Climate Point: Some California lakes are filling up

Lobbying pays sometimes when it comes to getting controversial projects approved, and a trail of winter storms has increased water levels in a couple of large California lakes. 

I’m Dinah Voyles Pulver, with Paste BN’s national climate team, and this is Climate Point, your weekly guide to climate, energy and the environment. 

In Southern California, Lake Casitas is inching closer to full, writes Cheri Carlson of the Ventura County Star.

The lake, which provides drinking water for the Ojai Valley and parts of Ventura, began bouncing back from a prolonged drought last year, when storms pushed the water level over 50% and then 70% capacity. Now a second wet winter means it's closer to full.

The lake filling is a major turnaround from where it was two years ago when the amount of water in the reservoir fell to historically low levels.

At Lake Shasta, California's largest reservoir, water levels are also up. Water gets sent from the lake as far south as Bakersfield to be used as drinking water, agricultural irrigation and wildlife habitat, writes Damon Arthur with the Record Searchlight.

For the past month, the water level has been slowly filling and had risen 12 feet as of March 1. But the lake isn't done filling yet, said Don Bader, area manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages Shasta Dam. "We're expecting it to creep right up to the top," Bader said.

Lobbying questioned

Investigative stories by reporters in South Dakota and Florida over the past week found residents and some officials questioning how lobbying was used to wield influence over environmental projects.

Proponents of legislation often send emails, sign petitions and make phone calls, writes Dominik Dausch with the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. But when a proposed bill that would open the door to a multi-billion-dollar carbon dioxide pipeline was coming up for a debate in February, major ethanol companies showed up in force to support the bill.

Busloads of people with ties to ethanol companies traveled to the statehouse to lobby for the bill. The investigation by the Argus Leader found companies reimbursed employees and board members to lobby legislators in support of the bill. Some employees received things like bus rides, lunches and free shirts, while others were compensated to go during their business hours to lobby for the company without having to register as a lobbyist, the newspaper reported.

Critics and some legislators say the state’s lobbying laws lack definition, and allowed the ethanol companies undue access to lawmakers, but the companies said they were well within their rights.

In Florida, residents and state officials questioned how a developer got permission in the wake of Hurricane Ian to change the rules for the redevelopment of a project on Captiva, an island on the state's southwest coast. Developers re-doing the hurricane-battered South Seas resort received permission to increase the height and almost triple the hotel capacity.

A group of residents oppose the changes, saying the redevelopment would jeopardize safety and challenge emergency services. A state official said the amendment to the county's rules "appears to fly a “false flag “of 'resilience' as a primary purpose," wrote James D. Stansbury, chief of the Bureau of Community Planning and Growth.

Addressing flooding issues

In Wisconsin, lawmakers said they want to encourage local governments to help communities identify and target areas vulnerable to flooding and encourage nearby communities to work together to address flooding issues, according to reporting by Laura Schulte and Caitlin Looby for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“We all know that Wisconsin is no stranger to natural disasters — especially flooding — and that extreme weather continues to have devastating effects on folks’ lives and livelihoods, costing Wisconsin families millions of dollars in damage to homes, businesses, local infrastructure, and the environment,” Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement announcing the bill signing. “This bill is an important step to give families and communities peace of mind and the tools they need to prevent flood damage in the future.”

Read on for more, including the latest North Atlantic right whale death and the impact of climate change on allergy season. Some of the stories below may require a subscription. Sign up and get access to all eNewspapers in the Paste BN Network. If someone forwarded you this email and you'd like to receive Climate Point in your inbox for free once a week, sign up here.