Sites Reservoir has been talked about for decades, but now that project officials — and backed by 70 major allies — have formally submitted an application for state bond money, the question arises: Will this $5 billion project actually come to pass? The proposed surface reservoir would be located in Colusa County, but is competing with 11 other applicants for part of a $2.7 billion coffer of state money devoted to water storage projects.
Generally, the city of Needles holds three types of rights in Colorado River water: Present perfect rights, surplus water rights and rights under the lower Colorado River Water Supply Act. These rights are guaranteed in a series of agreements with the federal government and other holders of Colorado River rights; generally states, large water districts, and occasionally Mexico. According to city staff, due to changing circumstances with respect to Colorado River water and especially the looming scarcity due to prolonged drought, there are periodic rounds of renegotiation of the Colorado River agreements, some of which Needles is required to sign.
The Metropolitan Water District has opened a review into its own ethics office, hiring a Washington, D.C.-based law firm to look into at least two investigations carried out at the agency. The MWD is paying attorney Alejandro Mayorkas, the former deputy secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, nearly $1,100 per hour to examine the policies and procedures of the office, which investigates potential violations of internal ethics rules.
The California Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD) has released updated information on 1,249 dams under its jurisdiction, including downstream hazard classification, condition assessment and reservoir restriction status for each dam. According to DSOD, this latest information on dam safety “reflects the most recent physical inspections and comprehensive re- evaluations by DSOD engineers and engineering geologists, as well as technical analyses performed by dam owners.”
More than 10,000 firefighters were battling 23 large wildfires statewide, California fire officials said Tuesday. The Helena Fire in Trinity County was among the most troublesome, with 72 homes destroyed and more than 11,000 acres consumed about five miles northwest of Junction City. Kelly Wood, a fire information officer, said crews spent Tuesday on strategic burn operations, conducting control burns ahead of the fire to prevent its spread. One such burn was being conducted Tuesday evening in the Junction City area.
The clues that the main spillway at the Oroville Dam could fail were embedded deep in state records, but officials did not recognize the evidence before the structure broke apart in February, investigators said Tuesday. A history of damage when the spillway was used, cracking in the concrete surface and unexpectedly large amounts of water exiting drains under the deck should have raised suspicions that something was wrong. But annual inspections gave the state false confidence that the spillway could handle a big flood event, investigators found.
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.
