Backers of the proposed Sites Reservoir west of Maxwell filed an application Monday for Proposition 1 funding and released environmental documents about the project for public review and comment. Monday was the deadline to apply with the California Water Commission for a share of the $2.7 billion for water storage that was in Proposition 1, a bond voters passed in November 2014.
It was an historic day in terms of fixing California’s water infrastructure. The application was signed and submitted to the California Water Commission on Monday for funding, getting one step closer to building the Temperance Flat Dam behind the Friant Dam and Millerton Lake northeast of Fresno. Mario Santoyo is Executive Director of the San Joaquin Water Infrastructure Authority, and they’ve worked mighty hard over the last 10 years to get to this step.
During the drought, Californians often asked why the state wasn’t building more reservoirs. On Tuesday, the state finally began taking a major step toward that goal, unveiling a list of 12 huge new water projects — from massive new dams in the north to expanded groundwater banks in the south — that will compete for $2.7 billion in state bond funding for new water storage projects.
The drought may be over, but Sacramento residents will still have to limit their watering. The Sacramento City Council voted Tuesday to make permanent twice-a-week outdoor watering restrictions despite Gov. Jerry Brown in April lifting a drought state of emergency for California after record-setting winter rainfall. The motion passed 6 to 3, with Councilmembers Angelique Ashby, Allen Warren and Larry Carr voting no. Many residents spoke in favor of the restrictions, but tree activists asked the council to exempt certain watering practices aimed at protecting tree health.
The state Department of Water Resources is beginning to lay the gravel foundation for spawning salmon. This comes as much of the gravel was washed away with high flows from the Oroville Dam spillway this winter. DWR expects to finish the project by the end of August, in time for the salmon’s spawning season starting in September, according to a press release issued Monday afternoon. Using heavy equipment, an estimated 5,000 cubic yards of gravel will be placed in the Feather River channel behind the Municipal Auditorium.
Restore the Delta issued a formal response to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California third and final white paper on the Delta Tunnels. The response illuminates the gaping holes in MWD’s financial analysis on various CA WaterFix costs. Executive Director of Restore the Delta, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla said: “MWD’s failure to analyze water costs in dry and drought years and water use by consumers so as to determine the real cost per household for WaterFix make this analysis invalid. MWD staff clearly wants to build this project so that water can be sold for maximum profit.”
When Jake Tibbitts heard rumors about the two cattle shot at Sadler Ranch, it didn’t occur to him that water could be the potential motive, although the rancher would later make that claim. Water is a contentious topic in Eureka County, a tight-knit community of about 2,000 in rural central Nevada where Tibbitts, who oversees the county’s Natural Resources Department, has been working to prevent a vital water source from running dry.
The delta smelt is on a trajectory towards 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.
The winter of 2017 was a gift in many ways. Not only did it bring desperately needed water to California and end a statewide drought emergency, it highlighted the need to build more surface water storage projects like Temperance Flat on the San Joaquin River. California’s investment in water infrastructure has not kept up with the ever-growing demand for water supply. Many aging facilities don’t have the capacity necessary to keep up with our state’s population growth. Friant Dam and Millerton Lake are too small to capture runoff from the massive watershed above it.
