Since time immemorial, as summer turns to fall, the Karuk Tribe’s fatawana, or world renewal priests, have gathered for a renewal ceremony that spreads across many days. They fast and hike to ancient prayer sites. They dance and ritualistically bath in the waters of the Klamath River, all in an effort to bring balance back to the world.
U.S. Reps. Raul Ruiz, D-Palm Desert, and Juan Vargas, D-San Diego reintroduced a bill this week that is aimed at cleaning up the New River, a highly polluted waterway originating near Mexicali, Mexico that flows north, emptying into the Salton Sea. The bill, HR491, would direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to create an organization to be called the California New River Restoration Program, which would coordinate funding and cleanup projects.
An intense cold front will tap into subtropical moisture and take on atmospheric river characteristics as it moves southeastward through the Central Coast on Wednesday into Thursday.
At this time, between 2 and 4 inches of rain is expected along the Central Coast. However, if the front stalls over a particular area, rainfall amounts will be much higher.
The biologists working in a fish hatchery near Shasta Dam grew increasingly concerned last year when newly hatched salmon fry began to act strangely — swimming around and around, in tight, corkscrewing motions, before spiraling to their deaths at the bottom of the tanks.
Certain runs of chinook salmon in California are imperiled; the hatcheries and the fry raised there are the federal government’s last-ditch effort to sustain these ecologically and economically vital fish populations.
Though it doesn’t hold historical contentiousness like its counterpart along the Central Valley Project, the Kings River has its own tale to tell.
Serving as a lifeline of sorts for three of the central San Joaquin Valley’s five major counties, the Kings is filled with its own universe of water agencies run by engineers, lawyers, farmers, and politicos jockeying to manage the state’s most precious resource on one stream.
One week, it’s fires; the next, it’s feet upon feet of snow. In the middle of January, high winds and dry conditions sparked wildfires throughout California. Now, an atmospheric river is taking aim at the state with a huge amount of water. In the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe region, forecasters are calling for between three and six feet of snow by the end of this week.
In April, the governor issued an executive order that barred water shutoffs for customers who don’t pay their water bills. State leaders are looking for ways to bail out struggling residents and smaller water systems alike, both buckling under $1 billion in water debt statewide.
Californians have recently endured increasingly aggressive wildfires, rolling power outages, and smoke-filled air for days. Unless the state government changes course, we can add water shortages to this list.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, California has already suffered three droughts during this century – 2001-2002, 2007-2009, and 2012-2016. To address this reality, the state has enacted legislation to require urban water agencies, under penalty of $1,000 fines per day, to increasingly reduce average water use by residents and businesses, without requiring any significant steps to increase water capture and storage during wet years.
Ongoing drought and low snowpack mean that hydro production at two big dams could be impacted, affecting the West’s power supply in 2021.
San Francisco rightly prides itself on being an environmental leader. Given this deep commitment to protecting the environment, the city’s water agency — the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission — should be a leader in smart, sustainable water policy. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. But Mayor London Breed now has a once-in-a-decade chance to turn the SFPUC in a new direction by appointing a progressive, visionary new general manager who reflects the city’s values.
