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Supreme Court Calls on Imperial Irrigation District to Submit Response to Michael Abatti

/in , /by /Palm Springs Desert Sunby Mark Olalde

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday instructed the Imperial Irrigation District to submit a response to California farmer Michael Abatti’s request that their longstanding legal battle be taken up by the nation’s highest court.

Scott Harris, clerk of the Supreme Court, wrote to Jennifer Meeker, an attorney for the water and power district, to say that even though IID didn’t feel the need to answer Abatti’s petition, “the Court nevertheless has directed this office to request that a response be filed.”

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Environment Report: Tijuana and San Diego Share a Sewage Problem But Not a Solution

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer

Vicente Calderon from Tijuana Press and I spend a lot of time picking our way around the sewage-laden Tijuana River, asking ourselves: How is it still this bad? Our latest story from the cross-border sewage crisis plaguing Tijuana and San Diego illuminated that the current approach to solving the problem is a lot like putting a Band-Aid on the stomach flu. The Band-Aid in this case is $300 million that Congress has charged the Environmental Protection Agency with deciding how to spend. But really, and here’s the flu part of the allegory, a lot of Tijuana’s infrastructure is just old and broken, or was never even built to support the neighborhoods that popped up on its hillsides.

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San Diego County's Climate Future-Atmospheric Rivers-Water Supply

San Diego County’s Climate Future

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Climate change and drought will impact San Diego County’s climate future, but regional water supply planning and adaptation measures will ensure a safe, reliable supply for the region.

Water supply strategy was one of the key points participants learned about during a Monday panel discussion, “San Diego County’s Climate Future,” hosted online by the San Diego County Water Authority, Citizens Water Academy, Leaders 20/20 and San Diego Green Drinks.

Panel moderator Kelley Gage, Water Authority Director of Water Resources, kicked off the climate conversation by describing the investments and steps taken by the Water Authority and its 24 member agencies to secure the region’s water future.

Water supply and San Diego County’s climate future

“Since our founding more than 75 years ago, our mission in partnership with our 24 member agencies is to ensure a clean and reliable supply of water for the region,” said Gage. “As part of that mission we’re involved in partnerships like the one that we have today and the research to ensure that we have planned for the impact of climate change in our water supplies.”

Gage said the Water Authority has developed a climate action plan.

“As part of our strategic planning we have developed a climate action plan which is an interdisciplinary effort to promote and coordinate implementation of climate change strategies and related activities across the Water Authority,” said Gage. “We have reached our goals for 2020 and we are on track for our 2030 goals.”

Atmospheric rivers and water management

The Water Authority partnered with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Center for Wester Weather and Water Extremes, at UC San Diego in 2020 to better predict atmospheric rivers and improve water management before, during, and after those seasonal storms. The Center and its partners share best practices in forecast-informed reservoir operations, increased research around atmospheric rivers and droughts, and develop strategies for mitigating flood risk and increasing water supply reliability.

Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations

Stored water releases

Marty Ralph, Researcher in Climate, Atmospheric Science & Physical Oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, opened the panel with information on advanced research around atmospheric rivers.

Atmospheric rivers are long narrow bands of airborne water vapor, providing up to half the annual precipitation and mountain snow that is key to California’s water supply. New research allows reservoir operators to use atmospheric river forecasts to better predict storm events and prevent unnecessary stored water releases.

“This stored water has helped to cope with the third driest year on record for the region,” said Ralph.

Atmospheric Rivers

Atmospheric rivers more “impactful” with climate change

Another Scripps Institution of Oceanography researcher, Alexander “Sasha” Gershunov, said that California receives most the country’s extreme precipitation events due to atmospheric rivers. Low and medium intensity precipitation events are predicted to decrease, while high intensity precipitation events are predicted to increase, especially in California.

“With warming, atmospheric rivers get stronger, wetter, longer, and more impactful, and they also produce more of our annual precipitation total,” said Gershunov. “There are many implications of these changes from water resources management, to wildfires, to debris flows.”

Sasha Extreme Weather Events

San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

Darbi Berry, Program Manager at the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative, described projects moving forward in the region to address equity issues related to water availability and pollution. Advancing the Nexus of Water and Equity looks at how different communities are impacted by a changing climate.

Increased variability in rainfall events and the potential for flooding in the San Diego region is a contributing factor to ongoing water quality issues in disadvantaged neighborhoods. One project carried out to address these equity issues is the National City, Paradise Creek project which re-graded a creek that was continuously overflowing and causing flood damage during atmospheric river events.

Nexus of Water and Equity

Watch the San Diego County’s Climate Future presentations by Marty Ralph, Sasha Gershunov, and by Darbi Berry here: bit.ly/3aBVt1Z

CW3E

Water Authority Offers to Help Parched Areas of California with Stored Supply in Central Valley

/in , , /by /Times of San Diego by Chris Jennewein Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority’s board has directed its staff to explore opportunities to help other water districts weather an emerging drought across California.

The authority said that because of three decades of investment in supply reliability, along with a continued emphasis on water-use efficiency, the San Diego region has sufficient water supplies for multiple dry years.

Those investments include high-priority Colorado River water from the Imperial Valley, seawater desalination, and access to the Semitropic Original Water Bank in Kern County, where the authority has stored about 16,000 acre-feet of water — enough to supply more than 30,000 homes for a full year.

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Helix Water Launches Customer Assistance, Mulch Rebate Programs

/in , /by /La Mesa Courier

On April 5, Helix Water District launched the Helix Helps Customer Assistance Program —a one-time credit of up to $300 to help Helix Water District’s residential customers who live in a single-family home, are behind on their water bill and can demonstrate loss of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Opinion: California Drought Declaration is a Difficult Dance

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board

Gov. Gavin Newsom made headlines last week when he declared a drought emergency for our severely dry state — but only in two of California’s 58 counties, Mendocino and Sonoma. Some farmers in the Central Valley and others with water interests had hoped for a statewide edict.

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Wells Dry Up, Crops Imperiled, Workers in Limbo as California Drought Grips San Joaquin Valley

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Louis Sahagún

As yet another season of drought returns to California, the mood has grown increasingly grim across the vast and fertile San Joaquin Valley. Renowned for its bounty of dairies, row crops, grapes, almonds, pistachios and fruit trees, this agricultural heartland is still reeling from the effects of the last punishing drought, which left the region geologically depressed and mentally traumatized. Now, as the valley braces for another dry spell of undetermined duration, some are openly questioning the future of farming here, even as legislative representatives call on Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a drought emergency. Many small, predominantly Latino communities also face the risk of having their wells run dry.

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Historically Low Water at Lake Sonoma Points to Potentially Devastating Drought

/in , , /by /KPIX 5 CBS SF Bay Areaby Da Lin

Sonoma County is facing a historic drought after two dry winters and, on Tuesday, county supervisors are expected to proclaim a drought emergency.

“We’re looking, today, at the lowest level our reservoirs have ever been since they were built,” said Brad Sherwood, the spokesman at Sonoma Water.

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Opinion: As Drought Hits California, Long-Term Issues Loom

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Dan Walters

By the time this column is published, Northern California may be receiving some much-needed rain, and possibly some snow. However, late-season precipitation does not change the reality that California is in one of its periodic droughts after two dry years.

Major Northern California reservoirs are only about half-full due to scanty runoff from mountain snowpacks, farmers are getting tiny percentages of their normal water allotments, and local water agencies are beginning to impose restrictions on household use.

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Nestlé Doesn’t Have Valid Rights to Water it’s Been Bottling, California Officials Say

/in , , /by /Palm Springs Desert Sunby Ian James and Janet Wilson

California water officials on Friday issued a draft order telling Nestlé to “cease and desist” taking much of the millions of gallons of water it pipes out of the San Bernardino National Forest to sell as Arrowhead brand bottled water.

The order, which must be approved by the California Water Resources Control Board, caps years of regulatory probes and a public outcry over the company’s water pipeline in the San Bernardino Mountains, where opponents argue that siphoning away water harms spring-fed Strawberry Creek and the wildlife that depends on it.

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