When it comes to inspecting dams, California is second to none. A panel of national experts examined the state’s Division of Safety of Dams last year and declared it tops in the field, citing inspectors’ knack for flagging small problems before they turn serious. Getting dam owners to fix those flaws quickly is another matter.
Officials for CA WaterFix Industry Day announced that while not all funding is available for WaterFix presently, that the first $1 billion for four contracts will be made public today, December 7, 2017. The Design Construction Enterprise (a CA WaterFix unit staffed by Metropolitan Water District employees and associates embedded in the Department of Water Resources), will be organizing into a Construction Joint Powers Authority and awarding contracts despite reports of dubious financial arrangements and project management qualifications as reported by the State Auditor.
The six-year dry spell in Arizona that ended earlier this year was likely an unprecedented event not seen in the past 675 years. The interesting and spooky factoid comes from studies of tree-ring data that were used to estimate flows from the rivers that provide water to metro Phoenix and other parts of central Arizona. As you might think, the freaky stretch of poor river flow doesn’t bode well for the state’s future.
It’s been day and night comparing rainfall between northern and southern California through the first week of December. While Northern California stands at 112 percent of average for this date, the Tulare Basin is only 39 percent of average. The beleaguered city of Ventura stands at just 1.5 percent of average rain for this date says the National Weather Service. High pressure across the state this month is blocking any storm system in the Pacific from coming in at least until Dec 22.
Santa Barbara is now entering the seventh year of drought conditions, a circumstance City of Santa Barbara Public Works czar Rebecca Bjork called “unprecedented.” Bjork’s remarks — it’s been seven years since Lake Cachuma has spilled — came as she gave the City Council its monthly update on drought and water supply issues. The good news is that city residents are using less water now than they have anytime since 1985. They used 35 percent less in the month of October than they consume during a so-called “normal” month. Annualized, the numbers are even more dramatic: 40 percent less.
Southern Californians who reside near the mountains, hillsides or canyons live with the risk of a wildfire burning down their homes. But rarely do they think about a fire contaminating their drinking water. Perhaps they should. Just ask residents of Ventura, Santa Paula and Ojai, who must boil their tap water before drinking it, cooking with it or brushing their teeth, the result of the powerful Thomas fire that knocked out portions of their water system Tuesday and grew to 96,000 acres by Thursday.
An independent forensic team has “essentially completed” its investigation into what caused the Oroville Dam spillway to collapse in February and its findings are expected to be made public sometime in the next few weeks. The forensic team’s final report was expected by the end of November, but as that deadline passed, the United States Society of Dams issued a short press release Tuesday explaining the vast amount of information to sift through and interviews to be conducted took longer than anticipated.
Groundwater overdraft in the San Joaquin Valley – producer of half the state’s agricultural output – has averaged roughly 1.8 million acre-feet annually since the mid-1980s. Even before the start of the most recent drought in 2011, a few San Joaquin farmers recognized the dire need for sustainable water management and started individually pioneering a groundwater recharge practice that has since gained statewide traction.
A recent town hall meeting on the controversial WaterFix project,hosted in the heart of the Delta, gave those whose lives and livelihoods are most dependent upon the Delta a chance to make their voices heard – and they did not hold back. The meeting, attended by more than 200 people, was held in the Jean Harvey Community Center in Walnut Grove, and co-hosted by Assemblymember Jim Frazier and California State Senator Bill Dodd, who are members of the Delta Caucus.
California’s primary source of water is at risk because the sea level is gradually rising and will begin to contaminate the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta estuary with ocean water. The Sea level is predicted to rise 3 to 7 feet by 2100, depending on how fast Antarctic and Greenland ice melts. A 3-foot rise in sea level would inundate the Delta estuary west of Route 5. A larger catastrophe is also looming because any one of several known potential glacier collapses would significantly exceed current sea level rise predictions.
