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Future Uncertain For Shasta Dam Raising After Irrigation District Stops Work On Study

/in , , /by /Redding Record Searchlightby Damon Arthur

Following losses in court, a Fresno-based irrigation district has backed off its plans to do an environmental study on raising the height of Shasta Dam.

The Westlands Water District announced Monday that it has stopped working on the report because it could not meet the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s schedule for the project.

The bureau is trying to get non-federal partners to help pay half the cost of the $1.4 billion project to raise the height of the dam 18½ feet.

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Judge Orders Westlands To Stop Work On Shasta Dam Raise

/in , /by / Redding Record Searchlightby Damon Arthur

A judge has ordered a Fresno-based water district to stop working on plans to raise the height of Shasta Dam.

The Westlands Water District, which provides irrigation water to farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, was working on a report assessing the environmental impacts of raising the height of the dam.

But a judge ruled that Westlands’ work violated a state law that prohibited local and state agencies from participating in any projects that would have an adverse impact on the McCloud River.

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Water Seeping Down Reconstructed Oroville Dam Spillway

/in , /by /Redding Record Searchlightby David Benda

Water is starting to seep down the rebuilt Oroville Dam spillway. California Department of Water Resources officials said Wednesday this is common and will not affect the operation of the dam’s gates, which are not watertight. “Once the lake reaches or exceeds the elevation of the entrance gates (813 feet) a small amount of water is expected to seep through the gates as they are not watertight,” water resources spokeswoman Erin Mellon said. “This is common and does not affect the operation of the gates nor the spillway.”

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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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OPINION: Raising Shasta Dam Won’t Solve California Water Woes

/in , /by /Redding Record Searchlightby Bob Madgic

The proposed raising of Shasta Dam represents just more of the same shenanigans in California’s long water history. As with most dam projects, it will cause more harm than whatever positives might accrue from such an action. California already has 1,300 (named) dams. More water storage projects will not solve the basic fact that the state’s finite amount of water is incapable of meeting all of the demands. This deficit has been created primarily by the transformation of a semi-arid area— the Central Valley — by an infusion of water from northern California.

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Couple Fined After Claiming to Use More Water than the Earth Holds

/in , /by /Redding Record Searchlightby Damon Arthur

A couple with rights to take water from a Trinity County creek has been fined $10,000 for overstating the amount of water they diverted, at one point claiming they used more water than is actually available on Earth. As part of an agreement with the State Water Resources Control Board, the couple has agreed to pay for misstating the amount of water they took from Price Creek, a tributary to the Trinity River. Everyone who diverts water is required to report to the Water Board the amount used.

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Carr Fire Damage Continues to Threaten Water Supplies

/in , /by /Redding Record Searchlightby Damon Arthur

More than three months after the Carr Fire was contained, the burned out hillsides the deadly blaze left behind continue to pose a threat to water quality in western Shasta County.

The barren fire-scarred hillsides could cause drinking water quality problems for communities that rely on water from Whiskeytown Lake, according to a report written for the Shasta County Public Works Department.

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Tiny Salamanders Could Stand In The Way Of Massive Dam Raising Project

/in , /by /Redding Record Searchlightby Damon Arthur

A trio of tiny salamanders could stand in the way of a massive $1.4 billion project to raise the height of Shasta Dam. An environmental organization has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, asking a judge to force the federal agency to make a determination on whether three salamander species living around Lake Shasta should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

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Trump Officials Announce $450 million Loan For New California Reservoir Project

/in , /by /Redding Record Searchlight by Damon Arthur

Trump administration officials were in California on Tuesday to announce a $450 million loan for the Sites Reservoir project in Colusa County. The money will be used to build a tunnel to carry water from the Glenn-Colusa Canal to an existing reservoir, giving farmers on the west side of the Sacramento Valley more access to irrigation water. The 12-foot diameter tunnel, called an intertie, will also be used to transport water to and from Sites Reservoir after it is built, said Jim Watson, general manager of the Sites Reservoir Authority.

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Prop. 3 Would Pay For Water And Habitat Projects. Will North State Voters Want Them?

/in , /by /Redding Record Searchlightby Damon Arthur

For the second time this year, California voters will be asked to approve a bond measure to pay for water infrastructure and environmental protection programs. Proposition 3 on the November statewide ballot asks voters to approve $8.9 billion in bonds to pay for water infrastructure and environmental projects. During the June primary election, California voters approved Proposition 68, which authorized the state to sell $4 billion in bonds to pay for parks, water infrastructure and environmental projects.

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