Focus

Tribal nations fight for influence on the Colorado River

High Country News - November 16

In early November, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case brought by the Navajo Nation that could have far-reaching impacts on tribal water rights in the Colorado River Basin. The Navajo Nation argues that the Department of Interior has a responsibility, grounded in treaty law, to protect its future access to water from the Colorado River. Several states and water districts argue in opposition that the river is “already fully allocated.” The case highlights a growing tension in the region: As water levels fall and states face cuts amidst a two-decade-long megadrought, tribes are working to ensure their water rights are fully recognized and accessible.

News

California reservoirs to meet just 5% of demand in 2023

San Francisco Chronicle – December 2

The California Department of Water Resources announced on December 1 that it expects to meet just 5% of water requests from urban and agricultural contractors supplied by the State Water Project. State water deliveries could be higher next year if wet weather continues through winter, but the projected allocation is likely to send water agencies scrambling for alternative supplies, including groundwater or small local reservoirs. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation also expects minimal water deliveries for cities and industrial users receiving water from the Central Valley Project in 2023, but the agency won’t announce initial supply allocations until February.

New Interior Department plan could lead to federal action on Colorado River

ABC News – October 28

The Interior Department announced on October 28 that it will consider revising a set of guidelines for operating two major dams on the Colorado River in the first sign of what could lead to federal action to protect the once-massive but shrinking reservoirs behind them. The public has until December 20 to weigh in on three options that seek to keep Lake Mead and Lake Powell from dropping so low they couldn't produce power or provide the water that seven Western states, Mexico, and tribes have relied on for decades. One of the options would allow the Interior Department's U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to take unilateral action, as it threatened this summer when it asked states to come up with ways to significantly reduce their use beyond what they have already volunteered and were mandated to cut.

Western U.S. cities to remove decorative grass amid drought

Associated Press – November 17

A group of 30 agencies that supply water to homes and businesses throughout the western United States has pledged to rip up certain decorative grass to help keep water in the over-tapped Colorado River. The November 11 agreement illustrates an accelerating shift in the American West away from the well-manicured grass that has long been a hallmark of suburban life. The commitment also marks the first time water agencies throughout the region have collectively committed to a numerical benchmark targeting one specific kind of water use.

California appellate court upholds decision that State Water Board lacks jurisdiction to curtail water use by pre-1914 water rights holders

Allen Matkins – September 20

On September 12, a California Court of Appeal upheld a decision that the State Water Resources Control Board (the “Board”) lacks jurisdictional authority to issue curtailment notices to pre-1914 appropriative water rights holders under Water Code section 1052. Although the decision removes the Board’s ability to broadly regulate pre-1914 appropriative rights under section 1052(a), the Court noted that the Board may exercise “emergency regulations” under other provisions of the Water Code to require curtailment of diversions when there is insufficient water.

IID approves possible $250 million Salton Sea deal with feds, state

Desert Sun – November 29

Southern California’s Imperial Irrigation District (IID) on November 29 approved a deal with the U.S. Department of Interior, the California Natural Resources Agency, and the Coachella Valley Water District that could yield as much as $250 million for Salton Sea restoration projects in exchange for IID not using another 250,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water. Outgoing IID board president Jim Hanks said the agreement guarantees up-front for the first time in decades of cuts that federal and state officials will pay for impacts to the Salton Sea from reduced Colorado River supply.

Doheny desalination plant in Dana Point clears final regulatory hurdle

The Orange County Register – December 9

The California State Lands Commission on December 9 granted South Coast Water District a 20-year lease for land off Doheny State Beach, clearing the final major regulatory hurdle for the proposed $140 million Doheny desalination plant. The plant will turn 5 million gallons of ocean water each day into drinking water, serving residents who rely almost exclusively on pricey, limited imports from the Colorado River or State Water Project. It would be the first commercial-scale desalination project to use slant wells designed to collect ocean water from beneath the seafloor and pull it through sand, a process aimed at preventing marine life from getting sucked into the pipelines.

California water wells are drying up in record numbers

Los Angeles Times – December 8

Thus far over 2022, nearly 1,400 household wells, primarily in the Central Valley, have been reported dry — a nearly 40% increase over the same period last year, and the highest annual number reported since 2013, when the California Department of Water Resources launched the Dry Well Reporting System. While the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is intended to help mitigate water scarcity, thousands of people risk falling through the cracks, experts say. A 2020 study commissioned by the Water Foundation found that under SGMA’s minimum water threshold plans, between 4,000 and 12,000 wells will partially or completely dry out by 2040 just in the San Joaquin Valley — affecting roughly 46,000 to 127,000 Californians.

Drought dramatically shrinking California farmland, costing $1.7 billion

Monterey Herald – November 25

In a new report prepared for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, researchers estimate that California’s irrigated farmland, particularly in the state’s rice-growing regions, has decreased by 752,000 acres, or nearly 10%, in 2022 compared with 2019 — the year prior to the current drought, up from an estimated 563,000 acres of fallowed farmland over 2020. Researchers from UC Merced, UC Davis, and the Public Policy Institute of California prepared the report by surveying irrigation districts, analyzing water data, and reviewing satellite data. Gross crop revenues fell $1.7 billion, or 4.6%, this year, and an estimated 12,000 agricultural jobs were lost, representing a 2.8% decline.

Priorities for California’s water

Public Policy Institute of California – November 30

California’s already variable climate is growing increasingly volatile and unpredictable: The dry periods are hotter and drier, and the wet periods—lately too few and far between—are warmer and often more intense. The latest annual report from PPIC Water Policy Center considers the current state of water in California: What changes are we seeing now, and what should we expect in the near future? Then it examines how these climate shifts will impact urban and rural communities, agriculture, and the environment. Finally, it explores wet-year strategies that will help Californians get through the dry years.

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