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Last Tickets for Klamath Tour Up for Grabs; Theme Announced for Annual Water Summit; Read the Latest About FIRO and Atmospheric Rivers

Tickets for Klamath River Tour Now Up for Grabs

The remaining handful of tickets for our first-ever Klamath River Tour are now up for grabs! This special water tour, Sept. 8 through Sept. 12, will not be offered every year so check out the tour details here.

You don’t want to miss this opportunity to examine water issues along the 263-mile Klamath River, from its spring-fed headwaters in south-central Oregon to its redwood-lined estuary on the Pacific Ocean in California.

Among the planned stops is the former site of Iron Gate Dam & Reservoir for a firsthand look at restoration efforts. The dam was one of four obsolete structures taken down in the nation’s largest dam removal project aimed at restoring fish passage. Grab your ticket here while they last!

California’s Quest to Turn a Winter Menace Into a Water Supply Bonus is Gaining Favor Across the West
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: For years, atmospheric rivers were a mystery. Now, an innovative dam management approach is putting them to work

Image shows Lake Mendocino, the proving ground for Forecast-Informed Reservoir OperationsIn December 2012, dam operators at Northern California’s Lake Mendocino watched as a series of intense winter storms bore down on them. The dam there is run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ San Francisco District, whose primary responsibility in the Russian River watershed is flood control. To make room in the reservoir for the expected deluge, the Army Corps released some 25,000 acre-feet of water downstream — enough to supply nearly 90,000 families for a year.

Water News You Need to Know

Aquafornia news Los Angeles Times

Friday Top of the Scroll: State officials say federal cuts threaten California’s environment

Budget cuts, staff reductions and other sweeping changes from the federal government are posing real threats to California’s environment and progress against climate change, state officials said Thursday. … Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources, said the agency is reeling from several changes to key components of its water supply system. Among them are staff reductions at the federal U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees the Central Valley Project — a vast network of dams, reservoirs and canals that delivers water supplies across the state. The Central Valley Project is the federal companion to the State Water Project, which performs a similar function. … The state also works closely with the Bureau of Reclamation to manage flood protection in California, where several levee and dam safety projects are now in jeopardy, Nemeth said. They include projects to enhance the system along the American River in Sacramento — one of the most flood-prone urban areas in the U.S. — and to address the devastating 2023 levee breach that flooded the community of Pajaro.

Other climate science and mitigation news:

Aquafornia news The Colorado Sun (Denver)

$4 million in federal funds released for Upper Colorado River Basin watershed restoration

Millions of dollars in federal funding have been released to continue restoring lands and streams in the fire-scarred Upper Colorado River Basin watershed in and around Grand Lake and Rocky Mountain National Park. The roughly $4 million was frozen in February and was released in April, according to Northern Water, a major Colorado water provider and one of the agencies that coordinate with the federal government and agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service to conduct the work.  Esther Vincent, Northern Water’s director of environmental services, said the federal government gave no reason for the freeze and release of funds. The amounts and timing of the freeze and release are being reported here for the first time. 

Other Colorado River Basin news:

Aquafornia news E&E News by Politico

Court backs FERC decision allowing state review of hydroelectric projects

A federal appeals court on Thursday found California could still review whether a pair of hydroelectric projects in the state comply with its water quality standards during license renewal proceedings. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit determined the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was right when it found the California State Water Resources Control Board had not waived its authority under the Clean Water Act to review re-authorizations for the Yuba-Bear and Drum-Spaulding hydroelectric projects. The Nevada Irrigation District, which had applied with FERC to renew its licenses for the two projects, said in its lawsuit that the board had waived certification authority by engaging in a “coordinated” effort to go beyond the one-year statutory deadline to review the projects. But the three-judge panel agreed with FERC that state officials had not coordinated with the project developer to delay the review process for the projects.

Related article:

Aquafornia news California Department of Fish and Wildlife

News release: Scientific surveys show continued decline in white sturgeon population

Recent results from white sturgeon monitoring surveys by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) suggest the white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) population has continued to decline. CDFW fisheries biologists now estimate there are approximately 6,500 white sturgeon between 40-60 inches long in California — down sharply from the previous estimate of approximately 30,000 fish in that size range, based on the 2016-2021 survey average. There may be many reasons for the downward trend, including mortality from harmful algal blooms, poaching, past sport fishing harvest and poor river and Delta conditions. … Based on historical surveys conducted by CDFW between 1954–2022, the number of white sturgeon in California has been in decline for many years. The species is currently a candidate for listing as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) and receives full CESA protection while its status is reviewed. 

Other California Department of Fish and Wildlife news:

Online Water Encyclopedia

Wetlands

Sacramento National Wildlife RefugeWetlands are among the world’s most important and hardest-working ecosystems, rivaling rainforests and coral reefs in productivity. 

They produce high oxygen levels, filter water pollutants, sequester carbon, reduce flooding and erosion and recharge groundwater.

Bay-Delta Tour participants viewing the Bay Model

Bay Model

Operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bay Model is a giant hydraulic replica of San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. It is housed in a converted World II-era warehouse in Sausalito near San Francisco.

Hundreds of gallons of water are pumped through the three-dimensional, 1.5-acre model to simulate a tidal ebb and flow lasting 14 minutes.

Aquapedia background Colorado River Basin Map

Salton Sea

As part of the historic Colorado River Delta, the Salton Sea regularly filled and dried for thousands of years due to its elevation of 237 feet below sea level.

The most recent version of the Salton Sea was formed in 1905 when the Colorado River broke through a series of dikes and flooded the seabed for two years, creating California’s largest inland body of water. The Salton Sea, which is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, includes 130 miles of shoreline and is larger than Lake Tahoe

Lake Oroville shows the effects of drought in 2014.

Drought

Drought—an extended period of limited or no precipitation—is a fact of life in California and the West, with water resources following boom-and-bust patterns. During California’s 2012–2016 drought, much of the state experienced severe drought conditions: significantly less precipitation and snowpack, reduced streamflow and higher temperatures. Those same conditions reappeared early in 2021 prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom in May to declare drought emergencies in watersheds across 41 counties in California.