On the calendar today …
- WORKSHOP: Risk Assessment Webinar on Thresholds, Weighting and Scoring at 9am. This workshop will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to learn about and contribute to the State Water Board’s approach to developing a more robust Risk Assessment for public water systems that aligns with the goals of the Human Right to Water. The State Water Board will be seeking feedback on proposed thresholds, weights, and scoring approaches for recommended risk indicators. Click here to register.
- ONLINE MEETING: 2021 Draft Proposition 1 Solicitation Public Meeting at 11am. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) will conduct an online public meeting to review the Draft 2021 Proposition 1 Restoration Grant Programs Proposal Solicitation Notice (Solicitation)and invite public comments. Here is the agenda. Click here to join Microsoft Teams meeting
In California water news today …
The water war in Indian Wells Valley
“In a remote California town, pistachio farmers are facing off against the U.S. Navy over water rights. The outcome could shape future legal fights as climate change upends the status quo. … John Conaway has lived in and around the town of Ridgecrest since before it was much of a town. In 1967, when he moved his young family to the remote Southern California community, Ridgecrest had been incorporated for only a few years. “It was all dirt roads,” he says. “No stop signs, no nothing.” … ” Read more from the Food and Environment Reporting Network here: The water war in Indian Wells Valley
Will water supply momentum pick back up with new administration?
“There was some progress on fixing California’s water supply issues before the state legally challenged the outgoing administration. Will that momentum pick back up under the new administration? At the beginning of 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced some framework for voluntary agreements on pumping water from the Sacramento-San Juaquin Delta. The agreements would allow individual partnerships to decide when to restrict pumping and when to increase water flow. Water agencies support the idea of voluntary agreements and believe it will be a critical component of meeting Sustainable Groundwater Management Act plans. … ” Read more from Ag Net West here: Will water supply momentum pick back up with new administration?
A catastrophic year casts a pall of uncertainty across California’s agricultural valleys
“Nowhere are the effects of the multiple crises that hit California this year more visible than in the state’s agricultural valleys. The region faced a list of challenges almost too long to comprehend: record-breaking heat, smog and smoke from historic wildfires resulting in air quality too poor to be outside in. High rates of Covid-19 infections and the anxiety, isolation and job losses that go with it. Tensions around a divisive election. Fears and conflict over immigration policies. … ” Read more from the Guardian here: A catastrophic year casts a pall of uncertainty across California’s agricultural valleys
Assemblymember Gray ousted as chair of powerful Assembly committee over water vote
“Assemblyman Adam Gray (D–Merced) is no longer the chairman of the Assembly Governmental Organizations Committee, he announced on Saturday. The reason? His votes on legislation that gave state water officials additional salvos against the Federal government in their ever-bubbling water war. … ” Read more from the San Joaquin Valley Sun here: Assemblymember Gray ousted as chair of powerful Assembly committee over water vote
SEE ALSO: California Assemblymember Adam C. Gray’s Statement On Being Stripped Of Committee Chairmanship Says “I Have Spent My Entire Time In Public Office Fighting Sacramento’s Insatiable Thirst For The Valley’s Water”, at the Sierra Sun Times
County board action advances Friant-Kern Canal project
“With a quick approval of its consent calendar on Tuesday, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors moved the first stage of needed repairs of the Friant/Kern Canal to reality. The action on the Friant/Kern Canal was approved by the board during its meeting on Tuesday. Repairs on a 33-mile stretch of the canal is set to begin early next year. The project will restore a portion of the canal from Avenue 208 between Strathmore and Lindsay to north Kern County. The project will increase the canal’s delivery capacity. … ” Read more from the Porterville Recorder here: County board action advances Friant-Kern Canal project
Daniel Swain: The climate scientist who is demystifying extreme weather
” … Whether hiding from the smoke or sheltering in place thousands of miles away from it, Americans doomscrolled their way through the latest evidence that climate change is real, here, and happening now. For Daniel Swain, climate scientist at UCLA, weather is an obvious inroad into engaging people on climate change, as people are way more likely to respond to a fire or flood at their doorstep than a chart of rising emissions. “People talk about the weather day to day, but they don’t talk about climate change day to day,” Swain said. … ” Read more from Vice here: The climate scientist who is demystifying extreme weather
The drying U.S. West
“A drought that flared up in the western United States in spring 2020 has expanded and intensified across the summer and fall. In August, a third of the United States was experiencing at least a moderate level of drought. By December, roughly half of that area was, with about 33 percent facing what the U.S. National Drought Monitor classifies as “extreme” or “exceptional drought.” Initially, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and northern California faced the most severe conditions. Over the summer and fall, the drought intensified in Arizona and New Mexico and spread onto the Great Plains and Texas. … ” Read more from Earth Observatory here: The drying U.S. West
Forecasters expect Western drought to continue through December
“Most of the West and 95 percent of California are in drought. In Southern California drought conditions are predicted to further develop into the winter and persist across the rest of the state. The western two-thirds of the United States is expected to have lower than normal precipitation the rest of December. All of the country will likely be warmer than normal during the period except for the Southeast and portions of the Northwest. … ” Read more from Wildfire Today here: Forecasters expect Western drought to continue through December
NASA’s water portal now live
“NASA’s Water Portal is now live and available to the public, scientists and water managers and decision makers. The portal is a water information hub produced by NASA’s Western Water Applications Office. It provides interactive catalogs of Water Data Needs and NASA Water-Related Capabilities, as part of our mission to improve how water is managed in the arid western U.S. by getting NASA data, technology, and tools into the hands of water managers and decision makers. The portal serves as a hub for building connections between these catalogs and our partners, including water managers, decision makers, and scientists. … ” Read more and view portal from JPL/NASA here: NASA’s water portal now live
Making “productive” assessments of California’s ecosystems
“Conservation science and restoration ecology are challenging and interdisciplinary fields. Managing for ecological function necessitates focus on multiple scales of ecological organization while simultaneously integrating feedback loops with critical environmental drivers like temperature, flow and habitat change. This means scientists working on these issues can emerge from diverse areas of inquiry including ecology, engineering, hydrological sciences, fisheries, geology, geography, and law. UC Davis’ Center for Watershed Sciences embraces this broad approach to water issues in California, but there are common challenges among fields. One particularly tricky proposition is the selection of appropriate “response metrics” when discussing restoration activities. … ” Read more from the California Water Blog here: Making “productive” assessments of California’s ecosystems
King tide surging along S.F.’s Embarcadero draws gawkers: ‘It’s super fun and exciting’
“Claudia Miller was wet and looking to get wetter, so she came to the Embarcadero in the Sunday morning rain. A king tide was busy raising the level of the bay by 7 feet from the average low, topped off by an accompanying storm surge. Miller and two friends came from the Castro neighborhood to witness it, and though her glasses were fogged and she was soaked through her raincoat and hood, she wanted to feel the water come up through her feet as she walked the embankment with the roiling gray bay lapping at the top of the seawall. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: King tide surging along S.F.’s Embarcadero draws gawkers: ‘It’s super fun and exciting’
SEE ALSO: King Tide on San Francisco Embarcadero Illustrates Climate Change Risk, from CBS Bay Area
EPA launches new clearinghouse for environmental finance
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched the Clearinghouse for Environmental Finance (Clearinghouse), an online database of land, air, and water information. This new Clearinghouse catalogues available funding, financing, and instructional resources to aid communities in their efforts to improve environmental conditions. The Office of Policy collaborated with the Office of Water to launch the new Clearinghouse. “EPA has created a one-stop shop to make it easier for communities to access available funding and other agency resources,” said U.S. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Today’s action builds on my commitment to tear down the silos between programs within the agency so that we can be more effective in addressing the environmental burdens that communities face.” … ” Read more from Water Finance and Management here: EPA launches new clearinghouse for environmental finance
More news and commentary in the Weekend Daily Digest …
This weekend in California water news …- A journey through time: How ancient water systems inspired today’s water technologies
- Welcome precipitation across NorCal, but not enough to keep pace; SoCal remains dry
- SCIENCE IN SHORT PODCAST: Putting Nature, Not People, in the Path of Sea Level Rise
- WATER TABLE PODCAST: Martha Davis and Tom Ash
- Does Klamath dam removal even need an extra $45 million?
- Lake Oroville to open temporary, low boat launch ramp
- Cache Creek flood study included in Water Resources Development Act
- Montage Healdsburg resort developer fined record $6.4 million for water violations
- West Marin salmon habitat project hits milestone
- Bay Area: The year’s highest king tides are headed our way — and the lowest tides, too
- Bay Area: Mavericks explodes with ‘best waves in 10 years,’ pioneering waterman says
- Monterey facing major impact from sea level rise
- Southern steelhead are adaptive and resilient
- BuRec looks to possible end of Paradox desalination project
- And lastly … 13 of the World’s Most Fascinating Dams
- And more …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today:
SOCIETY & NATURAL RESOURCES JOURNAL: SGMA in CA: A Grand Experiment in Environmental Governance
HYDROVISIONS: Toxic terra, Groundwater management in Nevada; Strategies for safeguarding water quality during groundwater recharge; and more …
NOW AVAILABLE: Updated Version of Central Valley Groundwater-Surface Water Model
