NEARLY SOLD OUT! Our Central Valley Tour travels
the length of the San Joaquin Valley where water supply and use
have been in the national headlines, including our first
stop at San Luis Reservoir near Los Banos. Register
here before
tickets are gone! Can’t join our Central Valley Tour? You
can still learn about the Central Valley’s water resourcehs
with our array of educational guides and maps. And join us May 1 for
our annual open
house and reception at our office near the
Sacramento River!
A tiny water district in western Tulare County is poised to
nearly triple in size by annexing 13,000 acres of land that has
become “the stepchild nobody wants” for its lack of surface
water. The Atwell Island Water District, at 7,300 acres, sought
the annexation in order to help farmers in the area get access
to surface water, said board member Deanna Jackson. Atwell
has a small federal contract for water from the Central Valley
Project and is a subcontractor for water from the Cross Valley
Canal in Kern County as well. Jackson also runs the overarching
Tri-County Water Authority Groundwater Sustainability Agency,
tasked with bringing the region’s aquifers into balance per the
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Atwell is a
member agency of Tri-County, which also brought this acreage
into its boundaries.
Since the 1950s, California’s salmon populations have dwindled
due to lost habitat from a combination of factors, including
human-made barriers such as dams, altered river flows, and
climate change. These challenges mean DWR looks for
opportunities to support salmon and other endangered species in
its projects whenever possible. DWR’s Lower Elkhorn Basin Levee
Setback (LEBLS) Project is a multi-benefit project where
engineering, flood protection, and supporting nature all come
together. While the primary goal of LEBLS is to reduce flood
risk, the recently expanded bypass floodplain is producing
zooplankton, an energy-rich invertebrate that’s a key part of
the juvenile salmon diet. This food production is happening in
significant quantities and sooner-than-expected.
After decades of efforts to remove dams on the Klamath River
near the California-Oregon border, the project was completed
last year. It was the largest dam removal project in U.S.
history and, as the Associated Press reported, the removal was
a victory for tribes in the region who had fought to free the
river from four hydroelectric dams which, advocates said, had
contributed to environmental damage, including disrupting the
life cycle of salmon in the region. … A special episode
of OPB’s “Oregon Field Guide” series, titled “Klamath: After
the Dams,” will explore issues that exist in the wake of the
dam removal, including challenges to repair salmon habitat,
dealing with water shortages, and other conflicts.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday signed into law four
bills she said better prepares New Mexico to address: water
shortages from climate change; contamination from so-called
“forever chemicals;” and pollution in the state’s waters. …
“When you talk about water to anyone, it’s typically not a
dialogue, it’s a debate, because water is life,” Lujan Grisham
said during the bill signing, adding that the Legislature and
her office “did about three decades worth of work” on the issue
over the session. New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney
called the four bills “a big, bold package” for the
environment.
“Safe drinking water,” “greenhouse gas emissions,” and “climate
change” are just a few of the 100+ words and phrases now banned
at the Department of Agriculture’s research division, according
to a recently-leaked memo. More Perfect Union reports that in
March, staff at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
were sent a long list of words and phrases by a section head
and told that they may no longer use any of them in certain
official contexts. The memo was sent by Sharon Strickland, the
Northeast Area Financial Management, Travel and Agreements
Section Head at the ARS, to staff. The ARS is the research wing
of the USDA, overseeing over 600 research projects and 2,000
scientists.
The secretary of commerce is personally reviewing all contracts
with commitments above $100,000 at the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, causing backups and uncertainty in
the agency that is responsible for the country’s weather
forecasts, marine fisheries management and coastal management.
NOAA is housed within the Department of Commerce. Howard
Lutnick is reviewing all NOAA contracts above $100,000,
according to three agency employees who spoke anonymously out
of fear of retribution at work. There are hundreds of such
contracts across the agency that need to be reviewed each year
and several that have been paused or otherwise impacted by the
secretary’s review, according to an agency employee familiar
with the contracting process.
After more than ten years of meticulous planning and
collaboration among local landowners, government officials,
tribes and environmental scientists, the Redwood Creek Esturary
Restoration Project is finally gaining momentum. The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers and Humboldt County officials will host a
public meeting at the Orick Community Hall at 4 p.m. on
Wednesday to discuss next steps for the estuary restoration
project, which aims to revitalize critical habitat for
threatened and endangered salmonid species in Redwood Creek.
… The restoration project would undo decades of
ecological degradation caused by the earthen levee system that
runs through the heart of Orick. Originally designed to control
flooding along the lower 3.4 miles of Redwood Creek, the levees
have “reduced the size, complexity, and ecological function of
the estuary,” according to the project’s description.
The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) has been
tasked with developing a model which will enable staff to
determine just how much water is in all the nooks and crannies
of the Willcox basin and others around the state. Rep. Gail
Griffin (R–LD14) tasked the agency, which oversees water issues
within the various basins in the state, to prepare a report so
legislators can make more informed decisions before making
rural groundwater policies, she stated. “Are groundwater levels
decreasing in certain basins? Yes, but the first step should be
to stop the bleeding to prevent the rate of decline from
getting worse. Then we can develop tools to help stabilize the
aquifer and find ways to put more water back in the basin, such
as groundwater recharge, reuse and new technology for farming,”
she stated.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he wants
communities to stop fluoridating water, and he is setting
the gears of government in motion to help make that happen.
Kennedy this week said he plans to tell the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending
fluoridation in communities nationwide. And he said he’s
assembling a task force of health experts to study the issue
and make new recommendations. At the same time,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it
would review new scientific information on potential health
risks of fluoride in drinking water. … Here’s a look at how
reversing fluoride policy has become an action item under
President Donald Trump’s administration.
The City is letting some people in the county who get their
water from wells instead hook up to its city water supply
for free. The work to the water tank started in October and now
crews are welding the red steel panels as part of the base of
the massive tank. It’s a milestone for the one million gallon
water tank project underway. … The City Manager, Pete Carr,
said the water tank will bring water to 185 homes and a mobile
home park with 75 residents and fire hydrants to neighborhoods
which previously had none. The city received $16 million in
state grants for the project.
A coalition of top scientists loaded its last set of wastewater
samples for analysis Sunday after receiving the final word from
San Diego County late last week that the work should cease due
to a nationwide clawback of federal public health funds. Since
February 2021, the San Diego Epidemiology and Research for
COVID Health program (SEARCH), a collaboration of UC San Diego,
Scripps Research Institute and the genomics program at Rady
Children’s Hospital, have used advanced science to analyze
wastewater samples collected from three different treatment
plants in San Diego County. Samples have been used to estimate
both the amount and type of viruses shed by the region’s 3.3
million residents. … But those efforts ground to a halt
Monday after researchers received word that the roughly
$400,000 per year provided by the county’s public health
department would cease.
The United States is holding back water payments to Mexico in
order to send a message, the U.S. International Boundary and
Water Commissioner told Border Report. “The first action
that the State Department has done is in denying water
deliveries to Mexico in the Tijuana area,” U.S. IBWC
Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner told Border Report last
week. Under a 1944 international treaty, Mexico is
supposed to send 1.75 million acre-feet of water to the United
States via the Rio Grande over five-year
cycles. … The United States, likewise, under the
treaty is required to send to Mexico 1.5 million acre-feet of
water from the Colorado River. But Giner says requested
deliveries to Tijuana, Mexico, south of San Diego, were not
recently fulfilled. And she says more holding back of water,
and other resources, could come next if Mexico fails to send
the U.S. water.
The Bureau of Reclamation has announced a $134 million award
for the proposed Sites Reservoir Project. This new water
storage project would be the second largest off-stream
reservoir in the nation and would increase Northern
California’s water storage capacity by up to 15 percent. The
award, funded by the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the
Nation Act, previously received $389.65 million and was also
authorized $256.5 million from the Infrastructure Investment
and Jobs Act, for a total of $780.15 million in federal
contributions to date.
Federal and California state officials announced Monday a set
of new inspection and quarantine requirements for the launch of
boats at Folsom Lake and Lake Clementine later this month. The
rules are aimed at preventing an infestation of golden mussels,
which were recently identified in the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta and that “pose a significant threat to the ecological
health of all waters of the state, its water conveyance
systems, infrastructure, and water quality,” California State
Parks said. Folsom Lake and Lake Clementine in the Auburn
State Recreation Area will be temporarily closed to all
trailered or motorized vessel launching for a month, from April
14 until May 14.
In Orange County, California, wastewater from people’s homes is
not considered waste. Instead of treating it and sending it to
the ocean, Orange County purifies its wastewater with an
additional three-step process. Each day, the county treats
about 130 million gallons until it’s safe enough to drink.
Patel: “And then we take that highly treated, recycled water,
and we surface-spread it in a series of lakes or ponds and then
let it naturally seep or percolate down and replenish the
aquifer.” Mehul Patel is with the Orange County Water District.
He says the aquifer is a key source of water for people who
live in the area.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be
reconvening an independent panel of health experts to make a
new recommendation on putting fluoride in drinking water, a
spokesperson said on Monday. The use of the mineral, which is
added to water to strengthen tooth enamel and promote dental
health, has been a hot-button political issue in some states
for decades. ”HHS is reconvening the Community Preventive
Services Task Force to study and make a new recommendation on
fluoride,” an HHS spokesperson said. The statement
followed an Associated Press report quoting Secretary of Health
and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. saying at an event in
Salt Lake City, Utah, that he plans to tell the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoride in
drinking water.
In 1991, the state of California largely banned burning of rice
straw after harvest, and farmers turned instead to winter
flooding of fields to break down straw. As a result, wildlife
has flourished in rice fields which reproduce, to some extent,
the wetland habitat that once covered most of California’s
Central Valley. Rice fields now support some 200 species
including fish, birds and reptiles. Winter flooding depends on
sufficient water supplies and farmers have come under pressure
from drought, climate change and economic changes, putting this
success story at risk. Last year, the California Rice
Commission asked researchers at UC Davis and Point Blue
Conservation Sciences to estimate how many acres of rice would
be required to support multiple species.
The cliché “third time’s the charm” proved true for Berkeley’s
efforts to fix the aging culverts connecting the Aquatic Park
lagoon with the San Francisco Bay. Berkeley received a $4.1
million state grant last month after trying twice before in
recent years for funding to repair or rebuild the deteriorating
100-year-old tubes running under Interstate 80, said Scott
Ferris, head of the city’s parks and waterfront department.
Prone to cracking and clogging, the failing tubes are believed
to be primary culprits for the lagoon’s chronic pollution, as
they’re less and less efficient in channeling bay water in and
out of lagoon with the tides, a cleansing action. Of particular
concern are the lagoon’s periodic but persistent high rates of
enterococcus bacteria, a health risk for humans, and marine
die-offs, primarily affecting rays and leopard sharks.
As California continues to recover from devastating January
wildfires and extreme dryness that reached deep into winter,
there are early signs that the state and surrounding region
could face a troubling fire season in the months
ahead. The rainy season in the West is winding down, but
much of the region remains well behind on rainfall. The
Southwest is in deep drought after largely missing out on
storms this winter. Much of the broader West is forecast to
have unusually hot and dry weather in the coming weeks and
months. And that heat — along with the recent proliferation of
additional fire-fueling vegetation — could accelerate the
turnaround into yet another wildfire season, with high risks of
concerning conflagrations even for areas that had adequate rain
and snow this winter.
