sea Level Rise
Resiliency District, known as OneShoreline, was founded in
early 2020 by the California Legislature to work to prevent and
to address the effects of flooding and sea level rise
throughout the county and on its shores, both on the Bayside
and the Coastside.
Passing President Biden’s infrastructure bill would be the most
significant step we’ve taken as a nation to start to address
climate change head on. Greenbelt Alliance believes this
infrastructure bill is a great start. Yet, so far there is no
path to guide how we can equitably shift away from rebuilding
in the most climate-vulnerable areas and instead build for a
more resilient future. That’s why we’re recommending this
infrastructure bill and related actions adopt these three
principles as a simple yet transformational way forward… -Written by Amanda Brown-Stevens, the San
Francisco-based Greenbelt Alliance.
Because Bay Area low-lying sewage treatment plants remain
vulnerable to rising sea levels, government regulators told
sewage facility managers to “provide a written plan for coping
with SLR by the fall of 2021 – or they will be given a
plan.” The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit reached out to
10 “at risk” sewage treatment plants to see those
plans. All except one provided extensive documents of
their proposals, the cost to address them, and even provided
tours of completed work. San Francisco’s Public Utilities
Commission replied to the Investigative Unit’s public records
request that after a “diligent search for records…no records
were found.”
California is dry. Bay Area counties have declared drought
emergencies and imposed restrictions. State and federal
officials are trucking baby salmon to the ocean. But San
Franciscans are still using their primary water source, the
Tuolumne River, which feeds the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in
Yosemite National Park. Last week, City Attorney Dennis Herrera
— who Mayor London Breed recently tapped to head San
Francisco’s water agency — filed a lawsuit challenging the
state’s efforts to protect salmon and the overall health of the
river. -Written by Robyn Purchia, an environmental
attorney, environmental blogger and environmental
activist.
Even in a year that has seen not much rainfall, students
throughout Solano County have learned important lessons about
their local waterways and the nature that surrounds them.
Through its Watershed Explorers program, Solano Resource
Conservation District has allowed elementary schoolers to
connect virtually to their local watersheds and experience the
sights and sounds of nature, all while making observations
about what they have witnessed and receiving lessons from the
program’s educators.
The Marin County Planning Commission voted on Monday to reject
an environmental group’s petition to block a West Marin water
supply project over potential impacts to Lagunitas Creek flows
and endangered wildlife. The decision allows the North Marin
Water District to build a new well that it says is necessary to
ensure its West Marin customers have adequate water supply in
the face of the worsening saltwater contamination at some of
its existing wells.
Infrastructure is rightly enjoying its spot in the national
limelight these days, with the Biden Administration busily
unveiling its plans. However, being well intentioned is as
important as being pragmatic. After all, the warning signs have
been there for all to see when it comes to lack of investment
in infrastructure—impacting communities from Los Gatos to
Washington, D.C. -Written by Andy Gere, president and chief
operating officer of San Jose Water.
The Marin Municipal Water District is considering banning new
water service hookups to homes in response to worsening drought
conditions. But the move could hurt future housing development
in an area already in dire need of more homes. The move would
come amid historic drought conditions in the area, with county
officials declaring a local drought emergency last week in
light of a “grim and deteriorating” situation. The National
Drought Mitigation Center’s drought monitor recently deemed
most of the Bay Area as extreme drought zones for the first
time since 2015.
The seven members of the Board of Directors led a Valley Water
delegation in a series of successful virtual meetings with
federal leaders on April 19-21 to advocate for Santa Clara
County’s priorities. The Valley Water group focused on federal
funding, water supply and flood protection projects in Santa
Clara County with members of the Presidential Administration
and Congress. Among the priorities discussed were the Anderson
Dam Seismic Retrofit Project and the South San Francisco Bay
Shoreline Project.
At its May 20, 2021 quarterly meeting, the Wildlife
Conservation Board (WCB) approved approximately $23.5 million
in grants to help restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat
throughout California. Some of the 35 approved projects will
benefit fish and wildlife — including some endangered species —
while others will provide public access to important natural
resources. Several projects will also demonstrate the
importance of protecting working landscapes that integrate
economic, social and environmental stewardship practices
beneficial to the environment, landowners and the local
community.
As Elizabeth “Izzy” Martin retires after 19 years as CEO of The
Sierra Fund, the foothills celebrate the legacy and lament the
loss of one of their greatest advocates. The fund is a
nonprofit dedicated to restoring the ecosystem and building
community resiliency in the Sierra Nevada. In a year marred for
many by financial strain, the nonprofit is in a strong and
stable position to transition to new leadership, Martin
explained, which is part of the reason she’s leaving. Martin
said her career and mission have evolved with society’s
understanding and appreciation for environmental issues since
she began her vocation as an advocate on the very first Earth
Day celebration in the San Francisco Bay area in 1970.
In the Bay Area, most people get their water from big utilities
that have lots of water, even during a drought. Your tap is not
at risk of running dry…. The most severe water challenges
will be in rural communities outside the Bay Area, where many
depend on wells.
As more of California sinks into extreme drought, Gov. Gavin
Newsom has asked the Legislature to appropriate billions of
dollars to address critical water needs. In the “May revise”—an
update to the budget proposal he initially submitted to the
Legislature in January—Newsom proposes to spend nearly $3.5
billion on water supply and resilience projects, with total
investment reaching $5.1 billion over multiple years.
In the latest chapter of California’s unfolding drought, state
officials are planning to build a giant rock wall across a
river in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to save the
vital freshwater estuary from San Francisco Bay’s saltwater.
The emergency measure is a page from last decade’s drought when
the delta, a maze of sloughs and man-made channels east of the
Bay Area, was at risk of becoming too salty to provide water to
the nearly 30 million Californians who depend on it. As in
2015, the freshwater rivers that feed the 1,100-square-mile
delta have gotten so low that they no longer counter the
brackish flows that push in from the bay.
A growing number of drought stricken California farmers are
making the painful decision not to plant as much or anything at
all for fear of losing it all. It costs a lot of money to put
seeds or seedlings into the ground. But if a farmer cannot be
reasonably sure of a crop, why do it?
Even as California moves toward a full reopening from pandemic
restrictions next month, many counties are still in danger.
From drought. Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom extended
emergency drought orders to 41 counties across the state. …
All eyes are on a critical resource that can help fight
the effects of another dry summer: water.
More wildfires. Hotter days. Drought. Sea-level rise. Those
conditions are an increasing reality in California, which is
steadily becoming an altered state. But if the grimmest
predictions of experts about our state and climate change
become true, the conditions will become far worse.
Lake Shasta this summer is facing possibly its lowest level in
at least 44 years, and that could be bad news for the people
who rely on it for drinking and irrigation water, as well as
endangered salmon that depend on it to survive. Dam
operators have to go all the way back to 1977 to compare how
bad this year’s water situation is shaping up to be, said Don
Bader, area manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which
manages the dam.
East Bay Municipal Utility District officials have seen
droughts come and go. But they seem to be coming more
frequently this century. Climate change is stoking devastating
wildfire seasons year after year, drying the state out and just
making it more flammable the following year. State water
officials say that means less water in the Mokelumne River
Watershed, the main source for EBMUD and its 1.4 million
customers. Last winter was the state’s driest since 1977,
prompting the district to officially declare a stage one
drought on April 27 and ask customers to cut ten percent of
their water use. What can the East Bay expect moving forward?
Three options for replacing non-reinforced concrete pipelines
will be reviewed by Solano Irrigation District directors when
they meet Tuesday. The recommended option calls for replacing
the entire pipeline over 28 years at a cost of $73 million,
using a combination of financing and $2.3 million in annual
Rehabilitation and Betterment funding. The proposed 2021-22
Suisun Solano Water Authority Capital Improvement Program is
also on the agenda, as is the Gibson Canyon Improvement
District Storage and Hardening Capital Improvement Plan for
bond funding.
The Ross Town Council has selected an alternative plan for a
flood control project at Frederick Allen Park, sparing dozens
of creekside trees. The council voted unanimously Thursday in
favor of “alternative 1,” which would preserve 80 trees slated
for removal in the park. It would also nix the fish ladder and
add four large fish resting pools into the concrete channel
between the tennis courts and the post office.
As California descends deeper into drought, state regulators
are planning to do something they’ve done few times in modern
history: order thousands of people, farms, and even cities and
towns that hold historic water rights to stop drawing water
from the rivers, lakes and ponds they rely on. The move is
intended to make sure the dwindling flows in California’s
waterways are reserved for those with the most senior water
rights, as well as for fish and other wildlife. Many of those
with lesser rights would have to turn to storage, groundwater
or another source, if they have it.
