Focus
Appeals court paves way for divisive California water tunnel
Courthouse News Service - October 20
The California Court of Appeal has ruled that preliminary work can begin on the Delta Conveyance Project, a controversial proposal to build a 14-mile underground tunnel to transport water from Northern California southward. Last year, a Sacramento County Superior Court judge agreed with a collection of counties, water districts, environmental groups, and native tribes seeking to stop the project. The judge found that preconstruction geotechnical work had to be certified by a state agency before it could begin, issuing a preliminary injunction preventing that work from moving forward. But on October 17, a three-judge panel from the state appellate court reversed that ruling.
News
California enacts SB 72 to modernize water plan and set long-term supply targets
Smart Water Magazine – October 13
Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Senate Bill (SB) 72 into law, directing the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to update and modernize the California Water Plan, the state’s primary strategic document guiding the coordinated management and use of water resources. Under the new law, DWR will develop a long-term water supply target for 2050 and beyond, while incorporating strategies to ensure sustainability amid changing climate conditions.
Newsom signs bill to expand recycled water use for irrigation, public sites across state
Local News Matters – October 15
Governor Gavin Newsom has signed SB 31, authored by Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, which allows businesses, homes, and government agencies to increase their use of recycled water for irrigation and other uses. The legislation seeks to cut back on the use of drinking water for things that don’t require potable water, help the state manage its water supply and drought response, and re-direct wastewater discharges that go into the ocean.
Gavin Newsom blocks effort to make CA data centers disclose water use
The Sacramento Bee – October 12
Governor Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have provided more transparency around the water usage of data centers, which regularly require millions of gallons of fresh water to cool their computers. “While I appreciate the author’s intent,” Newsom wrote in his veto message, “I am reluctant to impose rigid reporting requirements about operational details on this sector without understanding the full impact on businesses and the consumers of their technology.” Assembly Bill 93 would have required data centers applying for business licenses to disclose to their water supplier how much water they expected to use.
California has struggled to track water use. A new system should fix this
San Francisco Chronicle – October 21
How much water is used in California? Well, the answer can be murky, owing to old, often ill-defined water rights and a limited system for tracking water use. On October 21, state water regulators unveiled the results of a two-year effort to better identify who has claims on California’s water and better measure consumption. The new state product is called CalWATRS, and it’s a massive data platform that holds thousands of water-rights records and makes it easier for water-rights holders to report what they use.
‘Leadership failure’ is putting Lake Mead in peril, coalition says
Las Vegas Review-Journal – October 1
The crisis along the Colorado River is coming to a head as seven state negotiators fail to deliver an agreement on how to manage it over the next 20 years. But the river system can’t wait, and common-sense solutions that states can implement in the interim are being ignored, a coalition of nongovernmental organizations argues in a report. The report comes after a group of top Colorado River academics released its own report that established how dire a situation the system would be in should another weak snowpack season come next year. Federal projections place Lake Mead, Southern Nevada’s primary water source, below historic lows in 2027. Negotiators are set to converge publicly again in Las Vegas at the Colorado River Water Users Association conference in December, though it’s unclear if they will have progress to announce.
California’s first solar-covered canal is now fully online
Canary Media – September 10
A novel solar power project just went online in California’s Central Valley, with panels that span across the Turlock Irrigation District’s canals in the vast agricultural region. The 1.6-MW installation, called Project Nexus, is only the second canal-based solar array to operate in the United States — and one of just a handful in the world. Proponents of this emerging approach say it can provide overlapping benefits. Early research suggests that putting solar arrays above water can help keep panels cool, improving their efficiency and output. Shade from the panels can also prevent water loss through evaporation and limit algae growth in waterways.
The groundwater Los Angeles pumps in the Owens Valley, and the tribes who want it back
Los Angeles Times – October 18
While many Californians know the story of how L.A. seized the valley’s river water in the early 1900s and drained Owens Lake, fewer know that the city also pulls up a significant amount of water from underground. Once the valley had so many springs, streams, and wetlands that the Paiute and Shoshone people called their homeland Payahuunadü, “the land of flowing water.” Today, tribal members say L.A.’s extensive use of water has transformed the landscape, desiccating many springs and meadows, killing native grasses, and altering the ecosystem. The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs now has a team assessing the tribes’ water rights.
Kern subbasin gets off enforcement track with latest groundwater plan redo
SJV Water – September 17
It took half a dozen attempts but Kern water managers finally came up with a groundwater plan that met with state approval. The state Water Resources Control Board voted on September 17 to move the Kern subbasin out from under its enforcement purview and back under oversight of the Department of Water Resources. The improvements include programs to respond to domestic well owners and small drinking water systems in the event of dry wells, or contamination caused by groundwater sustainability agency actions.
Antioch unveils desalination plant that takes advantage of its “Rivertown” history
CBS News – September 22
Antioch has unveiled a new desalination plant, one of the first operating desalination plants in the Bay Area. The water comes from the Delta, a brackish mix of fresh and salt water. Since it opened on September 15th, the plant has been running 24/7, pumping out about six million gallons of fresh water per day.
Controversial Santa Clara County dam expansion scrapped
San Jose Spotlight – August 27
Valley Water’s board of directors unanimously voted August 26 to suspend the Pacheco Dam expansion project after eight years. The project would have brought the dam’s water capacity from 5,500 acre-feet of water to 140,000 acre-feet of water. Directors cited the skyrocketing billion-dollar price tag and repeated delays as reasons for the suspension.
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