California’s climate, characterized by warm, dry summers and mild
winters, makes the state’s water supply unpredictable. For
instance, runoff and precipitation in California can be quite
variable. The northwestern part of the state can receive more
than 140 inches per year while the inland deserts bordering
Mexico can receive less than 4 inches.
By the Numbers:
Precipitation averages about 193 million acre-feet per year.
In a normal precipitation year, about half of the state’s
available surface water – 35 million acre-feet – is collected in
local, state and federal reservoirs.
California is home to more than 1,300 reservoirs.
About two-thirds of annual runoff evaporates, percolates into
the ground or is absorbed by plants, leaving about 71 million
acre-feet in average annual runoff.
California’s legislative session came to a wild ending in 2020
when the clock ran out on major bills. Key pieces of
environmental legislation were among those that died on the
floor, and conservationists are hoping 2021 brings a different
story….Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, [proposed
a climate resiliency bond that] would include $240 million for
Salton Sea restoration, $250 million for groundwater management
and $300 million for grants for clean and reliable drinking
water.
Rep. Deb Haaland’s bid to become the first Native American
interior secretary was made more likely Thursday by an unlikely
Republican supporter, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of oil-rich Alaska,
who said she still had serious reservations about Haaland’s
past opposition to drilling. Murkowski was the only Republican
on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to approve
Haaland (D-N.M.) in the narrow 11-to-9 vote. Haaland’s
nomination now moves to the full Senate, where the entire
Democratic caucus and two Republicans, Murkowski and Susan
Collins (Maine), are expected to back her, cementing her
confirmation.
Water levels in the world’s ponds, lakes and human-managed
reservoirs rise and fall from season to season. But until now,
it has been difficult to parse out exactly how much of that
variation is caused by humans as opposed to natural cycles.
Analysis of new satellite data published March 3 in Nature
shows fully 57 percent of the seasonal variability in Earth’s
surface water storage now occurs in dammed reservoirs and other
water bodies managed by people. … The western United
States, southern Africa and the Middle East rank among regions
with the highest reservoir variability, averaging 6.5 feet to
12.4 feet.
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave America’s
infrastructure a C- grade in its quadrennial assessment issued
March 3. ASCE gave the nation’s flood control infrastructure –
dams and levees – a D grade. This is a highly concerning
assessment, given that climate change is increasingly stressing
dams and levees as increased evaporation from the oceans drives
heavier precipitation events. … Climate scientists at
Stanford University found that between 1988 and 2017, heavier
precipitation accounted for more than one-third of the $200
billion in [flood] damage…
When [the Colorado River Compact was] signed in 1922,
the Colorado River drainage was divided into two divisions;
Upper: Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah; Lower: Arizona,
California, Nevada. At that time, it was felt the total average
annual flow was 16.4 million acre feet. As a result, each basin
was assigned 50%, or 7.5 million acre feet, with the 1.4
million acre feet surplus allocated to Mexico. … As a
result, the Upper Basin is obligated to provide 7.5M acre feet
to the Lower Basin, regardless of the actual flow of water in
any given year. Obviously, snowpack and the consequent flow is
not a constant and years of drought and low flows create a
problem for the Upper Basin. -Written by Bryan Whiting, a columnist for the
Glenwood Springs (Colo.) Post Independent.
The hot dry conditions that melted strong snowpack early in
2020 and led to severe drought, low river flows and record
setting wildfires across the state could be a harbinger of what
is to come in Colorado. Climate change is likely to drive
“chaotic weather” and greater extremes with hotter droughts and
bigger snowstorms that will be harder to predict, said Kenneth
Williams, environmental remediation and water resources program
lead at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, headquartered in
California.
The City recognizes the changing aesthetics of the drinking
water, which is common with surface water supplies. Starting on
March 5th our State Water Project supply source (Delta water)
will be unavailable for three weeks to perform maintenance
which necessitates using our Lake Hennessey water. The
taste and odor is not unique to Napa’s water sources – seasonal
algae blooms are common to many surface waters. As algae dies
off they release odor causing compounds. Most persons
describe the aesthetics of this phenomenon as earthy and/or
musty.
When Malini Ranganathan, PhD, an associate professor at
American University and interim faculty director of the
Antiracist Research and Policy Center, conducted research in
Exeter, a flourishing agriculture town in California’s Central
Valley, she didn’t expect to see similar conditions to what
she’d witnessed in India’s low-income housing areas. Residents
in one of the world’s richest states were depending on bore
water and water tankers to drink because tap water was
unsafe.
Yuba Water Agency’s board of directors today approved an
agreement that adds the Cordua Irrigation District to the
historic Lower Yuba River Accord, a model water management
agreement that supports endangered salmon and steelhead,
ensures water supplies for cities and farms and reduces
conflict over water use.
Much of the western U.S. continues to endure a long-term
drought, one that threatens the region’s water supplies
and agriculture and could worsen wildfires this year. In fact,
some scientists are calling the dryness in the West a
“megadrought,” defined as an intense drought that lasts
for decades or longer. Overall, about 90% of the West is
now either abnormally dry or in a drought, which is among the
highest percentages in the past 20 years, according to this
week’s U.S. Drought Monitor.
Rancho California Water District crews are continuing work to
replace more than a mile of aging pipeline under westbound
Temecula Parkway in Temecula. The project, which will
ultimately replace about 8,000 feet, or about a mile and a
half, of aging recycled water pipeline between Bedford Court
and Rancho Pueblo Road, began in November, and according to
Rancho Water staff work is expected to continue through the
middle of next year. According to RCWD, when district customers
use recycled water it helps to free up drinking water for
cooking, showering or cleaning.
The [Utah] state Senate approved a bill Wednesday that would
establish the so-called Colorado River Authority of Utah, along
with a $9 million “legal defense fund,” intended to ensure that
the state receives its allotted share of the Colorado’s
dwindling flows….Utah has shared the Colorado River’s flow
with six Western states under a century-old agreement, but the
Beehive State has been slow to push its stake, according to
backers of HB297. Accordingly, Utah uses 54% of its share,
Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said…
The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Tuesday to approve an
extension of the county’s state water contract for 50 years,
saying it would ultimately save ratepayers money. … Eight
water agencies in Santa Barbara County, from the Carpinteria
Valley to the City of Santa Maria, presently import water
through the California Aqueduct. By 2035, their ratepayers will
have paid off the $575 million construction debt for the
pipeline that county voters approved in 1991 on the heels of a
six-year drought. It extends from the aqueduct in Kern County
to Lake Cachuma.
Congressman Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, introduced a bill
Wednesday that would extend “critical water supply provisions”
in the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN)
Act for the next seven years in an effort to improve
California’s access to water. On Wednesday, Garcia introduced a
bill that would enact a seven-year extension for “critical
water supply provisions” in the WIIN Act, which became law at
the end of 2016.
[A]s often as I write about the importance of building clean
power infrastructure to fight climate change, the cheapest,
easiest way to reduce emissions is to use less energy in the
first place. And in Los Angeles, at least, one of the cheapest,
easiest ways to use less energy is to use less water.
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.
California will face another critically dry year, and residents
will need to adapt quickly to cope with water shortages and a
warmer, drier climate that has helped fuel destructive
wildfires. Officials with the state’s department of water
resources announced on Tuesday they had found that the water
content of the overall snowpack for 2 March amounted to 61% of
the average. The state’s largest reservoirs were storing
between 38% and 68% of their capacity, officials said, meaning
that the state would have a lot less water to carry it through
the rest of the year.
California water has joined gold, energy and bitcoin as a
commodity whose future value can be traded on a financial
exchange and the first market trades on water futures took
place three months ago. The market, based on values determined
by NASDAQ’s Veles Water Market Index, was hailed by some as a
useful tool so California farmers can reduce the risk of
drought-driven escalation in water costs. It was sharply
criticized by others, from a United Nations representative to
racial justice groups as potentially limiting access to
something essential to life.
Looking back over the past 30 years, the Northern California
Water Association has grown into an organization that the early
founders can be extremely proud of. The men and women who had
the foresight and passion to start the organization should be
given a large amount of gratitude. What now is a
high-level organization that fosters water management for
multiple beneficial uses, sprung from very humble beginnings.
Human fingerprints are all over the world’s freshwater. A new
study published Wednesday in the journal Nature shows that
while human-controlled freshwater sources make up a minimal
portion of the world’s ponds, lakes, and rivers, they are
responsible for more than half of all changes to the Earth’s
water system. … Climate change already looms large over the
world’s freshwater supply. Major sources of drinking water,
like the Colorado River, have less water and are flowing
more slowly due to climate change—even as they face increasing
demand from our water-hungry farms and cities. Rainfall itself
is becoming more erratic in some locations, such as
California…
Early in 2020, when the severity of COVID‐19 became evident, US
water utilities implementing conservation programs had to act
quickly to determine how to mitigate changes in their
conservation programs and staffing. Prioritization and
collaboration helped utility staff settle into their new way of
working, which included adapting to online connection with
customers and each other. These adaptations might lead to
permanent changes. Thanks in large part to the power of
technology, many water conservation and customer education
programs have continued, with interest and participation even
increasing in some cases.
The city of St. Helena strongly encouraged all residents and
businesses this week to join efforts to conserve its water
supply, particularly water used for outdoor irrigation. …The
city remains in Phase II Water Shortage Emergency because of
limited rainfall this season and the low level of the city’s
reservoir, Martin Beltran, a management analyst for the city’s
Public Works Department, said Monday in a news release.
In an innovative time where power and energy have evolved
tremendously in the past few decades, efficiency and
conservation have become new focal points, constantly being
optimized in balance with costs. A study conducted by UC Davis’
Center for Water-Energy Efficiency illuminates the possibility
of saving not only water but also energy and greenhouse gas
emissions through water conservation programs.
Despite taking two years off from Congress, David Valadao
(R—Hanford) is getting back to work by introducing new
legislation to help keep water flowing in the Central Valley.
Early this month, Valadao introduced the Responsible, No-Cost
Extension of Western Water Infrastructure Improvements, or
RENEW WIIN, Act, a no-cost, clean extension of operations and
storage provisions of the WIIN Act. The RENEW WIIN Act would
extend the general and operations provisions of Subtitle J of
the WIIN Act and extend the provision requiring consultation on
coordinated operations of the Central Valley Project and State
Water Project.
A part of the natural water cycle, groundwater is an important
element of California’s water supply, especially in the Central
Valley, where one in four people rely on it entirely. It is an
especially important resource in the Solano Subbasin, a
geographic area that includes Dixon, parts of Vacaville,
Elmira, Rio Vista, unincorporated Winters, Davis, the Montezuma
Hills, Isleton, Sherman Island and Walnut Grove. And every
quarter, the Solano Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agency
Collaborative, aka the Solano Collaborative, hosts a Community
Advisory Committee meeting and will so again from 3 to 5 p.m.
Wednesday.
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors in
February 2021 announced a plan to distribute a rebate of $44.4
million to its 24 member agencies across the region after
receiving a check for that amount from the Los Angeles-based
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to pay legal
damages and interest, according to a SDCWA press release.
Anyone who has hosted a good dinner party knows that the guest
list, table setting and topic of conversation play a big role
in determining whether the night is a hit or the guests leave
angry and unsatisfied. That concept is about to get a true test
on the Colorado River, where chairs are being pulled up to a
negotiating table to start a new round of talks that could
define how the river system adapts to a changing climate for
the next generation.
The winter storms that dumped heavy snow and rain
across California early in 2021 are likely not enough to negate
what will be a critically dry year, state water officials
believe. California’s Department of Water Resources on
Tuesday recorded a snow depth of 56 inches and water content of
21 inches at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada. The water
content of the overall snowpack was 61% of the average for
March 2 and 54% of the average for April 1, when it is
historically at its maximum.
NEWS RELEASE: The Department of Water Resources today
conducted the third manual snow survey of the season at
Phillips Station. The manual survey recorded 56 inches of snow
depth and a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 21 inches, which is
86 percent of average for this location. The SWE measures the
amount of water contained in the snowpack and is a key
component of DWR’s water supply forecast….statewide the
snowpack’s SWE is 15 inches, or 61 percent of the March 2
average, and 54 percent of the April 1 average.
Addressing the San Diego region’s limited local water supplies
with innovative ideas is something the San Diego County Water
Authority has become known for. Using expertise gained from
decades of successful planning and projects, the Water
Authority is developing strategies to reduce the future cost of
water that sustains the economy and quality of life across the
county.
A tsunami of love is what anyone walking into 67-year-old
Deborah Bell-Holt’s Jefferson Park home can expect. … That’s
why when the pandemic hit, she welcomed back with open arms
eight of her children and grandchildren. All of a sudden, her
household grew from four to 12. But those extra family
members added another wrinkle to Holt’s already complicated
situation with water affordability. At the beginning of the
pandemic Holt owed $8,000 to LADWP, now her debt is over
$17,000.
A majority of Colorado voters believe the state should spend
more money on protecting and conserving its water resources,
but they’re not willing to support new state taxes to fund the
work, according to a series of bipartisan polls conducted over
the past 18 months. … Though the polling also showed some
support for such potential tools as a new statewide tourism tax
or a bottle tax, that support eroded quickly when likely voters
were asked about a new statewide tax, with 39% of likely voters
saying they were skeptical the state could be trusted to spend
the money wisely…
Water may be life, but most residents of Southern California do
not often reflect on the complex series of canals, pumps, and
pipelines that connect where they live to water sources like
the Colorado River, the Sierras, or the numerous water basins
under LA County. Even less appreciated is the role water
districts play in combining water sources, treating our water,
and distributing it. Major water districts influence water
quality and rates. They decide how to meet future water needs
in an era of drought and climate change. These agencies
determine if your water comes from sustainable local sources
like conservation and recycling or from desert-damaging water
mining projects like Cadiz.
The Helix Water District Board of Directors last week
unanimously approved funding for the district’s first financial
customer assistance program, which will help East County
residents who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The
“Helix Helps Customer Assistance Program” will roll out in
April and will offer a one-time credit of up to $300 for
eligible single-family residential customers who are behind on
their bills.
A disappointingly dry February is fanning fears of another
severe drought in California, and cities and farms are bracing
for problems. In many places, including parts of the Bay Area,
water users are already being asked to cut back. The
state’s monthly snow survey on Tuesday will show only about 60%
of average snowpack for this point in the year, the latest
indication that water supplies are tightening. With the end of
the stormy season approaching, forecasters don’t expect much
more buildup of snow, a key component of the statewide supply
that provides up to a third of California’s water.
As the planet warms, scientists expect that mountain snowpack
should melt progressively earlier in the year. However,
observations in the U.S. show that as temperatures have risen,
snowpack melt is relatively unaffected in some regions while
others can experience snowpack melt a month earlier in the
year.
Last year, Utah experienced its worst drought in 20 years.
Typically Utahns count on spring snowpack to remedy a dry year
and while February snows have been a boon to ski areas the
question remains: are they enough to generate an average water
supply?
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Monday joined a
lawsuit challenging a Trump-era rule revising nationwide
standards for controlling and remediating lead in drinking
water. While the final rule includes certain necessary
updates to the existing standard, these changes are
overshadowed by the unlawful weakening of
critical requirements and the rule’s failure to
protect the public from lead in drinking water to
the maximum extent feasible, as required by law.
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.
The California Water Service recently announced it made a
monetary donation to two local community organizations for its
philanthropic contributions in 2020. Cal Water’s Antelope
Valley District made a donation totaling $3,000 to the Antelope
Valley Boys and Girls Club, as well as, the Hughes-Elizabeth
Lakes Woman’s Club.
The Bureau of Reclamation and Department of Water Resources
plan to allocate approximately 5 million acre feet of water
this year – as long as California allows them to effectively
drain the two largest reservoirs in the state, potentially
killing most or nearly all the endangered winter-run Chinook
salmon this year, threatening the state’s resilience to
continued dry conditions, and maybe even violating water
quality standards in the Delta.
Lake Wohlford Dam is an important water storage, flood control
and recreational facility that has served Escondido for
generations. Restoring storage capacity and making it
earthquake-safe is critically important, which is why I
introduced AB 692. The dam was originally constructed in
1895 to store water transported via a wooden flume from the San
Luis Rey River to Escondido. One of the first rock-fill dams in
California, Lake Wohlford Dam was 76 feet high and had a
storage capacity of about 3500 acre-feet.
-Written by Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron,
R-Escondido.
Ninety-nine percent of the state is dry, according to ABC Seven
News Meteorologist Mike Nicco. More than half of the state is
in severe drought mode and 31% is in the extreme drought
conditions which includes part of the North Bay. The Bay
Area is abnormally dry right now, but that should have changed
in January and February as they are typically our wettest
months.
On Feb. 22, 2021, Lake Powell was 127.24 feet below ‘Full Pool’
or, by content, about 38% full. Based on water level
elevations, these measurements do not account for years of
sediment (clay, silt, and sand) accumulation—the millions of
metric tons on the bottom. Geologist James L. Powell said, “The
Colorado delivers enough sediment to Lake Powell to fill 1,400
ship cargo containers each day.” In other words, Lake
Powell is shrinking toward the middle from top and bottom. The
lake is down over 30 feet from one year ago, and estimates
suggest it could drop another 50 feet by 2026. The Bureau of
Reclamation estimated the lifespan of Glen Canyon Dam at
500–700 years. Other estimates aren’t as optimistic, including
some as low as 50 years.
California is spending more than $200 million to keep an
unfolding ecological crisis from getting worse. The state wants
to stabilize habitat along the southern bank of the Salton Sea,
the state’s largest lake. That is good news for nearby
residents concerned about their health, but the restoration
could also affect everyone who draws water from the Colorado
River. At issue is the wide swaths of exposed lakebed that have
been uncovered as the thirsty lake’s water evaporates in the
desert air. The lake bottom is typically a deep layer of fine
silt. When covered by water, it poses no risk. But once exposed
to the air, and whipped up by the region’s strong winds, the
dust becomes a major health risk.
Monterey One Water just celebrated the one-year anniversary of
delivering recycled wastewater via the Pure Water Monterey
project. The advanced filtration system is used on treated
sewage water, which is then injected deep underground where the
new supply will be mixed with the existing water supply.
Even before phase one of the Pure Water Monterey project was
online, the board of M1W began debating an expansion of the
project. But that expansion has been on ice for months, after
the M1W board voted 11-10 (on a weighted vote) in April of 2020
not to proceed. It’s about to come back.
An invisible line splits the rural road of Avenue 416 in
California’s Tulare county, at the point where the nut trees
stretch east toward the towering Sierra Nevada mountains in the
distance. On one side of the line, residents have clean water.
On the other side, they do not. On the other side lies East
Orosi, an unincorporated community of about 700 where children
grow up learning to never open their eyes or mouths while they
shower. They know that what comes out of their faucets may harm
them, and parents warn they must not swallow when they brush
their teeth. They spend their lives sustaining themselves on
bottled water while just one mile down Avenue 416, the same
children they go to school with in the community of Orosi can
drink from their taps freely and bathe without a second
thought.
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors
Thursday announced a plan to distribute a rebate of $44.4
million to its 24 member agencies across the region. They did
so after receiving a check for that amount from the Los
Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California to pay legal damages and interest after a long legal
battle. The money resulted from the water authority’s
decade-long litigation in Superior Court seeking to compel MWD
to set legal rates and repay overcharges.
A Senate committee unanimously approved a bill Thursday to
create Utah’s Colorado River Authority, which would be tasked
with helping the state renegotiate its share of the river.
Originally the bill allowed broad reasons to close meetings and
protect records. It’s since been changed twice to come more
into compliance with the state’s open meeting and record laws.
Critics of the bill said it’s still not enough. Mike O’Brien,
an attorney with the Utah Media Coalition, said having a
narrower scope for open meetings and records exemptions makes
the bill better than when it was first introduced. But he
wishes it would follow laws already there.
Sterling Construction Company, Inc. today announced that its
subsidiary, Road and Highway Builders, LLC, has been awarded a
$135 million heavy civil contract by the City of Los Angeles
for the construction of the North Haiwee Dam No. 2 in Inyo
County, CA. …The project will also involve the rerouting of
the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which supplies clean drinking water
to the city of Los Angeles, to allow for the appropriate
tie-ins for the dam construction.
This month, the comment period for a potentially landmark piece
of legislation ended. Since California v. Arizona in 2000, the
Colorado River Indian Tribes have the sole rights to more than
600,000 acres-feet of water from the Colorado River, but they
are barred from selling or leasing any of this water to outside
communities. The proposed federal legislation, led by
the tribes themselves, would allow them to lease some of this
water as long as they reduce their own water consumption by an
equivalent amount.
-Written by Isaac Humrich, a senior at Sunnyslope High
School in Phoenix and a member of American Conservation
Coalition.
San Francisco has long been an international leader on
environmental issues. However, water policy has been a stain on
that record. … Many California rivers are overtapped by
excessive pumping, but few are in worse condition than the
Tuolumne River. In drier years, more than 90% of the Tuolumne’s
water is diverted. On average, 80 percent of the river’s flow
never makes it to the Bay. It’s not a surprise that the river’s
health has collapsed. …
-Written by Bill Martin, a member of the Sierra Club
Bay Chapter Water Committee, and Hunter Cutting, a member
of the Sierra Club Bay Chapter’s San Francisco Group Executive
Committee.
The Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD)
is the largest groundwater agency in the State of California,
managing and protecting local groundwater resources for over
four million residents. WRD’s service area covers a
420-square-mile region of southern Los Angeles County, the most
populated county in the United States. The 43 cities in the
service area, including a portion of the City of Los Angeles,
use about 215,000 acre-feet (70 billion gallons) of groundwater
annually which accounts for about half of the region’s potable
water supply.
On December 7, 2020, financial futures based on California
water prices began trading. This post is a short introduction
to these water futures. First, what’s a future? A future is a
type of contract. It obligates the seller, who receives money,
to provide some good at some future date, to the buyer, who
pays money now to lock in the right to buy that good at that
price. Humans have been using futures for thousands of years,
primarily for agricultural products. But in recent years the
futures markets have been expanding.
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) released the following
statement on being named chairman of the Appropriations
Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. This subcommittee
has jurisdiction over funding levels for the Department of
Energy, the Army Corp of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation
and other federal agencies related to our nation’s energy and
water infrastructure programs.
Democratic lawmakers and advocates are urging Joe Biden to back
legislation proposing unprecedented investment in America’s
ailing water infrastructure amid the country’s worst crisis in
decades that has left millions of people without access to
clean, safe, affordable water. Boil advisories, leaky lead
pipes, poisonous forever chemicals, bill arrears and raw sewage
are among the urgent issues facing ordinary Americans and
municipal utilities after decades of federal government
neglect, which has brought the country’s ageing water systems
hurtling towards disaster. … Water supplies and
sanitation have been disrupted over and over in recent decades
– in Louisiana, Puerto Rico, California, Ohio and elsewhere …
Federal regulators have issued a preliminary permit for a
pumped-hydropower project using water from Lake Powell, but
conservation groups say climate change could make the plan
unsustainable. The project would pump water from the lake,
drain it downhill to a generator, and send the power to massive
batteries for storage. The 2,200-megawatt project would supply
cities in Arizona, California and Nevada, over lines previously
used by the retired Navajo Generating Station. Gary Wockner,
executive director for Save the Colorado, which opposes the
plan, said falling water levels will make the Colorado River
Basin an unreliable source of water.
Arizona, California, and Nevada will need to cut their use of
Colorado River water by nearly 40 percent by 2050. A
study by researchers at Utah State University, which
the Arizona Daily Star reported this past Sunday, noted
that Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—the Upper Basin
states—will have to reduce their usage, as well, though not by
as much as those pulling water from the Lower Basin.
Consider California’s water systems. That they are not designed
for what is coming seismically is no secret. Southern
California still imports most of its water, and all of that
imported water has to cross the San Andreas fault to get to us.
None of those crossings has been engineered to work after the
San Andreas breaks, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and
Power has estimated that it will take 18 months to repair all
of them. -Written by seismologist Lucy Jones, the founder of
the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society and the
author of “The Big Ones.”
California’s hydrologic conditions remain dry as February draws
to a close. Although late January storms improved a then-dismal
snowpack, statewide snowpack remains at about two-thirds of
average for this time of year (or 54 percent of the April 1st
average) and natural flow in key Sierra Nevada watersheds is
still tracking at amounts seen in the severe drought years of
2014 and 2015.
The San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District has decided
to join them, not fight them. Stymied by environmental barriers
and losses in court for 11 years, the large water wholesaler
serving 700,000 residential and business customers from Fontana
to Yucaipa is on the precipice of releasing an environmentally
based plan that would nearly double its supply of water by
diverting billions of gallons from the Upper Santa Ana River,
while mitigating the effects on 20 indigenous fish and bird
species.
As Executive Officer Jessica R. Pearson identified in her
December blog on the Delta Adapts initiative, “social
vulnerability means that a person, household, or community has
a heightened sensitivity to the climate hazards and/or a
decreased ability to adapt to those hazards.” With an eye
toward social vulnerability and environmental justice along
with the coequal goals in mind, we launched our Delta Adapts
climate change resilience initiative in 2018.
Picture the desert landscape of a Mad Max movie populated with
vigilantes devoted to acquiring not gasoline — but water.
This scenario isn’t as far-fetched as you might think. “Water
wars” describes conflicts between countries, states, or groups
over the right to access water resources, usually
freshwater. … As Los Angeles expanded during the
late 19th century, it outgrew its water supply, and L.A.’s
mayor, Fred Eaton, came up with the plan to divert water from
the Owens Valley to L.A. via an aqueduct.
For centuries, farmers have found ingenious ways of making the
best of the water available, but access to fresh water is
becoming more and more unpredictable. Extreme weather events
and drought is as much of a threat, as flash flooding in farms
and food producers. … In California’s Central
Valley, a region that produces a quarter of the USA’s food and
relies mostly on water pumped from underground, to irrigate the
crops, is fast running out of its water supply.
New Frontier Data, the premier data, analytics and technology
firm specializing in the global cannabis industry, in
partnership with Resource Innovation Institute and the Berkeley
Cannabis Research Center, releases Cannabis H2O: Water Use and
Sustainability in Cultivation. The report provides an in-depth
look at water usage in the regulated cannabis cultivation
market and how its use compares to the illicit market and
traditional agricultural sectors. … The report reveals that
the cannabis industry uses significantly less water than other
major agricultural crops in California.
Vanderbilt paleoclimatologists using pioneering research
have uncovered evidence of ancient climate “whiplash” in
California that exceeded even the extremes the state has
weathered in the past decade. Their findings present a
long-term picture of what regional climate change may look like
in the state that supplies the U.S. with more than a third
of its vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts.
With much of Northern California swathed in a severe drought,
the city of Healdsburg is asking residents to voluntarily
conserve water by reducing irrigation and switching to drought
resistant plants, fixing leaky faucets and running clothes and
dishwashers at full capacity. As of Jan. 19, precipitation was
at 40% of normal rainfall according to Felicia Smith, a utility
conservation analyst with the city of Healdsburg.
From California’s perspective, the view upriver is not
encouraging. More than half of the upper part of the river
basin is in “exceptional drought,” according to the U.S.
Drought Monitor, while the Lower Basin is even worse off: More
than 60% of it is in the highest drought level. In January,
water levels in Lake Powell, the river’s second-largest
reservoir, dropped to unprecedented depths, triggering a
drought contingency plan for the first time for the Upper Basin
states of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico. Since
2000, the Colorado River Basin has seen a sustained period of
less water and hotter days. This is, as climate scientists like
to say, the “new normal.”
AT FIRST GLANCE, THIS STRUCTURE appears to be an enigma. It’s a
bridge between two granite monoliths, an above-ground tunnel,
and an aqueduct carrying water over a creek. This structure is
actually part of an elaborate water system. The Feather River
Canyon is a scenic wonder. Sheer granite slabs rise hundreds of
feet above the water. Almost equally impressive are the
measures engineers have taken to conquer this rugged terrain.
The red flags are everywhere for a builder staring out at wide
swaths of Riverside County’s second largest city: grassy lots,
bumpy dirt roads, entire blocks without streetlights and an
unreliable water system where water pressure drops without
warning. … Still, the lack of infrastructure, from roads
and electricity to water and sewer, hasn’t stopped state
housing planners from earmarking some 14,000 low-income units
in Moreno Valley to help address the state’s housing crisis —
even if none of it ever gets built.
I came to the little town of Ojai in Ventura county with a
history of running municipal water conservation programs, most
recently working with Pasadena Water and Power as a drought
coordinator. We were at the end of a 6 year drought and I
started working for Patagonia, a clothing company with a social
and environmental ethic in Ventura, who hired me to review
either ocean desalination or connecting to the state water
project as water supply options. I recommended neither.
Climate change will continue to impact the West, and
particularly its water supply—the many impacts include longer
and more damaging wildfire seasons as well as prolonged
drought. Federal leadership and action are needed to address
the climate crisis. With the 117th Congress now in session,
Audubon is advocating at the federal level for funding and
policy priorities that restore habitat, protect communities,
and support birds through proactive water management and
conservation.
A government agency that controls much of California’s water
supply released its initial allocation for 2021, and the
numbers reinforced fears that the state is falling into another
drought. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said Tuesday that most
of the water agencies that rely on the Central Valley Project
will get just 5% of their contract supply, a dismally low
number. Although the figure could grow if California gets more
rain and snow, the allocation comes amid fresh weather
forecasts suggesting the dry winter is continuing. The National
Weather Service says the Sacramento Valley will be warm and
windy the next few days, with no rain in the forecast.
California’s wet season has not brought much relief so far and
the outlook is not promising. …Unfortunately, the outlook is
not promising. Little to no precipitation is expected through
the end of February. California, with the exception of far
northern areas, will likely experience drier than average
conditions during the March through May period, according to
NOAA. Above-average temperatures are also anticipated for the
southern half of the state this spring.
Tuolumne Utilities District provided an update on Thursday
regarding negotiations to acquire Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
assets in the South Fork Stanislaus River watershed and rights
to water in New Melones Reservoir, though the possible costs
remain unclear due to a confidentiality agreement. The TUD
Board of Directors hosted a rare joint meeting via video with
the county Board of Supervisors, Sonora City Council, local
Me-Wuk Indian tribes, and other stakeholders, during which
members spoke about the need for community-wide cooperation and
collaboration due to the scope of the undertaking.
The Santa Cruz City Council is poised to approve a 5-year
extension between the City and Soquel Creek Water Districts on
a pilot program that would funnel excess surface water to
Soquel Creek during winter months, in hopes of bolstering
overdrawn groundwater supply there. That surface water, on
average, is projected to be around 115 million gallons
delivered by Santa Cruz Water to Soquel Creek during the wet
season, which would take strain off pumping the Santa Cruz
Mid-County Groundwater Basin.
The McMullin Area Groundwater Sustainability Agency (MAGSA), a
Groundwater Sustainability Agency in the Central Valley’s Kings
Subbasin, has been awarded a $10 million grant by the State
Water Resources Control Board through the Prop 1 Stormwater
Grant Program to expand the existing McMullin On-Farm Recharge
(OFR) Project located near Helm in Fresno County. The
Project is identified in MAGSA’s Groundwater Sustainability
Plan and is a key element in a vision developed by MAGSA to
achieve groundwater sustainability under California’s
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) through
innovative approaches in groundwater banking and crediting.
Texas has always seen its share of extreme weather events,
but over the past two decades they have intensified. A few
years ago, after the fifth “ 500-year flood” in five years, I
remarked to a friend, “We’re going to have to stop calling them
that.” … Of course, this uptick in extreme weather is
not limited to Texas. Numerous places across the country—and
indeed the globe—have experienced multiple “historic” weather
events in recent years. Last year, droughts in California led
to six of the largest wildfires in the state’s
history. In 2017 and 2018, British Columbia had two consecutive
record-setting forest fire seasons.
-Written by Robert Rapier, a chemical engineer
with over 25 years of experience in the energy
industry.
Crops are now blooming here in the San Joaquin Valley, which
marks the beginning of harvest season for farmers. As a
drier-than-usual wet season continues to unfold, many are
worried about how current drought conditions will impact this
year’s crop.
“Basic climate science reveals that Lake Powell is not a
reliable water source for this ill-conceived project.” The
reference to ‘basic climate science’ refers to recent computer
models that show a drier climate throughout the American
Southwest over the next few decades, allegedly due to the
continued use of fossil fuels all around the globe. But even
without access to clever computer models, we have all seen Lake
Powell and Lake Mead — America’s two largest water reservoirs —
struggle to remain even half full, as we watch water users
extract more water than nature can replace.
Lake Wohlford Dam is an important water storage, flood control
and recreational facility that has served Escondido for
generations. Restoring storage capacity and making it
earthquake-safe is critically important, which is why I
introduced AB 692. The dam was originally constructed in 1895
to store water transported via a wooden flume from the San Luis
Rey River to Escondido. One of the first rock-fill dams in
California, Lake Wohlford Dam was 76 feet high and had a
storage capacity of about 3500 acre-feet.
-Written by Assemblymember Marie Waldron,
R-Escondido
Utah House Bill 297 is a dangerous spending bill that provides
its benefactors with exemptions to conflict-of-interest laws
that raises serious moral questions about what is happening at
the Utah Legislature. The bill creates another heavily-funded
and secretive government agency — the Colorado River Authority
— that would receive an initial $9 million, plus $600,000 per
year thereafter, in addition to collecting unknown sums of
money from other agencies. -Written by Claire Geddes, a consumer advocate and former
director of Utah Legislative Watch.
The Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency has extended its public
comment period for the Saugus Formation Aquifer to March 19,
with the addition of a second virtual public meeting. The
meeting is expected to provide community members with an
additional opportunity to learn more about how the agency is
keeping its water safe for drinking water consumption through
minimizing and reducing the public health and environmental
effects of hazardous substances that have been identified in
the aquifer, as well as treatments that could allow several
wells to return to service.
When Gov. Gavin Newsom was photographed dining at an opulent
Napa Valley restaurant during a surge in coronavirus cases,
many Californians saw it as hypocrisy. For opponents of a
planned $1-billion desalination plant along the Orange County
coast, however, the optics were menacing. The unmasked Newsom
was celebrating the birthday of a lobbyist for Poseidon Water,
which is close to obtaining final government approval for one
of the country’s biggest seawater desalination plants.
There are six Mono Lake tributaries to be exact – Rush, Lee
Vining, Parker, Walker, Wilson, and Mill creeks. And the fact
is Mono Lake never had any surplus water; its fullness has
always depended on the amount of water running into it. So as
soon as some of that water was cut off, which began in 1941,
the Lake started to plummet and the entire ecosystem dependent
on those “half a dozen little mountain brooks” soon
followed.
Nearing the 50th anniversary of the federal Clean Water Act,
Assemblyman Robert Rivas held a press conference on Feb. 2 to
discuss the proposed California Clean Water Act, AB 377. The
legislation, co-introduced by Rivas and state Senate Majority
Leader Robert Hertzberg, would work to ensure all rivers,
lakes, oceans and other bodies of water in California are clean
enough for drinking, swimming and fishing purposes by
2050.
As she promised, State Senator Melissa Hurtado has reintroduced
legislation that would provide fund to improve California’s
water infrastructure, including the Friant-Kern Canal. On
Friday, Hurtado, a Democrat from Sanger whose district includes
Porterville, introduced the State Water Resiliency Act of 2021
that would provide $785 million to restore the ability of
infrastructure such as the Friant-Kern Canal to deliver water
at their capacity. The bill would also go to fund other
infrastructure such as the Delta-Mendota Canal, San Luis Canal
and California Aqueduct.
The main weather excitement of the season thus far was
certainly the major late January atmospheric event that was the
focus of my last blog post. Despite missing some the details
during the early portion of the event (winds were stronger and
precipitation less intense than originally predicted), the
storm largely evolved as expected–stalling along the Central
Coast and bringing very heavy double-digit rainfall totals
there, as well as extremely heavy snowfall throughout the
Sierra Nevada (on the order of 3-8 *feet* in many places).
On a bright February morning, Kulwant Singh Johl, a
third-generation Punjabi American farmer, checked the rain
gauge in front of his neat stucco home in Northern California’s
Yuba-Sutter area. Gusts and drizzles had battered his peach
orchard nonstop for a week, but it still wasn’t enough to
quench the recent drought. … And indeed, the
intensifying drought could devastate livelihoods of many
multigeneration Punjabi American farmers in California. This
year, many may have to sell their hard-earned farm plots and
leave an industry that they hold in high esteem.
Old Man Winter has been busy of late, bringing much-needed
relief to Utah’s dangerously low snowpacks. But don’t let the
piles of fresh snow fool you. After near-record low
precipitation over the past year, Utah water supplies remain in
serious trouble even with the recent return of long-absent wet
weather.
Lower groundwater levels can prevent drainage of water and
salts from a basin and increase aquifer salinity that
eventually renders the groundwater unsuitable for use as
drinking water or irrigation without expensive desalination.
Pauloo et al. (2021) demonstrate this process for the
Tulare Lake Basin (TLB) of California’s Central Valley. Even if
groundwater pumping does not cause overdraft, it can cause
hydrologic basin closure leading to progressive salinization
that will not cease until the basin is opened by allowing
natural or engineered exits for groundwater and dissolved salt.
The process, “Anthropogenic Basin Closure and Groundwater
Salinization (ABCSAL)”, is driven by human water
management.
Less water for the Central Arizona Project — but not zero
water. Even more competition between farms and cities for
dwindling Colorado River supplies than there is now. More
urgency to cut water use rather than wait for seven river basin
states to approve new guidelines in 2025 for operating the
river’s reservoirs. That’s where Arizona and the Southwest are
heading with water, say experts and environmental advocates
following publication of a dire new academic study on the
Colorado River’s future. The study warned that the river’s
Upper and Lower basin states must sustain severe cuts in river
water use to keep its reservoir system from collapsing due to
lack of water. That’s due to continued warming weather and
other symptoms of human-caused climate change, the study said.
In 1955 he joined Downey, Brand, Seymour and Rohwer in
Sacramento, becoming a partner in 1958 and specializing in
water and natural resources law. He represented the California
Central Valley Flood Control Association and over 30
reclamation, levee, water, and irrigation districts and mutual
water companies in the Sacramento Valley. He was actively
involved in negotiations leading to the water right settlement
agreements between the Sacramento River water users and the
United States in 1964. He formed the North Delta Water Agency
and negotiated the agreement in 1981 between that Agency and
the State of California, protecting water quality and uses
within the northern half of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
California’s $86 million date industry produces more than half
of the nation’s dates. Most of the fruit is grown in the arid
Coachella Valley. Despite efforts by growers to conserve water,
data was lacking on date palms’ actual water use to refine the
best irrigation management for the crop until a recent research
project led by Ali Montazar, UC Cooperative Extension
irrigation and water management advisor for Imperial and
Riverside counties.
California and Texas, the country’s two most populous states,
have each faced major energy crises within the past six months
that share a primary cause: extreme weather….The Lone Star
State’s plight is many orders of magnitude worse than the
rolling blackouts Californians endured over two blistering days
in August. Yet both situations have exposed the extent to which
the United States’ vital energy infrastructure is threatened by
erratic and extreme weather conditions that are becoming
increasingly common as climate change advances.
A recent webinar on trading of guaranteed future water prices
on the stock market showed the potential to drive up the price
tag of water for public agencies. During a Feb. 2 California
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) virtual meeting,
water stock market advocates were clear that prices would rise.
However, they stated that it would be a good thing, because
water has been undervalued and therefore wasted. Their approach
would encourage more efficient use of water, they told the CDFA
board.
California’s Sierra snow pack is 68% of average after a series
of storms in recent weeks. The Department of Water Resources
says the statewide average is down slightly from the 70% number
about two weeks ago during the last monthly snow survey. The
snow pack was sagging at about 40% of normal back in
mid-January.
The Tuolumne Utilities District hosted a joint meeting to
provide local stakeholders an update on efforts to acquire
PG&E assets like Pinecrest Reservoir and Lyons Dam, and
water rights from New Melones. The informational meeting
included the Tuolumne County Supervisors, Sonora City Council
and local tribal representatives.
Despite the challenges of working through a pandemic, river
restoration practitioners continued to pursue dam removal
projects in 2020 to revitalize local economies and communities
and reconnect 624 upstream river miles for fish, wildlife and
river health. Sixty-nine dams were removed in 2020 across 23
states, including: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont,
Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
The first few months of this rainfall season were below average
across California, with drought conditions evident statewide.
Although the Golden State received a much-needed soaking in
late January, moderate drought conditions remain across Santa
Clara County. Valley Water remains focused on preparing
for future wet and dry years through various projects and
programs, including the proposed expansion of Pacheco Reservoir
in southern Santa Clara County. -Written by Valley Water Directors, Vice Chair Gary
Kremen, John L. Varela, and Richard P. Santos.
Two elections held in the last three months have placed San
Bernardino County resident Jasmin Hall in a position where she
wields the most influence among a handful of African Americans
serving in California water industry leadership roles. Late
last year, Hall’s colleagues elected her the first African
American president of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency
(IEUA). Earlier this year, she was sworn in to serve in that
role.
“I was inspired by Erin Brockovich to help communities with
contaminated tap water,” says Ryan Sinderbrand, a junior at
Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks, “so I took some
environmental and sustainability classes to learn more. I’d
watched the news, and I’d heard stories about how serious the
problem was.” Wanting to help, he researched communities in
California with contaminated water and came across the
Coachella Valley.
An expert panel has concluded that the decades-old practice of
irrigating agricultural food crops with “produced water” from
oil fields shows no evidence of increased risk to human
health. The panel’s 35-page Food Safety Project White
Paper is the result of five years of extensive crop sampling
and a thorough evaluation of data, along with a review of
existing literature…. The Central Valley Regional Water
Quality Control Board is inviting members of the pubic to
comment on the white paper at its next meeting on Feb. 18-19,
along with an option to submit written comments until March 5.
Tuolumne Utilities District will continue to process
applications for new water hookups because its Board of
Directors failed Thursday to reach a determination on future
supply and availability. The TUD board held a special workshop
Thursday to grapple with the oldest challenge in county history
when it comes to water, but the big picture has not changed.
The district relies on the South Fork Stanislaus River
watershed that still provides a limited amount of runoff, an
average of 104,000 acre-feet annually, and typically has access
to less than one-quarter of that.
First Texans lost their power. Now, they’re losing their
potable water. After enduring multiple days of freezing
temperatures and Texans dripping faucets to prevent frozen
pipes from bursting, cities across the state warned residents
on Wednesday that water levels are dangerously low and may be
unsafe to drink. They’re telling Texans to boil tap water for
drinking, cooking, brushing their teeth and for making ice — as
residents have been struggling to maintain power and heat while
an unprecedented winter storm whips across the state.
Much like COVID-19 is changing our election practices and
day-to-day business operations, climate change could change
your water rights, according to the State Water Resources
Control Board. In the past, I have eluded to the shift from
historical facts used for analysis and forecasting to a
fear-based guessing game that allows an unelected bureaucracy
backed by a one-party-rule elected body to usurp your property
rights. -Written by Wayne Western, Jr. the Sun’s Agriculture
Pulse contributor, writing on the San Joaquin Valley’s
agricultural community and water issues.
Imposing hefty taxes on speculative water sales, requiring that
water rights purchased by investors be held for several years
before they can be resold, and requiring special state approval
of such sales are three ideas that might help Colorado protect
its water resources from speculators. The ideas were discussed
Wednesday at a meeting of a special work group looking at
whether Colorado needs to strengthen laws preventing Wall
Street investment firms and others from selling water for
profit in ways that don’t benefit the state’s farms, cities and
streams.
The Marin Municipal Water District is calling on customers to
voluntarily cut back on their water use for the first time
since the 2013 drought in response to meager rainfall
reminiscent of the notorious 1976-1977 drought.
A local water utility company is set to share information about
how the Littlerock Creek watershed was adversely affected by
the Bobcat fire. Palmdale Water District will host a free,
virtual event at 3 p.m. on Feb. 24 and provide information to
the public about what steps are being taken to mitigate the
damage. Much of the watershed has been burned and there is
concern that potential heavy debris flow will create excessive
sediment in the Littlerock Reservoir and affect water quality.
In its 25-year plan ensuring the San Diego region has enough
water to go around, the county’s largest water provider didn’t
appear to take the region’s biggest water recycling project to
date very seriously, at least at first. Emails between the San
Diego County Water Authority staff and city of San Diego
officials show the city had to argue for the second and biggest
phase of its Pure Water program to be considered a realistic
future source of drinking water.
A western water conference that draws national speakers each
year — and normally draws Basin irrigators to Reno for the
weekend — is being held virtually this Thursday and Friday due
to COVID precautions. The Family Farm Alliance conference,
organized in part by Klamath Falls-based executive director Dan
Keppen, is themed “A Bridge over Troubled Water” this year. The
alliance advocates for irrigated agriculture in 17 western
states, including in Oregon.
Utah lawmakers say drought and the dwindling Colorado River
make it more important than ever for the state to act now to
safeguard its interest in the river.
Growers all over the U.S. are concerned about labor, and those
in the Golden State are no exception. The California Fresh
Fruit Association (CFFA) announced the results of their “Top
Issues Survey” for 2021, and labor- and water-related issues
were prominently featured. CFFA members were recently surveyed
to rank the top issues for the association to focus its efforts
on this year.
Industrial “forever chemicals” found in hundreds of consumer
goods and linked to adverse health effects may face new
regulations under the Biden administration. Why it matters:
Environmental groups and members of Congress are calling on
President Biden to follow through with his promise to designate
the long-ignored and largely unregulated synthetic chemicals,
which can last for hundreds of years without breaking down, as
hazardous substances. They’re also calling for him to set
enforceable limits for the chemicals in the Safe Drinking Water
Act and to fund toxicity research on them.
The Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District and the Trinidad
Rancheria are moving forward with a feasibility study to
investigate the possibility of extending water service from
McKinleyville up to the Rancheria. The Trinidad City Council
and the Westhaven Community Services District declined to
participate in the study last month, citing risks of
overdevelopment.
Investors, farmers, and Reddit users can now all hedge bets on
the price of water in California thanks to the launch of the
first water futures market in the country late last year. It
represents a new financial outlook on water in California — one
driven by the market. Since its launch Dec. 7, the futures the
market has seen 180 trades — equivalent to over 550 million
gallons of actual water. But the water futures market has
nothing to do with the movement of real water: it’s just about
money.
The process to recoup over $1 billion in repairs to Oroville
Dam’s spillways after the 2017 crisis is receiving more federal
funds. The Department of Water Resources announced Feb. 1 that
the Federal Emergency Management Agency released an additional
approximately $308 million in requested funds for the Oroville
Dam spillways reconstruction and emergency response. These
funds are in addition to over $260 million that FEMA has
already committed to …
The San Diego Water Authority thinks the region is going to
need way more water over the next few decades, but the smaller
agencies that buy water from them aren’t so sure. They think
the Water Authority is projecting too much growth in future
water demand, and they’re worried that if they’re right,
residents are going to end up paying for it, even as they
curtail their own water usage.
A series of precipitation-producing storms continue to
contribute to the abundance of new snow to the Sierra and
officials hope to see Northern California to catch up soon from
the slow start to winter and remnants from a dry 2020. Last
week, state water officials made their second trek to the
Sierra to measure the latest snowpack, which showed great
improvement and hopes that more is on the way. Statewide, the
water content of the snowpack was 70 percent of average to date
…
A major water banking proposal northwest of Bakersfield that
won coveted Proposition 1 funding in 2018, was hit by two
lawsuits earlier this month, one claiming it is nothing more
than a wolf in sheep’s clothing intent on selling Kern River
water to southern California. The City of Bakersfield and
the Kern County Water Agency filed separate complaints Feb. 2
against the Kern Fan Groundwater Storage Project seeking to
have the project’s recently approved environmental impact
report deemed inadequate. …
A series of storms will usher in a wet holiday weekend across
Northern California, threatening to put a damper on outdoor
activities and cause driving delays for holiday travelers. The
soaking rains that doused much of the Bay Area on Thursday were
anticipated to dissipate by sunrise on Friday, according to the
National Weather Service. But more wet weather is expected to
arrive Saturday and Monday, bringing light to moderate rains
and cooler temperatures.
The Kern County Farm Bureau issued a “call to action” this week
asking local growers and ranchers to participate in a series of
upcoming meetings that will influence the role California’s
agricultural lands will be expected to play, or continue to
play, in fighting climate change.
Veteran water industry executive Tish Berge is joining the San
Diego County Water Authority as assistant general manager,
bringing experience from every aspect of water utility
management to serve the region. Berge is currently general
manager of the Sweetwater Authority, one of the Water
Authority’s 24 member agencies. Berge starts her new role
February 22 alongside Deputy General Manager Dan Denham and
General Manager Sandra L. Kerl.
When the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak swept
across the United States, toilet paper, hand sanitiser and
Clorox wipes flew off store shelves. But shopping carts have
also been full of something that most Americans get supplied
straight to their home: Water.
Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson says the state needs to do
everything it can to protect its share of water in the
drought-challenged Colorado River, and the creation of a new
entity would foster that protection. … He and Senate
President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, are sponsors of the Colorado
River Amendments, HB297, which would set up the Colorado River
Authority of Utah with $9 million in one-time money and
$600,000 of ongoing money.
In a tense, two-and-a-half-hour board meeting on Feb. 4 that
included more than 100 attendees, San Lorenzo Valley Water
District (SLVWD) broached the subject of a potential merger
with Scotts Valley Water District (SVWD). The reaction from
those who attended the Zoom meeting was anything but subtle:
the majority opposed the idea, and representatives of SLVWD
found themselves back on their heels from the opening salvo.
When it comes to water availability in the Santa Clarita
Valley, the issue is not new and has certainly been discussed
“ad nauseam,” but we seem to look on it as a new subject every
couple of years. … The SCV Water team are supposed to be
experts, they have monitored the valley’s water use for years,
they know the differences in water use based on the season and
should have accounted for our water needs. But instead, what
they have done is continually add new users, stretching the
supply over a larger base…
-Written by Alan Ferdman, a Santa Clarita resident and a
member of the Canyon Country Advisory Committee board.
While the situations and circumstances may have been
unfamiliar, SCV Water faced them with expertise,
professionalism and compassion. We assessed the situation,
adjusted our sails, and adapted to meet the challenges while
holding fast to our mission: Providing responsible water
stewardship to ensure the Santa Clarita Valley has reliable
supplies of high-quality water at a reasonable cost.
-Written by Gary Martin, board president of the Santa
Clarita Valley Water Agency.
Nearly every home has a water heater, but people tend not to
think about it until the shock of a cold shower signals its
failure. To regulators, though, the ubiquitous household
appliance is increasingly top of mind for the role it could
play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and weaning the power
grid from fossil fuels High-tech electric water heaters can
double as thermal batteries, storing excess production from
wind and solar generators. In California,
officials aim to install them in place of millions of
gas water heaters throughout the state. That would reduce the
need to fire up polluting fossil fuel power plants to supply
electricity for water heating after the sun sets.
In the five years since Colorado’s Water Plan took effect, the
state has awarded nearly $500 million in loans and grants for
water projects, cities have enacted strict drought plans,
communities have written nearly two dozen locally based stream
restoration plans, and crews have been hard at work improving
irrigation systems and upgrading wastewater treatment plants.
But big challenges lie ahead — drought, population growth,
accelerating climate change, budget cuts, wildfires and
competing demands for water, among others.
There’s a race on in California, and each day matters: the
precipitation during winter that fuels the snowpack in the
Sierra Nevadas and fills groundwater supplies has been slow to
start, and faltering at best. Northern California remains stuck
in one of the worst two-year rainfall deficits seen since the
1849 Gold Rush, increasing the risk of water restrictions and
potentially setting up dangerous wildfire conditions next
summer. The current precipitation is only 30% to 70% of what
the state would expect to have seen during a normal year – with
no more big rainfall events on the horizon for February.
A Northern California water users’ association has filed a
motion against a $450 million plan to tear down four dams on
the Klamath River they claim irrevocably hurts local
homeowners. The motion was filed with the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) last Wednesday by the Murphy and
Buchal Law firm on behalf of the Siskiyou County Water Users
Association. It claims the interstate agreement reached by
Oregon and California last year to remove the dams has incurred
“irreparable damage” to lakefront home values in the COPCO Lake
area as water levels are feared to decline.
The Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District recently
ruled in Wyatt v. City of Sacramento that a City’s imposition
of a surcharge in the form of a “general tax” on
property-related utility services payable to the City’s general
fund did not violate Proposition 218 (Prop. 218). The
appellate court decision confirms that a surcharge imposed on a
utility enterprise is a cost of providing utility services and
is therefore properly part of the Prop. 218 analysis of
determining whether revenues exceed funds required to provide
the services.
It might be hard to imagine that it has already been more than
five years since we exited the extreme dry years of 2014 and
2015. At that time, local, state and federal water managers
were taking unprecedented actions in response to the dry
conditions to maximize beneficial uses and every Californian
was feeling the impact of multiple dry years. … In their
blog earlier this year, Fritz Durst and Brent Hastey outlined
much of the work that has occurred since 2015 to prepare
for the next dry year. In addition to those actions, we also
have worked to better identify the timing and quantity of water
needed during dry years to maximize habitat benefits with
limited resources.
In the latest Delta Conveyance Deep Dive video, we take a look
at the financing mechanisms that make the project possible,
both now, in the initial planning stages, and in the future if
the project is approved. It might not sound like the most
exciting aspect of the project but it’s certainly one area
where there’s a lot of public interest and concern. With a
project of this scale (the most recent estimate of the total
cost is around $16 billion) it’s not surprising that
people want to know who’s footing the bill.
Two decades ago, Nicole Horseherder, a member of the Navajo
Nation, coordinated a community meeting. Beneath the shade of
Juniper trees at her late grandmother’s house, several dozen
people gathered to find a way to protect their pristine water.
The springs and wells along Black Mesa, a semi-arid, rocky mesa
that overlies the Navajo Aquifer, were increasingly drying up,
as tens of billions of gallons of potable water were used to
extract, clean, and transport coal mined in the region. This
meeting was the start of a long struggle to safeguard the
community from coal projects, which threatened the drinking
water supply of both the Navajo and Hopi people.
A storm is forecast to bring rain to the Bay Area on Thursday
Feb. 11, 2021. After a stretch of sunny, dry weather, the first
significant rainfall is heading to the Bay Area since an
atmospheric river storm pummeled Northern California two weeks
ago. A new storm is forecast to roll in Thursday night,
forecasters said Tuesday. It won’t be anywhere near as big as
the late January storm that triggered landslide warnings and
evacuations in Santa Cruz County communities, and washed out a
big chunk of Highway 1 in Big Sur.
In the five years since Colorado’s Water Plan took effect, the
state has awarded nearly $500 million in loans and grants for
water projects, cities have enacted strict drought plans,
communities have written nearly two dozen locally based
stream-restoration plans and crews have been hard at work on
improving irrigation systems and wastewater treatment plants.
But there are big challenges ahead — drought, population
growth, accelerating climate change, budget cuts, wildfires and
competing demands for water, among others.
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.
Three new directors representing the cities of Fullerton and
Santa Ana as well as the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal
Water District were seated on the board of directors of the
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
A new report finds that nearly 70,000 San Diego families are
behind on their water bills during the pandemic, with more than
11,000 owing over a thousand dollars. That same study by
the state’s Water Resources Control Board finds that one in
eight California households are behind on their water bills: a
a tsunami of debt adding up to more than a billion dollars.
California American Water recently announced its end-of-year
investment total and system improvements for 2020. More than
$68 million total was invested on system upgrades and various
improvement projects in the communities we serve throughout the
year. These improvements come despite the complications and
challenges posed by COVID-19 public health emergency.
Marin County water districts are weighing the need for
mandatory conservation actions in the face of abnormally low
rainfall and what could be another prolonged drought. Marin’s
two largest suppliers — the Marin Municipal Water District and
the North Marin Water District — plan to begin with voluntary
conservation measures before considering more restrictive
options such as rationing and irrigation bans similar to those
of the 2014 drought.
The Klamath Basin’s snowpack forecast isn’t looking so hot this
month, but it’s still too early to tell whether water year
2021’s luck will change. The Natural Resources Conservation
Service released its February outlook report last week,
reporting below average precipitation and snowpack in river
basins across Oregon. Though January did bring several winter
storms to the region, warmer-than-normal temperatures caused
them to dump more rain than snow on mountains, melting some of
the powder that had already accumulated in some areas of the
state.
The flash flood that killed dozens of people and left hundreds
missing in the Himalayas of India on Sunday was far from the
first such disaster to occur among the world’s high-mountain
glaciers. In a world with a changing climate, it won’t be the
last. Shrinking and thinning of glaciers is one of the most
documented signs of the effects of global warming caused by
emissions of greenhouse gases … Over the long term,
there are concerns about what the loss of
glaciers will mean for billions of people around the world
who rely on them at least in part for water for drinking,
industry and agriculture.
State Water Board Member Tam Doduc believes the board will
approve a Bay-Delta Plan that includes voluntary agreements
with agricultural water interests.
Unpaid water bills are piling up during the pandemic, as small
water providers in the central San Joaquin Valley teeter toward
a financial crisis that could affect drinking water quality and
affordability. More than 76,000 customers in Madera, Fresno,
Tulare and Kings counties are behind on their water bills for a
total debt of more than $15 million — according to the results
of a state survey of just a fraction of community water
systems. In reality, the collective debt is much larger. Small
community water systems, many already on shaky financial
footing, may need a bailout to keep safe and drinkable water
running at a price affordable to customers.
California Water Service (Cal Water) has announced temporary
leadership changes for its Oroville District. Evan Markey has
been named Interim District Manager, while previous District
Manager George Barber is serving as Interim Director of Field
Operations for the utility’s northern California region. Tavis
Beynon will continue to serve as the Interim District Manager
for the Chico District.
The Colorado River supports over 40 million people spread
across seven southwestern states, 29 tribal nations, and
Mexico. It’s responsible for the irrigation of roughly 5.5
million acres of land marked for agricultural use. Local and
regional headlines show the river is in crisis. The nation
mostly isn’t listening.
A concern over a potential lawsuit by state water officials
against the Monterey Peninsula water district could threaten an
affordable housing project in Monterey. In May, the board of
directors of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District
reversed a staff recommendation and approved sending roughly 5
acre-feet of additional water — some 1.7 million gallons — for
one section of a Garden Road project that will be built out by
developer Brad Slama.
[T]he president of New York-based hedge fund Water Asset
Management … has called water in the United States “a
trillion-dollar market opportunity.” The hedge fund invested
$300 million in farmland in Colorado, California, Arizona and
Nevada as of 2020, including $16.6 million on 2,220 acres of
farmland with senior water rights in Colorado’s Grand Valley
just upstream from where the Colorado River crosses into Utah.
In the gloomiest long-term forecast yet for the
drought-stricken Colorado River, a new study warns that lower
river basin states including Arizona may have to slash their
take from the river up to 40% by the 2050s to keep reservoirs
from falling too low. Such a cut would amount to about twice as
much as the three Lower Basin states — Arizona, California and
Nevada — agreed to absorb under the drought contingency plan
they approved in early 2019. Overall, the study warned that
managing the river sustainably will require substantially
larger cuts in use by Lower Basin states than currently
envisioned, along with curbs on future diversions by Upper
Basin states.
Reclamation maintains and operates over 8,000 miles of water
distribution systems that use, among other means, reservoirs
and canals to store and deliver water. Water lost to seepage
reduces the efficiency of the water delivery to the users and
can cause undermining/erosion, subgrade soil migration, adverse
vegetation growth, and even canal failure….This prize
competition seeks innovative solutions that can reduce the
costs and burdens associated with installation and maintenance
of seepage reduction methods, and improve durability in a range
of climatic conditions.
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.
Disadvantaged communities concentrated in southern Los
Angeles County lack fair options when it comes to water supply.
When served by public utilities, aging infrastructure, water
quality problems, and other complications can translate into
sacrifices in quality or reliability. When supplied by
investor-owned utilities, they receive reliable water supply
but pay more than affluent communities. This report examines
the case study of Sativa County Water District, a cautionary
tale of a failed water system in southern LA County.
For many Bay Area residents who live near the water’s edge,
little-publicized research indicates groundwater rising beneath
their feet could start to manifest in 10-15 years, particularly
in low-lying communities like Oakland. And that could resurface
toxic substances that have lingered for years underground.
Shortly after taking office two years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom
promised to deliver a massive compromise deal on the water
rushing through California’s major rivers and the
critically-important Delta — and bring lasting peace to the
incessant water war between farmers, cities, anglers and
environmentalists. … [C]oming to an agreement as promised
will require Newsom’s most artful negotiating skills. He’ll
have to get past decades of fighting and maneuvering, at the
same time California is continuing to recover from the worst
wildfire season in modern state history and a pandemic that has
since killed more than 42,000 state residents.
I’ve written in the past about the San Diego County Water
Authority’s efforts to divest from its parent agency the
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. That
includes the bad blood between the two agencies stemming from
MWD’s water cutbacks to San Diego in 1991, and how local
leaders felt they were mistreated. What I didn’t realize was
just how far back the tension goes between San Diego leaders
and MWD. All the way back to the Great Depression…
Manteca, Ripon, and Lathrop may not see any more rain until
March. The long-range forecast by Accuweather based off of
National Weather Service modeling underscores the fact
California isn’t out of the woods when it comes to the
potential for 2021 being a drought year even with the recent
heavy storms that dumped significant snow in the Sierra. The
rest of the month is expected to see weather that has daily
highs in the mid-60s to the low 40s with no rain anticipated
until March 1.
Much has been said about a “new normal” in the Colorado River
Basin. The phrase describes reduced flows in the 21st century
as compared to those during much of the 20th century. Authors
of a new study contemplate something beyond, what they call a
“new abnormal.” The future, they say, might be far dryer than
water managers have been planning for. … In the 133-page
report, they identified a wide variety of alternative
management ideas, not simple tweaks but “significant
modifications or entirely new approaches.”
The Klamath River Renewal Corporation last week signed an
agreement with Resource Environmental Solutions, a Texas-based
ecological restoration company, to provide restoration services
following the removal of four dams on the Klamath River. The
agreement with RES brings North Coast tribes one step closer to
their decades-long goal of dam removal.
Utah legislative leaders on Thursday unveiled plans for a new
$9 million state agency to advance Utah’s claims to the
Colorado River in hopes of wrangling more of the river’s
diminishing flows, potentially at the expense of six
neighboring states that also tap the river. Without any prior
public involvement or notice, lawmakers assembled legislation
to create a six-member entity called the Colorado River
Authority of Utah, charged with implementing “a management plan
to ensure that Utah can protect and develop the Colorado River
system.”
California almond farmers enjoyed record-breaking harvests over
the last five years, after production dipped in the wake of
2014’s historic drought. That year a chorus of headlines
vilified almonds for sucking up a gallon of water per nut,
though irrigation efficiency has been improving. Now, as
global temperatures rise, a caterpillar barely the size of a
paper clip may threaten California’s position as the world’s
leading producer of almonds, walnuts and pistachios.
Santa Clarita Valley Water has scheduled a virtual public
meeting for the community to learn more about how the agency is
keeping its water safe for drinking by addressing the public
health and environmental effects of hazardous substances that
have been identified in the Saugus Formation Aquifer. Set for
Feb. 11, the agency will provide an overview of project
objectives and alternatives for removal of the hazardous
substances.
It would be arguably the most ambitious public works project in
San Diego history. The envisioned pipeline would carry Colorado
River water more than 130 miles from the Imperial Valley —
through the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, tunneling under the
Cuyamaca Mountains, and passing through the Cleveland National
Forest — to eventually connect with a water-treatment plant in
San Marcos. An alternative route would run through the desert
to the south, boring under Mt. Laguna before emptying into the
San Vicente Reservoir in Lakeside. Estimated cost: roughly $5
billion. New water delivered: None.
Four new Monterey Peninsula representatives on key local water
and wastewater agency boards could have a big say on the future
of two Monterey Peninsula water issues — the proposed
California American Water public takeover and the Pure Water
Monterey expansion proposal. Last week, Monterey architect
Safwat Malek was unanimously chosen to replace Molly Evans as
Monterey Peninsula Water Management Agency Division 3
director …
Sandbars are spreading across rain-starved Lake Mendocino, the
reservoir near Ukiah that is 35 feet lower than it was a year
ago, a grim wintertime sight for the second major source of
water for more than 655,000 people in Sonoma, Mendocino and
Marin counties. But the situation would be considerably worse
without the payoff from a six-year, $50 million project
applying high-tech weather forecasting to management of the
reservoir behind Coyote Valley Dam built on the East Fork of
the Russian River in 1958.
Curious about water rights in California? Want to know more
about how water is managed in the state, or learn about the
State Water Project, Central Valley Project or other water
infrastructure? Mark your calendars now for our virtual
Water 101 Workshop for the afternoons of April 22-23 to hear
from experts on these topics and more.
For years, Southern Nevadans have watched the water level in
Lake Mead inch downward and wondered how long we could avoid
the federally mandated rationing that kicks in when the lake
elevation hits certain thresholds. Now comes a forecast bearing
worrisome news. For the second time since 2019, we may be in
for a reduction. A study issued last month by the Bureau of
Reclamation says the lake level could dip below 1,075 feet by
the end of the year.
Tens of thousands of large dams across the globe are reaching
the end of their expected lifespans, leading to a dramatic rise
in failures and collapses, a new UN study finds. These
deteriorating structures pose a serious threat to hundreds of
millions of people living downstream…. In 2017, a
spillway collapsed at the 50-year-old Oroville Dam in
California’s Sierra Nevada foothills. It caused the evacuation
of around 180,000 people. The 770-foot dam is the highest in
the U.S. and, after repairs to the spillway, remains critical
to the state’s water supply.
If the natural water supply doesn’t meet the water needs of an
increased population, Marin is going to have to revisit the
idea of building a desalination plant. Currently, the largest
U.S. desalination plant in San Diego produces 50 million
gallons daily at a cost of one cent per gallon. That cost is
kept low given the San Diego’s plant is adjacent to a power
station. If Marin had to draw its power from MCE or Pacific Gas
and Electric Co., the cost would rise to 1.33 cents per gallon
or $10 per billing unit over and above normal water
charges. -Written by Rick Johnson, who worked 40 years with the San
Francisco Water Department as a senior inspector and revenue
recovery project manager.
A lawsuit against several cities and the county of San
Bernardino over failing to file water efficiency reports
required by the state has been settled and the jurisdictions
are now working on fulfilling the terms of the settlements. The
Natural Resources Defense Council estimated 340 cities and
counties in the state did not file one or more annual reports
on permit programs for new irrigated landscapes, robbing the
public of critical information regarding local conservation
efforts.
State water surveyors who trekked into the Sierra Nevada on
Wednesday found exactly what they expected: little snow and
long odds of anything but a dismally dry year ahead. Despite
last week’s pounding snowstorm, which hammered roads with days
of whiteouts and delivered to ski slopes as much as 10 feet of
fresh powder, this month’s statewide snowpack measured just 70%
of average.
This report outlines the current use of National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) S2S products and services,
and how NOAA plans to improve the usability and transference of
data, information, and forecasts. It will serve as a guidepost
for NOAA planning and execution, as well as to inform the
public and NOAA’s stakeholders on its efforts on subseasonal
and seasonal forecasting…. and recommends a western U.S.
pilot project to support water management.
To meet the promise of its day one executive order on Racial
Equity and Support for Underserved Communities, the Biden
administration needs to provide low-income communities,
communities of color and Indigenous people the same access to
clean and safe water that the rest of our nation takes for
granted. -Written by David F. Coursen, a former EPA attorney and a
member of the Environmental Protection Network, a nonprofit
organization of EPA alumni.
A detailed analysis released by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
could change its approach in operating the Klamath Project in
compliance with the Endangered Species Act.
In a flurry of first-week executive orders, President Biden
sent a definitive message that his administration would move
faster on climate change than any before. Now, the question is
whether it will be fast enough. Scientists warn that the
coming decade will be critical for slowing heat-trapping
emissions, potentially keeping average annual global
temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius compared
to the mid-19th century. Right now, the world is on track
for an increase of 3 degrees Celsius, a level
that ensures more destructive wildfires and hurricanes,
devastation for coral reefs and rising seas flooding the
coastlines.
While wetter streets and a greener White House may offer San
Franciscans some hope for the future, the situation remains
dire for salmon in the Tuolumne River. … [I]t’s hard not to
feel that the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s water
policies are partially to blame. Californians are significantly
reducing or eliminating dependence on river water. But the
SFPUC continues to side with agricultural users to fight
limitations on the water it takes from the Tuolumne. -Written by Robyn Purchia, an environmental attorney,
blogger and activist
Over the last 10 years, we have watched as large wildfires
ravaged the watershed in and around the Salt and Verde Rivers.
The devastation proves one important fact that must be
addressed now – our forests are unhealthy. SRP manages the
water supply for much of the Valley – most of which comes from
8.3 million acres of land in northern Arizona. Snowfall and
rain provide the water that travels through the watershed into
SRP reservoirs, which is then delivered to homes and businesses
via canals. The forested lands that harness this precious
resource have been hit by devastating wildfires and are primed
for more infernos like those that impacted California and
Colorado. -Written by Elvy Barton, a forest health management
principal who leads Salt River Project’s forest restoration
partnerships, programs and policy analysis initiatives.
Three rural Valley cities finalized deals with the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation to cement permanent access to water from the
Central Valley Project on Monday, the Federal bureau announced.
The cities of Avenal, Coalinga, and Huron converted their water
contracts with Federal water authorities along with
Firebaugh-based Pacheco Water District and Panoche Water
District, and Los Banos-based San Luis Water
District.
U.S. Representative David G. Valadao introduced the
Responsible, No-Cost Extension of Western Water Infrastructure
Improvements, or RENEW WIIN, Act, a no-cost, clean extension of
operations and storage provisions of the WIIN Act (P.L.
114-322).
California’s water picture is heading in two different
directions. A major storm last week and a more modest system
Tuesday continued to boost the Sierra Nevada snowpack, the
source of one-third of the state’s water supply, in promising
ways. But the Bay Area and most cities across Northern
California remain stuck in one of the worst two-year rainfall
deficits seen since the 1849 Gold Rush, increasing the risk of
water restrictions and dry wildfire conditions locally next
summer.
Experts agree the amount of water in the Colorado River basin
has declined because of drought and climate change, and that
population growth is fueling demand for water higher and
higher. One result is the level of Lake Powell in Arizona,
behind Glen Canyon Dam, has steadily declined and is now at 43%
of capacity. Further, just last week, the U.S. Dept of Interior
sounded an alarm that they may have to start draining other
reservoirs in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming to try and
“save” Lake Powell. -Written by Daniel P. Beard, former commissioner of the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and Gary Wockner, director of Save
The Colorado.
According to the U.S. Intelligence Community Assessment
of Global Water Security, by 2030 humanity’s “annual
global water requirements” will exceed “current sustainable
water supplies” by 40%, highlighting the importance of building
a water resilient future.
Flooding rains and record snow in California last week marked
another extreme swing of the state’s climate pendulum. The
widespread downpours triggered mudslides that damaged
homes and roads near some of the huge fire scars from last
summer, and also brought some of the water the state
will need to end a months-long hot and dry streak and
douse a record-setting wildfire season that extended into
January. ….It could get worse. Stronger atmospheric rivers
are part of California’s “whiplash” climate future…
Comedian Ron White once joked that we should have two
levels of national security warnings: Find a helmet and put on
a helmet. If such a system were in place
for controversies, Arizona’s water community would
now be in the “put on a helmet” stage. Tensions were
already high over a proposal to transfer Colorado River
water from a farm in La Paz County to Queen
Creek. And now that the recommendation
has quietly changed, some folks in on-river
communities view it as nothing less than the start
of World War III. Heaven help us if it is. -Written by Joanna Allhands, a columnist for the Arizona
Republic
The Pleasanton City Council will revisit the subject of potable
water and the city’s regional efforts to study water supply
alternatives at its Tuesday night online meeting, starting 7
p.m. In November, the council asked city staff to make
recommendations on continuing “to participate with regional
agencies on studies of water supply alternatives including
potable reuse and $300,000 in funding from the city’s Capital
Improvement program.”
In a year when California has only received approximately half
its average rainfall, the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency
hosted a virtual public meeting to inform residents of the
Water Shortage Contingency Plan and gather community input
Thursday. The large amount of rain and snow that fell in recent
days were the result of the state’s first major atmospheric
river this winter, changing drought predictions, according to
Thomas Chesnutt, a consultant from A&N Technical Services.
However, according to data released Jan. 19, drought conditions
have returned to California, with much of Los Angeles County in
moderate drought conditions.
Dry conditions are the worst they’ve been in almost 20 years
across the Colorado River watershed, which acts as the drinking
and irrigation water supply for 40 million people in the
American Southwest. As the latest round of federal
forecasts for the river’s flow shows, it’s plausible, maybe
even likely, that the situation could get much worse this year.
Understanding and explaining the depth of the dryness is up to
climate scientists throughout the basin. We called several of
them and asked for discrete numbers that capture the current
state of the Colorado River basin.
The Tuolumne Utilities District (TUD) Board of Directors is
hosting a virtual information meeting to update local board
members and agencies about the proposed purchase of water
infrastructure and water rights contracts. As reported here in
March last year, TUD and PG&E announced they were in
exclusive negotiations about the potential transfer of the
Phoenix Hydroelectric Project. The proposed agreement includes
the Phoenix Powerhouse, the Main Tuolumne Canal, the pre and
post 1914 water rights, the Lyons Dam and Reservoir, Strawberry
Dam and Pinecrest Reservoir.
After a particularly wet week, Californians shouldn’t hang up
their snow shovels and raincoats just yet. Those in Southern
California should expect 1 to 8 inches of snow to fall in the
mountainous areas of Ventura and Los Angeles counties between
late Tuesday and Wednesday night, said Kathy Hoxsie, a
meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Elsewhere in Los Angeles County, one-quarter to one-half of an
inch of rain is forecast to fall, with 3/4 inches expected in
the foothills, Hoxsie said.
