Runoff from big storms that soaked the region this winter have more than tripled the size of Lake Henshaw, meaning the Vista Irrigation District can cut back on its purchase of imported water — potentially saving the district and its customers big money down the line. The district owns the man-made lake near Warner Springs, as well as 43,000 acres of watershed land that lies to the east, north and south of it.
I will never forget the extraordinary experience California voters gave me over my 40 years in elected life, from local office, to congresswoman and then 24 years in the U.S. Senate representing the entire state. And when people ask me to recount the issues that are forever sealed in my memory, one of them is the very difficult challenge of climate change and the strain we are already experiencing from drought and extreme weather in our beloved state.
Foam floated downstream and made circles on the water last week in the pool below Oroville Dam. Water quality experts are trying to determine why. Foam can happen naturally, or it can be a result of something else in the water. At this point the cause of the foam is unknown. Water tests were planned Wednesday, with lab results available in about two weeks, said Bryan Smith, supervising engineer with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.
As the Delta tunnels hearings resumed in Sacramento this week, an engineering expert for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California testified that many other large tunnels have been drilled “without incurring risk or injury to project stakeholders.” But in their “detailed” survey of these projects spread across two continents, Delta tunnels proponents did not actually talk to nearby landowners, who would presumably be considered “stakeholders.” Instead, officials relied on their meetings with project designers and owners, construction managers, and on written reports available on the Internet.
Nothing quite like calling a group of committed activists “stupid” to light an even bigger fire under their already aggrieved asses. In publishing a factually challenged editorial that uses the S-word five times, “dumbest” once, “narcissistic” once (rubber/glue, anyone?), calls their mission a “little takeover hobby” and compares them to stoners who celebrate 4/20 every day of the year, Carmel Pine Cone Publisher Paul Miller gave Public Water Now what I think of as a new sense of resiliency in its mission to bring public ownership of the Monterey Peninsula’s water utility to reality.
District officials updated the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) Board Tuesday night on its lead sampling program for campus water. According to Board documents, the City and the school district plan to test all schools on district property for potential lead in drinking water by mid-June. With about 200 schools total to test, the district is about half-way through the process. A slide in a Power Point presentation made to elected officials shows the district has submitted sampling plans to the city for 109 schools. Of that, 72 schools have already been tested.
Even as local hearings have been scheduled for California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, a student survey is being planned to find out what farmers think of the program. The groundwater act has been the focus of debate statewide for the past two years with Yolo County primarily because of the involvement of the Water Resources Association of Yolo County. Known as “SGMA,” the act became law on Jan. 1, 2015, and mandates the creation of Groundwater Sustainability Agencies in groundwater basins defined as high or medium priority by the Department of Water Resources by June 30.
Lake Tahoe is full. As of Thursday, April 20, the lake’s surface elevation was 6,227.69 feet — almost 5 feet above its natural rim. U.S. Water Master Chad Blanchard said his office has been spilling water from Lake Tahoe since Feb. 22 in an effort to prevent the lake’s level from rising too high. It’s the first time since 2006 that excess water has been spilled from the lake.
California’s recent drought was the worst in memory. However, in a relatively quick turnaround, this year the state’s water infrastructure is full and water managers are battling the wettest winter in quite some time. Now, by many accounts, the drought is over for much of the state. The uniquely wet winter of 2016-2017 has highlighted a key issue surrounding our surface water and groundwater storage infrastructure: We could have stored this abundant water, not in new reservoirs, but right under our feet.
Arroyo Grande residents can once again pull out their garden hoses without fear of financial penalty, though they’re still being required to restrict some of their water usage. The city declared an end to its water shortage emergency on Tuesday, following Gov. Jerry Brown’s announcement earlier this month that California is no longer in a drought. The decision removes the city’s water bill penalties, which charge users if they fail to reduce their water usage by a certain amount compared with their property’s historic usage.
