Map of the project.

By Matt Weiser

Wastewater recycling doesn’t have to be a fancy affair. Sometimes it can be as simple as building a pipeline.

That is more or less the full description of the North Valley Regional Recycled Water Project. Only a year after starting construction, at a cost of around $90 million, the project is already delivering recycled urban wastewater to farms and wildlife refuges in California’s San Joaquin Valley, providing a reliable new water supply to a drought-plagued region.

“Everything seems to be working great,” said Anthea Hansen, general manager of Del Puerto Water District, the farm irrigation agency that receives most of the recycled water. “We knew the benefits would be incredible, and we’re seeing it already.”

The project, which began delivering water in December, provides farmers in Hansen’s district with about 10,000 acre-feet of water. That’s roughly a 25 percent increase over what they were allocated this year by the federal Central Valley Project (CVP).

And since the source is a steady stream of urban wastewater, it’s an irrigation supply that won’t change much from year to year. In comparison, allocations of federal CVP water, managed by the U.S.Bureau of Reclamation, vary enormously depending on drought conditions, environmental issues and other factors.

“Because it’s not subject to pumping restrictions or measurements of snowpack or water in storage, the supply should be very constant,” Hansen said. “So it’s very meaningful.”

The water comes from the city of Modesto, population 213,000. The city was under regulatory pressure to upgrade its wastewater treatment to a so-called “tertiary” level, because its discharges to the San Joaquin River posed a threat to water quality and wildlife.

Hansen’s agency piggybacked on this need by offering to buy some of the newly refined wastewater for the district’s 200 or so farmers, who irrigate almonds, walnuts, peaches, pistachios and other crops. This offer helped Modesto finance the treatment plant upgrades. All Del Puerto had to do was build a pipeline 7 miles from Modesto’s treatment plant to the Delta-Mendota Canal, the federal ditch from which Del Puerto already diverts its federal irrigation water.

Building the pipeline didn’t take long, but the deal didn’t happen overnight. Del Puerto signed an initial agreement with Modesto in 2010 to cooperate on the project. Then there were regulatory hoops to jump through. Construction started on the pipeline in summer 2016 and took only a year to build.

Modesto’s initial recycled water deliveries to the project are expected to be about 15,000 acre-feet annually. Del Puerto farmers get about two-thirds of this water, which satisfies California’s Title 22, the state law that ensures treated wastewater is fit for landscaping and crops.

Some of the recycled wastewater is also going to state, federal and private wildlife refuges in the valley, thanks to a federal law known as the Central Valley Project Improvement Act. The law, passed in 1992, requires the United States Bureau of Reclamation to buy additional water supplies to benefit wildlife impacted by operation of the CVP irrigation system.

Reclamation has fallen far behind its obligations under the law, partly because of inadequate funding and scarce water supplies available for purchase. The availability of Modesto’s recycled water was a unique opportunity to acquire a firm new water supply.

“This is substantial,” said Ric Ortega, general manager of Grassland Water District, which delivers CVP water to a number of public and private wildlife refuges in the northern San Joaquin Valley. “This is a large quantity of water at a fraction of the cost of water on the open market. I would say less than half the cost.”

Ortega said he expects to get about 5,000 acre-feet of recycled water this year. This will benefit the private landowners in his district, including a number of duck club owners. It will also go to government wetland areas in the San Joaquin Valley such as the state-managed Grasslands Wildlife Area and Kern National Wildlife Refuge, which have suffered water shortages for decades due to the diversions caused by the Central Valley Project.

“We’re not meeting the dietary demands of shorebirds in the Central Valley in the spring,” Ortega said. “This will make huge strides as it relates to shorebirds.”

The Bureau of Reclamation invested about $25 million in the project. The partners also received a $27 million grant from Proposition 1, a 2014 bond measure approved by California voters for water projects. These two sources covered about half the cost to build the pipeline and pump station.

And there is more water to come. The city of Turlock, population 73,000, also plans to deliver recycled water to the new pipeline by linking to the system with a pipeline of its own.

As the two cities grow in the decades to come, their output of recycled water is sure to increase. The project’s current output could eventually more than triple to 48,000 acre-feet.

The share secured for refuges – an estimated 13,000 acre-feet when the project reaches full scale – will be the largest water supply dedicated to wildlife in the San Joaquin Valley in more than 25 years.

“All the pieces in this particular puzzle just seemed to fall into place,” said Hansen. “But I do think other agencies could definitely use it as a model. With creativity and thinking outside the box, it can be done.”

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The Mediterranean fruit fly, one of many invasive species that threaten California’s environment and food production.

California Invasive Species Action Week  is underway this week and is continuing until Sunday, June 10. CDFA works in partnership with other state and federal agencies to try to prevent invasive species from entering California, and then managing infestations as effectively as possible, with a goal of eradication in most cases.

In focusing on these activities this week, the objectives are to increase public awareness of invasive species and promote public participation in the fight against them.

CDFA works in this area on a number of fronts. In its Plant Health and Pest Prevention Services Division, operations are ongoing for invasive species like the Asian citrus psyllid and the fatal disease of citrus it spreads, huanglongbing, or citrus greening. Other ongoing projects include management of another insect with the potential to spread plant disease, the glassy-winged sharpshooter. Additionally, the division regularly eradicates infestations of invasive fruit flies like the Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) and the Oriental fruit fly. The division’s Report A Pest app encourages Californians to take photos of suspected invasive species and send them in for identification and action, if necessary.

California’s Border Inspection Stations, which are managed by CDFA, are on the lookout year-round for boats that may be transporting invasive aquatic mussels like Quagga and Zebra mussels.

Veterinarians and staff in CDFA’s Division of Animal Health and Food Safety Services are currently working to eradicate an invasive species outbreak–virulent Newcastle disease–in Southern California. This disease threatens birds throughout California and is often fatal to chickens.

CDFA serves as co-chair of the Invasive Species Council of California, partnering with the California Resources Agency, the California State Transportation Agency, the California Health and Human Services Agency and the Office of Emergency Services to work with the appointed members of the California Invasive Species Advisory Committee to develop and manage a statewide invasive species action plan.

Invasive species pose a constant threat to California’s uniquely diverse environment and its agricultural production, and they’re also quite costly. Researchers at Cornell University estimate that invasive species cause $120 billion in damage in the US each year.

Click here for more information about California Invasive Species Action Week.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is wrapping up data collection for the 2017 Census of Agriculture.

To stay on track for data release in February 2019, the deadline for submitting the paper questionnaire is June 15, 2018. Farmers and ranchers who have not responded by June 15, 2018 still have until the end of July to complete the Census online through the secure website found on the cover of their Census form. Phone follow-up and personal interviews will also continue through July.

The questionnaire needs to be completed by everyone who received a form – including landowners who lease land to producers, those involved in conservation programs, even those who may have received the Census and do not farm. Every response matters.

“Our mission at NASS is to provide data in service to U.S. agriculture,” said NASS Administrator Hubert Hamer. “We extended the original Census deadline because many producers weren’t counted – and if they aren’t represented in these critical data, they risk being underserved in farm programs, disaster assistance, agricultural research, education, local policies, and business; it is imperative that we hear from everyone.”

Federal law, Title 7 USC 2204(g) Public Law 105-113, requires NASS to keep all information confidential, to use the data only for statistical purposes, and to only publish in aggregate form to prevent disclosing the identity of any individual producer or farm operation.

For more information about the 2017 Census of Agriculture or to respond online, visit www.agcensus.usda.gov. Improved in 2017, the online form is faster and more convenient than ever. For questions about or assistance with filling out the Census, call toll-free (888) 424-7828.

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VND surveyors visit a feed store in San Bernardino County.

CDFA and the USDA are continuing their joint project to eradicate a recent outbreak of virulent Newcastle disease (VND) in Southern California. Detections have occurred at a small number of properties in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

The project includes extensive outreach to bird owners and feed stores with tips on signs of the disease.

Please remember that there is no cure for VND. It is important that all commercial and non-commercial poultry owners maintain effective barriers to protect against the risk of the disease. Biosecurity tips for commercial poultry owners can be found here. For Backyard and non-commercial poultry owners, biosecurity tips can be found here.

Survey crews are distributing information in English and Spanish.

Checking birds for signs of disease.

From the Sacramento Bee

By CDFA Secretary Karen Ross and California State Water Resources Control Board Chair Felicia Marcus 

When we read about drinking water problems like those in Flint, Mich., it’s easy to think that would never happen here. But the unfortunate fact is that many local water systems in California are failing to provide safe drinking water to their customers through no fault of their own.

In roughly 300 communities, from Trinidad to Tulare and Riverside to Oceanside, tap water has tested high for arsenic, nitrates, uranium and other chemicals that can cause learning disabilities, miscarriages, birth defects, and cancer. Right now, hundreds of thousands of Californians lack access to clean water for drinking, bathing and cooking. Children and the elderly are at the highest risk.

Since California passed the Human Right to Water Act in 2012, the state has made some important strides to address this crisis. Using funds from Proposition 1 and other sources, we have provided hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and loans to help build new water treatment plants and other infrastructure in disadvantaged communities. And we’ve consolidated smaller systems in communities like East Porterville, where clean water now flows into hundreds of homes that were without it.

But despite years of effort, we still face a fundamental problem that stops us from helping many Californians. Many smaller water systems lack adequate resources to pay for ongoing operations and maintenance of modern treatment facilities. Bond funds and loans can’t be used to cover these costs, but without these resources, small systems don’t qualify for the funding that is available to cover the capital costs of these projects.

It is a Catch-22 that has created a world of water “haves” and “have nots” in the fifth largest economy in the world.

The Legislature has an opportunity to end this crisis once and for all. The governor’s proposed budget includes a new Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund created from fees on fertilizer, dairies and livestock, and a fee of less than a dollar a month assessed on water bills. A bipartisan and diverse alliance of farmers, disadvantaged communities, public health advocates and water systems supports the proposal – as do the vast majority of Californians according to a recent Water Foundation poll.

The new fund will create a modest state safety net to cover urgently needed updates to out-of-compliance water systems. It will facilitate the consolidation of small, financially struggling water systems with larger, more stable ones or with a group of communities that can find an economy of scale. And most critical, it will help cover ongoing water treatment costs, providing the last piece of the puzzle for small systems that are currently unable to get grants and loans and hire qualified managers.

Some people argue general fund dollars or enforcement fines should cover these costs. Let’s be clear: Existing funds would not provide the kind of multi-year funding guarantee needed to secure capital financing and maintain critical water infrastructure 24 hours a day. The proposed dedicated funding source will not compete with other general fund needs and will provide the state with essential infrastructure investment and public health protection over time.

Using fees to pay for the state’s basic needs makes good sense. We fund rural internet broadband service through fees on our cell phone bills and low-income heating and cooling assistance through fees on our gas and electric bills. The proposed drinking water fee of less than a dollar a month has the same clear connection to addressing a critical need – and costs even less.

As public servants, it is our job to champion the concerns of ordinary Californians and deliver life’s basic necessities. That is why we are urging members of California Legislature to approve the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund this session.

Every month we fail to provide this funding is another month too many California families have to choose between buying bottled water and taking their chances with toxic taps. California can do better, but we need the right tools to do so.

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