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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Phillips 66, which last month announced plans to close its
Los Angeles-area refineries by the end of 2025, was indicted
Wednesday for allegedly discharging hundreds of thousands of
gallons of industrial waste from its Carson oil refinery into
the Los Angeles County sewer system during the pandemic, the
U.S. Attorney’s Office said Thursday. The oil refiner, which
federal attorneys claim failed to report violations to
authorities, is charged with two counts of negligently
violating the Clean Water Act and four counts of knowingly
violating the 52-year-old federal law designed to regulate
pollution in US waterways, according to documents filed in
federal court in Los Angeles.
Looking over a tangle of water pipes of varying sizes, George
Hanson, a water utility manager with the City of Roseville,
said the system is a big part of the city’s future. “It
essentially allows us to diversify our water supply portfolio,”
Hanson said. That’s because the pipes are set up to store water
underground by syphoning storm water from the Folsom dam, when
weather events such as atmospheric rivers dump huge amounts of
water. … This type of groundwater recharge
is an important way to help the state’s water supply moving
forward, said permitting program manager with the State Water
Board, Amanda Montgomery.
The Biden administration on Wednesday released four
alternatives to address the drought-stricken Colorado River’s
water shortages, giving seven states, 30 tribes and the 40
million people who rely on the river a taste of how the vital
waterway will be managed in the coming decades. But the
announcement offers little in the way of hard details, with a
draft environmental impact statement analyzing the impacts of
the Department of Interior’s proposed alternatives pushed back
to next year. The states, meanwhile, remain divided over the
path forward to deal with shortages on the river.
Wastewater agencies are playing a crucial role in shaping a
sustainable water future by increasingly reusing highly treated
water. Since the 1980s, the use of recycled water in California
has nearly tripled, highlighting its growing importance in
addressing the water needs of an expanding population. Governor
Newsom’s August 2022 Water Supply Strategy sets ambitious
targets for the recycling of water, aiming to recycle at least
800,000 acre-feet per year by 2030 and 1.8 million acre-feet by
2040. This vision primarily involves redirecting wastewater
that would otherwise be discharged into oceans.
… Yet despite Kennedy’s looming advisement, the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration says the decision to fluoridate a water
supply is made by state or local municipalities, and is not
mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency or any other
federal body. Fluoridation is common in California and
throughout the country, while studies have shown it can help
populations improve oral health, particularly in lower income
areas. A CDC study suggested fluoridation saved an estimated
$6.5 billion a year in dental treatment costs.
Governor Gavin Newsom [on Nov. 21] celebrated the votes over
the past week by three water agencies of the next phase of
funding for the Delta Conveyance Project, while a diverse
coalition of opponents blasted the project as
a massive and expensive boondoggle that would hasten the
extinction of Central Valley salmon, Delta smelt and other fish
species and cause enormous harm to Delta and Tribal
communities. The Alameda County Water District, Desert Water
Agency, and Palmdale Water District all voted in favor of
supporting the Delta Tunnel, according to the Governor’s
Office. These follow other water agencies throughout the
state that have also voted in favor of moving the next phase of
the project forward.
Many of the estuaries in the United States were once much
larger than previously known, a critical finding as
policymakers work to protect and restore these ecosystems. …
The finding on current and historical estuary size comes from a
study, published in November in the journal Biological
Conservation, exploring how 30 of the country’s estuaries have
changed from as early as 1842 to today. The study determined
that estuaries along the Pacific Coast have lost, on average,
more than 60% of their tidal marshes since mapping began, while
tidal marshes along the East Coast have decreased in size by 8%
over that span. Conversely, some Gulf of Mexico estuaries have
remained stable or grown over time—migrating landward into
adjacent forests—while others in that region have barely shrunk
at all.
… “One of the big goals for rebuilding the park is to allow
that natural hydrology to occur as well, and
that means retaining stormwater,” said [Will] Fourt. “So not
conveying it out quickly, but letting it soak in, letting it be
here.” One trail in the old growth forest has already been
rebuilt with this in mind. The trail is completely flat, but
raised on a bed of rocks that allows water to flow under and
pool next to it. Both parks’ utilities and water treatment
systems were also damaged in the fire … Visitors need to plan
on bringing water, especially when visiting Big Basin, said
Fourt. With the canopy gone, Big Basin is a lot warmer
and drier than before.
As extreme weather events become more intense and more common,
states already face an estimated backlog of nearly $1 trillion
for deferred maintenance and needed upgrades to public
infrastructure. To finance long-overdue repairs and ensure that
America’s roads, bridges, and water systems can withstand
future climate impacts, states are turning to new strategies
and adapting existing approaches to address the substantial
work needed to boost the resilience of these vital systems.
… California residents recently passed a $10 billion
bond proposal, which would cover similar water
infrastructure improvements and projects to protect these
systems from the effects of extreme heat.
Several miles of century-old lead-lined telephone cables laid
along the bottom of Lake Tahoe, feared by many locals to have
leached toxic chemicals into the water, have been removed. News
of the removal came Thursday afternoon from the League to Save
Lake Tahoe, a nonprofit conservation group that helped
coordinate the effort in partnership with telecommunications
giant AT&T, which is believed to have owned the cables in
question.
… Audubon supports H.R. 9515, the Lower Colorado River
Multi-Species Conservation Program Amendment Act of 2024. The
Program constructs habitats along the Colorado River below
Hoover Dam, and that habitat is essential not only for the 27
species the program targets, but also for many of the 400
species of birds that rely on the Lower Colorado River,
including Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Sandhill Cranes, and Yuma
Ridgway’s Rails. Today, because the Program spending does not
keep pace with the collection of funds from non-federal
partners, about $70 million is held in non-interest-bearing
accounts. If these funds were held in an interest-bearing
account, the Program would have about $2 million in additional
funds per year, and be more able to maintain program
implementation in the face of increasing costs. —Written by Jennifer Pitt, Audubon’s Colorado River program
director
A storm of heavy rain, snow, and strong winds brought dangerous
conditions to the Pacific Northwest this week. By Friday, up to
16 inches of rain could inundate Northern California. The storm
is what’s known as an atmospheric river, a long narrow strip
heavy with moisture that slam into the mountains of the West
Coast and dumps out prodigious amounts of rain. While
scientists haven’t concluded whether atmospheric rivers are
increasing because of climate change, a warmer atmosphere,
driven by the burning of fossil fuels, can hold more moisture,
which can lead to increased extreme rain events. That increase
in extreme rain events has likely caused more landslides,
according to experts. … Fast-moving landslides
called debris flows, which are mud and rock-laden
torrents, are more common on land that has recently, and
severely, burned, like wildfire-scarred regions. … After
Hurricane Helene, more than 2,000 landslides were
triggered by the storm and at least half of those
landslides caused damage to rivers, roads and
structures like homes and businesses.
A Kern County agricultural water district is putting some of
its recharge basins to double duty: Sinking water and producing
solar power. North Kern Water Storage District partnered with
Fresno-based White Pine Renewables to build solar panels
directly in more than 57 acres of its existing recharge basins
along Zerker Road north of 7th Standard Road. The 14,444
panels can produce 10 megawatts a year, enough to supply 2,000
homes. But this power will go to North Kern, not the general
grid. The project, which recently went live, is expected to cut
North Kern’s electric bill by more than half.
The Biden administration has announced a range of options for
new rules to address chronic water shortages and low reservoir
levels on the Colorado River, a vital water source for seven
Western states that has dwindled during more than two decades
of drought compounded by climate change. The Interior
Department released four alternatives for new long-term rules
aimed at dealing with potential shortages after 2026, when the
current operating rules expire. The announcement of the
proposed alternatives represents one of the Biden
administration’s final steps to outline potential paths toward
reaching a consensus among California and the six other states,
as well as the region’s 30 Native tribes.
The powerful board of Southern California’s largest urban water
supplier will soon vote on whether to continue funding a large
share of preliminary planning work for the state’s proposed
water tunnel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The
38-member board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California is set to consider approving $141.6 million for
planning and preconstruction costs at its Dec. 10 meeting. Gov.
Gavin Newsom and his administration have requested additional
financial support from suppliers that would eventually receive
water from the project, and the MWD is being asked to cover its
share of nearly half the initial costs. The district, which
provides drinking water for about 19 million people in Southern
California, has spent $160.8 million supporting the project
since 2020, and is expected to help foot the bill as requested
by the state.
The first atmospheric river storm of the winter rainy
season slammed into California on Wednesday. Driven by a
powerful “bomb cyclone” off British Columbia, it brought heavy
rains to Sonoma and Marin counties, dumping more than 6 inches
in the hills above Guerneville by mid-afternoon. The National
Weather Service issued a flood watch through 4 a.m. Saturday
for Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties, and a high surf advisory
from Big Sur to the Sonoma Coast from with large breaking waves
14 to 22 feet high expected. … Meanwhile, the UC
Central Sierra Snow Lab forecast 10 to 20 inches of snow
falling along Donner Summit near Lake Tahoe by Friday,
just in time for Thanksgiving, the traditional start of ski
season. The CHP issued chain controls around noon Wednesday for
Interstate 80 between Truckee and Cisco Grove.
For the second year in a row, a record-breaking number of
Chinook Salmon have returned to the Mokelumne River —
the 95-mile waterway that runs through Northern
California — to spawn, signaling hope for the species’
restoration and the return of salmon fishing
season in 2025. The East Bay Municipal Utility District
announced more than 30,000 fish had been recorded since
September due to conservation efforts to limit commercial
and recreational fishing, boost hatchery production and restore
habitat along the river.
A newly detected invasive mussel is posing a potential threat
to Lake County’s water bodies. The Lake County Water Resources
Department, and Watershed Protection District urge residents
and visitors to Clear Lake, and other Lake County water bodies,
to be aware and on the lookout for invasive golden mussels
(Limnoperna fortunei). The newly detected invasive mussel
(freshwater bivalve) found in several locations in the Port of
Stockton and in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region. On
Oct. 17, the California Department of Water Resources reported
finding attached, adult mussels at a sample site location in
the Port of Stockton. Mussel specimens were sent to UC Davis
Genomic Variation Laboratory and confirmed to be golden
mussels, originally from China and Southeast Asia; the species
had not previously been detected in North America.
The governor of Arizona signed two tribal settlements
this week, ending decades of conflict and litigation that
impacted tribes, cities, farmers, companies and citizens for 50
years. Governor Katie Hobbs signed the Northeastern Arizona
Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement and the Yavapai-Apache
Nation Water Rights Settlement Agreement on Nov. 19. The two
tribal agreements signify the end of water rights solutions
being litigated in state court since 1974, according to a news
release. The tribal settlements “mark a critical milestone” in
ensuring reliable and sustainable water supplies to the Navajo
Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, and
the Yavapai Apache Nation, according to a news release.
A California state judge tentatively upheld most of the local
requirements for stormwater testing that drew a legal challenge
from Boeing Co. in a write-up issued before a Wednesday
hearing. The Regional Water Quality Control Board in Los
Angeles largely has authority to implement the new tests for
toxic chemicals, Judge Stephen Goorvitch of California Superior
Court, Los Angeles County said in a tentative ruling. But he
may narrowly grant part of Boeing’s request by asking the board
to reconsider a couple portions of the test.
