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Nevada Supreme Court Hears Arguments About the State’s Role in Protecting Water for the ‘Public Trust’

/in , , /by /The Nevada Independentby Daniel Rothberg

The Nevada Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a case weighing how state regulators should consider “public trust” values — the environment or recreation — when the sustainability of lakes or rivers could be harmed by how the state has allocated water rights.

The questions before the court stem from ongoing federal litigation over the use of water in the Walker River. But the case has received significant attention because it could provide an opportunity for the state’s top court to bolster legal protections for the environment. At the same time, agricultural groups, businesses and municipal water users fear a broad ruling could upend their existing water rights.

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Projects Create Wetlands, Improve Water Quality in San Diego Region

/in , , /by /Water News Networkby Ed Joyce Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Since 2005, the San Diego Integrated Regional Water Management Program has supported and funded water conservation, water quality and resource projects throughout San Diego County.

Program partners, including staff of the San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies, the California Department of Water Resources, and regional water industry leaders, met at the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College Monday to celebrate 15 years of achievements.

The program facilitates collaboration on water resources planning and projects in the region by water retailers, wastewater agencies, stormwater and flood managers, watershed groups, the business community, tribes, agriculture, and nonprofit stakeholders.

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CWA Approves Shutdown Schedule for Pipeline 5 Work at Moosa Creek

/in , , /by /Village News by Joe Naiman Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

In 2019, the San Diego County Water Authority repaired a leak to a pipeline in Moosa Canyon. That repair was followed by an assessment of the other two SDCWA pipelines in the area, and one of those was found to be at risk so the CWA will be making repairs to that pipeline.

A CWA board vote, Feb. 27, authorized CWA general manager Sandra Kerl to take the necessary contracting and other actions for the repairs on Pipeline 5 in Moosa Creek. The current schedule includes shutdowns March 30 through April 5 for the installation of isolation bulkheads and May 18 to May 24 for the removal of the bulkheads as well as carbon fiber lining work expected April 6 through May 15.

May 24 is the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, and the actual shutdown schedule will likely be revised as the repair work progresses.

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California Wants Feds to Address Cross-Border Sewage

/in , , /by /KPBSby Erik Anderson

State water pollution regulators in San Diego are asking federal officials to do more monitoring of cross-border water flows that could be polluted.

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board issued an investigative order in February that requires more monitoring of sewage-tainted cross-border flows.

The order requires the International Boundary and Water Commission to monitor more than a dozen locations over an 18-month period.

Regional Board Executive Director David Gibson said the order also calls for the testing results to be made public.

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Study: Water Restrictions to Mean Billions in Lost Farm Revenue

/in , , /by /The Business Journal by The Business Journal Staff

A new study by University of California researchers anticipates drastic economic losses in the face of future restrictions on water available for San Joaquin Valley agriculture.

The study by economists David Sunding and David Roland-Holst at UC Berkeley examined the economic impact of two types of restrictions to water supplies for ag: on groundwater pumping as part of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and future reductions in surface water due to regulatory processes by the state and federal government.

Up to one million acres of farmland could be fallowed over the next 20 to 30 years — about one-fifth of all acres currently under cultivation in the San Joaquin Valley. Associated farm revenue loss would be about $7.2 billion a year.

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Seepage Monitors Installed at Oroville Dam

/in , /by /KRCR News by Kelli Saam

This week, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) will install eight new measurement devices at the base of the Oroville Dam. The devices, called piezometers will monitor seepage and will be used to confirm seepage measurements that the DWR already collects. Seepage refers to a small amount of water that can pass through the dam.

DWR said seepage is normal and expected, especially in large, earthen dams like Oroville. Seepage is measured and collected through a drainage system.

There were 56 piezometers originally installed in the dam fifty years ago which, as anticipated, have since stopped functioning. DWR plans to install additional piezometers throughout the facility in the coming years.

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San Diego County’s War Over Roundup

/in , /by /San Diego Readerby Sheila Pell

It’s everywhere, taking over like the weeds it’s meant to kill. Now glyphosate, the bestselling weedbuster of all time, has become a pest.

“Everybody in this room has glyphosate and other components in Roundup in their body,” said Dave Schubert, a researcher at Salk Institute who spoke in favor of a ban last week that supervisors have proposed for the unincorporated county.

Around the country, tens of thousands of lawsuits target glyphosate-based herbicides which homeowners, groundskeepers and others say caused their cancer. Heavy use of the chemical in agriculture has promoted superweeds, and is suspected of harming pollinators like honeybees.

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Opinion: California’s Inner-Struggle for Common Sense on Water

/in , , /by /The Sun by Wayne Western Jr.

As you have probably heard, initial 2020 water allocations have been announced by the Bureau of Reclamation for Central Valley Project contractors.

For agriculture, north-of-Delta is currently allocated 50 percent of their contract while south-of-Delta ag users will receive is 15 percent.

Friant Class 1 users initial allocation is 20 percent while Class 2 is zero. Wildlife refuges will receive 100% while the San Joaquin Restoration Program will receive just under 71,000 acre-feet of water.

Other allocations cover senior water right holders and municipal and industrial uses.

It’s critical to note that reservoir levels and snowpack are not great but are also nowhere near the terrible levels of 2014 and 2015.

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February Ranked Among the Driest on Record Across California. Forecasters Hopeful for a ‘Miracle March’

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Times by Hannah Fry

After one of the driest Februaries on record across much of California, the first day of March brought a dash of rain and a dusting of fresh powder to the parched landscape.

The storm, which rolled into Los Angeles County on Sunday afternoon, dropped less than one-tenth of an inch of rain on the coast, while higher elevations saw between one-quarter and an inch of precipitation.

Snow Valley Mountain Resort in the San Bernardino Mountains reported a foot of snow from the system, while Frazier Park in Kern County received a 3-inch dusting, said John Dumas, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

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Water Sector Collaborates on National Water Reuse Action Plan

/in , , /by /Water Finance & Management by WFM Staff

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with federal partners, has released the National Water Reuse Action Plan: Collaborative Implementation, a collection of bold actions developed in collaboration with water sector organizations that will reshape the way communities around the nation manage water. The plan identifies 37 actions across 11 strategic themes to give communities tools to consider and adopt water reuse as part of an integrated water resources plan.

EPA announced its intent to facilitate the development of the National Water Reuse Action Plan one year ago on Feb. 27, 2019.

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