In California water news today, Oroville Dam: DWR asks for license before report is released; Otay Water District suspends plan to use desalinated water from Mexico; 2017: The most important events and stories for water in the West; Your mission: Hack California’s water system; These married tech billionaires donated $165 million to preserve a pristine stretch of California coastline; and more …
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
Oroville Dam: DWR asks for license before report is released: “Just before Christmas, the state Department of Water Resources asked federal regulators for a new license to operate the Oroville Dam complex. Some hope the department does not get what it wished for. A big reason for that is the independent forensic team’s report, which will identify what caused the main and emergency spillways to fail, has not been released yet. Several entities and individuals, ranging from environmental groups to politicians, have requested the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, hold off on handing out a new license until that report is released and the public has time to process the information. ... ” Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record here: Oroville Dam: DWR asks for license before report is released
Otay Water District suspends plan to use desalinated water from Mexico: “A multi-million dollar pipeline project intended to bring desalinated water from Mexico to Otay Mesa is off the table indefinitely after years of planning. The Otay Water District began environmental reviews in 2010 on a plan to build a 3.5 mile pipeline to transport desalinated water from a new plant in Rosarito, Mexico to its reservoir in Otay Mesa. The district received a crucial permit from the U.S. government in May, allowing it to build the cross-border pipeline. … ” Read more from Channel 7 here: Otay Water District suspends plan to use desalinated water from Mexico
2017: The most important events and stories for water in the West: “When 2017 started, California was still mired in a five-year drought, but things quickly swung from drought to deluge as it became a record-breaking year for precipitation in parts of the state. So much precipitation fell that Oroville, the state’s second largest dam, nearly came apart at the seams in February. The drought was officially declared to be over in April by Gov. Jerry Brown as substantial snowpack extended the Sierra Nevada ski season into the summer and the runoff refilled reservoirs. Despite the wet weather, groundwater remains overdrafted in many parts of the state, although help is (very slowly) on the way. … ” Read more from Water Deeply here: 2017: The most important events and stories for water in the West
Your mission: Hack California’s water system: “Registration is now open for the third annual H2O Hackathon, a daylong event in which students make an app or game inspired by California water issues that offers a new solution. Teams will use IBM Bluemix to make their apps March 17 at the San Joaquin County Office of Education in Stockton. During a training day Jan. 25, registered participants will learn how to use the program. … ” Read more from the Tracy Press here: Your mission: Hack California’s water system
These married tech billionaires donated $165 million to preserve a pristine stretch of California coastline: “Here’s a feel good story for your holiday season. In the single largest philanthropic gift The Nature Conservancy says it has ever received, tech moguls Jack and Laura Dangermond are donating $165 million to the organization. The money is earmarked to purchase and permanently protect an iconic, pristine stretch of California’s coastline: the 24,000-acre Cojo/Jalama Ranch at Point Conception in Santa Barbara County. The land includes eight miles of coastline and centuries-old coastal oaks. This land is the point where California’s coast bends inward, and is visible from space. … ” Read more from Business Insider here: These married tech billionaires donated $165 million to preserve a pristine stretch of California coastline
In regional news and commentary today …
Weed wages water war: “The pure waters of Beaughan Spring have poured through the taps of the small town of Weed, California, for more than 100 years. But according to Springfield-based Roseburg Forest Products (RFP), the lumber company owns Weed’s water and has the right to sell it to Crystal Geyser to bottle it and sell it to places like Japan, far from the town on the slopes of Mount Shasta. “Weed was a company town,” Bruce Shoemaker explains. The Weed resident dropped by Eugene Weekly’s offices on a trip north in December to talk about the water conflict and the SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) suit against him and other Weed residents that was recently shot down in court. … ” Read more from Eugene Weekly here: Weed wages water war
NID pitches Centennial Reservoir environmental, recreational benefits: “Nevada Irrigation District made a pitch to the California Water Commission in hopes of securing nearly $12 million in state funding for the proposed Centennial Reservoir on the Bear River. The money would come from a $2.7 billion fund set aside by California’s Proposition 1, the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, which is earmarked for investments in the “public benefits” of proposed water storage projects. Eligible projects are also required to benefit the Delta ecosystem or its tributaries. … ” Read more from the Appeal-Democrat here: NID pitches Centennial Reservoir environmental, recreational benefits
Study: Some Bay Area coastal communities face high risk of cliff collapse: “California’s coastal communities have long battled the roiling sea over claim to the shoreline, fighting to keep pristine beaches, towering bluffs and million-dollar homes from washing away as if they never existed. A new report on cliff erosion suggests not only that the ocean is winning the conflict, but that parts of the Bay Area stand a lot to lose. The coast of Daly City and Martins Beach south of Half Moon Bay were identified along with Big Sur and Southern California’s San Onofre State Beach as the state’s riskiest sites for collapsing cliffs. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: Study: Some Bay Area coastal communities face high risk of cliff collapse:
With no rain in sight, Bay Area on pace for one of the driest Decembers on record: “With New Year’s Eve just days away and no rain in the immediate forecast, the Bay Area is logging one of its driest Decembers on record — a sharp contrast to last year’s deluge that helped propel California out of an extended drought. If Bay Area skies remain clear through Sunday, San Jose would experience its second driest December since records began in 1893, and San Francisco its fourth driest dating back to 1849, according to the National Weather Service in Monterey. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News here: With no rain in sight, Bay Area on pace for one of the driest Decembers on record
Still waiting on Paradise: “A solution to protect more than 265,000 San Joaquin County residents against the ravages of a 200-year-flood is at least a decade away from being approved. The solution that creates a safety valve by widening Paradise Cut to the south from where it branches off the San Joaquin River and passes beneath Interstate 5 just north of the Interstate 205 interchange to where it connects with the Old River. It is an idea that has been floating around the state Department of Water Resources since the 1980s. … ” Read more from the Manteca Bulletin here: Still waiting on Paradise
Temperance Flat Dam would double the size of Millerton Lake: “Just two years removed from a historic drought, Tulare County leaders are already working to limit the effects of the next drought. On Dec. 19, Supervisor Steve Worthley told his fellow members of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors that a presentation on Temperance Flat to the California Water Commission went well. Worthley represents Tulare County on the San Joaquin Valley Water Infrastructure Authority which presented its plan to build the dam at Temperance Flat on the San Joaquin River east of Fresno to the Commission in December. The Authority is a coalition of county governments for Tulare, Fresno, Madera, Merced and Kern Counties proposing to build a 1.2 million acre foot dam above Millerton Lake, which supplies farmers, rural communities and some cities along the Valley’s eastside with surface water through the Friant-Kern Canal. ... ” Read more from the Foothills Sun Gazette here: Temperance Flat Dam would double the size of Millerton Lake
With no rain in the forecast, Santa Cruz on pace for one of its driest Decembers: “With New Year’s Eve just days away and no rain in the immediate forecast, the Bay Area is logging one of its driest Decembers on record — a sharp contrast to last year’s deluge that helped propel California out of an extended drought. If Bay Area skies remain clear through Sunday, San Jose would experience its second driest December since records began in 1893, and San Francisco its fourth driest dating back to 1849, according to the National Weather Service in Monterey. And while it’s still early — December, January, and February are normally California’s wettest months — forecasters are frankly disappointed with the rainy season so far. … ” Read more from the Santa Cruz Sentinel here: With no rain in the forecast, Santa Cruz on pace for one of its driest Decembers
Ballot initiative seeks prohibition on water banking in San Luis Opispo County: “Two Creston residents and a former congresswoman are behind a budding citizen ballot initiative to ban groundwater sales and exports out of San Luis Obispo County. Filed with the County Clerk-Recorder’s Office in mid-December as the “SLO County Groundwater Protection Ordinance,” its backers—Greg Grewal, Frederick Hoey, and Andrea Seastrand—say the measure would provide needed “insurance” against the potential actions of two new water districts that recently formed to manage groundwater in the sprawling Paso Robles Groundwater Basin. … ” Read more from New Times SLO here: Ballot initiative seeks prohibition on water banking in San Luis Opispo County
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
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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.
