In California water news this weekend, Can California fish catch a break with the tunnels? It depends; A snapshot of the State Water Board’s Cal Water Fix water rights change hearing; Shoring up the state: Is California’s response to sea level rise enough?; Shifting sands: The struggle to save California’s washed up beaches; Snow coverage of Sierra Nevada is crucial to water conservation, according to expert; Mapping the potential economic effects of climate change; Trump’s EPA wants to focus on Superfund cleanups. Will its plans take climate change into account?; Lois Henry: Is John Vidovich planning to sell off the Valley’s lifeblood? Or is he just the newest water baron on the block?; Jacob Katz is in an upstream battle to save California fish; Water use restrictions imposed in Jones Valley; water availability not the problem; and more …
In the news this weekend …
Can California fish catch a break with the tunnels? It depends: “Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to route much of California’s mightiest river into two massive tunnels poses new perils for salmon and other struggling native species, but could give them a couple of breaks as well, experts and project supporters and opponents say in the wake of two newly issued wildlife rulings on the $16 billion project. Ultimately, water experts say, whether Brown’s two 35-mile (55-kilometer) tunnels hurt salmon, whales and other imperiled species depends, as always, on the intent and smarts of the officials who manage the Sacramento River’s delta with the San Joaquin River, that fought-over, over-tapped spigot for the U.S. state with the most people, most crops and the biggest estuary on the West Coast. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: Can California fish catch a break with the tunnels? It depends
A snapshot of the State Water Board’s Cal Water Fix water rights change hearing: ” … This article provides a brief summary and status update of the ongoing administrative proceedings before the California State Water Resources Control Board (“Water Board”), in which the Petitioners seek to modify their water permits in order to allow construction of the WaterFix intake facilities and tunnels. Before it may approve the petition, the Water Board must find that Petitioners have satisfied their burden of proof in demonstrating that the changes will not cause injury to other legal users of water. In addition to the “no injury” rule, the Water Board must find that the project as approved will not unreasonably adversely impact fish, wildlife, public interest, or the Public Trust. ... ” Continue reading at JD Supra here: A snapshot of the State Water Board’s water rights change hearing
Shoring up the state: Is California’s response to sea level rise enough? “For Will Travis, it began 12 years ago, with an eye-opening article in the New Yorker magazine about rising seas and the widespread flooding and dislocation that would bring. As the executive director of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the region’s coastal management agency, he needed to know more. Travis had his staff research the issue. In 2007 they handed him a report that foretold catastrophe. The agency produced maps with colorful, frightening flood projections and shared it with local policymakers. Trillions of dollars in public and private infrastructure were at risk, Travis told them. The time to prepare was now. … ” Read more from Cal Matters here: Shoring up the state: Is California’s response to sea level rise enough?
Shifting sands: The struggle to save California’s washed up beaches: “C’mon, really? Within California’s gargantuan bureaucracy there is a group of experts that more or less counts the grains of sand on state beaches? Pretty much. The scientists and agency officials work from a statewide ‘sand budget’ that determines the volume of sand that should reside on the beach. These are not people with rakes, bagging the red cups from last night’s party. Or the guys in small tractors smoothing the beach in front of luxury hotels. No, this is the California Coastal Sediment Management Working Group. ... ” Read more from Cal Matters here: Shifting sands: The struggle to save California’s washed up beaches
Snow coverage of Sierra Nevada is crucial to water conservation, according to expert: “As water levels recover from the most recent drought, California may have successfully dodged a bullet. However, the next bullet may hit too close for comfort. Lack of snow atop the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Northern California could lead to severe climate shifts and higher temperatures in the region, according to Dr. Alex Hall, who spoke about climate change during a presentation at the Aquarium of the Pacific on June 22. Dr. Hall is a professor at UCLA’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. … ” Read more from the Signal Tribune here: Snow coverage of Sierra Nevada is crucial to water conservation, according to expert
Mapping the potential economic effects of climate change: “Climate scientists agree that this century is getting much warmer and that such warming will likely bring economic pain to the U.S., but economists aren’t sure how much. Now, a team of scientists and economists, writing in the upcoming issue of the journal Science, says it can at least tell which parts of the country are likely to suffer the most. The researchers started with history: How have heat waves and drought affected the economy in the past? Then they applied that metric to a range of future warming scenarios — from minor to extreme — and mapped the effects, county by county across the U.S. … ” Read more from KQED here: Mapping the potential economic effects of climate change
Trump’s EPA wants to focus on Superfund cleanups. Will its plans take climate change into account? “The pioneers who built Seattle polluted and plumbed the lower Duwamish River for a century, straightening its wild curves and saturating its sediment with toxic chemicals from an asphalt plant, Boeing manufacturing facilities and other industries. The damage was so severe that the last five miles of the river before it empties into Elliott Bay were designated a federal Superfund cleanup site in 2001 – an official stamp of devastation that came all too late in the view of Native American tribes that once fished for salmon here. Now, even as progress has been made in the $342 million cleanup, the river and the effort to clean it face a new threat: climate change. Scientists say that rising seas could flood riverbanks by midcentury and that potential increases in storm-water runoff and downstream flows could bore into sediment and release toxins sealed below. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Trump’s EPA wants to focus on Superfund cleanups. Will its plans take climate change into account?
People in the news this weekend …
Lois Henry: Is John Vidovich planning to sell off the Valley’s lifeblood? Or is he just the newest water baron on the block? “When you first meet John Vidovich, everything from his ball cap to his dirty boots tells you he’s a farmer. He certainly looks the part in his well-worn jeans and checkered shirts. But this outwardly unassuming multimillionaire has become a lightning rod of controversy. Because, while he does farm thousands of acres of pistachios, almonds and grapes, many believe the only harvest Vidovich is truly interested in is water. … ” Read more from Bakersfield Now here: Is John Vidovich planning to sell off the Valley’s lifeblood? Or is he just the newest water baron on the block?
Jacob Katz is in an upstream battle to save California fish: “Q: You work for California Trout, a nonprofit based in San Francisco that manages 30 projects dedicated to conserving, preserving and restoring wild salmon and trout. That organization, along with the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, just issued a report stating that 45 percent of the state’s native salmon, steelhead and trout will be extinct within 50 years if nothing changes. What are you doing about that? A: Jacob Katz: We’re in the midst of an extinction crisis — not just in California, but globally — and nowhere is it keener than in freshwater environments. Systems are difficult to tackle and slow to change, but we are making progress. We have many partners in our reconciliation ecology work from all different sectors, including agriculture, water suppliers, fishermen and officials at all levels of government. ... ” Read more from Jewish News here: Jacob Katz is in an upstream battle to save California fish
In commentary this weekend …
Dan Walters: As Gov. Jerry Brown nears retirement, his two big public works projects remain iffy: “Notwithstanding his penchant for obscure philosophical aphorisms, sometimes delivered in Latin, at his core Jerry Brown is a largely conventional politician. Therefore, while he repeatedly denies it, as political protocol dictates, he certainly is concerned with the legacy he’ll leave when his record-long, bifurcated governorship ends 18 months hence. Of course, there will be the paper record of budgets and bills, of executive orders, and of elections won and lost. But politicians instinctively want to leave behind more than yellowing files in dusty boxes – or their electronic equivalents. They want concrete reminders of what they wrought while in office. … ” Read more from the Fresno Bee here: Dan Walters: As Gov. Jerry Brown nears retirement, his two big public works projects remain iffy
Can Kings River flooding be avoided? Someday, thanks to NASA: The Fresno Bee editorial board writes, “Some people are saying the flooding that forced the evacuation of residents and damaged homes and farmland along the lower reaches of the Kings River during our recent heat wave could have been avoided. Critics, including Fresno County Supervisor Buddy Mendes, point the finger at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for being slow to release water from Pine Flat Dam upon the start of soaring temperatures. “If they had started a few days earlier, they would never have gotten to the point they were at,” Mendes told The Bee’s Lew Griswold. ... ” Read more from the Fresno Bee here: Can Kings River flooding be avoided? Someday, thanks to NASA
In regional news and commentary this weekend …
Water use restrictions imposed in Jones Valley; water availability not the problem: “The drought is over, but water restrictions have returned to one small Shasta County water district. The Shasta County Board of Supervisors approved on Tuesday an ordinance declaring a water shortage emergency and restricting some residents living in the Jones Valley area to using 225 gallons of water a day. Water availability is not the problem for the nearly 500 homes connected to the Community Service Area No. 6 water system. ... ” Read more from the Redding Record Searchlight here: Water use restrictions imposed in Jones Valley; water availability not the problem
Lake Tahoe is so full of water its beaches have shrunk after five years of drought: “After five years of severe drought, Lake Tahoe is finally full of water – but that means the people who come visit the lake don’t have as much space to enjoy it. As is typical with the summer months, about 3,000 to 3,500 people visited the Sand Harbor beach on Lake Tahoe every day in the past two weeks, according to SF Gate. At the height of the drought, up to 200 feet of exposed lake bed added to the main beach at Sand Harbor, one of the most popular beaches on the lake. … ” Read more from the Daily Mail here: Lake Tahoe is so full of water its beaches have shrunk after five years of drought
Sacramento: Why did your utility rates just go up? Hint: It has to do with poop in the street: “McKinley Park in East Sacramento is one of the city’s busiest summertime playgrounds. It may soon become a gathering spot in winter for a less savory visitor – sewage. City officials are talking about building a massive storage tank beneath the park’s baseball field as a temporary detention basin for rain and sewage during bad storms to reduce street flooding, city officials say. The water vault, or cistern, could be as deep as three or four stories underground. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Sacramento: Why did your utility rates just go up? Hint: It has to do with poop in the street
EBMUD releases from Camanche to offset snowmelt: “In an effort to offset the rapidly melting snow pack, the East Bay Municipal Utility District is releasing water from the Camanche Dam. The district has been releasing additional water from the dam for a couple of days now, said Nelsy Rodriguez, EBMUD public affairs representative. As of Thursday, EBMUD was releasing at a rate 2,530 cubic feet per second, she said. … ” Read more from the Lodi News-Sentinel here: EBMUD releases from Camanche to offset snowmelt
Turlock facing water woes with wells, groundwater levels: “The drought may be over, but the water woes continue in the city of Turlock. As we head into the hot summer months, city officials say they’re having a hard time keeping up with water demand, and therefore, are still enforcing strict watering rules. The drought may be declared over, but in Turlock, the impacts of some extremely dry years are still taking a toll. ... ” Continue reading at CBS 2 here: Turlock facing water woes with wells, groundwater levels
Shafter-Wasco Irrigation District gets federal drought prep money: “The U.S. Department of the Interior is awarding $6.9 million to 17 drought-preparation projects in five states, including California. The Shafter-Wasco Irrigation District is getting $200,000 in reclamation funding. “Drought continues to have serious adverse impacts throughout the West,” Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said in a news release. “Reclamation and its partners have been leaders in combating this drought for a hundred years. The newest infusion of Reclamation funds announced today will help communities in five states prepare for and respond to drought.” … ” Read more from Bakersfield Now here: Shafter-Wasco Irrigation District gets federal drought prep money
Drought officially over in San Luis Obispo as city lifts water restrictions: “After a winter that featured “an abundance of rainfall” following the previous five driest years on record statewide, the city of San Luis Obispo has announced that it’s lifting its local drought emergency status. At its regular meeting on June 20, the council rescinded resolutions that had declared a drought emergency as well as water use restrictions. The council’s decision comes roughly two months after Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order ending the state of emergency in California and eliminating the state’s water use reduction requirement. ... ” Read more from San Luis Obispo Tribune here: Drought officially over in San Luis Obispo as city lifts water restrictions
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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.
Maven’s Notebook
where California water news never goes home for the weekend
