In California water news today, Trump Administration, California headed for a showdown over Valley water; California committee OKs bill on desert water pumping plan; California and feds agree: No pot grows on public lands; Los Angeles wants to use the Hoover Dam as a giant battery. The hurdles could be more historical than technical; The hot new venue for summer weddings – your local sewage plant; Future impacts of El Niño, La Niña likely to intensify, increasing wildfire, drought risk; Pentagon warns against EPA science proposal; US official reiterates push to move land agency out west; Jobs, Research At Risk After Government Defunds Grand Canyon Programs; and more …
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
Trump Administration, California headed for a showdown over Valley water: “California is often at odds with the Trump administration, and the latest battleground could be in the issue of managing the state’s precious water supply. At the same time the state’s water board is considering major cuts to water sent to farms and cities, the Trump administration is taking its own actions. Last week the Trump administration served notice that it wants to renegotiate a 32-year-old agreement that governs how the state and federal projects operate and cooperate. This comes after another Trump administration directive ordering the Bureau of Reclamation to maximize delta pumping. So what does it mean for valley farmers? Fresno-based agribusiness analyst Roland Fumasi of Rabobank joined us on Valley Edition to talk about what he’s seeing happen with land values and crop planting activity in the San Joaquin Valley. He says the longer uncertainty over water policy continues, he expects to see a slowdown in the future. ... ” Listen to the radio show here (about 10 minutes): Trump Administration, California headed for a showdown over Valley water
Committee OKs bill on desert water pumping plan: “A last-minute effort to require more state oversight of a company’s plan to pump water from underneath the Mojave Desert passed a key committee Tuesday, advancing in the final days of the legislative session. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is running for governor, all urged lawmakers to pass it. At issue is a proposal by the Los Angeles-based Cadiz Inc. to pump water from its wells below the Mojave Desert, transfer it through a 43-mile pipeline to the Colorado River Aqueduct and distribute it to customers in Southern California. ... ” Read more from the San Luis Obispo Tribune here: California committee OKs bill on desert water pumping plan
California and feds agree: No pot grows on public lands: “A coterie of federal, state and local law enforcement officials, forest managers and scientists unveiled the results of their efforts to combat the environmental degradation associated with marijuana grows on public lands in California Tuesday. The California Department of Justice has teamed up with its federal counterparts, county sheriffs, officials from the United States Forest Service, and environmental researchers in Operation Forest Watch, an effort first revealed in May to catalog and dismantle illegal marijuana grows on public lands in California. “There are 18 national forests in California and all 18 have been environmentally damaged to a severe degree by these grows,” U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott said during a press conference on Tuesday. … ” Read more from Courthouse News Service here: California and feds agree: No pot grows on public lands
Los Angeles wants to use the Hoover Dam as a giant battery. The hurdles could be more historical than technical: “Los Angeles is looking into whether it should spend an estimated US$3 billion on a massive, 20-mile underground pumped hydropower storage system that would be connected to the iconic Hoover Dam on the Colorado River outside of Las Vegas. If it does get built, this system would essentially serve as a giant battery to store power. Having written a book about the aggressive propaganda program behind the Hoover Dam’s construction in the 1920s and 1930s, I can say that the technical and financial challenges of this plan are sure to pale in comparison to the legal and political roadblocks that will have to be overcome. … ” Read more from The Conversation here: Los Angeles wants to use the Hoover Dam as a giant battery. The hurdles could be more historical than technical
The hot new venue for summer weddings – your local sewage plant: “Among the great variety of locations a couple might consider as their wedding venue, a sewage treatment plant probably would not rank highly. Yet weddings are happening at the Brightwater Treatment Plant near Maltby, Washington. To be precise, couples are booking the Brightwater Education and Community Center for their nuptials. Two dozen couples have tied the knot within the center’s striking contemporary architecture since 2014. It was a revolutionary complement to the utility’s basic sewage processing mission, offering lush gardens, forested hiking trails, a visitor center, rental halls, a commercial kitchen and a salmon-bearing stream fed by treated wastewater. All of it is open to the public as a park and museum-like interpretive facility, designed from the start to share the gospel of wastewater management. ... ” Read more from Water Deeply here: The hot new venue for summer weddings – your local sewage plant
Future impacts of El Niño, La Niña likely to intensify, increasing wildfire, drought risk: “When an El Niño or its opposite, La Niña, forms in the future, it’s likely to cause more intense impacts over many land regions — amplifying changes to temperature, precipitation and wildfire risk. These are the findings of a new study funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy and published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. The researchers found, for example, that the increased wildfire danger in the Southwest United States associated with La Niña events would become more acute. … ” Read more from the National Science Foundation here: Future impacts of El Niño, La Niña likely to intensify, increasing wildfire, drought risk
Pentagon warns against EPA science proposal: “The Pentagon is criticizing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to boost “transparency” standards for the science it uses in decisionmaking. Patricia Underwood in the Department of Defense’s office of energy, installations and environment told the EPA last week that the proposal could unnecessarily exclude sound science from the agency’s use. “While we agree that public access to information is very important, we do not believe that failure of the agency to obtain a publication’s underlying data from an author external to the agency should negate its use,” she wrote. … ” Read more from The Hill here: Pentagon warns against EPA science proposal
US official reiterates push to move land agency out west: “A high-ranking U.S. Interior Department official on Thursday reiterated the agency’s strong interest in moving its Bureau of Land Management headquarters to the American West. The move isn’t a done deal, Susan Combs, an assistant secretary at Interior, said as she visited a northern Utah city that is among those under consideration for the new location. But she spoke passionately during a round table in Ogden about the need to bridge the gap between bureaucrats and the people affected by their decisions. ... ” Read more from the AP here: US official reiterates push to move land agency out west
In commentary today …
California communities are thirsty for justice on safe drinking water, say Dolores Huerta and Tom Steyer: They write, “There are moments in California history when a single decision becomes a broader question of who we are, and who we want to be, and whether we move from an unjust past toward a more just future. This week, our leaders must decide whether we will provide access to safe drinking water to all Californians. One path is the current reality where as many as 1 million residents – predominantly in low-income communities of color – are dealing with unsafe drinking water. The other path leads towards a more fair future where all residents have their basic human right to water in one of the wealthiest places on Earth. ... ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: California communities are thirsty for justice on safe drinking water
State lawmakers may ask us to ‘donate’ a monthly fee to fund clean drinking water. Bad idea, says the San Luis Obispo Tribune: They write, “Everyone in California — and everywhere else, for that matter — deserves clean drinking water. But relying on charity to upgrade failing water systems in low-income California communities is not the way to meet a basic human need. Yet that’s essentially what state Sen. Bill Monning is proposing in SB 845. The bill would require water purveyors throughout the state to offer their customers the “opportunity” to pay a monthly fee of 95 cents per household. … ” Read more from the San Luis Obispo Tribune here: State lawmakers may ask us to ‘donate’ a monthly fee to fund clean drinking water. Bad idea.
In regional news and commentary today …
Question of Putah ‘salmon race’ not settled, yet: “The science that was going to determine if a specific Putah Creek “salmon race” has been created with creek restoration and improved migration efforts has not answered the question just yet. In fact, the answer could come more quickly from an ongoing telemetry tagging program. “We are also putting these radio tags in these fish and so we will know if (the) fish return to Putah Creek,” said Rich Marovich, the streamkeeper for the Lower Putah Creek Coordinating Committee and the Solano County Water Agency. … ” Read more from the Daily Republic here: Question of Putah ‘salmon race’ not settled, yet
Phase 3 of Putah Creek restoration project to start soon: “Work on the $1.1 million third phase of the Putah Creek restoration project – delayed four years while waiting for a federal flood zone work permit – could finally get started in the coming weeks. “We are planning to start after Labor Day,” said Rich Marovich, the streamkeeper for the Lower Putah Creek Coordinating Committee and the Solano County Water Agency. The exact starting date was not known. The contractor, Four M Contracting in Vacaville, said Monday that it is just waiting on the notice to proceed from the Solano County Water Agency, which according to agency officials, is just a matter of getting the order across town. … ” Read more from the Daily Republic here: Phase 3 of Putah Creek restoration project to start soon
Irrigation overflow, not levee leak, to blame for standing water on rural Delta road: “A levee road in rural Sacramento County is closed Tuesday morning due to high water. The scene is on Jackson Slough Road, off Highway 12 and near Rio Vista. … ” Continue reading at CBS Sacramento here: Irrigation overflow, not levee leak, to blame for standing water on rural Delta road
Santa Cruz to evaluate long-term solutions to West Cliff coastal erosion: “A grant from the California Department of Transportation will help the City of Santa Cruz evaluate the threat of sea level rise to West Cliff Drive, more than a year after the city received an ultimatum from the California Coastal Commission: Come up with a forward-thinking erosion plan or face fines. For decades the city has relied on Band-aid solutions, armoring a majority of the 2.5-mile strip with riprap (piles of rock that buttress the cliffs but impede beach access) and waiting for sinkholes to form or roads to crumble to perform repairs. … ” Read more from the Santa Cruz Sentinel here: Santa Cruz to evaluate long-term solutions to West Cliff coastal erosion
More than 1,000 dead fish at Malibu lagoon may be tied to record-warm ocean temperatures: “Authorities made the grim discovery last week: More than 1,000 dead fish floating at Malibu Lagoon. California State Parks scientists are running tests to determine the cause, but officials suspect higher-than-normal water temperatures played a role. The die-off comes amid a summer of extreme heat across California that has included record ocean temperatures from San Diego to Los Angeles and beyond. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: More than 1,000 dead fish at Malibu lagoon may be tied to record-warm ocean temperatures
In a rare move, federal judge presiding over Tijuana sewage lawsuit tours border: “Federal court judge Jeffrey T. Miller toured the Tijuana River Valley for several hours on Tuesday to observe pumps and canyon collectors along the border intended to prevent sewage from spilling into San Diego. The unusual move comes as the result of a contentious legal battle in which Miller must decide whether the Trump administration is doing enough to stop sewage that routinely pours into the United States from Mexico. … ” Read more from the San Diego Union Tribune here: In a rare move, federal judge presiding over Tijuana sewage lawsuit tours border
Along the Colorado River …
Jobs, Research At Risk After Government Defunds Grand Canyon Programs: “The Colorado River that runs through Grand Canyon National Park supplies water to nearly forty million people in the West. But longstanding programs to protect the river’s health are about to be defunded by the federal government. River managers say the result could be disastrous for the crown jewel of the national parks. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports.” Read or listen from KNAU here: Jobs, Research At Risk After Government Defunds Grand Canyon Programs
Paddling the Colorado’s headwaters reveals a wrung-out river, says Pete McBride: He writes,”One morning this summer, I stepped onto my paddleboard and glided into the headwaters of the Colorado River. To my amazement, the Roaring Fork, a tributary of the Colorado in the western half of the state, was far from roaring. The stream was more like the kind of babbling brook you might find during a hot late summer. But it wasn’t anywhere near the dog days of August. It was still June. A splashy spring runoff, which typically appears in late May and June, delights boaters and allows water managers a chance to breathe easy. But this year, it was nowhere in sight. There was certainly no hint of it in the few, quilt-like patches of snow that clung to Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks. ... ” Read more from High Country News here: Paddling the Colorado’s headwaters reveals a wrung-out river
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.
