Forbes

An amendment to a standing water treaty between the United States and Mexico has received publicity over the past six months as an example of progress in water sharing agreements. But the amendment, called Minute 319, is simply a glimpse into ongoing mismanagement of the Colorado River on the U.S. side of the border. Over-allocation of the river’s waters 90 years ago combined with increasing populations and economic growth in the river basin have created circumstances in which conservation efforts — no matter how organized — could be too little to overcome the projected water deficit that the Colorado River Basin will face in the next 20 years.

In 1922, the seven U.S. states in the Colorado River Basin established a compact to distribute the resources of the river. A border between the Upper and Lower basins was defined at Lees Ferry, Ariz. The Upper Basin (Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico) was allocated 9.25 billion cubic meters a year, and the Lower Basin (Arizona, California and Nevada) was allotted 10.45 billion cubic meters. Mexico was allowed an unspecified amount, which in 1944 was defined as 1.85 billion cubic meters a year. The Upper and Lower basins — managed as separate organizations under the supervision of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — divided their allocated water among the states in their jurisdictions. Numerous disputes arose, especially in the Lower Basin, regarding proper division of the water resources. But the use of (and disputes over) the Colorado River began long before these treaties.

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Siskiyou Daily

A team of University of California, Davis, scientists – in cooperation with the Scott Valley Groundwater Advisory Committee – is developing a groundwater management tool that could lead to better stream flow conditions in Scott Valley.

A recent press release from UC Davis explained that their hydrologic modeling tool could help inform decision-makers and regulatory agencies involved in the issue of balancing salmon protection and water management along the Scott River.

While the Scott River watershed contains habitat critical to several species of salmon and trout, it also supports an agricultural economy composed of family farms and ranches raising hay, pasture and cattle.

“Regulatory agencies, farmers, ranchers and the local community are working to find win-win solutions for both fish habitat and agriculture,” stated the release.

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The Fresno Bee

Continued dry conditions have caused the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to reduce the allocation of water to east San Joaquin Valley farmers from 50% to 45%.

The adjustment was announced Tuesday and affects high priority water use for about 15,000 farmers in the Friant Water Authority.

The first 800,000 acre-feet of San Joaquin River runoff is high-priority. It is more expensive and more crucial to keeping crops alive than the lower-priority water, which often is used to recharge underground water levels for wells.

The allocation for low priority water remains unchanged at 0%

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The Modesto Bee

Farmers in the Turlock Irrigation District got a small boost Tuesday in the amount of water available this year.

The district board voted 3-2 to raise the cap to 34 vertical inches per acre, up from the 30 inches approved in February amid concern about low rainfall and snowpack numbers.

The level still is much less than the 48 inches per acre — four acre-feet — that farmers typically can get when water is adequate.

Board member Joe Alamo, who proposed the change, said it especially will help growers of feed crops in soil that drains quickly. He also noted that dry, windy weather this spring has drawn moisture from crops.

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The Columbia Basin Bulletin

USGS hydrologic researchers have found that the movement of nitrate through groundwater to streams can take decades to occur.

This long lag time means that changes in the use of nitrogen-based fertilizer (the typical source of nitrate) — whether the change is initiation, adjustment, or cessation — may take decades to be fully observed in streams, according to a recent study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

Water quality experts have been noting in recent years that nitrate trends in streams and rivers do not match their expectations based on reduced regional use of nitrogen-based fertilizer.

The long travel times of groundwater discharge, like those documented in this study, have previously been suggested as the likely factor responsible for these observations.

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Colusa Sun Herald

The US Army Corps of Engineers rated the maintenance of 120 miles of Sacramento River levees north and south of Colusa as unacceptable.

The report card, while just recently released, came from inspections done in August and September of 2010, officials said during a May 3 conference call.

Several “red” areas depicting the most troubling spots on the levee were identified, although for security reasons, the specific sites were not released.

The stretch of levee goes as far north as Willows in Glenn County to north of Knights Landing in Yolo County. Colusa was the only population center identified.

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The Fresno Bee

The Oakdale Irrigation District board agreed Tuesday to sell more water to Westlands Water District, as long as its own customers are not left short.

The board voted 5-0 to sell up to 40,000 acre-feet from the Stanislaus River to Westlands, which is dealing with severe cutbacks in federal deliveries.

The price is $175 per acre-foot, up from the $100 discussed earlier and far more than what OID farmers pay. The district could make as much as $7 million in the one-year deal for use on canal upgrades and other work.

The water will be delivered in summer at a volume that depends on watershed conditions and OID customer needs.

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CVBT

What could be the next major battle in California’s unending water wars is scheduled for Oct. 1.

That’s the formal deadline adopted by the Brown and Obama administrations to release of the draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and accompanying environmental documents for public review and comment. Already the battle lines are being drawn.

“One calamitous storm or natural disaster — driven by climate change — could jeopardize the entire Delta, destroy its ecosystem and cut off water to 25 million Californians,” warns Gov. Jerry Brown, speaking in support of the BDCP plan, the centerpiece of which is a plan to build water tunnels beneath the Delta.

The BDCP plan is expected to lay what the governor hopes will be the legal arguments for a plan to dig massive twin tunnels – each 40 feet wide and 35 miles in length deep beneath the heart of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

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The Berkeley Blog

Today, Berkeley Law released a new report on hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in California, focusing on wastewater and potential water quality impacts. The report, “Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing in California: A Wastewater and Water Quality Perspective,” is an independent analysis produced by Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) through its new initiative, the Wheeler Institute for Water Law & Policy (Wheeler Institute).

Hydraulic fracturing is the process of injecting fluids under high pressure to crack underground rocks and release tightly held oil or gas. The hydraulic fracturing process also yields byproducts, including wastewater, which must be properly managed in order to reduce any risk to human health and the environment.

Co-authored with Wheeler Institute associate director Michael Kiparsky, the report notes that while oil and gas producers have used fracking in California for many years, we are witnessing potentially alarming projections of dramatically increased fracking activity in California due to the availability of new fracturing techniques.

The report comes out at a time of intense activity and interest in California in fracking. On April 8, a federal judge issued the first major ruling in a California fracking lawsuit, finding that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) failed to adequately consider the risks presented by fracking in its issuance of oil and gas leases on federal lands. And the California Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) is currently undergoing a pre-rulemaking process with stakeholders, gathering information that will influence new and revised regulations. Nine bills on fracking have been introduced in California’s current legislative session, several lawsuits have been filed, and there is surging public attention on to the issue.

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California Water Blog

In case you hadn’t heard, the annual Sierra “spring snowmelt recession” has begun.

The foothill yellow-legged frog certainly knew.

Adapted to the seasonal patterns of California’s climate, this rare frog and other native amphibians, fishes and bottom-dwelling invertebrates are genetically wired to reproduce during the spring snowmelt when river flows are predictable but receding.

The river-breeding frogs in the foothills are cued by the decreasing flows and warming water to lay their eggs. They evidently got the word by April 30. Researchers with the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences saw their first egg masses of the season that day as they waded the Rubicon River, one of several northern Sierra rivers that the Center monitors for ecological responses to the recession.

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