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San Francisco, Agricultural Interests Band Together For Water Rights Fight

/in , /by /Redding Record Searchlightby Mike Wade

“The judiciary is the safeguard of our liberty and of our property under the Constitution,” said U.S. Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes in Elimra, New York in 1907. That quote exemplifies the reason that five irrigation districts on tributaries to the San Joaquin River as well as the city of San Francisco filed lawsuits recently against the State Water Resources Control Board. They are defending their water rights. In December, ahead of the Water Board hearing, Governor Brown and Governor-elect Newsom both asked the Water Board to hold off and let the districts, the State, and the federal government finalize the voluntary agreements.

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Governor’s Budget Targets Safe Drinking Water, Wildfires, Healthy Soils

/in , /by /Public Policy Institute of California (San Francisco)by Gokce Sencan and Henry McCann

Governor Newsom’s first proposed state budget, released earlier this month, addresses several critical water and natural resource management challenges. Here are highlights from his plans to mitigate problems with safe drinking water, improve forest health and reduce the risk of wildfires, and encourage healthy soils to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase drought resilience. The governor’s budget proposal revives last year’s failed legislative proposal to tap urban water customers, agricultural fertilizer users, and dairies to pay for safe drinking water projects in small, disadvantaged communities with water quality challenges.

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Thousands Of Birds Die At California’s Salton Sea

/in , /by /Ventura County Star

Authorities say thousands of migrating birds have died at California’s Salton Sea this month from avian cholera. The California Department of Fish and Game says ducks, gulls and other birds were found dead at the south end of the state’s largest lake between Jan. 8 and last Thursday. Testing showed signs of avian cholera, an infectious bacterial disease. It’s spread through direct contact or from contaminated food or water.

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January Storms Added 580 Billion Gallons Of Water To California Reservoirs

/in , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by Paul Rogers

Storms that soaked California during the first half of January did more than bring tons of snow to Sierra Nevada ski resorts. They also significantly boosted the state’s water supplies. Over the three weeks from Jan. 1 until this Tuesday, 47 key reservoirs that state water officials closely monitor added 580 billion gallons of water, according to an analysis by this newspaper. That’s as much water as about 9 million people use in a year.

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Atmospheric River Boosted California Snowpack Well Above Average By Mid-January

/in , /by /The Fresno Beeby Alyssa Hodenfield

Snowpack across California is about 110 percent of normal for this time of year, thanks in no small part to an atmospheric river that brought heavy snowstorms to the Sierra range, the state Department of Water Resources’ most recent data show. As of last Friday, the northern Sierra snowpack measured at 113 percent of normal. The central and south Sierra were each observed at 110 percent of normal, for a statewide average of 111 percent, according to DWR’s latest snow survey.

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A Dallas Engineering Firm Goes To Work Solving California’s Water Problem

/in , /by /The Dallas Morning News (Fort Worth, Texas)by Paul O'Donnell

A Dallas-based engineering firm is being tapped to help design California’s plan to bolster its water supply system. Jacobs’ initial $93 million contract is for preliminary and final engineering design of a 15-year program known as California WaterFix. The Golden State’s largest water conveyance project carries a $17 billion pricetag. WaterFix, slated to begin this year, will upgrade 50-year-old infrastructure dependent on levees, which the state said puts clean water supplies at risk from earthquakes and sea-level rise.

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OPINION: Newsom Must Set New Course On California Water Issues

/in , /by /Lake County Record-Bee (Lakeport, Calif.)

Since taking office Jan. 7, Gov. Gavin Newsom has not indicated how he intends to approach one of the state’s most pressing issues: water. Former Gov. Jerry Brown wasted eight years trying to force California to push through his misguided $19 billion Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta twin-tunnels scheme, which wouldn’t add a drop of new water to the state’s supply. It’s time to set a new course. Newsom should signal that it’s a new day in California water politics by embracing a more-sustainable water policy that emphasizes conservation and creation of vast supplies of renewable water.

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Santa Fe Irrigation District Announces Hiring Of New General Manager

/in , /by /Rancho Santa Fe Reviewby Joe Tash

The Santa Fe Irrigation District has hired a new general manager to lead the district, following the retirement in December of long-time general manager Michael Bardin. Albert Lau, currently the director of engineering and planning with the Padre Dam Municipal Water District in East County, will assume his new role on Monday, March 4. The Santa Fe district provides water to about 20,000 residents of Rancho Santa Fe, Solana Beach and Fairbanks Ranch.

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Ed Sprague Named President Of OMWD’s Board Of Directors For Fourth Time

/in , /by /Del Mar Times

At Olivenhain Municipal Water District’s January 16 board meeting, Ed Sprague assumed the position of president for the fourth time. Sprague will serve as president for the 2019-2020 term. In addition, Bob Topolovac is serving as vice president, Larry Watt as treasurer, Robert Kephart as secretary, and Christy Guerin as director and San Diego County Water Authority representative. Sprague began serving on the board in 2008 to represent Division 5, and has previously served as president for two consecutive terms between 2009 and 2012, and again from 2015 through 2016.

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Arizona Water Leaders Lean On Developers To Support Drought Plan

/in , /by /Phoenix New Timesby Elizabeth Whitman

As the Colorado River teeters on the brink of shortage, water leaders in Arizona are begging developers to pressure legislators to sign off on a drought plan, while also aiming to reassure those developers that despite a drier future, it’s safe to come to Arizona and build. “We need all of you to go to your favorite legislator and express your support for the Drought Contingency Plan,” Tom Buschatzke, the director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, told a group of 250 development industry representatives and others during a breakfast meeting Friday. “I implore you.”

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