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.
Ten days ago the state set new heat records and brush fires
broke out. Burn areas in the Santa Cruz Mountains rekindled.
Then, over the last three days, a 2,000-mile-long filament of
water in the sky burst over the areas that last week sat brown
and smoking. Snow fell on peaks and even some lower hills in
the Bay Area. The California Department of Water Resources
Central Sierra snow measurement station jumped from 42 percent
of average to 62 percent of average.
As climate change threatens a doubling of the impact of extreme
drought and fire within a generation, researchers are
uncovering the influence of human activity on both these
growing risks. One study has found that human numbers exposed
to the hazard of extreme drought are likely to double in
the decades to come, as global heating bakes away the
groundwater and limits annual snowfall.
There is an adage in California that goes, “Whiskey is for
drinking and water is for fighting over.” But instead of
fighting, the California Water Commission (CWC) is looking for
opportunities to hear from local agencies on water
infrastructure projects. The CWC recently wrapped up a series
of public workshops intended to determine the opportunity for a
state role in financing water conveyance projects that meet the
challenges of a changing climate.
We are now past the halfway mark in California’s normally
wettest winter months, and the wet season to date has been
anything but. Most of the state has received less than half of
its average annual precipitation to date. Coming after a very
dry Water Year 2020 these conditions are concerning. More
precipitation will certainly occur in February and March, but
will it be enough to erase the state’s large
deficit?
More than 69,600 people in San Diego County are behind on their
water bill right now, according to a report published last week
by the California State Water Resources Control Board. The
agency surveyed all of California’s water utilities in November
to get a clearer picture of the financial hardship utilities
have on residents at a time when more people are jobless and
quarantining at home. Statewide, one in eight Californians has
water debt, and the unpaid bill total has swelled to $1
billion, according to a CalMatters analysis of the data.
Nearly half of food grown in the United States gets thrown out.
More food is tossed once it reaches a household fridge than at
any other point in the supply chain. With every strawberry that
doesn’t get eaten comes the wasted water to grow it, the wasted
gas to transport it, the methane it emits while it rots, and
crowded landfills.
The calls came in shortly after the story in The New York Times
announced Wall Street was on the prowl for “billions in the
Colorado’s water.” … The national story raised hackles
across Colorado. It defined agriculture as a “wrong” use of
Colorado River water and detailed a growing swarm of investors
eager to inject Wall Street’s strategies into the West’s
century-old water laws. The idea of private investment in
public water has galvanized the state’s factious water
guardians.
Whether used for potable (drinking) or non-potable purposes,
clean water is our most valuable and fundamental resource, and
ultimately underpins the success or failure of every other
challenge that we face. Yet we are perilously close to 2025,
when it is predicted that half of the world’s population will
not have reliable access to clean water…
As California farmers weigh decisions on what to plant and how
much, lack of rainfall so far this winter has further clouded a
2021 crop outlook already complicated by market uncertainties
created by the pandemic. With current precipitation levels
looking even drier than the 2014-15 drought years, Kings County
farmer Brian Medeiros said he’s already making decisions about
what ground to fallow.
The largest body of water in Colorado, Blue Mesa Reservoir is
nothing to scoff at. Found in the southern portion of the
state, Blue Mesa Reservoir is 20-miles-long, home to 96 miles
of shoreline, and constrained by a 390-foot-tall dam. However,
before this man-made reservoir and popular outdoor recreation
spot existed, the area was home to a thriving mountain town
that has since been wiped off the map.
A new representative for the vacant Dublin San Ramon Services
District Board Division 5 will be appointed at the Tuesday,
Feb. 2 board meeting. Two members of the public applied for the
position, which represents Dublin residents east of Hacienda
Drive. Any applicants must live within the boundaries of the
district and the board short-listed five candidates. Four
finalists from that pool will be interviewed during the
meeting, which is set to begin at 6 p.m.
The water crisis is one of the greatest human, environmental,
economic and financial challenges of our time. No person or
business, no matter the industry, can survive without clean
water — and that supply is dwindling and in danger. Scientists
predict by 2030, global water demand will more than double
supply. This growing crisis is playing out here and now. The
largest companies, in particular, have a critical role to play.
It is also in their own interest to act as it has major
financial implications on their bottom line.
An expansion project [at Los Vaqueros Reservoir] started in
2010 and completed in 2012 raised the dam height 34 feet to 224
feet. It increased the storage capacity 60 percent to 160,000
square feet. It also expanded recreational uses and stepped up
habitat protection. The surface covers 1,400 acres and has an
elevation at capacity is 524 feet. Los Vaqueros is also
where the next significant increase in California reservoir
storage could be in place by 2028. The $915 million
project will raise the dam 55 feet to 273 feet. It would
increase storage from 160,000 acre feet to 275,000 acre feet.
Back in September, while wildfires raged and the pandemic wore
on, California Gov. Gavin Newsom held a virtual press
conference to announce a bold new climate goal. By 2035, he
said, all new cars and trucks sold in California would be
zero-emission, in order to seriously curtail climate
warming-emissions. … But while Newsom has grabbed
attention for his clean car policy … environmental
experts say he hasn’t moved boldly enough on ecological
issues… Last summer, the governor issued a water
resilience portfolio that outlines 142 state
actions to help the state deal with water as the climate
crisis worsens….
Californians have recently endured increasingly aggressive
wildfires, rolling power outages, and smoke-filled air for
days. Unless the state government changes course, we can
add water shortages to this list. … However, the dirty
little secret is that 50 percent of California’s water supply
is used for environmental purposes and is ultimately flushed
out into the Pacific Ocean, 40 percent goes to agriculture, and
only 10 percent goes for residential, industrial, commercial,
and governmental uses. -Written by Daniel Kolkey, a former judge and former
counsel to Governor Pete Wilson and board member of Pacific
Research Institute.
The Trinidad City Council on Tuesday will consider whether to
participate in a feasibility study for a project that would
bring a steady flow of water to the city from the Mad River via
a new pipeline. The Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District
(HBMWD), which supplies water to Eureka, Arcata, McKinleyville,
Blue Lake and other area communities, is in the early stages of
researching the possibility of expanding its service area north
via a waterline extension at least as far north as the Trinidad
Rancheria…
A federal agency has ruled that the state can continue to seek
higher flows on the Tuolumne River than planned by the Modesto
and Turlock irrigation districts. The Jan. 19 ruling drew
cheers from environmental and fishing groups that have long
sought larger releases from Don Pedro Reservoir into the lower
river.
San Francisco rightly prides itself on being an environmental
leader. Given this deep commitment to protecting the
environment, the city’s water agency — the San Francisco Public
Utilities Commission — should be a leader in smart, sustainable
water policy. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. But
Mayor London Breed now has a once-in-a-decade chance to turn
the SFPUC in a new direction by appointing a progressive,
visionary new general manager who reflects the city’s values.
San Francisco’s Bay-Delta ecosystem and the Central Valley
rivers that feed it are in steep decline… -Written by John McManus, president of the Golden State
Salmon Association, and Kate Poole, the water lead for the
Natural Resources Defense Council.
Our 2020 Water Leaders class completed its year with a
report outlining policy recommendations for adapting California
water management to climate change. The class of
23 up-and-coming leaders from various stakeholder groups
and backgrounds – engineers, attorneys, planners, farmers,
environmentalists and scientists - had full editorial
control to choose recommendations.
The Regional Water Authority (RWA) is delighted to announce
that Michelle Banonis has been selected as the organization’s
new Manager of Strategic Affairs. Banonis has over two decades
of experience in water, ecosystems, engineering, policy, and
law, and most recently served as the Assistant Chief Deputy
Director of the California Department of Water Resources where
she worked on water-related issues of statewide significance
with multiple interests.
Winter weather is finally arriving in Northern California. And
after weeks of dry, warm conditions and growing drought
concerns, it’s coming in hard. Forecasters say a sizable storm
— the first significant atmospheric river event to hit the
greater Bay Area this winter season and likely the biggest
storm in at least 12 months — will soak much of California
starting Tuesday night, continuing Wednesday, and bringing wet
roads, downed trees, power outages and the possibility of
mudslides.
The dry 2020 and the lack of snow this season has water
managers in seven states preparing for the first time for
cutbacks outlined in drought contingency plans drafted two
years ago. A sobering forecast released this week by the
Bureau of Reclamation shows the federally owned Lake Mead and
Lake Powell — the nation’s two largest reservoirs and critical
storage for Colorado River water and its 40 million users —
dipping near-record-low levels.
In Oregon, the Klamath Basin wildlife refuges have fallen into
their winter silence now. The huge, clamorous flocks of geese
that fill the sky during migration have moved south. This
summer, a different silence gripped the basin. A dead silence.
The 90,000 acres of marshes and open water that make up the
Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges are a
small remnant of vast wetlands that once filled this region on
the Oregon-California border. -Written by Pepper Trail, a contributor to Writers on the
Range and a conservation biologist in Ashland, Ore.
Former U.S. Rep. Sam Farr is calling for the Marina Coast Water
District to be investigated for fiscal mismanagement and merge
with the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, even as
the district is involved in a lawsuit that has successfully
challenged its water rates and could have implications for the
entire Ord Community.
The Bureau of Reclamation released a summary report providing
an assessment of climate change impacts to water uses in the
West, including adding a new set of West-wide information based
on paleohydrology. The Water Reliability in the West – 2021
SECURE Water Act Report discusses changes and innovative
actions across the eight basins identified in the SECURE Water
Act.
There are many ways to gauge the severity of a drought. This
winter in Colorado, all you have to do is look around. “The
stream flows across the state have been really, really, really
down throughout the whole fall season, so that is an
indicator,” said Karl Wetlaufer. Wetlaufer is a rafter, so he
pays attention to stream flow. It’s also part of his job as a
hydrologist with the Natural Resources Conservation
Service Snow Survey Program.
The Trump administration left President Biden a dilemma in the
California desert: a plan to remove protections from millions
of acres of public lands and open vast areas to solar and wind
farms. Biden’s team could easily block the proposed changes,
which were slammed by conservationists as a last-gasp effort by
the outgoing administration to support private industry at the
expense of wildlife habitat and treasured landscapes….There
are also places to put solar and wind installations besides
intact habitat, including Central Valley farmland with
dwindling water supplies …
A Fort Collins man is pressing forward with a proposed
325-mile-long pipeline which would transfer water from
northeastern Utah into the northern part of Colorado’s Front
Range. It could cost Aaron Million a billion and a half
dollars to build. He claims to have sufficient support from
private investors to make his pipeline dream a reality.
Increasingly bleak forecasts for the Colorado River have for
the first time put into action elements of the 2019 upper basin
drought contingency plan. The 24-month study released in
January by the Bureau of Reclamation, which projects two years
of operations at the river’s biggest reservoirs, showed Lake
Powell possibly dipping below an elevation of 3,525 feet above
sea level in 2022. That elevation was designated as a critical
threshold in the agreement to preserve the ability to produce
hydropower at Glen Canyon Dam.
Kevin Kelley, the elegant, whip-smart and fierce former general
manager of the Imperial Irrigation District, who fought to
preserve the Salton Sea and his rural county’s water
rights, died Tuesday at 61. He passed away at home, said his
brother, Ryan Kelley, an Imperial County Supervisor. The cause
of death is still being determined. As top executive from
2011 to January 2019 of the powerful but often
overlooked IID, Kelley regularly took on state, federal
and urban water officials to remind them of the valley’s
importance.
California Water Service (Cal Water) has completed a multiphase
infrastructure project in the Magnolia area of Stockton that
will keep critical water infrastructure in the area safe and
reliable. The upgrade will ensure customers, firefighters, and
nearby medical facilities continue to have the water they need
for their everyday and emergency needs.
For almost 230 years, agricultural commodities have been bought
and sold in New York’s finance district. Now the NASDAQ stock
exchange – which celebrates 50 years of activity next month -
has put a price on our most vital substance: water contracts
for five water districts in drought-prone California are being
bought and sold.
Recent fish surveys confirm what many biologists, ecologists,
and water experts have known for some time – Delta smelt remain
on the brink of extinction. Zero Delta smelt were found in the
California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s recent Fall
Midwater Trawl Survey. Even the Enhanced Delta Smelt Monitoring
Program, which is specifically designed to capture the tiny
fish, only successfully caught two Delta smelt from September 8
to December 11, 2020.
California is enveloped in balmy weather that’s more like
spring than mid-winter — and that’s not a good thing. We have
seen only scant rain and snow this winter, indicating that the
state may be experiencing one of its periodic droughts and
adding another layer of crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic and
economic recession. The all-important Sierra snowpack,
California’s primary source of water, is scarcely half of what
is deemed a normal depth. -Written by Dan Walters, CalMatters columnist.
While they remain hopeful the rest of winter will provide much
more rain and snow, water resources managers in the Sacramento
Valley are preparing for the potential for a dry year. While
the prospect of a dry year is always jarring and challenging,
we have confidence in the experience and knowledge that our
water resources managers gained in 2014-15, and the strategies
this region has implemented since that time to prepare for a
dry year.
If 2020 taught us anything, it is that ACWA member agencies are
highly skilled at delivering essential services to their
customers even during the most unexpected and unprecedented
times. As we gear up for the new year, our members continue to
impress with their collaborative and coordinated efforts on
vital issues affecting California water management, including
the implementation of additional long-term water use efficiency
strategies to increase resiliency in dry years.
Describing federal investment in Western water management as
“essential,” a coalition of more than 200 organizations has
urged the incoming Biden administration and the new Congress to
include water facilities in any future infrastructure or
economic-recovery package. The coalition, including a number of
national and regional organizations plus farm groups and water
districts from 15 states, sent separate letters last week to
President-elect Biden and the Democratic and Republican leaders
of the House and Senate. The letter included specific
recommendations for the types of water investments the
coalition said could have the greatest impact.
About a mile of bare, cracked earth now lies like a desertscape
between the boat ramp at the north end of Lake Mendocino and
the water’s edge of a diminished reservoir that helps provide
water for 600,000 Sonoma and Marin County residents. The
human-made lake near Ukiah is about 30 feet lower than it was
at this time last year, and Nick Malasavage, an Army Corps of
Engineers official who oversees operations at the reservoir,
said the scene is “pretty jarring.”
Sensational headlines, like those speculating that Wall Street
will make billions off the Colorado River or that West Slope
farmers should pack it in now, certainly attracts readers.
Unfortunately, these articles wholly fail to convey the reality
of the water challenges facing the Colorado River Basin. …
The Colorado River is certainly in bad shape. Last year was
marked by extremely hot temperatures, low flows and massive
fires.
Written by Dan Keppen, executive director of Family
Farm Alliance; Scott Yates, director of Trout Unlimited’s
Western Water & Habitat Program; and Taylor
Hawes, Colorado River Program director for The Nature
Conservancy.
California is home to over 1,000 golf courses, so when there
was a lack of water and public officials had to decide where to
allocate the water, the choice should have been obvious.
California should have shut down the golf courses and made sure
that every resident had access to clean drinking water.
However, this was not the case. As many as two-thirds of
Californian golf courses stayed open and the average 18-hole
course continued to use 90 million gallons of water each day.
Written by Alex Noble, a columnist for the newspaper
A plan to ensure there will be adequate water with which to
fight wildfires if four Klamath dams are removed was unveiled
Friday by the Klamath River Renewal Corporation. According to a
KRRC press release, California and Oregon fire protection
agencies have “signaled support” for the draft plan and the
organization plans to submit it to the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission late next month, along with “several
other management documents.” One of the main arguments for
keeping the dams is that firefighters use water from the dam’s
resultant reservoirs to fight fires.
Rancho California Water District’s Vail Dam Seismic and
Hydrologic Remediation Project was selected to apply for
funding as part of approximately $5.1 billion in Water
Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loans
provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
WIFIA loans provide financing assistance to help pay for water
infrastructure projects in the United States.
California’s Central Valley produces much of the nation’s food,
including about 40% of the country’s fruits and nuts and has
the nation’s second most pumped aquifer system. Its drier
southern portion, the San Joaquin Valley, has decreasing
surface water supply reliability due to frequent and prolonged
droughts, stricter environmental regulations, and growing
competition among water users. Many farmers pump groundwater to
provide their unsupplied water demand. The resulting
groundwater overdraft has numerous impacts on the Valley’s
agriculture and residents.
It’s hard to say what spurred “confidential mediation” over the
Kern River that began last week. Could it be the relentless
“Bring Back the Kern!” campaign by a group of young,
Bakersfield residents? Could it be a sentence in a recent
letter from the State Water Resources Control Board that said,
in part, it “will schedule a hearing in the near future to
address water availability with respect to the Kern River…”?
Could it be both? No one involved in the mediation would say.
Six years after the application was filed, a judge has granted
a water conservancy district in northwest Colorado a water
right for a new dam-and-reservoir project that top state
engineers had opposed. Rio Blanco Water Conservancy District
now has a 66,720 acre-foot conditional water right to build a
dam and reservoir between Rangely and Meeker, known as the
White River storage project or the Wolf Creek project. The
conservancy district is proposing an off-channel reservoir with
a dam 110 feet tall and 3,800 feet long, with water that will
be pumped from the White River.
Colorado is headwaters to a hardworking river that provides for
40 million people. The importance of the Colorado River to the
state and the nation cannot be overstated, and its recent
hydrology serves as a reminder that we must continue to find
workable solutions that will sustain the river. History shows
that we are up to the challenge. … Colorado and the other
Basin states face big challenges. Drier hydrology, competing
demands on the river, and those who seek to profit from such
circumstances, impact the types of tools available to address
these challenges. Written by Rebecca Mitchell, who serves as the state of
Colorado’s Colorado River Commissioner as well as director of
the Colorado Water Conservation Board.
Available freshwater is on track to decline sharply across
two-thirds of Earth’s land surface toward the end of the
century mostly due to climate change, with the number of people
exposed to extreme drought doubling, researchers have reported.
Even under a scenario of moderate decline in greenhouse gas
emissions, land area scorched by extreme to exceptional drought
conditions increases from three to seven percent
… Mexico City is currently facing a water crisis, and
California has been coping with a lack of rain for most of the
last decade.
The halfway point of meteorological winter is Friday, Jan. 15,
and while that might seem like the light at the end of the
tunnel for those tired of snow and cold, many cities still
average more than half their season’s snowfall after this date.
Winter in meteorological record-keeping is from Dec. 1 to Feb.
28. But for some parts of the nation, snowy conditions are
still possible deep into March and even April.
Arizona depends heavily on the Colorado River, and it is
over-allocated, meaning, we collectively take more water from
the system than nature puts in. To make matters worse, the
Colorado River basin has been experiencing a prolonged drought
of more than 20 years. When you take the longer term view,
a lot of communities in Arizona are heavily dependent on fossil
groundwater supplies. Once you pump them out, they’re gone
forever. There are real problems looming when it comes to
groundwater management and the Colorado River.
More than 200 farm and water organizations from 15 states are
urging President-elect Joe Biden and congressional leaders to
address aging Western water infrastructure in any economic
recovery package. Groups including state Farm Bureaus, the
Family Farm Alliance and Western Growers issued letters to
Biden and lawmakers Wednesday saying existing canals and
reservoirs were built more than 50 years ago and are in
desperate need of rehabilitation.
Throughout his research, Simon Ferrigno has seen the statistic
range from 2,000 to 20,000 liters of water needed to make a
T-shirt. Instead of numbers, Ferrigno said the focus
should be on whether or not the water that’s used in the
process can be cleaned and repurposed for other needs.
The Southwest U.S. is mired in an ever-worsening drought, one
that has left deer starving in Hawaii, turned parts of the Rio
Grande into a wading pool, and set a record in Colorado for the
most days of “exceptional drought.” Why it matters: These
conditions may be the new normal rather than an exception,
water experts say, as climate change runs its course. And
worsening drought will intensify political and legal battles
over water — with dire consequences for poor communities.
Colorado is headwaters to a hardworking river that provides for
40 million people. The importance of the Colorado River to the
state and the nation cannot be overstated, and its recent
hydrology serves as a reminder that we must continue to find
workable solutions that will sustain the river. History shows
that we are up to the challenge. As Colorado’s commissioner and
lead negotiator on Colorado River issues, it is my job to
protect Colorado’s interests in the river. -Written by Rebecca Mitchell, Colorado’s current Colorado
River Commissioner and director of the Colorado Water
Conservation Board.
Major cities across Turkey face running out of water in the
next few months, with warnings Istanbul has less than 45 days
of water left. Poor rainfall has led to the country’s most
severe drought in a decade and left the megacity of 17 million
people with critically low levels of water … and farmers in
wheat-producing areas such as the Konya plain and Edirne
province on the border with Greece and Bulgaria are warning of
crop failure.
Available freshwater is on track to decline sharply across
two-thirds of Earth’s land surface toward the end of the
century mostly due to climate change, with the number of people
exposed to extreme drought doubling, researchers have reported.
Even under a scenario of moderate decline in greenhouse gas
emissions, land area scorched by extreme to exceptional drought
conditions increases from three to seven percent, while the
population at risk jumps from 230 million to about 500 million
… Mexico City is currently facing a water crisis, and
California has been coping with a lack of rain for most of the
last decade.
If there’s a dominant force in the Colorado River Basin these
days, it’s the Walton Family Foundation, flush with close to $5
billion to give away. Run by the heirs of Walmart founder Sam
Walton, the foundation donates $25 million a year to nonprofits
concerned about the Colorado River. It’s clear the foundation
cares deeply about the river in this time of excruciating
drought, and some of its money goes to river restoration or
more efficient irrigation. Yet its main interest is promoting
“demand management,” the water marketing scheme that seeks to
add 500,000 acre-feet of water to declining Lake Powell by
paying rural farmers to temporarily stop irrigating.
West Basin Municipal Water District announced its 2021 “Water
Is Life” art contest is now open for Redondo Beach student
submissions. The annual art contest from West Basin recognizes
student creativity and innovation throughout its service area.
Student artists help inspire their communities to support water
conservation as a way of life by creating thought-provoking
water-smart pieces of art. Submissions are due via regular mail
or email by March 19.
Leaders of the largest water district in Silicon Valley decided
Tuesday to move forward with a plan to build a $2.5 billion dam
near Pacheco Pass in Southern Santa Clara County — in what
would be the largest new reservoir in the Bay Area in 20 years
— despite learning that the cost has doubled due to unstable
geology on the site. Although several board members of the
Santa Clara Valley Water District expressed concerns during
their meeting about the growing price tag, others said the
proposed project’s water storage is needed for the future…
The Governor’s proposal for how to spend California’s $15
billion surplus includes $60 million in direct grants to help
replenish groundwater in the valley’s most depleted basins. The
measure specifies the money is to be used in “critically
over-drafted basins,” which lie mostly in the San Joaquin
Valley. Water managers were pleasantly surprised, but not
overwhelmed, by the amount.
A valve at the base of the Loveland Dam near Alpine was opened
Monday, allowing billions of gallons of water to thunder down
the valley toward Sweetwater Reservoir in Spring Valley. “It’s
a spectacle that is hard to forget,” said Hector Martinez,
Chairman of the Sweetwater Authority “Very powerful! I almost
feel the ground shaking when the water is being released.” The
gushing valve is a sight to behold, and thanks to the massive
transfer, South Bay water customers might be looking at their
water bills with similar amazement.
The South Tahoe Public Utility District is seeking input as
they update the groundwater management plan for the greater
South Lake Tahoe area. Groundwater is the primary source of
drinking water for more than 90% of the public and private
water systems located throughout this area. Seeking input from
beneficial uses and users of groundwater ensures the region’s
Groundwater Management Plan assess current groundwater
conditions, reflects local groundwater concerns and offers an
appropriate long-term management plan to ensure our community
has a sustainable source of clean water supply.
A team of researchers have developed a framework to evaluate
complex connections between water and energy, and options for
adaptations in response to an evolving climate. Their study,
“Evaluating cross-sectoral impacts of climate change and
adaptations on the energy-water nexus: A framework and
California case study,” was published in the open-access
journal Environmental Research Letters.
The world watched with a sense of dread in 2018 as Cape Town,
South Africa, counted down the days until the city would run
out of water. The region’s surface reservoirs were going dry
amid its worst drought on record, and the public countdown was
a plea for help. … California also faced severe water
restrictions during its recent multiyear drought. And Mexico
City is now facing water restrictions after a year with little
rain. There are growing concerns that many regions of the world
will face water crises like these in the coming decades as
rising temperatures exacerbate drought conditions.
Did you know Ventura is one of the largest cities in Southern
California to rely solely on local water supplies? Rainfall
feeds the Ventura River, Lake Casitas, and local groundwater
basins to meet all the water needs of our community. Water
is at the core of our identity and the future of its security
is in jeopardy. Although our community’s conservation efforts
have reduced water use by 20%, Ventura’s rain-dependent water
supplies remain vulnerable to future droughts.
In recent weeks, meteorological models gave the Bay Area a
glimmer of hope that some much-needed precipitation was on its
way, bringing a bit of relief to a parched region. But those
hopes — like much of California itself — have dried up. The Bay
Area and most of the Golden State are bracing for several more
rain-free weeks, adding to what has already been an abnormally
dry rainy season, meteorologists said.
Utah officials want to build a 140-mile-long pipeline to bring
precious Colorado River water west to the thriving town of St.
George, in the state’s far southwestern corner. In an era of
perennial drought, when the future of the Colorado River
watershed, the lifeline of the U.S. Southwest, is the subject
of fierce debate in state capitols across the region, the idea
of bringing more than 26 billion gallons of water a year to a
community of fewer than 200,000 people on the edge of the
Mojave Desert strikes many as folly. To officials in Washington
County, of which St. George is the county seat, though, it is a
critical resource for the future.
Drought is an insidious climate threat — by the time it has a
hold of a region, impacts on ecosystems and water supplies can
be locked in. It may not grab extreme weather headlines like
the disrupted polar vortex or record hurricane season, but
drought during 2020 and heading into 2021 is a looming story
likely to grow in importance….In the Southwest, population
growth and years of drought conditions are putting the region
on a collision course with drastic water management decisions.
On Wall Street, traders can now bet on California water
futures on commodity markets, enabling them to hedge
against future scarcity…
Removing salt from seawater to make it safe to drink means
overcoming a number of scientific challenges, including
optimising the membrane used for the desalination process – and
new research into these membranes promises to make the whole
operation cheaper and more accessible in the future. Scientists
have figured out a way of potentially making membranes 30-40
percent more efficient in terms of the energy required to
filter water.
While nearly everyone agrees the city should pursue programs to
help provide more housing, any enthusiasm is tempered by the
elephant in the room: water. “We’re in a double bind,” Monterey
Councilman Alan Haffa said. “The state is telling us to build
more housing but when we want to convert commercial to
residential the state says that might not be acceptable. We’ve
dramatically reduced the amount of water we are using but the
state seems to be saying it’s not a new water (source) so it
doesn’t count. I’ve got a real problem with that.”
In a major and potentially fatal setback for plans to build the
largest dam in the Bay Area in more than 20 years, the price
tag to construct a new reservoir in southern Santa Clara County
near Pacheco Pass has nearly doubled, from $1.3 billion to $2.5
billion.
A cloud of uncertainty hangs over the Water Replenishment
District as staff, board members and the district’s attorneys
try to navigate a legal minefield created by controversial
attempts to hire former Carson Mayor Albert Robles as the
agency’s new general manager.
As COVID started to spread, farmers and large cities in
Southern California were hit with another blindside last March.
Fires, drought, and the planting season drove up the price of
California’s water market, over 220 percent in just three
months. Crops failed and pastures were lost. In September, CME
Group Inc vowed to create a new market to help with the
risk of these price swings. Last month, the first contract
connected to the future price of California’s $1.1 billion
water market was inked. -Written by Will Rinehart, a senior research fellow at the
Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State
University.
Known as an engineering expert, water community leader, and
champion of the State Water Project (SWP), former
Department of Water Resources Director William
Gianelli served as DWRs third director from 1967 to 1973
and dedicated more than 30 years to public service in both the
state and federal government. (Gianelli also was one of the
founders of the Water Education Foundation, its second
president and the namesake of the Foundation’s Water Leaders
Program.)
Michael Raymond Plaziak, a water program expert and geologist
with a wide range of experience in water issues in both the
military and public sector, has been appointed executive
officer of the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Plaziak, who has been serving as acting executive officer at
the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, stepped into
his new role Dec. 14. He replaces former long-time executive
officer Patty Kouyoumdjian, who retired Aug. 21.
As far as the weather was concerned, 2020 will go down as one
of the most challenging years our state has ever endured, with
record-breaking temperatures, below-average rain and snow, and
numerous wildfires covering California with a thick blanket of
diabolical smoke.
The Bureau of Reclamation sent Congress the final feasibility
report for the B.F. Sisk Dam Raise and Reservoir Expansion
Project. This marks an important step forward in returning
water supply reliability to south-of-Delta farmers, local
communities, and wildlife refuges.
As it enters its 20th year of planning and preparation, a
desalination plant proposed near Doheny State Beach continues
to be met with delays and uncertainty. In mid-2018, officials
were predicting that the operation could be turning ocean water
into drinking water as soon as 2021. Now, the project will be
doing well to simply win all required permits by the end of
next year.
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt started off 2020 empowering
his most controversial public lands deputy, a move that a
federal judge later deemed “unlawful.” He’s ending the year in
quarantine, having tested positive for COVID-19. In between
these bleak-sounding bookends, the 51-year-old Bernhardt
rewrote how the Interior Department works. While the results
get mixed reviews, and in some cases may get erased by the
incoming Biden administration, 2020 was undeniably
consequential for the department.
The first snow survey in California was ambiguous. While
it showed the mountains just southeast of Lake Tahoe contains a
snowpack that is approximately average for this point of the
winter, the automatic snow sensor network shows an impoverished
snowpack throughout the Sierra, particularly in the southern
reach of the range.
The Visalia City Council’s last meeting was a fitting end to
2020 bringing news of an impending drought and the possibility
the city’s groundwater reaching a new low. At the Dec. 21
meeting, Visalia’s water resource manager Andrew Munn told the
council he was recommending the city move into Stage 2 of its
water conservation ordinance on March 1, 2021 and to move into
Stage 3 if the aquifer drops to a historic low.
The Friant Water Authority cleaned up some of the most
important work in the last month of the year hashing out a
legal settlement with farmers in southern Tulare County.
Represented by the Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability
Agency (GSA) farmers agreed to contribute at least $125 million
to repair the significant subsidence-caused sag in the
gravity-fed canal that has cut water deliveries by 60%.
The new Biden administration could take action on the Colorado
River that would go well beyond the president-elect’s term in
office. The week of Dec. 14, the seven states that are part of
the Colorado River Compact began the first step for
renegotiating guidelines that will decide how much water the
three lower basin states and Mexico will get from Lake Mead, on
the Arizona-Nevada border, and from Mead’s source, the Colorado
River.
There is a myth about water in the Western United States, which
is that there is not enough of it. But those who deal closely
with water will tell you this is false. There is plenty. It is
just in the wrong places…Transferring water from agricultural
communities to cities, though often contentious, is not a new
practice. Much of the West, including Los Angeles and Las
Vegas, was made by moving water. What is new is for private
investors — in this case an investment fund in Phoenix, with
owners on the East Coast — to exert that power.
The board of the Water Replenishment District rejected a
controversial proposal to hire former Carson Mayor Albert
Robles as its interim general manager in a stunning turn
when one of his supporters, and then another, left the meeting
without explanation.
The latest hurdle in the effort to bring the Monterey
Peninsula’s water system under public control is a lawsuit by
the utility that currently owns it, California American
Water… Cal Am accused the government agency charged with
acquiring the system of violating the law by failing to fully
analyze how a public takeover would impact the environment. The
Monterey Peninsula Water Management District certified its
environmental analysis on Oct. 29, finding no significant
impacts.
The ability of science to improve water management decisions
and keep up with the accelerating pace of climate change. The
impact to precious water resources from persistent drought
in the Colorado River Basin. Building resilience and
sustainability across California. And finding hope at the
Salton Sea. These were among the issues Western Water explored
in 2020. In case you missed them, they are still worth taking a
look at.
The Bureau of Reclamation and San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water
Authority finalized the B.F. Sisk Dam Raise and Reservoir
Expansion Project’s Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement/Environmental Impact Report. This joint proposed
project would create an additional 130,000 acre-feet of storage
space in San Luis Reservoir, producing additional water supply
for 2 million people, over 1 million acres of farmland and
200,000 acres of Pacific Flyway wetlands.
Holidays are a natural time of introspection on who we are,
what we do, and why. Towards a bit of our own self-reflection,
some researchers from UC Davis’ Center for Watershed Sciences
(CWS) have each contributed a photo and short description of
their work. We hope you enjoy reading about us and learning
even more about us. It is hopefully a soft bookend to a wild
2020!
Backers of a $3 billion project to construct the tallest dam in
California swear the project isn’t dead, despite the Temperance
Flat Reservoir Authority returning money and canceling
applications. After it became clear that the reservoir project
on the San Joaquin River west of Auberry would not reach
upcoming deadlines for studies and funding, Temperance Flat
Reservoir Authority declined $171 million designated by the
California Water Commission and withdrew its application for
additional funding, according to a resolution signed by the
Authority on Oct. 30.
All signs are pointing to a dry start to 2021 across much of
the Colorado River watershed, which provides water to about 40
million people in the Western U.S. A lack of precipitation from
April to October made this spring, summer and fall one of the
region’s driest six-month periods on record. And with a dry
start to winter, river forecasters feel more pessimistic about
the chances for a drought recovery in the early part of 2021.
The Water Forum is pleased to announce the selection of Jessica
Law as its new Executive Director. The Water Forum is a diverse
group of local governments, environmentalists, water managers,
businesses and others working together to balance the coequal
goals of providing reliable water supplies for the Sacramento
region and preserving the environment of the Lower American
River.
Most California farmers get their water from the same sources
as towns and cities—aquifers, rivers, reservoirs, and
snowpack—putting population and food production in competition
with each other. Wastewater reclamation could be a way to
alleviate some of that pressure and is already common practice
elsewhere in the state, mostly as a way to recharge aquifers in
Orange County and prevent saltwater intrusion in coastal
cities.
If Bay Area residents didn’t take time to appreciate
Wednesday’s overnight dousing, it seems it’s too late. It’s all
we’re going to get until 2021, forecasters say. Following the
much-needed downpour that led to Thursday morning’s soaked
roadways, an unusually dry holiday season lies ahead.
As we reflect on this tumultuous year, we have much to be
thankful and a lot to learn. Along with the truly special
people that grace our lives, we are all thankful for the
Sacramento Valley’s unique combination of water, land and
sun–the essential ingredients for bountiful life and the
amazing biodiversity of our region.
In August, the Hoopa Valley Tribe filed a lawsuit in a
Eureka-based Federal court against the U.S. Department of
Interior to block execution of a permanent repayment contracts
for Central Valley Project users. What’s at stake? Stable water
resources secured by a bevy of other water agencies across the
Golden State by converting short-term water service contracts
into permanent repayment contracts with the United States
Bureau of Reclamation. The suit almost exclusively targets the
powerful Westlands Water District. The problem? The nation’s
largest water district isn’t even a party to the suit, nor is
it the only player involved in contract conversions.
California American Water has sued the Monterey Peninsula Water
Management District challenging the environmental review of the
district’s potential public takeover bid of the company’s local
water system. At the same time, Cal Am’s oft-delayed
desalination project suffered another setback when California
Coastal Commission staff declared a revised application
submitted last month is incomplete, asking a series of
questions and for additional information that could delay the
proposal by several more months.
While farm receipts from 2018 to 2019 show an almost unchanging
total, beneath the surface, shifts in dominant crops have begun
to occur as growers face labor shortages and higher water
demand.Cumulatively, ag commissioners across Fresno, Tulare,
Kings and Madera counties report gross values in 2019 equaling
$19.41 billion, down from $19.45 billion in 2018.
A UC Davis soil scientist says the increasing scarcity of water
under projected climate scenarios will require crops that are
less water-intensive and for farmers to reduce the amount of
irrigated acres and adopt innovative approaches to capturing
runoff. Ranchers could incorporate forage crops with shorter
growing seasons.
The Delta Conveyance Project is a necessary upgrade to ensure
that our aging 1960-era State Water Project (SWP)
infrastructure will continue to function into the future
… An emerging narrative that we have seen from project
opponents is the false choice between either supporting the
Delta Conveyance Project or supporting more local and regional
projects to develop alternative or expanded water supply
sources. These are not alternatives to each other. We can and
must do both. -Written by Jennifer Pierre, general manager of the State
Water Contractors
The steady drumbeat of support to get more water flowing in the
Kern River through Bakersfield continued Tuesday at the State
Water Resources Control Board. During the public comment
portion of the meeting three speakers from Bakersfield and Kern
County’s political realm urged board members to finally hear —
and grant — a decade-old petition by the City of Bakersfield to
appropriate water on the river to run through the heart of
town.
The city of Folsom has experienced a significant decrease in
pinhole leaks in copper water pipes in local residences since
adding orthophosphate to the water system. This past summer,
Folsom experienced what residents dubbed “a pinhole leak
apocalypse.” Water leaks in homes developed nearly 1,400
times. On the recommendation of consultants, the city
started adding orthophosphate to the water treatment system in
October. Folsom’s environmental and water resources
director, Marcus Yasutake, says it’s had the desired effect.
At the beginning of 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom
announced some framework for voluntary agreements on
pumping water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. In
February, the Trump administration signed their
own water legislation for California that relaxed
biological opinions providing additional water to flow through
the Delta. California promptly sued the administration’s
actions under the direction of Newsom which put a halt to
the federal decision and paused the voluntary agreements
momentum. Does all of that change now that a Democratic party
is transitioning into leadership?
The United Nations said Wall Street’s new water futures risk an
essential public good being treated like gold and oil, leaving
the market vulnerable to a speculative bubble.
Defending the decision to give farm irrigation districts
permanent access to low-cost, federally pumped water in
California, a Justice Department lawyer urged a federal judge
to flush a Native American tribe’s lawsuit against the endless
entitlements. The Hoopa Valley Tribe sued the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation in August, claiming the Trump administration’s
conversion of 14 time-limited contracts for Central Valley
Project water into permanent deals violated a host of federal
laws.
Members of the 2020 Water Leaders class examined how
to adapt water management to climate change. Read their
policy recommendations in the class report, Adapting
California Water Management to Climate Change: Charting a Path
Forward, to learn more.
The entire Colorado River Basin within Colorado is experiencing
“extreme” or “exceptional” drought, according to the U.S.
Drought Monitor. The next few months are predicted to be
warmer and drier than normal, which will further reduce
snowpack runoff into our reservoirs even with a normal snowpack
this winter. Unfortunately, 2020 is not an anomaly; rather, it
is a harbinger of a future to which we must adapt.
The Colorado River Indian Tribes near Parker is proposing a
federal law to allow it to lease water rights in Arizona, a
move that could aid the state’s response to the drought. The
tribe said in public hearings on Dec. 7 and Dec. 10 that it
would use the money raised from leasing Colorado River water to
bolster services to its members, including for health care,
education, elder programs and law enforcement.
The Bay Area awoke to the pitter-patter sound and pleasant
smell of rain Sunday as the first significant storm system of
the season moved through the area, bringing much-needed
moisture to a largely dry region. …The National Weather
Service said that the rain system that passed through the Bay
Area over the weekend will give way to dry conditions for
Monday and Tuesday before an even wetter system could come
through Wednesday into Thursday.
A new study highlights the tremendous impact groundwater has on
Arizona’s economy and underscores the need to make sure every
community has tools to protect and manage it far into the
future, said Todd Reeve, director of Business for Water
Stewardship (BWS), which commissioned the report.
A highly effective but problematic Colorado River desalination
project in western Montrose County’s Paradox Valley could come
to an end due to the federal Bureau of Reclamation’s difficulty
finding an acceptable means of continuing it.
The forthcoming Biden administration is California’s best — and
perhaps only — hope for solving vexing water issues that have
largely been put on hold for more than a decade. It should be
clear that state leadership is incapable of crafting a
comprehensive water strategy. The California Department of
Water Resources continues to push for pumping additional water
from the fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta at the
expense of its immediate and long-term health. -Written by the editorial board of the San Jose Mercury
News
A legal dispute over water rights in California’s Mojave desert
has growers for The Wonderful Co. on one side and a town
reliant on a sprawling naval base on the other. The case offers
a glimpse of the coming water wars in California, as the
state’s all-powerful agriculture interests increasingly square
off against thirsty communities over a dwindling supply of
fresh water.
Since 2012 we haven’t moved the state’s water policy too far
forward. We now have a desalination plant successfully
online in San Diego County and have instituted water-saving
methods throughout the state. However, we are still facing a
crisis with the ever-evaporating snowpack, a continuously
warming climate and the reframing of the Delta tunnel project.
And this might make for a good long political debate, but the
reality of the situation is that most Californians do not have
the luxury of time for a political debate — they have
real-world needs, including the need to be able to provide
water for their children to drink. Written by Gloria Alvarado, executive director of the
Orange County Labor Federation.
Water supply and effective water management have been crucial
economic tools in California for centuries. Our state’s
agricultural sector is an over $50 billion industry that can
only thrive with reliable water. Farmers and ranchers in the
Central Valley, food processing plants and distribution
companies throughout the state, and more locally, the
vineyards, farms, orchards and ranches in the Capital Region
contribute to an agricultural economy that currently employs
more than 1.1 million people throughout the state. -Written by El Dorado County Supervisor Brian K.
Veerkamp and Kenneth V. Payne, general manager of the El
Dorado Water Agency.
Bass fishing is a pillar of the delta. But, as with many things
in this vast estuary at the edge of the Bay Area, the sport and
its cottage industry of marinas, bait shops, boat showrooms and
bars are threatened by converging forces: climate change,
drought, development and California’s escalating water wars.
The fishing community — alongside farming, boating, tourism and
other livelihoods in these rural lowlands — is caught up in the
unsparing effort to boost the delta’s freshwater exports.
California weather is rarely average. Historically, the state
has well above or well below average rain and snow. One of the
keys to prepare for these wild swings is a better understanding
of atmospheric rivers. The Center for Western Weather and
Water Extremes or CW3E is studying these large water transport
systems in the Pacific. Atmospheric rivers can hold more than
twice the water as the Amazon. At times, they can be the most
hazardous storms for the West Coast, but they can also be
largely beneficial, delivering about 50% of California’s rain
and snow.
For 60 years, Miramar Reservoir has been an integral part of
the City of San Diego’s drinking water system … Now, the
reservoir is being called into service to play a vital part in
San Diego’s future Pure Water system to sustain a reliable
water supply.
The Biggs-West Gridley Water District, Ducks Unlimited and the
Bureau of Reclamation recently announced the completion of
Phase II (of five total phases) of the water supply project for
the world-renowned Gray Lodge Wildlife Area.
California’s plans to build a new tunnel to move water from the
northern Delta to the thirsty, populous south of the state
advanced a step Tuesday, when a key partner agreed to help fund
some of the effort.
The Hopi have lived for thousands of years on the mesas of the
Colorado Plateau. Flowing springs and seeps have sustained
them, providing sources where they have collected drinking
water, grown corn and beans, and maintained a spiritual
connection to life-giving water. But the springs are
dwindling. Some are completely dry.
Lake Mendocino currently sits at 712 ft above sea
level… That’s very low. But despite years of dry
conditions … it’s not the lowest the lake has ever been.
Thanks to a new set of satellite technologies and water
management techniques dubbed FIRO, or Forecast Informed
Reservoir Operations (pronounced FEE-roh), the lake is still
more than a dozen feet above its record low.
Yes, California will have another multi-year
drought. California has immense hydrologic variability,
with more droughts and floods per average year than any other
part of the country. California’s water users, managers,
and regulators should always be prepared for droughts (and
floods). Eventually, California will have a multi-year drought
worse than any we have ever seen.
Farmers, hedge funds and municipalities alike will be able to
hedge against — or bet on — potential water scarcity starting
this week, when CME Group Inc. launches contracts linked to the
$1.1 billion California spot water market. The contracts, a
first of their kind in the U.S., were announced in September as
heat and wildfires ravaged the U.S. West Coast. They are meant
to serve both as a hedge for California’s biggest water
consumers against skyrocketing prices and a scarcity gauge for
investors worldwide.
At the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes,
researchers feel the urgency as they examine connections
between West Coast precipitation and a devastating wildfire
season, which has yet to conclude.
The Templeton Community Services District recently looked at a
set of potential water policy priorities … It includes
an incentive program for property owners who want to sell back
or “relinquish” their water units, the ability to transfer
water units between properties owned by the same individual, a
landscape retrofit program, and updating the way the district
calculates single-family dwelling unit equivalent water demand.
Work is proceeding on construction of a new well, booster pump
station and million-gallon storage tank on the western reaches
of Jensen Road north of the city [of Newman]. The $10 million
project to upgrade Newman’s municipal water system has been in
the works for about a decade.
The Water Replenishment District of Southern California’s board
of directors moved Thursday to hire a former board member
forced out of office by the district attorney as its new
general manager, despite concerns about his lack of
qualifications and the rushed hiring process. Board members
voted 3-2 to select former Carson Mayor Albert Robles as the
new general manager, then went into closed session to discuss
it further.
The rainy season is still young, but that’s about the only
consolation to be found in California’s initial estimate this
week that farmers who get water from the State Water Project
will only get 10 percent of their requested allocations next
year. This marks the third consecutive year the initial
estimate has been that low.
Amid California’s worst fire season in history, climate experts
are predicting hot and dry conditions this winter. “On average
there will be less moisture than we would normally receive here
in California,” says Dr. Lowell Stott, a professor of earth
sciences at the University of Southern California. After
studying the recent data, Stott says Southern California will
unfortunately be visited by the rain-averse La Niña weather
pattern.
The Coachella Valley Water District on Wednesday appointed
Cathedral City Mayor John Aguilar to fill the vacancy left on
its board of directors when former Director G. Patrick O’Dowd
resigned in November to helm the Salton Sea Authority.
A coalition of conservation groups is working to prevent the
development of a dam in the Del Puerto Canyon. The proposed Del
Puerto Canyon Reservoir [in Stanislaus County] would reportedly
store more than 80,000 acre-feet of water…. In a lawsuit
filed on November 20, the plaintiffs assert that the project
would negatively impact the habitat of several species.
The Metropolitan Water District likely won’t pick up the slack
to cover planning costs for the proposed Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta tunnel. That’s a huge shift from MWD’s “all in” support
of the previous tunnel project.
With no rain in the forecast for the rest of 2020 — thanks to a
La Niña weather pattern pushing storms north of the state — the
probability of California entering a multi-year drought is
increasing.
Hopes are rising in the southern Central Valley that the
farmland expected to be fallowed in coming years because of
drought and groundwater restrictions won’t sit idle but will
instead be consolidated to make room for new land uses
including solar power generation.
Antioch’s plan to build a desalination plant to clear up the
city’s brackish water got another boost this week when the City
Council unanimously approved $15 million in interim financing.
If an options agreement between the [Ridgecrest] City Council
and Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority comes to
fruition, recycled water from the city’s wastewater facility
could help balance the groundwater basin… Both the council
and the groundwater authorities at their respective meetings
last week approved the option agreement between the two parties
for recycled wastewater.
While Republican members of Congress praised the most recent
step toward approving raising the height of Shasta Dam, fishing
and environmental groups criticized it as the illegal actions
of a “lame duck federal agency.”
In a 5-2 vote, the Zone 7 Water Agency Board approved the
expenditure of $2.8 million as the agency’s share for the next
phase of planning on the Delta Conveyance.
California oil regulators ignored their own regulations and
issued improper permits for hundreds of new wells last year,
according to an audit … finalized this week. … The audit
was requested after stories in The Desert Sun
revealed that CalGEM employees used so-called “dummy”
folders to approve new injection wells for
several oil companies that do risky steam injection.
While many people look towards the mountains for accessing
beautiful nature, the San Joaquin Valley Floor is home to many
amazing sights of nature and in particular, birds. Not only is
Tulare County home to over 100 types of birds, it is part of
the Pacific Flyway – one of the most important bird migration
paths in the world.
Alfalfa is proving in University of California studies to be
remarkably resilient when flooded with large amounts of water
early in the year to refill ground depleted by deficit
irrigation, or to recharge groundwater drawn down by pumping.
Without an accessible and relatively clean water supply, dairy
farming is not possible. Much of California enjoys a
Mediterranean-style climate, where precipitation is not a year
around expectation. And yet California is home to the largest
dairy industry in the United States. So how are we doing?
Joining a growing list, Turlock and Modesto Irrigation
Districts filed a Petition with the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission asking that the commission find that the State of
California has waived certification under the Clean Water Act.
… The Districts are seeking a new FERC license for two
hydropower projects on the Tuolumne River, the Don Pedro
Project and the La Grange Project.
By burning and brushing, nurturing important plants and
keeping lands around their homes clear of dead brush and
debris, Native peoples carefully stewarded the lands to sustain
the biodiverse ecologies California is known for. Their
work resulted in a richly productive landscape that provided
food and habitat for not only humans but many land, air and
water animals. That included the salmon, a staple of tribes in
the West for millennia. All that changed when California became
a U.S. state in 1850.
A recent exchange of letters between a public utility and a
state water authority highlights the continued stalemate in the
effort by the Monterey Peninsula to develop a new water supply
and end the overdrafting of the Carmel River.
Climate change and overuse are causing one of the Colorado
River’s biggest reservoirs, Lake Powell, to drop. While water
managers worry about scarcity issues, two Utah river rafters
are documenting the changes that come as the massive reservoir
hits historic low points.
A model for an economical filter system that can remove
antibiotics from wastewater has been designed by Agricultural
Research Service and University of California-Riverside
collaborators.
The proposed Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir [in western Stanislaus
County] would store 82,000 acre-feet of water for downstream
agricultural users. The coalition said the dam would flood an
“important cultural and recreation site for the surrounding
community and destroying valuable wildlife habitat.”
The consolidated Oroville Spillway cases are currently
scheduled to go to trial in April of 2021. A large judgement
for monetary damages could potentially bankrupt the State Water
Project, according to filings by the Department of Water
Resources.
Marin County flood planners are turning to Santa Venetia voters
to help pay for an estimated $6 million project to upgrade the
timber-reinforced berm that protects hundreds of homes from
overtopping tides.
Things got a little wild at the San Diego County Water
Authority meeting last week when its 36 directors argued over
whether they should spend more money studying a controversial
$5 billion pipeline to the Colorado River. Outrage after
leaders apparently skipped over female directors waiting to add
comments during a discussion period sparked some to change
their vote on the matter.
If you look up into [San Joaquin] Valley skies this week and
see a large, oddly shaped device hanging from a helicopter,
don’t be alarmed. It’s part of a research project to map
underground water supplies. Beginning Monday, flyovers are
expected in areas west and south of Fresno – including Fowler,
Kingsburg, Lemon Cove, Orange Cove, Orosi, Parlier, Piedra,
Reedley, Sanger, Selma, Woodlake.
As it explores a potential state role in funding conveyance
projects, the Commission seeks public input on criteria for
assessing resilience, public benefits of conveyance, and
financing mechanisms. The workshops are not associated with the
proposal to improve conveyance through the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta.
The Department of Water Resources recently published a summary
report of a comprehensive needs assessment of safety at
Oroville Dam. It comes after the reconstruction of the
spillways that were damaged and failed in 2017.
A Kernville hatchery that has served local anglers for almost a
century will soon close down again 20 months after it reopened
following three years of renovations. The Kern River Hatchery
… must close for repairs Dec. 1 mainly because a 50-year-old
pipeline that delivers water to the facility needs to be
replaced…
Residents in the San Diego County Water Authority’s service
area can apply to get a rebate of $3 for every square-foot of
lawn they replace with drought-tolerant plants.
What are key California water priorities for the coming year,
in light of ongoing disruptions from the pandemic, the
recession, lingering drought, and a record-breaking fire
season? The PPIC Water Policy Center brought together three
panels of experts to discuss possibilities at our annual water
priorities conference.
In a letter to President-elect Joe Biden last week, the
American Water Works Association urged the incoming
administration to prioritize COVID-19 relief for water
utilities and investment for the overall water infrastructure
sector.
A refillable water station will replace a drinking fountain at
Main Beach as part of Laguna Beach’s ongoing effort to reduce
single-use plastics from littering beaches and the ocean and
ultimately harming marine mammals. The water station – planned
for a January installation – is thanks to a collaborative
effort by the Laguna Bluebelt Coalition and several other
community groups…
Why would a public water agency that exists primarily to serve
irrigation water to farmers on the west side of Fresno and
Kings counties undertake an ecosystem restoration project in
the Delta?
Karuk Tribe natural resources spokesperson Craig Tucker joined
John Howard to talk about the historic agreement, its impact on
the region’s Salmon fisheries, and the potential for
replication in other places where dams are contested.
After decades of new and deeper wells, degraded water quality
and groundwater level declines, residents in the [Madera] area
have a chance to influence how local groundwater will be
managed and used for decades to come — and the deadline to
participate is quickly approaching.
A proposed dam in California’s Central Valley is billed as a
vital agricultural resource. But conservationists say it would
also flood important cultural and recreational sites for
surrounding communities and destroy wildlife habitat.
Now based in California, 39-year-old engineer and entrepreneur
Meena Sankaran is working to make water cleaner and more
reliable — by making it smarter. Using sensors and analytic
tools, Sankaran’s startup KETOS provides real-time monitoring
of both water usage and quality, alerting, say, a farmer to a
leak, or a municipality to a contaminant.
The Kings River Conservation District, along with co-applicant
Tulare Lake RCD, received this grant to help remove invasive
species and debris from levees and riverbank along the Kings
River, improve water flow, strengthen flood protection,
increase carbon capture, and improve delivery of clean water to
downstream users.
Twenty years ago, the Colorado River’s hydrology began tumbling
into a historically bad stretch. … So key players across
seven states, including California, came together in 2005 to
attack the problem. The result was a set of Interim Guidelines
adopted in 2007… Stressing flexibility instead of rigidity,
the guidelines stabilized water deliveries in a
drought-stressed system and prevented a dreaded shortage
declaration by the federal government that would have forced
water supply cuts.
Twenty years ago, the Colorado River
Basin’s hydrology began tumbling into a historically bad stretch.
The weather turned persistently dry. Water levels in the system’s
anchor reservoirs of Lake Powell and Lake Mead plummeted. A river
system relied upon by nearly 40 million people, farms and
ecosystems across the West was in trouble. And there was no guide
on how to respond.
Work crews have been busy this week along Twin Cities Road near
Courtland. They are conducting core sampling, the first step in
drafting an environmental impact report for a tunnel plan known
as the Delta Conveyance Project.
Exposure to toxic “forever” chemicals could hinder the
effectiveness of a COVID-19 vaccine, with outsize implications
for some communities and workers.
Millions of people across our nation, and countless millions
throughout the world depend on California’s farms and ranches
for the food they eat every single day. California leads the
nation as the country’s largest agricultural producer and
exporter and serves as a vital link in the world’s food supply
chain.
HR 8775, the Salton Sea Public Health and Environmental
Protection Act, would create an interagency working group
called the Salton Sea Management Council to coordinate projects
around the lake’s receding shoreline.
Fewer properties over the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin will be
subject to severe water restrictions after the San Luis Obispo
County Board of Supervisors voted on Nov. 17 to revise the
basin’s “area of severe decline,” eliminating roughly 37,000
acres.
The California Natural Resources Agency recently announced the
investment of almost $50 million in Proposition 68 funding for
projects to promote salmon recovery. More than $220 million in
Proposition 1 and Proposition 68 funds have also been dedicated
for multi-benefit flood protection projects in the past two
years that will benefit salmon.
The Trump Administration Thursday released the Shasta Lake
Water Resources Investigation Final Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement to increase water storage capacity in the
Shasta Lake reservoir by 634,000 acre-feet,
On Nov. 17, California, Oregon, PacifiCorp, and the Yurok and
Karuk Tribes announced a new agreement with the Klamath River
Renewal Corporation to reaffirm KRRC’s status as dam removal
entity and provide additional funding for the removal of four
hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River. The agreement is the
latest development in a decade-long effort…
Current estimates of young salmon lost to the south Delta pumps
are based on a smattering of studies from the 1970s and should
be updated, according to a new analysis. “They don’t represent
current operations,” says Ukiah-based consultant Andrew Jahn,
lead author of the analysis reported in the September 2020
issue of San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science.
How did two of the most important waterfowl refuges in the
United States reach such a sad state? The decline of the Tule
Lake and Lower Klamath refuges was a hundred years in the
making. There are no villains here; rather it is simply a tale
of too little water to go around on an arid landscape.
For a city built in an arid desert basin in Nevada, the USA’s
driest state with around 10 inches of rainfall a year, this
doesn’t sound too surprising. But the climate emergency and
recent droughts have changed the complexion and urgency of the
problem.
The lower Colorado River Basin, which is primarily in Arizona,
is projected to have as much as sixteen percent less
groundwater infiltration by midcentury compared to the
historical record. That’s because warming temperatures will
increase evaporation while rain- and snowfall are expected to
remain the same or decrease slightly.
An annual search for a tiny endangered and contentious fish in
the sprawling California Delta has once again come up empty.
The state’s annual Fall Midwater Trawl found no Delta smelt in
September’s sampling of the critical waterway. … Hoping to
reverse the trend, Westlands Water District and the California
Department of Water Resources announced completion of a Delta
habitat restoration project on Wednesday.
Rangeland ecologists at the University of California, Davis,
found that when ranchers invest even one week a year in
practices that keep cows away from creeks — like herding,
fencing and providing supplemental nutrition and water — they
can improve riparian health by as much as 53 percent.
In the weeks before the coronavirus began tearing through
California, the city of Commerce made an expensive decision: It
shut down part of its water supply. Like nearly 150 other
public water systems in California, the small city on the
outskirts of Los Angeles had detected “forever chemicals” in
its well water.
Two key projects that the bond measure was passed to help fund,
Sites Reservoir and Temperance Flat Reservoir, have stalled.
Without the public breathing down their neck in a severe
drought, the state has managed to treat the reservoirs as back
burner issues.
America’s largest dam removal project has been brought back to
life with a new agreement among California, Oregon, tribes and
a utility owned by billionaire Warren Buffett. The decadeslong
effort to remove four dams on the Klamath River in Northern
California that have had a devastating impact on salmon runs
had appeared in danger following an unexpected July regulatory
order.
The Kern County Water Agency board of directors voted
unanimously to approve an agreement with the Department of
Water Resources to pay $14 million over 2021 and 2020 as its
initial share of the early planning and design phase for what’s
now being called the Delta Conveyance Facility.
Grant Reynolds, a director of Water Audit California, delivered
a letter to the city on Monday criticizing its use of the
Stonebridge wells for municipal use and “a pattern of
exercising no discretion” in issuing permits for new wells.
For decades it’s been an environmental jewel wedged between the
urban sprawl of Marina Del Rey and Playa Del Rey. But now the
Ballona Wetlands State Ecological Reserve, home to diverse
plant and animal wildlife, has become a battleground for
conservationists and other activists.
The incoming Biden administration is widely expected to undo
President Trump’s regulatory rollbacks on a range of water
rules including stream and wetland protections, drinking water
contamination, and the permitting of controversial energy and
flood projects.
Children and staff at Westside Elementary School in Thermal
have had to rely on bottled water due to issues from an aging
well. But change is here. Thanks to a $880,155 grant from
the Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience
(SAFER) program, a consolidation project recently broke ground,
granting Westside Elementary access to the Coachella Valley
Water District and a reliable source of clean water.
Meadows in the Sierra Nevada are critical components of
watersheds. In addition to supplying water to over 25 million
people in California and Nevada, meadows contain large
quantities of carbon belowground. … A new study led by
researchers at the University of Nevada Reno demonstrates for
the first time that meadows throughout the region are both
gaining and losing carbon at high rates.
