A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …
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This week’s featured articles …
ESTUARY NEWS: Atmospheric Rivers Intensifying as World Warms: How the West Will Know What’s Coming?
Article written by Robin Meadows, Estuary News
In just a few years, tracking the West Coast’s atmospheric rivers by airplane has gone from what one hydrologist called “really-wild-eyed stuff” to a Congressionally-funded operation. This Atmospheric River Reconnaissance program, which wrapped up its latest season in March, monitors these increasingly powerful storms as they shoot across the Pacific Ocean and delivers real-time data to National Weather Service forecasters. Knowing when, where and how hard atmospheric rivers will hit is vital to ensuring water supplies and avoiding floods.
“California can swing from 20 inches to 60 inches of rainfall per year,” says Atmospheric River Reconnaissance lead Marty Ralph, a research meteorologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. “We’re very different from the rest of the country — that’s why we need a special program.”
Click here to continue reading this story.
STATE WATER BOARD: Urban water conservation numbers for February show state water use decreased by 0.5%
Also, Staff preliminary analyses show water use rises with income; most water utilities have regressive rate structures
At the April 5 State Water Board meeting, staff updated the Board on the urban water production and conservation submitted by urban retail water suppliers for February 2022. Staff also shared preliminary analyses on water consumption and income, regressive water rate structures, and water affordability.
Click here to read this article.
SCIENCE IN SHORT PODCAST: Daylighting Delta Data
Scientist Sam Bashevkin spends his time making the millions of data points collected by Delta researchers — where the fish are, how fast the water is flowing, what’s the salinity on a certain day and time on a particular river bend — more accessible and useful to the other scientists and managers. In this 14-minute Science in Short interview with the Estuary News Group’s Ashleigh Papp, Bashevkin talks about the challenges and rewards of his work in data science for the Delta Stewardship Council, and how he’s applied his skills to complex data sets on everything from endangered fish to drought. “It’s really a form of storytelling,” he says.
Click here to listen to podcast.
RISING VOICES: Envisioning Central Valley 2040
ESTUARY PEARLS: Possible futures for a Delta island; Ag and urban water use; Estimating freshwater flows; fish monitoring; and more …
Click here to read this article.
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In California water news this week …
CW3E AR Update: Atmospheric Rivers to Bring Beneficial Precipitation to Northern portions of the US West Coast
“Ongoing atmospheric river (AR) is expected to continue to bring precipitation to Northern CA through this evening with additional AR activity forecasted over Oregon and Northern CA over the next 5 days. A quick-moving shortwave trough is forecast to bring additional precipitation to Northern CA on 16 Apr. A second AR is forecasted to make landfall on 18 Apr and bring AR 1-2 conditions (based on the Ralph et al. 2019 AR Scale) to coastal Northern California and Oregon, but there is uncertainty in the timing, location, and duration of AR conditions. Compared to the 00Z ECMWF, the 00Z GFS is forecasting higher precipitation totals over the Northern California Coast Ranges and over western Washington and Oregon. The sequence of weak ARs will bring beneficial late season precipitation to regions currently experiencing severe and prolonged drought, although it likely will not end the severe drought conditions across the region.” Read the full update here: CW3E AR Update: Atmospheric Rivers to Bring Beneficial Precipitation to Northern portions of the US West Coast
Gov. Newsom’s drought order brings ag well activity to a standstill in some areas
“Valley groundwater agencies are mired in confusion and concern over Gov. Newsom’s March 28 executive drought order, which added new steps for permitting agricultural wells, according to agencies’ staff. As groundwater agency managers scramble to hash out exactly how to comply with the order, well permits in some areas are stuck in limbo leaving well drillers and small farmers without answers — or water. “We’re shut down. I have no permits that are approved right now,” said Kyle Brock, owner of KC Well Drilling in Kings County. “I can’t do anything. I have three well rigs parked.” ... ” Read more from SJV Water here: Gov. Newsom’s drought order brings ag well activity to a standstill in some areas
Controversial water pipeline takes center-stage in Kings Co. election
“The controversial Kings County water pipeline saga pitting two of the region’s largest water players has turned into a campaign issue for Kings County elections. Water giant Sandridge Partners, led by John Vidovich, began installing a sprawling water pipeline system that would be part of a larger interconnected conveyance system that will run from north of Highway 198, west of Lemoore, to the Blakeley Canal, south of Stratford. At the center of the controversy lies the Tulare Lake Canal Company, who has been entrenched in a legal battle with Sandridge Partners to prevent the pipeline from being built under the eponymous canal. Enter the Kings County Board of Supervisors and the race for District 1. … ” Read more from the San Bernadino Sun here: Controversial water pipeline takes center-stage in Kings Co. election
Ex-manager indicted in multi-million dollar water theft scheme in Fresno, Merced counties
“Dennis Falaschi, the embattled former manager of the Panoche Water District, was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday and charged with conspiracy, theft of government property, and filing false tax returns. The indictment accuses the 75-year-old Falaschi of exploiting a leak in the Delta-Mendota Canal and engineering a way to steal more than $25 million in federally owned water. The 117-mile canal provides water to irrigate land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. As general manager, Falaschi oversaw operations for the Panoche Water District, a public agency that delivers water to landowners for irrigation, municipal and industrial uses in western Merced and Fresno counties. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Ex-manager indicted in multi-million dollar water theft scheme in Fresno, Merced counties
As drought hammers Mono Lake, thirsty Los Angeles must look elsewhere for water
“With a third year of drought shrinking the creeks that cascade down the eastern Sierra Nevada, the level of Mono Lake has fallen so low it has triggered a 72% reduction in the amount of water Los Angeles can divert from area streams this year. On April 1, Mono Lake‘s level measured just under 6,380 feet above sea level — about 1 inch below a threshold set in the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s licenses for diverting alpine runoff from streams that feed the lake east of Yosemite National Park. The measurement, taken at the start of a new runoff year, triggered a requirement that the DWP reduce its annual water exports from 16,000 acre-feet, which is enough to supply 192,000 residents, to 4,500 acre-feet, enough to serve 54,000 residents. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: As drought hammers Mono Lake, thirsty Los Angeles must look elsewhere for water
Water cuts leave hard choices for farmers
“Hit with a third consecutive year of drought, farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley who grow trees, vines and row crops are making difficult decisions on what to farm and what to fallow. “We’re just in a tough situation right now. We’ve been dealt a really tough hand of cards,” said Fresno County farmer Ryan Ferguson, who farms trees and row crops in Lemoore. “We have enough water to get our trees through, but there’s going to be fewer acres planted on the ranch. We’re fallowing about 1,200 acres of row-crop ground.” Ferguson serves as board president of Westlands Water District, the state’s largest agricultural water district. He is a contractor of the federal Central Valley Project. This is the second year that the district received a zero water allocation due to drought. In 2020, the allocation was 20%. … ” Read more from Ag Alert here: Water cuts leave hard choices for farmers
‘More significant land fallowing’ expected this year with ongoing drought
“With drought conditions rivaling those experienced in 2015, there are expectations for further agricultural land fallowing this year. As of April 13, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) shows the statewide snowpack at just 23 percent of average. DWR Director Karla Nemeth noted that California’s current water situation has created some difficult circumstances for both rural and urban areas. Water allocations have been drastically curtailed with more action expected in the coming months to affect urban water users as well. … ” Read more from Ag Net West here: ‘More significant land fallowing’ expected this year with ongoing drought
A farmer’s quest to beat California’s waves of drought and deluge
“In the fields at Terranova Ranch, it was as if a disaster had arrived. Don Cameron, clad in dark green waders, sloshed through the pond that had formed in his orchards and vineyards. More of his crops were underwater than at any time since he began farming in California’s San Joaquin Valley—a quarter of the almonds, a third of the grapes, half the pistachios, and all of the walnuts and olives. Most of his neighbors would have been racing to pump out their fields; accepted agricultural wisdom holds that too much water will suffocate the roots. About an hour’s drive southeast, farmers were so desperate to hold the flood back that they dropped sandbags from rented helicopters. At Terranova, Cameron took an entirely different tack. He measured the depth of the drink and inspected the new growth on his vines and trees. Then he ordered more water to come. … ” Read more from Wired Magazine here: A farmer’s quest to beat California’s waves of drought and deluge
Challenges of forecasting water supply in a hotter climate
“On April 8, DWR published the Bulletin 120 and Water Supply Index (WSI) forecast update. The Bulletin 120 is a key tool for water managers across the state to understand how the melting Sierra Nevada snowpack will reach streams, rivers and eventually California reservoirs. The forecast also has important legal impacts for water rights holders across the state, especially during this third year of drought. The 2021-22 water year has seen climate-driven extremes far outside the historical norm, upending patterns used for decades to forecast California’s water supply. Predicting how much snowmelt will reach California’s reservoirs and be available for our communities, farms and the environment is becoming more challenging every year as previous assumptions about our climate no longer apply. DWR has been closely following climate research for decades that has warned of warming temperatures and increasing extremes and has understood these dramatic changes would be possible. During the third major drought so far this century, we have seen these changes become reality and prove the need to adapt quickly. ... ” Read more from DWR News here: Challenges of forecasting water supply in a hotter climate
RELATED: BULLETIN 120 and Water Supply Index Forecast – April 1, 2022
PPIC policy brief: Drought and California’s agriculture
“California’s agricultural sector—the nation’s largest—generates more than $50 billion dollars in annual revenue and employs more than 420,000 people. The ongoing drought is reducing water availability and increasing crop water demands, taking a toll on agriculture and related sectors. Economic impacts of the drought in 2021 were modest statewide, but more costly in the Sacramento and North Coast regions. Dry conditions will persist in 2022, increasing impacts. Addressing the negative impacts of pumping, accelerating water demand management, and improving storage would increase agriculture’s resilience.” Read the full policy brief from the PPIC here: PPIC policy brief: Drought and California’s agriculture
Few strong landfalling atmospheric rivers reach California
“Few landfalling atmospheric rivers in the current water year have reached California, now in the third year of a statewide drought. The latest update from the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, shows that Water Year 2022 started strong in October, but weaker storms did not ease dry conditions. The CW3E report, Distribution of Landfalling Atmospheric Rivers over the U.S. West Coast During Water Year 2022: Summary Through March, was published April 7. “While Water Year 2022 began with an exceptional AR over California in October, the state only experienced strong or greater magnitude AR conditions FIVE times, resulting in three straight water years of below normal activity,” according the report. … ” Read more from the Water News Network here: Few strong landfalling atmospheric rivers reach California
Innovative urban water strategies offer vast opportunity for California drought relief and longer-term water resilience
“Throughout California, innovative urban water strategies—water efficiency, water reuse, and stormwater capture—are already finding success in many communities. These cost-effective and technologically feasible strategies reduce urban water use (currently 6.6 million acre-feet per year), while boosting local water supplies. As a result, they can help narrow the gap between how much water urban California now uses and how much water is available. Combined, they provide an opportunity for shorter-term drought relief and long-term water resilience. … ” Read more from the Pacific Institute here: Innovative urban water strategies offer vast opportunity for California drought relief and longer-term water resilience
Winnemem Wintu uses legal brief to argue for more just and equitable water stewardship
“State-sponsored violence and discriminatory laws have caused California Indian tribes and other minorities to be excluded from the state’s water rights system in ways that contribute to their ongoing harm, argues a legal brief filed this month on behalf of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and others. Because this system has allowed a powerful few to lay claim to California’s waters, they say a state appeals court must consider how an important water rights case currently under appeal could worsen the environmental injustices they’re experiencing and cripple the state’s ability to sustainably care for its waters during severe drought. … ” Read more from the Shasta Scout here: Winnemem Wintu uses legal brief to argue for more just and equitable water stewardship
Pumped storage is having a moment. Will it shift renewables?
“A massive clean energy project that doesn’t rely on wind or solar could help solve some of California’s electricity challenges — if it can get built. Nine years after first proposing the San Vicente Energy Storage Facility, the city of San Diego and the San Diego County Water Authority announced in January that they were in talks with a private developer to advance the hydroelectric pumped storage project, which would be constructed northeast of the city. The development is an example of what the hydropower industry hopes will be a tipping point for one of the oldest sources of renewable energy, even as some analysts and environmentalists remain skeptical of whether the challenges for water power can be overcome. … ” Read more from E&E News here: Pumped storage is having a moment. Will it shift renewables?
Study maps financial risks for Calif.’s water resilience planning
“A new study warns that the benefits of California’s Water Resilience Portfolio Initiative might not be evenly distributed without proper structure to the agreements. Partnerships between water utilities, irrigation districts and other stakeholders in California will play a critical role in funding new infrastructure under the Water Resilience Portfolio Initiative announced in 2020 by the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom. California’s initiative is a multi-billion dollar effort to encourage different water utilities and irrigation districts to work together to build shared infrastructure to ameliorate the effects of droughts, but a number of questions remain regarding how best to structure these agreements. … ” Read more from Water World here: Study maps financial risks for Calif.’s water resilience planning
Can hunting survive in California? And if it can’t, who’s going to pay to conserve the state’s wildlife and habitat?
“The list of obstacles looming before Golden State hunters reads like a doomsday letter: Megafires close millions of acres of forest during deer season and consume precious quail habitat; urban sprawl eats up increasingly large sections of wild land; drought turns reservoirs to puddles and puddles to cracked earth; duck populations struggle and deer numbers plummet; predator populations expand; ammunition becomes harder to find and much more complicated to purchase; and the possibility of a ballot initiative banning hunting lingers in a state with 63 percent fewer hunters than it had 50 years ago. Ask any hunter in California if hunting in the state could ever cease to exist, and you’ll hear answers ranging from “Yes, absolutely” to “Not a chance.” … ” Read the full article at Outdoor Life here: Can hunting survive in California? And if it can’t, who’s going to pay to conserve the state’s wildlife and habitat?
In commentary this week …
Running on empty: Is California doing enough on drought?
Tracy Quinn, Director, California Urban Water Policy, Healthy People & Thriving Communities Program, writes, “California’s “wet season” officially ended with a whimper on April 1st, the last snow survey of the season showed our snowpack was only 38% of average for this time of year. That means we are heading into what is likely to be another hot, dry summer with near record low water storage in California’s largest reservoirs and not much help in snow reserves to carry us through until it rains or snows again. Thanks to efforts to improve water efficiency in urban communities, we’re in a better place than we would have been without actions to use water more wisely in our homes, landscapes, and some businesses. … ” Read more from the NRDC here: Running on empty: Is California doing enough on drought?
Drought in California is intensifying. It’s time to rise to the challenge.
Ann Hayden, Associate Vice President, Climate Resilient Water Systems with the Environmental Defense Fund, writes, “Record-setting high temperatures in the 90s — in April. The driest first three months of the year in California history. Another drought executive order from the governor calling for more water conservation and requiring protection of existing groundwater wells. These are all signs that the drought is continuing to rear its ugly head in our Golden State and indeed much of the West. On top of that, the recently released climate report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that if we don’t get serious about making “immediate and deep” cuts in emissions everywhere, the impacts — including droughts — will become even more severe. But that report also offered hope, noting we still have the tools and sufficient capital and liquidity to limit warming and its impacts. … ” Continue reading at EDF’s Growing Return here: Drought in California is intensifying. It’s time to rise to the challenge.
The good news in California’s growing water crisis
Peter H. Gleick, Heather Cooley and Amanda Bielawski from the Pacific Institute write, “Severe drought. Dying fish. Fallowed farmland. Disappearing groundwater. Failing wells. Communities without safe drinking water. Even longtime observers of California’s water challenges are increasingly distressed by the problems that are piling up. Despite a promising start to our water year with last December’s storms, drought has come roaring back, a drought that we now know is being intensified by human-caused climate change. The first three months of 2022 have been the driest in the state’s recorded history, and the winter snowpack is vanishing fast. The state’s major reservoirs have nowhere near enough stored water, and deliveries of water to many farms, cities and industries this year will be deeply curtailed. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Examiner here: The good news in California’s growing water crisis
Why give away fish flows for free during a drought?
Jay Lund, Ellen Hanak, Barton “Buzz” Thompson, Brian Gray, Jeffrey Mount and Katrina Jessoe write, “With California in a major drought, state and federal regulators will be under pressure to loosen environmental flow standards that protect native fish. This happened in the 1976-77 and 1987-92 droughts, and today’s drought could become much worse. These standards demonstrate the high value society places on the survival of native fish and wildlife. In past droughts, we have given away some of these protections because of pressure to make more water available for other uses. But this time, California can do better. We can create a special water market that better meets the state’s goals of both ensuring a reliable water supply and protecting the environment. In this market, growers and cities would pay for the additional water made available from relaxed environmental standards, and the revenues would help support fish and wildlife recovery. ... ” Read more from the California Water Blog here: Why give away fish flows for free during a drought?
Newsom’s drought order poses a big question on water well permits for Valley farmers
Don Wright with Water Wrights writes, “California’s Governor Gavin Newsom released Executive Order N-7-22 on March 28, 2022 in response to the state’s ongoing drought conditions. It is effective immediately and covers the entire state. The entire order could perhaps be viewed as part five of his four previous drought related executive orders from 2021. The order is formatted like a proclamation, it has two pages of “whereas” explaining the Governor’s thoughts on why the order is needed. He blames everything on climate change and doesn’t mention any other causes such as the possibility of government mismanagement of storage and supplies. However, in whereas number five he does mention farms alongside vulnerable communities and fish and wildlife, so at least agriculture wasn’t ignored. … ” Read more from the San Joaquin Valley Sun here: Newsom’s drought order poses a big question on water well permits for Valley farmers
Honey the VAs shrunk the Delta flows
Doug Obegi writes, “Since the State Water Resources Control Board began its public process to update the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan in 2008, the amount of water proposed for the Bay-Delta environment has continuously shrunk due to political pressure from those who profit from the destruction of the Delta. While the proponents of the voluntary agreements have not provided any modeling of the latest proposal, preliminary analysis shows that the 2022 proposed voluntary agreement would provide an annual average of less than 500,000 acre feet of additional winter-spring outflow compared to the rules in place from 2009 to 2019 (before the Trump Administration gutted environmental protections in the Bay-Delta). That’s less than half of the 1.3 million acre feet of additional outflow included in the State’s 2017 proposed voluntary agreement, and it appears to be about one quarter of the water for the environment that the State Water Resources Control Board has identified in its proposals for and adopted amendments to the Bay-Delta Plan. … ” Read more from the NRDC here: Honey the VAs shrunk the Delta flows
How can science help the Voluntary Agreements succeed?
Paul S. Weiland writes, “This past week a number of federal, state, and local agencies took a significant first step toward negotiation of Voluntary Agreements (VAs) that could be the basis for implementing updated water quality objectives for California’s Bay-Delta. This is a notable milestone but much work remains. The participating agencies must agree upon the details of the VAs, and ultimately, the State Water Resources Control Board must consider whether to adopt the VAs as the means to implement the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan. … The work ahead should be informed by scientific information but, more importantly, by societal values as Sheila Jasanoff explains in Technologies of humility. She observes, “Researchers and policy-makers need ways for accommodating the partiality of scientific knowledge and for acting under the inevitable uncertainty it holds.” … ” Read the full post at Delta Currents here: How can science help the Voluntary Agreements succeed?
The Delta regime shift hypothesis and the Voluntary Agreement framework
Deirdre Des Jardins writes, “In response to the decline of pelagic fish populations in the early 2000s, the Interagency Ecological Program formed an interagency team to find the causes. In 2010, the team published a comprehensive synthesis of the 47 studies in the report, 2010 Pelagic Organism Decline Work Plan and Synthesis of Results (Baxter et al. 2010.) … If there has been a regime shift of the Delta ecosystem, it will take significant, sustained changes in the drivers to shift the ecosystem out of the new regime. However, the proposed Voluntary Agreement framework appears to preclude any experiments that would cost a large amount of water. … ” Continue reading from the California Water Research blog here: The Delta regime shift hypothesis and the Voluntary Agreement framework
Food prices are rising, and so are burdens for farms
Vincent “Zippy” Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, writes, “We are all feeling the pressures these days of rising costs, from the grocery store to the fuel pump. Most Americans are already making adjustments here and there. Some might drive less, take a family vacation closer to home, or cook a few more meals rather than dining out. But finding small ways to save can only go so far when your very livelihood depends on goods that keep getting more expensive, sometimes skyrocketing in price. When you need to plant crops, tend to them and care for animals to keep the farm running, you have to find a way to make it work. Many American farmers are hoping to at least hold on until relief in the supply chain comes. As a beef and poultry farmer, I am a price taker—and that’s the same story for farmers of all commodities across the country. … ” Continue reading at Ag Alert here: Commentary: Food prices are rising, and so are burdens for farms
Column: Desalination plant intakes/outflows impact sealife
, writes, “… Many communities need to be in implementation phase like… now! Santa Barbara is not alone. Coastal communities all along the coast -everywhere this prolonged drought is drying out the land –are considering or already implementing the desal solution. How big of a solution is this? Based upon my reading (one reference is, “Proposed Seawater Desalination Facilities in California” by Heather Cooley and Krinstina Donnelly of Pacific Institute in Oakland), if every single one of the proposed plants were built and operational, they may (no guarantees) be able to produce as much as 10% of our urban freshwater demand in California. Is a 10 percent solution worth the cost, disruption of the seafloor and potential loss of marine life? … ” Read more from Noozhawk here: Column: Desalination plant intakes/outflows impact sealife
Drought, overpopulation and the magical thinking enabling it all
Columnist Randy Alcorn writes, “Magical thinking is the willingness to accept as true things for which there is no valid evidence, and continuing to do so even in the face of conflicting or contradictory realities. Mankind has engaged in magical thinking since the dawn of human consciousness to conveniently explain life’s mysteries and provide comfort and conjure protection against harsh existential realities. Magical thinking allows unlimited possibilities for fantasy and self-delusion — as is evident in the politics of climate change and population. California, along with most of the Southwest, is being ravaged by climate change — notably, persistent droughts and massive wildfires. Climate change has made drought more the norm than the exception. … ” Continue reading at Noozhawk here: Drought, overpopulation and the magical thinking enabling it all
In regional water news this week …
Story map: Wetlands, Waterbirds, and Water: A visual journey through a century of change
“Centuries ago the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin tribes lived along the lakes, rivers, and rich wetlands of the Upper Klamath Basin. They lived off what the land provided. The Williamson, Sprague, and Lost Rivers brought tens of thousands of C’waam and Koptu (Lost River and shortnose sucker fish) to Upper Klamath Lake. Millions of waterbirds filled the sky, lakes, and wetlands. Deer, antelope, and jackrabbits roamed the land. Thick patches of tules and wokas filled the marshes. It was a land of plenty for hunting, fishing, and gathering. Water was abundant. Life was good. … ” View story map here: Wetlands, Waterbirds, and Water: A visual journey through a century of change
Farmers, tribes in Klamath Basin get the grim news on this year’s water restrictions
“Farms that rely on irrigation from a depleted, federally managed lake on the California-Oregon border, along with a Native American tribe fighting to protect fragile salmon, will both receive extremely limited amounts of water this summer as a historic drought and record-low reservoir levels drag on in the U.S. West. More than 1,000 farmers and ranchers who draw water from the Klamath River that flows from the Upper Klamath Lake to the Pacific Ocean will have access to roughly one-seventh the amount they could get in a wetter year, a federal agency announced Monday. Downstream salmon will receive about half the water they’d get if the reservoir was full. ... ” Read more from OPB here: Farmers, tribes in Klamath Basin get the grim news on this year’s water restrictions
Reclamation initiating Klamath River flushing flow to promote salmon health
“The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation plans to increase water flows below Iron Gate Dam to reduce the risk of disease for salmon in the Klamath River. Beginning Friday, flows below Iron Gate Dam will increase from approximately 1,325 cubic feet per second up to 4,500 cfs. Increased releases out of Upper Klamath Lake through the Link River Dam will occur simultaneously. The highest releases, of up to approximately 4,500 cfs, will be reduced to about 3,200 cfs Saturday. A high peak of 4,200 cfs will occur Sunday. … ” Read more from the Herald & News here: Reclamation initiating Klamath River flushing flow to promote salmon health
SEE ALSO: Reclamation initiates Klamath River flushing flow to promote salmon health, from the Bureau of Reclamation
‘Beginning of the end’: Potter Valley Project license expires
“It appears more changes are on the way for the state’s aging water infrastructure on the North Coast, but it could take several years for them to manifest. Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s license for the Potter Valley Project — a hydroelectric project near Ukiah that includes the Scott and Cape Horn dams, a powerhouse, and a tunnel that diverts water from the Eel River to the Russian River — expired on Thursday. Alicia Hamann, executive director of Friends of the Eel River, told The Times-Standard that the only path left for PG&E is to surrender the license and open the way for the dams to be removed. “The expiration of the license is really the first step to dam removal,” Hamann said. “I’ve been lovingly referring to it as the beginning of the end of the Potter Valley Project because license expiration does not mean license surrender or decommission or dam removal, but it’s the first step that takes us down the path for all of those processes.” … ” Read more from the Eureka Times-Standard here: ‘Beginning of the end’: Potter Valley Project license expires
State Water Board gearing up for curtailments on Russian River water diversions
“State water regulators are gearing up for another summer of reduced supplies in the Russian River watershed and may adopt a framework for water diversion curtailments as early as May 10. But unlike last year, stakeholders are working on an alternative that would allow senior water rights holders to share access with junior claimants, and they say the proposal appears to have potential for success. The state must still approve the plan, and enough participants with senior water rights would have to join in for the scheme to work, proponents said. … ” Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat here: State Water Board gearing up for curtailments on Russian River water diversions
Could Berryessa provide Napa water in a pinch?
“Napa County contains massive Lake Berryessa, the seventh-largest reservoir in California, and receives what in the water world amounts to a thimbleful from it. Almost all of Lake Berryessa’s water goes to neighboring Solano County. Only a small portion goes to Napa County and none to Napa Valley cities or its world-famous wine country vineyards. Amid a drought, it’s like being parched next to an oasis. This oasis is mostly off-limits because Napa County during the 1940s and 1950s didn’t help fund — and in fact opposed — the creation of a federal reservoir that submerged a townsite and farmland. ... ” Read more from the Napa Register here: Could Berryessa provide Napa water in a pinch?
How rising sea levels could push up a ‘toxic soup’ into Bay Area neighborhoods
“Phoenix Armenta is worried about the future of neighborhoods along the edge of San Francisco Bay. Contaminated sites litter shoreline communities like West Oakland, where Armenta works as a community organizer. As climate change pushes bay water higher, floodwaters could mix with toxic pollution and threaten people’s health. “I’m concerned that water is going to get into people’s homes,” said Armenta, regional resilience manager for the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project. “They’ll be polluted with a toxic soup.” … ” Read more from KQED here: How rising sea levels could push up a ‘toxic soup’ into bay area neighborhoods
San Luis Obispo groundwater pumped beyond sustainable levels, new report shows
“Drought conditions and overpumping have caused the San Luis Obispo Valley groundwater basin’s water levels to plummet in the past year, according to a new report. The report, released in mid-March, outlines how much water was estimated to be pumped from the basin — comprised of the San Luis and Edna Valley subarea basins — in 2021 compared to previous years. Overall, 6,280 acre-feet of water were extracted from the basin last year, above the basin’s estimated sustainable yield of 5,800 acre-feet per year, according to the report and the basin’s groundwater sustainability plan. ... ” Read more from the San Luis Obispo Tribune here: San Luis Obispo groundwater pumped beyond sustainable levels, new report shows
Californians settle lawsuits against Binational Water Commission
“On Tuesday, Californians settled three lawsuits against the International Boundary and Water Commission or the IBWC, the binational agency that treats a portion of the sewage-laden water rolling into the U.S. from Tijuana under a treaty between the two countries. At the crux of the many complaints by the city of Imperial Beach, Surfrider Foundation, and San Diego’s Regional Water Quality Control Board and others was general frustration that the IBWC, which runs an international wastewater treatment plant at the border, wasn’t doing enough to prevent and monitor Tijuana wastewater entering the Tijuana River and the valley on the U.S. side. … ” Read more from the Voice of San Diego here: Californians settle lawsuits against Binational Water Commission
Interior Department may limit Lake Powell water releases to protect infrastructure, hydropower production
“In an effort to protect the infrastructure at Lake Powell and the ability of Glen Canyon Dam to generate electricity, the U.S. Department of the Interior may keep nearly a half million acre-feet of water in the Utah reservoir instead of releasing that water to the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada this year as scheduled. … Tonya Trujillo, assistant secretary for water and science, sent a letter on Friday to all seven Colorado River Basin states outlining the need to potentially hold back the water and the challenges that exist if Lake Powell were to fall below 3,490 feet above sea level, the lowest level at which the dam can generate electricity. … ” Read more from the Colorado Sun here: Interior Department may limit Lake Powell water releases to protect infrastructure, hydropower production
Weekly features …
BLOG ROUND-UP: Honey the VAs shrunk the Delta flows; How can science help the Voluntary Agreements succeed?; Objections to TUCP without strict diversion limits and a ban on transfers; and more …
Click here to read the blog round-up.
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Announcements, notices, and funding opportunities …
BULLETIN 120: April 12, 2022
ANNOUNCEMENT: New Drought-Related Features Added to Domestic and Irrigation Well Dashboards on California’s Groundwater Live
