Center for Biological Diversity files suit to get information about MacDonald

Posted by: Maven on December 30, 2007 at 8:37 am

From Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org:

Julie McDonald, a corrupt Bush administration official who resigned from her position with the Department of Interior in April during a scandal over her meddling with Endangered Species Act listings, is the subject of litigation launched against the Department by the Center for Biological Diversity on December 27.

The Center filed a lawsuit in federal district court demanding that the U.S. Department of the Interior and one of its agencies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, hand over public documents about former Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary MacDonald. MacDonald abruptly resigned in April 2007 after the exposure of her unlawful interference with dozens of endangered species and habitat decisions by agency scientists, including at least one decision in which she stood to financially benefit.

The species impacted by “egregious corrupt or inept Interior decisions,” include the Sacramento splittail, a native member of the minnow family whose decline in recent years has coincided with those of the delta smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile striped bass and threadfin shad.

“Though this fish was listed in 1999, the decision was fought in court by state water authorities and the species was suspiciously delisted in 2003,” according to the Center’s press release. “MacDonald made over 500 edits to the final decision. At the time, she co-owned a farm in California that overlapped with habitat for the fish. The inspector general cited her for conflict of interest.”

To read the full text of this story from IndyBay.org, click here.

California Sport Fishing Alliance reports on Wanger’s ruling

Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2007 at 8:17 am

From IndyBay.org:

John Beuttler, conservation director of the California Sportfishing Alliance, summarizes the recent federal court ruling by Judge Oliver Wanger that mandated reductions in water exports from the California Delta at certain times of year in order to better protect Delta smelt from the impacts of the state and federal projects.

“The court’s ruling was based on the best science available, a principle the Interior Department neglected to use,” said Beuttler.

Congressman George Miller (D-Martinez) also commented on the ruling. “Today’s order is a very important step in the effort to force California’s water policy into compliance with the law. Nobody should be surprised by this order, nor should they be surprised to learn that the government must now take substantial steps to save the Delta and the Bay ecosystem.”

The ruling occurs in the context of the Bay-Delta estuary’s worst-ever ecological crisis. Four species of pelagic (open water) fish – delta smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile striped bass and threadfin shad – have declined to record levels because of increased water exports by the state and federal governments in recent years.

This court ruling is very welcome news for those of us concerned about the future of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Unfortunately Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the worst ever government for fish and the environment in California history, continues to campaign for increased water exports from Delta that is already crashing. To provide the capacity for increased exports, Schwarzenegger and the California Chamber of Commerce are backing water bond initatives for a peripheral canal and two new reservoirs. Unless we stop the Governor and his corporate supporters in their drive to build the canal and more dams, the delta smelt and other fish species are destined for extinction.

To read the rest of this article from CSPA posted on IndyBay.org, click here. The article contains comments by Congressman George Miller, a summary of the court ruling, and information regarding the latest smelt survey.

Planning & Conservation League sees hope for the Delta in 2008

Posted by: Maven on December 28, 2007 at 9:33 am

From the California Progress Report:

After years of bad news from the Delta, the final weeks of 2008 could mark a new beginning for the largest estuary on the West Coast.

The first waves of change came out of Fresno last Friday, when Judge Wanger of the U.S. District Court issued his final order requiring State and Federal agencies to stop killing delta smelt during key periods of the year. This latest decision, specifying how his initial ruling earlier this year will be implemented, ensures that endangered smelt have a fighting chance to avoid extinction. Specifically, the order requires the following:

-The California Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation must change their operations to reduce their massive diversions of water from the Delta.

-Both agencies must increase monitoring for delta smelt near their water pumps.

-The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service must issue a new, more protective permit (Biological Opinion) for Delta smelt and Delta water exports by September 15, 2008.

The historic decision sparked a broad array of reactions (see the Fish Sniffer Online and the Fresno Bee). However, the most important review, the reaction of the delta smelt, will not be in until next year, when fishing surveys will determine whether the delta smelt and other Delta species are able to inch back from the brink of extinction.

To read the rest of this article from the California Progress Report, click here.

State Assemblyman Mike Feuer writes to his constituents about water issues

Posted by: Maven on December 28, 2007 at 12:20 am

This is from the Bel-Air Association blog, which is a copy of the newsletter sent out by State Assemblyman Mike Feuer to his constituents. Here’s what he has to say about water issues:

We have to tackle California’s water crisis now. Here in Beverly Hills, taps flow freely, and lawns are so green that you might not detect that we face any water issues at all. But reality is about to hit home. Our state is in midst of a prolonged drought. And a federal judge recently mandated a 30% cut in flows from the Sacramento Delta, an important source of Southern California’s water supply.

Recognizing the need for action, Governor Schwarzenegger has convened an extraordinary legislative session focused on water. The Speaker of the Assembly assigned me to serve on a small working group to come up with solutions that will ensure delivery of clean water in an environmentally sustainable and economically efficient manner.

Addressing the dilemma of the Sacramento Delta is a key. That court order reducing water Delta exports is the result of years of siphoning water from a fragile ecosystem that is home to the endangered delta smelt. To protect the smelt, the court curtailed those exports. That order sent reverberations throughout our state. In addition to its intrinsic impact, the ruling highlighted the vulnerability of our state’s water infrastructure –particularly the system of canals, levees and flood plains of the Delta.

It is time to make the investment that past Californians did in our water infrastructure. We need to protect and enhance the ecosystem of the Delta, ensure a reliable, high quality water supply for Southern California (I have been working closely with the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) which provides the majority of water to Beverly Hills), to adopt the best feasible water conservation strategies, decontaminate groundwater and promote water recycling. Continue reading “State Assemblyman Mike Feuer writes to his constituents about water issues” »

Commentary on sea level rise and politics making rounds throughout the blogosphere

Posted by: Maven on December 28, 2007 at 12:14 am

Usually here at Aquafornia, I don’t really post a lot of political commentary, but this one I just have to. This commentary is, to me, a little over the top, and is apparently to a lot of other bloggers as well because it is making the rounds, let me tell you. It’s popped up on my news reader at least ten times since this afternoon. So, in order to keep you, my dear reader, up on the latest hot blogging gossip, check out this editorial by Dave Lindorff, posted on the Baltimore Chronicle website:

Say what you will about the looming catastrophe facing the world as the pace of global heating and polar melting accelerates. There is a silver lining.

Look at a map of the US.

The area that will by completely inundated by the rising ocean—and not in a century but in the lifetime of my two cats—are the American southeast, including the most populated area of Texas, almost all of Florida, most of Louisiana, and half of Alabama and Mississippi, as well as goodly portions of eastern Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. While the northeast will also see some coastal flooding, its geography is such that that aside from a few projecting sandbars like Long Island and Cape Cod, the land rises fairly quickly to well above sea level. Sure, Boston, New York and Philadelphia will be threatened, but these are geographically confined areas that could lend themselves to protection by Dutch-style dikes. The West Coast too tends to rise rapidly to well above sea level in most places. Only down in Southern California towards the San Diego area is the ground closer to sea level.

So what we see is that huge swaths of conservative America are set to face a biblical deluge in a few more presidential cycles. Continue reading “Commentary on sea level rise and politics making rounds throughout the blogosphere” »

Maybe this Google sea level rise map is at the root of that commentary.

Posted by: Maven on December 28, 2007 at 12:14 am

Check this out. Maybe this is what fed the commentary above. I found this link this morning reading the WaterWired blog – hat tip to Michael Campana.

It’s an interactive google map where you can look at sea level rise and it’s effect on the coastline.
I’ve positioned it looking at California, but the map works for the entire world.
Click here for Google sea level rise map.

DWR releases water delivery impact estimates following Wanger decision

Posted by: Maven on December 26, 2007 at 9:15 pm

From the Department of Water Resources website:

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has completed its revised operational model to determine water supply impacts from a recent federal court decision on Delta pumping.

The model provides a range of impacts on water exports, depending on Delta smelt migration patterns and precipitation. If 2008 is a dry year, State Water Project customers will receive seven to 22 percent less Delta water than would have been available without the court decision. If 2008 is an average water year, exports will be reduced 22 to 30 percent.

The current State Water Project allocations of 25 percent of requested water supply are based on dry year conditions and already account for these reductions. Those allocations may increase depending on precipitation, but will not increase as much as they have in past years due to the court ruling.

Federal Court Judge Wanger’s final ruling, issued on December 14, curtails Delta pumping to protect the threatened Delta smelt. The decision underscores that the Delta is at risk, both environmentally and as a source of water for most of California’s people, industry and agriculture.

This range is consistent with earlier estimates made by DWR following the court’s initial ruling in August. Following Judge Wanger’s final ruling, DWR performed additional modeling and analysis on these impacts.

The order will primarily affect export pumping between January and June, when juvenile Delta smelt are at greatest risk of entrainment in pumps. The actual impact on water supply will depend on a number of factors including the locations where adult smelt spawn and offspring hatch, levels of precipitation for the year, and water temperatures affecting how quickly the fish migrate.

The impact on water supplies could be offset somewhat by water from the Environmental Water Account to the extent those water supplies are available this year.

DWR delivers water through the Delta to 25 million Californians and 750,000 acres of irrigated farmland.

Aquafornia makes Waterblogged’s 10 top water blogs!

Posted by: Maven on December 25, 2007 at 3:56 pm

Amazingly enough, I didn’t know there were ten water blogs out there, but presumably there are at least 11 and Waterblogged has posted their top ten waterblogs. Or is it ten top waterblogs?

Check it out for yourself by clicking here.

Thanks to Waterblogged for including Aquafornia on the list!

Prospect Island Fish Kill Hearing: Lois Wolk Blasts Agencies For Lack Of Coordination

Posted by: Maven on December 24, 2007 at 6:55 am

From Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org:

During a special investigative hearing of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee in Rio Vista on December 6, Assemblywoman Lois Wolk (D-Davis) demanded answers from state and federal agencies responsible for the massive fish kill in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta at Prospect Island in November – and blasted them for their lack of coordination with one another.

Wolk said she is considering legislation to improve future coordination and response and establish a strong and inclusive governing body that will provide responsible stewardship of Delta. “The state needs a plan in place so that we are able to respond swiftly and efficiently in the event of future incidents like this,” said Wolk.

The hearing room was packed with angry anglers, including many members of the California Striped Bass Association who participated in the highly successful volunteer fish rescue at the island resulting in the saving of 1831 striped bass and at least 6,000 other smaller fish including Sacramento blackfish, Sacramento splittail, threadfin shad, bluegill and black bass.

“Everyone is pointing fingers as to why things went wrong,” emphasized Wolk in her opening statement. “But no one is taking responsibility for the failure to respond. Who takes charge in a situation like this? Who takes responsibility? Those questions need to be answered.”

Wolk also challenged the Bureau and Department of Fish and Game’s delays in utilizing volunteer assistance to rescue fish stranded on Prospect Island when water was drained from the area for levee repairs. Though Bob McDaris, Jeff Nash and dozens of other fisherman were lined up to aid in efforts to rescue surviving fish, the bureau turned volunteers away until November 30, weeks after the first reports of massive fish deaths on the island.

Agency representatives all admitted that the fish kill was a huge blunder, the result of a breakdown in communication and coordination between the agencies. Bureau and Fish and Game (DFG) representatives testifying at the hearing blamed slow response and hesitance to accept volunteers on liability concerns, permit requests, lack of information, and other bureaucratic delays.

“If we could go back in time I want to assure you that we would have handled the situation differently,” said John Davis, the Bureau of Reclamation’s Regional Director.

To read the rest of this article from Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org, click here.

Bromate found in DWP reservoirs may lead to new nationwide monitoring regulations

Posted by: Maven on December 24, 2007 at 6:52 am

From Chemical & Engineering News:

THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES must drain 600 million gal of water—about a day’s supply—from two reservoirs after discovering high levels of bromate, a suspected carcinogen. The bromate appears to have formed in sunlit water when chlorine oxidized bromide from groundwater. The unexpected chemistry is leading to changes in water-monitoring requirements at the local and state levels and may affect nationwide policies.

Bromide often occurs naturally in water supplies and is commonly oxidized to bromate during ozone disinfection of drinking water. Water treatment plants that use ozone are therefore required to test for bromate before releasing water to distribution systems. In the LA reservoirs, however, bromate was produced spontaneously in posttreatment water stored in surface reservoirs.

Neither state nor federal regulations require testing for bromate in water supplies posttreatment. The LA Department of Water & Power (LADWP) learned of the problem from a laboratory conducting tests for a commercial customer. Generally, water suppliers must keep bromate levels to a maximum of 10 ppb on average over a year. But in October, the city’s Silver Lake reservoir had a bromate level of 68 ppb, while its Elysian reservoir had 106 ppb.

LADWP is still studying what happened in the reservoirs, says Pankaj Parekh, LADWP’s director for water quality compliance, although experiments have confirmed that the critical components are bromide, chlorine, sunlight, and probably dissolved oxygen. Parekh notes that most of the literature on bromate formation focuses on managing it in treatment plants or as part of desalination of ocean water. “There is very sparse information available for the type of drinking-water scenario facing us,” he says, adding that the department is rapidly developing an appreciation for photochemistry.

To read the rest of this article from Chemical & Engineering News, click here.

Ethanol: the great water guzzler

Posted by: Maven on December 22, 2007 at 2:24 pm

From IndyBay.org, this article on the effect of ethanol production on our already limited water supplies:

The Federal Energy Bill, with its fivefold mandate to increase ethanol production, is headed for the president’s desk without threat of veto, now that all requirements to support tax credits for solar and wind systems have been removed. The impact of the ethanol mandate promises to be particularly severe on California.

Growth of the corn ethanol industry in California is fraught with unintended consequences, none of them beneficial to the state’s economy or environment. They include deleterious effects on our overcommitted water resources, on our air quality, on the price of food, and on the financial burden to our citizens while private investors profit.

Those of us in California now need to be more active in fighting serious impacts by preventing ethanol entrepreneurs from getting permits from local cities and counties to use our already limited water supplies to build and operate their plants. Water is key in California.

All of the water systems upon which the state depends, to serve both agriculture and the urban sector, are oversubscribed. Ethanol requires large amounts of water, both to grow corn and to process it, putting corn into direct competition with our agricultural industry, which feeds half the nation with all of its fruits, vegetables and nuts. Corn ethanol requires 3.7 to 5 gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol just in the manufacturing process. Corn ethanol is the only current market-ready product, as cellulosic ethanol from other plant materials is an indeterminate number of years in the future.

“The Rush to Ethanol,” by Food & Water Watch, which should be required reading for those legislators swayed by ethanol lobbyists, illustrates that even the highly touted switchgrass is not without its soil and water use problems. Cellulosic ethanol requires six gallons of water for each gallon of ethanol in the manufacturing process, though the energy output is four to five times greater than for corn ethanol. For a state with such severe water difficulties, at a time when citizens are being asked to conserve, any additional intensive manufacturing water use is highly questionable.

Corn is a very thirsty plant, and this article is not the first to question whether California (or other parts of the country) have enough water resources to produce the target amount of ethanol.

To read the rest of this article from IndyBay.org, click here.

ACWA issues comment on final Delta Vision report

Posted by: Maven on December 19, 2007 at 2:51 pm

From Business Wire:

SACRAMENTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) today issued the following statement from Executive Director Timothy Quinn on the final report submitted by the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force to Governor Schwarzenegger.

“ACWA commends the Task Force for putting forward a set of recommendations addressing one of the most difficult challenges facing California today. The Delta is in crisis today, with growing consequences for the state economy and environment. We need decisive action now to protect the environment and ensure reliable water deliveries for the economy.”

“As the Task Force noted, new conveyance infrastructure in the Delta must be part of a comprehensive fix. To make that vision a reality, the Schwarzenegger Administration must focus on improving the Delta infrastructure in a way that restores the ecosystem and improves water supply reliability. How that infrastructure is operated also must be a key focus.”

“There are critical decisions ahead for California’s water system in 2008. The Task Force report is a call to action and the Administration must move swiftly to implement a comprehensive program for the Delta.”

ACWA is a statewide association of public agencies whose 450 members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California. For more information, visit www.acwa.com.

The Governor, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, and the California Sportfishing Alliance all respond to the Delta Vision final report

Posted by: Maven on December 18, 2007 at 10:23 pm

Sent to me by Dan Bacher, here are more responses to the Delta Vision report, including the Governor’s response, Gary Mulcahy of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, and John Beuttler of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger used the release of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force’s final report on Monday, December 17 as yet another opportunity to campaign for his water bond proposal for new dams and a peripheral canal. Schwarzenegger’s proposal would result in increased water exports from the California Delta to subsidized agribusiness and southern California, further imperiling an estuary already in steep decline. Delta smelt, longfin smelt, threadfin shad, juvenile striped bass and other fish species have declined to record lows in recent years, due to massive increases in state and federal water exports.

Gary Mulcahy, governmental liason for the Winnemem Wintu (McCloud River) Indian Tribe, and John Beuttler, conservation director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), criticized the governor’s statement for focusing on surface storage and water conveyance rather than the other huge issues and recommendations contained in the report. Mulcahy and Beuttler are both members of the Delta Vision Stakeholders Group.

“Throwing money at new storage and a conveyance system WILL NOT fix the problem,” said Mulcahy. “It is time for Californians as a whole, not a select few, to take back control of California Water.”

Beuttler noted, “Schwarzenegger’s media statement places exaggerated political spin on the alleged need for new surface storage and conveyance of water south of the Delta and his insistence that bond measure fund these multibillion dollar water project plumbing fixtures.”

Below is the complete statement by the Governor, followed by responses by Mulcahy and Beuttler:

Continue reading “The Governor, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, and the California Sportfishing Alliance all respond to the Delta Vision final report” »

Metropolitan Water District responds to Delta Vision final draft

Posted by: Maven on December 18, 2007 at 6:22 pm

From Business Wire:

Timothy F. Brick, chairman of the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, issues the following statement regarding today’s release of recommendations by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force:

“Delta Vision has provided valuable insight on how to end a piecemeal approach to the many challenges in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Metropolitan wholeheartedly agrees with the insistence on a comprehensive fix to stabilize the ecosystem of the estuary and to provide for a reliable water supply for nearly two-thirds of all Californians. A reliable water supply cannot happen long-term without a more resilient Delta ecosystem and a smarter water delivery system.

“Now the task ahead is to make the goal of a comprehensive Delta solution a reality. Metropolitan believes that the Delta’s health depends on restoring natural flow patterns within the estuary. Delta Vision’s recommendation of a ‘dual conveyance’ system as the preferred direction would rely on a new water bypass as well as existing pumping facilities. Metropolitan agrees with the recommendation that improving Delta water conveyance and revitalizing the ecosystem should be pursued as rapidly as possible by the responsible agencies and departments, upon direction by the Governor.

“Conservation and regional water programs are bedrock principles of Metropolitan’s long-term water plan. Southern California’s ‘new’ water is not based on more Delta water than we’ve historically used, rather a more reliable delivery of that supply.”

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving 18 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.

Westlands Water District asks why should the public pay more to get less water from the Delta

Posted by: Maven on December 18, 2007 at 4:39 pm

One of the first reactions to the final draft of the Delta Blue Ribbon Task Force report, and it comes from Westlands Water District. From Business Wire:

The Westlands Water District today issued the following statement by General Manager, Tom Birmingham.

In November 2006, when he created the Delta Blue Ribbon Task Force by executive order, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recognized that the future of the State of California is dependent on solving complex problems associated with the Sacramento – San Joaquin Rivers Delta and supplying water to fuel the state’s economy. The Delta Vision report prepared by the Task Force is the product of substantial work and deliberations, and it does a good job of identifying the issues that must be addressed if the Delta is going to be fixed. However, in its present form, the Vision erects several barriers to solving many of the problems surrounding the Delta and the state’s water supply.

Chief among these barriers is the notion that the state may have to reduce its reliance on water tributary to the Delta. This conclusion was reached without any analysis and ignores substantial data that in the near term, substantially more water that is tributary to the Delta can be put to beneficial, consumptive use, while restoring the Delta ecosystem, merely by improving Delta conveyance. This point was made repeatedly by Professor Jeffery F. Mount at the Delta Summit convened by Governor Schwarzenegger and Senator Dianne Feinstein on August 21, 2007. He summarized the conclusions of the authors of the Public Policy Institute of California study on the future of the Delta as follows:

I can sum it up for you, totally. What we found in our study,
repeatedly, is that the limiting factor was not the amount of
water; it was the conveyance of the water. It was the ability
to move water from supply to demand, to demand centers. That
was the overarching, number one, limiting factor for us, was
conveyance.

There is no question that the Delta is broken. The Westlands Water District agrees that repairing this unique environmental resource is essential, not just for agriculture but for California as a whole. As the Delta Vision report makes clear, our existing management and regulatory programs are not working to protect the environment and they are disrupting the delivery of safe drinking water to two-thirds of the state’s population. However, the public is not going to support spending billions of dollars to fix this critical link in the state’s water system if they’re going to wind up getting less water as a result.

This is the contradiction in the report that the Governor and his cabinet need to resolve. Not only is there no basis for this “spend more to get less” assertion, from a political perspective, it would make passage of a bond issue virtually impossible.

The Delta Vision report takes two important steps forward in defining state policy. First, it declares that protecting the health of the Delta ecosystem and meeting the state’s needs for water supply are co-equal and inseparable objectives. Second, it affirms that construction of an improved conveyance system is necessary to serve both of those objectives.

These important findings have been undermined, however, by the declaration in the final version that after spending billions of dollars in public funds to repair the Delta and improve conveyance, the public will have to get by on less water than is already being pumped through the Delta. Why would the 25 million water ratepayers who depend on Delta conveyance support such a self-destructive deal? That’s not solving a problem; it’s making things worse.

There is another aspect of the Delta Vision report which could pose a major stumbling block to further progress. That is the call for a vast new bureaucracy that would centralize power over the Delta, usurp local land use authority and duplicate many of the functions that are already being performed by other state and federal agencies. Governance is an important question. But this proposal is so unwieldy and controversial that it could easily become a distraction from the more pressing issues that the governor and the legislature need to address in resolving the state’s water crisis.

The Delta Vision report has correctly defined the twin objectives for Delta water policy. Restoring reliability to the state’s water system and restoring the health of the Delta will not resolve all of California’s future water needs. But that is where we need to start for the sake of the environment, the economy and the health and safety of the public.

About Westlands:

The Westlands Water District serves a community of more than 600 families who farm some of the most productive agricultural lands in the world. It encompasses more than 600,000 acres in an area 15 miles wide and 70 miles long on the west side of California’s Central Valley. The value of the food and fiber produced by Westlands farmers currently totals $1 billion a year and the regional economic activity generated by its operations exceeds $3.5 billion annually.

Westlands is a world leader in water conservation. Farmers in Westlands are constantly changing to meet the needs of a dynamic marketplace, enhance the environment, expand the diversity of their crops and apply the most advanced irrigation techniques and technology for water conservation and long-term sustainable production. From its inception, Westlands’ distribution system has been fully enclosed, to eliminate losses from evaporation and leakage. Laser-levelling, computer-aided drip irrigation and the extensive use of global positioning systems help Westlands farmers achieve efficiencies of water use of 85 percent or more.

Restore the Delta interviews local Delta residents about their views

Posted by: Maven on December 18, 2007 at 2:47 pm

From IndyBay.org:

Restore the Delta volunteer Barbara Bowers will be conducting a series of interviews with Delta residents, as well as featuring policy statements from California Delta water experts and plans for water use and storage designed by Restore the Delta senior advisors. Here is the first installment of the “Healthy Delta Communities Plan.”

The Sacramento San Joaquin Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast, is in its worse ecological crisis ever as Delta smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile striped bass, threadfin shad and other fish species plummet to record lows. Meanwhile, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California Chamber of Commerce are pushing a water bond initiative including new dams and a peripheral canal that would result in the complete destruction of the imperiled estuary.

Dear Friends of Restore the Delta,

Below you will find the first installment of the Healthy Delta Communities Plan – a series of interviews conducted with Delta residents, policy statements from California Delta water experts, and plans for water use and storage designed by Restore the Delta senior advisors.

Our goal is to use this plan to give voice to the people of the Delta – from everyday citizens to experts on California water policy residing within our community. We are a grassroots campaign and feel that the observations, analysis, comments, and history of the people of the Delta gives direction to the work of Restore the Delta staff. We will, however, continue with our newsletter Delta Flows to keep readers up-to-date on what is happening in terms of the political response to the crisis within the Delta.

We will post these installments on our website for future reference.

Let us know what you think.

Yours in service for the Delta,

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Campaign Director
Restore the Delta
Making the Delta fishable, swimmable, drinkable, and farmable by 2010!
Barbara [at] restorethedelta.org
http://www.restorethedelta.org

To read rest of this article from IndyBay.org, which includes the two interviews of Delta residents, click here.

Delta Vision Final Report is out and posted ….

Posted by: Maven on December 18, 2007 at 9:27 am

You can read the final Delta Vision Report by clicking here.

DWR News: DWR issues statement regarding Wanger decision; schedules first snow survey of the season

Posted by: Maven on December 18, 2007 at 7:32 am

From the Department of Water Resources:

First, this statement regarding Judge Wanger’s decision:

Judge Wanger’s ruling to protect the threatened Delta smelt will curtail water deliveries by the State Water Project and federal Central Valley Project, again underscoring the fragility and unreliability of the Delta as California’s water delivery hub.

“The Delta is indeed broken, both environmentally and as a source of water for most of California’s people, businesses, industry, and millions of acres of our most productive farmland,” said DWR Director Lester Snow. “It is urgent that we respond to Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposals to fix the Delta and our water delivery system, both for the sake of humans and fish and wildlife.”

“Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed a comprehensive plan to ensure California has enough clean, safe water for our people, businesses, farms and environment,” Snow said. “His plan calls for major investments in surface and groundwater storage, as well as urgently-needed improvements to protect the Delta’s fragile ecosystem and ensure reliable water supplies. The need for the Governor’s plan has never been greater.”

Because of continuing dry weather as well as today’s court decision, Californians will need to step up their water conservation efforts. In some communities, water rationing will be necessary — especially if the state experiences another dry winter.

Judge Wanger’s ruling was made to protect the threatened Delta smelt from export pumping operations until new federal biological permits are obtained approximately a year from now. Future water deliveries out of the Delta will depend on conditions in those new federal permits.

DWR also announced it’s first snow survey of the season:

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) will conduct its first snow survey of the new winter season at 11 a.m., Thursday, January 3, 2008, near Lake Tahoe.

Phillips Station at Highway 50 and Sierra at Tahoe Road, about 90 miles east of Sacramento, is the manual survey location. Reporters and photographers should take snowshoes or cross-country skis and park vehicles along Highway 50.

Snow depth and water content figures should be available by noon. The survey will be the first of five monthly measurements that help water supply planners estimate the amount of spring snowmelt runoff into reservoirs.

In addition to this single manually measured site, reporters can find the latest real-time estimations of statewide water content posted on the Internet at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/reports/DLYSWEQ.html.

Importance of Snow Surveying

Snow-water content is important in determining the coming year’s water supply. The measurements help hydrologists prepare water supply forecasts as well as provide others, such as hydroelectric power companies and the recreation industry, with much needed data.

The surveys are particularly significant this year because last year’s snowpack yielded only 30 percent of the normal water content. Reservoirs are low, as well, with Lake Oroville holding only 36 percent of its 3.5 million acre foot capacity, 59 percent of average for this time of year. Because less-than-normal water supply conditions exist, the initial State Water Project allocation for 2008 was placed at 25 percent of water contractors’ requested amounts.

Snow monitoring is coordinated by DWR as part of the multi-agency California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program. Surveyors from more than 50 agencies and utilities visit hundreds of snow measurement courses each month to gauge the amount of water in the snowpack.

The Department of Water Resources operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs.

Led Zeppelin and Water Dummies

Posted by: Maven on December 18, 2007 at 7:22 am

From the watercrunch blog:

Imagine a straight drop into a vertical loop, followed by a double inversion cobra roll, zero-G roll, vertical loop and a corkscrew. Now imagine as you twist and turn, a 1,200-watt sound system plays Led Zepplin’s 1969 hit song “Whole Lotta Love.”

Your dreams will become reality next year. Some of you all may have remembered when I first detailed in a blog post in July the new signature Led Zepplin roller coaster in Myrtle Beach at the new 140 acre Hard Rock Theme Park. Yesterday, they had a public unveiling of the roller coaster and ran the coaster not with live people (although, I am sure they would have found some volunteers), but with some water ballast dummies.

For some pictures and the rest of the story, click here to visit the watercrunch blog.

Delta Vision Task Force issues final report

Posted by: Maven on December 17, 2007 at 10:24 pm

From Business Wire:

The Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force today submitted to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger 12 linked recommendations and several proposed near-term actions to protect the Delta ecosystem and the state’s water supply.

The Delta formed by California’s two largest rivers, the Sacramento and San Joaquin, is the largest estuary on the West Coast and the hub of the state’s water systems. California’s Delta increasingly has become a center of controversy as federal, state, and local governments and private entities have sought to make use of its resources.

“We’ve got to turn the water debate in California on its head to make any progress. We can’t keep hitting brick walls,” said Task Force Chair Phil Isenberg. “The Delta is in crisis and each day brings us closer to a major disaster, be it from flooding, from the decline of important fish species, or from court-ordered reductions in the amount of water that can be pumped for the state’s water supply.”

Governor Schwarzenegger appointed the seven-member Task Force in February to develop a long-term sustainable Vision for the Delta by the end of the year, and an implementation plan by October 2008.

“We started from the premise that the Delta ecosystem and a reliable water supply for the state are co-equal values, and that conflicts between them should be resolved by applying the state constitutional principles of ‘public trust’ and ‘beneficial use,’” said Isenberg.

From there the Task Force recommends a significant increase in conservation and water system efficiency, new facilities to move and store water, and likely reductions in the amount of water taken out of the Delta watershed. The Task Force also recommends a new governing structure for the Delta that would have secure funding and the ability to approve spending, planning and water export levels.

In addition, the Task Force recommends several near-term actions. These focus on preparing for disasters in or around the Delta, including emergency flood protection and disaster planning, protecting the Delta ecosystem and water supply system from urban encroachment, and making immediate improvements to protect the environment and the system that moves water through the Delta.

Task Force members cautioned that their recommendations are linked and meant to be implemented together. In their cover letter to Governor Schwarzenegger they noted that “The Delta cannot be ‘fixed’ by any single action. No matter what policy choices are made, we Californians are compelled to change the ways we behave toward the environment and water.”

Addressing the inevitable questions about water conveyance facilities the Task Force members wrote: “For those who rush to discuss Delta water conveyance as if no other issue is of importance, we caution that decisions about storage and conveyance flow from all twelve recommendations in our Vision, and cannot be decided by themselves. To that end, we have recommended an assessment process focused on dual conveyance as the preferred direction, allowing an ultimate decision which fits into the other elements of this Vision.”

Developed during 14 days of public Task Force meetings since March, the full report is available at www.deltavision.ca.gov. In addition to Isenberg, Task Force members are: Monica Florian, Richard M. Frank, Thomas McKernan, Sunne Wright McPeak, William K. Reilly, and Raymond Seed.

Rain and snow in the forecast for California

Posted by: Maven on December 17, 2007 at 9:22 pm

From the Central Valley Business Times:

It’s a sure sign of winter: TV reporters standing in the snow at Blue Canyon east of Sacramento. And that’s where they were over the weekend for their live shots as the Sierra got its first large snowfall of the winter.

It’s a precursor of what may turn out to be a fairly wet week, says AccuWeather.com, of State College, Pa. It’s reporting that an active pattern of low pressure storm systems will hit the West Coast early this week.

Storms are “stacking up” out over the Pacific, at least two more after this one. However, they say not much good news for us:

But high pressure building over the region today will result in dry conditions across Southern California, he says.

Still, there is some hope for Southern California water supplies fed by the Colorado River. While a multi-year drought has plagued the Colorado River Basin, the early part of this snowfall season has been slightly above average. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reports the snowpack in the basin stands at 108 percent of average. Recent rain caused the level of Lake Mead to rise six inches, it says.

Last season also started promisingly, but later storms bypassed the Colorado Basin.

To read the full text of this article from the Central Valley Business Times, click here.

Quagga mussel continues it’s invasion across the southwest

Posted by: Maven on December 17, 2007 at 8:55 pm

From John Fleck at inkstain, written for the Albuquerque Journal:

Beware the quagga mussel.

The tiny Asian immigrant, capable of fouling water pipes and pumps, is on the march. In Nevada, water managers launched a crash program to keep the pesky critter out of the city of Las Vegas’ water system after it was found in Lake Mead in January. Since then, it has shown up in the Phoenix area, at several places along the Colorado River and in Southern California. The closest they have been found to New Mexico is Lake Powell, on the Colorado River straddling the Arizona-Utah border.

Officials say there have not been any New Mexico sightings. Yet. But a new study says New Mexico is at high risk of a quagga mussel invasion. The little clam-like mollusks attach themselves to any hard surface and reproduce like crazy, fouling water pipes and pumps, experts say. A full-fledged invasion “could be devastating to the ecology and infrastructure of the region,” according to Peggy Roefer, who is heading up the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s quagga mussel war.

“Anybody who’s got a pipe in the water” is at risk if the quagga shows up, said Thom Whittier, an Oregon State University researcher.

To read the rest of this article from the Albuquerque Journal, click here. To visit John Fleck’s blog, click here.

Blogger disputes the story about rising acidity in oceans

Posted by: Maven on December 17, 2007 at 7:16 am

Yesterday, I posted a link to a story by the Sacramento Bee about the rising acidity in oceans. Is it for real? One blogger is not so sure. Here’s the response from the Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker blog:

A buoy in the north Pacific known as Ocean Station Papa has recorded increasing levels of acidity in this section of ocean 700 miles west of Seattle. Is this cause for concern or just an anomaly?

The concern that as the oceans absorb more CO2, the acidity levels increase endangering aquatic life. My first thought when I read this was that this could be a genuine concern, if it was real. As I read the article, though, it became obvious that this is another jump to a foregone conclusion. Consider the following points:

* The higher than normal acidity is being measured on a first of its kind buoy. Well if it is a first device then how can the conclusion be reached that “The oceans are already 30 percent more acidic than they were at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, as they absorb 22 tons of carbon dioxide a day. By the end of the century, they could be 150 percent more acidic.” What is the baseline to which this data is being compared.

To read the rest of this post from the Gulf Coast Hurricanes blog, click here.

Return to Prospect Island: DFG Survey Turns Up a Few Stripers, Lots of Carp

Posted by: Maven on December 16, 2007 at 3:22 pm

From Dan Bacher:

The mounds of thousands of rotting fish killed during a levee repair at Prospect Island were no longer visible, buried under piles of dirt, although the smell of dead fish still lingered in the air.

Three DFG biologists – Curtis Hagen, Brad Burkholder and Lee McDonald – made a survey Friday morning of the south end of the island with an electro shocking boat as Bob McDaris, owner of Cliffs Marina in Freeport, John Soto, Delta hay farmer, Mike Chotkowski, Bureau of Reclamation biologist, and I watched.

As the biologists moved across the water, a variety of fish came up to the surface, temporarily stunned by the electro shocking equipment. Most of the fish were carp and goldfish, but the DFG staffers put into the live well 5 striped bass in the 3 to 4 pound range, 2 channel cats weighing 5 and 10 pounds and 10 black crappie.

After doing their survey of the island, Burkholder and McDonald placed the fish from the live well into Miner Slough. The biologists and anglers agreed that there weren’t enough fish to warrant another volunteer rescue like the one that McDaris and Jeff Nash coordinated on November 30, December 1 and December 2.

“It looks like you did a real good job of rescuing the remaining fish,” commented Hagen. Continue reading “Return to Prospect Island: DFG Survey Turns Up a Few Stripers, Lots of Carp” »

Judge Issues Final Order to Protect Delta Smelt

Posted by: Maven on December 15, 2007 at 8:35 am

By Dan Bacher:

In light of the continuing collapse of the Bay-Delta ecosystem, a federal judge’s written order this Friday to protect delta smelt is very welcome good news for the California Delta and those who are battling to protect it.

Judge Oliver Wanger of the U.S. District Court in Fresno today issued his final written order to put in place a decision he initially made on August 31. Environmental groups say this ruling will protect the smelt and the Bay-Delta Estuary ecosystem from “being further degraded by fresh water diversions.”

“Judge Wanger’s order for more responsible operations of the Delta pumps comes in the nick of time for the delta smelt and the delta ecosystem,” said Tina Swanson, senior scientist with The Bay Institute. “Results from this year’s survey show that delta smelt numbers, as well as numbers for most of the other delta fishes collected by the survey, have fallen to a new record low. We have very little time left to save this species and its ecosystem.”

Annual exports in 2005 and 2006 were the first and third highest export levels on record. Wintertime exports have increased by 49 percent from 1994-1998 and 2001-2006 and springtime exports have increased by 30 percent. “Delta smelt are particularly vulnerable during winter and spring, when pre-spawning and spawning adults move into the delta for reproduction, and larvae and juveniles move downstream to rearing habitat,” according to a press release from Earthjustice, NRDC and The Bay Institute.

Congressman George Miller (D-Martinez), the former chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee and author of several key water reform laws, also praised the judge’s ruling this evening. “Today’s order is a very important step in the effort to force California’s water policy into compliance with the law,” Miller said. “Nobody should be surprised by this order, nor should they be surprised to learn that the government must now take substantial steps to save the Delta and the Bay ecosystem.”

“The Bush administration has been warned that their negligence and their head-in-the-sand mentality would lead to a crisis, and it has. Make no mistake: by sacrificing the Bay-Delta and discarding common sense, the water exporters have created a more uncertain and expensive future — not just for the Bay-Delta but for the state and the people of California. They interfered with the science, they refused to impose common sense solutions, and they broke the law. Today’s order is a direct result of that accumulated neglect and that systematic interference with the science on which policy must be based.”

Again, it’s great to receive some good news after a month of environmental disasters, including the San Francisco Bay oil spill, Prospect Island fish kill and the continuing crash of delta smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile striped bass, threadfin shad and other species, as documented by recent fall midwater trawl survey data. We must keep intense pressure on the state and federal governments to make sure that they abide by Judge Wanger’s order!

Earthjustice issued a press release saying this:

“This order, while not perfect, will help improve the health of the San Francisco Bay-Delta by allowing more fresh water to remain in the system,” said Trent Orr of Earthjustice. “Whether we know it or not, every Californian depends on keeping the delta healthy, so doing everything we can to protect this resource is just common sense.”

The delta is the hub of California’s water system, a vital component of the state’s drinking water system and its fishing and agricultural economies. It is a recreational mecca and home to millions of Californians.

“We hope this order will help stem the crash of the delta’s fisheries and its ecosystem,” said Kate Poole, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a plaintiff in the case. “Continuing to destroy the selta’s ecosystem is not just bad for fish; it’s bad for people.”

The ruling was handed down as the latest smelt survey showed depressingly low numbers once again:

“Judge Wanger’s order for more responsible operations of the Delta pumps comes in the nick of time for the delta smelt and the delta ecosystem,” said Tina Swanson, senior scientist with The Bay Institute. “Results from this year’s survey show that delta smelt numbers, as well as numbers for most of the other delta fishes collected by the survey, have fallen to a new record low. We have very little time left to save this species and its ecosystem.”

The recent decline of the delta smelt and other species coincides with huge increases in freshwater exports out of the delta by the state and federally operated water projects. Annual exports increased by 25 percent from 1994-1998 and 2001-2006, draining the delta of more than 1.2 million acre-feet of additional water. Annual exports in 2005 and 2006 were the first and third highest export levels on record. Wintertime exports have increased by 49 percent from 1994-1998 and 2001-2006, and springtime exports have increased by 30 percent. Delta smelt are particularly vulnerable during winter and spring, when pre-spawning and spawning adults move into the delta for reproduction, and larvae and juveniles move downstream to rearing habitat.

To read the full text of the press release from Earth Justice, click here.

ACWA issues statement on Delta smelt ruling

Posted by: Maven on December 15, 2007 at 8:35 am

From GlobalInvestor.com, who got it from Business Wire:

The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) today issued the following statement from Executive Director Timothy Quinn regarding U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger’s final order on interim measures to protect a threatened fish species, the Delta smelt.

“The court’s order underscores the fact that the Delta and our water system are in crisis. The current system for moving water through the Delta does not work, and the problem will not be solved until we make some major changes. ACWA continues to call for a comprehensive fix that improves the Delta’s ecosystem and provides the reliable water supplies our economy needs.

“This order will result in an unprecedented reduction in our statewide water supplies next year. The impacts will be significant and will likely be felt in nearly every region of the state.

“No one wants to see further decline of the Delta smelt population. The additional monitoring required by the order will help safeguard the fish and allow us to more accurately manage the system in the short-term.”

ACWA is a statewide association of public agencies whose 450 members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California. For more information, visit www.acwa.com.

Westlands Water District purchases property to establish smelt habitat

Posted by: Maven on December 14, 2007 at 9:00 am

From Business Wire, this press release:

California farmers are coming to the aid of a tiny endangered fish, the Delta Smelt. The Westlands Water District announced today that it acquired property in the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The District plans to restore natural tidal wetlands and upland habitat for the protection and conservation of listed species, including the smelt.

“We’re trying to solve a problem that is of critical importance, not just for agriculture but also for 25 million Californians who get drinking water and water for irrigation from supplies conveyed through and pumped from the Delta,” said Tom Birmingham, General Manager of Westlands.

As the smelt’s numbers have declined, a federal court in California has ordered new restrictions on Central Valley Project and State Water Project operations that will result in massive water supply reductions, amounting to a loss of one-third of the water that is normally delivered from the Delta. Those deliveries are needed to supply billions of dollars worth of agricultural production in the Central Valley and meet the water needs of two-thirds of the state’s residents.

These restrictions are in addition to prior restrictions prescribed for the protection of the smelt and come on top of two years of an ongoing drought. As a result, many experts are predicting major losses for the state’s economy and water shortages in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego.

“Saving the smelt is an issue of self-preservation for most of California,” Birmingham said. “Regulation of the state’s water supply projects alone hasn’t worked, and as a public agency with responsibility for providing water for more than 500,000 acres of farmland, the District’s Board of Directors decided we need to act directly to help solve a critical problem.”

“We recognize that water is a sensitive issue, in Yolo County as in the rest of the state,” Birmingham said. “We plan to be a good neighbor in Yolo.”

The Delta property that Westlands acquired is in the area identified by state and federal fisheries experts as the prime location to create habitat for the smelt. Lying at the southernmost tip of Yolo County, the property is currently used for farming. Westlands plans to convert portions of the property to create habitat for the smelt and maintain the rest in agriculture.

“The plight of the smelt is just one part of the problems facing the Delta,” Birmingham pointed out. “We’re working with other public water agencies, state and federal authorities, and the scientific community to define ways to restore the Delta, increase the reliability and adequacy of water deliveries, and ensure the safety of the public water supply. It is a complicated process, but everyone agrees that protecting the smelt is an essential element of any comprehensive plan for restoring the Delta and providing improved conveyance.”

About Westlands:

The Westlands Water District serves a community of more than 600 families who farm some of the most productive agricultural lands in the world. Westlands is constantly changing to meet the needs of a dynamic marketplace, enhance the environment, expand the diversity of its crops and apply the most advanced irrigation techniques and technology for water conservation and long-term sustainable production.

Westlands is the largest agricultural water district in the United States. It encompasses more than 600,000 acres in an area 15 miles wide and 70 miles long on the west side of California’s Central Valley. To address chronic water supply shortages resulting from environmental regulations in the Delta Westlands has, at its own expense, fallowed nearly 100,000 acres.

The value of the food and fiber produced by Westlands farmers currently totals $1 billion dollars a year and the regional economic activity generated by its operations exceeds $3.5 billion annually. Diversity is the key to the district’s continuing prosperity. Twenty five years ago, for example, 79 percent of the district’s lands were planted in cotton, wheat and other field crops. Today more than 61 percent of the district’s lands are producing fruits and vegetables as well as permanent crops such as almonds, pistachios and grapes.

Westlands is a world leader in water conservation. Scientific research and innovation keep Westlands at the cutting edge of new technology. From its inception, Westlands’ distribution system has been fully enclosed, to eliminate losses from evaporation and leakage. Laser-levelling, computer-aided drip irrigation and the extensive use of global positioning systems help Westlands farmers achieve efficiencies of water use of 85 percent or more.

Fall Survey: Delta smelt and other fish populations continue downward spiral

Posted by: Maven on December 13, 2007 at 7:12 am

From Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org:

November’s San Francisco Bay oil spill and Prospect Island fish kill were huge environmental disasters spurred by government ineptitude and poor planning. At the same time, an even worse environmental calamity, the collapse of the California Delta food chain, is taking place as you read this, courtesy of the same state and federal governments that blundered during the oil spill and fish kill.

The delta smelt and other California Delta fish populations continue to plummet towards extinction, according to preliminary data from the latest fall midwater trawl survey conducted by the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG).

The population collapse has been caused by record state and federal water exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the West Coast’s largest and most significant estuary, since 2001. For example, State Water Project exports increased from 1.8 million acre feet of water in the 1990’s to 3.7 million acre feet of water in 2006, according to Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.

Although toxics and invasive species also play a role in the “pelagic organism decline” of delta smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile striped bass and threadfin shad, government biologists, fishery conservation groups and environmental groups generally agree that changes in water exports are the main factor in the aquatic food chain collapse.

“The majority of these water exports consist of subsidized irrigation water that goes to agribusiness for subsidized crops that require subsidies to control and dispose of their drainage water,” said Jennings.

The DFG has conducted a trawl net survey of Delta fish populations every fall for the past 40 years. This November the Delta smelt index, a relative measure of abundance, was only 5, the second lowest on record.

The fall index to date for delta smelt is only 18. Although the final results won’t be disclosed until the data for December is compiled, there is little chance that the number will go up significantly. By comparison, the total fall index was 27 in 2005 and 41 in 2006.

To read the full text of this article from Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org, click here.

MWD’s Jeff Kightlinger issues statement regarding Judge Wanger’s draft order

Posted by: Maven on December 13, 2007 at 6:49 am

From Business Wire, this statement by Jeff Kightlinger regarding Judge Wanger’s order issued recently:

“The draft order appears to be consistent with previous statements by the court on how it intended to establish new limits on Delta water operations. The concerns by the court reflect the serious situation in the Delta and the need to find ways to better separate the movement of water supplies from natural flow patterns in the estuary. Metropolitan continues to push for a comprehensive fix in the Delta to create a healthier ecosystem and to provide for a reliable, safe water supply. A fix that is in the interest of the state’s economy and this vital ecosystem is possible.

“As for water supplies, this single court case changes the water situation for Metropolitan. No longer can Metropolitan expect to add to reserves in its storage systems in an average rain year. Now Southern California residents will have to increase conservation, along with other measures, in order for Metropolitan to balance supplies and demands in an average year.”

House subcommittee to look at bottled water issues today – webcast available

Posted by: Maven on December 12, 2007 at 7:05 am

From EarthTimes.Org:

Today a House subcommittee will look at the environmental impact of water bottling and extraction on communities across the country. Chair of the House Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), is convening the hearing in response to the concerns of citizen groups from New Hampshire to California. Groups speaking at the hearing are currently challenging the aggressive lobbying and public relations efforts of corporations like Nestle, who bottle water (or intend to bottle water) in or near their communities.

The hearing is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at 2154 in the Rayburn House Office Building. Professors from Michigan and Wayne State will speak to the environmental hazards of bottling. Speakers will also include representatives from Nestle Waters North America and the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA).

Environmental and social concerns over the bottling of water have compelled Illinois and cities nationwide to cancel bottled water contracts, California to require new health and safety labeling, and the U.S. Conference Mayors to look at the waste stream of plastic bottles. This hearing however, marks the first time in recent years that community concerns about water bottling have reached the national stage.

The subcommittee will be looking at how water bottling plants impact communities, the effect of extraction on watersheds and wetlands, and the adequacy of national and state laws in addressing these issues.

A webcast of the hearing will be available at http://domesticpolicy.oversight.house.gov/.

MWD authorizes agreements for Colorado River shortage sharing plan

Posted by: Maven on December 12, 2007 at 6:22 am

From Business Wire, this press release from Metropolitan Water District:

A series of four agreements were authorized today by Metropolitan Water District’s Board of Directors that will clear the way for historic federal guidelines that would, for the first time, determine how water shortages are shared along the Colorado River.

With U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne expected to sign the landmark federal conservation and reservoir operations plan for the Colorado River later this week in Las Vegas, Metropolitan’s board authorized General Manager Jeff Kightlinger to finalize related documents that will facilitate the plan and would shield California from the impacts of potential water shortages. The agreement also would allow agencies to develop and store new water supplies.

“After two-and-a-half years of negotiations among the seven basin states and the federal government, this new federal plan will help California recover some of the water reliability that Mother Nature has taken away during the last eight years of record drought along the Colorado River,” said Metropolitan board Chairman Timothy F. Brick.

“With this plan, Metropolitan also will be granted the opportunity to store nearly 1.5 million acre-feet of conserved water in Lake Mead. That additional storage is equivalent to building a reservoir that is nearly twice the size of Diamond Valley Lake,” Brick said, referring to the district’s largest reservoir near Hemet in southwest Riverside County.

The foundation of the proposed federal plan, which would be in effect through 2026, are guidelines for the Interior Department to declare shortages on the Colorado River and how shortages would be shared among the lower basin states–California, Arizona and Nevada–as Lake Mead storage levels recede.

Under the federal accord, Arizona and Nevada would first realize the initial stepped shortages based on how far Lake Mead storage levels drop. The plan also calls for storage levels in Lake Mead and Powell to be coordinated to manage water more efficiently and lessen the risk of shortages to states in the upper and lower Colorado River basins.

To read the full text of this press release from Business Wire, click here.

Today’s Prospect Island fish survey yields no live fish

Posted by: Maven on December 11, 2007 at 11:31 pm

From Dan Bacher at www.fishsniffer.com:

The Prospect Island Fish Kill is turning out to be one of the worst environmental disasters of its kind in California history. As investigations of the fish kill continue, Bob McDaris, who coordinated a fish rescue at the island, surveyed an area of the island today and saw no live fish remaining there.

Bob McDaris, the marina owner who coordinated the recent fish rescue at Prospect Island in the California Delta, didn’t observe any remaining live fish in the area where volunteers saved thousands of striped bass, bluegill, black bass, Sacramento blackfish, Sacramento splittail and threadfin shad from November 30 through December 2.

John Soto, a local hay farmer, and McDaris returned to the island today in an airboat with Spencer Larson, DFG biologist. The rescue was suspended on December 2 after the water level became too high for volunteers to continue safely rescuing the thousands of striped bass and other fish stranded on the island.

“We didn’t see one fish, although I did see one swirl,” said McDaris. “We saw thousands of dead carp, many weighing around 20 to 25 pounds.”

Continue reading “Today’s Prospect Island fish survey yields no live fish” »

No good news for farmers and their water at California Farm Bureau’s panel discussion

Posted by: Maven on December 11, 2007 at 11:27 pm

From the California Farm Bureau:

With many California farmers facing water shortages ranging from 30 percent to 70 percent in the coming year, there wasn’t a lot of optimism to be heard at a water issues panel discussion held at the California Farm Bureau Federation’s 89th Annual Meeting. Water leaders who participated in the discussion predicted years of difficulty, particularly for agricultural water users, as California grapples with long-term solutions to its water problems.

“There’s a rough patch ahead for California agriculture,” Association of California Water Agencies Executive Director Tim Quinn told Farm Bureau delegates. “I think it can be made relatively temporary, but water quantities are going to go down in the next few years and water prices are going to go up.”

A federal judge’s decision committing more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to benefit protected fish leaves water agencies south of the delta scouting for alternative supplies, Quinn said.

“With what’s happening in the delta, the Metropolitan Water District and big ag districts in the Central Valley are going to be getting their checkbooks out and putting the price of water up,” he said. “I think we’re going to go through a fairly tough time for everybody, but especially for agricultural water users.” Continue reading “No good news for farmers and their water at California Farm Bureau’s panel discussion” »

Doug Bremmer of Huffington Post on the effectiveness of praying for rain

Posted by: Maven on December 11, 2007 at 2:11 pm

Thoroughly enjoyable article from Doug Bremmer posted on the Huffington Post about Atlanta’s mayor calling for the city to pray for rain. And, apparently, rain did actually come, about two days of drizzle. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has given this a lot of press coverage, according to Bremmer, and many faiths faithfully prayed for rain.

Says Bremmer:

I think it is fine for people to pray/meditate/dance/convulse/transcend, or whatever they want to do to get themselves to a better place. But I think that those people who are folding up their hands in prayer to a personal God to open up the heavens and let rain fall on their pointed heads are simply ridiculous.

You see there is a scientific consensus that planet Earth (you live there too? How cool!) is gradually warming up, and that this warming processes will cause changes in weather patterns throughout the world, including droughts. Normally in Georgia during the summertime the heat and humidity builds up throughout the day until late afternoon when we have some real doozy rain storms with lots of thunder ‘n lighting. Didn’t have a single one of those this summer. Sonny and the prayer people were only able to squeeze out of the skies two days of steady drizzle that looked more like my native Seattle. Hardly satisfying. And nothing since then. So the obvious conclusion is that climate change is behind the Georgia drought. OK not only Red State problem. Blue State people listen up. You are burning up out there in California. Literally. And for us to ask Jehovah to make things all better after we have pooped in our own room is absurd. I say better to use prayer/meditation/dance/convulsion/transcendence to make us all better able to be good stewards of Planet Earth, that was given to us by God/Yahweh/GreatSpirit/Osiris/BigBang/Whatever.

I actually like the views from the spiritual leaders of Atlanta’s Muslim and Jewish faiths better than what the Hindus/Buddhists/Baptists/Catholics had to say.

Plemon Al-Amin, the prayer leader at Masjid of Al-Islam in Atlanta said, “Because the Quran was first revealed in Arabia, there were always challenges in terms of rain. And we do actually have rain prayers. But we want to make sure everybody is already in the frame of mind of conserving. Because it’s problematic when you are asking for something and not making proper use of what you already have.”

Rabbi Shalom Lewis of Etz Chaim of Atlanta, said, “I teach the efficacy of prayer is to inspire us, and it gives us a sense that we are participants in what goes on this planet and on this earth. And we also recognize that we pray to God for our ability to know what is right or wrong and how to deal with the limited bounty we have.”

Amen to that.

To read the full text of this post from Doug Bremmer at the Huffington Post, click here.

Southern California Leadership Council urges “aggressive and immediate action” on water supply and infrastructure issues

Posted by: Maven on December 10, 2007 at 6:44 am

About 60 percent of California’s water comes from imported supplies and Southern California is now facing extreme water supply deficiencies according to the Southern California Leadership Council

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) December 10, 2007 — As Southern California prepared for a severe cutback in water deliveries, a coalition of business leaders and former governors urged leaders in Sacramento to promote “aggressive and immediate action” on water supply and infrastructure issues.

Under terms of a federal court decision handed down in August, the Department of Water Resources is cutting its initial allocation for water deliveries in 2008. The initial allocation was already expected to be lower because of dry conditions in the Sacramento and San Joaquin regions, whose rivers feed water from the Sierra Mountain Range to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta and to State Water Project pumps.

“Approximately 60 percent of our water comes from imported supplies and Southern California is now facing extreme water supply deficiencies,” the Southern California Leadership Council wrote to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders. “The combinations of the extended drought in the Colorado River Basin, the failure to implement timely and effective improvements in California’s water supply infrastructure, and the recent court interference in the Bay-Delta operations have created an unprecedented crisis for the ongoing economic integrity of our State.”

However, the council said “environmentally benign infrastructure improvements” can help improve the storage, capture and conveyance of water to Southern California. “California business leaders are united in their shared perspective that this may be a once in a generational opportunity to resolve differences among stakeholders in the best solution to the Bay-Delta,” the SCLC wrote.

The business group also said Southern Californians “must assume a fair share of the burden” in finding a long-term solution to the issue, and must add to and maximize the use of local resources — and called for new ways to think about old problems.

As part of a solution, the SCLC suggested greater use of available groundwater resources and of the region’s “relatively inexpensive storage capacity, a holdover from the area’s past groundwater development.”

“We have vast opportunities to treat and store more recycled water and to harvest desalinated water,” the organization said. “We have an elaborate network of water conveyance pathways that already connect six southern California counties and 20 million people. Water transfers can play a role in efficiently moving our water among willing buyers and sellers.”

The SCLC said the region’s water purveyors and business leaders “are aligned in support of our own progressive solution in Southern California,” and urged leaders in Sacramento “to help break down the institutional, legal, political and economic barriers that have frustrated past efforts to more efficiently manage and distribute water throughout this great state.”

The letter called for “a concerted ‘local projects’ assistance program” and a state bond program providing matching funds for local efforts.

“Further, we respectfully request that you seek input from the private water sector in the state and allow equal access to bond proceeds to those entities, as well as the public sector,” the SCLC said. “Selection of projects on the basis of cost, reliability, and local match will result in the fairest outcome for all regions of the state.”

About Southern California Leadership Council

The Southern California Leadership Council is a business-led-and-sponsored public policy partnership for the Southern California region. The Council provides proactive leadership for a strong economy, a vital business environment and a better quality of life for everyone who lives here. Founded in 2005 as a voice for the region’s business community and like-minded individuals to focus and combine their efforts, the Leadership Council’s objective is to help enable public sector officials, policy makers and other civic leaders to address and solve public policy issues critical to the region’s economic vitality and quality of life. The Council is comprised of business and community leaders from throughout the seven counties of Southern California and four former California governors.

Chamber of Commerce group files proposals for ballot initiatives

Posted by: Maven on December 8, 2007 at 1:47 pm

From the California Progress Report:

While the State of California faces a multi-billion dollar deficit, the California Chamber of Commerce has decided to go to the voters with a proposal for a multi-billion dollar taxpayer-subsidized dam building boondoggle.

Yesterday, the Chamber officially submitted four versions of a water bond ballot initiative to the Attorney General, each totaling about $11.7 billion, and each including over $3 billion for construction of dams. If any one of these initiatives is approved, California’s taxpayers would be committed to paying over $700 million in tax dollars per year to pay off this new debt.

According to their press release, the Chamber would pursue one of their initiatives if the Legislature fails to produce a water bond in time for the February or June 2008 statewide ballots.

To read the rest of the story from the California Progress Report, click here.

Restore the Delta’s view of water bonds & the Bay Delta Conservation Plan

Posted by: Maven on December 7, 2007 at 10:55 am

From Dan Bacher at IndyBay, org:

In the latest Delta Flows newsletter, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla updates us the latest developments in the battle of the water bonds and the Bay Delta Conservation Plan process.

Parrilla is very concerned that some environmental NGOs have signed on to the peripheral canal concept in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan process. “While Restore the Delta has had a productive working relationship with these environmental groups in other arenas and a good deal of respect for their past work, we are extremely disappointed that they have made a theoretical statement supporting a peripheral canal without including language that would guarantee flows, water quality, and water quantity in order to protect the needs of Delta fisheries and Delta communities. Habitat restoration without freshwater restoration for the Delta is simply not achievable,” she stated.

I agree completely with Parrilla’s comments. The Governor has put tremendous pressure on environmental NGO’s to support the peripheral canal – and these latest developments are very alarming. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the worst governor in California history for fisheries and the environment, is using the age-old tactic of “divide and conquer” that all corrupt rulers employ to attack those opposing their policies.

Click here to go to the IndyBay.org site and read Restore the Delta’s newsletter.

Nahai speaks his vision for the DWP at city council meeting

Posted by: Maven on December 6, 2007 at 12:38 pm

Here’s a great article from LA’s CityWatch website. Written by Marc B. Haefele, he fills us in on what really went on at the city council meeting yesterday, convened to confirm Nahai to GM of DWP:

Maybe I’ve been too critical of Mayor Villaraigosa’s choice of attorney David Nahai to helm the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Lack of both executive experience and nuts- and-bolts engineering savvy — these were my problems with his resume. But Nahai sounded pretty good as he presented himself to the LA City Council’s Energy and Development Committee Tuesday morning. He seemed to win the members’ approval (but didn’t get it–see below). He was fast on his feet and knew how and when to dodge gracefully. He also is more committed to change than anyone who’s ever held the job. Maybe David Nahai could be a better DWP head than his resume suggests. Maybe the best in decades.

Nahai boldly refused to promise to hold back on rate hikes. “I just don’t know what the needs will be. I just can’t rule out increases,” he said.

He discretely indicated no support for proposed hot-weather reductions in Valley property owner rates. Nahai also spoke of weaning LA of the imported water that, 100 years ago, made its explosive growth possible. He said, “We can’t look to more water imports. We have to develop water self sufficiency,” he said. Including storm water capture and, much more controversial, water recycling — sometimes, inaccurately, termed “toilet to tap.” No one in the committee or audience raised even an eyebrow at this last. Were former Councilman (and anti-wastewater reuse zealot) Joel Wachs not actually still alive and well, you would have heard him spinning in his grave.

But it was not just Wachs who opposed more enlightened city water policy. Generations of LA public-utility culture were wholly committed to grabbing LA’s water from the rest of California, not to mention the multi-state area drained by the Colorado River. Alternate sources are readily at hand; the aquifer of the San Fernando Valley for instance, which happens to be the state’s second largest and perhaps least utilized reservoir, needs to be cleaned up and to have a greater role, both to store storm water and to recycle waste water. Along with the ambitious green energy proposals that have been floating around City Hall, this kind of talk was sheer heresy in the DWP headquarters 20 years ago. I know because I was there. The Valley well fields were a system asset and water reuse was being pioneered at that time. But you simply didn’t get promoted to DWP General Manager then if you even suggested that the city could depend less on the Owens River and the Metropolitan Water District.

Great reporting & insight from someone who was obviously there. To read the rest of this article from CityWatch, click here.

Delta Interactive Map – very cool!

Posted by: Maven on December 6, 2007 at 9:14 am

The state of California has been doing a major overhaul of it’s websites. They all getting a new look and better arrangement of resources. Maybe they have had this all along or maybe because of the redesigned website, I have found it, but check out this very cool interactive Delta map. It’s available under the “Research and Tools” tab on the Delta Vision Task Force home page.

You can look at the map of the Delta and choose from a myriad of information to put on it: roads, land use, elevations, location of agricultural drains, etc. The list is endless. Very cool!

Check it out by clicking here.

Delta Vision chairman Phil Isenberg speaks at Indian Wells ACWA conference

Posted by: Maven on December 6, 2007 at 9:09 am

Last week, the Association of California Water Agencies held a conference in Indian Wells, and Delta Vision chairman Phil Isenberg addressed the attendees. The video address is posted online. It lasts about 12 minutes, and Mr. Isenberg says plenty of interesting and important things about the water in California, and the Delta, such as ” … the ability of the Delta to sustain and endless increase in demand for supply, has probably already been reached.” Of California’s water supply, he says “the water supply is not growing, the demands are growing.”

He also had a message for the members of the ACWA and the water community:

“You are the exemplar of the water family, the fraternity in California, but you, the business community, the water districts, the state officials, the local officials, the feds, the environmental movement, the cities and counties. You are a hopelessly dysfunctional family. You barely trust yourselves and you don’t trust much of anybody else.”

You can watch a video of his address by clicking here.

Next Page →

Aquafornia's Information Desk

• Where does California’s water come from?
• Where does Southern California’s water come from?
• California’s Water Crisis

Why the Delta is Important

Salinity in the Central Valley: A critical problem

State Water Project Slideshow

Los Angeles Aqueduct Slideshow

Other Slideshows & Videos

• Water Conservation Tips
• Research and Publications

Recommended Reading

Click here for full-sized calendar

Aquafornia's Photos on Flickr

Click here to view the Aquafornia Photo Library

Aquafornia's Mission

Aquafornia's mission is to educate readers about the complex and often controversial issues surrounding water in California.
 
Aquafornia is affiliated with the Water Education Foundation, an impartial, nonprofit organization, whose mission is to create a better understanding of water resources and foster public understanding and resolution of water resource issues through facilitation, education and outreach.

E-mail Newsletter

To receive email announcements from the Water Education Foundation, sign up here.

Your email address:    

Web Resources

• Agriculture

  • California Agriculture Online
  • California Department of Food and Agriculture
  • California Farm Bureau Federation
  • California Farm Water Coalition
  • California Rice Commission
  • Family Farm Alliance

• Climate Change & Water

  • California Climate Change Portal
  • Carpe Diem – Western Water & Climate Change
  • DWR's Climate Change Page
  • SCVWD's Climate Change Portal
  • Southwest Climate Change Network
  • Southwest Climate Change Network

• Conservation

  • Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency
  • Be Water Wise
  • California Urban Water Conservation Council
  • H2O Conserve Website
  • H2ouse.org
  • Save Our Water
  • Water – Use It Wisely

• Current Conditions

  • California Nevada River Forecast Center (NWS)
  • Climate Data Exchange Center (DWR)
  • Hydrologic Conditions-Executive Summary
  • Major Reservoir Conditions (DWR)
  • Precipitation Summary (NWS)
  • Significant River Flood Outlook (NWS)
  • Statewide Summary of Snow Water Content (DWR)
  • U. S. Drought Monitor – West

• Delta & SF Bay Resources

  • Bay Delta Developments
  • Bay Institute
  • Bay-Delta Conservation Plan
  • Delta Atlas
  • Delta Protection Commission
  • Delta Stewardship Council
  • Delta Vision Foundation
  • Delta WaterMaster
  • Discover the Delta Foundation
  • Restore the Delta
  • San Francisco Bay and Delta (Access USGS)
  • San Francisco Baykeeper
  • San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science website
  • San Francisco Estuary Partnership

• Employment & Water

  • Get Hydrology Jobs

• Environmental Organizations

  • American Rivers
  • California Invasive Plant Council
  • California Water Impact Network
  • Environmental Water Caucus
  • Foothill Conservancy
  • Friends of the River
  • Mokelumne River News & Info
  • Mono-Logue
  • R4RD: Residents for Responsible Desalination
  • San Joaquin Basin
  • Sierra Club
  • Tree People

• Fishing Blogs/Organizations

  • California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
  • Fish Sniffer
  • Fishing the Aqueduct with Striper Bill
  • Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
  • Trout Underground
  • Zeke Grader's Blog

• Investing & Water

  • Water-Stocks.com

• Landscaping

  • High Country Gardens
  • The Garden Spot
  • The Prickly Palace

• Legal Blogs

  • Legal Planet – Environmental Law & Policy
  • Pacific Legal Foundation
  • Somach Simmons & Dunn Environmental Law & Policy Alerts

• Legislative Committees - State & Federal

  • California State Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife
  • California State Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Water
  • House Natural Resource Committee, Water & Power Subcommittee
  • New State Water Legislation Mandates (KMTG)
  • Senate Commitee on Environment & Public Works, Water and Wildlife Subcommittee
  • The California Channel

• Los Angeles River

  • Friends Of Vast Industrial Concrete Kafkaesque Structures
  • Los Angeles River Project

• Maven's Other Websites

  • Maven's Manor
  • Maven's Photoblog

• News

  • ACWA's Water News
  • All the top water news
  • AWE Federal Legislation Watch
  • B C Water News
  • High Country News
  • New State Water Legislation Mandates (KMTG)
  • Total Capitol (Legislative News)
  • YubaNet.com

• Public Policy Organizations

  • Pacific Institute
  • Planning and Conservation League
  • Public Policy Institute of California

• Regional Water Associations

  • Mountain Counties Water Resources Association
  • Northern California Water Association
  • Southern California Water Committee
  • Water Association of Kern County

• Salton Sea

  • Salton Sea (University of Redlands)
  • Salton Sea 101
  • Salton Sea Authority
  • Salton Sea Ecosystem Restoration Program (DWR)

• Stormwater & Flood Control

  • Army Corps of Engineers – Los Angeles Area
  • Army Corps of Engineers – Sacramento Area
  • Central Valley Flood Management Protection Planning Program
  • LA Stormwater Blog

• Water Agencies

  • ACWA – Association of California Water Agencies
  • Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency
  • Contra Costa Water District
  • East Bay Municipal Utility District
  • Imperial Irrigation District
  • Kern County Water Agency
  • Long Beach Water Department
  • Los Angeles Department of Water & Power
  • Metropolitan Water District
  • Municipal Water District of Orange County
  • San Diego County Water Authority
  • Santa Clara Valley Water District
  • Sonoma County Water Agencies
  • South San Joaquin Irrigation District
  • State Water Contractors
  • West Basin Municipal Water District
  • Westlands Water District

• Water Agencies - State & Federal

  • Bureau of Reclamation – Lower Colorado Region
  • Bureau of Reclamation – Mid Pacific Region
  • California Dept of Water Resources
  • California Public Utilities Commmision – Water & Sewer
  • California Resources Agency
  • California Water Commission
  • State Water Resources Control Board

• Water Blogs

  • ACWA's Voices in Water blog
  • Aguanomics
  • Alex Breitler's Blog
  • American Water Resources Assn. Blog
  • Barry Nelson at the NRDC Switchboard
  • Bay Delta Blog
  • California Water Blog
  • California Water Wars blog
  • Chance of Rain
  • Chronicles of the Hydraulic Brotherhood
  • Delta National Park Blog
  • EDF's On The Waterfront
  • Greed, Green & Grains
  • Green Roots Blog (PCL)
  • GrokSurf's San Diego blog
  • Inkstain – jfleck
  • Klam Blog
  • L. A. Creek Freak
  • On the Public Record
  • Peter Gleick’s City Brights blog
  • Restore the Delta's blog
  • Southern California Water Committee Blog
  • Spouting Off – Mark Gold of Heal the Bay
  • State of the Planet Blog
  • The California Spigot
  • Thirsty in Suburbia
  • Tom Philp's Blog
  • Valley Economy Blog
  • Water Cooler Blog
  • Water Librarian's Blog
  • Water SISWEB
  • Waterblogged (Shawn McKinnon)
  • Watering the Desert
  • WaterWired

• Water Information

  • ACWA’s California Water Crisis Website
  • California Water Plan 2009
  • UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences
  • USGS California Water Science Center
  • USGS Water Resources of the US
  • Water Education Foundation
  • Water Resources Collections and Archives
  • Where Does My Water Come From?
  • Wholly H2o

News Article Archives

• Agriculture
• Aquafornia News & Exclusives
• Central Valley Project
• Climate change & water supply
• Conservation
• Delta Issues
• Desalination
• Development & Population
• Drinking Water & Bottled Water
• Drought Tolerant Landscaping
• Drought, Weather & Snowpack
• Energy & Water
• Events
• Flood Control/Stormwater
• General Water Issues
• Groundwater
• History
• Indian Water Rights
• Infrastructure
• Innovative Ideas
• International Water Issues
• Invasive Plants & Species
• Investing in water
• Legislation – State & Federal
• Levees
• National water news
• Oceans & Beaches
• People in the News
• Politics of Water
• Recycled Water
• Regional Water Issues
  • Bakersfield
  • Bay Area
  • Central Coast
  • Coachella Valley
  • Colorado River & the Southwest
  • Eastern Sierra
  • Imperial Valley
  • Lake Tahoe, the Sierras & foothills
  • Las Vegas & Nevada
  • Northern California
  • Sacramento
  • Salton Sea
  • San Diego
  • San Joaquin Valley
  • Southern California
• San Joaquin River Restoration
• State Water Project (DWR)
• Storage and supply
• Transfers
• Uncategorized
• Water Agency News
• Water Banking
• Water Quality
• Water Rights
• Weird & Wacky Water News
• Wildlife & Endangered Species

Contact Aquafornia

Admin

• Log in

Admin

• Log in

Credits

Powered by Vertigo & WordPress
WordPress Themes by Brian Gardner