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Filling California’s Biggest Groundwater Gap

/in , /by /Water Deeplyby Ellen Hanak and Sarge Green

The San Joaquin Valley – California’s largest agricultural region – has been in a state of perpetual water stress that can only be partly attributed to the latest drought. Decades of unchecked pumping have resulted in a chronic groundwater deficit averaging nearly 2 million acre-feet per year – equivalent to about two Folsom reservoirs. The clock is ticking for overdrawn basins to comply with the state’s 2014 groundwater law and get their water supply and use into balance. One strategy that can help make a substantial dent in this deficit is to encourage more storage in the valley’s depleted aquifers.

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Owens Lake: Former Toxic Dust Bowl Transformed Into Environmental Success

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Louis Sahagan

Fearsome gusts of desert wind routinely kicked up swirling clouds of choking dust over Owens Lake on the east side of the Sierra Nevada after 1913, when its treasured snowmelt and spring water was first diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct. It was not until 2001, and under a court order, that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power began transforming the lake’s grim heritage, flooding portions where toxic, powder-fine dust exceeded federal pollution standards. In what is now hailed as an astonishing environmental success, nature quickly responded.

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Editorial: Water Investment Must Include Flood Preparation

/in , /by /Santa Rosa Press-Democratby Editorial Board

The next huge natural catastrophe to strike California might not be an earthquake. New research suggests that a major flood could inundate large swaths of California in the next few decades. The last “200-year flood” was more than 150 years ago, and climate change is jacking up the odds of a repeat sooner rather than later. In order to prepare, state water officials must rethink whether big, costly dams really are the best investment of limited resources.

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Jerry Brown Disses The Central Valley … Again

/in , /by /Fox & Houndsby Senator Andy Vldak

Many of my Central Valley legislative colleagues are furious that the staff at Governor Jerry Brown’s Water Commission have rigged the system so the recently announced proposed funding for Temperance Flat Reservoir is just that – flat. It’s not surprising that environmentally-oriented staff at the California Water Commission (and other state agencies such as the State Water Resources Control Board or the multitude of regional water boards) would come down in favor of fish over people.

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California Delta A Flash Point For Conflict As Climate Change Unfolds

/in , /by /Water Deeplyby Matt Weiser

California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is vital to water supplies for 25 million people and 4 million acres of farmland. It is linked to the Pacific Ocean via San Francisco Bay, which makes this water supply uniquely vulnerable to sea level rise. Yet understanding sea level rise in the Delta is complicated. The largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas, it consists of some 70 islands and more than 1,000 miles of levees. It is also fed by California’s two largest rivers, which drain the Sierra Nevada range.

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In Reversal, Santa Clara Valley District May Provide $650 Million To Brown’s Delta Tunnels Plan

/in , /by /San Jose Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers
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Want To Ditch The Lawn? Turf Removal Rebates Are Coming Back

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Rene Lynch

Need a financial incentive to rip out your water-sucking lawn in favor of something a little more drought friendly? Here it is: The Metropolitan Water District is bringing back landscape rebates, starting in July: The district will offer a rebate of $1 per square foot of turf removal. And, depending upon where you live, you might get an additional incentive on top of that from participating member agencies.

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Commentary: California’s Water Project A Smart Investment

/in , /by /San Diego Union-Tribuneby Randy Record

Leaders of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California recently had a historic choice to make regarding our largest imported supply from Northern California via the State Water Project. We could either provide the funds necessary to ensure that the full modernization project known as California WaterFix could move forward. Or we could fund a fraction of it and hope the funding and project would somehow materialize. We also could delay and debate some more.

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Yes on Proposition 68 To Preserve Parks, Protect Water Supply, and Enhance Our Climate Resilience

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timeby Editorial Staff

Proposition 68 would allow California to sell $4.1 billion in bonds to pay for desperately needed improvements in parks and water systems. It’s a sound investment. Failing to upgrade our infrastructure now would likely mean higher costs in the future. The bond sale would, of course, require interest payments over the years, but they would appear to be well within the guidelines for prudent financing. Californians should vote yes. There are a lot of good things in this bond.

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As Drought Conditions Persist in West, Leaders Criticize Arizona District’s Policy

/in , /by /Grand Junction (Colo.) Daily Recordby Dennis Webb

A lawyer with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office says the state, and for that matter most Colorado River Basin states and the federal government, are “not OK” with an Arizona water district’s reported strategy of avoiding conserving water so it can generate larger-than-normal releases of water from Lake Powell. Karen Kwon, who works on water issues for the office, was sharply critical of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District as she spoke in Grand Junction Wednesday at a joint meeting of four roundtable groups representing various basins of the Colorado River watershed in western Colorado.

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