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Leaders and Experts

Aquafornia news August 22, 2023 Public Policy Institute of California

Blog: Educating the judiciary on water and climate change

Justices Ron Robie and Stacy Boulware Eurie are spearheading an effort to educate California’s judiciary about climate change and water issues. We asked them why they’ve taken on this task—and what they hope to accomplish. You are leading the judiciary’s efforts to train judges and justices on water and climate. What does this entail, and why is it so important? Justice Robie: I’ve taught classes on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for about 20 years. Water is a similar specialized area like CEQA, and more water cases are being assigned to larger courts. It seemed logical that using the CEQA model would be good for water.

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Aquafornia news August 21, 2023 Marin Independent Journal

Marin water utility set to begin studies of new supply options

The Marin Municipal Water District is preparing to launch more in-depth studies of new water supply projects, beginning with assembling consulting teams. The district board is set to vote on contracts with new consulting teams next month to begin preliminary technical, environmental and engineering studies of larger, more complex projects. The projects include expanding local reservoir storage, constructing a brackish Petaluma River desalination plant and installing new pipelines to transfer Russian River water directly into local reservoirs. Unlike the broader study completed earlier this year that identified which of the supply options the district could pursue, the more in-depth analyses are needed to provide details on how and whether they can be built, as well as the costs and environmental impacts.

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Aquafornia news August 21, 2023 California WaterBlog

Blog: Shell-shocking details about freshwater mussel reproduction

One of our favorite aspects to teaching is (occasionally) being able to really surprise a student. Many of the fun nature facts folks pick up nowadays come from TV, YouTube, social media, and other media outlets. But these outlets have an inherent bias: they focus on the charismatic species. That is, the species that are big, fluffy, and widely adored. Yet there are so many fascinating species and ecology in the lesser appreciated taxonomic groups (not to mention, focusing on charismatic species leads to inequitable conservation – Rypel et al. 2021). And often, learning about these overlooked species can really blow the mind! Today, we’d like to introduce you all to the fascinating reproductive behavior of freshwater mussels.

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Aquafornia news August 21, 2023 High Country News

EPA investigates claims of civil rights violations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

California’s top water agency is under federal investigation after a coalition of California tribal nations and environmental justice groups filed a civil rights complaint accusing it of discriminating against several Native tribes and communities of color. The complaint, filed in December, says the California Water Resources Control Board has failed to protect the water quality of one of the nation’s largest estuaries — the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta — and has intentionally blocked tribal members and residents of color in some cities from giving input on major decisions.

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Aquafornia news August 18, 2023 Nature Food

New study: Sustainable irrigation and climate feedbacks

Agricultural irrigation induces greenhouse gas emissions directly from soils or indirectly through the use of energy or construction of dams and irrigation infrastructure, while climate change affects irrigation demand, water availability and the greenhouse gas intensity of irrigation energy. Here, we present a scoping review to elaborate on these irrigation–climate linkages by synthesizing knowledge across different fields, emphasizing the growing role climate change may have in driving future irrigation expansion and reinforcing some of the positive feedbacks. This Review underscores the urgent need to promote and adopt sustainable irrigation, especially in regions dominated by strong, positive feedbacks.

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Aquafornia news August 18, 2023 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

News release: Biden-Harris Administration announces $106 million in recommended funding for West Coast and Alaska salmon recovery

Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced more than $106 million in recommended funding for 16 West Coast and Alaska state and tribal salmon recovery programs and projects under the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF). The funds, including $34.4 million under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $7.5 million under the Inflation Reduction Act, will support the recovery, conservation and resilience of Pacific salmon and steelhead in Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. This funding is part of President Biden’s historic Investing in America agenda, which includes over $2 billion for fish passage investments across the country. 

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Aquafornia news August 17, 2023 Arizona Daily Sun

Study shows how Glen Canyon Dam has put Grand Canyon archeological sites at risk

Sitting high above the Colorado River, the Nankoweap Granaries may be the best-known archaeological site within the Grand Canyon, stopped at by nearly every commercial river trip. But a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has found that hundreds of other archaeological sites up and down the Colorado River, some thousands of years old, have been degraded by nearly half a century of operation of the Glen Canyon Dam. In a paper published this spring, researchers found that 68% of archaeological sites along the river have been impacted by increased erosion as a result of dam operations. That’s up from 2000, when surveys showed only 56% of sites had such impacts. The study comes after researchers looked at 50 years of aerial photography over sites and data collected over 30 years during site visits and surveys.

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Aquafornia news August 17, 2023 Water Finance & Management

Blog: Brown and Caldwell adds to water reuse team

Brown and Caldwell recently announced the addition of water reuse technical leadership as Sandy Scott-Roberts joined the firm as program management director to help California communities tap into drought-proof drinking water sources. Having spent most of her career at an internationally recognized water district, Scott-Roberts has 20 years of managing capital improvement projects, encompassing the planning, design, and construction of water treatment facilities, including pipelines, pump stations, recharge basins, and injection wells. A career highlight includes managing the final expansion of the 130 million gallons per day Groundwater Replenishment System, the world’s largest water purification system for indirect potable reuse.

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Aquafornia news August 17, 2023 ABC 30 - Fresno

Triple-digit heat expected to increase in Central California by 2050

Currently, Fresno County has about 26 days per year when temperatures are over 100 degrees. 30 years from now, we’re expected to have nearly 43 triple digits days, according to the First Street Foundation, which studies climate data. Experts say this can have a drastic effect on our water system. … ”The big, big change that we have seen is that temperatures have warmed, on the order of about three degrees Fahrenheit, that seems like a small number, but that warming has two main effects on our water resources,” said UC Merced Professor, PhD., John Abatzoglou. Abatzoglou explains the increase in temperatures means the atmosphere and agricultural systems need more water.

Related article: 

  • Arizona Republic: Metro Phoenix under excessive heat warnings again after showers
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Aquafornia news August 17, 2023 Politico

Central Valley farmers are having a climate reckoning

Climate change — and changing political winds — are prompting shifts in strategy at California’s largest agricultural water district. Westlands Water District, which occupies some 1,100 square miles of the arid San Joaquin Valley, is in the midst of an internal power struggle that will determine how water fights unfold across the state. After years of aggressively fighting for more water, Westlands is making plans to live with less. In 2016, Donald Trump campaigned in the valley, promising to “open up the water” for farmers in the then-drought stricken state. Its leaders are now sounding a more Biden-esque note: They are planning to cover a sixth of the district with solar panels to start “farming the sun” instead of thirsty crops like almonds and pistachios.

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Aquafornia news August 17, 2023 CalMatters

Storm damage funds trickle out to CA immigrants

Undocumented Californians affected by winter storms and floods are slowly starting to receive money from a special relief program the state launched for them two months ago. In June, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced it plans to spend $95 million from the state’s Rapid Response Fund to help thousands of flood victims recover from storm damage and financial setbacks. The beneficiaries would be immigrants who don’t qualify for federal emergency assistance or state unemployment insurance because they are undocumented. More than 20 nonprofits have contracts with the Department of Social Services to distribute the money. So far they have begun handing out nearly $18 million to about 12,000 residents — but it’s at an uneven pace.

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Aquafornia news August 16, 2023 Sierra Sun

State of the Lake presentation at Granlibakken reveals extreme highs and lows for Lake Tahoe

The 2023 Tahoe State of the Lake report was released for public viewing, and Tahoe Environmental Research Center Director Geoffrey Schladow was able to present the findings at the Granlibakken Thursday, July 20.  The report informs non-scientists about the important factors impacting the health of the basin, and provides the scientific details for preservation and management within Lake Tahoe.  The 2023 report summarizes data collected during 2022 in the context of the long-term record of research done in Lake Tahoe. Researchers at UC Davis have been continuously monitoring the lake since 1968.

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Aquafornia news August 16, 2023 Global Coffee Report

Blog: How irrigated agriculture can help solve climate change

In most parts of the Global South where coffee is produced, the impacts of climate change are being felt through changes in water supplies, resulting from increased rainfall variability. Successive droughts are impacting crop yields in a varied list of countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, India, and Indonesia. Professor Dr. Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and University of KwaZulu-Natal’s School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, says an estimated 70 per cent of land under coffee production belongs to smallholder farmers in climate change hotspots with inherently low adaptive capacity. … Ben Faber, an advisor at the University of California Cooperative Extension, specialises in soils, water and subtropical crops, especially those along the subtropical California coast with its Mediterranean climate of winter rain and summer drought. He says water salinity is an obvious sign of water stress.

Related article: 

  • Olive Oil Times: State-of-the-art irrigation management leads to rising yields in California
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Aquafornia news August 16, 2023 The Fresno Bee

Opinion: California dairy farmers lead in cleaning up water supplies

The struggle for safe drinking water in the Central Valley has been around for generations. Even the first settlers to the region had to deal with water quality issues since the Valley is uniquely situated at the bottom of a large basin. The California dairy industry has stepped up to implement feasible solutions that will keep our friends and neighbors safe and able to maintain their livelihoods. But it will take collective and coordinated action by the agricultural industry, state and local leaders, regulators and environmental groups to adequately improve our water quality. This fight is deeply personal for me, having grown up on a diversified farm in the Central Valley and spending my career in farm management and agriculture.
-Written by Anja Raudabaugh is the chief executive officer of Western United Dairies.

Related article: 

  • Agri-Pulse: CDFA seeking proposals for manure management, digester research ​
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Aquafornia news August 16, 2023 Los Angeles Times

Opinion: How California could save water while generating clean energy

In 2021, our team at UC Merced found that covering California’s extensive network of irrigation canals with solar panels could make significant contributions to both clean energy and water conservation, serving two of the state’s most pressing needs at once. In addition to the added solar power, we found that shading all 4,000 miles of the state’s canals and aqueducts could save as much as 63 billion gallons of water annually by reducing evaporation — enough to irrigate 50,000 acres of farmland or provide water to the homes of more than 2 million people. Now we have a chance to put those projections to the test. Last year, we joined the California Department of Water Resources, the San Joaquin Valley’s Turlock Irrigation District and the firm Solar AquaGrid to build the nation’s first such project and assess the feasibility of covering canals across the state.
-Written by Brandi McKuin, project scientist with the Sierra Nevada Research Institute at UC Merced; and Roger Bales, a distinguished professor of engineering and management at UC Merced.​

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Aquafornia news August 16, 2023 Public Policy Institute of California

Blog: Fostering fairness in flood risk management

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE; Corps) is the federal agency responsible for planning and building much of the nation’s flood management infrastructure. Historically, USACE and Congress (which authorizes and appropriates funding for flood risk management projects) have been criticized for using an economic evaluation system that favors projects in wealthier areas, where property values are higher. This appears to be changing. We asked Dr. Tessa Beach, chief of planning and environmental services for the San Francisco District, to tell us more about the resources available for historically underserved communities.

Related article: 

  • Public Policy Institute of California: Managing Water and Farmland Transitions in the San Joaquin Valley
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Aquafornia news August 15, 2023 Fresno Bee

Opinion: California’s historic water rights come under new scrutiny, and that is a good thing

Over the last few years, we have heard plenty of disturbing stories about wells going dry in the small, poor towns across the San Joaquin Valley, such as East Porterville and East Orosi. In 2012, California reacted by declaring access to water to be a human right, but with little money attached to stop what was now a human-rights violation. More recently, alarms have been ringing about the state seeking to abolish its longstanding system of water rights. This concern is overblown, at least at the moment, and a little refining of the state water rights system might make it easier to supply poor, rural communities with some water. The 2012 law is little more than a values statement, enacted after a rash of drying-up domestic wells made international headlines.
-Written by Thomas Holyoke, professor of political science at California State University, Fresno; Cordie Qualle, a lecturer in civil and geomatics engineering at California State University, Fresno; and Laura Ramos, interim director of research and education at the California Water Institute at California State University, Fresno.

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Aquafornia news August 15, 2023 Haaretz.com

How Israel achieved one of the most secure water economies, drip by drip

Despite a years-long drought and water evaporating due to rising temperatures, states such as California, Arizona and Nevada continue to rely on the river in the absence of a long-term solution. One year ago, after negotiations between state governments failed, the federal government intervened and set mandatory cutbacks in usage of the river’s water supply. The story of the Colorado River should serve as a warning sign for the world: Even developed Western countries will face crises if water resources aren’t properly managed. Israel, on the other hand, is sitting pretty. … The strength of Israel’s water economy is clear: As large swathes of Europe and the U.S. struggle to cope with water shortages, Israel has dramatically reduced its dependence on naturally occurring drinking water.

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Aquafornia news August 15, 2023 Desert Sun

IID hires longtime rival Jeffrey Kightlinger for Colorado River talks

One of the West’s top water kingpins is back, and in an unlikely new spot. Jeffrey Kightlinger, retired general manager for the powerful Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, has been hired as a consultant by the Imperial Irrigation District, which in the past has been his bitter rival on Colorado River policy. The contract comes at a critical juncture, as seven states and federal officials ramp up negotiations over a long-term agreement to keep the massive but dwindling river and its reservoirs functional. IID holds the rights to by far the largest share of that water.

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Aquafornia news August 11, 2023 San Clemente Times

Orange County largely disagrees with grand jury’s finding on drought, water sources

As the Orange County Board of Supervisors looked to submit its responses to this year’s slate of Orange County Grand Jury reports, the supervisors held an in-depth discussion on one report in particular: “Historic Rain Yet Drought Remains.” Board members on Tuesday, Aug. 8, discussed the county’s recommendation to partially disagree with certain parts of the report, which largely found that South Orange County’s reliance on imported water will be impacted by climate change and must adapt. At issue was the finding that “future water supplies are impacted by climate change, and current supplies will not meet future demands.” The county argued that it does not have the expertise to determine future impacts from climate change.

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