Bay Delta Blog
Waterways
HORB revisited
Last week, the court approved a joint stipulation (PDF) filed by the various parties involved in the OCAP salmonid litigation. [1] The stipulation will set the plan for the coordinated operation of the state and federal projects — striking some sort of balance between Delta exports and species protection, and replacing certain requirements of the … Continue reading
Imperial and San Diego file petition on Salton Sea mitigation water
In 2002, one year before the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA) and related agreements were executed, the State Water Resources Control Board issued a key approval facilitating a long-term water transfer. The transfer, which carries a 45-year term and an option to renew for 30 additional years, involves Imperial Irrigation District conserving water and transferring the … Continue reading
Fall X2 and delta smelt, continued
This post is a continuation of the previous post. Given that there is a salinity range physiologically tolerable to delta smelt — and a subset salinity range that is not just tolerable, but actually suitable, for which there is a higher probability of finding fish in practice — salinity is an important factor when determining … Continue reading
Opportunity to enhance delta smelt science scrapped by Wanger compromise
The 2008 biological opinion prepared by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommends a set of actions that should be taken to protect delta smelt while operating the federal and state projects. USFWS will prepare yet another version of this BiOp by an order of Judge Wanger, or else be relieved of the need to do … Continue reading
Judge Frawley’s decision on South Delta salinity and Tracy discharge
My apologies for the lack of new posts here. I recently started working on a water-related project that I hope to share here in the future, but it will take some time to complete. In the meantime, I will try to catch up on news and be better about updating. Last month Judge Timothy Frawley … Continue reading
SWRCB issues draft decision approving Davis-Woodland water right
This week the State Water Resources Control Board issued a draft decision (PDF) approving a permit for a new water right granted to the City of Davis, the University of California at Davis, and the City of Woodland. These entities currently rely on groundwater, but the quality is degraded and they would have to plunge … Continue reading
Challenges and opportunities for the San Joaquin explored at State Water Resources Control Board proceeding
Last week the State Water Resources Control Board held a two-day proceeding in Sacramento to gather information related to salinity and flow objectives for the San Joaquin River and southern Delta — generally, the portion of the Delta located south and west of Stockton (pictured in the map at right). The format of the proceeding, … Continue reading
YouTube video clips of fish and the Delta
It’s been awhile since I last posted to this blog. I didn’t mean to let it lapse for this long, but it can be hard to regain momentum once stopping. Anyway, an update is overdue, and for those of you still checking in, I thought it would be fun to return by sharing a YouTube … Continue reading
DWR petitions to extend State Water Project permits
The Department of Water Resources, which holds permits to appropriate water for the State Water Project, has petitioned the State Water Resources Control Board to extend several of those permits for five years to December 31, 2015. Last week, SWRCB noticed the petitions (PDF), allowing protest until September 20. The relevant permits authorize diversions from … Continue reading
Is Siskiyou County’s hardline position on Scott River Valley groundwater justified?
It has been a very busy summer, and I am still catching up on news. In tracking down various bits and pieces of water news from the past few weeks, I ran across a curious document — an official statement from the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors (PDF), released at the end of July, regarding … Continue reading
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