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Announcement

Registration Now Open for Popular Bay-Delta Tour in May; Water Summit Set for Oct. 1
Seats Filling Quickly for Water 101 Workshop and Central Valley Tour in April

Register today for the return of our Bay-Delta Tour May 7-9 as we venture into the most critical and controversial water region in California. Get a firsthand look at the state’s vital water hub and hear directly from experts on key issues affecting the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay.

The 720,000-acre network of islands and channels supports the state’s two large water systems – the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project – and together with the San Francisco Bay is an important ecological resource. You’ll learn firsthand how the drought is affecting water quality and supply that serves local farms, cities and habitat. Much of the water also heads south via canals and aqueducts to provide drinking water for more than 27 million Californians and irrigation to about 3 million acres of farmland that helps feed the nation.

Announcement

Learn About California Water at Upcoming Workshop; Tap into Foundation’s Water Resources Anytime

Image shows the audience at Water 101 Workshop at McGeorge School of Law.Gain a deeper understanding of water in California by attending our annual Water 101 Workshop in April as experts go over the history, hydrology and law behind the state’s most precious natural resource.

But you don’t have to wait until the workshop at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento to get up to speed on important water issues.

Water News You Need to Know

Aquafornia news San Francisco Chronicle

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: Large, cold winter storm to hammer California mountains with snow

Several feet of snow is anticipated to blanket California’s mountains this week, prompting the National Weather Service to warn of “the strongest storm of the season” so far in the Sierra Nevada. A powerful low-pressure system will move toward Cape Mendocino on Thursday, farther south than many previous storms this winter. The proximity of the storm means its cold front will remain intact as it moves from Lake Tahoe toward Mammoth Mountain and Yosemite National Park on Thursday afternoon. Heavy snow is expected along this cold front, with hourly accumulations of 2 to 4 inches and intense winds creating periods of “zero visibility,” according to the weather service. 

Other atmospheric river news:

Aquafornia news CalMatters

Deadly boulders and mud: How debris flows endanger LA’s fire-ravaged towns

Nearly 170,000 people live in Altadena, Pasadena and Sierra Madre at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, and many are potentially in the path of debris flows. Heavy rainfall expected on Thursday and Friday has triggered warnings about fire-scarred hillsides unleashing torrents of mud, boulders and debris from the torched slopes. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for late Thursday, with the greatest risks in areas burned by the Eaton, Palisades, Franklin, and Bridge fires. In Santa Barbara, people in the Lake Fire’s burn areas were told to prepare to evacuate as a storm approaches today.

Other debris flow and wildfire impact news:

Aquafornia news Smart Water Magazine

Meta joins AI-powered initiative to address water scarcity in Colorado River Basin

Meta has become the latest global technology company to participate in an innovative water replenishment initiative aimed at addressing water scarcity in the Colorado River Basin. Through a new partnership with FIDO Tech, Meta will provide funding for the deployment of FIDO AI, an advanced leakage detection system, across 300 kilometers of clean water pipeline network in the City of Farmington. This initiative, set to run for ten years, is expected to reduce water loss and enhance local water resilience. The project is part of FIDO Plus, an award-winning partnership model under Water United—a newly established public-private coalition focused on developing watershed-level solutions for water scarcity.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

Aquafornia news SJV Water

State proposes changes to farmland retirement program that some fear could pull rug out from ongoing projects

A proposal to change some of the goals of California’s $90-million farmland retirement program has literally stopped numerous projects in their tracks. … The program always included “benefits to disadvantaged communities” as part of a laundry list of goals, including reducing groundwater use; helping move regions toward groundwater sustainability; increasing long-term repurposing of marginal ag lands; and supporting drought relief; among others. But Dec. 20, the (Department of Conservation) proposed changes stating that each project must include “meaningful” benefits for disadvantaged communities. 

Other groundwater 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.