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Leaders and Experts

Aquafornia news June 17, 2022 Water Education Foundation

Announcement: 2021 Annual Report recaps water education efforts in California and the West amid a global pandemic

The Water Education Foundation’s just-released 2021 Annual Report recaps how, even amid the ongoing global pandemic, we continued educating about the most crucial natural resource in California and the West — water. The annual report takes readers along to see the array of educational events, trainings and articles we produced last year, including engaging virtual water tours that educated participants on pressing water issues and allowed them to interact with each other and a wide range of experts offering different viewpoints. 

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Aquafornia news June 16, 2022 ABC 10 - San Diego

USD students study drought’s impact on desert ecosystem

Six students from the University of San Diego spent a week in the Anza-Borrego desert, looking at how climate change impacts aquatic insects and their ecosystem. … Braving triple-digit temperatures, the students collected samples of insects and brought them back to their lab on campus. They’re now identifying and cataloging the insects, to compare them to samples from previous trips. “I think 2019 was a really wet year for us,” says [USD senior Janelle] Doi. “So there was a lot of water, there was a lot of flooding, and we can compare what we see now to that.” Those comparisons will help the team learn how a prolonged drought is impacting the region. 

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Aquafornia news June 16, 2022 U.S. Geological Survey

Blog: USGS scientists explain how aquifer compaction is measured

A recent tour of California’s Central Valley given by the nonprofit organization Water Education Foundation included a stop at the USGS California Water Science Center’s extensometer near Porterville. Tour participants, made up of water industry professionals, were met by USGS groundwater scientists Michelle Sneed and Justin Brandt who showed the extensometer to the group. The extensometer is one of several that dot the Central Valley. Extensometers measure compaction and expansion of an aquifer system, providing depth-specific data that can help scientists better understand the rate, extent, and at what depths in the system land subsidence is occurring.

Related article: 

  • Kenwood Press: Sonoma Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency talks revenue
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Aquafornia news June 16, 2022 Union Democrat

Former TUD boss dismisses ‘secret water rights’ as board cancels proposed rate hike

A former Tuolumne Utilities District general manager on Tuesday dismissed talk of “secret” water rights that Tuolumne County acquired in a 1983 purchase agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric Co., and urged TUD’s elected board of directors to continue to pursue the “opportunity to get this water” out of the South Fork Stanislaus River. Tom Scesa, who retired from TUD as its general manager in June 2015, told the district’s board in a public meeting that he was speaking based on his 17 years with the water and sewer agency. He said he didn’t want to talk about “theoretical water” or “sometimes available water.”

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Aquafornia news June 16, 2022 Arizona Daily Star

Big Colorado River water cuts needed next year, top US official warns

The largest single batch of water-use cuts ever carried out on the Colorado River is needed in 2023 to keep Lakes Mead and Powell from falling to critically low levels, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation commissioner told a congressional hearing Tuesday. Between 2 million and 4 million acre-feet of water use must be cut for 2023 across the river basin to cope with continued declines in reservoir levels, said Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton. This comes as the West continues to struggle with ongoing conditions of “hotter temperatures, leading to early snowmelt and dry soils, all translated into low runoff and the lowest reservoir levels on record,” Touton said.

Related articles: 

  • The Colorado Sun: Colorado River water use may have to be slashed by a quarter to avert crisis, federal official warns
  • Axios: Drought-hit Colorado River water supplies near “moment of reckoning”
  • USA Today: ‘The moment of reckoning is near’: Feds warn huge cuts needed to shore up Lake Mead, Colorado River
  • Audubon: New Dire Colorado River Warnings from the Federal Government
  • Jfleck at inkstain: Touton - On the Colorado River, we need to cut an additional 2 to 4 million acre feet of use. Now.
  • Agri-Pulse: Reclamation weighs emergency measures to save key reservoirs  
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Aquafornia news June 16, 2022 Colorado Sun

Opinion: Tribal Nations must be at the table to find water solutions

In southwestern Colorado, multiple years of hot and dry conditions have drained many of our reservoirs. This year we expect that a section of the Pine River, which runs through the heart of the Southern Ute Reservation, will run completely dry due to dry conditions and irrigation diversions by Tribal and non-Tribal irrigators. Unfortunately, what’s happening with the Pine River is becoming all too common across the Colorado River Basin and the West. Scientists have concluded that the ongoing severe drought conditions we’re facing are primarily due to climate change.
-Written by Celene Hawkins, the Colorado and Colorado River Tribal Engagement Program director for The Nature Conservancy; and Lorelei Cloud, of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation and Council Member for the Southern Ute Indian Tribal Council. 

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Aquafornia news June 16, 2022 Water Education Foundation

Announcement: Mark your calendars for the foundation’s fall programs including water leaders reunion

Mark your calendars now for our full schedule of fall programs, including a reunion of our Water Leaders graduates to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the program as well as the in-person return of our 38th annual Water Summit. Our fall programming also includes tours exploring California’s two largest rivers, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, to learn more about infrastructure, the impacts on farms and habitat from a third year of drought and salmon restoration efforts. Check out the details below to learn more about these fall programs.

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Aquafornia news June 15, 2022 Scientific American

Common drugs pollute rivers on every continent

For more than 20 years scientists have known that the drugs we take, for maladies ranging from headaches to diabetes, eventually make their way into our waterways—where they can harm the ecosystem and potentially promote antibiotic resistance. … A new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA provides a more comprehensive look. A network of 127 scientists sampled 258 rivers in 104 countries for 61 different chemicals, producing “a sort of ‘pharmaceutical fingerprint’ of nearly half a billion people across all the world’s continents,” says study lead author John L. Wilkinson, an environmental chemist at the University of York in England.

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Aquafornia news June 15, 2022 Hanford Sentinel

Opinion: State should step in to protect Joshua trees

Our state is widely viewed as a climate leader, but California never has protected a single plant or animal under its endangered species law because of the threat of climate change. That could change today (Wednesday, June 15), when the state’s Fish and Game Commission is scheduled to decide whether to list western Joshua trees under the California Endangered Species Act. Commissioners could decide to safeguard Joshua trees, offering proof of California’s commitment to fighting climate change and ensuring that the iconic plant survives for future generations.
-Written by Brendan Cummings, conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity.  

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Aquafornia news June 15, 2022 The Washington Post

EPA warns PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ more dangerous than once thought

The Environmental Protection Agency warned Wednesday that a group of human-made chemicals found in the drinking water, cosmetics and food packaging used by millions of Americans pose a greater danger to human health than regulators previously thought. The new health advisories for a ubiquitous class of compounds known as polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, underscore the risk facing dozens of communities across the country…. The guidance aims to prompt local officials to install water filters or at least notify residents of contamination. But for now, the federal government does not regulate the chemicals.

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Aquafornia news June 14, 2022 AZ Big Media

Here’s a look at the impact of Arizona drought

Lower rainfall and higher temperatures have created ideal conditions to exacerbate Arizona’s longstanding drought. Entering 2022, more than half of the state remains in severe drought status and an additional 10% is enduring extreme drought. So, what is the impact of the Arizona drought? These conditions — including the drop in levels at crucial water sources such as Lake Mead and the Colorado River — drive the research of doctoral student Zhaocheng Wang, who is studying hydrosystems engineering in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the seven Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University.

Related article: 

  • Deseret News: Drought intensifies in Utah and the West amid searing heat, no rain
  • Arizona Capitol Times: Opinion – It’s time for Legislature to protect water for all Arizonans
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Aquafornia news June 14, 2022 Voice of San Diego

The border wall project across the Tijuana River is back

There’s a gap in the latest and tallest version of the U.S.-Mexico border wall where Tijuana meets San Diego, and through it flows the sewage- and trash-blighted Tijuana River.   U.S. Homeland Security announced May 27 they’re “closing that gap” by building the border wall across the river. The federal agency proposed a similar project in 2020 that never moved forward. That project entailed building a 20-foot-wide roadway with a series of gates below, which would open when the river is raging during the rainy season, or during an unexpected sewage spill or broken water main in Mexico.  

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Aquafornia news June 14, 2022 Oregon Public Broadcasting

As the Klamath Basin faces another dry year, the effects are far-reaching

The Klamath Basin has been plagued by drought and a lack of water for years. Last year, the region faced one of the worst droughts on record, and this year Gov. Kate Brown declared a drought emergency in Klamath County for the third year in a row. The effects are far-reaching for tribes, ranchers, farmers, waterfowl advocates and people who rely on residential wells. OPB spoke to people from the region to hear how they’re faring as they face another dry year.

Related article: 

  • Sierra Club: Wildlife Needs Groundwater Too
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Aquafornia news June 14, 2022 USC News

Blog: Is recycled wastewater the answer to the California drought?

An exceptional drought season means California enters the summer under mandatory water use restrictions for the first time since 2015. Increasingly light snowfall sends less fresh water to be treated and distributed as fully drinkable water, making new methods of purifying water a vital priority. In fact, nearly 60% of the state is suffering from “extreme drought” conditions, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System. Enter Dan McCurry, assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. McCurry is an environmental engineer who specializes in wastewater reuse and drinking-water treatment. 

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Aquafornia news June 13, 2022 CalMatters

Overworked California firefighters struggle with PTSD, suicide

For firefighters battling California wildfires, these emotional injuries are a workplace hazard. Longer and more intense fire seasons have taken a visible toll on the state, leaving a tableau of charred forests and flattened towns. But they’ve also fueled a silent mental health crisis, including an alarming rise in post-traumatic stress disorder among the ranks of Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting service. Fifty-four California firefighters have died in the line of duty since 2006, according to the Cal Fire Benevolent Foundation, and nationally, more than 3,000 firefighters have died from job-related injuries and illnesses since 1990.

Related article: 

  • Mercury News: Sonoma County installs flood monitors after wildfires  
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Aquafornia news June 13, 2022 Mono Lake Committee

Blog: Choreographing restoration on Mono Lake’s tributary streams

The State Water Board directed the Mono Basin Monitoring Administration Team (MAT) to collaboratively administer the Board’s scientific monitoring program. The Mono Lake Committee, California Trout, California Department of Fish & Wildlife, and the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) are voting members and participants in the MAT. The MAT has chosen the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to serve as the fiscal administrator of DWP funds that will be annually deposited for scientific monitoring. That monitoring includes continuing waterfowl and limnological monitoring, plus the work of the Stream Monitoring Directors.

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Aquafornia news June 13, 2022 ABC7 San Francisco

How California’s ancient hidden waterways, paleo valleys, could be key to recharging state’s groundwater

For California’s water experts, months in the air could soon reveal secrets under the ground, including the remnants of ancient waterways hidden for thousands of years. It’s a discovery that could be key to recharging the state’s depleted groundwater. Katherine Dlubac, Ph.D., is overseeing the high-tech survey for the California Department of Water Resources. … [H]elicopters deploy spaceship-sized antennas, ping the ground with electromagnetic signals, mapping the geology deep below the surface. The technique was piloted in California by researchers at Stanford, led by prof. Rosemary Knight Ph.D.

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Aquafornia news June 13, 2022 Courthouse News Service

Conference highlights deficiency of models for drought situations

As the drought in California and across much of the western United States enters another summer season, several experts participated in a conference hosted by the California Department of Water Resources and the Water Education Foundation on Thursday to discuss issues of how modeling precipitation can impact decisions made by policymakers. One of the main takeaways of the conference was that the current modeling programs are not effective as they should be in helping water districts, state water agencies and federal departments in planning water distributions. 

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Aquafornia news June 10, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Friday Top of the Scroll: A treacherous California fire season made more dangerous by drought, water restrictions

Southern California is facing a potentially treacherous wildfire season this year, as climate change, drought and extreme heat conspire to bake vegetation and prime the landscape for burning, officials say. … Officials in recent years have been sounding the alarm about the state’s changing conditions, with wildfires across the West growing hotter, faster and harder to fight due to increasing heat and dryness. Last year, more than 2.5 million acres burned in California — including the 960,000-acre Dixie fire, the state’s second-largest blaze on record. This year, fuel moisture levels — or the amount of water in the vegetation — is at least four months ahead of where it should be in terms of dryness …

Related article: 

  • KAKE – Wichita: Black Fire becomes New Mexico’s 2nd largest fire in the state’s history
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Aquafornia news June 10, 2022 NRDC

Blog: Organic agriculture helps solve climate change

[T]he California Air Resources Board (CARB) … recommends converting 20% of California’s agricultural lands to organic agriculture by 2045 as a way to mitigate climate change. … Organic farming promotes resiliency by boosting soil’s ability to retain water and the natural nutrients found in healthy soils. By increasing organic matter in soil continuously over time, organic agriculture improves water percolation by 15-20%, replenishing groundwater and helping crops perform well in extreme weather like drought and flooding. A decades-long organic farming trial found that organic yields can be up to 40% higher than nonorganic farms in drought years. 

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