In California water news today, Money, politics, and the twin tunnels; Water flowing through Oroville Dam powerhouse again; Oroville Dam: Farmers blame sudden spillway shutoff for eroded riverbanks; Risks soar, bills come due as 20th century dams crumble; NASA launches pilot project to measure snowpack from the sky; Hydropower poised for comeback in California, thanks to a wet winter; Worst salmon season in eight years projected for California; California almond growers look to increase water savings; Global warming is slamming California. Will Trump take notice?; and more …
On the calendar today …
- Webcast: Water stress and a changing San Joaquin Valley from 9am to 1:30pm: The PPIC Water Policy Center and the California Water Institute at Fresno State will hold a free, half-day public event featuring panels of local leaders and experts to discuss key water issues facing the region. Click here to watch on webcast.
- The State Water Resources Control Board will meet this morning beginning at 9am: Agenda items include an update on current hydrologic conditions, an update on the emergency conservation regulation, and consideration of a proposed Resolution adopting a comprehensive response to climate change. Click here for the agenda. Click here to watch on webcast.
- The Senate Committee on Natural Resources will meet this morning at 9:30: The Committee will hold a hearing on the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018 in Room 113 at the State Capitol. Click here for more information. Click here to watch on CalChannel.
- Webinar: Colorado River Basin Forecasting Center from 10am to 11:30am: Click here for more information and to register.
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
Money, politics, and the twin tunnels: “In the wake of the Oroville dam near-disaster, a question floating around Capitol corridors now is: Given the amount of money needed for what everyone agrees must be an expensive revamping of the state’s water infrastructure, is there room now for Gov. Jerry Brown’s heart’s desire — the $15.5 billion twin tunnels project? “This project has been subjected to 10 years of detailed analysis and more environmental review than any other project in the history of the world. It is absolutely essential if California is to maintain a reliable water supply,” Brown declared in a formal statement issued on Dec. 22, 2016. … ” Read more from Capitol Weekly here: Money, politics, and the twin tunnels
Water flowing through Oroville Dam powerhouse again: “As of deadline Monday, water was running again through the Hyatt Powerhouse beneath Oroville Dam. Water was sent through the hydroelectric power plant Friday for the first time since Feb. 10, but the flow was shut off about 10 a.m. Saturday when Department of Water Resources officials realized they needed a bigger channel through the debris at the base of the damaged main spillway for the powerhouse to operate at full capacity. The excavation continued day and night, and as of Monday morning DWR said 427,000 cubic-yards had been removed from the pile initially estimated to include 1.7 million cubic-yards. … ” Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record here: Water flowing through Oroville Dam powerhouse again
Oroville Dam: Farmers blame sudden spillway shutoff for eroded riverbanks: “For three generations, Phillip Filter’s family has tended orchards that grow on a shelf of floodplain above the Feather River.Because the trees stand between the river and a major flood-protection levee, Filter’s family is no stranger to floods that sometimes spill over the river banks, inundate the orchards and then recede back into the channel below. But Filter has never seen damage to the riverbanks like what happened last week after the state suddenly shut down flows from Oroville Dam’s badly damaged spillway upstream. ... ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Oroville Dam: Farmers blame sudden spillway shutoff for eroded riverbanks MORE: Click here to watch video from the Sacramento Bee.
Risks soar, bills come due as 20th century dams crumble: “For nearly 50 years, Oroville Dam has been the linchpin of a sprawling state plumbing system that draws water from wet Northern California to 25 million people and thousands of acres of farmland in the arid south. That changed Feb. 7 when a crater as large as a football field dropped out of the dam’s concrete-lined spillway. Catastrophe loomed. It appeared the earthen barrier restraining the state’s second-largest reservoir might fail, unleashing a deadly 30-foot wave on communities downstream. Officials ordered nearly 200,00 people to evacuate. While disaster was averted, dam experts and savvy observers of the West’s aging water infrastructure weren’t shocked. ... ” Read more from E&E Publishing here: Risks soar, bills come due as 20th century dams crumble
NASA launches pilot project to measure snowpack from the sky: “After five years of drought and now all this precipitation there’s so much snow in the Sierra Nevada that state water officials are preparing for a massive runoff year. But the traditional way of calculating the snowpack has a huge margin of error. A new way to measure it could greatly decrease that inconsistency. Every winter and spring a network of snow surveyors manually tally how much snow is in the Sierra Nevada. They do this by measuring snow depth in the same spots every year. Pacific Gas and Electric Hydrographer Christine Bohrman and I hopped out of a helicopter in 2014 in the mountains east of Fresno to do this. … ” Read more from Capital Public Radio here: NASA launches pilot project to measure snowpack from the sky
Hydropower poised for comeback in California, thanks to a wet winter: “California’s years-long drought put hydroelectric power flat on its back. But one of the cleanest and cheapest energy sources may be poised for a comeback as the state has been drenched with rain and its mountains blanketed in snow in recent months. Energy officials studying the numbers are cautiously optimistic the sector’s output may roar back to levels seen before drought decimated watersheds, streams and reservoirs. Still, such a turnaround may not make a big difference in the bills paid by electricity ratepayers, especially in San Diego, which is far away from Northern California where most of the state’s hydro facilities are located. ... ” Read more from the San Diego Union Tribune here: Hydropower poised for comeback in California, thanks to a wet winter
Worst salmon season in eight years projected for California: “California fishermen are bracing for the worst salmon season in eight years, one so grim that many will likely sit the season out completely. Years of drought and unfavorably warm ocean conditions that existed when this year’s potential crop of king salmon was young have reduced the adult population to the lowest level forecast since 2009, when projections were so pathetic both sport and commercial salmon seasons were canceled. Some hope that abundant winter rainfall and last year’s welcome spring rains will help restore next year’s salmon fishery to something approximating full strength. But until then, “we have one more bad drought hangover year to work through,” said John McManus, executive director of the Golden Gate Salmon Association. ... ” Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat here: Worst salmon season in eight years projected for California
California almond growers look to increase water savings: “Almonds are big business in California, generating $5.3 billion in revenue for farmers in 2015. They are the state’s second-largest farm product after dairy. But almonds also consume a lot of water. The almond-growing industry has been under scrutiny for its water use since the state’s drought took hold. In part, this scrutiny arose because farmers have converted thousands of acres of agricultural land from annual row crops to lucrative almonds, a permanent crop that requires water year-round. ... ” Read more from Water Deeply here: California almond growers look to increase water savings
Global warming is slamming California. Will Trump take notice? “The drought has been declared over in most of California, with heavy winter rains sending water over the Oroville dam and forcing the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people. But climate change is still in the air, and the recent weather pattern is a harbinger of what’s to come. The abrupt shift to record rainfall is the kind of extreme weather forecast for a warming planet. “Current models suggest the dice are loaded toward an increased probability of this kind of year,” said Columbia University climate scientist A. Park Williams. ... ” Read more from McClatchy DC here: Global warming is slamming California. Will Trump take notice?
In commentary today …
Our wild, wet winter doesn’t change this reality: California will be short of water forever, says Jay Famiglietti and Michelle Miro: They write, “Over the last 18 months, California has experienced one of the driest, wettest and wildest rides in its recorded water history. As the 2015-16 water year opened in October 2015, drought had driven the state’s reservoir and groundwater levels to all-time lows. Entire towns were left without water. Reports of lakes turned to puddles, of wells running dry by the thousands, and of the cracked ground above depleted aquifers sinking several feet a year dominated state headlines. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: Our wild, wet winter doesn’t change this reality: California will be short of water forever
Thomas Elias: Desalination loses urgency in super wet winter: “Here’s a cold, wet reality: the more water in California’s reservoirs, the less urgency there is to build new ocean-water desalination plants that became a major talking point during the state’s long, parched years of drought, an ultra-dry period some folks insist has still not ended despite months of heavy rains. Those record or near-record rains have replenished everything reservoirs lost over the last few years of drought, and sometimes more. Desalination is always tantalizing here because — like Samuel Coleridge’s ancient mariner, who complained of “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink” — Californians can see billions of acre-feet of water every day in the form of the Pacific Ocean, complete with all its bays and estuaries. … ” Read more from the OC Register here: Desalination loses urgency in super wet winter
In regional news and commentary today …
Storm waters may have washed away Sacramento River endangered fish project: “Three months ago crews were clearing out a side channel in the Sacramento River in Redding, creating a place for endangered salmon to spawn and rear their young. The river was running at a relatively tame 4,865 cubic-feet per second, and crews could drive heavy equipment along the eastern banks of the river to the work site just north of the Cypress Avenue Bridge. That isn’t happening anymore. The area is now under water, and the river has raged for weeks at levels that have reached 16 times the amount that flowed through the area in November. … ” Read more from the Redding Record Searchlight here: Storm waters may have washed away Sacramento River endangered fish project
Oroville’s Riverbend Park repairs estimated to cost $8 million: “The price to restore Oroville’s Riverbend Park has been sized up to be about $8 million, and the park district is hoping flood insurance and federal aid will foot the bill. Apryl Ramage, Feather River Recreation and Park District general manager, said completion of park repairs is estimated by late summer. Heavy flows out of the damaged Oroville Dam spillway into the Feather River in early February led to flooding at the recreation area built in 2006, which lies in the low-flow section of the river. ... ” Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record here: Oroville’s Riverbend Park repairs estimated to cost $8 million
High levels of lead found in Sacramento County correctional facility water: “Water at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center in southern Sacramento County has tested positive for high levels of lead and copper, but there is no immediate health risk, county officials said Saturday. “Out of an abundance of caution,” county public health officials have advised the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department to provide drinking water that does not pass through the center’s existing plumbing, according to a county statement. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: High levels of lead found in Sacramento County correctional facility water
Dredging sought to combat erosion: Army Corps confirms it won’t fund project, Harbor District takes charge: “As coastal erosion continues to threaten areas of the San Mateo County coastline with many suggesting the outer jetty at Pillar Point Harbor is exacerbating the degradation immediately south, locals have decided to take the reins after a federal agency declined to fund what some believe could be a solution — dredging the harbor. Last month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its final report after a yearslong study confirming what many locals have long feared — the federal agency won’t pay to dredge the harbor. However, corps officials are suggesting they may be able to help the San Mateo County Harbor District’s efforts to lead a pilot program. … ” Read more from the San Mateo Daily Journal here: Dredging sought to combat erosion: Army Corps confirms it won’t fund project, Harbor District takes charge
Modesto Irrigation District expects full 42-inch allotment this year: “Modesto-area growers could get 42 inches of water this year – an average allotment, at long last – and probably won’t have to worry about higher prices, they learned Monday at a Modesto Irrigation District landowner meeting. Both points are expected to go before the MID board on March 14, when leaders also could affirm a March 22 start date for this year’s water season. Staff will recommend that the district continue allowing individuals to move their share of water among parcels that each owns, leases or rents. Other drought-time programs, such as selling portions of one’s water share on the open market to other MID customers, apparently won’t be renewed. ... ” Read more from the Modesto Irrigation District here: Modesto Irrigation District expects full 42-inch allotment this year
Huge sewage spill was perhaps far bigger: 230 million gallons? “The massive sewage spill on the Tijuana River in Mexico that fouled South County beaches may have been significantly larger than first estimated, although it’s unclear how regulators arrived at the new figure. Standing next to the river valley for a news conference Monday, Rep. Scott Peters said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now suspects that discharges may have totaled 230 million gallons, up from an initial figure of 143 million gallons. The original volume already ranked as one of the biggest single sewage spills in the region’s history. … ” Read more from the San Diego Union Tribune here: Huge sewage spill was perhaps far bigger: 230 million gallons?
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
- BLOG ROUND-UP: Will Westside farmers receive full allocation? Can Oroville spark new dam building? Trump’s budget cuts: Even worse than you think; and more …
- OROVILLE DAM, Monday afternoon: Progress continues; crews prepare channel for larger flows (with pictures and video)
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