HAPPY NEW WATER YEAR!
In California water news this weekend, Siskiyou Supervisors call on Zinke for assistance on Klamath Dam issue; Feds won’t oppose Klamath River dam removal, official says; 3D orchards: UC researcher turns farms into virtual reality; Farmers frustrated over SGMA; Work continues on Oroville Dam spillway; Researchers map wells across the West and estimate 1 out of every 30 has gone dry; When the sewer pipe breaks, watch out for what comes next; Rollback of water protections spurs challenge by nine states; and more …
In the news this weekend …
Siskiyou Supervisors call on Zinke for assistance on Klamath Dam issue: “The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved two agenda items related to Klamath dam removal – including a letter to Secretary Ryan Zinke. The board had previously sent a letter to Zinke regarding natural resources issues, with a focus on the potential impacts of the removal of four dams on the Klamath River under the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement. The new letter addresses some of those same concerns, such as the potential impacts of releasing sediment trapped behind the dams – estimated to be 20-30 million cubic yards – and impacts to property values and the county tax base, among others. ... ” Read more from the Siskiyou Daily News here: Siskiyou Supervisors call on Zinke for assistance on Klamath Dam issue
Feds won’t oppose Klamath River dam removal, official says: “A top Interior Department official said in a recent interview with an Oregon newspaper that the department will not interfere with a plan to remove four dams from the 236-mile Klamath River. “Interior is not going to do anything to slow or stop the dam removal process,” the Interior Department Bureau of Reclamation deputy commissioner Alan Mikkelsen said to the Herald and News on Wednesday. … ” Read more from the Eureka Times-Standard here: Feds won’t oppose Klamath River dam removal, official says
3D orchards: UC researcher turns farms into virtual reality: “Farmers are relying more and more on technology to help them manage their crops and often that means working with unmanned aerial systems. Using drones to make two dimensional maps of orchards isn’t anything new, but one agricultural researcher – Ali Pourreza – in Central California is taking existing drone technology to the next level. “I thought, okay, two-dimensional imaging has been around a long time and it’s helped a lot, but right now we have the capability to make 3D models,” says Pourreza. … ” Read more from Valley Public Radio here: 3D orchards: UC researcher turns farms into virtual reality
Farmers frustrated over SGMA: “The California Department of Water Resources held a recent workshop in Clovis, CA, to lay out the key components and regulations for the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, known as SGMA. It’s thought that SGMA could forever change the face of agriculture in the central San Joaquin Valley, as it will limit the amount of groundwater that can be pumped. This entire approach of the Department of Water Resources is not sitting well with most farmers. Keith Freitas, who farms lemons on the east side of Fresno County, was at that recent workshop. “How can you call a program fair, but the stakeholders you bring to the table, before they enter the room to negotiate the deal, you cut their legs off?” Freitas asked. “That’s basically what we have. We have a foot race here, but our legs have been cut off before the race even starts,” he said. … ” Read more from Cal Ag Today here: Farmers frustrated over SGMA
Work continues on Oroville Dam spillway: “Construction continues on the Oroville Dam’s main spillway this week. The Department of Water Resources has been working to reconstruct the the main spillway which was damaged in February because of heavy winter rain. ... ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News here: Work continues on Oroville Dam spillway
Researchers map wells across the West and estimate 1 out of every 30 has gone dry: “During California’s severe five-year drought, groundwater levels fell to record lows and people in farming communities from Tulare County to Paso Robles saw their wells go dry. Now researchers have analyzed records for about 2 million wells across 17 western states from Texas to Oregon, and they estimate that one out of every 30 wells was dry between 2013 and 2015. The researchers also found dry wells were concentrated in farming areas such as California’s Central Valley and the High Plains. In some areas, they estimated that up to one-fifth of wells were dry. … ” Read more from the Desert Sun here: Researchers map wells across the West and estimate 1 out of every 30 has gone dry
When the sewer pipe breaks, watch out for what comes next: “Just before lunch on September 21, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department responded to a report of three dozen ill students at Zamorano Fine Arts Academy, an elementary school in the Bay Terraces neighborhood. The students were the latest group in the United States to react to noxious emissions from a nearby municipal construction site. The kids, one of whom was taken to the hospital for observation, had breathed fumes from a sewer line replacement taking place on Casey Street, adjacent to the school’s main entrance. The contractors hired by the city were using a method called cured-in-place pipe, or CIPP, to repair the line. CIPP is a cloth liner laced with plastic resins that is inserted into a deteriorated pipe. Steam, hot water, or ultraviolet light hardens the resin and results in a new pipe within the old pipe. … ” Read more from the Circle of Blue here: When the sewer pipe breaks, watch out for what comes next
Rollback of water protections spurs challenge by nine states: “Nine attorney generals fired back against the Trump administration for trying to roll back water protections 40 years in the making. Lead by the top lawyers for New York and California, each of the officials who signed Wednesday’s letter to the heads of the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers represents a state that sits either on or near federally regulated bodies of water, from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to several of the Great Lakes. ... ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service here: Rollback of water protections spurs challenge by nine states
In commentary this weekend …
Water policy leaves California vulnerable, says Michael Shires: He writes, “Water is the Central Valley’s economic lifeblood — of that, there is no doubt. The drought of the last five years has put tremendous pressure on the state’s water allocation systems and shown that they are not only broken but incapable of adapting to the realities of a sustained drought cycle. But, why should people in Southern California and Orange County care if water is not available to the Central Valley and agricultural production goes away? Four simple reasons — there will be less fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts grown in California, many Central Valley residents will lose their jobs and be forced to move to other areas of the state, other areas of the state will have to absorb the fiscal impact of an economically depressed Central Valley, and a substantial amount of Southern California’s imported water comes from Northern California. … ” Read more from the OC Register here: Water policy leaves California vulnerable, says Michael Shires
In regional news and commentary this weekend …
Rice acreage is down, and yield seems to be too: “The rice harvest is well underway in the Sacramento Valley, and the yield seems to be down, probably due to unfavorable weather this year. Spring was unusually wet, with late rains delaying the planting. And then there were extended periods of extremely hot weather that brought on a whole set of other problems. As a result, the harvest is down about 10 percent, according to people in the industry. They caution that it’s still early in the harvest — about 15 percent of the crop is in — and later varieties might do better. … ” Read more from the Chico Enterprise Record here: Rice acreage is down, and yield seems to be too
Less trash a good sign for the Sacramento River: “About 40 local volunteers donated their Saturday morning to clean up recreation areas along the Sacramento River in Colusa County. Every year, volunteers are pleasantly surprised to find less litter lining the riverbeds. This community service day is organized by Colusa’s Premier Mushrooms, and is in its sixth consecutive year. During the river clean up, businesses and local families collect and record garbage found around the riverbank. … ” Read more from the Appeal Democrat here: Less trash a good sign for the Sacramento River
North Bay: High road for wettest highway: “As Bay Area cities and counties grapple with the formidable challenge of preparing for a higher San Francisco Bay, there is perhaps no better example of the obstacles and opportunities than the effort underway to adapt Highway 37. The 21-mile North Bay corridor running from Vallejo to Novato has long been a source of tranquility and frustration. The highway offers sweeping views of tidal baylands dotted with roosting waterfowl and shorebirds plumbing mudflats for food, along with mile upon mile of open space – a bounty of natural land made possible by decades of careful planning and restoration work. And commuters often have ample time to enjoy the scenery: Highway 37 is one of the most congested in the region, with peak traffic producing delays as much as 40 to 80 minutes in each direction. ... ” Read more from Estuary News here: North Bay: High road for wettest highway
Prepping for sea level rise: Who’s on first? “On an uncommonly sultry Thursday evening at the end of August several dozen people gathered in a grove at San Mateo’s Coyote Point, sipping beer and listening to a presentation on sea level rise by staff from San Mateo County’s Office of Sustainability. Then, accompanied by the sound of gunshots from a nearby firing range, everyone trooped down to the Bay’s edge, where temporary markers indicated how high the water would rise under three different scenarios. In the most dire projection, water would cover the heads of the people standing on the beach. The event, “Shrinking Shores,” was presented by Sea Change San Mateo County, one of a handful of county-level projects around the Bay that aim to assess local vulnerability to sea level rise and develop long-term adaptation strategies. ... ” Read more from Estuary News here: Prepping for sea level rise: Who’s on first?
Banning’s ‘purple pipe to nowhere’ may be useful someday: “Banning does have a “purple pipe to nowhere,” Public Works Director Art Vela conceded at a City Council meeting last month. It was in response to a rant by Councilman Don Peterson, who lambasted two council members for their support of spending $17 million in revenue from a water bond and projects that had nothing to do with water. The city was proposing higher water rates to pay for long-delayed infrastructure projects. “But what about the much-needed purple pipe?” Peterson asked with a rhetorical flourish. “What happened to the promise to provide Sun Lakes with recycled water? Was this a fraud or another purple pipe dream? ... ” Read more from the Record Gazette here: Banning’s ‘purple pipe to nowhere’ may be useful someday
San Luis Rey water settlement: Tribes, cities are now ‘joined at the hip’: “On Monday, one time antagonists of a 50-year battle in the courts over right rights, who eventually became friends and allies, celebrated the San Luis Rey Indian Water Rights Settlement. They included representatives of the Rincon, Pala, Pauma, San Pasqual and La Jolla tribes, the City of Escondido, Vista Irrigation District and the San Luis Rey Indian Water Authority, whose chairman is Bo Mazzetti, chairman of the Rincon tribe. In the words of Assemblywoman Marie Waldron, whose own recent legislation will make it feasible for the tribes and water districts to deal directly on water issues: “As a 14-year member of the Escondido city council, who was involved in the issue, I know how important and historic this collaboration is. While the settlement is written in mere ink, the love, friendship and union of the parties is what will bind it together!” … ” Read more from the Valley Roadrunner here: San Luis Rey water settlement: Tribes, cities are now ‘joined at the hip’
Along the Colorado River …
More water, more restoration bound for Colorado River Delta: “In March 2014, the staged release of water into the Colorado River Delta was an international spectacle. Thousands of onlookers joined dozens of elected and appointed officials, environmentalists and scientists at Morelos Dam at the Arizona-Sonora border south of Yuma to see the first significant flow of river water into the parched delta for more than 15 years. Downstream in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, kids and their parents swam and splashed, ecstatic to see a live river again, enjoying the first burst of what was destined to be a “pulse flow” of 105,000 acre-feet into the delta. … ” Read more from the Arizona Daily Star here: More water, more restoration bound for Colorado River Delta
And lastly …
Happy New Water Year! Northern California sets a record for precipitation; San Joaquin and Tulare basins did not. Interesting to note that record precipitation did not mean record snowpack.
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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
