ACWA e-News for April 4, 2012

State officials are asking energy companies to voluntarily disclose where they are currently conducting “fracking” operations in California and what chemicals are being injected as part of the process.

A new report on the costs of treating hexavalent chromium is now available.

Sponsored by ACWA and the City of Glendale Water & Power, the report focuses on characterizing and developing costs for Chromium 6 treatment residuals (waste) generated by two technologies, Reduction, Coagulation and Filtration (RCF) and Weak-Base Anion Exchange (WBA).

Engaging with fellow ACWA members became even easier today with the addition of two new features to the association’s award-winning website, acwa.com. 

With most of the state's water coming from rain and snow that falls in the Sierra Nevada, ACWA Region 3 members need to educate decision makers to ensure California gets the water it needs while preserving the region’s ecosystem, writes Region 3 Board Chair Bob Dean in the latest Voices on Water blog post.

Thirty-five members of California’s congressional delegation have signed onto a letter urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reconsider a draft policy requiring the removal of vegetation on California levees.

The Bureau of Reclamation has released final environmental documents indicating a finding of no significant impact for the recirculation of recaptured water year 2012 San Joaquin River Restoration Program Interim Flows.

Reclamation estimates that 20,000 to 80,000 acre-feet of recaptured Interim Flows (based on 90% and 50% exceedance levels) could be made available for recirculation back to Central Valley Project Friant Division contractors as Class 1 or Class 2 supplies during WY 2012.

With the state’s snow water content measuring just over half of average for the date, Department of Water Resources officials today warned Californians to be prepared for a potentially dry several years.

In their monthly snow survey, DWR hydrologists today found that water content in California's mountain snowpack is only 55% of the April 1 full season average. On April 1 last year, snowpack water content readings were 163% of average, statewide.

ACWA's Federal Affairs Committee voted March 29 to maintain a “watch” position on H.R. 1837 and form a work group to develop constructive ideas for addressing Endangered Species Act implementation issues.

H.R. 1837, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act, was approved by the House of Representatives on Feb. 29. Authored by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-21) and co-sponsored by Rep. Jeff Denham (R-19) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-22), the bill would make far-reaching changes to California water policy.

With multiple factors affecting fish and habitat in the Delta, efforts targeting a single stressor are not likely to reverse species decline, a committee convened by the National Research Council concludes in a comprehensive review released March 29.

The much-anticipated report makes it clear that a multi-faceted, integrated approach is needed to understand what’s happening in the Delta and improve the ecosystem and species.

A film documenting the life of one of California’s greatest leaders, former Gov. Pat Brown, will open the Sacramento Film Festival April 21. The date would have been the former governor’s 107th birthday.

Written and directed by Sascha Rice, Brown’s granddaughter, “California State of Mind: The Legacy of Pat Brown” tells the story of how Brown rose against seemingly insurmountable obstacles and shaped the future of modern California.

The population of longfin smelt in the Bay-Delta has been named a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act as the result of a finding today by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

FWS is unable to add the species to the federal list of threatened and endangered species at this time because of the need to address other higher priority listing actions. The longfin’s status will be reviewed annually.