Stormwater runoff has emerged as a primary water quality issue.
In urban areas, after long dry periods rainwater runoff can
contain accumulations of pollutants. Stormwater does not go into
the sewer. Instead, pollutants can be flushed into waterways with
detrimental effects on the environment and water quality.
In response, water quality regulators use a range of programs to
reduce stormwater pollution including limiting the amount of
excess runoff and in some cases recapturing freshwater as well.
After more than a decade of planning, community meetings — and
more planning — an ambitious $630 million effort to replace two
aging underground wastewater pipes officially launched on
Monday, June 21, as a two-story-high electric tunneling machine
was lowered underground at the sanitation plant on the border
of Carson and Wilmington. The details have been continually
refined since planning began in 2006. The Clearwater Project,
its formal name, was approved in 2012 by the Los Angeles County
Sanitation Districts and was described by engineers involved in
the work as sophisticated, intricate and precise.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is
helping advance two local supply projects that will further
diversify and strengthen the region’s water reliability, under
two agreements approved Tuesday by the district’s board of
directors. The board approved an agreement with the Municipal
Water District of Orange County and the Santa Margarita Water
District to provide funding for a recycled water project.
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.
As California responds to yet another drought and prepares for
a future of greater climate extremes, securing funding to boost
the water system’s resilience is a top priority. One go-to
funding source over the last two decades has been state general
obligation bonds. In dollar terms, GO bonds play a relatively
small role in water system spending, yet they punch above their
weight when it comes to filling critical gaps.
A water war is under way in Sacramento right now that could
have far-reaching impacts on families in the Central Valley.
… Hearings got under way Wednesday, as Semitropic Water
Storage District in Kern County makes its administrative appeal
to the State Water Resources Control Board for water rights to
the Kings River. It filed its first petition in 2017, asking
for access to 1.6 million acre feet of floodwater from the
Kings River.
Adel Hagekhalil is an inspired choice to be the next general
manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California, the agency that delivers the water ultimately used
by half of the state’s population. He’s an engineer, a
consensus builder and a champion of the movement to integrate
management of different types of water — drinking water,
wastewater, stormwater, environmental water — in order to
reduce costs and use precious resources more efficiently. He
may be exactly what the MWD needs at this point in its
history…
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.
The State Water Resources Control Board (“Water Board”) is now
receiving public comments on its proposed reissuance of the
statewide National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(“NPDES”) Construction Stormwater General Permit (“Construction
Stormwater General Permit”).
[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.
A new grant will help Twain Harte turn stormwater into a
resource, say community leaders. The $3.75 million in funding
was awarded to the Twain Harte Community Services District
through the State Water Resources Control Board’s Stormwater
Grant Program. It will be used to construct the Twain Harte
Community Stormwater Enhancement Project. The district called
it an “amazing win” for the community in a press release.
Yuba Water Agency’s board of directors today approved a $2
million loan to the Three Rivers Levee Improvement Authority to
complete the construction of a new levee near the Yuba
Goldfields that will bring a 200-year level of urban flood
protection to southern Yuba County. The 2.5-mile-long levee,
which will be fully complete in June, runs parallel to
Hammonton-Smartsville Road and extends to high ground near
Beale Air Force Base. The 200-year level of protection means
there is a 1-in-200 chance in any given year that a storm could
come along that is bigger than the levee is designed to handle.
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.
When President Joe Biden addresses a joint session of Congress
tonight a common thread will likely run through much of his
narrative: resilience. Beyond touting his administration’s
accomplishments, Biden is expected to use the spotlight to
pitch his $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan, a wide-ranging
infrastructure initiative that promises “every dollar” spent on
rebuilding highways, airports, water systems and more will be
used to “prevent, reduce and withstand the impacts of the
climate crisis.”
No one will forget the intense challenges that 2020 brought us,
from record-breaking hurricanes and wildfires to a global
pandemic that devastated our economy and public health. As
Congress and the Biden administration look to help our country
rebuild and recover from these compounding crises, investing in
nature presents an opportunity to deliver multiple benefits for
communities, birds, and other wildlife. Audubon presents a new
suite of policy recommendations for making our communities and
wildlife more resilient to climate change, by putting our
wetlands, barrier islands, and other ecosystems to work.
The first time the streets flooded, Appollonia Grey
‘Uhilamoelangi, known as Mama Dee in her East Palo Alto
community, got a little nostalgic. The weather, though severely
inclement, at least reminded her of home in Samoa. … But East
Palo Alto, with a population of 30,000, is prone to flooding,
and three times over the next 30 years, torrential rains
devastated the city. … Now, the bay waters being pushed
higher by the effects of climate change pose an existential
threat to this small community of mostly people of color.
That’s not hyperbole. … Of all Bay Area counties, San Mateo
is the most at risk from sea level rise, and of all places in
the county, East Palo Alto is one of the most vulnerable to
climate-driven inundation.
A burst of rain is expected to drench the Bay Area this
weekend, bringing much-needed moisture to a parched region. The
rains will likely be intense — but short-lived, tapering off to
another stretch of warm, dry conditions by the middle of next
week, meteorologists said. Showers were expected to start in
the North Bay as early as Saturday evening, with steady
rainfall pounding much of the Bay Area Sunday. Lingering
showers were expected in the central coast through Sunday
night, according to the National Weather Service.
Floodwaters are not what most people consider a blessing. But
they could help remedy California’s increasingly parched
groundwater systems, according to a new Stanford-led study.
The research, published in Science Advances, develops
a framework to calculate future floodwater volumes under a
changing climate and identifies areas where investments in
California’s aging water infrastructure could amplify
groundwater recharge.
If the San Diego-Tijuana region were a human body, it’d have
the stomach flu: Bad stuff is coming out of both ends. But
instead of tackling the complicated source of the infection,
the border towns are fighting over where to put a Band-Aid. Six
miles from the U.S.-Mexico border lie three giant ponds full of
really old poo that regularly flush into the Pacific Ocean and
flow north along the Southern California coast during summer
tourist season.
The Yolo County Farm Bureau as well as two former Farm Bureau
presidents have filed a lawsuit against the City of Woodland
and the Woodland City Council over the Woodland Flood Risk
Management Project. The suit — which was filed on March 25
— is a Verified Petition for a Writ of Mandate and
Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief, or a way to
get the judicial branch to reaffirm previous contracts.
The Alameda County Water District board has promoted Ed
Stevenson to serve as the district’s new general manager. The
district, which provides water to roughly 350,000 homes in
Fremont, Newark and Union City, announced that Stevenson,
a 24-year district employee, will take over after current
general manager Robert Shaver retires on July 1 following 30
years of service.
A year ago, when stay-at-home orders were a newly disorienting
fact of life, I started taking long walks through my
neighborhood on L.A.’s Westside. Wandering south from Palms
into Culver City, I realized I live near a huge concrete
channel — a creek, trapped in place — with a bike path along
the water, and a view of oil pumpjacks rising and falling atop
the Baldwin Hills. There were beautiful murals, too, showing a
healthy, thriving waterway. They were hashtagged
#KnowYourWatershed. And the more I admired them, the more I
realized that I did not, in fact, know my watershed, despite
growing up not far from here. -Written by Sammy Roth, a Los Angeles Times staff
writer.
South Bay officials are beginning to run out of patience over
the continued cross-border flow of sewage-tainted water. The
pollution warning signs have been up most of 2021 on the sand
in Imperial Beach. Last Friday, the pollution flowed north to
Coronado, forcing beach closures there. Imperial Beach’s top
officials are fed up.
Despite its semi-arid climate, characterized by mild, moist
winters and hot, dry summers, the area in and around Fresno,
California, has experienced numerous flood events. From
elevations reaching 5,000 feet in the Sierra-Nevada mountain
range, streams carry runoff from a 175-square-mile area flow
onto the valley floor, where they periodically inundate
farmland and urban development, including downtown
Fresno. Storm flows have caused local streams and canals
to overflow an average of once every four years since
1953. In the early 1950s, a group of citizens banded
together to find solutions to the area’s increasing storm water
management problems.
For the first time since her historic ascension as the nation’s
first woman vice president, Kamala Harris returned to her
native Oakland on Monday to promote the Biden administration’s
ambitious proposal to rebuild the country’s infrastructure and
create jobs…. Harris toured the East Bay Municipal Utility
District’s water treatment plant, speaking to employees and
touting the district as the kind of operation that should be
emulated. …. Harris highlighted the water portion of the
[Biden] plan, saying the goal is to invest in jobs that can
build up, replace and modernize water infrastructure — all with
the goal of getting clean drinking water to everyone.
Barack Obama was seven months into his first term as President
of the United States, the World Health Organization had
declared a H1N1 flu pandemic, and the California State Water
Resources Control Board (State Board) adopted the current
Construction General Permit for Stormwater Discharges (Permit
or CGP). It was September 2009. Now, having
administratively extended the Permit since 2014 when, by its
terms, the Permit expired, the State Board may, under a
schedule released late last year, soon release a new draft CGP
for public comment, with a goal of adopting it late this
summer. As with the current permit, the proposed new CGP will
regulate the discharge of pollutants from construction sites in
California.
Much of the state’s water infrastructure was designed decades
ago and was built to serve half the size of our current
population. Faced with aging infrastructure, California cities
have taken innovative approaches to modernizing water treatment
and recycling systems to meet the needs of a growing population
and a changing climate. One infrastructure need that many
residents take for granted is wastewater treatment.
… The San José-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater
Facility is the largest advanced wastewater treatment
facility in the Western United States. Originally built in
1956, today it serves more than 1.4 million residents and
17,000 businesses in eight cities in Silicon Valley and
unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County. Using
a treatment process that simulates the way nature
cleans water, the facility treats an average of 110 million
gallons of wastewater per day.
Eelgrass, a plant that grows in “underwater meadows” along the
California coast and emerges like a floating carpet at low
tide, is already known to be an important habitat for fish,
birds and baby Dungeness crabs. It turns out it can also reduce
seawater’s acidity back to preindustrial levels, creating
refuges for animals who can’t tolerate that byproduct of
climate change. … [S]eagrass meadows, which have shrunk in
number and size globally because of pollution and
development … may support wildlife as well as the
production of farmed oysters, mussels and
abalone. … The state already has efforts in place
to protect its eelgrass habitat. The California Ocean
Protection Council has a goal of preserving the state’s
existing 15,000 acres of seagrass beds and adding another 1,000
acres by 2025.
The Buena Vista Lagoon Ecological Reserve in San Diego County
sits between the cities of Oceanside to the north and Carlsbad
to the south. It’s historic because it was the state’s
first-ever reserve, created in 1968. … [H]omeowners in that
area, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), CDFW
and several other groups came to an agreement after years of
dispute on how the lagoon should be altered so it thrives well
into the future. … Like lagoons up and down that part of San
Diego County, Buena Vista took in runoff from hills to the east
and fed water to the west into the Pacific Ocean. But in the
‘40’s a weir was added at the mouth by nearby landowners, so
the lagoon essentially became freshwater only. …
A San Diego program that aims to keep toxic sewer water out of
the Pacific Ocean suffers from outdated methods and inadequate
efforts to identify and inspect the business sites of
industrial polluters, a new city audit says. The 56-page audit
says the program, which oversees industrial polluters served by
San Diego and 12 other local sewer districts, needs to step up
efforts to find polluters and modernize its inspection program.
The program – the Industrial Wastewater Control Program – is
also understaffed and not capable of handling the larger
workload it should handle without adding more workers, the
audit says.
While a supermajority of Americans finally believe we are
warming the world, a 2020 Yale Climate Opinion survey shows
that most people still aren’t very worried about it.
… But Californians do. Reeling from a decade of
record-shattering drought, heat waves, and wildfires, people in
the Golden State overwhelmingly tell Public Policy Institute of
California pollsters that the effects of global warming have
already begun. Indeed … researchers can now link climate
change with some of today’s extreme events [including the
wild swings in precipitation that cause intense rainstorms at
one end and severe droughts at the other] beyond a
reasonable doubt.
With three-quarters of the US west gripped by a seemingly
ceaseless drought, several states are increasingly embracing a
drastic intervention – the modification of the weather to spur
more rainfall. … Cloud seeding experiments have taken
place since the 1940s but until recently there was little
certainty the method had any positive impact.
But research last year managed to pinpoint snowfall
that “unambiguously” came from cloud seeding … Others are now
looking to join in, including the “four corners” states – Utah,
Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico – that have been ravaged by
the most extreme version of the latest drought.
A Biden initiative expected to pour up to $3 trillion into
repairing America’s decrepit infrastructure and funding other
programs has sparked a scramble across the nation for the
federal funds — with California expecting to reap the biggest
piece. …Rep. John Garamendi, a Northern California Democrat
who is a senior member of the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee…spent more than an hour with Biden
in recent weeks and came away convinced that the program will
be broad enough to improve most areas of the nation’s
infrastructure: highways, passenger rail, electric grids, dams,
sewers and water systems, ocean terminals and
airports….
The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Act, California’s state clean
water law, passed in 1969 and became the model for the 1972
federal Clean Water Act. Nearly half a century after passage of
the landmark federal law, it is time for both the state and the
nation to assess progress and chart a new course. Once again,
California is leading the way with Assembly Bill 377, a new
bill introduced by Assemblyman Robert Rivas (D-Hollister).
Although new legislation is needed, the existing federal and
California clean water acts have produced successes that should
be celebrated. -Written by Terry Tamminen, president of 7th
Generation Advisors and founder of Santa Monica
Baykeeper.
The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will
likely hire a contractor for the sweeping Lower Walnut Creek
Restoration Project that aims to improve both flood control and
conditions for wildlife and recreation. County staff recommends
the board approve a deal with Four M Contracting, which came in
with the lowest bid on the project, at $11.285 million. The
Winters-based civil engineering firm specializes in wetland
enhancement projects and the creation of wildlife habitat.
Witnessing the devastating effects of drought in rural
California and India at the age of 11 spurred Shreya
Ramachandran to action. She devoted years to researching the
reuse of grey water—lightly used water from sinks, showers, and
laundry—and painstakingly tested the environmental safety of
organic detergents. The nonprofit Ramachandran founded, the
Grey Water Project, has inspired thousands of people to build
their own “laundry to lawn” grey water systems. Now a high
school senior, she’s collaborated with several California water
agencies and the United Nations Global Wastewater Initiative,
and created a grey water curriculum for elementary students to
show them that small actions can make a big difference.
To have enough excess time and energy in your life to spend on
cultivating a lawn means that you are a successful member of
society — not just economically, but in spirit and values. But
where did this obsession come from? A lawn, taken out of
context, is a very peculiar landscaping choice. … There
are tons of alternatives to lawns that can be more appropriate
for the California climate. Xeriscaping, or the practice of
using drought tolerant plants for decorative landscaping, is
rapidly becoming more popular as homeowners are trying to keep
their front yards looking neat and elegant while cutting down
their water costs and environmental impact. -Written by Landon Iannamico, staff writer for the
Daily Californian
Today, Representative Josh Harder (CA-10) sent a letter with
Rep. Jerry McNerny (CA-9) requesting new federal funds for the
Lower San Joaquin River Flood Risk Management and Feasibility
Study projects. The $36.5 million in requested funds would go
toward the Army Corps of Engineers and San Joaquin Area Flood
Control Agency’s critical flood damage reduction efforts. If
implemented, the project will protect 165,000 Valley residents,
reduce annual property damage by 84%, and increase the
resilience of 262 critical infrastructure sites, 12 of which
are essential to daily life in the Valley. The project is
expected to yield $7 for every $1 of taxpayer money invested.
When a region’s groundwater is critically depleted and its dirt
as hard as a frying pan, how do you refill the aquifer? Ask a
fifth grader. Actually, ask the fifth and sixth grade
combination class at Bakersfield’s Munsey Elementary School
taught by Barbara Elrod. Elrod’s students discovered a pretty
cool way to both conserve water and recharge aquifers through
“grey water.” That’s water from sinks, showers and washing
machines. Turns out most of that water has soap in it and soap
is a surfactant.
In the latest effort to protect Coyote Valley, a Palo Alto
environmental group has closed three deals totaling $16.5
million to purchase 331 acres in the scenic expanse of rural
land on San Jose’s southern edges … The three properties
purchased in the most recent deals, left undeveloped, also will
be used to provide natural flood protection for downtown San
Jose. The idea is that when Coyote Creek is flooding, as it did
in 2017, causing $100 million in damage, its waters can be
deliberately spread over the open area to seep into the
groundwater table instead of all rushing downtown into
neighborhoods.
Mother Nature proved again in late January that the force of
torrential rainfall and surging water can undo about a decade’s
worth of difficult, expensive habitat conservation work. The
Santa Rosa Creek project completed in October in Cambria was
designed to stabilize the path of the creek in a vulnerable
North Coast area, while protecting its bank and its eponymous
roadway. Devin Best, executive director of the Upper
Salinas-Las Tablas Resource Conservation District (RCD), said
the district worked with landowners “to preserve their property
and also maintain the road so it doesn’t wash away.”
A beach water use advisory is now in effect until Thursday,
warning people of possible bacteria in the water following
rainfall. The recent rainfall, bacteria, chemicals, debris,
trash, and other public health hazards from city streets and
mountain areas are likely to contaminate ocean waters at and
around discharging storm drains, creeks, and rivers. People who
enter the water in these areas could become ill, according to
Los Angeles County Health Officer, Muntu Davis, MD, MPH. This
advisory will be in effect until at least Thursday at 1o a.m.
I’ve been writing a lot about the broken sewage system in
Tijuana causing spills into San Diego. Part of the concern, San
Diego officials told me, is that Mexico lacks a system to
monitor whether businesses are dumping toxic waste into the
sewer system. That’s part of the reason why it’s risky to reuse
any of that river water because, if we don’t know what’s in the
water, we can’t be sure how to best treat it. San Diego is
about to run into this issue in a big way with its Pure Water
project, a multibillion-dollar system that’s going to recycle
the city’s sewage and treat it so, well, you can drink
it.
Companies in these [pollution] cases weren’t required to plead
guilty; they weren’t convicted of any crimes, according to the
agreements. Instead, the government agreed to forego
prosecution for a certain time period or drop the case
altogether if the companies paid hefty fines and promised to
clean up the environmental damage they had inflicted.
… One concerned a waste hauler, Asbury Environmental
Services, accused of discharging marine diesel oil into a storm
drain that led to the Los Angeles River. In 2020, 10 years
after that incident, prosecutors wrapped up the case with a
nonprosecution deal.
Thunderstorms dumped anywhere from a quarter to three-quarters
of an inch of rain in the Sacramento area Wednesday as the
region was pelted by dime-sized hail that filled streets and
front lawns. A cold weather system moved north along the
California coast before it combined with warm temperatures near
the ground and created the right conditions to form scattered
thunderstorms throughout Northern California, said Eric Kurth,
a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in
Sacramento.
For decades, the Cargill salt ponds in Redwood City have
stretched into the San Francisco Bay like a blank slate. What’s
to come of them? The Cargill corporation sees the outline of a
new housing development, while environmental groups see a
restored wetland habitat. David Lewis and his group Save the
Bay recently joined a lawsuit against the former Trump
administration’s EPA in a back-and-forth battle over whether
the area falls under federal protection.
Climate change and other environmental pressures are already
putting the pinch on water resources in California, the
Southwest and other arid parts of the world. Over-tapped
groundwater, rivers and lakes are forcing water managers to
find new supplies. Some of these can be costly, like treating
wastewater for drinking water. Or they can come with a hefty
price tag and outsized environmental footprint, like
desalination or new dams. There’s another option on the
table, though: stormwater. If we do the accounting right,
runoff from precipitation is a cost-effective supplementary
water resource, experts say.
A bipartisan group of California lawmakers is confronting
pollution problems along the U.S.-Mexico border, especially in
the Tijuana River Valley between San Diego and Tijuana. Several
House members who represent Southern California introduced a
bill called the Border Water Quality Restoration Act. Similar
legislation was presented last week in the U.S. Senate. If
approved, it will give the Environmental Protection Agency the
authority to coordinate all federal, state, and local agencies
when planning construction and infrastructure projects to
mitigate pollution in waterways throughout the southern border.
California is home to a diversity of coastal ecosystems like
tidal marshes, seagrass beds, and estuaries. These ecosystems
provide flood and storm protection, healthy habitats for fish
and birds, and recreational spaces. They may also play an
important role in addressing climate change. A new COS
and Natural Capital Project study in Global
Environmental Change investigates the carbon sequestration
potential of habitats along the California coast and details
pathways incorporating carbon-capturing habitats into climate
change policy.
A coalition of San Diego County elected representatives
introduced a bill on Monday to address water pollution along
the U.S.-Mexico border. The Border Water Quality Restoration
and Protection Act would designate the Environmental Protection
Agency as the lead agency coordinating federal, state and local
agencies’ efforts to build and maintain infrastructure projects
aimed at reducing pollution along the border.
Stinson Beach will launch a multi-year effort to craft its
first sea-level rise defense plan as oceans threaten to swallow
up beaches, roads and waterfront homes by the end of the
century. The community is the most immediately vulnerable to
sea-level rise on Marin’s ocean coast and could face a water
level as much as 10 feet higher by 2100 in a worst-case
scenario, according to county officials and state projections.
In 2018, the county outlined strategies Stinson Beach could
adopt, including elevating roads and homes, building sea walls
and dunes, boardwalking entire neighborhoods and building a new
sewage system.
AB 377, entitled the “California Clean Water Act,” introduced
by Assemblymember Rivas in February 2021, includes provisions
to eliminate all “impaired waterways” and make all waters in
California suitable for drinking, swimming, and fishing by
2050. If adopted, this bill would have significant
impacts on the ability to timely and cost-effectively comply
with discharge requirements set forth in National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permits, Waste Discharge
Requirements (“WDRs”), and waivers of WDRs (collectively,
“water quality permits”). The bill would also usher in an
era of focus on enforcement, rather than good-faith compliance.
A bill aimed at addressing pollution along the U.S.- Mexico
border and improving water quality in the Tijuana and New
rivers was introduced Wednesday. The Border Water Quality
Restoration and Protection Act would designate the
Environmental Protection Agency as the lead agency coordinating
federal, state and local agencies to build and maintain
infrastructure projects aimed at reducing pollution along the
border. It would also require the EPA and other agencies to
identify a list of priority projects and would authorize the
EPA to accept and distribute federal, state, and local funds to
build, operate and maintain those projects.
Sacramento is typically ranked first or second in the country
for the risk of flooding….This year, the California-Nevada
River Forecast Center is forecasting a low potential for
flooding due to spring snowmelt.
One of the key issues on the table—highlighted in the CalTrout
and UC Davis Report, SOS II: Fish in Hot Water—is that on our
current trajectory, it’s predicted that 45% of native
California salmonids will face extinction in the next 50
years. When a species faces imminent extinction – there is
a sense of urgency to act, but recovery programs differ
depending on the species. Because steelhead, the ocean-going
form of Oncorhynchus mykiss, use many areas of a watershed from
ocean to headwaters, there are a range of threats to address
and many stakeholder interests to balance. Making things more
complex, Southern steelhead recovery takes place in the middle
of 20 million people – so a pragmatic approach is essential.
That it hasn’t rained much this year isn’t all bad news,
especially in the aftermath of the Creek Fire that burned
nearly 40% of the San Joaquin River watershed. Most
importantly, mountain communities devastated by the Creek Fire
have not faced the secondary disaster that can be brought by
weather, like in Santa Barbara County when heavy rain in the
burn scar of the Thomas Fire led to deadly and destructive
mudslides. Some areas near Big Creek and North Fork are at risk
of hazardous, post-fire debris flows.
Caught between climate change and multi-year droughts,
California communities are tapping groundwater and siphoning
surface water at unsustainable rates. As this year’s
below-average rainfall accentuates the problem, a
public-private partnership in the Monterey/Salinas region has
created a novel water recycling program that could serve as a
model for parched communities everywhere.
A few weeks after [California's late-January] storm, in early
February, eight scientists with a research consortium called
the Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network, or MARINe, hiked
towards a beach smothered by one of the Big Sur debris flows.
The sour smell of decomposing creatures hit them. A few turkey
vultures nipped at the sand. There were dead sea stars,
chitons, and likely hundreds of dead black abalone. In a
previous visit to this site, scientists were able to count 150
black abalone or “abs” in a small 50-meter area, with hundreds
left uncounted. A fraction of the site’s population remained.
Big projects aimed at stemming the toxic sewage flowing from
Tijuana into Imperial Beach and the surrounding region are on
the horizon and that’s a welcome development. But any such
improvements come with a nagging question based on historical
experience: How long will this fix last? Cross-border pollution
has been a problem for the better part of a century and has
defied past efforts to solve it. It’s not that previous actions
didn’t help. Some did, and they greatly diminished the health
and environmental threat — and reduced beach
closures. -Written by Michael Smolens, a columnist for the San Diego
Union-Tribune.
It is the 35th anniversary of one of the costliest and
devastating storms in the history of Northern California. From
Feb. 11 to Feb. 20, 1986, a series of three storms, each
stronger than the previous, brought record-setting rain that,
in some areas, overwhelmed flood control measures. In the end,
the storms claimed 13 lives, and the damage was estimated at
$400 million. The storm also brought eventual changes to
California’s existing flood control system.
As the first heavy rains of the season poured across the Santa
Cruz Mountains last month, emergency responders and residents
braced for debris flows, road closures and power outages.
Others also feared for their drinking water…. Across the
West, water districts are grappling with new and increasingly
common challenges as fire seasons grow longer and blazes
consume more suburbs and smaller communities. These fires are
not only destroying people’s homes and treasured possessions,
they are leaving behind an array of incinerated plastics, lead,
pesticides and other toxic particles that have the potential to
contaminate water supplies.
When a storm pummeled the San Diego-Tijuana region two weeks
ago, hundreds of millions of gallons of water laced with raw
sewage, trash and industrial chemicals flowed over the border,
shuttering beaches as far north as Coronado. The shoreline
stink and closures came as no surprise to residents of Imperial
Beach, a city where swimming was prohibited at its main
oceanfront for nearly half of 2020. The beach along Border
Field State Park was closed for 295 days last year. The South
Bay shoreline was partially opened after the recent rains, only
to be abruptly closed again on Wednesday as polluted water
continued to leak out of Tijuana into the Pacific Ocean.
Bracing for potentially a second consecutive year of dry
conditions, California water officials, farmers and researchers
participating in an irrigation conference discussed recharging
aquifers with stormwater and increased water efficiency among
ways to diversify the state’s water supply.
As long as people have lived in Pasadena, water has been an
essential element for the life-style, health and economy of our
region. Now, however, Pasadena faces a severe water crisis.
This never has been an easy need to resolve, but population,
growth and climate change have made the development of a
sustainable or resilient water program an even greater
necessity for the future. It’s not just a challenge
for Pasadena, but also for all of California, and even the
nation. -Written by Tim Brick, the Managing Director of the Arroyo
Seco Foundation.
If the cost of consuming water wasn’t high enough in San Diego,
consider the cost of getting rid of it. As Andy Keatts detailed
in a story Monday, San Diego has a huge infrastructure backlog
and half of the unfunded projects over the next five years
involve fixing the stormwater system.
The infrastructure deficit that has hung over San Diego
politics for years without meaningful intervention is perhaps
better understood as a stormwater deficit. Eight years ago,
Mayor Todd Gloria, then Council president, pledged to craft an
infrastructure-focused ballot measure for the 2016 ballot, to
address the city’s crumbling roads, sidewalks, pipes and
drains. That never happened, and the problem has only gotten
worse. But the city now appears to be serious about pursing a
measure to fund a specific, and massive, piece of the city’s
infrastructure failure: its stormwater system.
Ten days ago the state set new heat records and brush fires
broke out. Burn areas in the Santa Cruz Mountains rekindled.
Then, over the last three days, a 2,000-mile-long filament of
water in the sky burst over the areas that last week sat brown
and smoking. Snow fell on peaks and even some lower hills in
the Bay Area. The California Department of Water Resources
Central Sierra snow measurement station jumped from 42 percent
of average to 62 percent of average.
In order to get a wetlands permit needed for development of the
former Concord Naval Weapons Station to move ahead, the City of
Concord will investigate the source of water unexpectedly found
near the one-time airfield north of Willow Pass Road. The
Concord City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to move
$12,000 of previously approved loan money to aid in the study
of where water is coming from on that land, located east of
Olivera Road near the Pixieland Amusement Park.
A storm that pounded Northern California with rain, snow, wind
and mud rolled southwards on Thursday, prompting flood warnings
and threats of mudslides in areas burned bare by wildfires. An
atmospheric river of moisture from the Pacific Ocean was
expected to dump 1 1/2 to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain in
Southern California from Thursday night into Saturday, with
winds up to 50 mph (almost 81 kph), according to the National
Weather Service. But threats also remained in portions of
central and Northern California.
The state’s new groundwater law has prompted a lot of dirt
movement in the Central Valley. The Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act passed in 2014 mandates that overdrafted water
basins get their aquifers in balance — don’t pump out more than
goes back in — by 2040. In order to get there without massive
farmland fallowing, most valley water managers have been adding
as many acres of recharge ground as possible. The
Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District has been particularly
aggressive.
A bid by Kern County farmers to take Kings River floodwater
officially got underway Tuesday as state regulators hashed out
procedures and next steps with the various parties. An initial
hearing had been set for April 15, but may now be pushed back
to July, depending on how Administrative Hearing Officer Nicole
Kuenzi rules.
San Joaquin Valley farms and Southern California cities are
facing different but equally daunting water challenges.
For Valley farmers, the requirement to achieve groundwater
sustainability in coming years has heightened interest in
expanding water supplies to reduce the need to fallow irrigated
farmland. For Southern California, falling demands since the
early 2000s have reduced water stress during normal and wet
years, but a warming climate makes future droughts a major
concern. Both regions’ water futures could be more secure if
they jointly developed and managed some water supplies. -Written by Alvar Escriva-Bou, a research fellow at the
Public Policy Institute of California
The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC)
put tire manufacturers on notice that California wants them to
explore alternatives to using zinc, a toxic chemical that harms
aquatic life and burdens waterways. Zinc helps make rubber
stronger, but also wears off tire tread and washes into storm
drains, streams, rivers and lakes, threatening California fish
and other aquatic organisms.
In 2016 the City of San Jose became the first Bay Area
municipality to get credit for homeless encampment cleanups
under its stormwater permit. So far, the city has exceeded
the permit’s annual requirements, most recently removing 446
tons of rubbish—more than double its goal—from encampments
along waterways. But Covid-19 has complicated this effort.
The Port of San Diego has approved a pilot project to develop a
portable five-in-one field-testing sensor device to provide
real-time metals analysis for stormwater monitoring. The
technology will test the levels of various metals in San Diego
Bay including aluminum, copper, lead, zinc and nickel, all of
which are currently manually monitored under the Port’s
stormwater programs.
State water quality regulators have fined the developer of
Montage Healdsburg, the ultra-luxury resort set to open
Saturday, more than $6.4 million for environmental violations
tied to hotel construction during the stormy winter months of
late 2018 and early 2019.
An integrated storm water management system at The Albert Roles
Center (ARC) for Water Recycling & Environmental Learning is
helping to maximize on-site filtration and on/off-site
groundwater recharge in Pico Rivera, California.
With more than $500,000 in combined state and federal funding
and the conceptual restoration planning for the Loma Alta
Wetlands Enhancement Project complete, the project is one step
closer to coming to fruition.
Scientists in the Pacific Northwest say they’ve solved a
long-running mystery behind the region’s dying salmon, a
discovery that may explain what’s harming fish elsewhere around
the globe, including California.
By burning and brushing, nurturing important plants and
keeping lands around their homes clear of dead brush and
debris, Native peoples carefully stewarded the lands to sustain
the biodiverse ecologies California is known for. Their
work resulted in a richly productive landscape that provided
food and habitat for not only humans but many land, air and
water animals. That included the salmon, a staple of tribes in
the West for millennia. All that changed when California became
a U.S. state in 1850.
The North Yuba Forest Partnership has entered into an agreement
to receive $1.13 million to plan future forest health and
wildfire resilience treatments within the North Yuba River
watershed. This funding originated from the US Forest Service’s
Fireshed Program.
Communities across the United States and the globe rely on
clean water flowing from forested watersheds. But these water
source areas are impacted by the effects of wildfire. To help
water providers and land managers prepare for impacts from
wildfire on water supplies, the U.S. Geological Survey is
working to measure and predict post-fire water quality and
quantity.
Just weeks after the Bobcat fire ravaged the San Gabriel
Mountains, state and federal biologists are racing to salvage
as many federally endangered species as possible before storms
could inundate the animals’ last outposts with mud and debris.
… “This may be the last time in my life that I see wild
mountain yellow-legged frogs in the last best place for them,”
said biologist Robert Fisher…
Wildlife in the upper Putah Creek watershed was devastated by
the LNU Complex Fire, which started on Aug. 17, was finally
extinguished on Oct. 2, and grew to be the fourth largest in
California history. However, the oak woodlands in this region
have evolved with fire, and with natural resiliency and a
little support from local agencies, recovery is expected.
With California’s worst wildfire season on record still raging,
experts from across the state are calling for a $2 billion
investment in the next year on prevention tactics like
prescribed burns and more year-round forest management
jobs.
The [Butte] county’s Forest Health Watershed Coordinator Wolfy
Rougle said there is indeed reason to worry about preventing
toxic runoff quickly, particularly with the magnitude of the
North Complex fires’ destruction, and the county’s resources
are stretched thin…So small nonprofit organizations typically
have boots on the ground to do the work with concerned
residents, like the Camp Fire Restoration Project.
All of Santa Barbara’s beaches and creeks are designated as
“impaired” under the federal Clean Water Act. … The council
voted 7-0 to send its proposed changes to stormwater runoff to
the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board… The
list of changes are extensive, and are proposed over four tiers
based on various types and levels of new construction
development. They involve landscape changes and stormwater
treatment for new impervious construction.
Results from the model showed potential increases in large flow
events and sediment transport over the next century. While
increased suspended sediment loads may have some negative
effects, such as contaminant transport, increased sediment can
improve fish habitats and help sustain wetlands in the
Bay‐Delta.
A House Agriculture subcommittee this week will examine the
response to Western wildfires, less than three months after its
chairwoman predicted the COVID-19 pandemic would make this fire
season like no other.
The last time Mt. Tamalpais had a major wildfire was in 1929.
In 1930, Marin’s population was 41,648. Today it’s more than
258,000. … As with many other utilities, the Marin Municipal
Water District is updating its treatment plants. It is unclear,
from a technology and science perspective, whether our
community treatment plant could handle sediment runoff from a
big rainstorm after a catastrophic, climate-driven wildfire.
For years, a stretch of Chorro Creek near Hollister Peak ran
through active farmland, where its flow was diverted for
irrigation and its banks were shored up by levees, blocking the
water’s natural access to its floodplain. … After nearly two
decades of planning and fundraising, the Estuary Program and
its partners recently completed a major restoration of the
site.
Work on a long-planned effort to reduce flood risk and improve
safety for businesses and residents in the Ross Valley is
underway as workers move dirt and debris to create a flood
retention basin at the former Sunnyside Nursery outside of
Fairfax.
When fires burn up vegetation, the charred remains become
hydrophobic—meaning they repel away any water. The soil is also
very dry, which counterintuitively makes it harder for water to
infiltrate. … Fires can also destroy the natural clumps in
soil, increasing their erodibility. Altogether, this means that
water is hitting the ground with more force and the soil is
unable to suck it up.
Poor erosion control on the 258-acre site unleashed soils into
streams of the Russian River watershed and put fish and other
other aquatic wildlife at risk, regulators found, counteracting
millions of dollars spent to improve habitat and restore
imperiled, protected runs of salmon and steelhead…
The main stormwater issue associated with solar arrays is the
concentrated discharge of stormwater runoff at the solar panel
drip line, which can act like un-guttered roofs that channelize
and accelerate stormwater flow. Instead of traveling as sheet
flow across a fallow field, capped landfill, or macadamized
parking area, stormwater now lands on the surface in
channelized sheets that must be carefully managed to prevent
soil scouring, erosion, and contamination…
Scientists at Salo Sciences, a startup that works on technology
for natural climate solutions, began creating the tool after
interviewing dozens of experts in California about the state’s
challenges with wildfires: They need more detailed, up-to-date
information about the forests so they can better predict how
fast and in what direction fires will spread…
Less than two years after the most destructive fire in
California history tore through Paradise, the same region was
under siege from a second monster firestorm that quickly grew
to more than 250,000 acres, sweeping through mountain hamlets
and killing at least three people. … Across the state, 28
major wildfires have prompted more than 64,000 people to
evacuate…
The Utility of the Future Today recognition program celebrates
the achievements of water utilities that transform from a
traditional wastewater treatment system to a resource recovery
center and leader in the overall sustainability and resilience
of the communities they serve.
A multimillion dollar water project in the heart of Northridge
is on the fast track to becoming a reality. The Aliso
Creek-Limekiln Creek Restoration Project at Vanalden Park is
aimed at reducing pollutants in city waters by treating
stormwater and urban runoff from Aliso and Limekiln creeks and
an open channel storm drain.
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said Wednesday the agency
would pay for more water treatment south of the border, and
work with San Diego to control trash coming into the United
States from Mexico by way of the Tijuana River. Wheeler made
the announcement during a visit to Southern California, a
region long plagued by sewage, water, trash, and other
contaminants flowing from Mexico.
In burning to the edge of Lake Sonoma, the Walbridge fire has
posed an unprecedented threat to the water supply for 600,000
North Bay residents and scorched Sonoma County streams critical
to the revival of imperiled fish. … Experts estimate half of
the spawning habitat on Russian River tributaries has been
burned, dealing a potential setback to expensive, longstanding
efforts to bolster coho salmon and steelhead trout populations.
Because San Diego County gets so little natural rainfall, most
residents must artificially irrigate their landscaping.
Rainfall becomes a welcome sight when it occurs. But rainfall
turns into an unwelcome problem when it enters the storm drain
system.
Sea levels on the California coast could rise as much as seven
feet by 2100 and put tens of thousands of vulnerable San
Franciscans at risk of daily flooding, according to a new
report from the California State Legislative Analyst’s office.
After timber harvest or fuel reduction thinning operations,
sediment delivery to nearby streams and waterways can increase,
potentially affecting water quality, drinking water supplies,
habitat, and recreational opportunities. To effectively reduce
these adverse effects of harvest, foresters first need to know
the precise causes of sediment increases.
As part of Valley Water’s mission to provide flood protection
for our communities, we are continuously preparing for the
possibility of flooding. We must regularly keep our streams and
creeks well maintained to handle the rainy season and protect
the many species of wildlife that live there.
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today introduced the Border
Water Quality Restoration and Protection Act, a bill to reduce
pollution along the U.S.-Mexico border and improve the water
quality of the Tijuana and New rivers.
On July 13, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gave the San
Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District a 30-year permit
to manage plans for the Upper Santa Ana River Wash, the final
step in the process. The plans cover an area of Redlands and
Highland generally west and south of Greenspot Road, east of
Alabama Street and north of the waterway’s bluffs.
Imperial Beach Mayor Pro Tem Paloma Aguirre joined Good Morning
San Diego to discuss a new report claiming that an audit done
by Baja California governor accuses big US companies of water
theft and contributed to raw sewage and hazardous pollutants
ending up in the Tijuana River.
Mount Shasta is a community that prides itself on clean water.
In the past when water-related issues have come before City
Council, meetings are often crowded to the point of
overflowing. It is surprising, then, that one of the most
important water topics in our city receives so little
attention. I’m talking of course about Mount Shasta’s storm
drain system.
Both United States and Mexican officials announced separate
plans Tuesday to upgrade Tijuana River wastewater facilities.
The international river has been a longtime problem for
residents of Imperial Beach and Tijuana, as sewage and trash
from the river have spilled into the Pacific Ocean for decades,
often closing beaches near the border and damaging natural
habitats along the river.
Hundreds of studies on nature-based solutions to extreme events
show that “green infrastructure” is often cheaper and more
effective than engineered projects like dams, levees and sea
walls, according to a new analysis. Experts say federal and
state governments should heed those findings and increase
funding for natural landscapes and systems to reduce climate
disaster risk. Solutions include floodplain restoration and
“living shorelines” along vulnerable coasts and rivers.
In May, Cyclone Amphan made landfall in Bangladesh and eastern
India. The category 5 storm forced around 3 million people to
flee their homes. With this scenario in mind, a group of
disaster experts published guidelines for political leaders and
emergency managers so that they can prepare before the storms
hit.
The term “crisis on the border” typically refers to immigration
issues or drugs being smuggled into the country. But it has one
more meaning, as we discovered, when we went to the border in
early February: tens of millions of gallons of raw sewage that
spill every year into the Tijuana River on the Mexican side and
flow across the border right into Southern California,
polluting the land, air, and sea.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a $196
million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA)
loan to the Inland Empire Utilities Agency in San Bernardino
County, California. The loan will help finance expanded
wastewater treatment capacity to support public health and the
environment in this growing community.
Outbreaks of E. coli illness that sickened 188 people who ate
romaine lettuce grown in California probably came from cattle
grazing near the farms, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
said in a report released Thursday. … Investigators concluded
that the illness was centered on ranches and fields owned by
the same grower and that were located downslope from public
land where cattle grazed.
The nation’s environmental watchdog may investigate federal
enforcement of water policy in California after Democratic
lawmakers accused the Trump administration of “irregular”
interference targeting San Francisco, according to a letter
sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The Trinidad Rancheria is alleging that the City of Trinidad
has failed to work with the tribe to provide water for its
proposed hotel. Because of this the rancheria has informed the
city that a much-anticipated stormwater project will be put on
hold until the dispute is resolved.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed spending
$300 million to address the problem of toxic sewage flowing
across the border into San Diego County, legislators announced
Tuesday. The money would be part of the United
States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act, and will be
used for the engineering, planning, design and construction of
wastewater infrastructure at the border, officials said.
A spring storm had retreated inland during the night, leaving a
canopy of unbroken clouds over San Diego’s Mission Bay. About
20 engineering students and others gathered in the morning
chill to launch a cockeyed-looking vessel, mechanical guts
fully visible, into the still water.
A strange thing happens during particularly wet winters in
California: farmers flood their fields. … Aquifers are the
last line of defense against drought conditions. By flooding
their fields in January, farmers hope to fill these underground
reservoirs with water they can use in August. If a trio of
recent studies prove accurate, one can expect to see this
method deployed more regularly.
A team of UCLA undergraduate students has won a national
competition sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency seeking innovative plans for stormwater management. The
team proposed to redesign elements of a Los Angeles elementary
school to improve its environmental sustainability.
The Truckee Town Council has approved a resolution to accept
$2.31 million in funds from the California Department of Fish
and Wildlife for the restoration of Trout Creek The money will
be used as part of the project extending Church Street, which
is part of the larger Truckee Railyard Master Plan.
The EPA has been too busy responding to the deadly coronavirus
to work on its long-awaited proposal to manage huge volumes of
pathogen-infested sewage and stormwater during heavy rains, the
agency’s top wastewater official said Wednesday.
With wildfire season on the horizon, state officials have
ordered prevention efforts to proceed after rains have tapered
off and before the heat of summer. But work is progressing
slower than usual as firefighting agencies and electric
utilities institute new practices to keep employees safe.
Just days before Covid-19 spurred a vast quarantine-at-home in
California, a crew of workers in downtown Oakland was busily
planting dozens of potted grasses, shrubs and trees in a newly
sculpted garden bed in what had been a gutter and a row of
parking stalls a block from City Hall.
Although it is clear that river discharge is the major source
of plastic pollution entering the oceans, there remains
uncertainty around how plastic pollution is transported through
rivers and coastal marine waters. How important is stormflow
for delivering plastic pollution from rivers to the coastal
ocean? How are microplastics transported through coastal
environments? How much is eventually sinking and settling on
the seafloor?
In a time when many people in the world are inside their houses
to stop the spread of covid-19, it is easy to forget that good
news still exists. The Environmental Protection Agency’s
National Water Reuse Action Plan is a bit of good news. The
Plan, announced on February 27, 2020, by EPA Administration
Andrew Wheeler, prioritizes the use of recycled water.
Stormwater is the rain and other water that runs off of streets
and sidewalks into nearby gutters or waterways. Communities
throughout the western U.S. are expanding efforts to collect
this valuable water resource. These projects range from
capturing water from a single rooftop or driveway to developing
large infiltration basins that recharge billions of gallons of
water each year in groundwater basins.
States around the country say they won’t penalize water and
wastewater utilities for failing to meet Clean Water Act permit
requirements due to delays caused by the deadly coronavirus if
those delays are justified and documented. Delays, for example,
could be caused by utility staff who test and monitor water
quality—or lab workers who analyze it—being quarantined with
Covid-19.
In March 2020 the most substantial review article to date
focusing on atmospheric rivers (AR) was published in the first
volume of the new journal Nature Reviews: Earth and
Environment. The article, led by Ashley Payne (Univ. of
Michigan) focuses on climate change dimensions, and was
prepared by an international group of scientists…
March rain has left Salt River Project reservoirs as full as
they’ve been in a decade. The utility is discharging water to
make room for the runoff, providing a boost to the underlying
aquifers. The utility says the Salt and Verde river systems are
at a combined 94% of capacity, almost 20 points higher than
last year.
While California will not receive a soaking rain similar to
what occurred at the beginning of the week, residents across
the state can expect unsettled weather to stick around through
Wednesday.
Much-needed snow will blanket California’s Sierra Nevada high
country this weekend into next week, bringing hope of a
“Miracle March” that could replenish vital, water-providing
snowpack after a record-dry February.
We’re getting better when it comes to the L.A. River. Ten years
ago, most of us didn’t even know that L.A. even had a river.
… It’s hit a few bumps along the way (including the 1936
Flood Control Act that channelized it with concrete walls) —
but now, you not only can get to the re-wilded parts of the Los
Angeles River, but you can get onto them, too (for a part of
the year)!
As the nation’s water and wastewater treatment systems of
pipes, pumps, and plants reach the end of their intended
lifespan, investing in water infrastructure has taken the
spotlight.
In less than a day, a storm Tuesday more than doubled the total
rainfall that some parts of Southern California had received
all year. More precipitation is on the horizon for at least the
rest of this week. But will the change be enough to turn this
month into a “Miracle March” that will make up for an extra-dry
January and February?
The new career prep program was created out of a partnership
between the school district and water district that is linked
to the development of East Valley Water District’s
Sterling Natural Resource Center water recycling plant now
under construction across Sixth Street from the high school.
We expect most of Southern California, including the Los
Angeles Basin and San Diego metro area, as well as parts of
Arizona, to pick up at least an inch of rain through Thursday.
Some heavier amounts in higher terrain on southern- and
southwestern-facing slopes are possible. Flash flooding of
flood-prone, low-lying streets, freeways and normally dry
washes and arroyos is possible in some areas.
For years, city auditors warned elected leaders that San
Diego’s stormwater needs were being dramatically underfunded,
leaving the city vulnerable to lawsuits and hefty fines from
state regulators. Still, the mayor’s office has yet to take on
the political challenge of securing enough new funding to fix
the situation, something that would likely require a
voter-approved tax hike.
Local reservoirs and municipal water supplies might become so
polluted from the fires that the current water supply
infrastructure will be challenged or could no longer treat the
water. … But most of the fire-prone areas in North America
lack large-scale vulnerability assessments of their municipal
water supplies…
Wildfire poses layers of risk to drinking water that unspool
over time and geography, with some effects emerging years
later, sometimes outside the burn zone… Water utility
managers, engineers and scientists have only recently begun to
grapple with the aftereffects of fires that consume entire
neighborhoods and towns—as they did in California—and that in
the process, release dozens of manmade pollutants into water
lines.
The Coachella Valley Water District and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency on Friday signed an agreement for a $59.1
million loan to finance improvements to the district’s 134-mile
stormwater system that drains into the Salton Sea.
In November 2018, more than two-thirds of voters passed Measure
W, a comprehensive plan to address how we capture water and how
to reduce our reliance on imported water. Now called the Safe
Clean Water Program, this annual 2.5 cent per impervious square
foot tax for all non-exempt property owners will fund over $250
million dollars annually to build and maintain projects that
capture rainfall and storm water…
The San Diego region has secured $300 million in federal
funding for a new U.S. facility to capture Tijuana sewage
spills before they foul South Bay shorelines, elected leaders
said Friday.
The 2016-2026 UCLA Student Housing Master Plan is ambitious, to
say the least: four years of guaranteed housing for all
undergraduate freshmen and two years of guaranteed housing for
transfer students. … But the grandiose scale of this housing
expansion is not being met with equal expansion of UCLA’s
stormwater management facilities.
A new law in California took effect Jan. 1 and requires
industrial business owners applying to a city or county for a
new or renewed business license to demonstrate enrollment in a
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System stormwater
permit, if it’s required. … Failure to comply will result in
delay or denial of a business license, effectively prohibiting
the business from starting its operations.
Water-related projects topped the list of infrastructure
priorities for mayors, according to the 2019 Menino Survey of
Mayors released this month. Why it matters: The survey revealed
urgency around investments in water, wastewater and stormwater
facilities, with mayors 10 percentage points more likely to
focus on that issue than four years ago.
By analyzing more than two decades of data in the western U.S.,
scientists have shown that flood sizes increase exponentially
as a higher fraction of precipitation falls as rain, offering
insight into how flood risks may change in a warming world with
less snow.
Large woody debris, sediment and other material washed into the
wetland from the fire-scarred foothills above Carpinteria
during a powerful storm on Jan. 9, 2018. Materials poured from
Santa Monica and Franklin creeks into the marsh. The Thomas
Fire burned more than 28,000 acres in Ventura and Santa Barbara
counties, and the inferno was followed three weeks later by the
flash flooding and debris flows.
The Environmental Protection Agency has made it easier for
cities to keep dumping raw sewage into rivers by letting them
delay or otherwise change federally imposed fixes to their
sewer systems, according to interviews with local officials,
water utilities and their lobbyists.
Weak and problematic levees are a big reason why there was so
much destruction when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in
2005. It cost Louisiana and Mississippi more than $150 billion
dollars and killed more than 1,800 people. But could something
like this happen in the Sacramento region? The answer CapRadio
heard from levee experts is yes, Sacramento could see that type
of flooding, but there are a lot of things that lower that
risk.
Construction projects aimed at providing flood protection to
thousands of Mountain View properties is over budget and more
than a year behind schedule. The Santa Clara Valley Water
District’s board of directors signed off on another round of
funding in November for $4.7 million, aimed at offsetting cost
overruns that ate through most of the project’s contingency
fund.
SDSU, with the help of its landscape architect Schmidt Design
Group, hopes to engineer ties to the oft-overlooked San Diego
River, which runs behind the Mission Valley property currently
home to SDCCU Stadium. Although park-goers won’t be able to
access the river — a landscaped buffer will be used to keep
people away from the natural habitat — they should get a
river-like feel from the park.
Nobody seems to know why a rope that caused a nearly weeklong
boil-water advisory in Poway was there in the first place. The
rope had been hanging on a wall in a vault adjacent to the
clearwell drinking water reservoir and a stormwater drain. When
heavy rains on Nov. 28 and 29 caused the stormwater to surge
and back up into the vault, somehow the rope became lodged in a
swing gate allowing muddy water to leak into the reservoir…
The increasing spills that have polluted the Tijuana River Valley
and ocean off Imperial Beach have resulted in frustration and
anger in recent years, but also triggered broad political
collaboration at the local, state and federal level that has put
the region on the brink of real action.
A piece of rope “inexplicably” became lodged in a valve
separating a 10-million gallon reservoir from a storm drain in
late November, causing a nearly week-long, costly boil-water
advisory in Poway, a report prepared by the city for the state
concludes.
California regulates storm water discharges from industrial
facilities under the federal Clean Water Act through its
Industrial General Storm Water Permit (IGP). … The IGP
identifies which industrial facilities need to comply by their
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code, which is
determined based on the primary purpose of the business. But
what if an industrial facility does not recognize that it
should seek IGP coverage, or simply chooses not to comply?
Nearly two months after the Kincade fire was fully contained in
northeastern Sonoma County, Santa Rosa is struggling with an
after-effect of the massive blaze: its wastewater disposal
pipeline at The Geysers was disabled for six weeks, backing up
the Sebastopol-area plant with about 400 million gallons of
treated wastewater.
San Francisco officials were quick to dispute Trump’s claims.
But some of California’s most prized rivers, beaches and
streams are indeed contaminated with levels of fecal bacteria
that exceed state limits, threatening kayakers, swimmers — and
the state’s reputation as a bastion of environmental
protection.
A Placerville development company that illegally discharged
sediment and stormwater from its construction site has agreed
to pay $171,000 in a settlement with the Central Valley
Regional Water Quality Control Board,
As an appointee to the San Francisco Regional Water Quality
Control Board, Newsha Ajami has worked with local, state and
federal agencies to monitor and ensure water quality in areas
affected by wildfires. Ajami is director of urban water policy
at Stanford’s Water in the West program, and co-leads the Urban
Water Systems & Institutions Thrust at Re-Inventing the
Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure (ReNUWIt), a National
Science Foundation engineering research center based at
Stanford. She discussed wildfire’s threat to water quality with
Stanford Report.
Passing the new North American free trade agreement would mean
millions of dollars to help upgrade sewage infrastructure on
the border, say the agreement’s backers. But an environmental
group and a local organization on the U.S.-Mexico border say
it’s not enough.
A state inspection found 12 flaws in Poway’s drinking water
delivery system less than three months before the city’s
precautionary boil water advisory. City officials remain
adamant that the issues raised by the inspection had nothing to
do with the nearly week-long advisory that ended Dec. 6.
With a low rumble from a large pipe, water began flowing into a
dirt basin at 25th Street West and Elizabeth Lake Road Thursday
morning, christening the Upper Amargosa Creek Recharge Project
and marking the debut of a new water storage endeavor in the
Valley. Inside the basin, water flowed from holes in a round
structure to begin flooding the bottom, where it will begin to
percolate through the soil to the aquifer beneath.
UC Berkeley engineers have developed a mineral-coated sand that
can soak up toxic metals like lead and cadmium from water.
Along with its ability to destroy organic pollutants like
bisphenol A, this material could help cities tap into
stormwater, an abundant but underused water source.
Two wildlife advocacy groups Wednesday announced their intent
to sue the Riverside County Flood Control & Water Conservation
District, as well as other regional and federal government
agencies, for allegedly putting a fish species’ habitat at risk
with the release of water from the Seven Oaks Dam.
Members representing different water districts set up a news
conference Tuesday to collectively show they weren’t happy with
how the mayor and City of Poway handled last week’s water
situation.
The new United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement reached
Tuesday commits the federal government to provide $300 million
for the Border Water Infrastructure Program to address
pollution on the U.S.-Mexico border, including the Tijuana
River Valley region, where millions of gallons of raw sewage,
heavy metals and other contaminants regularly flow from Tijuana
to San Diego.
Urban flooding is increasing in the Bay Area for four main
reasons: California’s naturally variable precipitation
patterns, climate change increasing precipitation extremes,
population growth, and aging and insufficient infrastructure.
Researchers combed through six years of data, from 2012 to
2018, to examine how L.A. County has mitigated the issue, most
visible in the 72-hour aftermath of rainfall but persists
during dry weather in the form of runoff from driveways and
sidewalks. As it turns out, not much has been done, largely
because of a lack of transparent requirements when it comes to
the monitoring of stormwater pollution by various
municipalities.
A state official said Wednesday he intends to notify the city
of Poway that its water storage reservoir is out of compliance,
a situation he said directly contributed to last week’s storm
water overflow that has left the entire community under a
boil-water advisory and temporarily shuttered nearly 200
businesses.
The City Council will certify the Water Quality and Flood
Protection Initiative at its Dec. 17 meeting after Alameda
property owners voted in favor of a fee hike. … The increased
fee will fund repairs and new pump stations, which is vital to
combat potential flooding as sea levels rise; improve lagoon
systems, enhance street sweeping procedures and maintain and
install new trash capture devices. These devices are key to
keeping the shoreline free of trash and other debris.
Rains caused storm drains to back up into Poway’s water
treatment facility, officials said. Crews are working around
the clock to clean and flush the system, which may take two to
five days before the water is declared safe. The county health
department ordered the closing of all restaurants in the city
and residents are being advised to boil their tap water before
drinking it or using it for cooking, city officials said.
Water in the vault will go the Regional Wastewater Treatment
Plant in Elk Grove. This new system is designed to stop
flooding on East Sacramento streets.
Called Bending the River Back Into the City, the project will
churn with water from the river, siphoning a fraction of it out
of the waterway, cleaning that water via “an artificial
treatment wetland” … and then piping it to Los Angeles State
Historic Park and the recently opened Albion Riverside Park and
Downey Recreation Center so it can water plants and other
landscaping there.
Through a variety of panel discussions, presentations and a
showcase of student research, the Re:Border conference is
exploring how San Diego State University and its regional
partners can contribute to innovative solutions for
water-related challenges in the transborder region.
A bi-national conference at San Diego State University was
aimed at analyzing water resources in the Baja California and
San Diego border region where challenges include cross-border
pollution and water scarcity… Experts at the Reborder 2019
conference discussed ways to improve regional access to “a
secure and reliable water supply” through wastewater treatment
and desalination.
A group of California Democrats on Monday pressed the EPA’s
internal watchdog to investigate whether the agency has
retaliated against their state for political reasons, including
by threatening to withhold federal funds for multiple
transportation projects.
The Environmental Protection Agency fanned the flames of an
ongoing dispute with San Francisco on Thursday, reaffirming its
stance that the city’s water agency improperly discharges
wastewater into the ocean. In a letter to the San Francisco
Public Utilities Commission, EPA officials reiterated their
assessment that the city was out of step with its wastewater
discharge permit, which regulates water quality standards.
Hail pelted parts of the Los Angeles area Wednesday morning as
the first storm of the season rolled through Southern
California following months of dry weather and wildfires in the
region.
An unlikely coalition in California — including
environmentalists, law enforcement agents, politicians,
wildlife ecologists and representatives of the legal cannabis
industry — have joined forces to try to reduce these illegal
operations and the environmental threat they pose.
Although still relegated largely to populated areas in such
water-challenged states as California, Arizona, Texas, and
Florida, water reuse is gaining ground in other areas. At the
same time, the focus of water reuse increasingly is shifting to
potable applications
Boeing worked with the state and installed a massive system of
plastic pipes, treatment systems and holding ponds meant to
filter and manage potentially toxic rainwater before it poured
downhill… Then the giant Woolsey Fire ignited at the
old laboratory… Flames destroyed plastic piping and tore
through the storm water system before ravaging another 94,000
acres as the fire stormed west to the sea, according to state
and Boeing records.
The lessons gained from the 2018 wildfires that swept through
Paradise, in Northern California, and along the Los
Angeles-Ventura County border in Southern California are still
being absorbed by water managers around California as they
recognize that the old emergency preparedness plans of
yesterday may not be adequate for the new wildfire reality of
today.
The Groundwater Resources Association’s 2019 Western
Groundwater Congress featured David Sandino, Senior Staff
Counsel at the Department of Water Resources, who spoke about
the disconnect between legal groundwater systems and how the
system actually works; and Maurice Hall, Associate Vice
President of Ecosystems-Water at the Environmental Defense
Fund, who spoke of how more holistic and inclusive groundwater
management can increase the resilience of our water supply…
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is
expanding its effort to learn more about the water supply
potential of local stormwater capture with a new $7.5 million
pilot programapproved today by its board of directors.
San Marcos will start construction of its Creek District this
year, with a $100 million plan to reduce flooding and improve
habitat and traffic flow, officials said at a public forum
earlier this week.
In order to take care of environmental concerns and maintain
our facilities in a safe and effective manner, we have
identified about 900 encroachments on public lands managed by
Valley Water that require resolution. … Valley Water has
implemented a new process to resolve these encroachments by
working with our community.
Santa Fe Dam is an element of the Los Angeles County Drainage
Area (LACDA) flood control system. Watersheds are more than
just drainage areas in and around our communities. They are
necessary to support habitat for plants and animals, and they
provide drinking water for people and wildlife.
The Trump Administration’s EPA takeover, with its race to the
bottom rollbacks of the environmental and public health
protections that Americans have relied upon for decades, is
low; so low that even some of the industries the Administration
seeks to support are pushing back. But what the Trump
Administration has been up to lately in California–
weaponizing the Clean Water Act to serve a political
vendetta…well, can it get any lower than that?
Alameda property owners are being asked whether they are
willing to pay more to maintain and upgrade the city’s aging
stormwater system. … The reason? The city’s stormwater fund
is running a $1 million annual deficit and the system needs
about $30 million in upgrades, including at its pipe stations,
some of which date to the 1940s…
Elizabeth Castillo looks on as her daughter Reynata plays with
children at a playground near the Los Angeles River in Long
Beach, California, in mid-October, hoping one day the river
will be clean enough to kayak on. … In the last half-century,
the LA River served primarily as flood control infrastructure,
but open space and wildlife advocates fomented a movement to
make it wild and accessible to all.
The project includes improvements along more than 3 miles of
dirt roads, repairing culverts and building erosion control
features designed to reduce sediment flow into the creek. The
aim is to protect gravel nests, called redds, where female
salmon and steelhead lay their eggs, suffocating the eggs as
well as clogging the gills of adult fish…
