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 American Southwest and its drinking water may not be in as
bad of shape as originally thought. A new study coming from
researchers at CU Boulder, reveals that precipitation, not
temperature, will keep the Colorado River fuller than previous
research told us. The Journal of Climate published the study
Tuesday as a guide for policymakers, water managers, states and
tribes to figure out how to monitor the river until 2050. New
guidelines are going to replace regulations from 2007, which
are set to expire at the end of 2026.
One of multiple charges in a lawsuit that pins blame for the
perpetually sinking Friant-Kern Canal on a single Tulare County
groundwater agency was recently removed. The Eastern Tule
Groundwater Sustainability Agency (ETGSA) hailed the move as
vindication. But plaintiffs, the Friant Water Authority and
Arvin-Edison Water Storage District, said the change was simply
meant to narrow the complaint in order to get faster action
against Eastern Tule. The stakes could not be higher as the
entire Tule subbasin, which covers the southern half of
Tulare’s valley portion, is looking down the barrel of a
possible pumping takeover by the state Water Resources Control
Board. The Water Board, the enforcement arm of the
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, has scheduled a
“probationary hearing” for the subbasin Sept. 17.
After years of pervasive declines, groundwater levels rose
significantly in much of California last year, boosted by
historic wet weather and the state’s expanding efforts to
replenish depleted aquifers. The state’s aquifers gained an
estimated 8.7 million acre-feet of groundwater — nearly double
the total storage capacity of Shasta Lake — during the 2023
water year that ended Sept. 30, according to newly compiled
data from the California Department of Water Resources. A large
portion of the gains, an estimated 4.1 million acre-feet, came
through efforts that involved capturing water from rivers
swollen by rains and snowmelt, and sending it to areas where
the water percolated into the ground to recharge aquifers. The
state said the amount of managed groundwater recharge that
occurred was unprecedented, and nearly double the amount of
water replenished during 2019, the prior wet year.
Are you a journalist enthralled by the history, policy and
science behind Western water issues? The journalism team at the
Water Education Foundation is looking for a full-time writer
who is knowledgeable about the most precious natural resource
in California and the Colorado River Basin, enjoys a fast-paced
environment and possesses strong reporting, writing and
multimedia skills. The ideal candidate has experience reporting
and writing in-depth articles as well as shorter enterprise
articles, posting breaking news on social media channels and
staying current on Western water issues. Our stories often
explore the science, policy and debates centered around
drought, groundwater, sustainability, water access and
affordability, climate change and endangered species involving
key sources of supply such as the Colorado River and the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Some California residents will see their sewer bills more than
double by mid-2028 if city officials approve a proposed budget
from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Under the new plan, Bass
proposes a variety of budget increases for city services,
ranging from increased ambulance service costs from the fire
department to a slew of increases to the city’s bimonthly sewer
bill that will see the cost more than double if the Los Angeles
council approves the mayor’s budget. The budget proposal
from Bass, who previously served as a Democrat in the U.S.
House, comes as municipalities across the nation have
recently considered an increase in water bills while
citing a variety of reasons, ranging from new nanofiltration
systems to reduce the levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl
substances, known as PFAS, to less water storage in
reservoirs because of damaged dams.
Residents of Allensworth are finally getting attention from a
company that installed and then abandoned hydropanels, which
make water out of thin air, several years ago. As SJV
Water reported in March, residents were frustrated they
couldn’t get support from Source Global, the company behind the
panels, after the panels had fallen into disrepair. Following
SJV Water’s story, Source Global dedicated a staff person to
oversee operations in Allensworth, said Kayode Kadara, a
community leader in Allensworth. … Kadara said Source
Global staff has been making calls to residents in town with
the hydropanels and technicians have come out to perform upkeep
and check the hydropanels. Kadara’s own hydropanels at home
were serviced. The hydropanels at Allensworth’s community
center still aren’t working though, said Kadara.
Related San Joaquin Valley drinking water article:
As legacy publications celebrated their Pulitzer Prize wins
Monday, bottles of champagne were also uncorked at Lookout
Santa Cruz, a fledgling 10-person newsroom based on the second
floor of a former bank on Santa Cruz’s quiet, tree-lined
Pacific Avenue. “What a day!” said Ken Doctor, the Lookout’s
chief executive and founder. “It’s incredible!” The online news
organization won the prize for its breaking news coverage of
Santa Cruz County’s catastrophic January 2023 floods.
… Doctor said the package submitted to the Pulitzer
board included on-the-ground reporting, as well as blogs,
newsletters and texts produced for readers as the storms
hammered California’s Central Coast, causing landslides, levee
failures and widespread destruction.
A local ag industry titan is being recognized for his lifelong
service in farming and civic life. Assemblymember Esmeralda
Soria has recognized Firebaugh farmer Joe L. Del Bosque as her
office’s 2024 Latino Spirit Award Honoree. Following years of
migrant farm work, Del Bosque’s family established themselves
on the westside of the San Joaquin Valley, where he grew up on
the farm with his father, going to work at age 10. He graduated
from Fresno State in 1975 and then his started own operation in
1985. Del Bosque Farms produces organic melons, tomatoes,
almonds and cherries. Del Bosque is a vocal advocate for
farmers and farmworkers impacted by water policies.
Nearly 1,600 acres of land used as rice fields north of
Sacramento could one day become public land, after a huge
restoration project funded partly by
big tech. Apple is among the donors to the Dos
Rios Norte project, an effort to restore a floodplain located
where the Sacramento and Feather rivers meet that’s crucial to
wildlife, the Sacramento Bee first reported.
California conservation nonprofit River Partners is leading the
efforts, with the goal of repairing the area habitat for the
state’s native Chinook salmon population, threatened bird
species and other wildlife species. The project aims to save
around 7,000 acre-feet of water each year, among other
environmental benefits. Apple would not disclose how much the
company contributed to this project, but confirmed to SFGATE it
has pledged more than $8 million since 2023 to California
watershed projects, including this one.
For several years now, one question has held the key to
understanding just how much we should worry about the hundreds
of tons of DDT that had been dumped off the coast of Los
Angeles: How, exactly, has this decades-old pesticide — a toxic
chemical spread across the seafloor 3,000 feet underwater —
continued to reenter the food web? Now, in a highly anticipated
study, researchers have identified tiny zooplankton and
mid-to-deep-water fish as potential links between the
contaminated sediment and the greater ecosystem. For the first
time, chemical analyses confirmed that these deep-sea organisms
are contaminated by numerous DDT-related compounds that match
similar chemical patterns found on the seafloor and animals
higher up on the food chain.
The California Desalination Association (CalDesal) today
announced the unanimous appointment of Lacy Carothers, PE,
Director of Engineering for California American Water, to its
Executive Committee. Carothers brings a wealth of
experience in the water industry to CalDesal, a statewide
association comprised of leaders from public and private water
agencies, non-profit organizations, and others committed to
integrating desalination into California’s sustainable water
future. “We’re all very excited to have Lacy join our Executive
Committee,” said Glenn Farrel, Executive Director of CalDesal.
“Her expertise and leadership will be invaluable as we continue
to advocate for desalination as a key solution to California’s
water challenges.”
As temperatures begin to warm up in Northern California, you
might be tempted to take a dip in local waterways. “Keep in
mind that the area rivers and streams will continue to run COLD
as a product of mountain snowmelt,” the National Weather
Service posted Monday afternoon on X, formerly known as
Twitter. The weather service is forecasting temperatures in
Sacramento to reach 90 degrees by Sunday, for the first time in
2024. “We will be going from below-normal temperatures to
above-normal temperatures for this time of the year,” Scott
Rowe, a senior service hydrologist at the weather service in
Sacramento, said Monday.
Lake Oroville, the second-largest reservoir in California,
reached capacity on Monday for a second straight year after
another relatively wet winter. The rising waters come as state
reservoir managers have been reducing outflows from the lake in
recent weeks — as winter inflows tailed off and the threat
of downstream flooding waned — allowing the reservoir to
slowly fill to its current 899-foot elevation, or 3.52-million
acre-feet of water. … Lake Oroville contains 28% more water
than it historically has on this date. “This is great news
for ensuring adequate water supply for millions of Californians
& environmental needs,” the state Department of Water Resources
posted Monday afternoon on X, formerly Twitter.
In another move to build water resilient systems in the West
and particularly in the Colorado River Basin, the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation announced Monday $147 million in federal grants
to help underserved communities dogged by water scarcity
issues. The funding will support 42 projects in 10 states. In
eastern Utah, nearly $6.6 million was granted to the Ute Indian
Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation which operates the
Ute Tribe Water Systems, providing water service to tribal
members.
A federal judge ruled Monday afternoon that a California dam
harms endangered salmon when it conducts flood control
operations. Coyote Valley Dam, operated by the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, protects the city of Ukiah from flooding from
nearby Lake Mendocino. In 2022, fisheries biologist Sean White
sued the Corps claiming the dam’s flood control operations kick
up sediment in the water, increasing turbidity and harming
endangered Central California coast steelhead, coho and Chinook
salmon. White’s previous requests for injunctive relief were
denied in 2023, yet he was granted summary judgment on his
claims on Monday after providing more data. U.S. District Judge
Jacqueline Scott Corley, a Joe Biden appointee, wrote in her
18-page opinion that it was beyond dispute that the dam’s
operations harm the fish.
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is warning
people to keep their pets away from Silverwood Lake in San
Bernardino after water officials identified toxic algae in the
water. Last week, the DWR announced that water officials have
issued a “caution algal bloom advisory” for Silverwood Lake
after blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, was found
at the lake. Not all algae is toxic, but it’s impossible to
tell just by looking at it. Exposure to toxic
cyanobacteria can cause unpleasant symptoms, such as eye, nose,
mouth or throat irritation, headache, allergic skin rash, mouth
ulcers, vomiting, diarrhea, and cold- and flu-like symptoms,
according to a DWR website. Pets and children are especially
susceptible, prompting the DWR to urge people to be aware of
the conditions.
A rare late season storm dumped nearly 2 feet of snow on some
regions of Northern California over the weekend, breaking at
least one daily snowfall record. The storm, which swept in from
the Gulf of Alaska, dropped about 31 inches of snow on Lower
Lassen Peak, 26 inches at Palisades Summit and 22 inches at
Soda Springs Ski Resort and 16 inches at Kingvale, according to
the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office. The UC
Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Laboratory at Donner Summit
recorded 26.4 inches of snow in a 24-hour period on May 5,
making it the “snowiest day of the season at the lab,”
according to a social media post. The last record was 23.8
inches on March 3.
… Along the eastern edge of Imperial County, the landscape is
slowly changing. Acres of invasive saltcedar plants and other
weeds are vanishing, replaced by expanses of thorny green trees
dusted with bright yellow flowers. The shift is a result of the
Quechan Tribe’s ongoing efforts to restore the banks of the
parched Colorado River … where it winds through the Quechan
Reservation between California and Arizona.
An extraordinary water year brought much-needed relief to a
drought-stricken Golden State, but experts say California needs
several more exceptionally wet years to repair lingering damage
to precious underground water supplies. The newest Semi-Annual
Groundwater Conditions report — using the first annual data
collected from groundwater sustainability agencies across 99
basins holding more than 90% of the state’s groundwater —
indicates the state has gained 4.1 million acre-feet of water
through underground recharge, nearly the total storage capacity
of Shasta Lake. Meanwhile, underground storage improved by 8.7
million acre-feet. Thanks to the surprise string of
record-breaking storms, 2023 marked the first year since 2019
that agencies saw a jump in groundwater storage.
The judge in the Santa Barbara Channelkeeper case has ordered a
further six-month stay in the litigation so that structured
mediation can continue. … Eleven major parties involved
in the mediation process, including newcomers to the
negotiations the State Water Resources Control Board and the
California Department of Fish and Wildlife, had jointly asked
the court to continue the stay to Jan. 31, “to allow the
structured mediation a realistic period of time to reach its
conclusion.” … The case dates back to 2014, when Santa
Barbara Channelkeeper sued the city of Ventura and the State
Water Resources Control Board for taking too much water from
the Ventura River, in turn harming endangered Southern
California steelhead trout.
