In California water news today, Northern California gets its wettest year in nearly a century; Oroville Dam update: More flow, more questions being asked; California’s water chief says he may release Oroville Dam documents after trying to keep them secret; Officials plan to release water on damaged Oroville Dam spillway ahead of more wet weather; Why farmers getting more water won’t lower produce prices; Scientists use flooded rice fields to raise juvenile salmon; It’s like it never left: Another El Nino may be on the way; Trump’s land official meets with Brown; and more …
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
Today’s Announcements …
Northern California gets its wettest year in nearly a century: “A series of late-season storms has vaulted this winter into the history books, making it the wettest winter for California’s northern Sierra Nevada in nearly a century of record-keeping, according to the California Department of Water Resources. As of Thursday, an astonishing 89.7 inches of precipitation across a zone of eight stations in the northern Sierra has been recorded since October. That breaks the record 88.5 inches that fell by the in the 1982-83 rainy season. ... ” Read more from the LA Times here: Northern California gets its wettest year in nearly a century
Oroville Dam update: More flow, more questions being asked: “Many questions remain unanswered about the status and plans for the damaged Oroville Dam spillways. However a lot of work is underway, Department of Water Resources officials said during a press conference Thursday in Oroville. Even so, the water will have to be released down the damaged main spillway starting at 9 a.m. Friday to make room for water flowing into Lake Oroville from the current storm and more on the way, and later for snowmelt. As of 7 p.m. Thursday, the lake was at 864.4 feet above sea level, which is up three feet in 24 hours. The top of the problematic emergency spillway is 901 feet. … ” Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record here: Oroville Dam update: More flow, more questions being asked
California’s water chief says he may release Oroville Dam documents after trying to keep them secret: “California’s top water official said Thursday he’s considering releasing redacted copies of safety and progress reports at the troubled Oroville Dam after his office had tried to keep them secret because of terrorism concerns. Bill Croyle, the acting director of the Department of Water Resources, told reporters that his staff met for several hours Thursday with Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea to discuss which parts of the documents should be kept secret and which to release. He defended the need to keep sensitive material in the documents secret, but said he’s considering releasing versions of records with portions redacted, or blacked out, to meet potential security concerns. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: California’s water chief says he may release Oroville Dam documents after trying to keep them secret
Officials plan to release water on damaged Oroville Dam spillway ahead of more wet weather: “As Northern California braces for more wet weather, state officials plan to resume releasing water down a damaged spillway at Oroville Dam. The California Department of Water Resources said Thursday that dam operators will reopen the damaged spillway for up to 14 days beginning Friday as state officials finish repair plans. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: Officials plan to release water on damaged Oroville Dam spillway ahead of more wet weather
Sutter County signs on to letter on Oroville Dam concerns: “The Sutter County Board of Supervisors approved a letter to be sent to top California officials about concerns surrounding Oroville Dam and its spillways. The “coalition letter” is the result of a pair of meetings guided by Assemblyman James Gallagher and state Sen. Jim Nielsen in the weeks following February’s evacuations. “We convened all these different groups together and compiled all the different issues people were concerned about,” said Gallagher. “The idea was to have a united voice and have the region come together and hone in on what the issues are.” ... ” Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record here: Sutter County signs on to letter on Oroville Dam concerns
Why farmers getting more water won’t lower produce prices: “Thanks to a historically wet winter, Central Valley farmers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta got some long-awaited good news this week from federal water managers. For the first time in more than a decade, they will receive their full allotment of groundwater from the Central Valley Project. It’s a remarkable turnaround from last year, when farmers got only a 5 percent allotment, or even earlier this year, when they got 65 percent. But don’t expect more water to trickle down to lower prices in your local produce aisle. … ” Read more from KQED here: Why farmers getting more water won’t lower produce prices
Scientists use flooded rice fields to raise juvenile salmon: “Amid the agricultural fields in Sacramento’s Yolo bypass where rice, tomatoes and other crops are planted each year, Jacob Katz strolled over to a crop no one would imagine growing in any field. He waded out into a flooded field where a string of large boxes sat — and dipped a green fish net inside producing a handful of squirming tiny chinook salmon. Katz quickly dumped the fish back into the pen moving on to the next box. ... ” Read more from NBC Bay Area here: Scientists use flooded rice fields to raise juvenile salmon
It’s like it never left: Another El Nino may be on the way: “Less than a year after one of the strongest El Niños on record, forecasters see an increasing possibility that another will begin later this year. There is no word yet on how strong a new El Niño might be, but even a mild one could affect weather patterns around the world. Among the potential effects are wetter conditions across the southern United States, including Southern California; a drier Midwest; and drought in parts of Africa, Asia and South America. … ” Read more from the New York Times here: It’s like it never left: Another El Nino may be on the way
Trump’s land official meets with Brown: “We want to be the friendly, ‘yep’ organization”: “Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, President Donald Trump’s chief land manager with control over vast amounts of the United States, met with Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday and discussed several California projects managed by his agency but announced no immediate action. “We had a great conversation where we agreed to work together across the board: environment, parks, water reclamation,” Zinke said in brief remarks after the meeting. They also talked about Brown’s proposal to build twin water conveyance tunnels in the Delta as well as the water supply situation in the Central Valley. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Trump’s land official meets with Brown
In commentary today …
These policy changes will help California prepare for the next drought, say Ellen Hanak and Jeff Mount: They write, “Gov. Jerry Brown has declared the drought over. What did we learn from more than five years of drought that could help us better manage the next one? California’s urban economy remained strong, even as residents and businesses across the state responded to calls to save water. The agricultural economy also kept moving forward despite 50 percent average cuts in water deliveries – thanks to farmers’ ability to adapt by tapping groundwater, trading water and reducing acreage on the least profitable fields. This drought also brought some hard lessons and gave us a glimpse into the future. Record warm temperatures – comparable to those predicted by many climate scientists for later this century – made drought management harder. Improving drought resilience in this increasingly challenging climate will require the following steps: … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: These policy changes will help California prepare for the next drought
In regional news and commentary today …
Solano County still works to ensure local control of groundwater: “In response to landmark legislation requiring the sustainable management of groundwater resources across the state, Solano County, in cooperation with the cities, water agencies and municipal partners, are all working together to ensure the sustainable management of groundwater resources in Solano County, and that it remains locally controlled. In January 2015, the state enacted legislation requiring the sustainable management of groundwater resources of high or medium priority groundwater basins in California, including groundwater basins in Solano County. This legislation, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), allows certain local agencies to become Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSA) by June 30, 2017 in order to avoid state management of local groundwater resources. … ” Read more from the Times-Herald here: Solano County still works to ensure local control of groundwater
San Joaquin rain stations seeing 3rd wettest year on record: “With several months still ahead in the current water year, the central stretch of the Sierra Nevada is recording its third-wettest year on record, according to officials. As of Thursday, 68.2 inches of precipitation had been tallied by the five-station index for the San Joaquin portion of the Sierra Nevada, the Department of Water Resources reported. An eight-station index for Northern California had tallied 89.7 inches as of Thursday, breaking that region’s 34-year-old record for precipitation. Rain gauges for the five San Joaquin stations are positioned at Calaveras Big Trees; Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite headquarters, North Fork and Huntington Lake. … ” Read more from the Merced Sun-Star here: San Joaquin rain stations seeing 3rd wettest year on record
City of Gustine forms groundwater management agency: “The city is moving forward with formation of its own agency to monitor and manage local groundwater supplies. City Council members voted unanimously at their March 21 meeting to adopt a resolution declaring the formation of a groundwater sustainability agency for the city of Gustine. State law requires local agencies to take part in groundwater sustainability efforts, but leaves open to each the options of forming individual agencies or participating in larger joint power agreements in which many agencies forge a partnership to address groundwater management and sustainability. ... ” Read more from Westside Connect here: City of Gustine forms groundwater management agency
Where the water goes: A conversation about the Colorado River with author David Owen: “‘Where the Water Goes: Life and Death Along the Colorado River’ is a new book from David Owen, a staff writer with the New Yorker magazine and author of more than a dozen books. His latest takes him on a journey across the west following the Colorado River: the dams, reservoirs and pipelines that help quench the thirst of seven states and parts of Mexico. David Owen joined 91.5 KRCC’s Andrea Chalfin for a conversation about his book. … ” Read more from KRCC here: Where the water goes: A conversation about the Colorado River with author David Owen
Precipitation watch …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
Today’s Announcements …
- CALIFORNIA WATER FIX: Ruling regarding rebuttal of Phase 1
- ANNOUNCEMENT: Water Storage Investment Program: Application walk-through and quantification example webinar
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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.
