One of California’s largest Colorado River farm water districts is suing the state’s largest municipal water agency, charging that efforts to move farm water to cities are threatening the viability of agriculture in one of the oldest farming valleys on the river.
The delta smelt is on a trajectory toward extinction in the wild. Heading into 2017, the spawning adult population was at an all-time low, although this past wet winter has apparently seen a small resurgence. However, increasingly warm summer temperatures in the Delta may dampen any upswing. Given the long-term trajectory of the population and climate predictions for California, maintaining delta smelt in the Delta for the next 20–30 years is not likely to happen without significant improvements to the habitat.
After suffering more than a week under searing, desert-like heat, winter might be the furthest thing from the minds of Southern Californians. However, to borrow a phrase from TV’s “Game of Thrones,” winter is coming. The only question is whether the gods will allow a rerun of last winter which unexpectedly dumped record amounts of rain and snow throughout the state that filled reservoirs and kept skiers on the slopes through August.
When the National Weather Service announced that Hurricane Harvey had set a new rainfall record for a tropical storm in the continental United States — with 51.88 inches at Cedar Bayou, Texas — that seemed to epitomize just how massive and unprecedented Harvey was. In terms of sheer volume, Harvey’s rainfall could fill the Great Salt Lake twice over.
A bill that would have created a major hurdle for a company trying to sell groundwater from the Mojave Desert died in a California Senate committee on Friday, despite Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for lawmakers to approve the measure. Senate leaders decided to hold the bill during the Senate Appropriations Committee’s final hearing of the legislative session. The bill’s failure apparently removed a substantial challenge that could have blocked or stopped Cadiz Inc.’s plan of pumping as much as 16.3 billion gallons of groundwater per year on land surrounded by Mojave Trails National Monument about 75 miles northeast of Palm Springs.
The heat wave that has gripped California for a week took a dramatic turn Thursday as lightning storms sparked brush fires, knocked out power to thousands and caused downpours across the region. Forecasters said the extreme weather will continue through the weekend, with some parts of Northern California flirting with all-time record high temperatures. Lightning strikes were reported in many areas Thursday, with some sparking a series of brush fires near the 5 Freeway in the Santa Clarita Valley.
A desalination plant planned for Huntington Beach and more than a decade in the making got a small step closer toward opening, this week, after its application with the regional water district was determined to be ready for consideration. The agency also has enough information to make a decision about whether the project complies with the state’s ocean plan.
By this time next year, Camarillo officials plan to have the architectural designs, the final environmental report and the finances squared away to build a groundwater desalinization plant on a plot of farmland just off Las Posas and Somis roads. The Camarillo City Council voted unanimously Aug. 23 to have the long-planned desalter built on a nearly 5-acre property east of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Las Posas Road. Brown and Caldwell, an environmental engineering and construction firm based in Northern California, will be paid about $3 million to design the plant.
Supporters of a water bill making its way through the legislature are calling for complete backing for the proposed legislation as it nears a full vote in the Assembly. As proposed, SB 623 would establish a fund to finance projects for communities and school districts dealing with unsafe drinking water. “SB 623 is a good faith effort to help poor families get access to water and to help small water systems clean-up contaminated water sources,” said California Senator Andy Vidak (R-Hanford).
Acting Commissioner Alan Mikkelsen announced that the Bureau of Reclamation has selected $20.9 million for 43 projects to improve water delivery efficiency improvements in the Western United States. When leveraged with non-Federal funding sources these projects will complete more than $101 million in improvements. The selected projects will include canal lining and piping to reduce seepage losses, automated gates and control systems, and installation of advanced metering.
