DAILY DIGEST: Green water could help California’s farming woes; Groundwater depletion may cause domestic wells to dry out; Kamala Harris proposes bill to invest in safe drinking water; The legacy of the blob; Five most fascinating L.A. dams; and more …

In California water news today, Green water could help California’s farming woes; Groundwater Depletion May Cause Domestic Wells to Dry Out; Kamala Harris proposes bill to invest in safe drinking water; Trump administration plan to slow Western wildfires would clear strips of land; The Legacy of the Blob; Premium’s Owens Gorge application deemed deficient; Five Most Fascinating L.A. Dams, Where Disasters Struck and Catastrophes Were Averted; Recent UA study confirms groundwater pumping is drying up Arizona rivers; and more …

In the news today …

Green water could help California’s farming woes:  “More effective use of green water – rainfall stored in soil – could mitigate irrigation demand for some of California’s most important perennial crops. So say US researchers who simulated 13 years’ growth of alfalfa, grapes, almonds, pistachios and walnuts under different irrigation strategies.  Though the Midwest might be America’s breadbasket, in value terms the nation’s agricultural output is dominated by California, which has become a globally significant producer of fruit and nuts.  With its dry Mediterranean climate, however, California can only sustain farming on this scale with large inputs of so-called blue water, diverted from streams and reservoirs and pumped from deep within the ground, for irrigation. ... ”  Read more from Physics World here: Green water could help California’s farming woes

Groundwater Depletion May Cause Domestic Wells to Dry Out:  “In the United States, some 120 million Americans—and nearly all Americans in rural areas—rely on underground aquifers for drinking water, farmers tap into groundwater stores to irrigate their crops, and the industrial sector uses underground water during the manufacturing process. But the U.S. has been pumping its groundwater stores faster than its aquifers can be naturally replenished.  Groundwater may be a hugely important resource for every sector of society, but it’s much harder to track and manage than freshwater on the surface. A new study, published today in Nature Sustainability, looked at more than half a century of well depth trends to gain new insights into the management of the critical resource.  … ”  Read more from Pacific Standard here: Groundwater Depletion May Cause Domestic Wells to Dry Out

Kamala Harris proposes bill to invest in safe drinking water:  “Sen. Kamala Harris is introducing legislation designed to ensure all Americans, particularly those in at-risk communities, have access to safe, affordable drinking water, the latest response to burgeoning water crises across the country.  The California Democrat and presidential candidate’s “Water Justice Act” would invest nearly $220 billion in clean and safe drinking water programs, with priority given to high-risk communities and schools. As part of that, Harris’ plan would declare a drinking water infrastructure emergency, devoting $50 billion toward communities and schools where water is contaminated to test for contaminants and to remediate toxic infrastructure. … ”  Read more from Channel 12 here: Kamala Harris proposes bill to invest in safe drinking water

Trump administration plan to slow Western wildfires would clear strips of land:  “The Trump administration is proposing an ambitious plan to slow Western wildfires by bulldozing, mowing or revegetating large swaths of land along 11,000 miles of terrain in the West.  The plan that was announced this summer and presented at public open houses, including one in Salt Lake City this week, would create strips of land known “fuel breaks” on about 1,000 square miles of land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in an area known as the Great Basin in parts of Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Utah. … ”  Read more from ABC 10 here: Trump administration plan to slow Western wildfires would clear strips of land

The Legacy of the Blob: From California to Alaska, animals born during the infamous Blob are coming of age:  “In 2013, a mass of unusually warm water appeared in the Gulf of Alaska. Over the next three years, the Blob, as it became known, spread more than 3,200 kilometers, reaching down to Mexico. This freak marine heatwave, combined with a strong El Niño, drastically affected the Pacific Ocean ecosystem killing thousands of animals and changing the distribution of species along the coast.  It’s been three years since the Blob dissipated, and researchers are taking stock of its long-term impacts on fish and other wildlife.  Last month, Laurie Weitkamp, a fisheries biologist with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, and her colleagues released a report detailing how the Blob affected species found in the northern California Current ecosystem, which runs from the Canadian border to southern Oregon. ... ”  Read more from Hakai Magazine here: The Legacy of the Blob: From California to Alaska, animals born during the infamous Blob are coming of age.

In commentary today …

State water plan update worth just a yawn, says the Chico Enterprise-Record:  “The latest update of the California Water Plan was released this past week. You may not have heard the news. You may not even know there is a California Water Plan. And that’s just fine, because it doesn’t mean a darn thing.  The plan originated in 1957, and is updated every five years. This is the 12th update. … ”  Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record here: State water plan update worth just a yawn

In regional news and commentary today …

Red Bluff: Salmon restoration: Input gathered for 2020 East Sand Slough side channel project:  “The first step of getting input from the community on a 2020 East Sand Slough Side Channel Project was held Tuesday with a meeting at the Tehama County Library. “This is part of a larger (side channel) reconnection effort in Northern California that has three sites in Tehama County and six sites in Shasta County,” said Brin Greer of the Resource Conservation District of Tehama County, which is the lead agency in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) project implementation…. ”  Read more from the Red Bluff Daily News here: Red Bluff: Salmon restoration: Input gathered for 2020 East Sand Slough side channel project

Napa: Creek fish passage becomes issue with Soscol Junction traffic project:  “Drivers aren’t the only ones who face difficulties getting through the Soscol Junction area at Highway 29 and Highway 221 – so do steelhead and that poses potential challenges for a key county transportation project.  The trout are in Suscol Creek, which near Soscol Junction passes through an existing Highway 29 bridge culvert that is considered a fish-blocker. State law requires Caltrans to fix fish passage barriers when improving highways. ... ”  Read more from the Napa Register here: Creek fish passage becomes issue with Soscol Junction traffic project

Water district OKs deal with Santa Cruz:  “The Soquel Creek Water District board met Tuesday evening.  The board voted unanimously to approve an agreement with the city of Santa Cruz to build a tertiary treatment plant for its Pure Water Soquel project onsite at the city’s Wastewater Treatment Facility, which also will supply the water supply for the project. … ”  Read more from the Santa Cruz Sentinel here: Water district OKs deal with Santa Cruz

Morro Bay lost 90% of its eelgrass. Here’s how scientists are trying to save the key plant:  “Near Coleman Park, Rachel Pass of the Morro Bay National Estuarine Partnership points out patches of eelgrass, whose unassuming blades sway with the waters of the bay.  Closer to the South T Pier, a sleeping sea otter naps in a floating eelgrass bed and stirs occasionally to scratch its belly.  Both are valuable parts of the bay’s nearly 20 acres of the aquatic plant, a remnant of what was once closer to 350 acres in the past. ... ”  Read more from the San Luis Daily Tribune here: Morro Bay lost 90% of its eelgrass. Here’s how scientists are trying to save the key plant

Premium’s Owens Gorge application deemed deficient:  “Remember Premium Energy Holdings and its wacky pumped storage project applications? Bless their hearts, they keep trying and failing.  The latest notice from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the licensing authority for hydroelectric projects added to Premium’s list of deficient preliminary permit application. ... ”  Read more from Sierra Wave here: Premium’s Owens Gorge application deemed deficient

Five Most Fascinating L.A. Dams, Where Disasters Struck and Catastrophes Were Averted:  “In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there was one surefire way for man to conquer nature in Southern California. Build a dam.  With dams, water agencies could control the flow of raging rivers, stockpile emergency water supplies and even create giant lakes out of natural dry (or mildly soggy) basins.  But the water that was supposed to be held and controlled sometimes overcame some of these great civil engineering feats.  And so, many of the stories of the Los Angeles Basin’s tragedy and triumph can be told through the histories of its dams – those that still exist and those that have been lost to failure. … ”  Read more from KCET here: Five Most Fascinating L.A. Dams, Where Disasters Struck and Catastrophes Were Averted

San Diego: Dead fish line shore of Scripps Ranch fishing spot:  “Dozens of dead fish are now lining the shore of a popular Scripps Ranch fishing spot.  The die-off, largely of catfish and bluegill, happened over the weekend at Evans Pond, which is adjacent to the Scripps Miramar Branch Library.  On Sunday, the water was reflecting a deep green color, likely due to an algal bloom that contributed to the die-off. … ”  Read more from Channel 10 here: Dead fish line shore of Scripps Ranch fishing spot

Along the Colorado River …

Drought contingency plans embrace water marketing, says Robert Glennon:  He writes, “At Hoover Dam on May 20th, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation hosted the seven Colorado River Basin states at a ceremony to celebrate the signing of the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plans. The jubilant mood of the dignitaries masked a grim reality facing the Basin states: legal rights to Colorado River water exceed the amount of water in the river, which supplies water to 40 million people and irrigates 5.5 million acres of farmland.  The act authorizing the plans, which Congress enacted in a rare display of bipartisanship, is only a few paragraphs long. It simply instructs the secretary of the interior to carry out the provisions of various state drought plans. Remarkably, these plans embrace water marketing as an essential policy tool. ... ”  Read more from Tucson.com here: Drought contingency plans embrace water marketing

Recent UA study confirms groundwater pumping is drying up Arizona rivers:  “Groundwater pumping has caused stream flow in U.S. rivers to decline by as much as half over the last century, according to new research by a University of Arizona hydrologist that strengthens the connection between groundwater and surface water.  The research confirms that groundwater losses, primarily due to pumping water from below the surface for agricultural and municipal uses, decrease the overall surface water supply and have caused some smaller streams to dry up. This has a downstream effect that influences water levels far beyond the groundwater pumping location. … ”  Read more from Arizona Central here: Recent UA study confirms groundwater pumping is drying up Arizona rivers

Farmers, Coca-Cola and conservationists: Unlikely partners fight drought along Verde River:  ” Irene Rezzonico has lived in Camp Verde her whole life, somewhere north of 60 years.  She and her family run a feed store on Main Street, and a plot of land to the southeast. They farm, they raise livestock, they use water.  They get that water from one of the three ditches that divert West Clear Creek just before it pours into the Verde River. Their ditch provides water for seven users across roughly 50 acres, she said.  They’ve taken water from the ditch for decades, and for decades, it has leaked. … ”  Read more from Arizona Central here: Farmers, Coca-Cola and conservationists: Unlikely partners fight drought along Verde River

And lastly …

Scientists honor Iceland’s first glacier lost to climate change with plaque, eulogy:  “Scientists are memorializing Iceland’s first glacier lost to climate change with a plaque and eulogy that will be unveiled in August.  Rice University recently announced researchers will join the Icelandic Hiking Society to reveal the plaque Aug. 18, honoring the melted Okjökull, “Ok,” glacier.  The plaque contains a somber warning to visitors, titled “A letter to the future.” … ”  Read more from The Hill here: Scientists honor Iceland’s first glacier lost to climate change with plaque, eulogy

Also on Maven’s Notebook today …

DAILY DIGEST, weekend edition: Chevron says attempt to seal off well may have triggered big Kern County oil spill; Justice Department urges reversal of ruling on Agua Caliente water-rights case; New Yolo Bypass fish passage project approved; Lake Tahoe full; McMullin Area GSP; and more …

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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.