In California water news this weekend, Three conservation bills advance to Assembly floor, two held in committee; California creatures thriving after record winter rains; Farewell to the pines; Tribes call for Klamath agreement termination; Key public meetings set for governing groundwater in Sonoma County; How would engineers build the Golden Gate Bridge today?; As ships grow larger, margin for error in San Francisco Bay gets smaller; $43 million aquatic park, The Wave, opens in Dublin; Stockton inches closer to levee funding; Kings River to remain closed for holiday weekend; UNLV researcher studies desert’s living carpet; and Glen Canyon should stay drowned, says Frederick Reimers
In the news this weekend …
Three conservation bills advance to Assembly floor; two held in committee: “The Assembly Appropriations Committee passed three water conservation-related bills but held two others on May 26, the final day for fiscal committees to send bills to the floor. Two competing bills on urban water management planning advanced to the Assembly floor: AB 1654 (Rubio), which is actively supported by ACWA and the water community, and AB 1668 (Friedman), which is opposed by ACWA and much of the water community. Companion bills on new water efficiency targets for urban retail water suppliers were held in committee: AB 968 (Rubio), which is supported by ACWA and the water community, and AB 1669 (Friedman), which ACWA and much of the water community oppose. ... ” Read more from ACWA’s Water News here: Three conservation bills advance to Assembly floor; two held in committee
California creatures thriving after record winter rains: “We heard the grunts and groans from the commuters stuck behind mudslides on Highway 17. We read about the wails from desperate strawberry farmers pumping water out of their flooded fields. And we listened to the joy from Californians who had more than enough water to take guilt-free showers after enduring the conservation mandates from the historic drought. But how did one of the wettest winters in California history impact all the other living things in Northern California? Among the rain-soaked creepy crawlers, furry critters and lush vegetation, there are clear winners and losers emerging from the receding storm clouds. … ” Read more from the East Bay Times here: California creatures thriving after record winter rains
Farewell to the pines: “People came here for the forest, to live among 200-foot-tall pine trees that shaded their mountain cabins and scented the air. But in the span of two short years, tens of thousands of those trees are gone, ravaged by bark beetles until their green needles turned orange. The trunks, long since toppled, are left on the ground in every which direction, like a game of colossal pick-up sticks. Retiree Jimmy Cooke lost four trees at his home in the particularly hard-hit Blue Lake Springs neighborhood. He remembers saying goodbye. … ” Read more from the Stockton Record here: Farewell to the pines
In regional news and commentary this weekend …
Tribes call for Klamath agreement termination: “After mediation failed to find a solution to sustain the Upper Klamath Basin Comprehensive Agreement (UKBCA), Klamath Tribes and Upper Basin irrigators differ on the future of the agreement. In an April 26 letter, Klamath Tribes Chairman Don Gentry asked U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke for the UKBCA’s termination through issuing a “Negative Notice,” citing unmet stipulations in the agreement and termination of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA). ... ” Read more from the Herald and News here: Tribes call for Klamath agreement termination
Key public meetings set for governing groundwater in Sonoma County: “Residents who want to influence or at least understand how Sonoma County’s groundwater will be managed going forward are invited to participate in public hearings next month that will help shape new agencies governing aquifers. Three new groundwater sustainability agencies are being formed under the 2014 state law meant to ensure that California’s groundwater basins are protected from depletion in an era of climate change and weather extremes. ... ” Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat here: Key public meetings set for governing groundwater in Sonoma County
How would engineers build the Golden Gate Bridge today? “Ever since the Golden Gate Bridge opened to traffic on May 27, 1937, it’s been an iconic symbol on the American landscape. By 1870, people had realized the necessity of building a bridge spanning the Golden Gate Strait to connect the city of San Francisco with Marin County. However, it was another half-century before structural engineer Joseph Strauss submitted his bridge proposal. The plans evolved, and the final project was approved as a suspension bridge that ended up taking over four years to build. ... ” Read more from The Conversation here: How would engineers build the Golden Gate Bridge today?
As ships grow larger, margin for error in San Francisco Bay gets smaller: “At around 5 a.m. on a recent Thursday, captains Zack Kellerman and Ed Melvin grasped the oil-slicked handrails of a metal gangplank, climbing several stories to the deck of the Cosco Excellence, a 1,202-foot container vessel, docked at the Port of Oakland. The pilots will spend the next several hours in a calculated dance — a concise conversation with the ship’s captain as the pilot assumes command, the careful toggling of navigational equipment, the dropping of lines holding the ship at dock and the slow-moving choreography of tugboats pressed against the ship’s sides, alternately pushing and pulling — as the vessel leaves the port and heads back out to sea. ... ” Read more from the East Bay Times here: As ships grow larger, margin for error in San Francisco Bay gets smaller
$43 million aquatic park, The Wave, opens in Dublin: “A $43 million aquatic park, called The Wave, opened in Dublin on Saturday, just in time for Memorial Day weekend. About 1,400 sun worshippers are expected on opening day, reports the East Bay Times. They’ll be the first to try out three pools, six water slides, and a play zone for youngsters, all housed on a 31,000-square-foot-facility. For those concerned about crowds this weekend, there’s even a live stream of the parking lot. … ” Read more from SF Gate here: $43 million aquatic park, The Wave, opens in Dublin
Stockton inches closer to levee funding: “The federal government may be inching closer to approving a $1 billion plan to better protect Stockton from future floods. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently allocated about $200,000 to finally finishing the planning process, which began in 2009 but has been on hold for lack of funding. Local flood-control officials had lobbied for the money during a recent trip to Washington, D.C. … ” Read more from the Stockton Record here: Stockton inches closer to levee funding
Kings River to remain closed for holiday weekend: “If you were hoping to cool off in the Kings River this Memorial Day weekend, you might want to break out Plan B. The river is closed to all recreation in or on the water through Memorial Day weekend and beyond. Fishing from the bank is OK, as long as people don’t get in the water. The closure is in effect in all three counties touched by the river: Fresno, Kings and Tulare. … ” Read more from the Hanford Sentinel here: Kings River to remain closed for holiday weekend
Along the Colorado River …
UNLV researcher studies desert’s living carpet: “A dry wash cuts through rolling hills dotted by desert plants at Lindsay Chiquoine’s research site near Lake Mead, but the only scenery that seems to interest her is right at her feet. The UNLV restoration ecologist is staring down at a patch of dirt topped with tiny blackened lumps and spires. But what looks like dried mud is actually a complex community of organisms waiting to spring to life with the first drops of rain. “It’s like a living carpet,” she says. “It’s almost an ecosystem in itself.” Chiquoine specializes in the study of biological soil crusts, a once-overlooked world of highly specialized mosses, lichens, photosynthetic bacteria and their byproducts that bring life to open spaces in arid environments. … ” Read more from the Capital Press here: UNLV researcher studies desert’s living carpet
Glen Canyon should stay drowned, says Frederick Reimers: He writes, “I hate Lake Powell as much as anyone. Since 1963, the Colorado River has pooled behind 710-foot Glen Canyon Dam, flooding not only 186 miles of serene Glen Canyon but also a labyrinth of grottoes, slot canyons, and oases like Cathedral of the Desert, Ribbon Canyon, and Dungeon Canyon. Some have called Glen Canyon the lost national park. For many, it is a sunken Atlantis and, worse, a symbol of man’s hubris—and a reminder to fight like hell on matters of conservation. It also swamped 18 rapids in Cataract Canyon, farther upstream, where I raft-guided in the 1990s. Instead of shooting legendary drops like Imperial and Dark Canyon on the weeklong trip’s final days, we stalled out on the greasy lake. Our outboard motor broke the wilderness idyll as we puttered along for 30 miles above the drowned rapids. … ” Read more from Outside Magazine here: Glen Canyon should stay drowned
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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.
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where California water news never goes home for the weekend
