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Announcement

Water Leaders Release Policy Recommendations for Promoting Green Infrastructure

Our 2023 California Water Leaders cohort completed its year with a report outlining policy recommendations for leveraging green infrastructure, such as restoring floodplains, meadows and wetlands, to help manage water statewide.

The cohort of 22 up-and-coming leaders – engineers, attorneys, planners, scientists, water managers and other professionals from water-related organizations – worked collaboratively and had full editorial control on the report. 

Announcement

Hot off the Press: Layperson’s Guide to The Klamath River Basin
2nd edition covers nation's largest dam removal project

The Water Education Foundation’s second edition of the Layperson’s Guide to The Klamath River Basin is hot off the press and available for purchase.

Updated and redesigned, the easy-to-read overview comes as the nation’s largest dam removal project is underway with the first of four Klamath River hydropower dams demolished this year.

The Layperson’s Guide covers the history of the region’s tribal, agricultural and environmental relationships with one of the West’s largest rivers. The river’s vast watershed straddles Cailfornia and Oregon and hosts one of the nation’s oldest and largest reclamation projects.

Water News You Need to Know

Aquafornia news Sacramento Bee

AQUAFORNIA Breaking News: California releases final report on disputed delta tunnel, could soon approve the project

California’s water agency released a final environmental report on the controversial plan to build a tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The highly anticipated document is expected to lead to approval of the long-disputed water project.

Aquafornia news Sacramento Bee

Last chance to see migration, spawning of salmon in Sacramento

The final salmon egg taking of the season will be available for the public to view at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery next week, according to hatchery officials. Egg-taking combines eggs from euthanized female fish with milt, which contains sperm, from male salmon. The fertilized eggs are then submerged in a water tank and later taken to a holding area in the hatchery to continue the fertilization process. The egg-taking is done to aid in the conservation of the species. …  Although late in the season, dozens of Chinook salmon can still be seen swimming up the fish ladder at the hatchery’s visitor center. After the conclusion of salmon spawning, the ladder will remain open through the winter for the migration of steelhead trout.

Aquafornia news Desert Sun

Friday Top of the Scroll: Salton Sea restoration projects get historic $72 million boost from feds

Officials gathered in a small metal hangar at the south end of the Salton Sea on Thursday to celebrate $72 million in funding for restoration efforts at the Salton Sea, marking the first major investment by the federal government in restoration efforts at the sea. The $72 million is part of a total of $250 million in funding for the Salton Sea approved as part of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. … The historic announcement explicitly links cuts of Colorado River water supply to the rapidly dwindling Salton Sea, something IID officials have sought for years. … [California Natural Resources Secretary Wade] Crowfoot called the funding the first major federal investment at the Salton Sea, after years of state and local officials calling for more federal action on the sea. The federal government is one of the biggest landowners around the sea. 

Related articles: 

Aquafornia news Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom

News release: State marks 100+ water system consolidations, providing safe drinking water for 90,000 Californians

Governor Gavin Newsom today highlighted the state’s progress to deliver safe drinking water to communities across the state – since 2019, more than 100 water system consolidations facilitated by the state have secured reliable access to safe drinking water for 90,000 people. … “There’s nothing more fundamental than ensuring our communities have access to clean drinking water, and I’m incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made from day one of my administration on this long-standing challenge,” said Governor Newsom. “Close to 2 million Californians have benefitted from improved access to safe drinking water since 2019, a testament to our ongoing commitment to supporting communities in every corner of our state.”

Online Water Encyclopedia

Aquapedia background Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map

Wetlands

Sacramento National Wildlife RefugeWetlands are among the most important and hardest-working ecosystems in the world, rivaling rain forests and coral reefs in productivity of life. 

They produce high levels of oxygen, filter toxic chemicals out of water, sequester carbon, reduce flooding and erosion, recharge groundwater and provide a diverse range of recreational opportunities from fishing and hunting to photography. They also serve as critical habitat for wildlife, including a large percentage of plants and animals on California’s endangered species list.

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.

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.