DAILY DIGEST, weekend edition: Farmer lashes out over plowing dispute; Could desalinated water from Mexico flow to San Diego?
California is still covered in snow; Utah State engineers design solutions to repair nation’s tallest dam; Russian River Watershed Association seeks public input; Bay Area: Some flea control products may have environmental impacts: trace amounts of pesticides found in San Francisco Bay; Dirtiest no more: Santa Cruz’s Cowell Beach now ranked #3 most contaminated; Sea nettles and leatherback turtles return to Monterey Bay; Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority policy committee ready to work; and California farms are thirsty and in danger, says A.G. Kawamura In the news this weekend … Farmer lashes out over plowing dispute: “A California farmer facing a $2.8 million fine for allegedly plowing seasonal wetlands on his 450-acre Tehama County land lashed out Friday against federal prosecutors and bureaucrats for what he called an abuse of government power.
The U.S. State Department’s approval of a presidential permit marks a step forward for the Otay Water District and its vision for a cross-border pipeline to import the desalinated water from Mexico.
Now the bureau is forecasting a 4-foot drop in the surface of the reservoir over the next 18 months — a difference of 25 feet.
… ” Read more from the Las Vegas Review Journal here: Latest forecast shifts Lake Mead from big gain to small loss It’s June.
… ” Read more from Deseret News here: Utah State engineers design solutions to repair nation’s tallest dam In commentary this weekend … California farms are thirsty and in danger, says A.G. Kawamura: He writes, “For generations now, California farmers have fed America and the world.
Public meetings will be held to discuss the SWRP and provide an opportunity for input on watershed priorities, storm water projects to be evaluated, and the prioritization of projects for future implementation.
… ” Read more from the Ukiah Daily Journal here: Russian River Watershed Association seeks public input Bay Area: Some flea control products may have environmental impacts: trace amounts of pesticides found in San Francisco Bay: “Some popular flea control products may be responsible for trace amounts of pesticides getting into the San Francisco Bay.
In the annual “Beach Bummer” report card issued Thursday by Southern California environmental nonprofit watchdog group Heal The Bay, the Santa Cruz surf break, a favorite among tourists and locals alike, slipped to the third most contaminated beach statewide.
… ” Read more from SF Gate here: Sea nettles and leatherback turtles return to Monterey Bay Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority policy committee ready to work: “The IWV Groundwater Authority appointed representatives to nearly all open Policy Advisory Committee positions at their monthly board meeting on Thursday morning.

New maps, new website highlight drought effects on agriculture.
Maps highlighting the effects of drought on six agricultural commodities across the continental U.S. became available in late May on a website hosted by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The maps are a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Chief Economist and the drought center.
The maps, produced at the drought center in cooperation with the USDA World Agriculture Outlook Board and OCE meteorologists, are based on the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor and show the locations and percentages of drought-affected areas that produce crops or livestock.
They are released Thursdays and can be found at agindrought.unl.edu.
In addition to the maps, the website offers data tables, time series graphs and animations.
In the near future, the partners will make available six field crop maps, one each for corn, cotton, soybeans, winter wheat, spring wheat and durum wheat.
The result highlights agricultural areas affected by any level of drought.
The U.S. Drought Monitor, produced weekly since 1999, is a collaborative effort among federal and academic partners, including the drought center, USDA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The drought center also hosts the monitor: droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

One major oil pipeline recently constructed is the Dakota Access Pipeline, a 30-inch diameter, 1,172- mile project that carries crude oil produced in northwest North Dakota to southern Illinois (Figure 1).
Dakota Access Pipeline Route The federal government does not have jurisdiction over the siting of domestic oil pipelines.
For example, interstate pipelines usually require permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) in compliance with the 1899 Rivers and Harbors Act and the Clean Water Act due to numerous water crossings, disturbance of wetlands, or the use of Corps property or easements.
The review of these federal permit applications must examine potential environmental impacts in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
In June 2016, the Dakota Access Pipeline developer secured a "finding of no significant impact" from the USFWS for a permit allowing temporary disturbance of the agency’s wetland easements in North Dakota and South Dakota.
The Corps provided the developer with verification of Nationwide Permit 12 ("Utility Line Activities") permits under the Rivers and Harbors Act (Section 10) and the Clean Water Act (Section 404) for 202 proposed water crossings along the route.
Together with the USFWS permit, the Corps permits and easements comprised all the federal permissions required for the Dakota Access Pipeline.
On July 27, 2016, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota filed in federal court a request for declaratory and injunctive relief.
On December 4, 2016, the Corps issued a statement that the agency would "not grant an easement to cross Lake Oahe at the proposed location based on the current record."
In a federal court filing on February 7, 2017, the Corps stated that it no longer intended to prepare an environmental impact statement in connection with the Lake Oahe easement—which it subsequently issued—clearing the way for the pipeline’s completion.

The challenge of desertification, already big, is becoming even more significant as a growing global population places increasing pressure on productive land.
If we have any chance of delivering more nutritious food to people in the Global South we need to recover degraded land and enhance the health and fertility of our soils.
In fact, rising temperatures and increasing water scarcity and salinization are already a major constraint to agricultural production, threatening to consign many rural communities to chronic poverty and food insecurity.
Today, on World Day to Combat Desertification , we present important lessons from some of our recent initiatives that promote sustainable development across the dry areas and fight the effects of desertification.
We reflect on the progress of ICARDA’s new decentralized genebank architecture.
A response to conflict in Syria, this approach is now strengthening the conservation of plant genetic material and enhancing the development of improved climate-resilient crops.
In Jordan, to cope with water scarcity, we have developed practical mechanized water harvesting techniques that support the revegetation of degraded rangeland ecosystems.
In response to recurrent drought in Eritrea in recent years, we are working with national partners to develop high-yielding climate-resilient wheat varieties that are generating yields way above those achieved by conventional varieties.
Finally, An ICARDA initiative that promotes cactus production in Tunisia has introduced a practical and cost-effective technology to cut cactus cladodes that is enhancing rural livelihoods and reducing the drudgery faced by many women producers.
Cactus plants are well adapted to the climate, provide valuable supplementary feed during feed gap periods, and are a reliable source of water, containing up to 90% of this precious natural resource.

Groundwater loss tracked during drought in California’s Central Valley.
A new study by researchers from UCLA and the University of Houston reveals significant groundwater loss in California’s Central Valley during the recent drought and sparks questions of sustainability for the important agricultural area.
The more recent drought accounted for more than 10 cubic kilometers of water lost per year.
Higher temperatures during the more recent drought period and the transition from row to tree crops, accounted for most of the increase in groundwater loss between the two droughts, and more than offset the effects of a reduction in irrigated land, Lettenmaier said.
Groundwater usage for crop irrigation in the Central Valley is a well-documented and hot-button issue in California.
Researchers used two methods to track groundwater levels, traditional water balance estimates — which take into account surface water inflow like rainfall and snow melt, soil moisture capacity and evapotranspiration — and data from NASA’s twin satellite system called GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment).
GRACE data estimates that groundwater loss from 2012 to 2016 was 11.2 cubic kilometers per year, compared to water balance estimates of 10 cubic kilometers per year.
"Although both water balance-based and GRACE-based groundwater volume estimates are subject to errors, the relatively small area of the Central Valley in the eyes of GRACE might also be responsible for that recovery discrepancy," Lee said.
Researchers hope future studies will address how much actual recovery happened between droughts and whether recovery from the most recent drought is on track to replenish the system.
Retrieved June 17, 2017 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170518104105.htm University of California – Los Angeles.

From the Delta Mercury Control Program, Central Valley Regional Water Board: Below are a series of brief updates related to the Delta Mercury Control Program (aka Delta Methylmercury TMDL).
Status of Phase 1 Studies The Delta Mercury Control Program Phase 1 emphasizes studies and pilot projects to develop and evaluate management practices to control methylmercury in the Delta.
The studies encompass a variety of source types, including municipal wastewater treatment plants, urban and industrial stormwater discharges, dredging operations, tidal wetlands, open water habitats, and seasonal wetlands.
Progress reports detailing the current status of these studies have been submitted to the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (CVRWQCB) and are posted on the program website here.
Starting in 2018 staff will be reviewing available information in preparation for the Phase 1 Delta Mercury Control Program review.
The results of these control studies will inform the program review as well as inform implementation of potential methylmercury controls for Phase 2.
Delta Mercury Exposure Reduction Program In conjunction with the mercury and methylmercury load reduction goals of the TMDL, the Delta Mercury Control Program includes a Mercury Exposure Reduction Program (MERP).
Upstream Mercury Control Programs Statewide Mercury Control Program for Reservoirs A Statewide Mercury Control Program for Reservoirs is currently being developed for mercury-impaired reservoirs throughout California to reduce methylmercury levels in reservoir fish.
Central Valley Mercury Control Program for Rivers The CVRWQCB is just beginning to develop mercury control programs for rivers in the Central Valley.
New Mercury Beneficial Uses and Water Quality Objectives On 2 May 2017 the State Water Resources Control Board adopted Resolution No.

The People Will Be Next."
There was a drought in parts of the country last year, and what we’re seeing this year is far, far worse.
Somalis have traditionally been incredibly resilient at coping in a harsh environment where there’s maybe only a few inches of rainfall each year.
We met Somalis all over the country who were impacted, where this is transforming people’s lives right now.
So this project has focused on how climate change and environmental degradation are fueling migration.
And you know there’s very little understanding of how the environment plays into the [high] levels of migration that we see in Somalia.
But as I was getting closer to Mareero I started seeing people walking through this really dry, stark landscape.
That’s really telling because you know Yemen is not a place that I view as secure or where I would want to go.
I want to ask about your own security doing this reporting.
For you as an American who’s spent quite a bit of time there, what comes to mind when you think about Somalia?

Torrance’s fragile Madrona Marsh ecosystem is on the brink of “total collapse” without restoration after five years of drought, state officials said, prompting the award of a $470,000 grant to save the rare habitat that contains “irreplaceable natural resources.” The California Coastal Conservancy unanimously approved the grant at its meeting Thursday.
“After five or six years of drought, you have quite a long time between opportunities for species in vernal pool habitats to thrive,” said Sam Jenniches, manager of the project for the conservancy.
“And during that time you also have time for invasive species to move in,” he added.
“Without precipitation and with the presence of invasive species, the functional vernal pool habitat is pretty much at dire risk.” The state is believed to have lost 90 percent of its vernal pools, which dry up in the summer and are replenished in wet winters, the conservancy said in a staff report supporting the grant proposal.
The 45-acre preserve provides habitat for more than 100 species of rare animals and plants.
“Over the last five years, with the exception of this year, (the vernal pools) have not filled properly,” Drake said.
“It’s at a point where if we didn’t have rain this year I would have considered finding a way to move the rain we didn’t get from wetlands into the vernal pools.” The project, which will begin late this summer or early this fall, involves restoring and enhancing up to 4 acres of vernal pool habitat.
That will be accomplished by hand grading the flood plain surrounding three vernal pools to restore natural grading.
That will once again allow direct runoff that was disturbed by the oil field that formerly occupied the site for more than 80 years.
Volunteers from the Friends of Madrona Marsh — the nonprofit group that largely runs the preserve and was awarded the grant — create a native plant “barrier” to block weed seeds from entering the restoration area.

AfDB working with partners to accelerate implementation of drought resilience programme.
Ahead of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, the African Development Bank (AfDB) announced that it would work with partners to accelerate the implementation of the Drought Resilience Sustainable Livelihood Support Programme (DRSLP) in the Horn of Africa.
This year’s theme examines the important link between land degradation and migration.
Among others, environmental degradation, food insecurity and poverty are causes of migration and development challenges.
The African Development Bank has several programmes in place in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, and has provided emergency support to countries facing drought.
More coordinated support and assistance is urgently needed.
In Ethiopia and Somalia, the delegation witnessed first-hand the dire situation facing millions of displaced people in the region.
As a result of prolonged drought and conflict, a large proportion of the population in the affected countries is in need of food assistance, as families face limited access to food and income, together with low cereal and seed stocks, and low milk and meat production.
Also, the Horn of Africa region – comprising Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, and Uganda – is one of the most climate-hazard prone and food insecure regions of the world.
“The recent drought and famine facing some countries (South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda) deserve swift action, as 20 million face food insecurity and severe malnutrition.

New Corps plan will help lake levels during drought.
A new drought plan by the Army Corps of Engineers could put more water back into Lake Hartwell.
The Corps plans to release water slower as drought conditions begin.
For example, for a level three drought trigger, the Corps plans to raise the water levels from 646 feet to 652 feet.
The Corps hopes to have the plan in stone by the end of September.
But as they work out the kinks, they want to hear from you on if these changes help or hurt you as a consumer.
You have until noon on July 13th to send the Corps your comments.
To read the full study, click this link Savannah River Basin Drought Study.
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