Author Archives: Francine

River Under the River (The AquAlliance Song)


The celebrated Chico folk duo MaMuse has written a special song for AquAlliance. Karisha Longaker & Sarah Nutting are Chico women who understand the water of this region and of California. Sarah’s understanding of the Owens Valley background resonated with AquAlliance members who worked with them on this important song. MaMuse proudly presents River Under the River (The AquAlliance Song) and humbly requests that you donate generously to AquAlliance, enjoy their music and share this song with friends and family.

Listen to River Under the River

LYRICS 

River Under the River : AquAlliance Song
By MaMuse (Sarah Nutting and Karisha Longaker)

There is a River under the River, moving in darkness, fertile life giver.
There is a river under the river, steadily feeding us all. (2x)

What is hidden, what can’t be seen? This water that lives beneath…. 
The Source of Everything, the Source of Everything.

There is a River under the River, moving in darkness, fertile life giver.
There is a river under the river, steadily feeding us all.

In the San Joaquin where are the trees? Why all the dust in the Owen’s Valley?
Waters once flowed wildly. This war causes so much tragedy.

Water Underground, into the cracks with you we go.
Keeper of the deeps, your life too precious to be sold, to be sold.

We have witnessed firsthand the draining of the aquifers leading to the desertification of what are now called the “Owens” and “San Joaquin” valleys in California. Due to extreme extraction, the Sacramento Valley is in danger of this same dry fate. The trees, the salmon, the people, are all at stake. As water protector Maude Barlow says, “When you extract water from a fertile place to feed a desert, you do not end up with two fertile places, you end up with two deserts.” We know this now and we can’t un-know it. What will be our legacy? Will we continue to extract waters from the North? Or choose to make amends for where we have gone South?

We sing out for our lives, sing out in these times for those who cannot speak.
Reclaiming our lives, defending the rights of the waters that flow beneath.

Run River, Run River, Run Water, Run. Run River, under the River, Run River Run.
There is a River under the River, moving in darkness, fertile life giver.
There is a river under the river, steadily feeding us all.

Water underground, into the cracks with you we go.
Keeper of the deeps, your life too precious to be sold, to be sold.

What is hidden, what can’t be seen? This water that lives beneath.
The source of everything. The source of Everything.

Dispelling Delta Tunnel Myths with the Facts

The Delta Tunnel: Still Not a 21st Century Water Strategy.

The state is now making a third attempt since 2008 to build a massive, multi-billion, ratepayer-funded Delta Conveyance Project (a.k.a. Delta Tunnel) to supposedly “modernize” water transport infrastructure in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

CLICK THE DOWNLOAD LINK BELOW to view a fact sheet that dispels many of the myths and misrepresentations made by state entities in describing the objectives and impacts of the proposed Delta Tunnel.

DeltaTunnelMythsandFactsDownload

For more information:
Website: savethedelta.saccounty.gov
Email: savethedelta@saccounty.net

First Victories for AquAlliance in NorthState Groundwater Lawsuits

AquAlliance received fantastic news in the last week from three different judges in Colusa and Butte counties who agreed that our three challenges to Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) were legitimate. The defendants claimed our lawsuits inappropriately used a “reverse validation action” to oppose the Butte, Colusa, and Vina GSPs. Defendants’ primary argument is that the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) “expressly activates” the validation statutes only as to actions brought by groundwater sustainability agencies, thus implicitly prohibiting reverse validation actions from being brought by any other party – like AquAlliance.

“A validation action is a unique remedy that provides a conclusive determination as to the validity of a public agency’s actions.” [1] Here, the action is the approval of GSPs by Groundwater Sustainability Agencies made up of local government and many districts that market water. The GSPs encompass large valley portions of Butte, Colusa, and Glenn counties, and each plan presents specific threats to the unsuspecting public dependent on groundwater and to the streams, rivers, trees, and species that are supported by healthy aquifers.

After a negative tentative ruling against us in one case, all three judges listened to our attorney during hearings and affirmed that our lawsuits seeking to invalidate the GSPs were sound.  

See press articles about the rulings:

To read more, see the attached document that includes maps:

We thank all our supporters and members who make it possible for AquAlliance to take on the water elites and local governments that follow them to the detriment of over 90 percent of the population!

--
Sac-Valley-Mirror-9.3.2022Download
Action Alert GSP Lawsuits 8.5.22Download

MaMuse Sponsors GoFundMe Campaign for AquAlliance!


The celebrated Chico folk duo MaMuse has written a special song for AquAlliance and launched a GoFundMe campaign to help fund AquAlliance’s three new lawsuits provoked by NorthState groundwater pumping threats. Karisha Longaker & Sarah Nutting Karisha & Sarah are Chico women who understand the water of this region and of California. Sarah’s understanding of the Owens Valley background resonated with AquAlliance members who worked with them on this important song. MaMuse proudly announces the launch of River Under the River (The AquAlliance Song) and humbly requests that you donate generously, enjoy their music and share the campaign and song with friends and family.

Learn more of MaMuse’s Water Story at their GoFundMe page.Protecting California Water Through Song

LYRICS 

River Under the River : AquAlliance Song
By MaMuse (Sarah Nutting and Karisha Longaker)

There is a River under the River, moving in darkness, fertile life giver.
There is a river under the river, steadily feeding us all. (2x)

What is hidden, what can’t be seen? This water that lives beneath…. 
The Source of Everything, the Source of Everything.

There is a River under the River, moving in darkness, fertile life giver.
There is a river under the river, steadily feeding us all.

In the San Joaquin where are the trees? Why all the dust in the Owen’s Valley?
Waters once flowed wildly. This war causes so much tragedy.

Water Underground, into the cracks with you we go.
Keeper of the deeps, your life too precious to be sold, to be sold.

We have witnessed firsthand the draining of the aquifers leading to the desertification of what are now called the “Owens” and “San Joaquin” valleys in California. Due to extreme extraction, the Sacramento Valley is in danger of this same dry fate. The trees, the salmon, the people, are all at stake. As water protector Maude Barlow says, “When you extract water from a fertile place to feed a desert, you do not end up with two fertile places, you end up with two deserts.” We know this now and we can’t un-know it. What will be our legacy? Will we continue to extract waters from the North? Or choose to make amends for where we have gone South?

We sing out for our lives, sing out in these times for those who cannot speak.
Reclaiming our lives, defending the rights of the waters that flow beneath.

Run River, Run River, Run Water, Run. Run River, under the River, Run River Run.
There is a River under the River, moving in darkness, fertile life giver.
There is a river under the river, steadily feeding us all.

Water underground, into the cracks with you we go.
Keeper of the deeps, your life too precious to be sold, to be sold.

What is hidden, what can’t be seen? This water that lives beneath.
The source of everything. The source of Everything.

AquAlliance Comments on Butte, Colusa, Tehama & Vina Groundwater Sustainability Plans

5 May 2022

The Butte, Colusa, Tehama, and Vina Groundwater Sustainability plans make it clear that groundwater exploitation is planned and accepted in the counties of Butte, Colusa, Glenn, and Tehama. The Plans accept the dewatering of up to 20 percent of domestic wells and groundwater collapse of over 80 feet before any action must be taken to protect the groundwater basins for all users and ecosystems. Domestic well damage and sinkholes became prominent in Glenn County in 2021, indicating that serious abuse of the groundwater under existing oversight has already harmed the people and environment of the region. Additional degradation with implementation of the Plans most stop!

This significantly large area in the Sacramento Valley has been the target for this form of abuse for decades, but it is being formalized in the Plans without the benefit of any environmental review and analysis. Consequently, AquAlliance has filed three lawsuits to stop implementation of the Butte, Colusa, and Vina subbasins’ plans.

View AquAlliance Comments:

Sinkholes Found in Glenn County

February 27, 2022

Public Left in Dark

Sinkhole Existence Buried in Meeting Minutes
On January 11, 2022 AquAlliance become aware of sinkholes in the mid-Sacramento Valley through minutes from the Glenn Groundwater Authority1 and the Corning Sub-basin GSA Committee2. We requested additional information from Glenn County by e-mail and the Department of Water Resources (DWR) at the Red Bluff office by e-mail and voice message. There were no responses over 13 days hence we resorted to formal Public Records Act requests.


Preliminary review of records released to date indicates that

  1. There are multiple properties east of Orland with sinkholes (see Exhibit A).
  2. Glenn County and DWR have known about reports of sinkholes since August 2021.3
  3. “Several holes were observed ranging from 1-ft in diameter to 6-ft in diameter with varying depths ranging from 1 ½ feet to 3 feet deep. Mr. S…* stated that one of the holes that he already repaired required six dump trailer loads (about 3 yds each) to refill. The question that is being asked is where is the dirt going? Since there is the suspicion of being related to groundwater pumping, we are bringing this to your attention.”4 [emphasis added] [*name altered for privacy]
  4. It appears to be unexpected to find sinkholes in the soils of Glenn County. “I researched this topic and found only one publication on sink-hole like features in alluvial soils not in karst terrain, and that was in Italy.”5

Turkey Sinkholes Attributed to Groundwater Overuse
In Turkey, 2020 reporting found that drought and overuse of groundwater created massive sinkholes.6 “Giant sinkholes, large enough to swallow a house, are plaguing farmers in central Turkey. The past two years have brought a crippling drought, and farmers are using wells to tap even deeper into groundwater reserves.”7

Sinkholes Cause Health, Safety & Economic Concerns
The growing number of sinkholes in Glenn County is clearly alarming. The health and safety issues may be significant and the economic costs enormous. The cause has not been revealed yet, but whatever the reason, Glenn County and DWR need to enforce a moratorium on new wells and stop all groundwater substation transfers within its jurisdiction.

More Data Needed
AquAlliance will attempt to keep the public and the press informed as more records are obtained and reviewed.

Background on Sinkholes in California

U.S. Geological Survey:
“It is a frightening thought to imagine the ground below your feet or house suddenly collapsing and forming a big hole in the ground. Sinkholes rarely happen, but when they strike, tragedy can occur. Sinkholes happen when the ground below the land surface cannot support the land surface. They happen for many reasons; read on to educate yourself about sinkholes.” https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/sinkholes

National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/sinkhole

Los Angeles: https://abc7.com/sinkhole-van-crenshaw-street/7833491/

Exhibit A

Public Records file from Glenn County and DWR: Sinkholes_east_of_Orland_Sept-2021_(1).

1 “Ms. Hunter also stated that staff was made aware of sink holes developing in the Colusa and Corning subbasins, and that a site visit has been conducted with Department of Water Resources.” Glenn Groundwater Authority December 14, 2021 minutes p. 2 (packet pdf p. 8).

2 “A new monitoring well was installed through the DWR Technical Support Services (TSS) program. Staff are considering utilizing the TSS program to apply for potential geophysical work to better understand basin conditions, particularly in areas of concern and/or data gaps (e.g., around Stony Creek where there have been reports of the ground “sinking” in the area). This effort will be coordinated with the Colusa Subbasin where the anomaly is also occurring.” Corning subbasin minutes December 8, 2021 p.2 (packet pdf p. 7)

3 Massa, Rick August 16, 2021 e-mail to Lisa Hunter of Glenn County. “We have learned of orchardists that are experiencing sink holes in their orchards.”

4 Id.

5 Loy, Ken e-mail October 10, 2021.

6 Taylor, 2021. Drought and Sinkholes Threaten Farmers in Turkey. The Atlantic. “Chris McGrath, a photographer with Getty Images, recently spent time in Turkey’s Konya province, where extreme drought conditions have been taking a heavy toll on farmers and the land. For farmers, the lack of rain gives them little option but to tap into the groundwater supplies to sustain their crops, forcing some to turn to installing illegal ground wells. However, the reliance on groundwater has seen underground water levels drop by more than two meters in the past five years, contributing to an increase in massive sinkholes across the province, worrying farmers as they spread closer to residential areas. The number of sinkholes in the region has doubled in the past year. Gathered below are images of some of the farmers and shepherds as they cope with the extremely dry conditions and unstable land.” https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2021/06/photos-drought-and-sinkholes-threaten-farmers-turkey/619121/

7 https://theworld.org/media/2022-01-12/central-turkey-threatened-growing-sinkholes

 

NorthState Groundwater Pumping Threats Provoke Lawsuits

 

 

Contact: Barbara Vlamis, AquAlliance: 530-895-9420

Chico, CA. AquAlliance filed three lawsuits against the Butte, Colusa, and Vina subbasins’ Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) in the last ten days with two co-plaintiffs, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and the California Water Impact Network. The GSPs are the result of state mandates from the 2014 Groundwater Sustainability Act,[1] which requires some protection of groundwater after allowing unregulated use since California’s formation.

The GSPs encompass large portions of Butte, Colusa, and Glenn counties and each present specific threats to the unsuspecting public dependent on groundwater and to the streams, rivers, trees, and species that are supported by healthy aquifers. Some of the dangerous policies and parameters include:

Butte subbasin GSP (Figure 1. Mostly Butte County with portions of Colusa and Glenn counties)

  1. Discloses that groundwater levels will drop by up to 100% of historic range.
  2. Accepts failure of at least 7 percent of the domestic and very deep aquifer supply wells.
  3. Allows groundwater pumping to increase that will result in stream flow loss from 90 to 277 percent.[2]

Colusa subbasin GSP (Figure 2. Colusa and Glenn counties)

  1. Permits the failure of at least 20 percent of domestic wells in the Colusa Subbasin, despite the requirement under SGMA that domestic wells be given priority.
  2. Accepts the loss of almost 1,000,000 acre feet of groundwater storage by 2070.
  3. Allows unreasonable and undesirable amounts of land subsidence.

Vina subbasin GSP (Figure 3. Butte County)

  1. Provides parameters that will cause hundreds of wells to fail, yet fails to disclose the quantity and percentage.
  2. Accepts monitoring well thresholds that are unreasonably low, including some that are approximately 200% below normal operating ranges.
  3. Inadequately mitigates the loss of wells by small farmers and residents.

The lawsuits find many failures in common. AquAlliance Executive Director Barbara Vlamis explained, “The three GSPs as written make it impossible to reach sustainability in the required 20-year horizon. In addition to specific failures noted above, they all identify projects and management actions that are ambiguous and unenforceable. They may cause serious harm, and none of them will protect groundwater dependent ecosystems as explicitly required by SGMA.”

“Despite common knowledge and some analysis, the Butte, Colusa, and Vina subbasin GSPs fail to adapt to serious impacts from expected climate change,” Vlamis continued. “This deficiency alone in the plans leaves them unenforceable and invalid,” she added.

Plaintiffs are represented by the Law Office of Adam Keats.

Additional Contacts:   
Bill Jennings, CSPA: 209-464-5067
Adam Keats: 415-430-9403

#

[1] https://water.ca.gov/Programs/Groundwater-Management/SGMA-Groundwater-Management

[2] AquAlliance, 2021. Comments on the Colusa GSP: “This shows that the overall percentage of groundwater being pumped will be recharged from the streams in the Butte Subbasin (i.e. stream depletion)… In fact, with the Historical baseline, the loss exceeds the volume of groundwater being pumped, suggesting that the subbasin may be at a tipping point where the impacts from future pumping increases are amplified, causing significantly more harm than just taking 100 percent of the groundwater recharge from surface waters.” pp. 15-16.

View the 3 Complaints:

Butte GSP – Complaint in ValidationDownload
Colusa GSP — Complaint in ValidationDownload
Vina GSP – Complaint in ValidationDownload
AquAlliance is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit public benefit corporation established to defend northern California waters and to challengethreats to the hydrologic health of the northern Sacramento River watershed to sustain family farms, communities, creeks and rivers, native flora and fauna, vernal pools and recreation. www.aqualliance.net

MAPS

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

West megadrought worsens to driest in at least 1,200 years

By Seth Borenstein – February 14, 2022

 

Water drips from a faucet near boat docks sitting on dry land a the Browns Ravine Cove area of drought-stricken Folsom Lake in Folsom, Calif., on May 22, 2021. The American West’s megadrought deepened so much last year that it is now the driest it has been in at least 1200 years and a worst-case scenario playing out live, a new study finds. (AP Photo/Josh Edelson, File)

Click this link to view the photo with the article at the AP News website.

The American West’s megadrought deepened so much last year that it is now the driest in at least 1,200 years and is a worst-case climate change scenario playing out live, a new study finds.

A dramatic drying in 2021 — about as dry as 2002 and one of the driest years ever recorded for the region — pushed the 22-year drought past the previous record-holder for megadroughts in the late 1500s and shows no signs of easing in the near future, according to a study Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The study calculated that 42% of this megadrought can be attributed to human-caused climate change.

“Climate change is changing the baseline conditions toward a drier, gradually drier state in the West and that means the worst-case scenario keeps getting worse,” said study lead author Park Williams, a climate hydrologist at UCLA. “This is right in line with what people were thinking of in the 1900s as a worst-case scenario. But today I think we need to be even preparing for conditions in the future that are far worse than this.”

Williams studied soil moisture levels in the West — a box that includes California, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, most of Oregon and Idaho, much of New Mexico, western Colorado, northern Mexico, and the southwest corners of Montana and Texas — using modern measurements and tree rings for estimates that go back to the year 800. That’s about as far back as estimates can reliably go with tree rings.

A few years ago, Williams studied the current drought and said it qualified as a lengthy and deep “megadrought” and that the only worse one was in the 1500s. He figured the current drought wouldn’t surpass that one because megadroughts tended to peter out after 20 years. And, he said, 2019 was a wet year so it looked like the western drought might be coming to an end.

But the region dried up in late 2020 and 2021.

All of California was considered in official drought from mid-May until the end of 2021, and at least three-quarters of the state was at the highest two drought levels from June through Christmas, according to the U.S. drought monitor.

“For this drought to have just cranked up back to maximum drought intensity in late 2020 through 2021 is a quite emphatic statement by this 2000s drought saying that we’re nowhere close to the end,” Williams said. This drought is now 5% drier than the old record from the 1500s, he said.

The drought monitor says 55% of the U.S. West is in drought with 13% experiencing the two highest drought levels.

This megadrought really kicked off in 2002 — one of the driest years ever, based on humidity and tree rings, Williams said.

“I was wondering if we’d ever see a year like 2002 again in my life and in fact, we saw it 20 years later, within the same drought,” Williams said. The drought levels in 2002 and 2021 were a statistical tie, though still behind 1580 for the worst single year.

 website. Climate change from the burning of fossil fuels is bringing hotter temperatures and increasing evaporation in the air, scientists say.

Williams used 29 models to create a hypothetical world with no human-caused warming then compared it to what happened in real life — the scientifically accepted way to check if an extreme weather event is due to climate change. He found that 42% of the drought conditions are directly from human-caused warming. Without climate change, he said, the megadrought would have ended early on because 2005 and 2006 would have been wet enough to break it.

The study “is an important wake-up call,” said Jonathan Overpeck, dean of environment at the University of Michigan, who wasn’t part of the study. “Climate change is literally baking the water supply and forests of the Southwest, and it could get a whole lot worse if we don’t halt climate change soon.”

Williams said there is a direct link between drought and heat and the increased wildfires that have been devastating the West for years. Fires need dry fuel that drought and heat promote.

Eventually, this megadrought will end by sheer luck of a few good rainy years, Williams said. But then another one will start.

Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist who wasn’t involved in the study, said climate change is likely to make megadrought “a permanent feature of the climate of the Colorado River watershed during the 21st century.”

___

Click this link to read the article at the AP News website.

Groups Sue Reclamation Against Extra Groundwater Pumping Plans In North Valley

 

by Dan Bacher
September 05, 2021

 

Chico, CA. — On August 26, three environmental groups filed a lawsuit in federal District Court challenging the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation over extra groundwater pumping plans by Sacramento River water districts that they say will harm local domestic and agricultural users, the Sacramento River, streams and ecosystems.  

The filing of the suit by AquAlliance, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, and the California Water Impact Network was followed on Wednesday, September 1, by a motion for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). At stake is an estimated 60,000 acre feet of groundwater, according to AquAlliance Executive Director Barbara Vlamis. 

If you want to listen to the TRO hearing, here is the information. Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021 at 1:30 PM (PT): Any participants not appearing and arguing before the Court may listen to the proceedings by calling into the public line using the instructions which will be available on the public calendar section of the court’s website at www.caed.uscourts.gov for Judge Shubb’s Sept. 7, 2021 calendar.

The named participants in the Extra Groundwater Pumping Program include Anderson Cottonwood WD, Glenn-Colusa ID, Princeton-Codora-Glenn ID, Provident ID, Reclamation District No. 108, Reclamation District No. 1004, River Garden Farms and Sycamore Mutual WC.

Reclamation concluded that the proposed action in the EA would have no significant impact on the human environment.

“In assessing the appropriate level of NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) review, Reclamation determined the Proposed Action is not likely to have significant effects,” the Assessment found. “In considering whether the effects of the Proposed Action are significant, Reclamation analyzed the affected environment and degree of the effects of the action.” 

“The Proposed Action will occur within existing facilities and there would be no effects to the following resources: aesthetics; geology, soils, & mineral Resources; land use; population & housing; transportation & traffic; recreation; hazards & hazardous materials; cultural resources; public services & utilities,” Reclamation claimed.

The groups strongly disagree with Reclamation’s Finding of No Significant Impact. (FNSOO). The lawsuit asks the court to declare Reclamation’s Environmental Assessment invalid and issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to stop the project that the plaintiffs say will harm local domestic and agricultural users, the Sacramento River, streams, and ecosystems. 

The motion for a TRO and/or preliminary injunction notes that “groundwater and groundwater dependent people and resources are already severely impacted” in the Sacramento Valley.

“BOR grossly failed its statutory mandates under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) to disclose and consider the Project’s effects prior to approval, and prior to irreversible effects occurring,” the groups allege.  

“To have the federal government enable the abuse of groundwater by river water-rich Settlement Contractors, particularly in a critically dry year, is heinous,” said Vlamis. “The Extra Groundwater Pumping Plan pits Sacramento River water right users against groundwater-reliant neighbors and habitats that are already struggling. To represent the people and environment, we had to pursue our legal options.”

The groups said that with the knowledge of California’s climate and history, “Reclamation failed to prepare for the dry year before us.”

“The districts are hammering already taxed local groundwater basins during the serious 2021 drought, because they don’t want to accept cuts in river water deliveries even though their 25% cut is much less than those other users have experienced,” according to the groups. “However, the same districts have enough river water to sell to south-of-Delta interests.” (see table below)

“If Reclamation hadn’t released so much water from Shasta Reservoir in April and May this year, there would have been more in storage for critical flows for salmon and Delta farmers,” said Bill Jennings, Executive Director/Chairman of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA). 

Total Keswick Dam water releases in April were 352,673 acre-feet of water and 509,160 acre feet in May, a total of 861,833 acre-feet during the two months, according to the Bureau of Reclamation’s Northern CVP Water Temperature Plan.

This has been a disastrous year for imperiled Sacramento River salmon. The California Department of Fish and Game (CDFW) has forecasted that “nearly all” of the juvenile winter-run Chinook hatched on the Sacramento River this year could die before spawning, due to disease spurred by warm water conditions below Keswick Dam: sacramento.newsreview.com/…

A record run of over 18,000 endangered spring-run Chinook salmon on Butte Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River, has also turned into disaster as 14,500 fish have  died before spawning. These fish also have perished due to the outbreak of disease in warm, low water conditions: sacramento.newsreview.com/…  

On June 1, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Water Impact Network (CWIN), and Save California Salmon (SCS) presented an alternative water temperature management plan to the State Water Resources Control Board  that would have resulted in more carryover storage to protect fish, water and people over the winter. However, the water board failed to consider the alternative and approved the Bureau’s environmentally destructive water temperature management plan: www.dailykos.com/…

The August 31 update to the CVP/SWP drought assessment forecasts that by November 1 there will only be 728,000 acre feet of storage left in Shasta Lake, 691,000 acre feet in Oroville and 169,000 acre feet in Folsom Lake.

“We are in uncharted territory,” emphasized Jennings. “We have never had this little storage in the reservoirs. Cities, farms and fish are all screwed. This is substantially worse than 1977.”    

The plaintiffs are represented by the Aqua Terra Aeris law firm.

Table of participants in the Extra Groundwater Pumping Program

All named participants in the Extra Groundwater Pumping Program also plan to transfer water to south-of-the-Delta users in 2021. 

District

Water to sell south-of-Delta (possible af) *

 Extra Groundwater Pumping potential (af) **

Anderson Cottonwood WD

5,226

3,000

Glenn-Colusa ID

91,000

25,000

Princeton-Codora-Glenn ID

13,200

8,000

Provident ID

19,900

8,000

Reclamation District No. 108

55,000

12,500

Reclamation District No. 1004

27,175

4,300

River Garden Farms

20,000

3,000

Sycamore Mutual WC

25,000

3,000

* Numbers are found in the 2020 Long-Term Water Transfer Program FEIS/EIR. Each district’s total acre-feet are unknown for 2021.

** Reclamation asserts the total acre-feet will not exceed 60,000.   

USGS: Increased Pumping in California’s Central Valley During Drought Worsens Groundwater Quality

The urgency of the AquAlliance lawsuit was underlined by the release of a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that reveals that intensive pumping of aquifers during drought can speed up deterioration of groundwater quality.  

The study “Critical aquifer overdraft accelerates degradation of groundwater quality in California’s Central Valley during drought” is published in Geophysical Research Letters.

“The results highlight clean drinking water supply vulnerabilities in California and other western states currently experiencing record drought conditions,” according to the USGS. 

“Water quality problems from legacy groundwater pollution could get worse, faster, when pumping increases during drought,” said Dr. Zeno Levy, a research geologist with the USGS. “This could lead to more public drinking-water wells being shut down if costly treatment or cleaner water sources to mix with are not available.”

The agency said researchers examined 30 years of data from California’s Central Valley to find increasing nitrate concentrations at public drinking-water wells were more prevalent in areas where groundwater levels dropped rapidly during drought.

“Nitrate is a contaminant from fertilizer typically present at elevated concentrations in shallow groundwater throughout the Central Valley due to decades of agricultural land use. Scientists found that increased pumping from wells during drought can pull shallow, contaminated groundwater down to depths commonly tapped for public drinking-water supply,” the study stated.

Previous groundwater research has focused on the risk of wells being overdrawn and running dry during drought.

“The new study provides a major advancement to understanding the related consequences to water quality caused by over pumping,” the USGS wrote. “The study is unique in that it looked at regional linkages between groundwater use and quality, rather than local patterns at the scale of individual wells.”

This research was undertaken as part of a cooperative effort between the USGS and the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program. 

This content was created by Dan Bacher, a Daily Kos Community member. To view the article online, visit https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/9/5/2048791/-Groups-Sue-Reclamation-Against-Extra-Groundwater-Pumping-Plans-In-North-Valley

Groundwater Pumping Threats in NorthState Counties

Transfers Tied to Extra Pumping Plans

Press Release
August 26, 2021
Contact: Barbara Vlamis, AquAlliance: 530-89

Chico, CA.  AquAlliance, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, and the California Water Impact Network filed a lawsuit in federal District Court against the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) over Extra Groundwater Pumping Plans by Sacramento River water districts. The districts are hammering already taxed local groundwater basins during the serious 2021 drought, because they don’t want to accept cuts in river water deliveries even though their 25% cut is much less than those other agricultural users have experienced.[1] The same districts have enough river water to sell to south-of-Delta interests, however (see table below).

Reclamation seeks to pay the Extra Groundwater pumpers for their energy costs based on the analysis found in the Environmental Assessment for Groundwater Actions to Offset Surface Water Diversions from the Sacramento River in Response to Drought in 2021.

The lawsuit[2] asks the court to declare Reclamation’s Environmental Assessment invalid and issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to stop the project that will harm local domestic and agricultural users, the Sacramento River, streams, and ecosystems. AquAlliance Executive Director, Barbara Vlamis, explained, “To have the federal government enable the abuse of groundwater by river water-rich Settlement Contractors, particularly in a critically dry year, is heinous. The Extra Groundwater Pumping Plan pits Sacramento River water right users against groundwater-reliant neighbors and habitats that are already struggling. To represent the people and environment, we had to pursue our legal options.”

Even with the knowledge of California’s climate and history, Reclamation failed to prepare for the dry year before us. “If Reclamation hadn’t released so much water from Shasta Reservoir in April and May this year, there would have been more in storage for critical flows for salmon and Delta farmers,” said Bill Jennings of CSPA.[3]

Plaintiffs are represented by the Aqua Terra Aeris law firm.

Additional Contacts:   
Bill Jennings, CSPA: 209-464-5067; cell 209-938-9053
Jason Flanders, Aqua Terra Aeris: 916.202.3018

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AquAlliance is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit public benefit corporation established to defend northern California waters and to challenge threats to the hydrologic health of the northern Sacramento River watershed to sustain family farms, communities, creeks and rivers, native flora and fauna, vernal pools and recreation. www.aqualliance.net

[1] https://www.usbr.gov/newsroom/newsroomold/newsrelease/detail.cfm?RecordID=73745
[2] https://tinyurl.com/ektruuyz
[3] California Sportfishing Protection Alliance et al. 2021. Proposed 2021 Temperature Management Plan for Central Valley Project Shasta- Trinity Division. pdf p. 6.

Background

A) U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Environmental Assessment for Groundwater Actions to Offset Surface Water Diversions from the Sacramento River in Response to Drought in 2021 https://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_project_details.php?Project_ID=50127

B) Maps illustrating the groundwater conditions in the Sacramento Valley. https://data.cnra.ca.gov/dataset/northern-sacramento-valley-groundwater-elevation-change-maps

C) All named participants in the Extra Groundwater Pumping Program also plan to transfer water to south-of-the-Delta users in 2021.

District

Water to sell south-of-Delta
(possible af) *

Extra Groundwater Pumping
potential (af) **
Anderson Cottonwood WD 5,226 3,000
Glenn-Colusa ID 91,000 25,000
Princeton-Codora-Glenn ID 13,200 8,000
Provident ID 19,900 8,000
Reclamation District No. 108 55,000 12,500
Reclamation District No. 1004 27,175 4,300
River Garden Farms 20,000 3,000
Sycamore Mutual WC 25,000 3,000
* Numbers are found in the 2020 Long-Term Water Transfer Program FEIS/EIR. Each district’s total acre-feet are unknown for 2021.
** Reclamation asserts the total acre-feet will not exceed 60,000.