On the calendar today …
- ONLINE MEETING: Central Valley Flood Protection Board beginning at 9am. Agenda items include the 2020 Levee Inspection & Assessment Annual Report, Marysville Ring Levee, and the Delta Stewardship Council’s Flood Risk Vulnerability Assessment. Click here for the full agenda and for remote access instructions.
- WEBINAR: Sacramento River Temperature Modeling from 1pm to 3:45pm. Click here for the agenda. Pre-register by emailing Aly Scurlock at ascurlock@kearnswest.com
On the calendar tomorrow …
- WATER LAW SYMPOSIUM: Climate change: adapting to a warming climate from 9am to 3:30pm. Keynote speaker is Laurel Firestone with the State Water Resources Control Board. Click here for more information and to register.
In California water news today …
New research points to over reliance on managed aquifer recharge
“Managed aquifer recharge (MAR), also known as water banking, stores water to be available for use in dry years when surface water supplies are low. It’s a remarkable technology but, groundwater agencies are too reliant on it, according to research by Nicola Ulibarri, assistant professor of urban planning and public policy, and colleagues. In their study, published this month in Water Resources Research, Ulibarri and her co-authors Nataly Escobedo Garcia, Rebecca L. Nelson, Amanda E. Cravens and Ryan J. McCarty argue that the groundwater agencies seem to be overly relying on MAR to fix their sustainability problems. “The parts of California that we’re studying — the places that are required to come up with groundwater sustainability plans — are places that are in critical overdraft, which means that they are using more groundwater than is sustainable long term. This has led to the many problems that the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) of 2014 aims to address, like overdraft, land subsidence and interconnected surface water,” Ulibarri explains. … ” Read more from UC Irvine here: New research points to over reliance on managed aquifer recharge
Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) releases the Human Right to Water Tool
“The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) announces the release of its final Human Right to Water Framework and Data Tool (CalHRTW 1.0)—comprised of an interactive web tool and report, Achieving the Human Right to Water in California: An Assessment of the State’s Community Water Systems. In developing the Human Right to Water Framework and Data Tool, California becomes the first state in the country to develop a tool for measuring the progressive realization of the human right to water. This tool alongside other key statewide efforts signals California’s leadership and commitment in providing safe, affordable and accessible water to all. … ” Read more and access the tool here: The Human Right to Water Tool
Q/A with Molly White, Chief, State Water Operations: How DWR manages water allocations to the state’s public water agencies
“Molly, take us through some of the fundamentals of your job. What are some of the big considerations when it comes to water supply planning and moving water around the state? Molly White: You bet. There are many considerations that we take into account when we are developing our water supply and allocation studies. I’ll talk about a few of those here today. One significant component is hydrology, and that includes not only rainfall but also snow pack and the runoff forecasts that we receive that show how much water and tell us how much water is coming into our reservoirs as well as how much water is moving through the system as it runs off from the snow pack as it melts in the spring. … ” Read more from DWR News here: Q/A: How does DWR manage water allocations to the state’s public water agencies?
Feds ‘shortchange’ San Francisco Bay – local Congress members want money for restoration
“San Francisco Bay is dwarfed by the Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound and other treasured estuaries when it comes to federal funding, and California lawmakers want that changed. On Thursday, a contingent of Bay Area members of Congress introduced legislation that would boost federal money tenfold for restoration of the region’s signature waters. Under the proposal, $50 million a year for five years would flow to bay projects that reduce water pollution, support wildlife, revive wetlands and protect shoreline communities from sea level rise. ... ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: Feds ‘shortchange’ San Francisco Bay – local Congress members want money for restoration
Garamendi appointed to Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee
“California Congressman John Garamendi is being appointed by his congressional colleagues to the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee, a responsibility he doesn’t take lightly. … ” Read more from KSRO here: Garamendi appointed to Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee
Legal alert: Regional Water Quality Control Board unlawfully delegated authority to modify effluent limits under discharge permit
“A California Court of Appeal invalidated a wastewater discharge permit issued by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board that the court found impermissibly delegated to the Board’s executive officer the authority to modify effluent limits under the permit. Malaga County Water Dist. v. Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, 58 Cal.App.5th 396 (2020). … ” Read more from the California Land Use & Development Report here: Regional Water Quality Control Board unlawfully delegated authority to modify effluent limits under discharge permit
California wildfires …
Drinking water quality impacts from North Complex Fire found to be minimal
“Widespread testing of surface waters throughout the burn scar left by last summer’s massive North Complex Fire in Butte and Plumas counties has revealed contaminant levels are elevated, but lower than anticipated. The good news is they are not impacting drinking water treatment facilities or the quality of drinking water they deliver to their customers. The contaminants include E.Coli, aluminum, iron, manganese and other metals, most of which are naturally occurring and often found in runoff sediments. Further water sampling and analysis is required to determine whether the elevated levels stem from the series of wildfires, which covered nearly 320,000 acres at multiple sites. The fires began Aug. 17, 2020 from multiple lightning strikes and were not 100 percent contained until December 3. …
Misconceptions about wildfires are fueling the problem
“The 2020 wildfire season was the worst in California’s recorded history, with more than four million acres burned and almost 10,500 structures destroyed across the state. The fires were heavily covered by the news media, and some reports suggested California had suffered apocalyptic devastation and permanent loss. But the more complicated reality of fire’s long-term impact on forests is often poorly reported and misunderstood. In this video, we talk to experts who say many accounts of California’s blazes sensationalize the extent of forest devastation while paying less attention to fire’s crucial role in nature. … ” Read more from the Scientific American here: Misconceptions about wildfires are fueling the problem
The growing economic cost of wildfires
“This article uses Weather Source daily and hourly data, available on the S&P Global Marketplace, to examine the climate conditions that resulted in the 2018 California wildfires. Camp Fire and Woolsey Fire, led to the most destructive fire season in California history, resulting in $8.47 billion and $2.93 billion in losses, respectively. Using S&P Global Trucost Physical Risk asset data, we identify commercial assets in wildfire-prone areas, as well as utility companies that may have higher wildfire risk exposure than others. … ” Read more from S&P Global Market Intelligence here: The growing economic cost of wildfires
Here’s what California lawmakers want to do to take action on climate change
“Wildfires and smoke have ravaged large parts of California, sea level rise is threatening the golden coast’s viability and drought is looming in the future. “We’re in a race against the clock when it comes to climate change,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. “This is not a problem that we can take our time and solve little step by little step. We are in a race against the clock, in terms of what the future of this planet is going to be.” But for the first time in four years action on climate change is gaining momentum on the federal level — President Joe Biden signed multiple executive orders related to the crisis in his first week in office. Meanwhile California has held ground on climate policies as the Trump Administration rolled back environmental rules and regulations. … ” Read more from Capital Public Radio here: Here’s what California lawmakers want to do to take action on climate change
Storm impacts …
Today’s forecast from NWS Sacramento: The next storm system will take aim at northern California starting Sunday over the northern half of the valley and surrounding mountains before spreading south Monday into Tuesday.
Storms to taper off Friday for Bay Area and beyond, but mudslide threat lingers
“The storm system that saturated the Bay Area in recent days and blanketed Tahoe and the rest of the Sierra with snow was expected to taper off by midday Friday, meteorologists said. Dry conditions will likely persist through the weekend, but the anticipated return of precipitation next week may renew fears of landslides in burn-scarred areas in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, which have already endured evacuations and property damage from dangerous mud flows. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: Storms to taper off Friday for Bay Area and beyond, but mudslide threat lingers
Huge California storm prompts mudslides and evacuations
“A 14-year-old boy was found trapped under five feet of snow for five hours after a roof avalanche dumped approximately 5 feet of snow on him while he was playing next to his home in Serene Lakes, just west of Truckee in the California mountains. The boy was trapped under the snow for about 5 hours before firefighters were able to rescue him, according to the Truckee Fire Protection District. In Monterey County, a woman suffered broken bones after a mudslide came pounding through her house after 6 to 9 inches of rain fell in the area during a 24-hour period. The two stories demonstrate how from California’s coast to its mountains, a ferocious winter storm is wreaking havoc on residents, many of whom are nonetheless grateful for the abundant precipitation in a region that was hovering on the precipice of drought. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service here: Huge California storm prompts mudslides and evacuations
Storm update: 20 percent jump in snowpack already
“On Sunday, January 24, California’s snow water equivalent readings were just 38 percent of the historical average of that date. Both the Northern and Central Sierras were above 40 percent of normal but the Southern Sierra region was at a paltry 23 percent of normal. Those numbers reflect what has been a dry winter overall for the state. April 1 is the date that analysts compare to for season totals when the snowpack is usually at its peak. As of January 24, the statewide snow water equivalent was just 21 percent of the April 1 average. … ” Read more from Ag Net West here: Storm update: 20 percent jump in snowpack already
California is soaking wet. But drought looms if we don’t get more rain — a lot more
“Six years ago, in the middle of a crippling drought, Californians were ordered to let their lawns turn yellow. They put buckets in their showers to conserve. Scofflaws had to attend “drought school.” Meanwhile, farmers throughout the Central Valley had to idle many of their fields. This week’s deluge left many Californians shoveling snow and splashing through puddles as an “atmospheric river” swept the state. More precipitation is in the forecast for next week. But experts worry that without repeated downpours over the next two months, the painful memories of the last drought could become reality again. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: California is soaking wet. But drought looms if we don’t get more rain — a lot more
SEE ALSO:
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- Atmospheric river storm drenches California, snow piles high, from the Sacramento Bee
- Overflowing lagoon floods homes in California’s Carmel-by-the-Sea; more evacuations ordered, from the Weather Channel
- Photos show snow piling up at Tahoe ski resorts, from the San Francisco Chronicle
- Heavy winds topple a dozen giant sequoias in Yosemite, from the San Joaquin Valley Sun
- Will the storm move the drought needle?, from KTVU
Atmospheric rivers …
Atmospheric rivers like this one are vital to understanding California
“Ten days ago the state set new heat records and brush fires broke out. Burn areas in the Santa Cruz Mountains rekindled. Then, over the last three days, a 2,000-mile-long filament of water in the sky burst over the areas that last week sat brown and smoking. Snow fell on peaks and even some lower hills in the Bay Area. The California Department of Water Resources Central Sierra snow measurement station jumped from 42 percent of average to 62 percent of average. … ” Read more from Bay Nature here: Atmospheric rivers like this one are vital to understanding California
Atmospheric river storms can drive costly flooding – and climate change is making them stronger
Tom Corringham writes, ” … In the past 20 years, as observation networks have improved, scientists have learned more about these important weather phenomena. … My research combines economics and atmospheric science to measure damage from severe weather events. Recently I led a team of researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Army Corps of Engineers in the first systematic analysis of damages from atmospheric rivers due to extreme flooding. We found that while many of these events are benign, the largest of them cause most of the flooding damage in the western U.S. And atmospheric rivers are predicted to grow longer, wetter and wider in a warming climate. … ” Read more from the Conversation here: Atmospheric river storms can drive costly flooding – and climate change is making them stronger
SEE ALSO:
In regional water news and commentary today …
Klamath: Documenting destruction from above
“In July 2019, Paul Wilson, a 23-year-old self-taught photographer and enrolled member of the Klamath Tribes in southern Oregon, flew his drone camera over a forested hillside near his family’s seasonal camp. He had been coming to the area, 30 miles northeast of Chiloquin — a treaty-designated space where tribal members used to hunt and forage — since before he could remember. Now, it was unrecognizable: The winter before, the land had been clear-cut. A key calving ground for elk and deer — a place where Wilson and his family had often hunted — had been destroyed. Instead of stands of pine trees, grassy meadows and spongy marshlands, there were brush piles larger than buildings. “It was hard to fathom,” he told me. … ” Read more from High Country News here: Documenting destruction from above
Voicing development fears, Trinidad council votes against water study
“Citing risks of “overdevelopment,” the Trinidad City Council voted this week to deny the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District’s request to participate in a feasibility study on extending water service from McKinleyville up to the Trinidad Rancheria. Tuesday’s vote was 3-2, with councilmembers Richard Clompus and Dave Grover dissenting. The water district approved a memorandum of understanding with the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria during its Jan. 14 meeting initiating the feasibility study. The tribe made the request for water service from the district in November 2020 after the California Coastal Commission deemed the tribe’s water supply inadequate for the proposed multi-story Hyatt hotel at the Cher-Ae Heights Casino. … ” Read more from the Eureka Times-Standard here: Voicing development fears, Trinidad council votes against water study
A late Christmas gift arrives for Lake Oroville fish
“The Department of Water Resources (DWR) completed its yearly post-holiday tradition of recycling Christmas trees into prime habitat for fish species at Lake Oroville and the Thermalito Afterbay. DWR’s Oroville Field Division and their local partners collect the trees and bundle them together as habitat structures that provide juvenile fish shelter to conceal themselves from predators. Providing these small fish with safe refuge areas boosts their chance of survival, thereby increasing fish populations in Lake Oroville and the Thermalito Afterbay. … ” Read more from DWR News here: A late Christmas gift arrives for Lake Oroville fish
Concord to trace mystery water at Concord Naval Weapons Station
“In order to get a wetlands permit needed for development of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station to move ahead, the City of Concord will investigate the source of water unexpectedly found near the one-time airfield north of Willow Pass Road. The Concord City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to move $12,000 of previously approved loan money to aid in the study of where water is coming from on that land, located east of Olivera Road near the Pixieland Amusement Park. … ” Read more from The Patch here: Concord to trace mystery water at Concord Naval Weapons Station
Diablo Water District Board of Directors looks to the future
“Over the past two years, the Diablo Water District Board of Directors has seen some new faces (due to resignations and recent elections). “The fresh group of proactive and passionate directors are offering progressive and responsible direction regarding the District’s future,” said Board President Paul Seger. On Jan. 12 and 14, the new board spent hours revisiting and re-visioning best practices regarding the environment, water supply resiliency, critical infrastructure of the district, and its customers’ needs. … ” Read more from The Press here: Diablo Water District Board of Directors looks to the future
Palo Alto: Going against the flow, City Council member draws rebukes for position on water plan
“When Palo Alto officials adopted a position in 2018 in support of the Bay-Delta Plan, which aims to protect the Yosemite ecosystem by restricting how much water cities can draw from the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, they knew were swimming against the prevalent political tide. Prompted by water conservationists and environmentalists, the City Council went against recommendations from the city’s Utilities Department staff and its water supplier, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which relies on the Tuolumne River for much of its water. It also defied the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency, a coalition of 27 municipal agencies that buy water from the SFPUC. Now, the city’s appointee to BAWSCA, City Council member Alison Cormack, is drawing criticism from some of these same environmentalists after she took a stance that they say contradicts Palo Alto’s official position. ... ” Read more from Palo Alto Online here: Going against the flow, City Council member draws rebukes for position on water plan
Judge voids Monterey County approval of Cal Am desal plant project
“A Monterey County Superior Court judge has set aside the county’s approval of California American Water’s desalination plant project over its rationale for why the project’s benefits would outweigh environmental impacts in a lawsuit brought by the Marina Coast Water District. At the same time, the judge rejected a bid by Marina Coast to require the county to conduct additional environmental review for the project as a result of new information and changed circumstances, and also dismissed Marina Coast’s contention that the county violated its own general plan, its desal public ownership requirement and its since expired moratorium on new wells with the approval. … ” Read more from the Monterey Herald here: Judge voids Monterey County approval of Cal Am desal plant project
The Monterey Peninsula’s water shortage could be solved with flow from the Salinas River. Why isn’t it?
“In the driest years for Monterey County, the water available in the Salinas River is not enough to supply a single household. In the wettest year of the past three decades, 1995, there were 100,000 acre-feet of water available, more than the total urban usage in the county. Although the flow fluctuates wildly, the average amount is far more than what is needed, for example, for thirsty coastal cities desperate for housing. The water has been available for decades – the right to use it is protected, encouraged and even required by state law – but it’s been flowing into the ocean, a casualty of Monterey County’s political deadlock. … ” Read more from Monterey Weekly here: The Monterey Peninsula’s water shortage could be solved with flow from the Salinas River. Why isn’t it?
San Bernardino: Plunge Creek project recharges groundwater and creates a new home for the kangaroo rat
“The San Bernardino kangaroo rat and the Santa Ana River woolly star thrive in areas with frequent flooding. But decades of mining — and the construction of ditches, pipeline crossings, levees and a bridge — had cut off water flow and made their environment unlivable. A $710,500 grant from the California Department of Water Resources Proposition 84 grant program administered by the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority, the San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District has built the multi-benefit Plunge Creek Conservation Project to restore this environment: a move designed to save the local population of kangaroo rats while increasing groundwater recharge in accordance with the district’s mission. … ” Read more from the Redlands Community News here: Plunge Creek project recharges groundwater and creates a new home for the kangaroo rat
San Diego: New reservoir to protect local drinking water deliveries in North County
“A major construction project to improve drinking water supply reliability in North San Diego County will start in February after the San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors today approved an $11.4 million contract for the work to Pacific Hydrotech Corporation of Perris, Calif. The Hauck Mesa Storage Reservoir project includes demolition of an abandoned steel tank, building a 2.1 million-gallon storage reservoir connected to the Valley Center Pipeline, and construction of an isolation vault and an underground flow control facility. The project is expected to be completed by winter 2022. … ” Read more from the Water News Network here: New reservoir to protect local drinking water deliveries in North County
Along the Colorado River …
The rain and snow helped, but much of Arizona still in drought conditions
“Even with this week’s rain in the Phoenix area and snow in northern Arizona, nearly all of the state remains in some form of drought, though the rain and snow did help improve those conditions. The U.S. Drought Monitor is a nationwide database that — as its name implies — monitors drought conditions, or how dry an area is, in any part of the country. Snow totals and rain totals are entered into the nationwide database and a report is generated. Levels of drought can range from abnormally high to exception, which is reserved for the driest of the dry conditions. … ” Read more from Channel 15 here: The rain and snow helped, but much of Arizona still in drought conditions
In national water news today …
Biden swings waters pendulum with final resolution still elusive
“The Biden administration is swinging the pendulum of repeated changes to water regulation back to expanding after those regulatory powers contracted under President Donald Trump. But the swing isn’t likely to be permanent, legal scholars say. The expansion of regulation has turned the question of federal jurisdiction over waters of the U.S., or WOTUS, affects how private property is developed, from an arcane rule into a facet of America’s culture wars. Trump claimed—inaccurately, his critics said—that WOTUS “gave bureaucrats virtually unlimited authority” and “basically took your property away from you.” … ” Read more from Bloomberg Law here: Biden swings waters pendulum with final resolution still elusive
Biden outlines stimulus plan including water rate assistance
“A $1.9 trillion COVID-19 economic stimulus plan outlined by President Joe Biden proposes billions of dollars to help low-income families pay water and other utility bills while also offering additional funds to supplement the budgets of state and local governments. Called the American Rescue Plan, the President-elect’s proposal includes an abundance of Democratic priorities like a new round of stimulus checks for American households, an extension of enhanced unemployment benefits, expanded sick and family leave, and an increase of the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. While the plan will need to be distilled into legislative text on Capitol Hill – where a multitude of changes could be made along the way – it is nevertheless expected to inform the next COVID-19 response bill that congressional Democrats plan to consider in the coming weeks. ... ” Read more from Water Finance & Management here: Biden outlines stimulus plan including water rate assistance
NASA Snow Water Equivalent Report as of January 26 …
20210126_RT_SWE_ReportToday’s featured article …
SCIENCE NEWS: Eyes reveal life history of fish; California salmon deaths traced to thiamine deficiency; Corralling steelhead at the Carmel River Weir; Climate change will alter the position of the Earth’s tropical rain belt; and more …
Click here to read this edition of Science News.
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
DELTA eNEWS: ~~ Steelhead Workshop~ Vaccine Access~ Building Sustainability~ Delta Voice ~~
PHOTO CREDIT: Trinidad Beach by Jeff Moser
