Archive for the ‘Newsletter’ Category

Opinion – California Water Rights: Fight federal government to keep them

As chairman of the House Water and Power Subcommittee, Rep. Tom McClintock of Northern California’s District 4 developed a bill with his Republican committee members and brought it to the House floor for a quick discussion and vote. McClintock’s bill steps way beyond established water rights in California. It seeks to give the Secretary of Interior, a federal agency, the authority to issue water contracts and to give the agency “supremacy” over the Bay Delta Planning Commission.

Water bills already too high? They’re about to soar

Think your water bills are already too high? Maintenance for aging pipelines, aqueducts, pumps and other infrastructure, along with new construction for an expanding population, will send bills soaring.

California governor warns water plan controversial

Gov. Jerry Brown warned this week that his administration’s soon-to-be unveiled plan to tackle the state’s water delivery challenges is “going to be controversial” but vowed he would “push it through.”

DWR official announces plan to restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta will be delayed

A draft of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, and its accompanying environmental studies, was expected to be released by the end of June. But last week, state Natural Resources Secretary John Laird announced in a letter posted on the plan’s website that this schedule will not be met. The delay is needed so planners have more time to conduct computer modeling of water flow changes caused by the proposed project, to study cultural and archaeological resources that might be affected, and to fully incorporate some 12,000 pages of preliminary studies the agency released on the plan in March.

First-of-its-kind tunnel being mined under SF Bay

Eleven stories below sea level, workers are building a five-mile long tunnel under San Francisco Bay. The first-of-its-kind tunnel is part of a massive civil engineering project designed to protect the Bay Area’s water supply during an earthquake.

State ends water year on disappointing note

Weather is like a game of roulette — sometimes you’re on and sometimes you’re not. This winter, it was not.

Statewide snowpack tied for lowest on record; Colorado River Basin at all-time low

With this year’s snow season all but in the rear-view mirror and the paltry numbers recently updated, 2012 has officially taken its place near the bottom of Colorado’s dismal-snowpack history.

Western farms, cities guzzle water at alarming rate

The American West has a drinking problem. On farms and in cities, we are guzzling water at an alarming rate. Scientists say that to live sustainably, we should use no more than 40 percent of the water from the Colorado River Basin. As it is now, we use 76 percent, nearly double the sustainable benchmark.

Deal-cutting time comes for California water

The House and Senate now are on another collision course over California water, with the serious deal-making about to begin.

Officials Mark Completion of Delta-Mendota Canal/California Aqueduct Intertie

Federal, state and local partners marked the completion Wednesday of an intertie connecting the Delta-Mendota Canal and the California Aqueduct five miles west of Tracy.

‘Unacceptable’: Stockton levees lacking, Army Corps says

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Monday that levees protecting Stockton are “unacceptable,” its second such finding in the past two years.

Giant SoCal water agency says global warming law will cost it $10 million to $50 million a year

Southern California’s biggest water wholesaler says it faces an extra $10 million to $50 million in annual expenses to comply with California’s global warming law.

Harsh words, lawsuit threats greet Modesto plan to sell water to SF

Critics let the rhetorical barbs fly Tuesday about the Modesto Irrigation District’s proposed water sale to San Francisco.

Water pipeline dreams revived in the desert

Eager to diversify its water supplies, the San Diego County Water Authority has resurrected a long-shot plan that could top $2 billion to build a pipeline for importing water directly from Imperial County. At the same time, it’s trying to cement a long-term deal for desalinating seawater in Carlsbad.

Suit against Army Corps’ tree policy in California to go forward

A federal judge in Sacramento on Friday cleared the way for a trial against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over its policy banning trees on levees in California. The lawsuit was filed in June by Friends of the River, Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity. They allege the Army Corps failed to follow the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and other federal laws in imposing the new levee maintenance policy.

Salton Sea restoration hits snag

Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed to cut funding from the Salton Sea Restoration Council, a state agency tasked with reversing the environmental decline of the state’s largest inland body of water.

Townsend Report – Examining the Future of Water Reuse

By 2050 California’s population is projected to reach approximately 60 million, equating to over 22 million more people. With this tremendous growth, there will be increasing needs for “new” sources of water. When evaluating our options, there are many reasons to endorse the expansion of water reuse. First of all, there are many benefits to water reuse. These include decreased pressure on surface water supplies, less energy to convey imported water, and improved local water reliability. Furthermore, water recycling can offset imported water cutbacks and may even improve the quality of water in the basin.

In general, water reuse occurs in two primary ways – indirect potable reuse and direct potable reuse. With indirect potable reuse, treated wastewater is discharged into ground water or surface water, and then it is extracted for agricultural or municipal uses. In direct potable reuse, highly treated wastewater is put directly into the water supply.

One of the reasons that water reuse is becoming more popular is that the level of supplies that could potentially be derived from recycled water is substantial. The National Academy of Sciences’ recent report: Water Reuse: Potential for Expanding the Nation’s Water Supply Through Reuse of Municipal Wastewater found that 12 billion gallons of municipal wastewater effluent is discharged each day to an ocean or estuary and that reusing these coastal discharges could directly augment public supply by 27 percent. Unlike water that is discharged into a stream and potentially used by another downstream party, water discharged to the ocean is considered “irrecoverable” and thus constitutes “new” supply. The State has recognized water reuses’ potential, and in 2009, the SWRCB adopted a water policy goal of having an additional 2.5 MAF of recycled water per year by 2030.

The next frontier of recycled water use will be direct potable reuse. The National Water Research Institute recently concluded that treating a significant portion of the wastewater currently being released into the ocean to drinking water standards and introducing direct potable reuse could stabilize the water supply in Southern California, particularly by augmenting decreased State Water Project deliveries and protecting from water supply interruptions due to natural or human-made disasters. While direct potable reuse is expanding, this effort will require effective and ongoing outreach to the public about the need and quality of this water.

The expansion of water recycling will also require significant investment and regulation reform. According to DWR, the total statewide potential for water reuse is 2 million acre-feet per year by 2030 – approximately 30% of urban wastewater will be reused. CDPH is in the process of adopting uniform water recycling criteria for groundwater recharge by December 31, 2013. Assemblyman Ben Hueso (D-79) also introduced the Water Recycling Act (AB 2398), a proposal backed by the WateReuse Association, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and the San Diego County Water Authority. AB 2398 addresses several of the permitting challenges and would ultimately facilitate increased development and use of recycled water. Specifically, the bill would reclassify recycled water as a valuable resource by removing from the definition of “waste” under the Water Code and Health and Safety Code as well as establish a new statewide goal of 1.5 MAF of recycled water by 2020. The bill would also consolidate and reorganize water reuse statutes as well as update recycled water criteria, permitting processes, and enforcement mechanisms. This bill will likely undergo more changes through amendments and further consideration by the Legislature, however, it currently has passed out of both policy committees.

In summary, water reuse offers an appealing source of new water with many benefits. As we plan for the future, water reuse will require changes in regulations as well as new infrastructure to be successful.

Drought forecast for Southwest, California ‘not optimistic’

Most of the Southwest as well as parts of California and the Southeast can expect drought conditions to worsen through July, federal forecasters said.
“Overall, the current Drought Outlook is not optimistic,” the National Weather Service said in summarizing its forecast.

Opinion: Cadiz project will employ sustainable groundwater practices

As the former secretary of California’s Environmental Protection Agency and a member of the Cadiz Inc. board of directors, I felt compelled to respond to John Bredehoeft and Newsha Ajami’s mischaracterization of the Cadiz Valley Water Project and California groundwater policy.

Hundreds of millions spent to protect Delta levees. Is it enough?

Gilbert Cosio’s truck rolled to a stop on a Delta levee recently fortified with $4 million worth of rock and engineering. On one side is a large lake formed when a different levee broke and flooded the area known as Franks Tract in the 1930s. On the other, grazing land and a much smaller lake formed when the fragile levee here failed and was quickly repaired in 1980.
Since then, hundreds of millions of dollars in voter-approved bond funds have been spent to reinforce levees that corral and shape today’s Delta. For the first time, the state is on the verge of meeting a federal mandate to protect an area that is a key source of water for 23 million Californians and about 2 million acres of farmland.
But is it enough?

Legislative committee approves peripheral canal cost-benefit study

The California Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee has approved the need for an independent cost-benefit analysis before committing the public to pay tens of billions of dollars to build a massive peripheral canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta – or an equally massive tunnel beneath it.

Little Hoover Commission Sets Hearings on Governor’s Reorganization Plan

The Little Hoover Commission will delve into a government reorganization plan that calls for replacing five state agencies with three and transferring the Delta Stewardship Council into the Natural Resources Agency. The plan, submitted to the commission last month by Gov. Jerry Brown, is aimed at streamlining government, boosting efficiencies and reducing unnecessary spending, according to a transmittal letter from the governor to commission Chair Daniel W. Hancock. Read more

Dianne Feinstein moves bill to increase California water deliveries, dams

The Interior Department would prepare new plans to boost water deliveries and storage in California’s Central Valley, potentially under streamlined environmental reviews, under a funding bill approved by a key Senate panel Tuesday.

Despite policy, Army Corps to plant 30,000 trees on Sacramento River levees

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will plant more than 30,000 trees on Sacramento River levees next winter, a move that would seem to contradict its own policy calling for levees across the state to be stripped of their trees.

State Water Project allocation increased to 60 percent

The State Water Project is expected to deliver 60 percent of the water requested this year – up from an earlier estimate of 50 percent, the state Department of Water Resources says.

Seismic overhaul of Hetch Hetchy system reaches midway point

Nearly 10 years after voters approved a seismic overhaul of the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System, the $4.6 billion undertaking has reached the halfway point.

Giant water agency approves rate hikes in S. Calif

California’s giant water wholesaler approved a smaller rate increase Tuesday than its staff proposed, but it wasn’t low enough to satisfy officials who claim a “shadow government” has seized control of the agency and is targeting consumers in San Diego.

Desal company seeks engineers for H.B. project

The Connecticut company looking to construct a desalination plant in Huntington Beach is seeking engineers for the project.
Poseidon Resources Inc. announced last week it is looking for firms to vie for the estimated $350 million facility that is one approval shy of being able to start construction.

Cowin named director of Water Resources

Mark Cowin can scratch out the “acting” on his business cards now. On Friday he was named director of the California Department of Water Resources, a department he’s been running as acting director since February 2010.

The appearance of independence

The Delta Stewardship Council officially opposes Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to move it under the auspices of the state Resources Agency.

Feud between 2 obscure water agencies costs consumers

The Central Basin Municipal Water District and the Water Replenishment District of Southern California have more than doubled their fees in recent years as they spend large amounts of time and money battling each other.
Bell resident Robert Mackin is frustrated that his monthly water rate keeps rising, by about 50% in the last few years.

Feinstein Editorial: California’s water wars could heat up

Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of Visalia introduced water legislation in the House 10 months ago so extreme that it would have pre-empted the state Endangered Species Act and allowed the federal government to control California’s water resources.

Viewpoints: Plan to tap groundwater for profit shows need for better state policy

Imagine a lake half as large as Lake Tahoe, containing 17 million to 34 million acre-feet of water. That is what lies under the Cadiz and Bristol valleys in the Eastern Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County. Cadiz Inc., a privately held company, owns 34,000 acres that overlie this vast groundwater basin. The company plans to extract 2.5 million acre-feet of the water, a public good, over the next 50 years and sell it back to the public at a profit.

Opinion: Delta plan could devastate North State

Without water, there is no California. For as long as our state has existed, there has always been tension between need and supply. The North State currently has an ample water supply, but our Central Valley and Southern California neighbors do not. Consequently, all Californians have had to work together to ensure that every region has what it needs to power their regional economies.

Storms too little to reverse subpar Sierra snowpack

March brought plentiful snowfall to the Sierra but not enough to make up for a disappointing winter in 2011-2012. The traditional snow season ended with a mountain snowpack at levels only a little more than half what is normally expected for early .

Brown proposes state reorganization.

Governor Brown has released his reorganization plan for state agencies. His 400 page legislative proposal reduces the number of state agencies from 12 to 10 and eliminates and consolidates myriad smaller state entities. Three new proposed agencies of note are: Government Operations, Business and Consumer Services and Transportation.

Water bond vote may be postponed.

Pressure is building in the State Capitol to postpone until 2014 a statewide vote on the $11 billion state water bond, which is currently scheduled to appear on the November 2012 ballot. However, achieving a 2/3 vote in both houses of the legislature to postpone the vote will be no easy task. There are multiple contending factions and interests. Some legislators and groups will see the legislative vote as an opportunity to re-write some of the bond language, which could cause others to drop their support. Some environmental groups, which oppose the bond because it includes $3 billion for water storage, want the vote to be held this November, because they think the voters will reject the measure. Some delta interests oppose the bond altogether, because they believe that it will facilitate the building of some type of delta bypass facility. Still, others are concerned about the state’s ability to make interest payments on additional debt. At the moment the situation is a mess. So stay tuned.

Colorado River water supply shortage ideas

Demand for water in a river basin that serves more than 36 million people in the West and Mexico is expected to overwhelm supply in the next half-century as the region grows. So the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

Groups Deliver Over 5,000 Signatures to Restore the Colorado River Delta

5 conservation groups throughout the Southwest United States delivered over 5,000 signatures to the U.S. Department of State urging officials to work with Mexico to restore water flow to the Colorado River Delta.

New Report Highlights Staggering Costs Ahead for Water Infrastructure

According to a new study, the American water infrastructure is nearing the end of its lifecycle. Over the next 25 years, the water mains and other infrastructure will need to be replaced, at a cost of a trillion dollars.

Giant water agency approves rate hikes after San Diego launches unusual attack

California’s giant water wholesaler approved a smaller rate increase Tuesday than its staff proposed, but it wasn’t low enough to satisfy officials who claim a “shadow government” has seized control of the agency and is targeting consumers in San Diego.

Water Authority studies building its own pipeline to Imperial Valley

The San Diego County Water Authority is studying a drastic solution to the soaring cost of bringing in Imperial Valley water through the Metropolitan Water District: building its own pipeline to bypass Metropolitan.

Agency to absorb Delta council

Consolidation could favor plans for peripheral canal. An independent council with at least some veto power over a peripheral canal or tunnel would be consumed by the same agency that wants to build one under a little-noticed element of a reorganization plan by canal supporter Gov. Jerry Brown.

California at top in climate-change preparedness

Scarce water supplies and coastal flooding may be part of California’s future, but the Golden State is as ready as any state to tackle those and other problems caused by climate change, according to a national study released Thursday.

Opinion: In search of a scapegoat for high water costs

Commentary by Jeffrey Kightlinger
The San Diego County Water Authority is hard at work blaming the outside world for high water costs instead of having a candid, honest conversation within this community about the real water challenges we all face.

Local water plan would cap rate hikes at 3%

The San Diego County Water Authority on Monday released a plan it said would allow the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to cap average rate increases for 2013 and 2014 at 3 percent.

Metropolitan Water District wages costly war with nature and age

Increasingly frequent shutdowns of the Colorado River Aqueduct for maintenance and repair are the biggest drivers of rising water bills in Southern California. Out in the desert, the wind never quits. Over its howling one day recently, Roy Howard strained to make himself heard as he explained why its usual accompaniment, the rush of water and the rumble of enormous industrial pumps, had fallen silent.

The Colorado River delta blues

Mexico and the U.S. now have a chance to bring life back to what was once one an aquatic Eden. River deltas are among the most biologically productive ecosystems on Earth, and for millions of years the delta of the Colorado River was no exception. After a 1,450-mile journey from its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains south into Mexico, the Colorado sustained verdant marshes teeming with life before emptying into the aquatic Eden of the upper Gulf of California.

Delay likely for water bond, Senate leader says

State lawmakers are likely to delay voters’ consideration of an $11 billion water bond from this November until 2014, the leader of the state Senate said Thursday. It would be the second time the measure is pushed back. The bond was originally set for voters’ consideration in 2010, but then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation delaying it until this year.
“In all likelihood, the water bond will be put off until 2014, that’s what I think,” said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento.

Delta pipe’s impact on water bills could sink plan

Of all the unanswered questions about a plan that could result in a giant pipeline to move water out of the Sacramento River, and under the fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, perhaps the biggest is how high Californians’ water bills will rise.

Delta’s woes: No easy fix, report finds

If there’s a silver bullet to solve the environmental problems in the Delta, some of the nation’s brightest minds can’t find it. A two-year inquiry by a committee formed by the National Academy of Sciences concluded that California’s water supply problems are serious, and that there is no easy fix.

Global warming linked to deadly, costly weather disasters

Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts and heat waves that nations should prepare for an unprecedented onslaught of deadly and costly weather disasters, an international panel of climate scientists says in a report issued Wednesday.

Pipeline years away State grants SNWA rights to rural Nevada water

Water officials in Las Vegas have one crucial approval in hand, but they but still need another — and billions of dollars — before construction can begin on a pipeline to supply water from rural and sparsely populated eastern Nevada to the state’s glittery cosmopolitan area.

U.S. says Bay Area delta’s longfin smelt could become extinct

The finding won’t expand restrictions on the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta’s water operations because the fish is just being designated a candidate for listing as an endangered species. Federal biologists have concluded that another native fish of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is headed toward extinction, underscoring the region’s severe environmental problems.

The Townsend Report

This is the first in a new feature of the Urban Water News that
will report on legislative and regional issues by Townsend Public
Affairs, a consulting firm with offices in Southern California,
Sacramento, Oakland and Washington D.C.

Southern Nevada Water Authority

Recently General Manager Pat Mulroy of the Southern Nevada Water Authority
(SNWA) gave an enlightening presentation at a Water Policy Forum hosted
by the Municipal Water District of Orange County. Under her leadership, Ms.
Mulroy outlined how her agency has taken proactive steps to address drought
conditions and shortages of water supply by the Colorado River through water
use efficiency and capital projects. There is much that can be learned from
SNWA’s efforts.
Background
Formed in 1991 as a Joint Powers Authority of five formerly independent and
competing water agencies, the Southern Nevada Water Authority is responsible
for acquiring, treating, and delivering water to approximately 2 million Nevada
residents and nearly 40 million annual visitors. To serve this population, the
SNWA remarkably relies on the Colorado River for 90 percent of its water needs.
Rather than dispute priority rights to water in Southern Nevada, the SNWA
promotes a coordinated approach in which each member agency has bought into
a shared conservation plan.
While water demand has declined in part due to the recession, the SNWA
continues to face a declining supply from the Colorado River. In fact, the water
level of Lake Mead, SNWA’s primary water storage reservoir, has dropped over
100 feet since January 2000. To proactively deal with this alarming problem, the
SNWA has embarked on a significant water-efficiency program as well as an
ambitious capital improvement project.
Water-Efficiency Efforts
Since 1996, the SNWA has developed and maintained a comprehensive
Water Resource Plan, which is thoroughly reviewed every year by the Board
of Directors. This 50-Year Planning Document represents the culmination of a
systematic review of water resources and demands in Southern Nevada, an
overview of SNWA water resource portfolio and SNWA’s approach to demand
forecasting, demand management and meeting long-term resource needs.
As part of this effort, the SNWA championed significant conservation measures,
which have resulted in Southern Nevada’s annual water consumption decreasing
by 32 billion gallons between 2002 and 2010, despite adding 420,000 more
customers during that same time span. These conservation efforts include over

$200 million in rebates for lawn removal as well as landscape-development
codes, assigned-watering schedules and golf course water budgets. In 2009,
the SNWA Board of Directors adopted a new conservation goal of 199 gallons
per capita per day (GPCD) by 2035. This will result in a saving of 50 GPCD
and save the community approximately 276,000 acre-feet of water per year by
the year 2035. By setting these goals, SNWA is confident it will meet its project
water demands through 2060 despite the prospect of declining water supply.

Colorado River
In response to severe Colorado River basin drought conditions, the Secretary of
the Interior in cooperation with the seven basin states initiated a process in 2005
to explore management options for Mead and Powell, leading to the landmark
2007 agreement. While this agreement sets in motion certain measures in
reaction to shortages, this agreement is becoming increasingly threatened by
increasing drought conditions, especially in relation to SNWA’s primary water
storage at Lake Mead.
To address continued drought conditions, SNWA approved the construction of
new drinking water intake in 2005. Scheduled for completion in 2014, Intake No.
3 will allow for water as low as 1,000 feet above sea level; therefore, assuring
capacity in the case that water levels fall below 1,050 feet to put Intake No.
1 out of commission. Recently, the SNWA Board of Directors approved an
infrastructure surcharge to finance this project and other infrastructure needs. In
her speech, Ms. Mulroy called Intake No. 3 Nevada’s “Bay Delta” to highlight is
supreme importance to their water supply.
Moving Forward
Through its leadership, SNWA has demonstrated the importance of a
coordinated dual strategy of increased supply and conservation measures
to address its long term needs. As Orange County and Southern California
look to the future, it is critical that we learn from our progressive neighbor, the
Southern Nevada Water Authority, to ensure we can meet the demands of new
generations.

Opinion: Bay Delta draft offers a first step to solutions

The Brown administration’s release last week of a draft Bay Delta Conservation technical analysis marks a major milestone in the decades-long debate about how best to manage a vital source of water for 25 million Californians: the beleaguered Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta.

Opinion: Ending California’s man-made drought

Commentary by Kevin McCarthy, Devin Nunes, and Jeff Denham
The man-made drought in California is no secret. Burdensome environmental regulations restricting water pumping in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta have contributed to hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile farmland going fallow in recent years.

Calif. water bill flows to uncertain future in Senate

A big California water bill passed by the House this week might be brilliant political hardball that puts Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the spot.
Or, maybe it’s a blown opportunity that’s poisoned the well. Perhaps, it’s a little bit of both. Like it or not, the state’s water future could be hanging in this uncertain balance.

McNerney, Garamendi, Stark Blast Water Bill Passage

Local congressional members responded to passage of House of Representative (HR) 1837 with sharp criticism, saying that it will spell economic and environmental disaster for the Delta and the Central Valley.

Editorial: The struggle for delta water

Editorial staff, San Francisco Chronicle
California water planners passed a milestone Wednesday in efforts to balance the competing needs of fish, farmers and cities when they released 10,000 pages of scientific documents framing the plan to restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and increase water exports. Now the negotiations begin.

Viewpoints: Hetch Hetchy provides a clean source of energy

In recent months there have been numerous articles, in The Bee and other newspapers, about the water implications of draining Hetch Hetchy reservoir. And in San Francisco, there is a misguided ballot initiative, the Water Sustainability and Environmental Restoration Act, that is asking voters to take the first step toward dismantling the dam and fostering water insecurity in the Bay Area.

California’s Choices: Two Big Expensive Tunnels or Just Better Water Management

The big unveiling last week, long anticipated, was the estimated cost of the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan’s (BDCP) tunnel conveyance system, or peripheral canal. The total cost estimates for the entire project, which proposes to fix California’s water system, are now approximately $23 billion, which includes construction, habitat restoration, monitoring and adaptive management. However, that’s just the base estimate. The debt servicing costs associated with the project are $1.1 billion a year for 35 years, which significantly increases the price.

Some worry officials will leap, not fully look at Delta

Talk of possible canal/tunnel won’t include complete cost-benefit study Decades after Los Angeles stuck a straw into Mono Lake, economist John Loomis set out to discover if this policy really was in the state’s best interest.

Water agencies’ feud ramps up

County water officials say documents show secret coalition steers Metropolitan decisions. San Diego County water officials claimed Monday to have uncovered evidence of a “shadow government” that secretly controls key budget decisions for the Metropolitan Water District as part of a coordinated campaign to discredit the county water authority’s push for more independence and lower rates.

REGION: Vote on Metropolitan water rate hike delayed

The Metropolitan Water District board postponed a decision on rate increases Tuesday.

San Francisco should weigh all Hetchy Hetchy options

Editorial staff, Sacramento Bee
For the first time since 1908, San Francisco voters will decide whether they want to prepare for a diverse 21st-century water system – or continue to rely on a 19th-century system that is heavily reliant on a reservoir inside a national park.

High court rejects challenge to SD County water deal

The California Supreme Court declined Wednesday to hear a challenge to a landmark water transfer agreement, handing a victory to the San Diego County Water Authority.

Nitrate contamination in Calif. threatening drinking water

More than 250,000 residents in the southern San Joaquin and Salinas valleys could be in danger of drinking water that has been contaminated by nitrates from local farming regions, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The contamination has spread throughout the years and researchers say it will only continue to get worse, noted the article.
Scientists from UC Davis examined the groundwater in the region and determined that even if farming operations were halted, nitrates would continue to spread for years, stated the article.

Levee fixes in Calif. leads to more building, risk

When Jack Robertson walks his dog atop the earthen levee just blocks from his home, the San Joaquin River rushes past on one side and rows of tract houses unfold on the other. In Lathrop, a small community that mushroomed on a floodplain in California’s Central Valley, 18,000 people live in the shadows of levees that once failed.

Desalination Project Partner Not Bailing Out

A partner in a proposed Mexican desalination plant that Otay Water District hopes to make its primary source of drinking water announced that it would stick with the project, reversing course from plans to pull out of the venture.

U.S. water infrastructure bill to top $1 trillion

The cost of repairing and expanding U.S. drinking water infrastructure will exceed $1 trillion in the next 25 years, an expense that likely will be met primarily through higher water bills and local fees, according to a study by the American Water Works Association.

Viewpoints: Water barons will corner market in new ‘Chinatown’

There is more money in selling water in California than there is in farming.

Opinion: Time to get real about California’s water supply

Commentary by Lois Wolk
Thirty years ago voters resoundingly rejected an enormous “peripheral canal” to ship more Northern California water south. Today, that old idea has been repackaged as the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. This time it’s even more expensive and less practical. Estimated to cost between $12 billion and $54 billion, the plan is backed by large water interests that say they will pay for a portion. But, in truth, all ratepayers and taxpayers will be the ones footing the bill. It’s time for a reality-based approach, not more expensive pipe dreams.

Peripheral canal/tunnel plus Delta restoration price tag soars

A massive canal or tunnel to siphon water from the Sacramento River before it flows into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta could cost far more than earlier thought.

Competing forces line up on California water bill

On the eve of Wednesday debate over a big California water bill, the pros and cons were being lined up.The Obama administration, in a formal Statement of Administration Policy, declared late Tuesday afternoon that it “strongly opposes” the bill authored by Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia. The administration said the bill’s ending of a San Joaquin River restoration program, and replacing it with a less ambitious plan, would “likely result in the resumption of costly litigation, creating an uncertain future for river restoration and water delivery operations for all water users on the San Joaquin River.”

Calif., federal officials say water allocation low

Water agencies that supply millions of California residents and farmers with water will be getting a reduced water supply this year.

Tiny snowpack to cut deeply into farmers’ water allocations

A puny Sierra snowpack has prompted federal officials to forecast that growers on the east and west side of the Valley will receive about a third of the water supply they would normally get.

Levee fixes in Calif. leads to more building, risk

When Jack Robertson walks his dog atop the earthen levee just blocks from his home, the San Joaquin River rushes past on one side and rows of tract houses unfold on the other. In Lathrop, a small community that mushroomed on a floodplain in California’s Central Valley, 18,000 people live in the shadows of levees that once failed.

State Water Project allocation is slashed

The California Department of Water Resources has reduced its estimate of the amount of water the State Water Project will deliver this year. DWR on Wednesday dropped its projected delivery total, or allocation, from 60 percent to 50 percent of the requested amount of slightly more than 4 million acre-feet.

Global warming and earthly lies

Peter Gleick, president of Oakland’s Pacific Institute and a prominent climate-change expert, admitted Monday that he lied. Gleick pretended to be someone else in order to obtain documents from the Heartland Institute, which has challenged mainstream scientific consensus on the role of man in global warming.

San Joaquin River restoration likely a sore point in dry season

This is the year east Valley farmers have dreaded. It’s one of the driest seasons in the past 100 years, and they must share precious water with the federal government to restore the San Joaquin River.

Future of N.M. water

Rights will shift from fields to cities, expert says
The next century of dialogue about water in New Mexico could sound much like the last, according to one hydrologist and water-rights broker. In 100 years most of the water rights used for agricultural purposes may be converted to rights for municipal use.

Opinion: Repeal $11.14 Billion Water Bond

Kristin Lynch, California Progress Report
Corporate agriculture giants are plotting a massive, multi-billion dollar water heist and they want you to pay for it. Part of their thirst was quenched in December when Senator Feinstein made it easier for them to resell public water for private profit. Now these water barons have their eyes set on a bigger prize: passage of an $11.14 billion bond measure to help them tap the Sacramento River. In order to protect California’s fiscal and environmental health, the state legislature should repeal this wasteful bond.

John Howard, Cal Water Wars

John Howard, Cal Water Wars
An $11 billion water bond facing voters on the November ballot likely will be rewritten, downsized or delayed two years – or even all three — to reflect political realities and a weak economy, says the leader of the Senate.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan is best option

John Laird, Open Forum, San Francisco Chronicle
For centuries, without a single dam or pipe, water in California’s rivers and streams supported about 300,000 people. Now, California’s population is 38 million, and will grow by 10 million in the next generation.

Transitions for the Delta Economy

Josué Medellín-Azuara, Ellen Hanak, Richard Howitt, and Jay Lund
 Enormous changes—from natural forces to management decisions—are coming to California’s fragile Delta region and will have broad effects on its residents. This report finds that in the first half of this century, the Delta as a whole is likely to experience a loss of 1 percent of economic activity as a result of these changes. It also identifies planning priorities for managing the Delta’s future. This research was supported with funding from the Watershed Sciences Center at UC Davis.

Governor Brown endorses Bay Delta Conservation Plan

Bob Morris, Independent Voter Network

Gov. Brown strongly endorsed and supported the Bay Delta Conservation Plan in his State of the State address. He says it will ensure water for 25 million Californians and agriculture, as well as protecting the Delta ecosystem and its abundant fish and wildlife.

California’s best-kept secret?

Statewide survey finds 78 percent clueless about Delta

Nearly four out of five Californians do not know what the Delta is, despite the fact that the estuary of 1,000 square miles provides drinking water for cities from San Jose to San Diego.

Upper District rallies for new kind of peripheral canal bill

Local water agencies, chambers of commerce and construction unions are supporting a bill that would speed up the planning and set a date for construction of a new kind of peripheral canal to bring water from Northern California south.

O.C. agency revives failed desert water plan

A plan to boost water supplies using a Mojave desert aquifer is being floated by an Orange County water agency — nearly 10 years after a similar plan for the same aquifer failed to gain approval, in part because of stiff opposition from a U.S. senator and environmental activists.

Regional Board approves desalination plant

A bid that would allow a Huntington Beach facility to turn seawater into drinking water has been approved by a regional water board, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A Connecticut-based firm Poseidon Resources says the proposed $350 million seawater desalination plant would supply 50 million gallons of drinking water a day, noted the article.

The plan could be halted by environmentalists who think the process would hurt sea creatures and foul up the ocean with its discharges, stated the article.

Water systems need fixes, badly; customers don’t want to fund them

From mountain hamlets to Sacramento City Hall, governments are asking taxpayers to dig deeper into their pockets to improve sewer and water systems. And people are pushing back.

Brown hints at peripheral canal

A possible multi-billion dollar canal to siphon water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to users south of the Delta is being hinted at by Gov. Jerry Brown, a long-time supporter of the concept.

Jerry Brown says he’d support delaying water bond

Gov. Jerry Brown indicated Thursday that he would support delaying an $11 billion water bond currently on the November ballot, saying a massive overhaul of the state’s water system can begin without voters approving huge borrowing this year.

New flood control plan would change Sacramento’s landscape

A massive plan to improve the Central Valley’s flood control system proposes big changes for the landscape of the Sacramento region, from enlarging major floodways such as the Yolo Bypass to improving levees and bridges.

Sacramento given more time to meet sewage standards

A judge on Monday granted Sacramento’s regional sewage treatment agency an additional six months to meet stricter filtration requirements for the treated effluent it discharges into the Sacramento River.

Delta Advocates Blast Flaws in Tainted PPIC Report

Restore the Delta is challenging the accuracy and value of the Public Policy Institute’s controversial “report” on the Delta, “Transitions for the Delta Economy,” funded by the Stephen Bechtel Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund and David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Berryhill’s canal alternative; Plan separates SJ, Sacramento river waters

Assemblyman Bill Berryhill is championing a Delta solution that could please all water interests at an economic cost significantly less than the latest proposal to resurrect the Peripheral Canal.

Debilitating drought to continue across southern USA

The disastrous Southern drought, which led to $10 billion in crop and agricultural losses in 2011, is forecast to continue through at least the next three months, government scientists report.

Hoover Power Allocation Act Signed into Law

Southwestern water and power interests are celebrating the federal government’s renewal of the Hoover Power Allocation Act, which authorizes hydropower generated at the Hoover Dam to be distributed for the benefit of more than 29 million residents of California, Nevada and Arizona. For southern California, which receives water from the Colorado River, the legislation ensures that reliable, low-cost, renewable energy will be available to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan) so it can move more than 550,000 acre-feet of water across its Colorado River Aqueduct each year.