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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The Marin Municipal Water District has adopted its strategic
work plan as it strives to reduce potable water use and
increase supply. The work plan, approved unanimously at
Tuesday’s board meeting, outlines the steps needed to implement
the five-year strategic plan the district adopted in February.
The strategic plan includes targets for water supply, drought
resiliency, land stewardship and fiscal responsibility.
After 12 years of planning, gathering funding then completing
and re-doing – and re-doing again – environmental studies, the
City of Bakersfield has finally gone out to bid for the
northern extension of the Kern River Parkway Trail. “I’m very
excited, it’s been a long time coming,” Councilman Bob Smith
said of the 6-mile long addition to the nearly 40-mile-long
path that runs the length of the Kern River from Gordon’s Ferry
on the east all the way to the Buena Vista Lake Aquatic
Recreation Area on the west. This extension will take runners,
hikers and cyclists north at Coffee Road along the Friant-Kern
Canal up to 7th Standard Road, about a half mile west of the
Gossamer Grove development.
… To broaden your understanding of how the Colorado River
crisis and groundwater depletion are affecting Nevada, here are
a few books to snag for your shelf: “Cadillac Desert” by
Marc Reisner … “Where the Water Goes” by David Owen
… “Water Follies” by Robert Glennon … “All the
Water the Law Allows” by Christian S. Harrison
The USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit
(LTBMU) released the final environmental review documents and
draft decision for the Meeks Bay Restoration Project. The
LTBMU, in conjunction with Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, and
Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, is developing a
plan to restore Meeks Creek to a more natural condition, while
continuing to support sustainable recreation
opportunities. In 1960, a marina with approximately
120 boat slips and a boat launch facility was dredged at the
mouth of Meeks Creek, on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. The
marina eliminated a unique wetland habitat for numerous bird,
mammal, and amphibian species.
… This marked the second year in a row with above-average
snowfall and was a huge turnaround from conditions at the
beginning of 2024, when the snowpack across the state was
barely a quarter of the historic average. … The
relationship between snowfall and climate change is not as
simple as it might first appear. Though rising temperatures
will cause some would-be snow to fall as rain, this is partly
balanced out by the fact that precipitation will become more
intense overall, since warmer air can hold more water vapor.
Some parts of Alaska and Northern Canada have
seen increases in snowfall over the last 40 years; in
these frigid locales the amount of snow is more limited by cold
weather, which decreases the amount of moisture in the air. -Written by Ned Kleiner, a scientist and catastrophe
modeler at Verisk.
Microplastics are tiny, nearly indestructible fragments shed
from everyday plastic products. As we learn more about
microplastics, the news keeps getting worse. Already
well-documented in our oceans and soil, we’re now discovering
them in the unlikeliest of places: our arteries, lungs, and
even placentas. Microplastics can take anywhere from 100 to
1,000 years to break down and, in the meantime, our planet and
bodies are becoming more polluted with these materials every
day. Finding viable alternatives to traditional
petroleum-based plastics and microplastics has never been more
important. New research from scientists at the University of
California San Diego and materials science company Algenesis
shows that their plant-based polymers biodegrade — even at the
microplastic level — in under seven months.
Canals in California may soon feature a new look — solar panel
canopies, designed to stop evaporation and soak up the sun’s
rays, created under a new project funded with help from the
federal government to boost green energy
infrastructure. Governor Gavin Newsom joined staff from
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Thursday to highlight a new
“solar-over-canal” project along one of the state’s primary
aqueducts. The pilot project proposes placing a solar canopy to
“float” over a major waterway as a source of renewable energy
that can also prevent loss of precious water through
evaporation. Adam Nickels, Deputy Regional Director at the
Bureau of Reclamation, said that the Biden Inflation Reduction
Act helped make it possible to pick a portion of the
Delta-Mendota Canal for placement of a solar panel in Merced
County.
California was thrown back into winter on Thursday with a
cold storm diving into the northern part of the state and
delivering low-elevation snow to places that
infrequently see snow in winter, let alone April. The storm
system originated in the Gulf of Alaska and ushered a polar air
mass into the region, pushing down temperatures to below normal
levels for this time of year. The system is expected to impact
Southern California Thursday night into Friday. … The
storm was also impacting the Sierra Nevada. The weather
service’s Sacramento office said it had received
reports of snowfall at elevations as low as 1,800 feet on the
western side of the northern Sierra
A first-of-its-kind report has estimated that Los Angeles
County must invest billions of dollars through 2040 to protect
residents from worsening climate hazards, including extreme
heat, increasing precipitation, worsening wildfires, rising sea
levels and climate-induced public health threats. The report,
published this week by the nonprofit Center for Climate
Integrity, identified 14 different climate adaptation measures
that authors calculated would cost L.A. taxpayers at least
$12.5 billion over the next 15 years. … To mitigate
these impacts, the county must expand its stormwater drainage
infrastructure by installing bioswales, porous pavement and
other opportunities for stormwater to seep into the ground, the
report found.
Last month, the seven U.S. states that use Colorado River water
released two divergent plans for how that water should be
managed after 2026 when the current agreement expires. Their
proposals centered on operations at Lake Powell and Lake Mead,
the country’s two largest reservoirs, the levels of which are
instrumental in determining how much water each state gets. But
a coalition of environmental organizations felt that those
plans — and the discourse surrounding which states should have
to cut their water use — drowned out a crucial consideration:
the environment. So, last week, they submitted a plan of their
own. “Our plan explicitly integrates environmental values and
resources into the planning, while also trying to meet the
needs of people,” Taylor Hawes, the Colorado River Program
director for The Nature Conservancy, said.
In late March the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors
proclaimed a local emergency related to concerns about heavy
metals like arsenic and lead being present in the Klamath
River. It was prompted by the ongoing removal of four
hydroelectric dams on the river. … Matt St. John, an
environmental program manager with the North Coast Regional
Water Quality Control Board, said it was expected that you’d
also have high metals concentrations. “Those metals
concentrations are not a threat to public health. It’s okay to
touch the water with those type of concentrations. And no water
in the state of California should be drunk without any without
treatment. And so, the Klamath River isn’t a source of drinking
water without treatment of that water.”
… So what kind of fire season are we in for this year? Like
2023, this year has been a wet one. … After the wet
winter, vegetation in the state isn’t as parched as it would be
during a drought, so wildfire activity is likely to be pretty
low in the spring and early summer, Daniel Swain, a climate
scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in
an online briefing this week. … But the year probably
won’t stay as quiet as 2023 was. This year’s wet weather hasn’t
been as extreme as last year’s — some inland cities, like
Fresno and South Lake Tahoe, actually received less rain
than usual this year — so plants and soil are more likely
to dry out over the rest of this year than they were last year.
“I would be somewhat surprised if this year was not
significantly more active,” Swain said.
The Sacramento County district attorney’s office has sued a
state agency alleging that storage tanks are leaking hazardous
substances under several downtown buildings, including the
state Capitol. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Sacramento
Superior Court against the California Department of General
Services, alleges the leakages are also happening in Oakland.
It was filed jointly by Sacramento County District Attorney
Thien Ho and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. The
district attorneys filed the lawsuit “to protect public health
and the environment from harm due to releases of hazardous
substances from leaking Underground Storage Tanks, including
harm to groundwater and surface waters and against harm from
indoor air impacts,” the lawsuit stated.
At the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority board meeting
on March 29, the IWVGA board approved motions to reimburse two
domestic well owners who had to replace their wells due to
declining groundwater levels. IWVGA reimbursed $37,996 for the
Halpin Well and $31,082 for the Byerly Well. Reimbursement
covers the estimated current value of the exhausted well and
the incremental costs of drilling a deeper well. California’s
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act requires groundwater
basins like the IWV groundwater basin to reach sustainability
by 2040. This is why the IWVGA initially formed to draft and
implement a Groundwater Sustainability Plan.
As Attorney General Kris Mayes gathers evidence to take action
against corporate farms’ groundwater pumping, some lawmakers
would like to establish protections that discourage such
lawsuits. Agricultural operations could get their legal fees
paid by the plaintiff if they are sued in a nuisance action to
reduce or take away their water use under a bill filed early
this year by state Rep. Austin Smith, R-Wittmann. The measure
would have a “chilling effect” on new approaches to reduce
groundwater use, several legal experts told The Arizona
Republic, because the claimant would need to pay filing fees
and attorney fees for themselves and the sued party.
Phoebe works to investigate how the endangered fish can thrive.
The Little Colorado River has a brilliant turquoise-blue color
due to the calcium carbonate minerals suspended in the water.
Travertine, a chalky limestone that settles out of the water
and coats the riverbed with a white hue, adds to the river’s
amazing color. The Little Colorado River can be divided
into the upper and lower reaches, with the boundary between the
two marked by a series of travertine waterfalls. The river is
one of the last remaining places where you can find the
endangered humpback chub. Science Moab talked with Phoebe
Brown, a river guide and researcher who as an undergraduate was
part of a larger study looking at the growth rates of the
humpback chub.
… I asked my boss about his restaurant choice. He said he’d
gone vegan after learning how much Colorado River water
irrigates cattle feed — almost a third of all river
consumption, according to a recent study. His comment made
me reconsider my own beef consumption. … And most
Angelenos would find eating one less burger a week much easier
than tearing out their lawns (which I also advocate!). -Written by Aaron Mead, a writer based in the Los Angeles
area.
Are you a water rightsholder? Have you filed your Annual Water
Diversion and Use reports for Water Year 2023? If you answered
“yes” then “no,” a notice of violation could be on the way.
It’s just been announced that the Division of Water Rights will
be sending Notices of Violation in the next few weeks for those
who have not submitted the annual reports or statements. Those
were due before February 1. According to the Board, if you
submit your past-due report promptly, you will not receive the
notice and potential future enforcement action. There is a help
website that has been set up in an attempt to walk
rightsholders through the process. You can access that at
https://shorturl.at/xNY28.
In an April 1, 2024 letter to three water boards, fishing and
conservation groups and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe urged
regulators to control recently measured excess levels of
selenium in Mud Slough. Mud Slough drains selenium-impaired
land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley into the San
Joaquin River and ultimately San Francisco Bay.
… Selenium has long been known to cause
reproductive failure, deformities, and death in fish and
waterfowl, according to a statement from the California
Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA). “Our groups have
spent over a decade at the water boards and in court trying to
bring runoff from Mud Slough into compliance with water quality
standards,” said Chris Shutes, Executive Director of the
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
On April 2, 2024, the California Department of Water Resources
(DWR) released the California Water Plan Update 2023 (CWP 2023
Update). DWR’s press release dubs the plan “A Roadmap to Water
Management and Infrastructure for a Water Resilient Future.”
Resiliency is one of the key focuses for the CWP 2023 Update,
as its chapter on objectives is entitled the “Roadmap to
Resilience.” The plan is focused on the vision that “All
Californians benefit from water resources that are sustainable,
resilient to climate change, and managed to achieve shared
values and connections to our communities and the environment.”
