Working to expand water supplies for California’s next drought, a coalition of 12 Bay Area water agencies took a significant step Monday toward an $800 million expansion of one of the largest reservoirs in the Bay Area — Los Vaqueros Reservoir in the rolling hills near the Alameda-Contra Costa county line.
The construction would expand the size of Los Vaqueros from its current 160,000 acre-feet capacity to 275,000 acre-feet, enough water when full for the annual needs of 1.4 million people.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Alameda County Water District, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and other agencies are contributing to the studies of the project, and see it as a cooperative solution to water shortages and a way to better tie their systems together as insurance against emergencies like earthquakes.
“It’s a way to expand the benefits of the reservoir and make it work for a larger group.” On Monday, the Contra Costa Water District, which owns the reservoir, released new environmental studies and scheduled a series of six public meetings from July 11 to July 27 in Concord, Oakland, San Jose, Brentwood, Sacramento and Los Banos to discuss the specifics in the new documents, which are officially called the draft supplement to the final environmental impact study.
Costs will likely be decided based on the amount of water each agency would get.
It was built in 1998 with $450 million from the 500,000 customers of the Contra Costa Water District.
That project was finished in 2012.
The idea of expanding Los Vaqueros Reservoir has been around for a while.
The project would have a relatively minor impact, because a reservoir is already there.
When Los Vaqueros’ dam was raised five years ago, the Contra Costa Water district purchased roughly 5,000 acres in Alameda, Contra Costa and San Joaquin counties to provide habitat for the endangered San Joaquin Valley kit fox and other species whose habitat was submerged when the lake level rose.

California’s lakes are full again but fishing remains in a drought.
As he prepared to launch his fishing boat from the dock at Castaic Lake, longtime angler Dan Curtis recalled conditions two years earlier when the state’s worst drought shriveled the reservoir to nearly a third of its total capacity.
The lake is now near capacity, but below the surface of the water, not everything has returned to normal.
An above-average snowfall this winter was good news for the state’s $2.7-billion sport-fishing industry.
But conditions have yet to recover at many lakes and reservoirs in Southern California, and deep snow, ice and snow melt have put some high-elevation lakes and creeks in the Sierra Nevada out of commission.
A full recovery from the drought could take another two or three years, said Curtis, a retired computer systems analyst who has been fishing Castaic for more than 30 years.
California’s freshwater anglers spend more than $1.4 billion a year on gear, fees, gasoline and other expenses, supporting 21,500 jobs and generating more than $400 million on state and federal taxes, according to the trade group.
Jim Reid, owner of Ken’s Sporting Goods in Bridgeport, said Barney Lake, in the Sierra Nevada southwest of Bridgeport, has begun to thaw but “there is so much water coming off the mountain that the valley is a big sloppy mess.” Making matters worse, some lower-elevation lakes that receive water from the state’s water project have been choked with fast-moving snow melt that carries silt, soil and minerals downstream, anglers complain.
Mark Franco, a fishing guide in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, said Diamond Valley Lake, a man-made reservoir in Hemet, is nearly full.
“Toward the end of the drought there was no place for the fish to hide,” he said as he prepared to launch his fishing boat, targeting striped bass in the deepest parts of the lake.

WASHINGTON — The region’s winter drought is trying to make a summer comeback.
Verdant pastures have turned to brown straw and local rain barrels are nearly empty.
At Reagan National Airport, no measurable rain fell during the first half of June.
The monthly rainfall total was only 1.13 inches, making it the third driest June on record.
“That’s a shortfall of almost two and three quarters of an inch,” said Storm Team4 Meteorologist Matt Ritter, adding that the midmonth heat wave only added to the moisture woes.
That’s going to dry out the topsoil really quickly,” Ritter said.
The high temperature reached 95 degrees on June 12 and 13.
More recently dry conditions have developed over northern Virginia.
A scarcity of afternoon pop-up storms and a near miss from Tropical Storm Cindy has worsened the dry streak.
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While both winter and spring were wet, the winter was warm and the spring was cool, says Birkel.
The average statewide winter temperature was 20.1 F and the average statewide spring temperature was 38 F. The temperature in March, says Birkel, was the third coldest since 1984, behind 2015 and 2014.
Birkel says the climate in Maine and across the Northern Hemisphere is impacted by the declining extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice.
Birkel says one prominent view suggests a link between Arctic sea-ice loss and an increase in frequency of extreme climate events—heat and cold waves, record rain and snowfall—that have been observed across the Northern Hemisphere in the past decade.
Maine Climate News also contains information from the Maine Climate and Agriculture Network, which identifies data on climate change that could have the greatest impacts on agriculture.
Changes in average weather and extreme weather are affecting Maine agriculture, bringing both risks and potential opportunities, according to data compiled by the network.
The high temperatures can damage crops, including apples and peppers, as well as impact the health and productivity of dairy cows and other livestock.
The Maine Climate and Agriculture Network also reported the frequency of extreme storms in the state increased in 74 percent between 1948 and 2011.
Intense storms used to occur an average of once per year and they now occur an average of once per 7 months.
The frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events are expected to continue increasing in the coming decades.

A flash drought refers to a drought that has "relatively short periods of warm surface temperature and anomalously low and rapid decreasing soil moisture.
Based on the physical mechanisms associated with flash droughts, these events are classified into two categories: heat wave and precipitation deficit flash droughts," as defined by The American Meteorological Society.
My daughter asked if that’s like a flash sale, and I told her I hope so — that it leaves as quickly as it appeared.
Drought designations range from Normal, to Moderate Drought, to Severe Drought, and in our area, our official designation as of June 20 is in Extreme Drought, with Exception Drought being the only higher designation.
Have you seen the movie Spaceballs?
We may as well add a little dry humor to the situation.
There’s been a lot of talk about how the drought is impacting farmers and ranchers.
In a month we’ll be celebrating again, this time with a county fair.
This celebration will take place on that same Main Street that’s struggling.
But mostly, in our small town and hundreds just like it, we celebrate each other.

Ag Commissioner Goehring organizes drought roundtable in Mandan.
Those taking part in the roundtable included Carl Dahlen, NDSU Extension beef cattle specialist and Kevin Sedivec, NDSU Extension rangeland specialist who addressed forage quality and livestock management strategies that can be used in times of drought; crop insurance forage options with Shad Weber, senior risk management specialist at the Risk Management Agency; Brad Olson, conservation program manager with the N.D. Farm Services Agency (FSA) and Patrick Fridgen with the State Water Commission.
In fact we have seen some cattle already moved to other areas where there is an adequate supply of grass and still others have resorted to selling a portion of their herd.
I think integrity and character means a whole lot more than a piece of paper.” Forage supplies and livestock management – Unfortunately, the forage supply for grazing and hay has been pretty well determined for this year, according to Sedivec.
“And what is even more important is we are looking at a 50 to 70 percent loss in hay production, and I think our producers are really going to need some forage to get the cows through the winter months.” He noted that if we do get rain in July, some annual forages can be planted for that time period such as millet, sorghum Sudan grass, or a warm season crop that will produce biomass that can be grazed or hayed.
For instance, with early weaning of the calves we can see energy reduction needs of the cow by 30 to 50 percent, Dahlen noted.
Livestock Water Supply Program reactivated – Recently the State Water Commission reactivated the “Drought Disaster Livestock Water Supply Project Assistance Program” and Fridgen from the SWC mentioned a few of the program’s highlights.
He noted that in order to use CRP for grazing purposes the producer must have written approval from the local FSA office and have an approved stocking rate that is determined by the NRCS in each situation.
There are other programs FSA has that can help livestock producers during times of drought, Olson noted.
Olson encouraged producers to contact their local FSA office for more information or to contact his office directly at bradley.olson@nd.usda.gov or by calling 701-239-5224.

Oroville Forensic Investigation Team welcomes information about spillway incident.
The email address to which information should be sent is: Oroville.forensic@gmail.com.
Due to the potential to receive a large number of emails, the forensic team may not be able to reply to emails.
Some entities, including public utilities, sewage districts and local governments, currently provide rebate programs for participation in water conservation or stormwater management measures.
“Our legislation creates an important exemption for conservation and storm management rebates that will encourage Nevadans to conserve water.
Water is a critical resource, and conservation efforts are essential to Western states like Nevada, which is why I want to thank Senator Feinstein for working with me to address this important issue.” “This bill ensures that homeowners who make smart investments in water conservation aren’t unfairly penalized,” Bennet said.
More than 20,000 shutoffs in two years as additional rate hikes expected with the Delta Tunnels Los Angeles— Food & Water Watch, Union de Vecinos, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, POWER, the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water and other community groups today released information showing that 20,000 Los Angeles County households experienced water shutoffs over the last two years in the cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and South Gate.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power shut off service to 9,105 households in 2015 and 2016.
These water agencies could soon subject their customers to additional rate hikes to pay for the controversial Delta tunnels project, which would force higher water rates throughout Southern California.
A recent Michigan State University study found that over the next five years, more than a third of households nationwide could be unable to afford this essential service.

Revealing How Plants Cope with Drought, Cold.
In a recent paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, complexity scientist Samuel Scarpino and co-authors explore gene co-expression networks that have evolved to help plants withstand drought and cold.
These two responses differ strategically and in evolutionary age.
Scarpino and co-authors David Des Marais (Harvard University), Rafael Guerrero (Indiana University), and Jesse Lasky (Pennsylvania State University) found that the genes that specifically cooperated during cold mapped to central, broadly networked positions within the roughly 10,000-gene network.
Their distinct organizations also might explain why there is more natural genetic variation in drought hardiness than against cold across Arabidopsis thaliana.
This article has been republished from materials provided by Sante Fe Institute.
For further information, please contact the cited source.
In Proc.
R. Soc.
B (Vol.

Drought assistance is on the way.
The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays, and I know I’m not alone.
For most folks, the holiday usually means backyard barbeques, parades, fireworks, and a break from the usual nine-to-five grind.
Now is one of those times.
I’ve been working with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue to identify ways that we can get some much-needed assistance to livestock producers faster and break down unnecessary bureaucratic barriers that make farming and ranching more difficult, particularly now during the drought.
On one hand, USDA was telling producers to destroy useable hay on some CRP-enrolled acres.
Shortly after the announcement about hay destruction, I shared a bit of South Dakota commonsense with Secretary Perdue: You should never destroy hay when it could be used to feed cattle and help livestock owners who are struggling, especially during a severe drought.
I also encouraged him to authorize emergency haying and grazing on CRP-enrolled land in all counties that have a border within 150 miles of a county that’s been approved for emergency haying or grazing of CRP.
That’s a big win for South Dakota farmers and ranchers and the livestock on which their livelihoods depend.
I will continue to work with USDA — and hold the agency’s feet to the fire when necessary — to ensure it’s doing all it can to assist South Dakota’s producers during these difficult times.

Ups and Downs: Great choice for U.S. attorney, Northeast drought danger, State revenue falling short.
Recommended by Sen. Steve Daines and endorsed by Sen. Jon Tester, Alme’s nomination should be approved quickly by the U.S. Senate so he can go to work for the people of Montana.
Steve Bullock declared a drought emergency in Blaine, Carter, Custer, Daniels, Dawson, Fallon, Garfield, Hill, McCone, Petroleum, Phillips, Powder River, Prairie, Richland, Roosevelt, Rosebud, Sheridan, Valley, and Wibaux counties, the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.
According to the governor’s office, crops are suffering and pasture and range conditions are poor to very poor.
USDA responded by authorizing emergency grazing on Conservation Reserve Program lands.
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is preparing for budget cuts triggered by revenue collections that are $65 million below projections in the budget adopted by the 2017 Legislature.
The first cuts will eliminate planned increases in assisted living for elderly Medicaid enrollees.
The Billings City Council gave a boost to a long-awaited renovation of the Montana State University science building by allocating $50,000 from the council’s contingency fund to the project that will update and expand facilities for health care education in our city.
Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan found that Gov.
Bullock appointed Mangan COPP two months ago.