Colorado is awash in white this spring, with statewide snowpack
topping 140% of average this week, well above the reading a
year ago, when it stood at just 97% of normal. … Like
other Western states, mountain snowpacks in Colorado are
closely monitored because as they melt in the spring and
summer, their runoff delivers much of the state’s water. A
drought considered to be the worst in at least 1,200
years has devastated water supplies across the West. While
no one is suggesting the dry spell is over, Colorado water
officials said 2023 will likely allow for a significant
recovery in reservoirs and soil moisture.
Shaun Kinetic rests his hand on what looks like an out-of-place
pile of hay bales. The bales, which are actually the leftovers
from a corn harvest, sit under a shade structure in a parking
lot in an industrial area of San Francisco sandwiched between
highways. Those corn stalks, leaves and cobs would normally get
plowed back into the field they came from in Half Moon Bay, or
be left to decompose, releasing the carbon inside them back
into the atmosphere. Only some of these leftovers are needed to
maintain soil health and prevent erosion.
… Unlike carbon capture, which involves trapping
polluting greenhouse gasses at their source of emissions,
carbon removal entails pulling the gas out of the atmosphere
through either nature-based approaches, like conserving
existing wetlands, or technological methods, like that used by
Charm.
Snowstorms froze the High Country while floods drenched the
Valley. Arizona is leaving behind a very wet winter in 2023,
with numerous parts of the state reporting above-average rain
and snow over the past few months, according to the National
Weather Service (NWS). This year landed in the top
five winters for record snowfall for Flagstaff, Willaims
and the Grand Canyon. Arizona’s Verde River is also at
a record-setting amount of snow water equivalent this
year. The numbers are still dwarfed by Arizona’s wettest
year on record from July 1992 to June 1993.
Both Phoenix and Flagstaff saw around 10
more inches of water precipitation accumulation than we’ve seen
this year, according to NWS data.
A study in Functional Ecology offers evidence
that desert ecosystems, long perceived as the most
resilient to climate change, may be hitting their limits.
Researchers at the University of California Riverside found
that rising temperatures and protracted drought have driven
piñon pines and juniper trees to seek refuge at higher
elevations in the deserts north of Palm Springs. In the place
of these slow-growing, iconic forests is rising an empire of
weeds. That is part of a wholesale transition in arid
landscapes caused by the burning of fossil fuels, the
scientists said. … While the piñon pines and
junipers are often seen as hardier, they nonetheless depend on
ready access to underground water. That’s in
ever-shorter supply thanks to the West’s long drought, though
this year’s record rainfall has provided a brief respite.
Places in the United States where the water table is inching
higher — along the coasts, yes, but also inland, in parts of
the Midwest — are already beginning to experience problems with
infrastructure. Cracks in aging and poorly maintained pipes are
being inundated, leaving plumbing unable to carry away
stormwater and waste. Pavement is degrading faster. Trees are
drowning as the soil becomes soupier, starving their roots of
oxygen. During high tides and when it rains, groundwater is
even reaching the surface and forming temporary ponds where
there never used to be flooding. … In the San Francisco Bay
Area, rising groundwater threatens to spread contamination that
can evaporate and rise into the air inside homes, schools, and
workplaces.
The California Department of Water Resources is using the
winter storms to claim that the proposed Delta Conveyance
project would help ensure a more reliable water supply for the
State Water Project in light of how climate change will alter
seasonal patterns of rain and drought. In reality, the
benefits of the conveyance project are speculative at
best. The Delta Counties Coalition demonstrated for over
15 years that resources slated for the tunnel would be better
spent on sustainable, resilient water infrastructure around the
state (such as groundwater recharge, storage, recycled water
expansion, desalination) instead of further increasing reliance
on Sacramento River freshwater flows, which is in direct
conflict with a Delta Reform Act requirement to reduce reliance
on the Delta. -Written by Oscar Villegas, chair of the Yolo
County Board of Supervisors; and Patrick Kennedy, a member
of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors and Delta
Counties Coalition.
The crashing waves can be a calming force on the California
coast but the mighty Pacific Ocean is nothing to turn your back
on. Reina Sharkey’s daughter lives along a stretch of
sand in Seal Beach where the frequent “King Tides” and storms
have forced the city to give them a winter wall of sand.
“I can’t see the ocean because of that hill there,” said
Sharkey. The city said that the berms are a necessary
safety measure to protect the nearby homes from the surf and
high tides. … The sea levels are rising because of
Thermal Expansion, a product of climate change. The process has
caused ice to melt into the ocean, which in turn caused the sea
levels to rise and making higher waves, flooding in low-lying
areas, washed-away roads and coastal erosion will become more
common.
From his pickup truck, Fernando Estrada sees an ocean of water.
… A dozen feet ahead of his truck, the asphalt
disappears into seemingly endless blue, interrupted only by a
lone shed or occasional power pole jutting from the
surface. Estrada is witnessing the return of Tulare Lake.
… Some Corcoran residents fear the Sierra’s majestic,
snow-capped peaks have become a ticking time bomb – waiting to
explode over the life many have created for themselves on the
lakebed. As the weather warms, biblical amounts of water are
waiting to gush into already-overloaded dams and
rivers. That’s why Rosie Garza says she purchased a home
flood-insurance policy on Friday. … Garza says “a lot of
people” in Corcoran are scared of what’s to come, and are
buying flood insurance fast.
[A]gricultural practices, especially in California, must be
updated to survive the future. One powerful change that is
growing momentum is strategic cropland repurposing. Doing
cropland repurposing right can benefit many, including
landowners. … Cropland retirement has direct
negative effects on agricultural revenues and farmworker
employment, with ripple effects in other sectors that depend on
agriculture (such as transportation and agricultural services).
But cropland retirement also means a decrease in pesticide,
synthetic fertilizers, and water use that can bring significant
environmental and local public health benefits. How do we
weigh these scenarios and decide if cropland repurposing makes
sense?
To understand the virtual water trade, let’s start with cows.
In recent years, public attention and anger has grown over the
way water in the rapidly drying Colorado River Basin is used to
grow food for cattle, whose emissions are driving climate
change, which is exacerbating this drought in the first place.
And part of why people are irritated is that some of the water
isn’t even going to American cows, but rather Saudi dairy cows.
… In the 17 Western States, 7 percent of water is used
in people’s homes according to a recent study
in Nature; commercial and industrial use account for
another 5 percent. But a whopping 86 percent of water is
consumed by crop irrigation, including the 32 percent of water
used to grow crops that humans don’t even eat directly, such as
alfalfa, hay, and corn silage for livestock. -Written by Noah J. Gordon, acting co-director of
the Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program at the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
A planned wetland in far eastern Contra Costa County is not
likely to affect the nearby groundwater, a new report concludes
– but it remains to be seen if that will sway some neighbors
who fear the project could harm their drinking water drawn from
wells. The 645-acre wetland project aims to curb potential
flooding and poor stormwater quality while fending off
encroaching development and improving habitat for threatened
wildlife such as red-legged frogs, fairy shrimp and burrowing
owls. The undertaking, officially called the Knightsen Wetland
Restoration Project, is spearheaded by the East Contra Costa
Habitat Conservancy and the East Bay Regional Parks District,
which bought the land in 2016.
This winter’s atmospheric river storms, coastal flooding,
erosion, sea level rise, saltwater intrusion into rivers, and
sedimentation dumping thousands of tons of soil into the ocean
were only the most recent of the state’s disasters. The year
2022 alone brought a massive red tide in San Francisco Bay, the
continued die-off of 95% of northern California’s kelp forest
between the Golden Gate and Cape Mendocino, and a spike of gray
whale deaths along the entire coast. Climate impacts threaten
communities, both human and wild, ranging from whales and their
ice-dependent Arctic prey to the 26 million people living in
the state’s 19 coastal counties that, as of 2021, generated
around 85% of the state’s $3.3 trillion dollar GDP. -Written by David Helvarg, author and executive
director of Blue Frontier, an ocean conservation and policy
group.
While the world’s oceans have hit a record high temperature,
the Pacific Ocean off the California coast remains colder than
average. In fact, in virtually no place in the world is the
ocean so much colder than normal, according to a map from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
… The stormy weather is clearly a factor. The
winds associated with storms have pushed water from the north
to the south. The weather has also brought upwelling, when
frigid water from the depths is pulled to the surface. San
Francisco Bay has also been unusually cool.
Spring is arriving sooner and warming up faster than ever
before, new research shows. And that means more than just early
wildflower blooms across Arizona. A longer, warmer spring can
stress water supplies in the West. The longer spring season may
also produce ripple effects on agriculture as water demand will
likely increase, and growing seasons may shift. On average
spring temperatures have increased by 2 degrees Fahrenheit
across the U.S., according to research by the USA National
Phenology Center…. Scientist are concerned that an early
start to spring could cause snowpack, which plays a key
function in the water cycle in the West, to melt faster and
earlier than usual.
The wet, and some would argue onerously prolonged winter
weather affecting the Southwest this year, has left the region
in a strong position from a drought-mitigation perspective. And
when it snows, it pours, thanks to Eric Hjermstad, co-owner of
Western Weather Consultants. The series of storms has meant
Hjermstad has been planting snow seeds in the passing clouds.
He is the operator for the San Juan Mountains weather
modification program, meaning he and his employees operate 33
seeding generators across the region. Not only is cloud seeding
useful even in winters, such as this one, that bring ample
snow, the program is more successful in these years, Hjermstad
said, and just as necessary.
The president of one of the world’s largest insurance brokers
warned Wednesday that climate change is destabilizing the
insurance industry, driving up prices and pushing insurers out
of high-risk markets. Aon PLC President Eric Andersen told a
Senate committee that climate change is injecting uncertainty
into an industry built on risk prediction and has created “a
crisis of confidence around the ability to predict loss.”
Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following
appointments: Samantha Arthur, of Sacramento, has been
appointed Assistant Secretary for Salton Sea Policy at the
California Natural Resources Agency. Appointed to the Colorado
River Board were Gloria Cordero, of Long Beach, Jordan D.
Joaquin, of Fort Yuma, Quechan Indian Reservation, and Frank
Ruiz, of Riverside. In addition, Sandra Matsumoto, of Davis,
was reappointed to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Conservancy, where she has served since 2018.
Rivers are one of the most dynamic water cycle components of
the earth surface and hold fundamental economic and ecological
significance for the development of human societies, ecosystem
sustainability, and regional climate. Yet, their natural
balance has been threatened by a wide range of anthropogenic
stressors and ongoing climate change. With increasing demands
for economic and social development, human disturbances in the
form of dam construction, aquaculture, and irrigation have
resulted in large-scale and rapid transformations of river
channels.
Floating solar panels placed on reservoirs around the world
could generate enough energy to power thousands of cities,
according to a study published last week in the journal Nature
Sustainability. Called floating photovoltaic systems, or
“floatovoltaics,” these solar arrays function the same way as
panels on land, capturing sunlight to generate electricity.
… The new research shows this buoyant technology has the
potential to create vast amounts of power and conserve
water—without taking up precious space on land. … A
handful of countries are already answering that question by
using floating solar panels in a limited capacity… California
plans to test a similar idea in which solar panels will
be placed above irrigation canals.
Droughts reduce hydropower production and heatwaves increase
electricity demand, forcing power system operators to rely more
on fossil fuel power plants. However, less is known about how
droughts and heat waves impact the county level distribution of
health damages from power plant emissions. Using California as
a case study, we simulate emissions from power plants under a
500-year synthetic weather ensemble. We find that human health
damages are highest in hot, dry years. Counties with a majority
of people of color and counties with high pollution burden
(which are somewhat overlapping) are disproportionately
impacted by increased emissions from power plants during
droughts and heat waves.
The state has been deluged by storms this winter, hit by 12
atmospheric rivers that have led to evacuation orders, rising
rivers and broken levees. In some parts of the Sierra Nevada,
more than 55 feet of snow have fallen. With reservoirs filling
up, many Californians are eager to put the severe, 3-year
drought behind them. A major water supplier in Southern
California recently lifted mandatory conservation rules that
limited outdoor watering. Large parts of the state are now free
of drought, according to the federal government’s Drought
Monitor, which looks at rainfall and soil moisture. But in
California, water shortages aren’t just due to a lack of rain,
and the state’s chronic water problems are far from over.
As the latest storm associated with a strong atmospheric river
sweeps through California, already strained farmworkers across
the state are bracing for yet another setback. The big picture:
The rounds of atmospheric river events have decimated crops and
reduced work opportunities for many of the state’s farmworkers,
who lack access to social safety nets. What they’re saying:
Hernan Hernandez, executive director of the nonprofit
California Farmworker Foundation, tells Axios that lasting
structural damages from the rounds of storms are compounding
with the loss of work for farmworkers, particularly in
Monterey, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
The March 16 Coastal Climate Resilience Symposium at the
Seymour Marine Discovery Center focused on the role of
insurance and nature-based solutions in reducing the risks of
flooding and other natural disasters, which are being
exacerbated by climate change and rising sea levels. Coastal
scientists, insurance industry experts, and representatives of
state and federal agencies came together at the meeting to
address challenges and opportunities for building coastal
resilience to climate change. The flooding from a levee breach
in nearby Pajaro served as a somber reminder of the urgency of
the issues they had gathered to discuss.
A strong late-season Pacific storm that brought damaging winds
and more rain and snow to saturated California was blamed for
two deaths and forecasters said additional flooding was
possible Wednesday in parts of the state. Tuesday’s
storm focused most of its energy on central and southern
parts of the state, bringing threats of heavy runoff and
mountain snowfall. In the north, intense hail was reported in
Sacramento, the state capital. Locally heavy rain and
snowmelt may cause flooding Wednesday in southern California
and central Arizona, the National Weather Service warned.
In furtherance of its efforts to address the considerable
challenges related to water scarcity in the West, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) unveiled the Western Water and
Working Lands Framework for Conservation Action (Framework) on
February 13, 2023, a blueprint designed to help individuals and
entities navigate the complexities of resource conservation and
climate change resilience. Developed by the Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS), the Framework provides guidance
and strategic support for programs that address impacts from
drought and climate change, and defines clear goals and
strategies that communities can use to respond to threats to
agricultural productivity and environmental quality.
The winter of 2022-23 has piled a record snowpack onto the
southern Sierra Nevada range on the east side of the San
Joaquin Valley. And water officials — already dealing with
floods wrought by a series of storms that have drenched central
California over the past few weeks — are also facing the
likelihood that even more flooding could happen when all that
snow inevitably melts. Fresno County Supervisor Buddy Mendes, a
farmer in the Riverdale area of southwestern Fresno County,
says he’s keeping a wary eye on channels that in normal years
are dry, but this year are being pushed to their limits as
operators of foothill dams release water to make room for more
rain and snow.
The medieval church of Sant Romà disappeared from view in the
1960s, when the town of Vilanova de Sau, an hour north of
Barcelona, was flooded to create a reservoir. In the past three
decades, its spectral belltower has broken the surface several
times, serving as a punctual reminder of Spain’s fragile water
resources. But today the church’s tower, its nave and the
building’s foundations are all exposed. The bare, steep ridges
of the Sau reservoir show how far its levels have receded, and
the cracked earth around the remaining pool of water is trodden
by tourists attracted by the ghost village’s reappearance.
Drought in Spain’s northeast reached “exceptional” levels last
month, menacing access to drinking water for 6 million people
in the Barcelona metropolitan area.
Earthquakes, snow, wildfires, flooding, smog, fog, heat,
drought — these are just some of extreme natural disasters and
climate conditions experienced in the Golden State in any given
year. California is notoriously the “land of extremes,”
Kristina Dahl, senior climate scientist at the Union of
Concerned Scientists, told ABC News. Snowpack from the winter
could quickly melt into flooding come spring. Heat waves in the
summer pave the way for wildfires in the fall. Now, intense
moisture from atmospheric rivers is walloping the West Coast
with an inundation of precipitation — oftentimes too much at
once. A pervasive megadrought has been plaguing the region for
decades and to top it off, tectonic shifts could cause an
earthquake at almost any given moment.
Near downtown Tucson, Arizona, is Dunbar Spring, a neighborhood
unlike any other in the city. The unpaved sidewalks are lined
with native, food-bearing trees and shrubs fed by rainwater
diverted from city streets. One single block has over 100 plant
species, including native goji berries, desert ironwood with
edamame-like seeds and chuparosa bushes with cucumber-flavored
flowers. This urban food forest – which began almost 30 years
ago – provides food for residents and roughage for livestock,
and the tree canopy also provides relief to residents in the
third-fastest warming city in the nation. … The
plan, headed up by Lancaster, was to plant multi-use
drought-tolerant shade trees in street-side basins that could
capture rainwater and create “a more liveable community” …
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday hailed the state’s rapid
transformation to renewables from a unique spot: a lithium
processing project in impoverished Imperial County, at the
state’s sunbaked southern end that he and others say is part of
a “transformational” industry that will bring good new jobs
here while also preserving the environment for young people and
aiding public health. … He brushed off concerns about global
economic volatility and fears of massive renewables slicing
through rural communities to power far-off cities, saying in an
interview with The Desert Sun/USA Today that what is being done
here is a template for vital, sustainable economic projects.
La Niña is finally over after three years, according to the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This winter
has not acted like a typical La Niña winter with
California getting drenched, especially in Southern California
where La Niña typically signals a drier than average
winter…. Climate models are nearly certain El Niño will
develop later this summer or fall. California is typically
wetter during El Niño conditions, although the signal becomes
murkier from Sacramento northward.
Earth is likely to cross a critical threshold for global
warming within the next decade, and nations will need to make
an immediate and drastic shift away from fossil fuels to
prevent the planet from overheating dangerously beyond that
level, according to a major new report released on Monday. The
report, by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a
body of experts convened by the United Nations, offers the most
comprehensive understanding to date of ways in which the planet
is changing. It says that global average temperatures are
estimated to rise 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit)
above preindustrial levels sometime around “the first half of
the 2030s,” as humans continue to burn coal, oil and natural
gas.
A conversation with Dr. Katerina Gonzales (EPA Climate
Adaptation Advisor) and Dr. Daniel Swain (UCLA) about
atmospheric rivers, climate extremes and futures, and climate
science communication. Rereleased March 17, 2023 with original
recordings from June 30, 2020.
The bottled water industry is a juggernaut. More than 1 million
bottles of water are sold every minute around the world and the
industry shows no sign of slowing down, according to a new
report. Global sales of bottled water are expected to nearly
double by 2030. But the industry’s enormous global success
comes at a huge environmental, climate and social cost,
according to the report published Thursday by the United
Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health,
which analyzes the industry’s global impacts. Groundwater
extracted to help fill billions of plastic bottles a year poses
a potential threat to drinking water resources and feeds the
world’s plastic pollution crisis, while the industry’s growth
helps distract attention and resources away from funding the
public-water infrastructure desperately needed in many
countries, according to the report.
The winter of 2022-23 has been devastating for California’s
strawberry industry. After storms in December and January
caused over $200 million in crop damage from wind, rain and
floods, damage from recent flooding from the Pajaro and Salinas
rivers in Monterey County has caused hundreds of millions of
dollars more in losses, the California Strawberry Commission
reports. The latest disaster comes as farmers had borrowed
money to prepare the fields and were weeks away from beginning
to harvest, said Rick Tomlinson, the commission’s president. As
soon as the cleanup is complete, farmers will begin the process
of preparing the fields and starting over, he said.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one of the
wealthiest and most influential institutions in Utah, plans to
donate a pool of water to help save the Great Salt Lake. The
Utah Department of Natural Resources, which helps manage the
lake, announced the gift Wednesday morning. The donation
amounts to about 20,000 acre-feet worth of shares that the
church holds in the North Point Consolidated Irrigation
Co. … Although the lake is the nation’s largest
saline system, it has run a water deficit of about 1.2 million
acre-feet in recent years. This winter’s substantial snowpack,
however, will likely raise its elevation by at least a few
feet. It currently sits at about 4,190 feet above sea level
but needs to rise to around 4,200 feet to reach an
elevation that’s sustainable for wildlife, recreation and
lake-based industries like brine shrimp and mineral harvesting.
The southern Sierra Nevada is covered with the deepest snowpack
in recorded history, and the rest of the range is not far
behind. When all that snow melts, where will it go? You
can read the answer in the landscape of the Central Valley. To
the eye it is nearly flat, covered by layers of gravel, silt
and clay washed from the mountains over the eons by rain and
melting snow. … The solution is shockingly simple,
relatively cheap — compared with the cost of cataclysmic floods
— and surprisingly non-controversial. We just haven’t yet done
it on the scale that’s needed. California needs to restore its
floodplains. Not the whole valley floors, and not as they were
in the pre-development era. But it needs to have many more
acres of land reserved for floodwater.
President Joe Biden has given a dire warning that the Colorado
River will dry up if climate change efforts do not ramp up. He
made the comments while speaking to the Democratic National
Committee in Las Vegas, Nevada this week, Fox News reported.
“You’re not going to be able to drink out of the Colorado
River,” Biden said. The president added that climate change was
“serious stuff.” … But is this actually possible? Could
the Colorado River dry up and will it be as bad as Biden
says? Well, the Colorado River has already reached the
lowest water levels seen in a century. Experts believe this is
down to climate change-caused drought which will only get worse
in the coming years.
California’s latest atmospheric rivers are sending rainfall
higher into the mountains and onto the state’s crucial
snowpack. The rain alone is a problem for low-lying areas
already dealing with destructive flooding, but the prospect of
rain on the deep mountain snow has triggered widespread flood
warnings. When rain falls on snow, it creates complex flood
risks that are hard to forecast. Those risks are also rising
with climate change. For much of the United States, storms with
heavy rainfall can coincide with seasonal snow cover. When that
happens, the resulting runoff of water can be much greater than
what is produced from rain or snowmelt alone. The combination
has resulted in some of the nation’s most destructive and
costly floods, including the 1996 Midwest floods and the 2017
flood that damaged California’s Oroville Dam. -Written by Keith Musselman, an assistant professor in
geography, mountain hydrology and climate change at the
University of Colorado Boulder.
This winter devastating floods and mudslides in California
killed at least 17 people, closed roads for days and caused
thousands to be evacuated. Mud and water ripped through the
hillside town of Montecito five years to the day after a 2018
slide there killed 23 people and destroyed more than 100 homes.
Between 1998 and 2017 landslides and mudslides affected nearly
five million people worldwide and took the lives of more than
18,000, according to the World Health Organization. In
contrast, wildfires and volcanic activity killed 2,400. In the
U.S. alone, slides and other debris flows kill 25 to 50 people
every year. Yet by and large we don’t hear very much about
hazardous slides. Tornadoes, volcanoes, wildfires and
hurricanes get more headlines. They get more scientific
attention, too.
“Atmospheric river storm” is becoming part of Californians’
everyday vocabulary in 2023. Kicking off the year, these
systems have been unrelenting. Floods, broken levees and record
rain have berated communities across the state. There have been
not one, two or five of these storms this year — but at least
10, the National Weather Service told The Bee. A silver lining:
Drought conditions have improved dramatically. In Sacramento,
the most notorious of these storms hit in early January, with
the latest round the first two weeks of March.
California is no stranger to big swings between wet and dry
weather. The “atmospheric river” storms that have battered the
state this winter are part of a system that has long
interrupted periods of drought with huge bursts of rain —
indeed, they provide somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of all
precipitation on the West Coast. The parade of storms
that has struck California in recent months has dropped more
than 30 trillion gallons of water on the state, refilling
reservoirs that had sat empty for years and burying mountain
towns in snow. But climate change is making these storms
much wetter and more intense, ratcheting up the risk of
potential flooding in California and other states along the
West Coast.
The intensity of extreme drought and rainfall has “sharply”
increased over the past 20 years, according to a study
published Monday in the journal Nature Water. These aren’t
merely tough weather events, they are leading to extremes such
as crop failure, infrastructure damage and even humanitarian
crises. The big picture on water comes from data from a pair of
satellites known as GRACE, or Gravity Recovery and Climate
Experiment, that were used to measure changes in Earth’s water
storage — the sum of all the water on and in the land,
including groundwater, surface water, ice, and
snow. … The researchers say the data confirms that
both the frequency and intensity of rainfall and droughts are
increasing due to burning fossil fuels and other
human activity that releases greenhouse gases.
The Southern Sierra snowpack is now the biggest on record, at a
whopping 247% of average for April 1, according to charts from
the California Department of Water Resources. “There is a whole
hell of a lot of water up there right now, stored in the
snowpack,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA and
the Nature Conservancy, during an online presentation on
Monday. … Late last week, California was on the
receiving end of a warm atmospheric river, a band of
tropical moisture originating from waters near Hawaii. The
event raised concerns of rain-on-snow events, when runoff
from rain combines with snowmelt to overwhelm
watersheds. Such flooding happened over the weekend on the Kern
and Tule rivers, triggering evacuations and badly damaging
homes. But at higher elevations, the precipitation only
added to the Sierra snowpack.
Some of the tall, stately trees that have grown up in
California’s Sierra Nevada are no longer compatible with the
climate they live in, new research has shown. Hotter, drier
conditions driven by climate change in the mountain range have
made certain regions once hospitable to conifers — such as
sequoia, ponderosa pine and Douglas fir — an environmental
mismatch for the cone-bearing trees. … Although there
are conifers in those areas now, Hill and other researchers
suggested that as the trees die out, they’ll be replaced with
other types of vegetation better suited to the environmental
conditions. The team estimated that about 20% of all
Sierra Nevada conifer trees in California are no longer
compatible with the climate around them and are in danger
of disappearing. They dubbed these trees “zombie forests.”
Water policy wonks like us at PPIC spend an extraordinary
amount of time analyzing information from the past, trying to
understand the present, and modeling or speculating about the
future. All this work goes toward identifying policy changes
that might help California better manage its water. But
for all our efforts, nothing improves our understanding of
water like a “stress test,” whether that test is severe drought
or extreme wet. And it is starting to look like we are
going to get one of those stress tests this spring in the San
Joaquin Valley. As news outlets have been reporting for some
time, there is an “epic” snowpack in the central and southern
Sierra Nevada… And while Californians have been laser focused
on managing drought over the past decade, it’s now time to
start thinking about what to do with too much water, at least
in the San Joaquin River and Tulare Lake basins.
Regenerative agriculture is a holistic land management approach
with principles that date back to Indigenous
farmers. Instead of letting the land fallow or repeating a
cycle of planting water-intensive crops that cannot survive the
harsh conditions along the lower Gila River, Hansen has worked
to develop strategies to make less water go further. He has
successfully introduced arid-adapted crops, integrated
livestock on his land and used non-traditional farming methods
to improve soil health and biodiversity. While
regenerative agriculture has been a way to conserve water and
grow healthier crops for centuries, the alternate farming
method has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years as a
way to potentially reverse the effects of climate change by
rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil
biodiversity, resulting in both carbon drawdown and
improvements to the water cycle.
After enduring historic drought conditions exacerbated by three
years of the La Niña weather phenomenon, California is finally
free from her clutches, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration said Thursday. However, El Niño may be looming,
and with it, comes a whole new set of weather and climate
challenges. Unlike the typically dry years La
Niña brings to California, El Niño tends to bring
increased chances of torrential storms, flooding, mudslides and
coastal erosion. It typically occurs every three to five years
when surface water in the equatorial Pacific becomes warmer
than average. This week, the World Meteorological Organization
forecast a 55 percent chance of an El Niño developing heading
into autumn.
Humans have filled the world’s oceans with more than 170
trillion pieces of plastic, dramatically more than previously
estimated, according to a major study released Wednesday.
The trillions of plastic particles — a “plastic smog,” in the
words of the researchers — weigh roughly 2.4 million metric
tons and are doubling about every six years, according to the
study conducted by a team of international researchers led by
Marcus Eriksen of the 5 Gyres Institute, based in Santa Monica,
Calif. That is more than 21,000 pieces of plastic for each of
the Earth’s 8 billion residents. Most pieces are very
small. The study, which was published in the PLOS One
journal, draws on nearly 12,000 samples collected across 40
years of research in all the world’s major ocean basins.
Starting in 2004, researchers observed a major rise in the
material, which they say coincided with an explosion in
plastics production.
We have seen the future of water in California this winter and
it does not look good. After 200% rainfall and historic
snowpack, what do we have? They keep saying we are not out of
the drought. But when it starts raining like this, that is — by
definition — the end of a drought. How much rainfall do they
need? Actually, I probably shouldn’t ask that. I probably won’t
like their answer. There are no average rainfall years in
California. There are wet years and dry years. We are idiots
because we do not catch the rainfall from the wet years and
save it for the dry years.
All this winter weather may seem to be at odds with the hotter,
drier California that scientists expect with climate change, as
greenhouse gas emissions raise global temperatures. But that
trend is taking place over longer timescales, across the entire
planet. What happens in California from year to year — or even
winter to winter — can vary dramatically and still fit into the
bigger story, scientists say. … Some scientists
also think that atmospheric warming can change how air masses
move around the planet by altering jet streams, strong winds
that travel about 5-9 miles above the Earth’s surface. As a
result, cold air masses can move farther south, toward
California.
San Diego has a dozen years to cut almost 11 million metric
tons of annual greenhouse gas emissions from its economy to
meet climate goals set by Mayor Todd Gloria last
year. That’s like removing 2.2 million gas-powered cars
from the road. Jumpstarting those emissions cuts will cost the
city $30 million per year through 2028, according to a new cost
analysis produced by the city’s consultant, the Energy Policy
Initiatives Center at University of San Diego Law School. And
then, it’ll be up to the City Council to prioritize that
spending.
National and regional media love a good fight, and lately a day
doesn’t pass without a major news story or op-ed focused on
Colorado River disagreements, particularly amongst the seven
states of the Colorado River Basin (Arizona, California,
Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming). Which state
must bear the brunt of shortages needed as Colorado River flows
decline? Which sector of water users takes the hit as climate
change continues to diminish the river? Should urban water
supplies be protected because that’s where all the people are?
(Municipal water supply representatives will quickly remind us
that if all urban uses of Colorado River water were cut off,
there would still be a shortage). Should agricultural water
supplies be protected because we all need to eat?
After three consecutive years of an unusually stubborn pattern,
La Niña has officially ended and El Niño is on the way, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.
That could mean a less active Atlantic hurricane season, a more
active season in the Pacific – and another spike in global
temperatures, forecasters say. … El Niño also
significantly impacts California’s weather and could mean a
continuation of the current wet pattern already plaguing the
state. Traditionally, El Niño brings increased rain and snow
across the Golden State, especially in the cool season, leading
to flooding, landslides, and coastal erosion.
The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed tighter limits
on wastewater pollution from coal-burning power plants that has
contaminated streams, lakes and underground aquifers across the
nation. Under the Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection
Agency sets pollution standards to limit wastewater discharge
from the power industry and other businesses. The Trump
administration rolled back pollution standards so utilities
could use cheaper technologies and take longer to comply with
guidelines for cleaning coal ash and toxic heavy metals such as
mercury, arsenic and selenium from plant wastewater before
dumping it into waterways. The Biden administration’s proposal
for stricter standards at coal-burning plants also encourages
the plants to retire or switch to other fuels such as natural
gas by 2028.
The wrong kind of weather can turn a manageable wildfire into
an uncontrollable blaze. In California, Santa Ana winds
notoriously fan flames with streams of hot, dry air, and
Europe’s 2022 summer of record-breaking heat was also a summer
of record-breaking fires. But it isn’t just weather that
influences fires—fires can influence weather, too. … New
research has suggested that smoke from particularly large
blazes can change local weather, making fires even worse. This
could be bad news for fire-prone regions experiencing more
frequent fires due to climate change. But the study,
published in Science, also hinted that building
fire-weather interactions into weather forecasts could help
direct firefighting resources to where they’ll be most
effective.
In Sarge Green’s 40-plus year career, he’s worn an astonishing
number of hats. Now a water management specialist with
California State University, Fresno, Sarge has worked on water
quality issues at the regional water board, served as general
manager of an irrigation district, and managed two resource
conservation districts (RCDs). He’s also a director for the
Tule Basin Land and Water Conservation Trust and the Fresno
Metropolitan Flood Control District. He’s been a long-time
partner with the PPIC Water Policy Center in our San Joaquin
Valley work as a trusted member of our research network. Sarge
remains deeply involved in efforts to help San Joaquin Valley
farms and communities cope with the challenges of implementing
the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. We spoke with him
about a pressing issue in the valley: how to manage farmland
that will be transitioning out of intensive irrigation.
Another atmospheric river system has set its sights on
California, raising considerable concern about flooding and
structural damage as warm rain is expected to fall atop the
state’s near-record snowpack this week, forecasters say.
… Last week, the odds of such a system
developing were about 20%. By Monday, the chances had
increased to “7 or 8 out of 10, if not higher, for a warm
atmospheric river event of some magnitude,” [UCLA climate
scientist Daniel Swain] said. At least one more storm could
follow this month. … Officials said the bounty made a
dent in the state’s extreme drought conditions and
offered some hope for strained water supplies after three
bone-dry years. But heavy snowpack can also become a hazard if
it meets with warm rain that melts it too quickly.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget would cut funding for
coastal resilience projects almost in half, eliminating more
than half a billion dollars of state funds this year that would
help protect the coast against rising seas and climate change.
The cuts are part of Newsom’s proposed $6 billion in reductions
to California’s climate change programs in response to a
projected $22.5 billion statewide deficit. California’s coastal
resilience programs provide funding for local governments to
prepare coastal plans and pay for some projects that protect
beaches, homes and infrastructure at risk from rising sea
levels. Greenhouse gases are responsible for warming the
planet, which melts ice and causes sea levels to rise.
The Western United States is currently battling the most severe
drought in thousands of years. A mix of bad water management
policies and manmade climate change has created a situation
where water supplies in Western reservoirs are so low, states
are being forced to cut their water use. It’s not hard to
find media coverage that focuses on the excesses of residential
water use: long showers, swimming pools, lawn watering, at-home
car washes. Or in the business sector, like irrigating golf
courses or pumping water into hotel fountains in Las
Vegas. But when a team of researchers looked at water
use in the West, they uncovered a very different
story about where most Western water goes. Only 14 percent
of all water consumption in the Western US goes to residential,
commercial, and industrial water use.
Israeli firm IDE Technologies’ proposal to build a US$5.5bn
desalination plant in Puerto Peñasco in northern Mexico’s
Sonora state and then sell the water to Arizona is not a new
idea and was previously rejected due to several problems.
In December, IDE presented Arizona’s Water Infrastructure
Finance Authority (WIFA) with a proposal to supply treated 1
billion cubic meters per year of seawater from the Sea of
Cortez through a 328km system of pumps and pipes. WIFA was
reported to have been analyzing the initiative, but no further
updates have been announced. The project would also
provide water to Sonora state “without impacting the amount of
water committed to Arizona,” according to the proposal.
However, IDE needs a purchasing commitment from the US state’s
authorities before moving forward with the project.
Thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency complex (TDC) has become a
widespread affliction in fisheries around the world. During the
2022 annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society, a
special symposium on TDC included presentations from
researchers describing findings addressing the root causes of
thiamine deficiency. TDC is not isolated to California’s
Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) it also occurs in
lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in the Great Lakes, and
Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in Europe and in the northeastern
United States, among other important fisheries. However, this
symposium was not the first time scientists came together to
understand TDC, as Dr. Dale Honeyfield – professor emeritus at
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) – spoke about meetings
sponsored by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission during the
mid-1990s.
Last year, around two-thirds of Pakistan was affected by
widespread flash flooding, with more than 1,500 people killed
and around 33 million made homeless. Almost 2,000 people died
in flash floods across Africa, and parts of the United Arab
Emirates, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Yemen were
inundated with water. Flash floods are a growing threat in some
of the world’s driest regions. Deluges can trigger sudden and
rapid torrents of run-off that flow down dry river beds and
rocky channels. Because parched soils repel water rather than
allowing it to soak in, flash floods can be more devastating in
drylands than in wetter areas. Surges can result from
relatively small amounts of rain, as little as 10 millimetres
in one hour. By comparison, floods in wetter regions typically
follow more prolonged bouts of rainfall.
The stubborn La Niña climate pattern that gripped the tropical
Pacific for a rare three years in a row is waning, and the odds
of an El Niño system forming later this year are getting
stronger, according to recent meteorological reports. The El
Niño-La Niña Southern Oscillation, sometimes referred to as
ENSO, has a major influence on temperature and rainfall
patterns in different parts of the world, with La Niña often
associated with drier-than-normal conditions in California,
especially the southern part of the state. El Niño, on the
other hand, is linked to an enhanced probability of
above-normal rainfall in California, along with accompanying
landslides, floods and coastal erosion, though it is not a
guarantee.
A warming climate has left a fifth of the conifer forests that
blanket California’s Sierra Nevada stranded in habitats that no
longer suit them, according to a study published last week by
researchers at Stanford University. In these “zombie forests,”
older, well-established trees — including ponderosa pines,
Douglas firs and sugar pines — still tower overhead, but few
young trees have been able to take root because the climate has
become too warm and dry for them to thrive.
As western water woes continue, some experts and
authorities say a national-level problem like this
requires an innovative solution. The U.S. has
plenty of drinking water — it’s simply in the wrong
place. That’s a seemingly fixable problem that has
inspired a number of creative ideas. Unfortunately,
everything except conserving water has proven to be a longshot
proposal riddled with logistical, legal or cost problems.
The problem: The Colorado River is drying up from drought and
overuse. It’s the literal lifeblood of the West. A rainy
year doesn’t solve the water crisis: Rain and snow,
particularly in California, has offered temporary relief
to water worries. But experts say the water demand in the west
is set to keep exceeding supply — unless major
conservation efforts successfully roll out.
Summer wildfires are reaching higher into the California
mountains in recent years, and a new study finds the charred
forests are having a dire effect on winter snowpacks long after
the flames have been doused. NOAA researchers found that the
loss of tree canopy is leading to snow melting at much greater
rates than average and wiping out snowpacks – a crucial
ingredient to the region’s water supply – sooner than usual. Of
particular interest that sparked the research were two
weeks-long dry periods in California’s mountains during the
winters of 2012-2013 and 2020-2021. The latter winter came on
the heels of two of the worst fire seasons in state history
which featured a 10-fold increase in wildfires over the
previous 20 years’ average.
Floods in California rarely attract the sort of attention that
earthquakes, wildfires or even shark attacks do. Perhaps it has
something to do with the severity of an unprecedented,
years-long drought that is far from over. This winter’s deluge
— particularly in the northern and central regions — was a
jolting reminder that rainfall remains a deadly, destructive
force to be reckoned with, though it has been many decades
since the Golden State experienced truly catastrophic
flooding. Climate scientists, however, note that higher
temperatures due to global warming mean the air can hold more
moisture, resulting in more of the atmospheric rivers that have
brought heavy rain to the state. It’s only a matter of time,
they warn, before a sufficiently massive storm arrives to add
to California’s legacy of devastating floods.
A new USGS study shows that a warming climate is likely to
cause freshwater wetlands to release substantially more methane
than under normal conditions. This finding has big implications
for climate mitigation strategies focused on reducing
greenhouse gas emissions from people. … Methane is a gas
that produces a strong greenhouse effect in our atmosphere.
It’s estimated to be contributing about 25% to warming
temperatures from climate change. But it works very differently
than carbon dioxide—the better-known greenhouse gas.
As the effects of heat-trapping pollution continue to raise sea
levels, wetlands dotting American coastlines could drown —
or they could flourish. Their fate will depend upon rates of
sea-level rise, how quickly the plants can grow, and whether
there’s space inland into which they can migrate. Climate
Central modeled how American coastal wetlands will
respond to sea level rise in an array of potential scenarios.
It found that conserving land for wetlands to migrate into is a
decisive factor in whether wetlands will survive or drown.
Wetlands and development have long been in conflict, with
ecological values weighed against waterfront economic
opportunities. As seas rise, benefits of conserving areas
inland for wetland migration are creating new tensions. And as
climate change intensifies storms and elevate high tides and
storm surges, the economic values of wetlands are growing.
From record rain, flooding and snowfall – to chilly
temperatures, hail and windy conditions, it’s been more
“wintery” than some San Diegans would like. So what’s going on?
ABC 10News sat down with Julie Kalansky, a climate scientist
and Operations Manager for the Center for Western Weather and
Water Extremes at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
The gargantuan California snowpack, over twice the normal
size for this time of year in some parts of the Sierra, just
keeps growing. On Tuesday, yet another storm unloaded several
feet of snow in the Lake Tahoe area, completely burying
the Sugar Bowl Resort office. Ideally, the
snowpack gradually melts during the spring and summer,
releasing water when reservoirs aren’t capped by flood control
limitations and can maximize storage. All the snow right now is
fantastic news for the state’s enduring drought.
… But the overabundance also presents potential flood
risks. … A spring heat wave, for example, could drive an
early melt that results in flooding. A warm atmospheric river
aimed at snowcapped mountains could also rapidly melt snow and
overload watersheds.
Municipal wastewater treatment plants emit nearly double the
amount of methane into the atmosphere than scientists
previously believed, according to new research from Princeton
University. And since methane warms the planet over 80 times
more powerfully than carbon dioxide over 20 years, that could
be a big problem. … Zondlo led one of two new studies on
the subject, both reported in papers published
in Environmental Science & Technology. One study
performed on-the-ground methane emissions measurements at
63 wastewater treatment plants in the United States;
the other used machine learning methods to analyze published
literature data from methane monitoring studies of various
wastewater collection and treatment processes around the globe.
Meteorologist Bo Svoma hopped down into the 4-foot-deep pit he
had shoveled and grinned like a school kid on a snow day. “Bo
is happy!” shouted one of his Salt River Project colleagues
working snow survey duty on Tuesday. There’s a lot for the
metro Phoenix water supplier to be happy about this winter.
What was supposed to be an unusually dry winter because of the
return of the ocean and atmospheric phenomenon known as La Nińa
has instead shaped up as the Arizona rim country’s
second-snowiest season in 30 years. The ocean conditions that
usually would push the jet stream and its storms toward the
Pacific Northwest instead have driven storm after storm into
the Southwest.
After a winter of epic storms in California, Yosemite National
Park’s famous waterfalls are in full flow, its reservoirs are
brimming, and the snowpack in the surrounding Sierra Nevada
Mountains is well above average. In drought-stricken
California, that is cause for celebration, but wildlife experts
warn that weather extremes driven by climate change can also
change habitats too quickly for wildlife to adapt.
… [Beth Pratt, California regional director for the
National Wildlife Federation] has been studying Yosemite Valley
wildlife for 25 years, including the more than 400 species of
vertebrates that call the 1,200 square-mile (3,100
square-kilometer) park home. … In his 27 years as a
Yosemite park ranger, Scott Gediman has never seen so much
winter snow and water in the park.
Once hailed as the “American Nile,” the Colorado River spans
1,450 miles and supplies nearly 40 million people across seven
states plus northern Mexico with drinking water, irrigation for
farmland and hydroelectric power. But after decades of drought
and overuse, major reservoirs along the river are drying
up. As the Colorado River levels drop to historic lows,
tensions are rising between the seven states that depend on its
flow — Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah
and Wyoming. Their original agreement for distributing the
river water lacked foresight and failed to account for dire
circumstances like long-term drought. The American
Southwest now faces a crisis it knew was coming.
The climate shifts that California is experiencing—with warmer
temperatures, less reliable snowpack, and more intense
droughts—have exposed critical weaknesses in the administration
of our water rights system under conditions of scarcity. In
particular, there are challenges curtailing diversions when
supplies are inadequate. And on the flip side, this system also
needs the capacity to better facilitate the management of
abundance, by permitting the capture of more water from large
storms to recharge groundwater basins. In our remarks today we
recap some of the key challenges the changing climate is posing
for California’s water rights system in both dry and wet times,
illustrate how these issues are playing out in the state’s
largest watershed, and offer some recommendations for how the
legislature could help strengthen the water rights system to
better respond to water scarcity and abundance.
By returning to spawn in the Sacramento River at different
ages, Chinook salmon lessen the potential impact of a bad year
and increase the stability of their population in the face of
climate variability, according to a new study by scientists at
UC Santa Cruz and NOAA Fisheries. Unfortunately, spawning
Chinook salmon are increasingly younger and concentrated within
fewer age groups, with the oldest age classes of spawners
rarely seen in recent years. The new study, published February
27 in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences,
suggests changes in hatchery practices and fishery management
could help restore the age structure of the salmon population
and make it more resilient to climate change.
After weeks of record-breaking rainfall have seen freeways
flood, hillsides collapse and the dry concrete gutter of the
Los Angeles River transform into a raging torrent, you may have
assumed that California’s water-shortage woes were beginning to
ease. With many areas receiving their usual annual rainfall in
just three weeks, surely the multiyear megadrought is finally
abating. Sadly, no. Decades of building concrete gutters –
driven by the mindset that stormwater is a threat to be
banished, not an asset to be stored – have meant that the vast
majority of that rain was simply flushed out into the ocean. Of
the billions of gallons that have fallen on the LA area, only a
tiny fraction were absorbed into the ground.
If there’s concern about California’s wet winter turning dry,
consider it shushed. The heaps of snow over the past
week on top of the parade of deluges in early January have been
extraordinary and left much of the state with
well-above-average precipitation for the season. The winter
storms, which account for the bulk of the state’s rain and
snow, are forecast to continue into next month, virtually
ensuring a good water year for California. But just how
far one year will go to relieving what has been one of the
West’s most excruciating droughts is less clear.
While many parts of the state are benefiting from brimming
rivers and reservoirs, the three previous years, which saw
record low precipitation, as well as several painfully dry
years over the past two decades, have burdened the state with a
gaping water deficit.
Apocalyptic scenes of wildfires and floods are now familiar to
Californians. However, the ecological impacts from these events
remain understudied in California and across the world. Gaps in
awareness and understanding on the issue are especially intense
for freshwater mussels, whose cryptic and sedentary
life-histories belie their importance to freshwater ecosystems
and biodiversity (see previous post on freshwater mussels). One
difficulty in studying effects of wildfire on freshwater
ecosystems is that there is often a “right time in the right
place” factor to appropriately conduct the science. For
example, researchers and biologists often need to be studying a
population or ecosystem before a burn so effects afterwards can
be quantified – ideally alongside nearby unaffected control
sites. Yet such natural experiments are rare because we never
know when and where major wildfires will strike.
Despite the storms that have deluged California this winter,
the state remains dogged by drought. And one of the simplest
solutions — collecting and storing rainfall — is far more
complicated than it seems. Much of California’s water
infrastructure hinges on storing precipitation during the late
fall and winter for use during the dry spring and summer. The
state’s groundwater aquifers can hold vast quantities of water
— far more than its major reservoirs. But those aquifers have
been significantly depleted in recent decades, especially in
the Central Valley, where farmers have increasingly pumped out
water for their crops. And as Raymond Zhong, a New York Times
climate journalist, recently reported, the state’s strict
regulations surrounding water rights limit the diversion of
floodwaters for storage as groundwater, even during fierce
storms …
U.S. first lady Jill Biden got an up-close look Sunday at the
historic East Africa drought as she walked along arid land and
listened as some Maasai women described how their children and
livestock are going hungry. She appealed for more countries to
join the United States to help alleviate the suffering. Some
areas of the Horn of Africa have endured five consecutive
failed rainy seasons, meaning there was no rainfall or an
insufficient amount to help farmers with their crops and
livestock. An upcoming sixth rainy season, beginning in March,
is expected to be about the same or worse.
Scientists have warned for decades that due to climate change
water levels are rising throughout the Bay Area. The first
place excess water will show up is underground. As we saw from
recent storms, shallow groundwater can cause flooding in
streets and low-lying areas and can overwhelm wastewater
systems. Local planners and policy makers are analyzing how the
region should adapt to the problem of a rising water table and
how to design buildings, freeways and sewer infrastructure in
response. In our next installment of “Climate Fix: Rethinking
Solutions for California,” a collaboration between the KQED’s
Forum and Science teams, we’ll discuss what’s happening with
groundwater levels as the Bay Area prepares for sea level rise
in the next several decades. Have you experienced flooding in
your home and how did you handle it?
Come drought or deluge, how can we develop a lasting water
agreement for the greater Sacramento area? That’s the
challenging task before the Water Forum, a unique consortium of
business and agricultural leaders, citizen groups,
environmentalists, water managers and local governments,
including the City of Roseville. With eyes particularly on
Folsom Lake and the Lower American River, as well as weather,
Water Forum members work on water issues both near- and
long-term. Recent winter storms, following years of drought,
added extra complexity to that job.
Climate change isn’t the only threat facing California’s birds.
Over the course of the 20th century, urban sprawl and
agricultural development have dramatically changed the
landscape of the state, forcing many native species to adapt to
new and unfamiliar habitats. In a new study, biologists at
the University of California, Berkeley, use current and
historical bird surveys to reveal how land use
change has amplified—and in some cases mitigated—the
impacts of climate change on bird populations in Los
Angeles and the Central Valley.
Southern California has only gotten a taste of the powerful
winter storm system that forecasters say will bring an extended
period of cold temperatures, high winds and snow, prompting
what officials called the region’s first blizzard warning since
1989. The blizzard warning, which is in effect Friday and
Saturday for Southern California’s highest mountain ranges, is
likely only the second on record for the Los Angeles area,
according to the National Weather Service, Officials initially
called this week’s warning the first on record, then later
confirmed a blizzard warning was also issued in 1989, when a
strong winter storm brought rare snowfall to Southern
California, from Palm Springs to the hillsides of Malibu.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: We tell stories all the time about
climate-fueled disasters that uproot people’s lives – fires in
California, hurricanes in Louisiana. Well, Jake Bittle’s new
book is about what happens in the years after those events.
It’s called “The Great Displacement: Climate Change And The
Next American Migration.” It goes from drought-hit farms in
Arizona to flooded coastlines in Virginia. Jake Bittle, welcome
to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. … SHAPIRO: Even though the
patterns of displacement are chaotic and unpredictable, there
are certain consistent themes. Like, you say climate
displacement exacerbates income inequality. And one place
that’s really apparent is Northern California. You write about
the Tubbs Fire, which roared through Santa Rosa. What happened
after that?
Only weeks after a series of atmospheric rivers deluged
California, the state is once again bracing for powerful winter
weather that could deliver heaps of rain and snow, including
fresh powder at elevations as low as 1,500 feet. But as
worsening climate extremes and water supply challenges continue
to bedevil the state, officials cautioned residents Tuesday not
to assume that the recent moisture signaled an end to the
drought. The entire state remains under a drought emergency
declaration that Gov. Gavin Newsom issued in 2021, with
millions of residents still under strict watering restrictions.
Downpours or drought, California’s farm belt will need to
tighten up in the next two decades and grow fewer crops. There
simply won’t be enough water to sustain present irrigation in
the San Joaquin Valley. Groundwater is dangerously depleted.
Wells are drying up and the land is sinking in many places,
cracking canals. Surface water supplies have been cut back
because of drought, and future deliveries are uncertain due to
climate change and environmental
regulations. … Agriculture is water intensive. And
water is becoming increasingly worrisome in the West,
particularly with overuse of the Colorado River. There’s plenty
of water off our coast, but we’ve only begun to dip our toe
into desalination. -Written by columnist George Skelton.
A significant winter storm is expected to deliver heavy rain
and snow to a wide swath of the United States this week, from
the West Coast to the Northeast. Cold air from Canada will
interact with a pair of fronts, causing “numerous weather
hazards” and abnormal temperatures while “almost all of the
country [experiences] some form of notable weather,”
the National Weather Service said. Snow accumulation
of 1 to 2 feet is expected for most mountain ranges across the
West, where the storm is arriving at an ideal time to lift the
region’s already impressive snowpack. As of
Tuesday, snowpack in California was sitting at 174%
of normal for Feb. 21, according to the California Department
of Water Resources. Regionally, the Southern Sierra was at
208%, Central Sierra at 176% and the Northern Sierra/Trinity at
144%.
For three weeks after Christmas, California was pounded with a
series of nine atmospheric river storms. The drenching rains
replenished reservoirs that had been seriously depleted during
three years of severe drought. But they also caused flooding
from the Central Valley to Santa Barbara, triggering mudslides,
sinkholes and power outages, and left 22 people dead. Along the
coast, big waves ripped a 40-foot hole in the Capitola Wharf,
destroyed facilities at Seacliff Beach State Park, flooded
homes, wrecked businesses and caused millions of dollars in
erosion. For the past 55 years, Gary Griggs, a Distinguished
Professor of Earth Sciences at UC Santa Cruz, has studied big
storms, sea level rise and California’s changing coastline.
UCSC’s longest-serving professor, he is one of the nation’s
experts in the ways oceans reshape the land.
Across the United States and the world, communities are facing
more severe and frequent extreme weather events. Companies
undertaking new development projects are considering ways to
make their sites more resilient to disruptions caused by these
extreme events. From floods to droughts, fires, heat waves, and
super storms, developers are investing in alternative water and
energy supplies to better prepare for what’s being referred to
as “weather weirdification.” Many are familiar with
distributed strategies for energy— this can include things like
rooftop solar panels, solar battery systems, and backup
generators. When there’s a storm or other extreme weather
event, sites with these systems are better equipped for power
outages, ensuring continuity of operations, which makes them
more resilient.
A team of researchers at UC Davis this year will study 10
different species of trees in Sacramento to determine which
have the best chance of thriving as global average temperatures
rise. On a hot summer day, highly populated cities can be much
hotter than surrounding rural areas. Suburban neighborhoods
tend to have far more shade-producing trees, which act as
natural air conditioners. Multiple studies have shown that
communities with a healthy tree population can be anywhere from
5 to 12 degrees cooler than more exposed urban centers. As
climate change threatens to make our hottest days even hotter
in the years ahead, scientists want to make sure that people
living in cities have trees that are strong enough to withstand
the challenges of heat waves and intensifying drought.
A bill that will be introduced in the Utah State Legislature
will task one person with overseeing efforts to save the Great
Salt Lake. The position, currently titled the “Great Salt Lake
Commissioner,” will coordinate with government agencies,
environmental, tribal and industry groups and come up with a
master plan for the future of the lake. … The bill is
expected to be made public in the Utah State Legislature soon.
It would be a significant change in approach to how the
state is responding to the lake shrinking to historic lows
and the environmental catastrophe it presents with toxic
dust storms, reduced snowpack and harms to wildlife and public
health.
Growing up in the shadow of the
Rocky Mountains, Andrew Schwartz never missed an opportunity to
play in – or study – a Colorado snowstorm. During major
blizzards, he would traipse out into the icy wind and heavy
drifts of snow pretending to be a scientist researching in
Antarctica.
Decades later, still armed with an obsession for extreme weather,
Schwartz has landed in one of the snowiest places in the West,
leading a research lab whose mission is to give California water
managers instant information on the depth and quality of snow
draping the slopes of the Sierra Nevada.
When the Colorado River Compact was
signed 100 years ago, the negotiators for seven Western states
bet that the river they were dividing would have ample water to
meet everyone’s needs – even those not seated around the table.
A century later, it’s clear the water they bet on is not there.
More than two decades of drought, lake evaporation and overuse of
water have nearly drained the river’s two anchor reservoirs, Lake
Powell on the Arizona-Utah border and Lake Mead near Las Vegas.
Climate change is rendering the basin drier, shrinking spring
runoff that’s vital for river flows, farms, tribes and cities
across the basin – and essential for refilling reservoirs.
The states that endorsed the Colorado River Compact in 1922 – and
the tribes and nation of Mexico that were excluded from the table
– are now straining to find, and perhaps more importantly accept,
solutions on a river that may offer just half of the water that
the Compact assumed would be available. And not only are
solutions not coming easily, the relationships essential for
compromise are getting more frayed.
With 25 years of experience working
on the Colorado River, Chuck Cullom is used to responding to
myriad challenges that arise on the vital lifeline that seven
states, more than two dozen tribes and the country of Mexico
depend on for water. But this summer problems on the
drought-stressed river are piling up at a dizzying pace:
Reservoirs plummeting to record low levels, whether Hoover Dam
and Glen Canyon Dam can continue to release water and produce
hydropower, unprecedented water cuts and predatory smallmouth
bass threatening native fish species in the Grand Canyon.
“Holy buckets, Batman!,” said Cullom, executive director of the
Upper Colorado River Commission. “I mean, it’s just on and on and
on.”
Managers of California’s most
overdrawn aquifers were given a monumental task under the state’s
landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act: Craft viable,
detailed plans on a 20-year timeline to bring their beleaguered
basins into balance. It was a task that required more than 250
newly formed local groundwater agencies – many of them in the
drought-stressed San Joaquin Valley – to set up shop, gather
data, hear from the public and collaborate with neighbors on
multiple complex plans, often covering just portions of a
groundwater basin.
Momentum is building for a unique
interstate deal that aims to transform wastewater from Southern
California homes and business into relief for the stressed
Colorado River. The collaborative effort to add resiliency to a
river suffering from overuse, drought and climate change is being
shaped across state lines by some of the West’s largest water
agencies.
This tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
Climate scientist Brad Udall calls
himself the skunk in the room when it comes to the Colorado
River. Armed with a deck of PowerPoint slides and charts that
highlight the Colorado River’s worsening math, the Colorado State
University scientist offers a grim assessment of the river’s
future: Runoff from the river’s headwaters is declining, less
water is flowing into Lake Powell – the key reservoir near the
Arizona-Utah border – and at the same time, more water is being
released from the reservoir than it can sustainably provide.
The lower Colorado River has virtually every drop allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
For more than 20 years, Tanya
Trujillo has been immersed in the many challenges of the Colorado
River, the drought-stressed lifeline for 40 million people from
Denver to Los Angeles and the source of irrigation water for more
than 5 million acres of winter lettuce, supermarket melons and
other crops.
Trujillo has experience working in both the Upper and Lower
Basins of the Colorado River, basins that split the river’s water
evenly but are sometimes at odds with each other. She was a
lawyer for the state of New Mexico, one of four states in the
Upper Colorado River Basin, when key operating guidelines for
sharing shortages on the river were negotiated in 2007. She later
worked as executive director for the Colorado River Board of
California, exposing her to the different perspectives and
challenges facing California and the other states in the river’s
Lower Basin.
Land and waterway managers labored
hard over the course of a century to control California’s unruly
rivers by building dams and levees to slow and contain their
water. Now, farmers, environmentalists and agencies are undoing
some of that work as part of an accelerating campaign to restore
the state’s major floodplains.
Water is flowing once again
to the Colorado River’s delta in Mexico, a vast region that
was once a natural splendor before the iconic Western river was
dammed and diverted at the turn of the last century, essentially
turning the delta into a desert.
In 2012, the idea emerged that water could be intentionally sent
down the river to inundate the delta floodplain and regenerate
native cottonwood and willow trees, even in an overallocated
river system. Ultimately, dedicated flows of river water were
brokered under cooperative
efforts by the U.S. and Mexican governments.
This tour guided participants on a virtual journey deep into California’s most crucial water and ecological resource – the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The 720,000-acre network of islands and canals support the state’s two major water systems – the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project. The Delta and the connecting San Francisco Bay form the largest freshwater tidal estuary of its kind on the West coast.
Las Vegas, known for its searing summertime heat and glitzy casino fountains, is projected to get even hotter in the coming years as climate change intensifies. As temperatures rise, possibly as much as 10 degrees by end of the century, according to some models, water demand for the desert community is expected to spike. That is not good news in a fast-growing region that depends largely on a limited supply of water from an already drought-stressed Colorado River.
As California’s seasons become
warmer and drier, state officials are pondering whether the water
rights permitting system needs revising to better reflect the
reality of climate change’s effect on the timing and volume of
the state’s water supply.
A report by the State Water Resources Control Board recommends
that new water rights permits be tailored to California’s
increasingly volatile hydrology and be adaptable enough to ensure
water exists to meet an applicant’s demand. And it warns
that the increasingly whiplash nature of California’s changing
climate could require existing rights holders to curtail
diversions more often and in more watersheds — or open
opportunities to grab more water in climate-induced floods.
Twenty years ago, the Colorado River
Basin’s hydrology began tumbling into a historically bad stretch.
The weather turned persistently dry. Water levels in the system’s
anchor reservoirs of Lake Powell and Lake Mead plummeted. A river
system relied upon by nearly 40 million people, farms and
ecosystems across the West was in trouble. And there was no guide
on how to respond.
Radically transformed from its ancient origin as a vast tidal-influenced freshwater marsh, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem is in constant flux, influenced by factors within the estuary itself and the massive watersheds that drain though it into the Pacific Ocean.
Lately, however, scientists say the rate of change has kicked into overdrive, fueled in part by climate change, and is limiting the ability of science and Delta water managers to keep up. The rapid pace of upheaval demands a new way of conducting science and managing water in the troubled estuary.
Practically every drop of water that flows through the meadows, canyons and plains of the Colorado River Basin has reams of science attached to it. Snowpack, streamflow and tree ring data all influence the crucial decisions that guide water management of the iconic Western river every day.
Dizzying in its scope, detail and complexity, the scientific information on the Basin’s climate and hydrology has been largely scattered in hundreds of studies and reports. Some studies may conflict with others, or at least appear to. That’s problematic for a river that’s a lifeline for 40 million people and more than 4 million acres of irrigated farmland.
Sprawled across a desert expanse
along the Utah-Arizona border, Lake Powell’s nearly 100-foot high
bathtub ring etched on its sandstone walls belie the challenges
of a major Colorado River reservoir at less than half-full. How
those challenges play out as demand grows for the river’s water
amid a changing climate is fueling simmering questions about
Powell’s future.
This event explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
The islands of the western
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are sinking as the rich peat soil
that attracted generations of farmers dries out and decays. As
the peat decomposes, it releases tons of carbon dioxide – a
greenhouse gas – into the atmosphere. As the islands sink, the
levees that protect them are at increasing risk of failure, which
could imperil California’s vital water conveyance system.
An ambitious plan now in the works could halt the decay,
sequester the carbon and potentially reverse the sinking.
Our Water 101 Workshop, one of our most popular events, offered attendees the opportunity to deepen their understanding of California’s water history, laws, geography and politics.
Taught by some of the leading policy and legal experts in the state, the workshop was held as an engaging online event on the afternoons of Thursday, April 22 and Friday, April 23.
Shortly after taking office in 2019,
Gov. Gavin Newsom called on state agencies to deliver a Water
Resilience Portfolio to meet California’s urgent challenges —
unsafe drinking water, flood and drought risks from a changing
climate, severely depleted groundwater aquifers and native fish
populations threatened with extinction.
Within days, he appointed Nancy Vogel, a former journalist and
veteran water communicator, as director of the Governor’s Water
Portfolio Program to help shepherd the monumental task of
compiling all the information necessary for the portfolio. The
three state agencies tasked with preparing the document delivered
the draft Water Resilience Portfolio Jan. 3. The document, which
Vogel said will help guide policy and investment decisions
related to water resilience, is nearing the end of its comment
period, which goes through Friday, Feb. 7.
The Colorado River is arguably one
of the hardest working rivers on the planet, supplying water to
40 million people and a large agricultural economy in the West.
But it’s under duress from two decades of drought and decisions
made about its management will have exceptional ramifications for
the future, especially as impacts from climate change are felt.
Many of California’s watersheds are
notoriously flashy – swerving from below-average flows to jarring
flood conditions in quick order. The state needs all the water it
can get from storms, but current flood management guidelines are
strict and unyielding, requiring reservoirs to dump water each
winter to make space for flood flows that may not come.
However, new tools and operating methods are emerging that could
lead the way to a redefined system that improves both water
supply and flood protection capabilities.
It’s been a year since two devastating wildfires on opposite ends
of California underscored the harsh new realities facing water
districts and cities serving communities in or adjacent to the
state’s fire-prone wildlands. Fire doesn’t just level homes, it
can contaminate water, scorch watersheds, damage delivery systems
and upend an agency’s finances.
California is chock full of rivers and creeks, yet the state’s network of stream gauges has significant gaps that limit real-time tracking of how much water is flowing downstream, information that is vital for flood protection, forecasting water supplies and knowing what the future might bring.
That network of stream gauges got a big boost Sept. 30 with the signing of SB 19. Authored by Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa), the law requires the state to develop a stream gauge deployment plan, focusing on reactivating existing gauges that have been offline for lack of funding and other reasons. Nearly half of California’s stream gauges are dormant.
The Water Education Foundation’s Water 101 Workshop, one of our most popular events, offered attendees the opportunity to deepen their understanding of California’s water history, laws, geography and politics.
Taught by some of the leading policy and legal experts in the state, the one-day workshop held on Feb. 20, 2020 covered the latest on the most compelling issues in California water.
McGeorge School of Law
3327 5th Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95817
The Colorado River Basin’s 20 years
of drought and the dramatic decline in water levels at the
river’s key reservoirs have pressed water managers to adapt to
challenging conditions. But even more extreme — albeit rare —
droughts or floods that could overwhelm water managers may lie
ahead in the Basin as the effects of climate change take hold,
say a group of scientists. They argue that stakeholders who are
preparing to rewrite the operating rules of the river should plan
now for how to handle these so-called “black swan” events so
they’re not blindsided.
The majestic beauty of the Sierra
Nevada forest is awe-inspiring, but beneath the dazzling blue
sky, there is a problem: A century of fire suppression and
logging practices have left trees too close together. Millions of
trees have died, stricken by drought and beetle infestation.
Combined with a forest floor cluttered with dry brush and debris,
it’s a wildfire waiting to happen.
Fires devastate the Sierra watersheds upon which millions of
Californians depend — scorching the ground, unleashing a
battering ram of debris and turning hillsides into gelatinous,
stream-choking mudflows.
Even as stakeholders in the Colorado River Basin celebrate the recent completion of an unprecedented drought plan intended to stave off a crashing Lake Mead, there is little time to rest. An even larger hurdle lies ahead as they prepare to hammer out the next set of rules that could vastly reshape the river’s future.
Set to expire in 2026, the current guidelines for water deliveries and shortage sharing, launched in 2007 amid a multiyear drought, were designed to prevent disputes that could provoke conflict.
One of California Gov. Gavin
Newsom’s first actions after taking office was to appoint Wade
Crowfoot as Natural Resources Agency secretary. Then, within
weeks, the governor laid out an ambitious water agenda that
Crowfoot, 45, is now charged with executing.
That agenda includes the governor’s desire for a “fresh approach”
on water, scaling back the conveyance plan in the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta and calling for more water recycling, expanded
floodplains in the Central Valley and more groundwater recharge.
This tour explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs is the focus of this tour.
Silverton Hotel
3333 Blue Diamond Road
Las Vegas, NV 89139
Although Santa Monica may be the most aggressive Southern California water provider to wean itself from imported supplies, it is hardly the only one looking to remake its water portfolio.
In Los Angeles, a city of about 4 million people, efforts are underway to dramatically slash purchases of imported water while boosting the amount from recycling, stormwater capture, groundwater cleanup and conservation. Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2014 announced a plan to reduce the city’s purchase of imported water from Metropolitan Water District by one-half by 2025 and to provide one-half of the city’s supply from local sources by 2035. (The city considers its Eastern Sierra supplies as imported water.)
Imported water from the Sierra
Nevada and the Colorado River built Southern California. Yet as
drought, climate change and environmental concerns render those
supplies increasingly at risk, the Southland’s cities have ramped
up their efforts to rely more on local sources and less on
imported water.
Far and away the most ambitious goal has been set by the city of
Santa Monica, which in 2014 embarked on a course to be virtually
water independent through local sources by 2023. In the 1990s,
Santa Monica was completely dependent on imported water. Now, it
derives more than 70 percent of its water locally.
The growing leadership of women in water. The Colorado River’s persistent drought and efforts to sign off on a plan to avert worse shortfalls of water from the river. And in California’s Central Valley, promising solutions to vexing water resource challenges.
These were among the topics that Western Water news explored in 2018.
We’re already planning a full slate of stories for 2019. You can sign up here to be alerted when new stories are published. In the meantime, take a look at what we dove into in 2018:
As stakeholders labor to nail down
effective and durable drought contingency plans for the Colorado
River Basin, they face a stark reality: Scientific research is
increasingly pointing to even drier, more challenging times
ahead.
The latest sobering assessment landed the day after Thanksgiving,
when U.S. Global Change Research Program’s Fourth National Climate
Assessment concluded that Earth’s climate is changing rapidly
compared to the pace of natural variations that have occurred
throughout its history, with greenhouse gas emissions largely the
cause.
In the universe of California water, Tim Quinn is a professor emeritus. Quinn has seen — and been a key player in — a lot of major California water issues since he began his water career 40 years ago as a young economist with the Rand Corporation, then later as deputy general manager with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and finally as executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies. In December, the 66-year-old will retire from ACWA.
Just because El Niño may be lurking
off in the tropical Pacific, does that really offer much of a
clue about what kind of rainy season California can expect in
Water Year 2019?
Will a river of storms pound the state, swelling streams and
packing the mountains with deep layers of heavy snow much like
the exceptionally wet 2017 Water Year (Oct. 1, 2016 to Sept. 30,
2017)? Or will this winter sputter along like last winter,
leaving California with a second dry year and the possibility of
another potential drought? What can reliably be said about the
prospects for Water Year 2019?
At Water Year
2019: Feast or Famine?, a one-day event on Dec. 5 in Irvine,
water managers and anyone else interested in this topic will
learn about what is and isn’t known about forecasting
California’s winter precipitation weeks to months ahead, the
skill of present forecasts and ongoing research to develop
predictive ability.
One of our most popular events, our annual Water 101 Workshop
details the history, geography, legal and political facets
of water in California as well as hot topics currently facing the
state.
Taught by some of the leading policy and legal experts in the
state, the one-day workshop on Feb. 7 gave attendees a
deeper understanding of the state’s most precious natural
resources.
Optional Groundwater Tour
On Feb. 8, we jumped aboard a bus to explore groundwater, a key
resource in California. Led by Foundation staff and groundwater
experts Thomas
Harter and Carl Hauge, retired DWR chief hydrogeologist, the
tour visited cities and farms using groundwater, examined a
subsidence measuring station and provided the latest updates
on the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
McGeorge School of Law
3327 5th Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95817
There’s going to be a new governor
in California next year – and a host of challenges both old and
new involving the state’s most vital natural resource, water.
So what should be the next governor’s water priorities?
That was one of the questions put to more than 150 participants
during a wrap-up session at the end of the Water Education
Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento.
Amy Haas recently became the first non-engineer and the first woman to serve as executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission in its 70-year history, putting her smack in the center of a host of daunting challenges facing the Upper Colorado River Basin.
Yet those challenges will be quite familiar to Haas, an attorney who for the past year has served as deputy director and general counsel of the commission. (She replaced longtime Executive Director Don Ostler). She has a long history of working within interstate Colorado River governance, including representing New Mexico as its Upper Colorado River commissioner and playing a central role in the negotiation of the recently signed U.S.-Mexico agreement known as Minute 323.
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply
originates high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
We headed into the foothills and the mountains to examine
water issues that happen upstream but have dramatic impacts
downstream and throughout the state.
GEI (Tour Starting Point)
2868 Prospect Park Dr.
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.
Our annual Water Summit, being held Sept. 20, will
feature critical conversations about water in California and
the West revolving around the theme: Facing
Reality from the Headwaters to the
Delta.
As debate continues to swirl around longer-term remedies for
California’s water challenges, the theme reflects the need for
straightforward dialogue about more immediate, on-the-ground
solutions.
Nowhere is the domino effect in
Western water policy played out more than on the Colorado River,
and specifically when it involves the Lower Basin states of
California, Nevada and Arizona. We are seeing that play out now
as the three states strive to forge a Drought Contingency Plan.
Yet that plan can’t be finalized until Arizona finds a unifying
voice between its major water players, an effort you can read
more about in the latest in-depth article of Western Water.
Even then, there are some issues to resolve just within
California.
Brenda Burman, commissioner of the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, will give the keynote lunch address
at our 35th annual conference, the Water
Summit, to be held Sept. 20 in Sacramento.
The daylong event will feature critical conversations about water
in California and the West revolving around the
theme: Facing Reality from the Headwaters to the
Delta.
We explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop
of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad
sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and
climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in
the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin
states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this
water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial
needs was the focus of this tour.
Hampton Inn Tropicana
4975 Dean Martin Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89118
Learn what new tree-ring studies in
Southern California watersheds reveal about drought, hear about
efforts to improve subseasonal to seasonal weather forecasting
and get the latest on climate change impacts that will alter
drought vulnerability in the future.
At our Paleo
Drought Workshop on April 19th in San Pedro, you will hear
from experts at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, University of
Arizona and California Department of Water Resources.
Dramatic swings in weather patterns
over the past few years in California are stark reminders of
climate variability and regional vulnerability. Alternating years
of drought and intense rain events make long-term planning for
storing and distributing water a challenging task.
Current weather forecasting capabilities provide details for
short time horizons. Attend the Paleo Drought
Workshop in San Pedro on April 19 to learn more about
research efforts to improve sub-seasonal to seasonal
precipitation forecasting, known as S2S, and how those models
could provide more useful weather scenarios for resource
managers.
California’s 2012-2016 drought
revealed vulnerabilities for water users throughout the state,
and the long-term record suggests more challenges may lie ahead.
An April 19
workshop in San Pedro will highlight new information about
drought durations in Southern California watersheds dating
back centuries.
One of our most popular events, Water 101 details the history,
geography, legal and political facets of water in California
as well as hot topics currently facing the state.
Taught by some of the leading policy and legal experts in the
state, the one-day workshop gives attendees a deeper
understanding of the state’s most precious natural resource.
McGeorge School of Law
3285 5th Ave, Classroom C
Sacramento, CA 95817
Every day, people flock to Daniel
Swain’s social media platforms to find out the latest news and
insight about California’s notoriously unpredictable weather.
Swain, a climate scientist at the Institute of the
Environment and Sustainability at UCLA, famously coined the
term “Ridiculously Resilient Ridge” in December 2013 to describe
the large, formidable high-pressure mass that was parked over the
West Coast during winter and diverted storms away from
California, intensifying the drought.
Swain’s research focuses on atmospheric processes that cause
droughts and floods, along with the changing character of extreme
weather events in a warming world. A lifelong Californian and
alumnus of University of California, Davis, and Stanford
University, Swain is best known for the widely read Weather West blog, which provides
unique perspectives on weather and climate in California and the
western United States. In a recent interview with Western
Water, he talked about the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge, its
potential long-term impact on California weather, and what may
lie ahead for the state’s water supply.
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply
originates high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
This three-day, two-night tour explored the lower Colorado River
where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand
is growing from myriad sources — increasing population,
declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in
the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin
states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this
water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial
needs is the focus of this tour.
Best Western McCarran Inn
4970 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, NV 89119
Evidence shows that climate change is affecting California with
warmer temperatures, less snowfall and more extreme weather
events. This guide explains the causes of climate change, the
effects on water resources and efforts underway to better adapt
to a changing climate. It includes information on both California
water and the water of the Colorado River Basin, a widely shared
resource throughout the Southwest.
World-renowned for its crystal clear, azure water, Lake Tahoe
straddles the Nevada-California border, stretching 22 miles long
and 12 miles wide and hemmed in by Sierra Nevada peaks.
At 1,645 feet deep, Tahoe is the second-deepest lake in the
United States and the 10th deepest in the world. The iconic lake
sits 6,225 feet above sea level.
Drought and climate change are having a noticeable impact on the
Colorado River Basin, and that is posing potential challenges to
those in the Southwestern United States and Mexico who rely on
the river.
In the just-released Winter 2017-18 edition of River
Report, writer Gary Pitzer examines what scientists
project will be the impact of climate change on the Colorado
River Basin, and how water managers are preparing for a future of
increasing scarcity.
Rising temperatures from climate change are having a noticeable
effect on how much water is flowing down the Colorado River. Read
the latest River Report to learn more about what’s
happening, and how water managers are responding.
This issue of Western Water discusses the challenges
facing the Colorado River Basin resulting from persistent
drought, climate change and an overallocated river, and how water
managers and others are trying to face the future.
The atmospheric condition at any given time or place, measured by
wind, temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, cloudiness and
precipitation. Weather changes from hour to hour, day to day, and
season to season. Climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as
the average weather, during a period of time ranging from months
to thousands or millions of years.
Variations in the statistical analysis of the climate on all time
and space scales beyond that of individual weather events is
known as natural variability. Natural variations in climate over
time are caused by internal processes of the climate system, such
as El Niño, and
phenomena such as volcanic activity and variations in the output
of the sun.
California agriculture is going to have to learn to live with the
impacts of climate change and work toward reducing its
contributions of greenhouse gas emissions, a Yolo County walnut
grower said at the Jan. 26 California Climate Change Symposium in
Sacramento.
“I don’t believe we are going to be able to adapt our way out of
climate change,” said Russ Lester, co-owner of Dixon Ridge Farms
in Winters. “We need to mitigate for it. It won’t solve the
problem but it can slow it down.”
California had its warmest winter on record in 2014-2015, with
the average Sierra Nevada temperature hovering above 32 degrees
Fahrenheit – the highest in 120 years. Thus, where California
relies on snow to fall in the mountains and create a snowpack
that can slowly melt into reservoirs, it was instead raining.
That left the state’s snowpack at its lowest ever – 5 percent on
April 1, 2015.
Because he relays stats like these, climate scientist Brad Udall
says he doesn’t often get invited back to speak before the same
audience about climate change.
This 30-minute documentary, produced in 2011, explores the past,
present and future of flood management in California’s Central
Valley. It features stories from residents who have experienced
the devastating effects of a California flood firsthand.
Interviews with long-time Central Valley water experts from
California Department of Water Resources (FloodSAFE), U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, Central Valley Flood
Management Program and environmental groups are featured as they
discuss current efforts to improve the state’s 150-year old flood
protection system and develop a sustainable, integrated, holistic
flood management plan for the Central Valley.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
20-minute DVD that explains the problem with polluted stormwater,
and steps that can be taken to help prevent such pollution and
turn what is often viewed as a “nuisance” into a water resource
through various activities.
Water truly has shaped California into the great state it is
today. And if it is water that made California great, it’s the
fight over – and with – water that also makes it so critically
important. In efforts to remap California’s circulatory system,
there have been some critical events that had a profound impact
on California’s water history. These turning points not only
forced a re-evaluation of water, but continue to impact the lives
of every Californian. This 2005 PBS documentary offers a
historical and current look at the major water issues that shaped
the state we know today. Includes a 12-page viewer’s guide with
background information, historic timeline and a teacher’s lesson.
Water as a renewable resource is depicted in this 18×24 inch
poster. Water is renewed again and again by the natural
hydrologic cycle where water evaporates, transpires from plants,
rises to form clouds, and returns to the earth as precipitation.
Excellent for elementary school classroom use.
Redesigned in 2017, this beautiful map depicts the seven
Western states that share the Colorado River with Mexico. The
Colorado River supplies water to nearly 40 million people in
Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
and the country of Mexico. Text on this beautiful, 24×36-inch
map, which is suitable for framing, explains the river’s
apportionment, history and the need to adapt its management for
urban growth and expected climate change impacts.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to
Water Rights Law, recognized as the most thorough explanation of
California water rights law available to non-lawyers, traces the
authority for water flowing in a stream or reservoir, from a
faucet or into an irrigation ditch through the complex web of
California water rights.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to Integrated Regional Water
Management (IRWM) is an in-depth, easy-to-understand publication
that provides background information on the principles of IRWM,
its funding history and how it differs from the traditional water
management approach.
The Colorado River provides water to 40 million people and 4
million acres of farmland in a region encompassing some 246,000
square miles in the southwestern United States. The 32-page
Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River covers the history of the
river’s development; negotiations over division of its water; the
items that comprise the Law of the River; and a chronology of
significant Colorado River events.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Central Valley Project
explores the history and development of the federal Central
Valley Project (CVP), California’s largest surface water delivery
system. In addition to the project’s history, the guide describes
the various CVP facilities, CVP operations, the benefits the CVP
brought to the state and the CVP Improvement Act (CVPIA).
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Delta explores the competing
uses and demands on California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Included in the guide are sections on the history of the Delta,
its role in the state’s water system, and its many complex issues
with sections on water quality, levees, salinity and agricultural
drainage, fish and wildlife, and water distribution.
Climate change involves natural and man-made changes to weather
patterns that occur over millions of years or over multiple
decades.
In the past 150 years, human industrial activity has accelerated
the rate of change in the climate due to the increase in
greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide,
among others). Scientific studies describing this climate change
continue to be produced and its expected impacts continue to be
assessed.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at California
groundwater and whether its sustainability can be assured by
local, regional and state management. For more background
information on groundwater please refer to the Foundation’s
Layperson’s Guide to Groundwater.
This printed issue of Western Water This issue of Western Water
looks at climate change through the lens of some of the latest
scientific research and responses from experts regarding
mitigation and adaptation.
This issue of Western Water looks at the BDCP and the
Coalition to Support Delta Projects, issues that are aimed at
improving the health and safety of the Delta while solidifying
California’s long-term water supply reliability.
This printed issue of Western Water features a
roundtable discussion with Anthony Saracino, a water resources
consultant; Martha Davis, executive manager of policy development
with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and senior policy advisor
to the Delta Stewardship Council; Stuart Leavenworth, editorial
page editor of The Sacramento Bee and Ellen Hanak, co-director of
research and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of
California.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the issues
associated with the State Water Board’s proposed revision of the
water quality Bay-Delta Plan, most notably the question of
whether additional flows are needed for the system, and how they
might be provided.
This printed issue of Western Water explores the
historic nature of some of the key agreements in recent years,
future challenges, and what leading state representatives
identify as potential “worst-case scenarios.” Much of the content
for this issue of Western Water came from the in-depth
panel discussions at the Colorado River Symposium. The Foundation
will publish the full proceedings of the Symposium in 2012.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the
Colorado River drought, and the ongoing institutional and
operational changes underway to maintain the system and meet the
future challenges in the Colorado River Basin.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at the energy
requirements associated with water use and the means by which
state and local agencies are working to increase their knowledge
and improve the management of both resources.
This printed copy of Western Water examines climate change –
what’s known about it, the remaining uncertainty and what steps
water agencies are talking to prepare for its impact. Much of the
information comes from the October 2007 California Climate Change
and Water Adaptation Summit sponsored by the Water Education
Foundation and DWR and the November 2007 California Water Policy
Conference sponsored by Public Officials for Water and
Environmental Reform.
Perhaps no other issue has rocketed to prominence in such a short
time as climate change. A decade ago, discussion about greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions and the connection to warming temperatures
was but a fraction of the attention now given to the issue. From
the United Nations to local communities, people are talking about
climate change – its characteristics and what steps need to be
taken to mitigate and adapt to the anticipated impacts.
This issue of Western Water looks at climate change and
its implications on water management in a region that is wholly
dependent on steady, predictable wet seasons to recharge supplies
for the lengthy dry periods. To what degree has climate change
occurred and what are the scenarios under which impacts will have
to be considered by water providers? The future is anything but
clear.
The inimitable Yogi Berra once proclaimed, “The future ain’t what
it used to be.” While the Hall of Fame baseball player was not
referring to the weather, his words are no less prophetic when it
comes to the discussion of a changing climate and its potential
impacts on water resources in the West.
