With temperatures spiking across California this week, now is a great time to reserve your spot on our Headwaters Tour July 24-25 when we’ll explore the role of the Sierra Nevada snowpack in the state’s water supply and how heatwaves can accelerate snowmelt. The state’s critical ‘frozen reservoir’ was slightly above average at the end of the 2024 snow survey season, following an epic snowpack in 2023 that prompted widespread flooding and the resurrection of Tulare Lake.

During the July tour, we’ll also learn how snowpack is measured and translated into forecasts of California’s water supply for the year.

Much of California’s water supply originates in the Sierra Nevada, making the upper watershed and forest heath critical to the state’s quantity and quality of water. But those forests are suffering from widespread tree mortality and other ecosystem degradation resulting mostly from the growing frequency and severity of droughts and wildfires.

The 2-day, 1-night tour with an overnight in Lake Tahoe travels up the Sierra foothills and into the mountains within the American River and Yuba River watersheds. Meadow restoration, climate change, wildfire impact and more will be discussed as we pass through Eldorado and Tahoe national forests.

Among the tour highlights:

• A stop at UC Berkeley’s Blodgett Forest Research Station in the American River watershed, where experts are studying tree growth, forest succession, harvesting costs, water yield, forest insect and disease dynamics, forest ecology and wildlife population dynamics, among other timely topics.
• Experts with the U.S. Forest Service and several state and local agencies will explain their work, their challenges and what the future holds for forest management. 
• We’ll get a glimpse of that future when we visit a project in the Yuba River watershed where Blue Forest Conservation is managing a collaborative effort to invest in restoration and apply the latest research on management practices.

Space is limited and filling up quickly, so don’t miss your chance to experience the beauty of California’s forests firsthand and the effect they have on our statewide water supply. Click here to register!