California has pioneered some of the
toughest state environmental legislation to address environmental
issues. For example, laws focused attention on “instream uses” of
water to benefit fish and wildlife, recreation, water quality and
aesthetics. Among water-related issues, in general, are
climate change, toxic waste disposal, pollution and loss of
wildlife and habitat.
Also, the California Legislature was the first in the country to
protect rare plants and animals through passage of the California
Endangered Species Act in 1970.
California’s Eel River got its modern name from the swarms of
Pacific lamprey that once plowed up and down its length, but
it’s more famous for its wild steelhead and salmon –– and,
unfortunately, for the dramatic decline in those fisheries over
the past century. Trout Unlimited has been working over
the past 25 years to improve habitat and fish passage for
steelhead and salmon in the Eel watershed, much of which
remains largely intact. Two recent developments in which TU has
played a major role should dramatically improve the prospects
for wild salmon and steelhead in California’s third largest
river system. The first is that Pacific Gas & Electric,
the utility that owns two old hydropower dams on the river, has
agreed to remove them. … The second is that the North Coast
Regional Water Quality Control Board recently approved a
proposal to designate two important tributaries to the Eel’s
south fork as Outstanding National Resource Waters
(ONRW).
The Biden administration pushed out a flurry of major
environmental rules early this year under a looming threat of
rollbacks if former President Donald Trump clinches the White
House in November’s election. But some significant rules won’t
get out the door in time to shield them from being reversed if
Trump wins, a reality that was on stark display last week when
the Biden administration released its plans for upcoming
regulations. … Earlier this year, Biden’s agencies
finished a series of significant regulations, including a
high-stakes power plant rule on climate pollution, a policy
governing conservation of public lands and drinking water
standards for some members of the “forever chemicals” family
known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. … EPA
is expected to roll out a revised lead and copper rule for
drinking water systems, which would trigger action sooner to
reduce lead exposure and require lead pipes to be replaced
within 10 years. That rule isn’t expected to be
completed until October.
A massive fish die-off has closed a popular lake and recreation
area in Monterey County amid speculation by state officials
that warming water caused the kill. Lake San Antonio, a county
park in southern Monterey County, was closed Tuesday as crews
deal with the removal of up to hundreds of thousands of
freshwater fish of multiple species that have washed up against
the shoreline. Among the species in the die-off are trout,
carp, crappie and bass, including one 4-pound trophy
bass. The water is being tested in an attempt to
determine the cause. A preliminary indication is oxygen
depletion due to warm water, according to the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Bureau of Reclamation today finalized its process to
protect the humpback chub and other federally protected fish
species with the signing of the Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement for the 2016 Long-Term Experimental and
Management Plan Final Environmental Impact Statement Record of
Decision. Reclamation initiated the environmental review
process in response to the increasing numbers of smallmouth
bass in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam. As Lake
Powell’s elevation has declined and water released from Glen
Canyon Dam has warmed in recent years, warmwater invasive fish
such as smallmouth bass residing in the upper layer of Lake
Powell can pass through the dam and successfully spawn
downstream in the Grand Canyon. These warmwater predatory fish
can prey on Federally protected native fish species in the
Grand Canyon. With the completion of the environmental process,
Reclamation can now use water releases from the dam to disrupt
smallmouth bass spawning.
Northern California steelhead require continued protection as a
threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act,
according to a recent 5-year review by NOAA Fisheries. State
and federal agencies, tribes, and private landowners have
completed numerous habitat restoration projects since the last
review in 2016. However, the population faces continued threats
from drought, high water temperatures, and water use, all
exacerbated by the changing climate. The 5-year review also
found that water conservation should be integrated into habitat
restoration projects to achieve maximum benefits.
On a bright morning in early January near the confluence of the
San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers in Central California, John
Cain looks out over a small, curved lake. The trees are mostly
bare for winter, but Cain, senior director of conservation of
the nonprofit organization River Partners, points out … the
wild landscape in front of him is buzzing. … Until a
little more than a decade ago, this area was productive
farmland … Now it’s set to be California’s next state park
after a restoration project spearheaded by River
Partners converted the ranch into rewilded riverside
habitat. As climate change has doubled the likelihood of
flooding in California, and is projected to increase runoff
from storms by as much as 200 percent to 400 percent, this
restored floodplain is proving to be a promising approach. Not
only does the area help buffer downstream communities from
flood damage, it also maximizes environmental benefits from
high waters. “When we step back from the river, when we give
the river more room, flooding actually is a very productive
process for the ecosystem,” says Cain. “It recharges
groundwater. It filters polluted water. It nourishes riparian
forests that support all kinds of wildlife. It’s alive.”
The tangle of pipes at this industrial plant [in Corpus
Christi, Texas] doesn’t stand out in this city built around the
carbon-heavy business of pumping oil and refining it into fuel
for planes, ships, trucks and cars. But this plant produces
fuel from a different source, one that doesn’t belch greenhouse
pollution: hydrogen. Specifically, hydrogen made from water
using renewable electricity, also known as green hydrogen. This
process could represent the biggest change in how fuel for
planes, ships, trains and trucks is made since the first
internal combustion engine fired up in the 19th century. …
Turning hydrogen into liquid fuel could help slash
planet-warming pollution from heavy vehicles, cutting a key
source of emissions that contribute to climate change. But to
fulfill that promise, companies will have to build massive
numbers of wind turbines and solar panels to power the
energy-hungry process. Regulators will have to make sure
hydrogen production doesn’t siphon green energy that could go
towards cleaning up other sources of global warming gases, such
as homes or factories.
A family of beavers — three adults, one subadult and three
babies, known as “kits” — were released into the South Fork
Tule River watershed on June 12, the California Department of
Fish and Wildlife said. Two other beavers were released into
Miner Creek on June 17. … A decade ago, tribal leaders
called for the animals to be returned, driven by traditional
Indigenous knowledge about beavers’ importance to the ecosystem
— and inspired by the 500-to-1,000-year-old beaver images left
at the Yokuts village site known as Painted Rock. In 2022, Fish
and Wildlife received state funding to start a restoration
program to prepare sites in California for the semiaquatic
animals. Beavers aid the environment by building dams that help
to keep landscapes well-hydrated and more resilient in droughts
and wildfires. That enhanced water retention could also protect
the Tule River Indian Tribe’s drinking water supply — 80% of
which comes from the river’s watershed, the CDFW said.
In 2022–23, the state of California allocated $100 million to
the University of California to fund research grants supporting
climate change resilience in communities across the state.
Three of the California Climate Action Seed Grant-funded
research projects are establishing collaborations between
academic institutions and Tribal nations to support climate
change resilience through tribal resource management. The
projects involve investigating pinyon pine forest ecology and
cultural values in the Eastern Sierra, monitoring fisheries on
the North Coast, and surveying the changing landscapes of
California Indian Public Domain Lands.
Contra Costa County received $1,499,285 from the California
Ocean Protection Council’s Senate Bill 1 Sea Level Rise
Adaptation Planning Grant Program, which aims to provide
funding for coastal communities to develop plans to combat sea
level rise and projects to build resilience along the entire
coast of California and the San Francisco Bay, according to a
press release from the state. The Contra Costa Resilient
Shoreline Plan will create a comprehensive roadmap to address
sea level rise across the entire 90-miles of the county’s
shoreline with a focus on impacted communities. It will serve a
coordinating and organizational role for local plans in
alignment with Bay Conservation and Development Commission
guidelines and explore natural and constructed infrastructure
improvements.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the 1972 Clean
Water Act should only apply to waters that are navigable
year-round, and not to ephemeral streams — waterways that
are underground for much of the year, until there is
significant rainfall. In doing so, the court significantly
rolled back federal environmental protections that had been
around for half a century. A new study seeks, for the first
time, to quantify the volume of water that was affected by last
year’s ruling. According to the paper, published Thursday in
the journal Science, ephemeral streams are responsible for
roughly 55% of all water that comes from regional river systems
in the U.S. In other words, more than half of the water flowing
in and out of rivers in the U.S. is no longer under the
protection of federal law. This newly opened loophole in the
Clean Water Act could have massive implications, the study’s
authors say. Waterways are, after all, connected, and
pollutants from one stream inevitably make their way
downstream. … Some states, like California, have their own
protections. But many do not, and have relied on federal law,
which gives third parties the right to sue for polluting
waterways. Much of the enforcement of the Clean Water Act is
done by nonprofits like the Waterkeeper Alliance and
Riverkeeper suing polluters. Now, it will be left up to the
states to regulate ephemeral streams.
Wildfires are on the rise. The smoke they bring darkens the sky
and deposits ash. Ocean research has provided clues about how
smoke affects marine ecosystems, but little is known about how
it affects freshwater ecosystems like lakes. A new study
published in Communications Earth and Environment shows that in
some California lakes, smoke can alter physical and biological
processes that are key to systems such as nutrient cycling,
rates of carbon sequestration, and food web structure. Both the
number of smoky days and the extent of smoke coverage have
climbed in recent decades, said Adrianne Smits, an
environmental scientist at the University of California, Davis,
and coauthor of the new study. “Smoke cover in California is
really no longer an ephemeral event,” she said, but “could be
thought of more as a seasonal phenomenon.”
Officials from the California Water Resources Control Board are
urging people to avoid Lake Elsinore due to an algae bloom
that’s created dangerous levels of harmful toxins. Visitors are
urged to stay out of the water, keep their pets at a safe
distance and do not drink water or eat any fish or shellfish
from the lake. Five “distinct areas” of Lake Elsinore were
tested and high levels of toxins were detected that officials
say pose a significant health risk.
… The role of inland saline lakes like the Salton Sea in
providing biofilm to migrating birds is a new and intriguing
line of inquiry and emphasizes the already dire need to
conserve the limited number of stopover habitats suitable for
shorebirds. Saline lakes across the interior western U.S. are
at risk of ecological collapse as fresh water is diverted away
and salinity rises to unhealthy levels. This puts millions of
birds already devastated by habitat loss at further risk and
exposes human residents to toxic sediments as shorelines recede
and form large dust clouds. Maintaining the ecological function
of these lakes is essential to both public health and the
recovery of migratory bird populations in the western United
States.
A Texas lawmaker has reinforced Republican-led efforts to roll
back Endangered Species Act protections with new legislation
that targets seven kinds of fresh-water mussels with funny
names. In the latest Congressional Review Act salvo focused on
ESA listings, Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) introduced H.J.
Res. 169 to erase the Guadalupe fatmucket, Texas pimpleback and
five other mussels from the list of threatened and endangered
species. Arrington’s resolution, introduced with two
co-sponsors Friday, comes about three weeks after the Fish and
Wildlife Service announced the final decision listing the seven
species and designating 1,578 river miles as critical
habitat… In making the listing decisions, the Fish and
Wildlife Service cited water diversions from the Colorado
River, Rio Grande and other river networks as leading threats
to the species, along with drought, flooding and pollution. But
on a more positive note, the administration also pointed to
conservation measures undertaken by the Brazos River Authority,
the Lower Colorado River Authority and the Trinity River
Authority.
Conservation advocates say a new Bureau of Land Management
final Environmental Impact Statement takes positive steps
toward developing a management plan to conserve public lands in
Northwest California. The Northwest California Integrated
Resource Management Plan will manage more than 380,000 acres in
Butte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and
Trinity counties for at least the next two decades. … The
lands covered by the plan stretch from the North Coast to the
Central Valley and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains. They include isolated redwood groves, oak woodlands,
rivers and streams, and are home to elk, bald eagles, sandhill
cranes, salmon and steelhead.
… Despite two wet years, California’s long drought continues
to impact where water is diverted and how salmon spawn. Salmon
like cold, clear, clean water. Industrialized water systems
such as canals, levees, and dams with low levels result in
water being diverted for macro level agriculture. The small
amount of water being allocated leaves little room for salmon
and fishermen. Last year’s closure cost California fishermen
approximately $45 million, with some sources saying that is
only a fraction of the loss.
A 20-year conservation effort to restore the lower Siuslaw
River just got a big boost. A cattle farmer recently
transferred 245 acres of land to continue restoration of the
tidal estuary. The act will mean a lot for salmon. If the
Siuslaw River estuary were a puzzle, a good-sized piece of it
was just put back. The latest land deal helps expand more than
1,200 acres of existing conservation lands in the area. It took
the work of state and federal agencies and area nonprofits to
make it happen.
Lake Hemet will be closed for swimming this summer due to toxic
algae that has bloomed at area lakes in recent months,
officials announced earlier this week. In a social media post,
Lake Hemet Campground said it received test results Tuesday,
June 18, showing that while there has been some improvement,
enough algae is present to keep swimmers out of the water even
as temperatures begin to climb. … Toxic algal blooms
pose a threat to people and their pets. The blooms of
cyanobacteria, commonly called blue-green algae, often look
like streaks of spilled paint, and can produce toxins that can
harm the liver, kidneys, brain, digestive system and skin.
… The Delta smelt benefited from massive releases of stored
water to send more fresh water into the Delta in a bid to help
them. That also meant less water for growers in the southern
part of the San Joaquin Valley. Those releases have been
criticized by impacted farmers who argue the water is simply
going out to sea and not being diverted for human uses
especially during drought periods. They point to surveys
of Delta smelt populations before and after such massive
releases and note the decline in numbers haven’t slowed down.
… There are Delta smelt being bred in programs the University
of California at Davis operates near Stockton and at a fish
hatchery near Shasta Dam managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service. And it is those hatchery bred Delta smelt that farmers
contend are now being used to enforce federal and state
regulations requiring the reduction in Delta water exports
despite a flush year of precipitation year. —Written by Dennis Wyatt, editor with the Manteca
Bulletin
A Sacramento County judge on Thursday ruled in favor of several
water districts and local governments over California’s planned
delta tunnel project that would divert water from Northern
California to the south of the state, saying that exploratory
work can’t continue until the state completes a necessary
certification process. The decision by Superior Court Judge
Stephen Acquisto is a win for the groups that had argued the
state Department of Water Resources hadn’t completed all
documentation required by the California Environmental Quality
Act and complied with the Delta Plan. The department had sought
to perform geotechnical work, like initial drilling and the
installation of monitoring equipment. … An attorney for the
groups argued at a May hearing that drilling holes, along with
other moves, did physically change the environment. That meant
it fell under the act’s purview, and the department didn’t yet
have the authority. On Thursday, Acquisto agreed.
Experts are warning Californians to brace for a ‘very active’
wildfire season this fall as two back-to-back wet winters and
forecasts for a warmer-than-normal summer are likely to prime
the state’s landscape for fire. Even as recent blazes triggered
evacuations in Los Angeles and Sonoma counties, those incidents
may prove to be relatively tame compared with what the rest of
the year could have in store, said Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate
scientist and extreme weather expert. … Climate change is
also driving warmer global temperatures and a
thirstier atmosphere, both of which can extract more water from
the landscape and pave the way for hotter and faster fires in
the West and other arid areas, Swain said. In fact, he said the
state’s recent cycling between wet and dry conditions is in
some ways the worst setup for wildfire activity in a warming
world.
Forest thinning increases water supplies downstream while
reducing wildfire risk, according to a study conducted by Salt
River Project and Arizona State University. Land managers
and scientists knew forest thinning — a technique that clears
smaller trees and vegetation to reduce fuel loads in forests —
decreases wildfire hazard, but wanted to quantify how
restoration projects also benefit watersheds. …One acre-foot
of water can supply three Arizona families with water for a
year. SRP provides water for much of metro Phoenix from
snowfall and rain runoff across 8 million acres of land in
northern Arizona.
How much money will it take to save the Colorado River? And is
money the answer?It turns out with money, as is with water,
every drop in the bucket helps and can work to achieve water
savings, restore ecosystems, provide additional recreational
opportunities and prevent flooding. … A Monday webinar hosted
by the Water Hub featuring local elected officials, nonprofit
organizations and others detailed some of the progress made so
far with on-the-ground projects, particularly in the Upper
Colorado River Basin and the look ahead. The projects targeted
water savings, agricultural efficiency, habitat restoration,
and flood and drought mitigation in a basin increasingly
challenged by drought that has scorched the West, sapped river
flows, increased sediment, and put in jeopardy wildlife and
vital aquatic ecosystems.
As work proceeds to remove four dams along the Klamath River,
more than the salmon runs will be restored: The lands long buried
by the now-drained reservoirs will be reclaimed by the people who
were robbed of them more than 100 years ago. The Shasta Indian
Nation will celebrate Tuesday as California Gov. Gavin Newsom
returns about 2,800 acres of the tribe’s most sacred and
culturally important lands that were drowned by the Copco I dam
in the early 20th century. The date also marks the fifth
anniversary of a historic apology made to California tribes by
Newsom. It’s the latest chapter in the nation’s largest-ever dam
removal.
After nearly a century of people building dams on most of the
world’s major rivers, artificial reservoirs now represent an
immense freshwater footprint across the landscape. Yet, these
reservoirs are understudied and overlooked for their fisheries
production and management potential, indicates a study from the
University of California, Davis. The study, published
in the journal Scientific Reports, estimates that U.S.
reservoirs hold 3.5 billion kilograms (7.7 billion pounds) of
fish. Properly managed, these existing reservoir ecosystems
could play major roles in food security and fisheries
conservation.
California has unveiled an ambitious plan to help combat the
worsening climate crisis with one of its invaluable assets: its
land. Over the next 20 years, the state will work to transform
more than half of its 100 million acres into multi-benefit
landscapes that can absorb more carbon than they release,
officials announced Monday. … The plan also calls for
11.9 million acres of forestland to be managed for biodiversity
protection, carbon storage and water supply protection by 2045,
and 2.7 million acres of shrublands and chaparral to be managed
for carbon storage, resilience and habitat connectivity, among
other efforts.
Tiny pieces of plastic waste shed
from food wrappers, grocery bags, clothing, cigarette butts,
tires and paint are invading the environment and every facet of
daily life. Researchers know the plastic particles have even made
it into municipal water supplies, but very little data exists
about the scope of microplastic contamination in drinking
water.
After years of planning, California this year is embarking on a
first-of-its-kind data-gathering mission to illuminate how
prevalent microplastics are in the state’s largest drinking water
sources and help regulators determine whether they are a public
health threat.
Algal blooms are sudden overgrowths
of algae. Their occurrence is increasing in California’s
rivers, creeks and lakes and along the coast, threatening the
lives of people, pets and fisheries.
Only a few types of algae can produce poisons, but even nontoxic
blooms hurt the environment and local economies. When masses
of algae die, the decaying can deplete oxygen in the water to the
point of causing devastating fish kills.
Excess salinity poses a growing
threat to food production, drinking water quality and public
health. Salts increase the cost of urban drinking water and
wastewater treatment, which are paid for by residents and
businesses. Increasing salinity is likely the largest long-term
chronic water quality impairment to surface and groundwater in California’s Central
Valley.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Nevada Water provides an
overview of the history of water development and use in Nevada.
It includes sections on Nevada’s water rights laws, the history
of the Truckee and Carson rivers, water supplies for the Las
Vegas area, groundwater, water quality, environmental issues and
today’s water supply challenges.
Stretching 450 miles long and up to
50 miles wide, the Sierra Nevada makes up more than a quarter of
California’s land area and forms its largest watersheds,
providing more than half of the state’s developed water supply to
residents, agriculture and other businesses.*
The California Environmental Quality
Act, commonly known as CEQA, is foundational to the state’s
environmental protection efforts. The law requires proposed
developments with the potential for “significant” impacts on the
physical environment to undergo an environmental review.
Since its passage in 1970, CEQA (based on the National
Environmental Policy Act) has served as a model for
similar legislation in other states.
This issue of Western Water examines that process. Much
of the information is drawn from discussions that occurred at the
November 2005 Selenium Summit sponsored by the Foundation and the
California Department of Water Resources. At that summit, a
variety of experts presented findings and the latest activities
from areas where selenium is of primary interest.