In California water news today, Emergency repairs for facility used to ship water to Southern California; Can California repair damaged Delta reservoir within 45 days?; Oroville residents ready for use of spillway again; Trump to drop climate change from environmental reviews, source says; Trump proposal to fix US water infrastructure invites large role for private investors; Saving lives by predicting global drought; and more …
On the calendar today …
- Webinar: Better Sewer Management: Minimizing Environmental Impacts from 10AM to 11AM: Click here for more information.
- The Delta Independent Science Board will hold the first of a two day meeting beginning at 1pm. Agenda items include a discussion of the California WaterFix Final EIR/S Review and the EcoRestore Adaptive Management Program White Paper. Click here for more information. Click here for the webcast link.
- The Delta Protection Commission will meet at 5:30pm in Rio Vista. Agenda items include a presentation on the activities of the Delta Watermaster, a presentation on the 2017 Delta flood season, discussion of a comment letter regarding the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, and designation of sites along the Great California Delta Trail. Click here for more information.
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
Emergency repairs for facility used to ship water to Southern California: “State officials say that it will take 30 to 45 days to repair damage detected this week at a key point in the state’s system for shipping water from the Delta to farms in the San Joaquin Valley and to cities from Silicon Valley to Los Angeles. But the Department of Water Resources says the damage, involving extensive underwater erosion around a concrete intake structure at Clifton Court Forebay in eastern Contra Costa County, should not result in an interruption of water deliveries to any of its many farm and city customers. … ” Read more from KQED here: Emergency repairs for facility used to ship water to Southern California
Can California repair damaged Delta reservoir within 45 days? “State officials said Wednesday that Californians reliant on water pumped out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta won’t face supply shortages, even as crews shut down a massive pumping station that serves much of Southern California for at least a month to make repairs to its intake reservoir. The repair effort involves Clifton Court Forebay, a shallow reservoir that serves as an entryway for a Delta pumping station critical to the State Water Project, the state-run water delivery network that moves water north to south through California. Doug Carlson, a spokesman for the California Department of Water Resources, which operates the pumping plant near Tracy, said that crews discovered damage within the last two weeks on the intake gates at the reservoir. Erosion was scouring the base of a 175-foot-wide concrete “apron” on the intake that sits below the water’s surface. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Can California repair damaged Delta reservoir within 45 days?
Oroville residents ready for use of spillway again: “With water soon set to flow down the damaged spillway at Oroville Dam, some residents are cautiously confident in repairs and haven’t checked the newly minted evacuation plans yet. The Department of Water Resources announced Monday that spillway flows would resume “on or around March 17,” for the first time since being shut off Feb. 27. New evacuation plans are in place in case something goes wrong and residents in Oroville, Thermalito, Gridley, Biggs and other areas along the Feather River need to evacuate again. Residents can find the zone they belong to with an interactive map at www.buttecounty.net/oem. … ” Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record here: Oroville residents ready for use of spillway again
Trump to drop climate change from environmental reviews, source says: “President Donald Trump is set to sign a sweeping directive to dramatically shrink the role climate change plays in decisions across the government, ranging from appliance standards to pipeline approvals, according to a person familiar with the administration’s plan. The order, which could be signed this week, goes far beyond a targeted assault on Obama-era measures blocking coal leasing and throttling greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that has been discussed for weeks. Some of the changes could happen immediately; others could take years to implement. ... ” Read more from Bloomberg News here: Trump to drop climate change from environmental reviews, source says
Trump proposal to fix US water infrastructure invites large role for private investors: “President Donald Trump, fashioning himself the builder-in-chief, promised to invest $US 1 trillion to make America’s potholed highways, unstable bridges, leaky water systems, strained ports, and brittle levees whole again. The pledge is more a slogan at this point. Still, Trump and his advisers are adamant that such a big bet on the nation’s arteries of commerce, health, and safety come with a large role for investor-owned companies and equity firms to form public-private partnerships, or P3s. More common in the transportation sector, P3s have garnered support in Congress from both political parties as a source of funding to fix America’s water infrastructure. … ” Read more from the Circle of Blue here: Trump proposal to fix US water infrastructure invites large role for private investors
Saving lives by predicting global drought: “Droughts are large-scale phenomena that can morph through time and space, and accurately forecasting them has long proven an elusive goal for climate scientists and meteorologists. But a new study could help because it reveals certain quite-specific geographic patterns that some regional droughts follow over and over again. After analyzing thousands of droughts on all continents over a 30-year period, an international team of researchers found that about 10 percent of droughts follow predictable tracks. Combining new models with existing forecasting tools, the findings will give scientists a jump on predicting droughts. … ” Read more from Pacific Standard here: Saving lives by predicting global drought
In commentary today …
The drought is just now beginning in California: Dennis Wyatt writes, “Is the drought over? You might view that as an insane question given the near record snowfall for modern times in the Sierra and the fact the runoff will be testing levees for the coming months. But before you get too giddy and think it’s ok to revert to old water use patterns and plant water guzzling turf all over creation, you might want to remember that there is a lot more to California water than meets the eye. Consider: … ” Read more from the Ceres Courier here: The drought is just now beginning in California
Smaller is better: The solution to California’s ancient water pipes: “As a practicing architect and LEED AP (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, Accredited Professional) for more than 40 years, I have scoured the planet for technological solutions to improve sustainability with water, energy and waste treatment. During the course of my projects, I often see the underbelly of the beast where aging underground systems have the potential to erupt at any time, particularly in earthquake-prone areas such as California’s San Francisco Bay and Los Angeles. Our greatest current and growing problem is restoring and improving infrastructure systems to last another 50 years. We cannot fix all the massive underground problems, but we can instead replace them with smaller, local surface-mounted solutions that will lead us to more flexible, manageable, decentralized and sustainable systems. ... ” Read more from Water Deeply here: Smaller is better: The solution to California’s ancient water pipes
In regional news and commentary today …
Plumas County: Groundbreaking groundwater study in Sierra Valley: “How do you study what you can’t see and a process that takes millions of years to play out? Like a doctor who diagnoses your health based on knowing only your temperature, weight, and blood pressure, Burkhard Bohm diagnoses the health of groundwater based on only knowing groundwater levels, the ratios of stable isotopes, and the amount of minerals and dissolved solids in groundwater. On Feb. 24, the Sierra Valley Groundwater Management District invited Bohm, longtime hydrology researcher and founder of Plumas Geo-Hydrology, to present the results of his many studies of Sierra Valley groundwater. … ” Read more from Plumas County News here: Groundbreaking groundwater study in Sierra Valley
Plumas County: Groundwater sustainability is front and center: ” … in 2014 and 2015, the state stepped in to pass laws to regulate groundwater use, encouraging local agencies to develop long-term groundwater sustainability plans. In addition, 43 high priority and 84 medium priority groundwater basins were required to form “groundwater sustainability agencies (GSA)” to come up with long-term plans. Sierra Valley was tentatively named as one of the medium priority groundwater basins. Fortunately, the Sierra Valley Groundwater Management District has been working on this issue for decades. Therefore, Sierra Valley is setting an example for other groundwater basins in the region on how to develop a GSA and do long-term groundwater planning. On Feb. 24, the district held a meeting to inform the public about the state of the planning process in Sierra Valley. … ” Read more from the Plumas County News here: Plumas County: Groundwater sustainability is front and center
Yuba-Sutter: Water agency to loan reclamation district up to $200,000 to levee repairs: “The Yuba County Water Agency approved a $200,000 loan for Reclamation District 2103 to help with repair costs on a stretch of the Bear River that was damaged by February storms. “One of YCWA’s fundamental missions is to improve public safety for the people of Yuba County,” said Brent Hastey, chairman of YCWA’s Board of Directors, in a press release. “We work closely with the local reclamation districts to ensure the integrity of the levees to reduce our local flood risk.” The loan is expected to cover 90 percent of the repair work done on the Bear River levee, which was completed weeks ago. … ” Read more from the Appeal-Democrat here: Yuba-Sutter: Water agency to loan reclamation district up to $200,000 to levee repairs
Baby salmon trickle back to Russian River after long absence: “After an absence of more than a decade, a trickle of salmon are finally finding their way back to Sonoma County streams, thanks to private landowners and a coalition of conservationists. Roughly 22 million years ago, the fish we know as salmon evolved the complicated biology they needed to commute between inland freshwater streams and the open salty ocean. Thus began one of the most remarkable life cycle journeys known on the planet. Two million years ago, on the ancient California coastline, the salmon would have found a perfect cold and clear waterway emptying into the Pacific near the mouth of today’s Russian River. Running a hundred miles back among high ridges and dense redwood forest, its widely branching network of creeks and tributaries made ideal habitat for the spawning fish and its young. … ” Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat here: Baby salmon trickle back to Russian River after long absence
New Salinas Valley groundwater agency takes shape: “In the midst of a historic drought, the California Legislature passed a series of three bills in 2014 that, together, became known as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. SGMA (colloquially, pronounced “sigma”) was the state’s first-ever law aimed at managing its groundwater resources. Before that, California was the last state in the American West to not have laws regarding groundwater management; Texas was second-to-last, after passing such laws in 2008. “As progressive of a state as we can be, we’re kind of backwards,” says Gary Petersen, director of public works for the city of Salinas, and who’s been heading up the effort to form the Salinas Valley’s groundwater sustainability agency. Petersen is set to become interim general manager of the nascent agency. ... ” Read more from Monterey County Weekly here: New Salinas Valley groundwater agency takes shape
Cuyama water district formed; still needs county approval: “On March 13, the Santa Barbara County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) formally certified the formation of the Cuyama Basin Water District, drawing objections from several residents due to fears of water availability. The commission first approved the district on Sept. 1, 2016, but required a special election, which was held on Feb. 28, 2017. The votes came back 58,057 in favor and 2,236 against the district. The district itself is controversial among some Cuyama residents because they believe it’ll consume most of the water from the aquifer, which is shared by the town of roughly 1,100 people. ... ” Read more from the Santa Maria Sun here: Cuyama water district formed; still needs county approval
Ridgecrest: “Water for our children”: “The Indian Wells Valley Water District voted 3-1 to approve the IWV Groundwater Authority’s bylaws at the IWVWD board meeting on Monday night, so long as the IWVGA agrees to add a conflict of interest section and name major water users on the Policy Advisory Committee, including Mojave Pistachios, Meadowbrook, and Searles Valley Minerals. The board did not arrive at the decision easily and discussion went on for hours, as everyone in the room was aware of how critically important water management will become in the near future. The tone of the meeting was set early as citizens spoke to the board during public comment. “We must protect our water for our children and our children’s children,” said Raymond Kelso. … ” Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent here: “Water for our children”
San Diego: Sierra water returns to North County taps: Meena Westford writes, “What a difference one year and one wet winter makes. Last year, 100 percent of the imported water needed to run the North County economy came from the Colorado River. These days, not a drop is coming from the Colorado. Instead, all of the imported water coming out of your tap is from Northern California. Both sources come from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and meet the highest health standards. But there is a big difference for the North County, particularly if you are a farmer or happen to make a little beer (or a lot). Water delivered from Northern California has a fraction of the salts and total dissolved solids as that from the Colorado River. … ” Read more from the Valley Roadrunner here: San Diego: Sierra water returns to North County taps
Along the Colorado River …
For CAP, it’s about conservation to delay Arizona water shortage: “While wet winter and spring weather delivered a deluge of moisture to many California growers, farming operations, and the state reservoirs, the massive weather system also delivered much needed drought relief in the overall seven-state Colorado River basin. In the lower basin state of Arizona, the additional moisture will allow the central counties of Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima to stave off drought-related water cutbacks from the Colorado River for at least a few more years. Central Arizona agriculture stands to lose 200,000 to 220,000 acre feet (AF) of water for irrigation, delivered by the Central Arizona Project (CAP). CAP operates a 336-mile aqueduct which delivers Colorado River water from Lake Havasu City to Phoenix and then south to Tucson to municipalities, agriculture, and Indian Tribes. … ” Read more from the Western Farm Press here: For CAP, it’s about conservation to delay Arizona water shortage
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
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About the Daily Digest: The Daily Digest is a collection of selected news articles, commentaries and editorials appearing in the mainstream press. Items are generally selected to follow the focus of the Notebook blog. The Daily Digest is published every weekday with a weekend edition posting on Sundays.
