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Court Rules On California Water Agency Dispute

/in /by /Bond Buyer (New York)by Kyle Glazier Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

A California state appeals court ruling gave both sides victory claims in litigation between the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the largest of its 26 member agencies. The First District Court of Appeal last week affirmed the legality of the aspect of Metropolitan’s rate-setting methodology that includes State Water Project costs, reversing a 2015 trial court decision that had awarded $188.3 million in breach of contract claims to the San Diego County Water Authority. The SDCWA pays water transportation rates to Metropolitan for the movement of imported water the San Diego authority purchases from the Imperial Irrigation District.

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‘Huge Milestone’ For Delta Tunnels – Feds Say They Won’t Push Fish Over The Brink

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler and Ryan Sabalow

The Delta tunnels got a crucial green light from two federal agencies Monday when scientists said the controversial project can co-exist with the endangered fish that inhabit the waters of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. In a pair of long-awaited decisions, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service said the tunnels, known as California WaterFix, aren’t likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the Delta smelt, Chinook salmon, steelhead and other imperiled species.

 

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Federal Agencies Greenlight Proposed Delta Tunnel Project

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Bettina Boxall

Federal fishery agencies Monday pushed forward a controversial water project that would change the way Northern California supplies are sent to the Southland.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service concluded that the construction of new diversion points on the Sacramento River and two massive water tunnels would not jeopardize the existence of endangered species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which is the hub of California’s waterworks.

 

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OPINION: Continue Mitigation Water Until Salton Sea Is Stabilized

/in /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)

Kudos and heartfelt thanks to Ian James, Sammy Roth and the Desert Sun for their recent four-part series on the Salton Sea. They did and excellent job of showing the history and crisis (human health and environmental) looming. Combined with the Salton Sea seminar hosted by the Sun last Tuesday night, it is not easy to be optimistic for our future, health wise. We have the highest percent of childhood asthma in the state near the sea, and it is getting worse daily.

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California Water Chief At Helm Of Oroville Crisis Retires

/in /by /Associated Press (As published by ABC News)

A water manager who led the state’s emergency response to the erosion of the nation’s tallest dam says he’s retiring. Acting Director Bill Coyle made the announcement Friday after nearly a decade with the California Department of Water Resources. The 59-year-old had planned to retire in January, when Gov. Jerry Brown asked him to lead the department. The following month, the spillway at Oroville Dam crumbled when water overflowed during one of the state’s wettest winters on record. Nearly 200,000 residents downstream were ordered from home. His department is also shepherding plans to build a massive pair of $16 billion water tunnels.

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Crucial First Rulings On California’s Giant Water Tunnels

/in /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Ellen Knickmeyer, Scott Smith

Federal wildlife officials say they’re set to issue the crucial first rulings on Gov. Jerry Brown’s decades-old ambitions to re-engineer California’s water system with the $16 billion construction of giant water tunnels from the Sacramento River. The National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say they’ll announce their findings later Monday on the environmental impacts of the proposed tunnels, which would be California’s biggest water project in decades.

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Delta Home Team Goes Down In Defeat In Key Game In California’s Water World Series

/in /by /Central Valley Business Times (Stockton)by Gene Beley

After four months of comment representing thousands of hours of labor from advocates for the embattled estuary known as the California Delta, the Delta Stewardship Council voted 5-1 last week in favor of an amendment that endorses “dual conveyance” — the latest euphemism for a project to dig two of the largest water tunnels the world has ever seen. Touted by Gov. Edmund Brown Jr. as one of his legacy projects he hopes to leave to Californians, the tunnels would be an underground version of his voter-rejected Peripheral Canal of the 1980s.

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Why Long Beach Water, Sewer Rates Are Likely Going Up This Year

/in /by /Long Beach Press Telegram by Emily Thornton

Long Beach water users may see a water and sewer rate increase beginning Oct. 1 as part of the 2018 fiscal year budget recently passed by the Water Commission. The 2018 spending plan totals $127.4 million, with $106.5 million in the water fund and $21.9 million in the sewer fund. In both cases, expenses are higher than expected revenue, even with the planned rate increases, officials said. Under the plan, water rates will go up 4 percent, and sewer rates will rise by 2 percent. Combined, that amounts to about $1.84 more a month for the average water and sewer user.

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California Big Tunnels Win Early Approval. Questions Remain

/in /by /The Associated Press (As published by ABC News)by Ellen Knickmeyer, Scott Smith

Gov. Jerry Brown won crucial early approval from federal wildlife officials Monday for his $16 billion proposal to re-engineer California’s north-south water system, advancing his plan to build two giant tunnels to carry Northern California water to the south even though much about the project remains undetermined. The National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gave their green light by finding that the project would not mean extinction for endangered and threatened native species of salmon and other fish.

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With Recent Heat Wave, Lake Tahoe Water Level Approaches Max Limit

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Michael McGough

The combination of the West Coast heat wave and spring’s snowfall in the Sierra has Lake Tahoe close to filling for the first time in over a decade. An influx of more than 12 billion gallons of water has poured into the lake this past week, leading to a four-inch rise in the water level since June 16, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Friday. The lake’s water level, which has a maximum legal limit of 6,229.1 feet, was measured at 6,228.84 feet Friday morning. Bruce Wilcox, the Governor’s Salton Sea task force appointee is one of the good guys.

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