A collection of top water news from around California and the West compiled each weekday. Send any comments or article submissions to Foundation News & Publications Director Chris Bowman.
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Strategies to replenish groundwater basins—long used in some
areas of the San Joaquin Valley—have increasingly come into
focus as the region seeks to bring its overdrafted groundwater
basins into balance under the Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act (SGMA). In late 2023, following a very wet
winter and spring, we conducted a repeat survey of local water
agencies about their recharge activities and perspectives,
building on a similar survey at the end of 2017, a year with
similar levels of precipitation. We found signs of progress on
recharge since 2017, as well as areas where more work is needed
to take full advantage of this important water management tool.
… California and the life cycle of salmon have been linked
for centuries, beginning when only indigenous people lived in
the state. California’s rivers and streams benefit from the
nutrients salmon bring with them from the ocean. Salmon create
jobs. Salmon are our shared living heritage. … [S]almon are
on the brink despite California having some of the strictest
environmental laws on the planet. The government’s ability to
regulate this species to safety is dubious at best. Consider
that the state’s primary plan to protect the Delta by balancing
the uses of water has not been updated by the State Water
Resources Control Board since Bill Clinton was in office. It’s
a telling example of water’s political and regulatory
paralysis. There is no shared sense of responsibility to save
the salmon because we have devised such self-centered
regulatory systems. -Written by Tom Philp, reporter with the Sacramento
Bee.
… [I]n California, a two-year-old investigation by
Attorney General Rob Bonta into the plastics industry and its
claims about recycling shows signs of concluding, potentially
resulting in a case pitting the largest state in the nation
against one of the largest plastic makers in the world,
ExxonMobil, and powerful industry trade associations such as
the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the Plastics Industry
Association (PIA).
Solano County has announced next steps for the controversial
California Forever development. The proposal, backed by
tech and finance billionaires, would build a new city of up to
400,000 people between Fairfield and Rio Vista. Officials
will announce by June 12 whether the project gained enough
signatures to qualify for the November ballot. Bill Emlen,
Solano County Administrator, said there’s not a lot of
information yet about how this new city could impact roadways
and water supplies.
Today, Senator Durazo amended Senate Bill 1255, which will
provide an avenue for universal water affordability rate
assistance for public water systems with more than 3,300
connections. As water rates continue to rise three times faster
than inflation, a water affordability program is necessary for
low-income families statewide.
A series of living levees — earthen embankments — along the San
Dieguito River could help protect affordable housing at the
fairgrounds and homes in Del Mar’s North Beach. As part of its
sea rise planning, Del Mar has completed a preliminary
conceptual plan for three living levees; structures that
slope gently to combine flood protection with habitat
restoration. … The levees will reduce, but not eliminate
flood risk.
Utah state officials reversed course this week on a key water
permit for a major lithium extraction project in the state,
agreeing with conservation advocates who asked for further
review of the project. In a decision issued Tuesday, Utah State
Engineer Teresa Wilhelmsen said her office would suspend its
earlier approval of nearly 4.6 billion gallons of water to be
used by a mining company as part of a “direct lithium
extraction project” near the Green River. The office will
continue consideration of the proposal. Wilhelmsen’s ruling
came at the behest of conservation advocates who had raised
concerns about the location of the proposed wells — which would
draw water from an aquifer system 10,000 feet below the surface
— including the proximity to waste left by a former uranium
mining facility.
Making wine requires water. But how much? Water is a precious
resource in drought-prone California, and its use in
agriculture is rightfully a contentious topic. … While a wine
glut is compelling some grape growers to remove their
vineyards, some readers are suggesting that this might be a
good thing from a water use perspective. So I wanted to
understand: Just how big of a water suck are California
grapevines, really? The TLDR here is that California wine
grapes don’t gulp nearly as much water as crops like almonds,
pistachios and alfalfa. But the real story here is much more
complex …
An accidental release of crude oil into Bakersfield’s municipal
water system has temporarily shut down businesses and prompted
an advisory for about 40 commercial customers to avoid tap
water in the area south of Lake Truxtun. Signs of a possible
problem first appeared Monday afternoon, when pipes in the area
started shaking and spurting water from faucets.
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) issued a
comical warning on Wednesday about a “two-faced creature” known
as the nutria, a rodent said to look like a cross between a rat
and a beaver. The nutria—recognizable by its vibrant orange
teeth—is native to South America and was introduced to the
United States in the 1800s as part of the fur trade. However,
once the trade plummeted, nutrias began to wreak havoc on U.S.
coastal environments they populated and have posed a problem
ever since. Maryland spent millions working to eradicate the
species, and other states are considering following
suit. However, the species isn’t just an East Coast
problem. The DWR issued the warning in the form of an
educational poster for California Invasive Species Action Week
depicting two nutrias. One looks sweet and cuddly and sports a
halo with the words “I am so cute” nearby. The other has red
eyes and the characteristic vibrant orange teeth with the words
“But I am a monster.”
Stormwater in L.A. and Orange Counties is captured via
spreading grounds, or large open areas of gravel and sand that
allow pools of water to form and percolate deep into
underground reservoirs. Since we’ve largely run out of room for
spreading grounds, other solutions are being explored. Slow it
down: Before we paved over our cities, water used to percolate
through soil across the region. Water agencies use dams to
capture and slowly release water over time to utilize spreading
grounds even during hot months. Use our yards: The majority of
L.A. is private property, meaning there’s a big opportunity for
owners to implement water features like swales, which can
capture water and allow it to sink into the soil, rather than
run out into the street.
California is one step closer to building its largest water
storage facility in nearly 50 years, after a court ruled in
favor of the Sites Reservoir project following a challenge by
environmental groups. The Yolo County Superior Court issued the
65 page ruling late last week, marking a possible end to the
project’s environmental litigation. The relatively quick ruling
stands in contrast to a typical, multi-year litigation period
under the Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Gov. Gavin Newsom
accelerated the project’s CEQA litigation period in November
under an infrastructure streamlining package passed the
previous summer. He celebrated the court’s ruling in a news
release Tuesday. … The proposed $4.5 billion reservoir would
inundate nearly 14,000 acres of ranch lands in Glenn and Colusa
counties to store water diverted from the Sacramento River
through new a system of dams, pipelines and a bridge.
U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman co-sent a letter to federal
administrators on Tuesday calling for disaster relief funding
to be allocated quicker for the state’s salmon fishery closure
in 2023. A year later and no disaster funds have been
distributed, and fishermen face another closed season.
… Historically, federal disaster aid for fishing
disasters has taken years to reach the pockets of fishermen.
The season was closed this year, the fourth in California’s
history, for largely the same conditions in 2023: low salmon
counts. In press releases, the Golden State Salmon Association
cited the failure of water management to keep fish eggs in 2021
and 2020 cool, while the California Department of Fish and
Wildlife pointed to the multi-year drought conditions the now
adult fish were reared under.
There is a critical need to improve and expand precipitation
forecasting in the Western United States. Access to reliable
forecasts at timeframes longer than seven days is long overdue,
especially in the West, where conditions can rapidly swing
between extreme droughts and floods. Advancing and
updating our precipitation forecasts is beyond necessary for
our decision-makers, water agencies, agricultural producers,
energy suppliers, tribes and others, so they can take accurate
and necessary mitigation actions and put contingency plans in
place to protect our cities and our local communities. The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is
responsible for weather forecasts, provided through the
National Weather Service (NWS) and weather and climate research
produced by the Office of Atmospheric Research. Together, these
agencies support the National Weather Service’s goal of having
a “weather-ready nation,” preparing communities for extreme
weather, water, and climate events. -Written by Rep. Grace Napolitano, who
serves as the representative for California’s
31st District.
The giant sequoia is so enormous that it was once believed to
be indestructible. High in California’s southern Sierra Nevada
mountains, the oldest trees – known as monarchs – have stood
for more than 2,000 years. Today, however, in Sequoia national
park, huge trunks lie sprawled on the forest floor, like blue
whale carcasses stranded on a beach. Many of these trees were
felled by a combination of drought and fire. But among the
factors responsible for the rising toll is a tiny new suspect:
the bark beetle. Along with wildfires and rising
temperatures, scientists fear that the insects could contribute
to the breakdown of Earth’s northern conifer forests, including
the potential dieback of the taiga, the vast ecosystem that
stretches across Canada, Scandinavia, Siberia and Alaska.
An Oregon State University study is showing the economic impact
that water shortages have had on farms and ranches in the upper
Klamath basin. The study was partially funded by Klamath
County. It found that crops and livestock grown and raise
din the area are worth about $368 million annually. It also
generates more than $176 million in income for more than 3,000
employees. The study found that about $12 million in
labor income and 210 jobs have been lost with the decline in
livestock production because of water restrictions. It also
found that more than $12 million in labor income and 120 jobs
are presently at risk because of the maximum amount of water
the Bureau of Reclamation allows farmers to use.
The Turlock Irrigation District (TID) Board of Directors has
appointed Brad Koehn as General Manager, effective June 21,
2024. Koehn will replace Michelle Reimers who announced her
resignation on May 31, 2024, after an 18-year career with the
District. Koehn has been with TID for 13 years and has held
various leadership roles at the District, most recently serving
as the Chief Operating Officer since 2020. … Koehn
is a licensed professional engineer and land surveyor in the
State of California, and joined the District in 2011 as the
Civil Engineering Department Manager. In 2018, he was appointed
to Assistant General Manager of the Power Supply
Administration. Prior to working at TID, Koehn spent 16 years
in private practice engineering, most recently co-owning a
local civil engineering firm.
On a recent morning, visitors wandered around Mexico City’s
Metropolitan Cathedral, Latin America’s oldest — and one of its
largest. Walking from chamber to chamber, tourists snapped
images of dramatic ceiling-high altars, soaring columns and
sculptures. But there’s another unintended detail that stands
out: the cathedral is leaning. … This sinking, which is known
as land subsidence, crops up across the world. While it can be
subtle in many places — it pushes land down around an inch
or two a year in much of the U.S. — the rates in
Mexico City are some of the highest in the world. Some
areas in Mexico City are slipping as fast as 20 inches a year
in recent decades, according to researchers. Overall, the
clay layers under the soil have compressed by 17 percent in the
last century.
Cover crops are planted to protect and improve the soil between
annual crops such as tomatoes or between rows of tree and vine
crops, but growers may be concerned about the water use of
these plants that don’t generate income. “Cover crops are one
of the most popular practices we see farmers employ through
our Healthy Soils Program,” said Karen Ross, secretary of
the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
… These potential benefits are especially salient in the
San Joaquin Valley, where groundwater challenges are more
acute. A new report evaluates the water implications of cover
cropping practices to lay the groundwork for their adoption in
the context of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act,
or SGMA, which is intended to protect groundwater resources
over the long-term. “Yes, cover crops require a nominal
amount of water to establish – and sometimes rainwater is
sufficient – but the myriad co-benefits are worth it,” Ross
said.
Two rural California airports that are crucial to local air
ambulance services, firefighting efforts and search and rescue
operations are unable to perform critical repairs, blocked by
an agency 300 miles away: the city of Los Angeles. The airports
are two of several major pieces of infrastructure in
California’s Owens valley left in disrepair because of LA
policies, an investigation by AfroLA, the Sheet and the
Guardian reveals. Los Angeles has owned large swaths of Inyo
county, where the Owens valley is located, for more than a
century. With ownership of the land comes rights to its water –
water that is key to servicing the thirsty metropolis of 3.8
million people. Aqueducts carrying water from Inyo and
neighbouring Mono county to LA provided 73% of the city’s water
supply last year.
