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Ruling Would Exempt Dams From Standards — Greens

/in , /by /E&E News (Washington, D.C.)

Environmental groups yesterday asked a federal appeals court to reconsider a ruling that struck down part of a high-profile removal plan for four dams in California and Oregon, saying it set a precedent that would exempt dozens of dams nationwide from meeting water quality standards. If the ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit stands, they wrote, “dozens of dams that are undergoing licensing would be exempted from compliance with water quality standards for the next 30- to 50-years.” The complicated case concerns four dams on the lower Klamath River in southern Oregon and Northern California owned by Portland, Ore.-based PacifiCorp.

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Trump Signs Major Public Lands, Conservation Bill Into Law

/in , /by /The Associated Press by Darlene Superville

President Donald Trump signed a wide-ranging public lands bill Tuesday that creates five new national monuments and expands several national parks. The new law also adds 1.3 million acres of new wilderness and permanently reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which supports conservation and outdoor recreation projects nationwide. It’s the largest public lands bill Congress has considered in a decade, and it won large bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate.

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Warming Trend With Above Normal Temperatures Brings Concerns Of A Melting Snowpack

/in , /by /ABC30 (Fresno) by Reuben Contreras

After above average rain and snowfall in February, the sun is starting to shine more in the month of March with warmer temperatures. The spring-like conditions this early are a concern for the Bureau of Reclamation. “We think of the April through the July period as the snowmelt runoff period. At our basin in the upper San Joaquin River we get two-thirds of our run comes during the snowmelt season,” said Michael Jackson, Bureau of Reclamation.

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California Has A Giant Surplus—Of Ideas For New Taxes. What’s Up With That?

/in , /by /CALmatters (Sacramento)by Judy Lin

California is enjoying a projected $21.4 billion surplus. Three-quarters of the state believes any new revenue increase should be for voters to decide. By population and percentage of personal income, this state already has the nation’s 10th highest tax burden. And the leader of the California Senate, Pro Tem Toni Atkins, has pointedly cautioned against any more levies that take cash out of the pockets of working families. In short, California lawmakers needn’t look far for an excuse to avoid raising taxes. Whether Atkins’ fellow Democrats got the memo, however, isn’t clear.

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DWR Set To Appeal Oroville Funding Denials

/in , /by /Farm Progress (St. Charles, Ill.)by Tim Hearden

California’s state water agency is set to appeal a federal determination that some of the Oroville Dam’s reconstruction costs are ineligible for reimbursement. The Federal Emergency Management Agency last week approved an additional $205 million for the project, on top of the $128.4 million it sent last year, according to the state Department of Water Resources.

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It Took A While, But California Is Now Almost Completely Out Of Drought

/in , /by /KQED (San Francisco)

This particular California winter has unfolded in good news/bad news fashion. Courtesy of a string of recurring atmospheric rivers, potent storms have caused flooding, power outages and canceled flights. But they have also lifted all but a thin slice of the state near the Oregon border completely out of drought. On the left, below, you can see the map released last week by the U.S. Drought Monitor, which is almost completely devoid of colors indicating various levels of parchedness. On the right is the same map from three years ago, bleeding brick-red and showing nearly 40 percent of the state in the most advanced stage of drought.

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Nevada County’s Water Board To Talk Rate Hike, Raw Water Master Plan

/in , /by /The Union (Grass Valley, Calif.)by Liz Kellar

Nevada County’s water district is taking baby steps in its effort to build a more inclusive community input process for determining its water needs over the next 50 years. The Nevada Irrigation District board of directors last fall hired a consultant to lead the stakeholder process to update its Raw Water Master Plan, to the tune of $800,000. But pushback from the public and cost-conscious directors led to terminating that contract and starting over.

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The US Is Only Decades Away From Widespread Water Shortages, Scientists Warn

/in , /by /ScienceAlert

Much of the United States could be gripped by significant water shortages in just five decades’ time, according to predictions made in a new study. From the year 2071 on, scientists say the combined effects of climate change and population increases are projected to present “serious challenges” in close to half of the 204 watersheds covering the contiguous US.

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DWR Set To Appeal Oroville Funding Denials

/in , /by /Farm Progress (St. Charles, Ill.)by Tim Hearden

California’s state water agency is set to appeal a federal determination that some of the Oroville Dam’s reconstruction costs are ineligible for reimbursement. The Federal Emergency Management Agency last week approved an additional $205 million for the project, on top of the $128.4 million it sent last year, according to the state Department of Water Resources.

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OPINION: Groundwater Law Is Critical, But Will Be Baffling

/in , /by /Chico Enterprise-Record

A process is underway that’s extremely important, and likely to be way over most of our heads. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act was passed in 2014, which set deadlines for local agencies to come up with plans to manage the water beneath them “… without causing undesirable results.” Undesirable results include things like water quality deterioration, land subsidence and big drops in the water table. The state left it up to the local agencies to determine what their undesirable results were, but Sacramento reserved the right to reject plans that it felt were inadequate and impose their own.

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