The California Water Commission is calling upon potential project proponents to submit Concept Papers that summarize potential water storage projects and their benefits. This is an effort by the Commission to gather information regarding projects that may qualify and apply for Water Storage Investment Program public benefit funding.

The Concept Paper form and more information about the Concept Papers can be found attached or online at:https://cwc.ca.gov/Pages/ConceptPapers.aspx

For more information about the Water Storage Investment Program, please visit our website at: https://cwc.ca.gov/Pages/PublicBenefits1.aspx

At its January 22, 2016 meeting, the Mountain Counties Water Resources Association (MCWRA) Board of Directors authorized staff sending a “Letter of Support” to the Delta Conservancy for the Port of Stockton/Ad-Hoc Water Hyacinth Committee’s BIOFUEL Demonstration Project Grant Application.   The project would remove invasive aquatic weeds from the Delta by demonstrating that plant biomass can be harvested and used to generate methane gas at the commercial scale.  The project is anticipated to have multiple environmental and stakeholder benefits including:

• Substantial reduction in aquatic herbicide applications and associated Delta foodweb impacts,
• Reduce impacts to upstream water supplies from water consumption from the very large mass of water hyacinth in the Delta (estimated at 11,000 acres in 2015),
• Improve Delta water quality conditions by reducing the decaying biomass load that depletes dissolved oxygen in Delta waters from decaying water hyacinth,
• Reduce methane emissions to the atmosphere from current WH waste management practices,
• Provide a reliable supply of natural gas to generate power,
• Remove floating plant biomass that has caused serious operational challenges for municipal and industrial water providers in the Delta and navigation problems for the Port of Stockton.

Click below for Letter of Support  –  Biofuel Concept Proposal

Delta Conservancy – Letter of Support Jan 28 2016

Delta Conservancy Biofuel Concept Proposal

The Natural Resources Agency is working on an effort to forge voluntary, stakeholder-based outcomes in the watersheds of the Sacramento River and major San Joaquin River tributaries.  These proposed voluntary settlement agreements could be used as a possible mechanism to help implement objectives the Water Board will set in its Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan update.

Click here for more from Natural Resources

Member agencies provide comment letters to the State Water Resources Control Board’s proposed Emergency Conservation Regulations.

In case you missed it, the Mountain Counties Water Resources Association comment letter can be found here and on

Mavens Notebook:   Link to Mavens Notebook:

Amador Water Agency Comment Letter

El Dorado Irrigation District Comment Letter

Placer County Water Agency Comment Letter

South Tahoe Public Utility Comment Letter

THEN AND NOW

MCWRA pictures of PYRAMID PEAK taken in January 2015 and on January 27, 2016

In a letter to the State Water Resources Control Board, MCWRA encourages the Board to provide additional flexibility and consider further changes to the proposed Emergency Conservation Regulations.

“While the proposed text in Article 22.5 Drought Emergency Water Conservation does provide minor concessions for water agencies to slightly lower their conservation standard in certain areas, which is appreciated, the Board is encouraged to probe the rationale in staff’s decision making process and consider making further adjustments”, said John Kingsbury, MCWRA Executive Director.

MCWRA Comment Letter: SWRCB Emergency Reg Comments final Jan 27 2016

Executive Member El Dorado Irrigation District  submits comments: EID Comment Letter

On November 4, 2014, California voters approved Proposition 1, the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014. Proposition 1 authorized the appropriation of $510 million in Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) funding for Implementation, Planning, and Disadvantaged Community Involvement efforts to each Funding Area.

The Proposition 1 IRWM Grant Program, administered by DWR, provides funding for projects that help meet the long term water needs of the state, including:

• To assist water infrastructure systems adapt to climate change;
• To provide incentives throughout each watershed to collaborate in managing the region’s water resources and setting regional priorities for water infrastructure; and
• To improve regional water self-reliance, while reducing reliance on Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Click for more: Department of Water Resources-  Draft Guidelines and the funding opportunities in the Proposition 1 IRWM Grant Program

The Mountain Counties Overlay funding area includes the foothills and mountains of the western slope of the Sierra. The area extends from the southern tip of Lassen County to the northern part of Fresno County. The funding area includes all Plumas, Tuolumne, and Mariposa counties and portions of Shasta, Lassen, Butte, Sierra, Yuba, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Amador, Sacramento, Alpine, Calaveras, Madera, and Fresno counties. The major watersheds within the Mountain Counties include the Feather, Yuba, Bear, American Cosumnes, Mokelumne, Calaveras, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Merced, Chowchilla, Fresno, and San Joaquin.

The MCWRA Executive membership selects Neil Cochran to serve on the Board of Directors for 2016-2017. Neil also serves as Director at the Foresthill Public Utility District (FPUD).

At its January 22, 2016, Board of Directors meeting, members appointed the following officers:

President – Art Toy, Director, Amador Water Agency (AWA)

Vice President – Scott Ratterman, Calaveras County Water Agency (CCWD)

Treasurer – Bill George, El Dorado Irrigation District (EID)

The Board of Directors also made the following appointments:

Ambassador

Dave Breninger, Retired, General Manager, Placer County Water Agency

 Ex Officio

Norm Krizl, Past MCWRA Director  & current Director at Georgetown Divide Public Utility District

Governance Committee

Kent Johnson, Director, Tuolumne Utilities District

Legislative & Governmental Affairs Committee

Carl Hoelscher, Director,  Georgetown Divide Public Utility District

Legislative & Governmental Affairs Committee

Jim Grinnell, Director, Tuolumne Utilities District

Contact: Jesse Saich, Public Information Officer, (530) 642-4127, jsaich@eid.org

Placerville, Calif. — At its January 11 meeting, the EID Board of Directors approved a series of rate increases for water, wastewater (sewer), and recycled water for 2016 through 2020.

The district sent Proposition 218 notices to all of its customers, detailing the proposed rate changes for the more than 40,000 service accounts.

“Overall, the Prop 218 process resulted in a one percent protest rate across the rate classes,” said EID General Manager Jim Abercrombie. “A number of ratepayers expressed their concerns at the public hearing, but I think a large majority of our customers understand the underlying needs for these modest increases. As our water, sewer, and recycled water systems age, it is important to continue investing in replacing, rebuilding, and expanding them in accordance with our long-term, balanced financial plan.”

Click here for more

The California State Water Resourced Control Board is considering whether to lift a moratorium on new water service connections in San Andreas and Mokelumne Hill, an official for the agency said this week.

Bruce Burton, the assistant deputy director of Northern California Drinking Water Field Operations, said in an email that the agency, at the request of the Calaveras Public Utility District, is reviewing the compliance order that imposed the moratorium in October 2014.

The moratorium came as California’s epic drought forced state water authorities to conduct an unprecedented review of water rights and supplies on the state’s rivers. The State Water Resources Control board concluded that CPUD, which serves an area that includes San Andreas and Mokelumne Hill, does not have rights to a “reliable” water source during droughts. Because of that finding, the state authorities barred CPUD from providing water to any new customers.

Click here to read more

On January 5, 2016, MCWRA sent a comment letter in response to the State Water Resources Control Board Extended Water Conservation proposal.

Click here to see the webpost and comment letter

Executive members El Dorado Irrigation District and Placer County Water Agency also sent comments letters.

Click for EID COMMENTS

Click for PCWA COMMENTS

Click for EOCWD COMMENTS

“We note that we have discussed our comments with our colleagues at the Mountain Counties Water Resources Association, and find much common ground between us; in support of this, we have incorporated several of their comments into our comment letter.” Lisa Ohlund, General Manager, East Orange County Water District