On the calendar today …
- WEBINAR: California-Nevada Drought & Climate Outlook Webinar from 11am to 12pm. This webinar will provide stakeholders and other interested parties in the region with timely information on current drought status and impacts, as well as a preview of current and developing climatic events . Click here to register.
In California water news today …
A pattern shift is on tap for Northern California, ushering in cooler air, rain and snow
“Cooler air is expected to move into Northern California after a mild and dry second half of November. Temperatures this weekend are expected to sit in the lower 60s before the cooler air moves in on Monday. A weak system will move in Monday, bringing along with it very little moisture. The main effects will be light mountain snow and the beginning of a stretch of below-average temperatures that will stick around through early December. … ” Read more from ABC 10 here: A pattern shift is on tap for Northern California, ushering in cooler air, rain and snow
SEE ALSO:
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- Wetter and cooler weather is on the way as storms blow into Northern California, from the Sacramento Bee
- California Off to Good Start, But Needs Consistent Rain to End Drought: NWS, from NBC Bay Area
Summer drought leaves Christmas tree tradition in danger
“Now that Thanksgiving is over, many turn to celebrate Christmas. However, Christmas trees might be in short supply this year. Getting the Christmas tree is a post-Thanksgiving tradition for many families. The Steenstrups skipped the outlet malls. Instead, they scoured Turkey Hill Farm in Haverhill for the perfect tree, and cut it down themselves. “You want symmetry,” said Isabella Steenstrup. “Just go for one that’s not weird looking.” However, the trees themselves are suffering after the hot, dry summer. There are dozens of dead trees on the farm. … ” Read more from KCRA here: Summer drought leaves Christmas tree tradition in danger
California Drought: Making water work for people, plants, and fish
“Most years for Trout, Salmon look like a ‘historically dry year’ ABC10 meteorologist Brenden Mincheff shares the latest on the drought, plus drought impacts on the keystone species of trout and salmon.”
California drought costly to growers, jobs as farmland shrinks. New study shows how much
“As California prepares for a fourth consecutive year of drought and farmland across the Golden State increasingly goes idle, growers continue to face mounting economic challenges. In a new report about the financial toll of the state’s extreme drought conditions, researchers estimated that the state’s irrigated farmland dropped by 752,000 acres, or nearly 10%, from 2019 to 2022. Fields meant to harvest rice, almonds and other crops are instead going unplanted, causing the level of fallowed land across California to surpass the prior peak seen during the state’s last drought that ran from 2012 to 2016. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: California drought costly to growers, jobs as farmland shrinks. New study shows how much
SEE ALSO: Drought-stricken California farmers lose $1.7 billion in 2022, from the Washington Examiner
Before and after: Satellite imaging shows California’s reservoir levels years apart
“A lot has changed for California’s reservoirs over the last five years. In April 2017, then-Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order that declared California’s drought state of emergency over in most counties (Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Tuolumne counties were initially excluded). But in the years since Brown lifted the order, the state’s reservoirs appear to be trending back in the same direction, approaching the same levels that led to the initial drought emergency declaration. … ” Read more from KTLA here: Before and after: Satellite imaging shows California’s reservoir levels years apart
The re-beavering of the Bay Area
“In a deep muddy creek near Silicon Valley’s busiest freeway, a large furry head pokes up. And then quickly submerges. The brief sighting, along with a growing collection of video footage, confirms something remarkable: After being hunted to extinction in the 1800s, the North American beaver is returning to the creeks of the San Francisco Bay Area. Ecosystem explorers, beavers were re-introduced to Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos about four decades ago, and made homes in upper Los Gatos Creek. Since then, they’ve expanded their range north along the edge of the Bay to the Guadalupe River, Coyote Creek, San Tomas Aquino Creek in the wetlands by Sunnyvale’s Water Pollution Control Plant – and, now, Palo Alto’s Matadero Creek. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News here: The re-beavering of the Bay Area
SEE ALSO:
- Beavers may help lessen damage from drought, from Palo Alto Online
- Bringing back the beavers, from Jefferson Public Radio
On the job: What it takes to earn $70,000 a year as a water operator in California
“The promise of job security and work-life balance drew Fernando Gonzalez to become a water operator. Now that he’s worked as one for a few years, he sees his job as much more than fining people for using too much water. On a given day, he’s patrolling neighborhoods spanning from farmland to Malibu mansions, looking for evidence that residents are wasting water. He hands out notices of leaky sprinklers or when residents run sprinklers right after a rainstorm, sure, but the most rewarding part of his job is interacting with customers about how they can save water, and why it’s so important. “We’re more of a teaching tool than we are a kind of enforcement,” Gonzalez, 43, tells CNBC Make It. ... ” Read more from CNBC here: On the job: What it takes to earn $70,000 a year as a water operator in California
Audio: Could harvesting rainwater help offset drought conditions?
“Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd met some rainwater harvesters in Tucson, Arizona to see if their methods might help the West survive a mega-drought.” Listen at KVPR (9:45): Audio: Could harvesting rainwater help offset drought conditions?
Proposed Coastal Conservancy Plan would tackle climate resiliency in CA
“The state Coastal Conservancy will vote next week on a strategic plan to guide how hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars get spent over the next five years. The future of California’s 1,100 coastline is at stake. Liliana Griego, senior coastal program manager with Audubon California, said funds should go to projects that play to the strengths of indigenous people’s knowledge and connection to the land. “We’re emphasizing equity, specifically to ensure that tribes are receiving long-term funding for co-management of various coastal habitats, with the end goal of returning ancestral lands to tribes,” Griego said. … ” Read more from the Public News Service here: Proposed Coastal Conservancy Plan would tackle climate resiliency in CA
‘Giga Fire’ project aims to map all of California’s wildfire fuels: ‘This kind of information is critical’
“Wildfire has always been a natural part of California’s ecosystem. But a historical lack of forest management combined with climate change and human activity has contributed to larger and more destructive fires in recent years. The biggest of those fires are called “giga fires,” which burn at least 1 million acres. Fire officials also recently categorized any fire larger than 100,000 acres as a “megafire.” In order to prevent the next big fire, Cal Fire is teaming up with the California Air Resources Board and a team of scientists at the University of Nevada at Reno. The goal is to optimize forest management programs through the “Giga Fire Project.” … ” Read more from KCRA here: ‘Giga Fire’ project aims to map all of California’s wildfire fuels: ‘This kind of information is critical’
In commentary today …
‘Free water’ was never free, writes a historian of the American West
Nate Housley, The West uses too much water. For such a simple problem, the obvious solution — use less — lies frustratingly out of reach. That inability to change may seem hard to understand, but the root of the problem becomes clearer if we consider the role of the West in the historical development of the United States: The purpose of our system of “free water” — heavily subsidized water for irrigation — was to provide opportunities to settlers. The frontier has served an important function in the Euro-American imagination since before there was a United States. For historians of the American West like me, the significance of the frontier has been at the center of our field for more than a century. … ” Read more from the Revelator here: ‘Free water’ was never free, writes a historian of the American West
An alternative to worrying about the tragedy of the commons
Paul H. Betancourt writes, “For over forty years environmental policy has been driven by the idea of the Tragedy of the Commons. In 1968 UC Santa Barbara professor Garret Hardin wrote a piece for Science magazine outlining his concerns about population growth. The population bomb was a huge issue at the time. Hardin used the image of the English common pastures to illustrate that is held in common can be used by individuals for personal gain. Hardin’s followers have used the idea of the Tragedy of the Commons, for decades now, as the rationale for government control of natural resources. ??? There is an alternative. Dr. Elinor Ostrum was the co-winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics for her work showing how to harness private use of natural resources for more effective management. We have learned the wrong lesson from the Tragedy of the Commons. … ” Continue reading at Water Wrights here: An alternative to worrying about the tragedy of the commons
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Trucking company to pay $71,000 penalty for three spills into Lake County waterways
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced a settlement with the owner and operator of Steve Wills Trucking and Logging LLC to resolve claims of violations of the Clean Water Act. Tanker trucks transporting milk from the Steve Wills facility near Fortuna were involved in three separate driving incidents, all of which resulted in discharges of raw milk into waterways. One of the three incidents resulted in the death of a driver. “Improper transport of goods can negatively impact waterways and compromise the safety of workers,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “When companies fail to manage substances that have the potential to impact waterways the local community, environment, and worker safety is put in danger.” … ” Read more from the Lake County News here: Trucking company to pay $71,000 penalty for three spills into Lake County waterways
Lady of the Lake: Thankful for the Blue Ribbon Committee for the rehabilitation of Clear Lake
“There is no question and answer for today’s Lady of the Lake, rather I will be providing some important information about an upcoming open house for the Blue Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake. If you live on or near Clear Lake, get your drinking water from the lake, use the lake for recreation or business, or just care about water quality and quantity issues, then you will want to know about the Blue Ribbon Committee and the projects the committee is funding, so you understand the future of water resources in Lake County. If you are just a concerned community member, or have an interest in natural resources, this committee — and the upcoming open house — will be of interest to you too. … ” Read more from the Lake County News here: Lady of the Lake: Thankful for the Blue Ribbon Committee for the rehabilitation of Clear Lake
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Tuolumne River Trust looks out for spawning salmon amid drought. How many this year?
“Seven canoes carried 11 people to see how Tuolumne River salmon are faring after three years of drought. The Tuolumne River Trust organized the Nov. 12 trip to press its point that too much water goes to farms and cities. The group paddled the two miles between the La Grange and Basso bridges, near the upstream end of the 25-mile spawning stretch. Chinook salmon come here each autumn after a few years in the Pacific Ocean to reproduce and die, one more turn of an ancient life cycle. … ” Read more from the Modesto Bee here: Tuolumne River Trust looks out for spawning salmon amid drought. How many this year?
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Column: Steelhead and cattle
Jean Barton writes, “Aquaculture is a part of agriculture, and we visited Mount Lassen Trout Farm in Manton while on the Tehama County Farm-City Bus Tour. Katie Mackey Harris, president and general manager, welcomed us as we got off the bus and walked toward a rock and dirt ditch where 4,000 gallons a minute of water rushed past, as we watched many, many large steelhead swimming in the oxygenated 55 degree Fahrenheit water because the water dropped from one “pond” to another. With the swift flowing water, it creates a more muscular, more vigorous fish. We watched as Clint Hendricks, operations manager, tossed feed into the water and the fish were more active than just swimming against the current. We were told that the fish were hand-fed each day, instead of automatically on a timer. … ” Continue reading at the Red Bluff Daily News here: Column: Steelhead and cattle
Downtown Sacramento used to have a lake in the 1800s. Here’s what happened to it
“People walking in downtown Sacramento near the train station would have once been greeted by a lake that covered several blocks of the city. Originally named Sutter Lake, a map made by a city surveyor, dated 1873, shows the body of water stretching from Front and Sixth streets, between I and G streets. The life of the lake dates back even further, however. The lake was in “pristine” condition from the early- to mid-1800s. But the railroad industry’s expansion around the 1860s devastated the lake’s condition. … ” Read more from Channel 40 here: Downtown Sacramento used to have a lake in the 1800s. Here’s what happened to it
NAPA/SONOMA
Big Napa Valley habitat restoration project to begin next year
“Vintner Ted Hall’s wish that steelhead trout could more easily go from the Napa River on the Napa Valley floor to the Bear Creek spawning grounds in the Mayacamas Mountains is getting a boost. Bale Slough is a key. This waterway running through Rutherford wine country helps link river and spawning grounds, but lacks good aquatic and riparian habitat. “If we could only get the fish from the river under Highway 29 and a little bit further, we’d really be in business,” Hall said. … ” Read more from the Napa Register here: Big Napa Valley habitat restoration project to begin next year
City of Napa celebrates 100th anniversary of water system
“This year marked the 150th since the city of Napa incorporated. It also marked another significant if less flashy milestone — of a vitally important infrastructure system that’s kept Napans hydrated all these years, and which has gained increased prominence during California’s current drought. The city’s water system has, indeed, been owned by the city for 100 years. It evolved significantly through the decades into the modern infrastructure Napans know today, a system that relies on a combination of Lake Hennessey, Milliken Reservoir and State Water Project water supplies. … ” Read more from the Napa Register here: City of Napa celebrates 100th anniversary of water system
BAY AREA
North Marin Water District warns of housing strains on system
“Managers at the North Marin Water District are cautioning that the cost of building water supply infrastructure necessary to accommodate new housing mandated by the state could make some of the housing infeasible. The warning is contained in a letter commenting on a report that evaluates the environmental impacts of building 3,569 new dwellings in Marin’s unincorporated areas from 2023 to 2031 as ordered by the state. The environmental impact report (EIR), which is scheduled for certification by county supervisors and planning commissioners in January, identifies 15 effects that are significant and unavoidable. In addition to water supply, the impacts include air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, transportation, visual character, wastewater treatment, noise and tribal resources. … ” Read more from the Marin Independent Journal here: North Marin Water District warns of housing strains on system
Is the water safe at Point Reyes beaches? Here is what we know
“Looking down at the coast from a hill above the historic L Ranch at Point Reyes National Seashore, rolling swells appear on the ocean surface like blue corduroy. The peninsula that stretches south toward the horizon is almost entirely taken up by ranchland and weathered buildings. Among them, coyotes stalk gophers on the dun hillsides, red-tailed hawks perch on fence posts and a skunk waddles along the road’s asphalt margin. Those beef and dairy ranches are the focus of a recent water quality report showing high levels of fecal bacteria downstream from the cattle, and their manure, in lagoons and beaches popular with park visitors. The report, which was commissioned by an environmental group and is disputed by the ranching industry, is the latest flareup in a decades-long debate over the ranching that occupies more than one-third of the national seashore. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: Is the water safe at Point Reyes beaches? Here is what we know
CENTRAL COAST
Slippery Rock water not filling Montecito swimming pools
“Rumors sometimes lead to news stories and sometimes not. In the case of Slippery Rock Ranch — TV mogul Dick Wolf’s property in the Goleta foothills — the gossip was that Montecito residents were filling their swimming pools with water from the ranch’s aquifers. While a publicist with the ranch stated last week that Slippery Rock was not selling water or filling Montecito swimming pools, the Goleta Water District confirmed that they quietly settled a long-simmering water dispute with the Law & Order creator in the sum of $10 million. In Santa Barbara Superior Court, Slippery Rock Ranch and the Goleta Water District had disputed since 2015 over possession of the rainwater sluicing off and infiltrating down under the ranch. The Water District pointed out that the ranch — 740 acres above the border of Los Padres National Forest — was in a watershed that contributed to the district’s Goleta Groundwater Basin. The ranch countered that its borders were entirely outside the district’s boundaries and had historically sold its water, albeit to a neighboring ranch. … ” Read more from the Santa Barbara Independent here: Slippery Rock water not filling Montecito swimming pools
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
USDA’s agricultural census is live. What Central Valley farmers should know in California
“The time has come for Central Valley farmers to complete the federal government’s Census of Agriculture — a count that could reveal important insights into the impact of California’s drought on the industry. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the 2022 ag census, a count of the nation’s farm operations that takes place every five years by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. “This is a chance for farmers to show the importance of what they do,” Gary Keough, Pacific region director and California state statistician with the USDA, said in an interview with The Bee/Fresnoland. … ” Read more from the Fresno Bee here: USDA’s agricultural census is live. What Central Valley farmers should know in California
Grants help keep Keyes water safe to drink
“Ernie Garza feels like the community of Keyes has won the lottery. Garza, the general manager of the Keyes Community Services District, heralded the fact that the district received two major grants totaling $30.4 million to ensure safe drinking water within the community. “The way I look at it, the members of our community hit the lottery, not once, but twice,” said Garza, who’s been the Keyes CSD general manager since 2013. “First for $20 million and now for $10.4 million. To me, that’s a pretty good deal.” Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Biden last year, the district received $10.4 million for the construction of a Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) filtration project that will ensure that the community’s drinking water remains safe. … ” Read more from the Turlock Journal here: Grants help keep Keyes water safe to drink
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Historic mining town plagued by arsenic gets federal funds for cleanup effort
“To many of the 100 or so full-time residents of Red Mountain, a historic mining town on the northwestern tip of San Bernardino County’s desert, John Hall is unofficially known as mayor. Hall, 75, isn’t quite sure why. Maybe it’s because he’s lasted more than 30 years in this hard-scrap place, where locals truck in water to avoid the arsenic that decades of mining left in the ground and their tap water. Maybe it’s because his 96-year-old home was built for the superintendent of Kelly Silver Mine, with views from his front porch of the toppled steel tower that once capped the nation’s most productive silver mine. ... ” Read more from the Whittier Daily News here: Historic mining town plagued by arsenic gets federal funds for cleanup effort
SAN DIEGO
Audubon Society to restore Oceanside lagoon wetlands
“The Buena Vista Audubon Society has taken the first steps to restore native plants and expand the wetlands on property it owns along the Buena Vista Lagoon near the society’s nature center on South Coast Highway in Oceanside. “We hired a restoration ecologist … and produced a draft conceptual plan,” said Natalie Shapiro, the society’s executive director, at a recent meeting of the Buena Vista Lagoon Joint Powers Committee. Details of the proposed wetlands reserve restoration project will be explained at an open house from 5:15 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Nature Center, 2202 S. Coast Highway in Oceanside. … ” Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune here: Audubon Society to restore Oceanside lagoon wetlands
Mayor Serge Dedina, a leading voice for the South Bay, returns to his environmental activism
“Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina did not mince words in 2017 after yet another spill from Tijuana’s broken wastewater system contaminated local beaches. He also did not waste time. Dedina pushed for answers from U.S. and Mexico officials, and got none that were satisfying. So he sued the federal government in 2018 and was later joined in the lawsuit by Chula Vista and the Port of San Diego. “We didn’t have anything to lose,” Dedina said. “We’ve lost our beach. The best days we spend of our lives are on the beach and it’s free … and that’s been taken away from us — 12 miles of coastline in San Diego — and that’s unacceptable.” … ” Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune here: Mayor Serge Dedina, a leading voice for the South Bay, returns to his environmental activism
Along the Colorado River …
Colorado River users, facing historic uncertainty, are set to meet in Las Vegas next month
“As Colorado River water users prepare to meet in Las Vegas next month, the reality they face is one of growing uncertainty with few simple options left on the negotiating table. The math is well understood: There are more demands for the river than there is water coming into its reservoirs. But cutting back at the scale necessary — and on a voluntary basis — has proven painstakingly difficult this year as top officials from across the Colorado River watershed have failed to reach a settlement. If the cuts are inevitable based on physical realities, questions remain about what form they will take. Will they be voluntary? Mandatory? Both? And how would they be enforced? … ” Read more from the Nevada Independent here: Colorado River users, facing historic uncertainty, are set to meet in Las Vegas next month
One crop uses more than half of Utah’s water. Here’s why.
“When the water is running through the ditches connecting her fields to Virgin River tributaries, Dusty Reese and her family don’t get a lot of sleep. Lacking a pressurized irrigation system, the Kane County ranchers roam the alfalfa fields guiding where the water goes to ensure the fields are flood irrigated as efficiently as possible. The process can go well into the night. … It’s a place of bucolic beauty where artist Maynard Dixon lived in the 1940s creating his famous landscape paintings at a rustic retreat he built not far from where the Reeses now work the soil. Small farms line the valley bottom, looking much the way it looked during Dixon’s time. But these days, growers have an increasingly complicated relationship with the liquid asset so vital to their survival. As Utah’s climate changes, less water is available, while municipal and industrial demands keep growing and lakes shrivel into puddles. “The key question is how do we save the Great Salt Lake and all the darts and arrows point back to agriculture,” one Farm Bureau official said at a recent public meeting. … ” Read more from the Salt Lake Tribune here: One crop uses more than half of Utah’s water. Here’s why.
Here’s a look at the future of water in Arizona
“The landscape at Lake Mead in Arizona looks apocalyptic. Drastically lowered water levels that have left a “bathtub ring” around the perimeter and uncovered junk that was thrown into the reservoir decades ago have changed the ecosystem and impacted the tourism industry. Does that illustrate the future of water in Arizona? Will the Valley of the Sun face the same fate? Climate change has produced a megadrought that has reduced water in the Colorado River, which was already overallocated to the seven states in its basin. Cuts in the water allotments were imposed in 2022, and this summer, the federal government increased those cuts. Arizona will lose about one-fifth of its share. ... ” Read more from Arizona Big Media here: Here’s a look at the future of water in Arizona
In national water news today …
Water as part of the climate solution
“The intersection of freshwater and climate is a frequently ignored but critical element of the climate problem, according to a new study from Sweden that explores the link and offers solutions that will help lower emissions. Two years in the making, the study, “The Essential Drop to Reach Net-Zero: Unpacking Freshwater’s Role in Climate Change Mitigation,” published by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, identifies forests and freshwater wetlands as a crucial depository of carbon. More than 30 percent of estimated global carbon emissions are sequestered in wetlands. So the need to protect and restore them is urgent. “The global water supply is the bloodstream of the Earth and the foundation of any successful mitigation action, since Earth’s climate system and water cycle are deeply intertwined,” said Malin Lundberg Ingemarsson, program manager at the Stockholm International Water Institute and the study’s lead author. “Ours is the first-ever summary of current research on the role of water in climate mitigation.” … ” Read more from Inside Climate News here: Water as part of the climate solution
More news and commentary in the weekend edition …
In California water news this weekend …
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Autumn waterfall in the Eastern Sierra by Jay Huang As California droughts intensify, ecosystems and rural communities will bear the brunt
- Long-serving, controversial manager of Westlands Water District resigns
- Water recycling technologies developed for space are helping a parched American west
- The EPA, CWA and invasive organisms
- Cheap, sensor-based agriculture could slash water use by up to 70%
- Climate change and drought could drive more indoor farming
- Stakeholder engagement guide for Nature-Based Solutions
- Climate change is increasing the frequency and temperature of extreme heat waves
- They’re knee deep in the climate trenches. Here’s what gives them hope
- Caldor Fire: Congress demands answers
- November snow storms provide earliest South Tahoe ski resort opening in years
- Saving water in L.A., one leaky toilet at a time
Click here to read today’s Daily Digest.
