In California water news today, Delta tunnels dead? Metropolitan ready to plow ahead; The wet winter brought lots of water to California. But the fighting over fish continues; ‘Horizontal hurricanes’ pose increasing risk for California; Dams seen driving ‘mass extinction’ of salmon; Water board OKs hike in water quality fees; There’s something fishy about those trees; and more …
On the calendar today …
- The California Water Plan Plenary is today from 9am to 5pm. Click here to watch on webcast.
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
Delta tunnels dead? Metropolitan ready to plow ahead: “Southern California’s mammoth water agency appeared ready to plow ahead with the Delta tunnels project Tuesday, despite a “no” vote by a giant bloc of San Joaquin Valley farmers that could doom the $17 billion proposal. The Metropolitan Water District’s board of directors signaled that it’s ready to vote Oct. 10 on whether to pay for about one-fourth of the tunnels project, a $4 billion commitment. Metropolitan’s general manager, Jeff Kightlinger, urged directors to proceed with a vote as a way of determining whether the controversial project can be salvaged. “We need to take our action because we need to understand who’s in this project, and who’s not,” Kightlinger said during a board meeting at Metropolitan’s Los Angeles headquarters. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Delta tunnels dead? Metropolitan ready to plow ahead
Radio show: Without Westlands, what’s next for Delta tunnels project? “Last week was a bad one for one of California Governor Jerry Brown’s biggest priorities – the project known as California WaterFix. The board of the Westlands Water District voted 7-1 to reject a proposal to participate in, and help pay for the $16 billion twin tunnel project. That vote has left many asking whether the project has a future. … Valley Public Radio’s Ezra David Romero joined us on Valley Edition to talk about the vote, and what it means for the future of the project.” Listen to the radio show from Valley Public Radio here: Without Westlands, what’s next for Delta tunnels project?
The wet winter brought lots of water to California. But the fighting over fish continues: “The wettest winter on record for Northern California filled most of the state’s reservoirs and had the massive Delta water pumps roaring at full tilt for the first half of the year. Despite this seeming abundance of water, the never-ending dispute continues between farms and cities wanting to receive more water and environmental groups fighting for the Delta’s fragile population of tiny smelt. Environmentalists are opposed to a proposal championed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Southern California water interests to ramp up pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta starting next week. The plan would allow an additional 130 billion gallons of water to be shipped through the Delta to farms and cities in Silicon Valley, Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley. Otherwise, that water would flow on a natural course to the Pacific Ocean. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: The wet winter brought lots of water to California. But the fighting over fish continues
‘Horizontal hurricanes’ pose increasing risk for California: “As increasingly intense hurricanes batter the Southeast and the Caribbean, heightening some of the worst fears about a changing climate, California is facing its own threat of bigger and more destructive storms. Mounting research, much of it done in the wake of the near-record rains that pulled California out of a five-year drought this past winter, shows that seasonal soakers may not come as often as they used to, but could pack more punch when they do arrive. The potential consequences of the findings are enormous. The massive weather systems that rise out of the Pacific Ocean, now popularly called atmospheric rivers, can drop as much water as Hurricane Irma dumped on Florida this month — billions of gallons that submerged cities and towns. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: ‘Horizontal hurricanes’ pose increasing risk for California
Dams seen driving ‘mass extinction’ of salmon: “For millennia, Native Americans subsisted on a spring run of chinook salmon returning to the Klamath River in Northern California. That changed when the last of four dams was built on the river in 1962 and the number of “springers” plunged, a catastrophic turn missed by federal regulators who lumped together the spring and fall salmon runs. Now, new genetic research seems to confirm what the tribes have known for generations: The spring-run chinook are unique. They are fattier, look different and taste better. To survive, they must get to areas beyond the four dams on the Klamath for cold-water habitat in the spring and summer. ... ” Read more from E&E here: Dams seen driving ‘mass extinction’ of salmon
Water board OKs hike in water quality fees: “To meet budgetary shortfalls affecting water-related programs that require participation by farmers and ranchers, the State Water Resources Control Board approved a rate increase for water-quality related programs, but held off approving increases in water-rights fees. California Farm Bureau Federation Director of Water Resources Danny Merkley told the board, “As farmers, as businesspeople, we understand there are cost increases. Some of those the board may have some control over, some of them, maybe it is more the Legislature. Nonetheless, these fee increases and the cost of compliance as these programs become more and more complex are death by 1,000 cuts — not just at the state water board but other agencies throughout the state. It is getting to be an insurmountable piling on.” … ” Read more from Ag Alert here: Water board OKs hike in water quality fees
There’s something fishy about those trees: “For salmon lovers in California, October is “the peak of the return” when hundreds of thousands of Chinook salmon leave the open ocean and swim back to their ancestral streams to spawn and die. All along the Pacific coast, starting in the early summer and stretching as late as December, salmon wait offshore for the right time to complete their journey inland. In Alaska, the season starts in late June, when salmon head to streams in lush coastal forests. Although this annual migration is welcomed by fishermen who catch the salmon offshore, scientists are finding a much broader and holistic function of the spawning salmon: feeding the forest. … ” Read more from KQED here: There’s something fishy about those trees
In regional news and commentary today …
Siskiyou County’s wild weed problems: “Illegal marijuana grows in rural Siskiyou County are out of control and state officials should help stop them, local authorities say. Earlier this month, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors took the unusual step of declaring a state of emergency because of the problem. Republican Sen. Ted Gaines, who represents the rugged area, followed up with a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown asking that he declare a state of emergency in the county as well. … ” Read more from Capitol Weekly here: Siskiyou County’s wild weed problems
Search is on: Morro Bay to decide location of new wastewater treatment plant: “For years, the city of Morro Bay has been looking for a place to build a new wastewater treatment plant. The current wastewater treatment plant facility services both Morro Bay and Cayucos. Now, Cayucos has decided to build its own project. That leaves Morro Bay city officials to look into five sites, two of which are near neighborhoods. … ” Read more from KSBY here: Search is on: Morro Bay to decide location of new wastewater treatment plant
Stockton: Thinking bigger on climate fix: “You don’t have to look hard to find the disparity: Nearly one in three Stockton residents lives in a neighborhood that is among the 5 percent most environmentally vulnerable in the state. But you also don’t have to look hard to find potential solutions. These neighborhoods now have the inside track to millions of dollars in funding from the state’s relatively new cap and trade program that requires polluting businesses to reduce emissions or buy credits from the state. At least some of the proceeds are supposed to be invested in at-risk places like Stockton. … ” Read more from the Stockton Record here: Stockton: Thinking bigger on climate fix
Between droughts and and downpours, is a reliable water supply a given in the San Fernando Valley? “The challenges of ensuring a reliable water supply in a region marked by extreme swings in the weather was the theme of a discussion Friday on water projects in the San Fernando Valley and beyond. Speakers who were part of the 5th annual water briefing hosted by Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian, D-Van Nuys, at the Donald Tillman Water Reclamation Plant Japanese Garden, discussed how local agencies are responding to record rain and snowfall that is expected to deluge water infrastructure, on the heels of several years of drought weather throughout the state. Here are some of the updates provided by the speakers, who represent the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the Metropolitan Water and Power, and the California Farm Bureau Federation … ” Read more from the LA Daily News here: Between droughts and and downpours, is a reliable water supply a given in the San Fernando Valley?
Feinstein contends that Cadiz would contaminate water supply: “As the Cadiz project seems increasingly likely to go forward, Sen. Dianne Feinstein issued a statement contending the underground desert water could ultimately contaminate much of Southern California’s water supply. The project involves the transfer of ancient groundwater in a remote part of San Bernardino County’s Mojave Desert to parts of Orange County and other locations, where it could serve as many as 400,000 people. “For close to two decades, Cadiz has been trying to ram through a water extraction project that would harm the Mojave Desert. And now we hear from the Metropolitan Water District that the water Cadiz wants to extract could contain dangerous chemicals that pose a threat to the safety of Southern California’s water supply,” Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a recent statement. … ” Read more from the San Bernardino Sun here: Feinstein contends that Cadiz would contaminate water supply
U. S., Mexico expand pact on managing overused Colorado River: “The United States and Mexico have agreed to renew and expand a far-reaching conservation agreement that governs how they manage the overused Colorado River, which supplies water to millions of people and to farms in both nations, U.S. water district officials said. The agreement to be signed Wednesday calls for the U.S. to invest $31.5 million in conservation improvements in Mexico’s water infrastructure to reduce losses to leaks and other problems, according to officials of U.S. water districts who have seen summaries of the agreement. The water that the improvements save would be shared by users in both nations and by environmental restoration projects. ... ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: U. S., Mexico expand pact on managing overused Colorado River
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
- More reliable water supplies for California: Building a diverse regional water supply portfolio
- NEWS WORTH NOTING: Palo Verde Irrigation District files lawsuit against Metropolitan Water District; North Coast Water Board files complaint for water quality violations for cannabis cultivation
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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.
