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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A few weeks ago, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology declared
that the Pacific Ocean is no longer in an El Niño state and has
returned to “neutral.” American scientists at the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been more hesitant,
but they estimate that there is an 85% chance that the Pacific
will enter a neutral state in the next two months and a 60%
chance that a La Niña event will begin by August. … As
an El Niño phase begins, [the trade winds] winds weaken, so
that warm sea surface temperatures move east toward South
America. This can cause climatic shifts across the globe:
landslides in Peru, drought in Australia, fish die-offs in the
eastern Pacific and more frequent atmospheric rivers in
Southern California. These changing weather patterns also
weaken the trade winds further, leading to more warm water off
the coast of South America, which in turn weakens the winds,
and so on.
The Scott and Shasta Rivers were once salmon strongholds, but
over-allocation of water has made these rivers nearly
uninhabitable for coho and chinook. The State Water Resources
Control Board established emergency regulations that set
minimum streamflows during the most recent drought. But those
will likely expire soon. Without new permanent instream flows,
both rivers could run dry. A coalition of tribal governments,
fishermen and environmental nonprofits are asking the State
Board for new permanent instream flow dedications. And new
legislation, if passed, will strengthen the ability of the
state to protect those instream flows. Karuk Vice-Chairman
Kenneth Brink, Cody Phillips of the California Coastkeeper
Alliance, and Klamath advocate Craig Tucker join the EcoNews to
talk about what’s needed to save California’s salmon.
With Lake Oroville creeping toward capacity, concerns over
emergency spillage loom. The California Department of Water
Resources, however, said this won’t happen because of
controlled outflows and monitoring. DWR Spokesperson Raquel
Borray said the dam is being watched closely. … As of
Tuesday, Borrayo said, total releases into the Feather River
come out to 10,000 cubic feet per second with the majority —
9,350 cfs — going through the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet and
the remaining 650 cfs pouring through the low-flow channel. She
added that DWR is making adjustments as they are necessary.
Flooding is a natural phenomenon that we humans keep assuming
can be controlled with enough effort and engineering. But
this simply is not possible, as floods across the globe
repeatedly demonstrate. People continue to be surprised when
landscapes become waterscapes. This brings loss of life and
enormous costs of repairing damaged infrastructure and
constructing bigger levees and dams for flood control. As Tim
Palmer says in his new book (2024) local to global
failures of current flood management practices: “The age
of denial is over. The time has come to take a different
path (p 140)”.
Those stunning warnings in 2021 that the Marin Municipal Water
District was within months of running out of water led voters
to demand change. In the 2022 election, that frustration was
evident as voters elected three new directors. The historic
drought has taken a toll on the district’s chain of reservoirs,
the capacity of which it relies to meet the water needs of the
communities MMWD serves. The Lake Sonoma reservoir, which MMWD
relies on to import about 25% of its supply, was also depleted
by the drought and its releases restricted. The drought was a
huge test of the district’s long held policy of maintaining its
supply through conservation. The prolonged drought proved that
conservation, while vitally necessary, wasn’t enough — and the
district was caught in a crisis.
When Dos Rios Ranch opens to visitors next month in the San
Joaquin Valley, California will have 280 state parks — making
it one of the nation’s largest systems, as well as one of its
most popular, with about 70 million visitors a year. Who knew?
The short answer is: hardly anyone. Over the past 20 years
I’ve asked several thousand Californians to name five state
parks. Fewer than 5% can do so. And most of these baffled
respondents are outdoorsy folks — the kind of people I meet on
the trail or at my talks about hiking. This lack of awareness
is more than surprising right now. It’s dangerous. If
Californians can’t name a handful of state parks, they won’t
recognize the threat when Sacramento defers investment in the
system or — as is inevitably happening again — attempts to cut
funding. -Written by John McKinney, author of “Hike
California’s State Parks” and two dozen other hiking-themed
books, has visited all 280 state parks.
A new study looks into how many fish are in reservoirs across
the U.S., and what role these ecosystems could play in
conservation and food security. For decades, dams have been
built on most major rivers, creating thousands of man-made
reservoirs – and fish habitats. In fact, 7.7 billion pounds of
fish are being held in the nation’s reservoirs, according to a
study from the University of California, Davis that was
published in the journal Scientific Reports. Researchers found
that most states have a fish stock of at least 220 million
pounds. Texas leads the country with more than 700 million
pounds of fish, followed by Arkansas with about 440 million
pounds. In the Mountain West, Idaho and New Mexico each have
around 220 million pounds of fish in their reservoirs. Wyoming,
Colorado and Nevada are just below that mark, and Utah has
about half that amount.
As summer approaches, the Imperial Irrigation District is
gearing up for another battle with the weeds that infest its
canals. To do that, the regional water agency is calling in
reinforcements: a small army of plant-munching fish. Water
weeds are a common problem for many irrigation districts, since
shallow canals and clear water create a welcoming environment
for aquatic plant life. The weeds regularly clog up the system
of gates and channels that ferry water to farms throughout
Imperial County.
I have been on the Colorado River a few times, the first in
2014. It is hard to believe that in August, it will represent a
decade of dipping my toes in the water, so to speak, to better
understand this complex river described as the “Workhorse of
the West.” This river, at 1,450 miles, is often referred to as
the lifeblood of a rapidly growing region of the United States.
Arizona’s population is exploding, Utah consistently ranks as
the fastest growing state in the nation and New Mexico,
Colorado and Nevada are suffering from growing
pains. Suffice it to say, the West needs the river to
thrive. The West needs the river to be generous, supported by
bountiful snowpacks in the Upper Basin to support growth. -Written by Joi O’Donoghue and Emma Pitts,
reporters for Deseret News.
… Although Governor Newsom stated in his press conference on
the budget that there would be no impact on advancing the Delta
Conveyance Project, what he described as the state’s “number
one climate resiliency program,” the potential financial
impacts on future state bond repayments should not be ignored,
as well as the Governor’s climate resiliency claims.
The Department of Water Resources says that revenue
bonds will be used to fund the project in a recent public
information sheet.
Imagine a world devoid of bird calls, with mountains, rivers,
beaches, and forests missing a soundtrack that has sustained
for 150 million years. Although such a scenario, reminiscent of
Rachel Carson’s influential book “Silent Spring,” remains
highly unlikely, scientists are sounding alarms about the
dramatic decline in bird populations worldwide. A 2019 study
published in Science documented those declines, including the
loss of nearly 3 billion birds in North America alone since
1970. Habitat loss and degradation, driven by coastal
disturbance, pollution, and rising sea levels, are the primary
culprits. And along the world’s shorelines, coastal wetlands
play an outsize role in sustaining bird populations. By
providing feeding, breeding, and nesting areas for a wide
variety of avian species, these ecosystems—in particular salt
marshes and mangroves—are sanctuaries for migratory birds
facing significant challenges.
Last year, we shared a story about a threatened California
red-legged frog that was spotted near the Mosquito Fire burn
scar in Foresthill, California. We have more good news to
share! Just a few weeks ago, biologists from the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service’s Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office
and Tahoe National Forest returned to the burn scar to see if
they could find any frogs. In addition to seeing new native
plant growth, they were thrilled to spot TWO California
red-legged frogs living in newly constructed wetlands about a
mile away from where the frog was found last year!
These wetlands were built in 2021 by the Tahoe National
Forest and many dedicated volunteers to resemble naturally
occurring habitat. Biologists hoped that California
red-legged frogs would move in, but after the fire, no one was
sure if the frogs would be able to make the journey safely.
Rainfall and snow storms boosted California’s groundwater
supplies and replenished the Sierra Nevada snowpack, but
scientists say dry conditions in the summer — and starting as
soon as this weekend — could reverse that progress. …
temperatures in California — including in San Francisco — are
forecast to climb over their usual seasonal highs. That
could accelerate the rate at which the state’s snowpack melts,
according to Andrew Schwartz, lead scientist and
station manager at the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow
Laboratory …
The Colorado River is in trouble. More than two decades of
megadrought fueled by climate change have sapped its supplies,
and those who use the river’s water are struggling to rein in
demand. Now, with current rules for river sharing set to expire
in 2026, policymakers have a rare opportunity to rework how
Western water is managed.
After a wet El Niño winter, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration says there’s a 69% chance La Niña
could develop by July and last through winter, potentially
bringing dry and cool conditions to Southern California. What
could happen locally: La Niña is typically associated with
drier weather in Southern California. However, we saw one of
the wettest winters last year, and that occurred during a La
Niña event. Why is this happening? Temperatures in the eastern
Pacific Ocean have begun to cool. What’s the difference between
La Niña and El Niño? La Niña is often associated with drier and
cooler conditions in Southern California. Wetter weather is
commonly associated with El Niño, which is when warm water off
the coast sends heat and moisture into the atmosphere.
Groundwater basins in California and across the world are the
source for much of the water that grows our food. But many
challenges come with groundwater: Keeping use sustainable,
nitrate contamination and impacts from climate change. The
world’s top scientists, policymakers and experts will be
addressing these topics June 18-20 in San
Francisco at the 3ʳᵈ
International Groundwater Conference Linking Science &
Policy, along with the latest advancements on groundwater
demand management, conjuctive use, managed aquifer recharge,
groundwater governance and emerging artificial
intelligence resources related to groundwater and
agriculture. Learn
more about this conference.
It’s a tale as old as the American West: folks fighting over
water. This time, however, the battle brewing in a remote
California community is one you’ve likely never heard before.
The clash is centered in the normally sleepy community of Pine
Valley, which, according to most recent U.S. Census Bureau
figures, has a population of 1,645. Although you don’t have to
live in town to sign, that figure is close to how many people
signed a petition boasting 1,800 signatures that was circulated
to Stop SD Crescentwood Cemetery. … Critics argue, though,
that it sits above the Campo-Cottonwood Sole Source Aquifer,
which serves the groundwater needs of thousands of East County
residents. Depending upon whom you talk with, the facility
could host as few as four burials a year or as many as 350. The
problem … is that “effluvium” from decomposing human bodies
could leach into the ground, eventually making its way down and
contaminating the aquifer.
Further legal action on the Kern River was put on pause
Thursday morning following an order by the 5th District Court
of Appeal that stayed a local injunction mandating enough water
be kept in the river for fish. … The underlying lawsuit was
filed in 2022 by Bring Back the Kern and several other public
interest groups along with Water Audit California, against the
City of Bakersfield for dewatering the river. … That 2022
lawsuit demands the city study the impacts of its river
operations on recreation and the ecosystem under the Public
Trust doctrine, which states all natural resources are held in
trust by the state for the greatest beneficial use by the
public. That was once automatically considered to be farming,
industry and municipal uses. But in recent years, recreation,
aesthetics and the environment have gained equal footing.
A new project for the Mojave Water Agency aims to support
strategic planning for sustainable groundwater basin management
and conjunctive use projects, the agency announced. The
announcement came on Tuesday by Geoscience Support Services,
Inc., a geohydrology firm that provides specialized
hydrogeology and groundwater consulting and services.
Geoscience entered into a new contract with the Apple
Valley-based Mojave Water Agency to evaluate groundwater
resources and develop advanced recovery and management
strategies. The project supports the Mojave Water Agency’s
mission to manage groundwater basins and address risks to
sustainable water supplies.
Despite the prevailing dry conditions in warmer months, the
Sacramento Valley and the north Delta have remained free of
harmful algal bloom (HAB) detections—a testament to our
proactive monitoring and mitigation efforts. As we continue to
closely watch over these waterways and utilize the latest
technology, we’re committed to keeping our communities safe and
our ecosystems thriving. With warmer temperatures and summer
recreation at California freshwater lakes and rivers on the
horizon, it is time for Californians to be vigilant about the
dangers posed by freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms
(HABs). According to the California Department of Water
Resources (DRW), algal blooms can release toxins into the water
which have the potential to significantly harm both people and
pets. It can also create hypoxia which impacts fish
populations.
