The emergency is over, the construction now begins. Demolitions are going to increase, the bottom of the broken spillway will be taken out, two concrete-creating factories are being built and new concrete will be laid beginning in mid-June. The Department of Water Resources gave an update Wednesday in a media conference call on the construction phase at the spillway that began May 13 when the emergency officially ended.
California’s public lands and resources are under siege by a powerful corporation and its allies in Washington. Congressional Republicans used a recent must-pass government spending bill to pave the way for the Cadiz water extraction project, a particularly destructive project in California’s Mojave Desert. Cadiz seeks to create a loophole in an 1875 railroad law to drain an ancient desert aquifer without any federal oversight. The aquifer supports the abundant wildlife of California’s desert – from tortoises and bighorn sheep to breathtaking wildflower blooms that blanket the region.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif, on Wednesday, May 24, called on the Trump administration to continue rules that now prevent the use of a Mojave Desert railroad right-of-way for a water extraction project. Los Angeles-based Cadiz company wants to pump large volumes of water from wells it owns in the Cadiz Valley between Barstow and Needles and pipe it over 40 miles of railroad right of way owned by the Arizona & California Railroad to Colorado River Aqueduct. The water then could be sold to Southern California water providers.
One of the news media’s most important functions in a democracy is to constantly remind public agencies about that “public” part of their name. Too often, government officials try to conduct the public’s business in private, and the results can be disastrous for taxpayers (just ask those in the city of Bell). The California Public Records Act is a key tool in keeping public agencies public. Enacted nearly 50 years ago, the law assures all residents and the media have prompt access to most records — so we know what government is up to and can be involved in important decisions.
The Big Bear Municipal Water District Division 2 spot is no longer vacant, after the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the appointment of Frank Howes to the seat at its May 23 meeting. The MWD originally had 60 days to fill the board vacancy, after Mary Ann Lewis resigned Feb. 28. Exceeding the deadline by 16 days, the decision went to the Board of Supervisors and was no longer at the discretion of the MWD board. The MWD board provided a recommendation for Howes.
On April 11, the United States Bureau of Reclamation announced that all of its California Central Valley Project water customers will receive 100 percent of their contract supplies this year, for the first time since 2006. This is a remarkable turnaround after five lean drought years, during which some of its agricultural customers received no water at all. But the bureau didn’t mention one group of customers missing out on this liquid largesse: wildlife refuges. There are 19 state and federal wildlife refuges spanning California’s Central Valley, from Willows to Bakersfield.
California’s epic drought is officially over. As drought-related mandatory water conservation orders end, ordinary citizens’ water, sewer, utility rates and other water-related costs continue to rise. East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD) recently announced two water rate hikes, one of 9.5 percent in July and another next year of 9 percent. Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) is countering with two increases of 7 percent each. San Mateo residents learned recently of plans to raise their sewage rates 36%. These and other rate-hike stories are common across our state.
Resolving contamination issues with the quagga mussel, a small invasive shellfish, could make the difference between a slightly balanced budget and one that is seriously in the red for Central Basin Municipal Water District. The approximate $50.7 million budget, approved Monday by the Board of Directors, projects $1.7 million in revenue coming from selling water to the Water Replenishment District of Southern California. Only right now, there’s no way to get water to the WRD because Los Angeles County won’t allow Central Basin’s supplier, the Metropolitan Water District, to deliver because of the contamination issues.
Jonathan Koehler is working the biggest fish-trapping contraption on the Napa River and finding out good news about Chinook salmon after a historic rain year. This eight-foot-diameter metal funnel floats half-submerged and rotates as currents hit the inner baffles. Fish swim inside and end up trapped in a water-filled compartment. “It’s sort of like the revolving door at a department store, where you step into it and you have to step inside the store,” Koehler said.
