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Slow Trickle Of Progress On Groundwater Reform

/in /by /Stockton Recordby Alex Breitler

The first step toward sustaining one of San Joaquin County’s most precious resources took nearly two years. And it may have been the easiest part of the journey. Still, local officials sound optimistic about their efforts to comply with the state’s new groundwater mandate,largely because the county’s diverse, sometimes feuding water agencies have agreed to at least sit down at the table and talk about it. “We’ve gotten this far,” San Joaquin County Supervisor Chuck Winn said last week, ahead of a major deadline at the end of this month.

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Oroville Fish Hatchery Open For Viewing, Salmon Arriving Slowly

/in /by /Oroville Mercury Registerby Heather Hacking

Pieces of the Feather River Fish Hatchery have been patched back together in time for the return of spring-run chinook salmon. However, the shoveling, shifting and trucking will continue for a while until its smooth swimming for the important fish-rearing station on Table Mountain Boulevard. This week, staff has begun to trap spring-run fish that will be tagged before being released back to the river. “They’re coming in really slow,” said Penny Crawshaw, a fish hatchery manager. High volume releases of water from the dam continued until recently, which encouraged fish to hold lower in the river, she explained.

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OPINION: Delta Tunnels Won’t Help On Climate Change

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla

Dan Morain suggests the proposed Delta tunnels offer a solution for managing California’s water in our changing climate. (“Brown sends a message on the Delta tunnels,” Insight, June 1).This argument misses the mark. The engineering report for the California WaterFix project indicates that the proposed new intakes at the town of Hood are being designed for 18 inches of sea level rise, yet the Delta Stewardship Council indicates that we should be planning for 55 inches of sea level rise. The $17 billion tunnels will likely become a stranded asset.

 

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With the Drought Waning, the Future of Desalination Is Murkier

/in /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

California is emerging from one of the worst droughts in its modern history, a dry spell that prompted emergency regulations and some deep reflections on the fragile nature of our water supplies. The recent rain and snow across much of the state seem to have given water agencies breathing room to think long and hard about one oft-floated solution that came up a lot during the drought: desalination.

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Otay Water Sues City of San Diego for Overcharges on Reclaimed Water Services

/in /by /East County Magazine (San Diego)

June 4, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – The Otay Water District filed a lawsuit in Superior Court on May 30th against the City of San Diego alleging breach of contract, overcharges on recycled water rates and lack of transparency.  The suit accuses San Diego of becoming “unjustly enriched at Otay’s expense,” according to Mark Robak, president of the Otay Water District, and asks the court to rescind a January 2016 rate hike and repay that money to the district.

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Salton Sea Has Amazing History and Great Camping

/in /by /VVdailypress.com

The Salton Sea is a fascinating camping location with an amazing history. Previously known as the Salton Sink, directly above the San Andreas fault, the introduction of river water changed all of that. The Salton Sea was created in 1905, when spring flooding on the Colorado River Broke through canal gates that empty towards the Imperial Valley. It was nearly a year and a half before the breech was finally repaired. The result was the creation of a mammoth sea that is 20 miles wide and 45 miles long.

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Blacklock Marsh: Tidal Habitat No Panacea for Thoughtful Restoration

/in /by /California Water Blog

Returning open tidal exchange to diked lands is a primary goal of Delta restoration, driven by the 2008 Biological Opinion from USFWS. This document requires 8000 acres of tidal and subtidal habitat to be created. California EcoRestore is coordinating with state and federal agencies to restore at least 30,000 acres, much of which will be tidal or subtidal. Evidence from newly created tidal wetlands, however, does not support the basic concept behind these restoration actions: that dikes can be breached and then left alone, to create tidal habitat with high benefits to endangered fishes.

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California Water Agencies Are Seeking a Bigger Role, Aiming To Speed Up Delta Tunnel Plan

/in /by /Associated Press (As published by Los Angeles Times)

California’s powerful regional water districts are working alongside Gov. Jerry Brown to take on more responsibility for designing, building and arranging financing for a $15.7-billion twin-tunnel project that would ship water southward from Northern California as they push to finally close the deal on the controversial plan, two officials working closely on the project told the Associated Press.

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Sen. Bill Monning: We Still Need to Save Water This Summer

/in /by /Santa Cruz Sentinelby Sen. Bill Monning

California has had an uncharacteristically rainy season this year and, after years of severe drought, I know we all welcome this replenishment of California’s water tables. While Governor Brown has lifted the state’s emergency drought order, it is important to remember that water is still a precious resource. On average, Californians use over 190 gallons of water a day. Higher water usage is linked to higher home energy usage, and many Californians suffer from water over usage in individual homes.

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Private Water Panel Meetings Continue Apace, Despite Detractors

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby James DeHaven Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

San Diego County Water Authority directors have met behind closed doors more than three times a week on average since the start of the year, putting the agency on pace to surpass last year’s tally of gatherings that critics say could run afoul of open-meetings laws. U-T Watchdog reviewed payroll records — the only documentation available for the meetings — and found that directors appointed to the 36-member board were paid to attend 55 private meetings through the end of April. That’s 10 more than were held over the same time period in 2016 — a year in which board members held more than 100 meetings out of public view.

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