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Topic: Sacramento River

Overview June 25, 2014

Sacramento River

The Sacramento River is California’s largest river, providing 35 percent of the state’s developed water supply. The river helps support the valley’s millions of acres of irrigated agriculture and is home to wildlife and a range of aquatic species, including rearing habitat for 70 percent of all salmon caught off the California coast.

Once called “the Nile of the West,” the Sacramento River drains the inland slopes of the Klamath Mountains, the Cascade Range, the Coast Ranges and the western slopes of the northern Sierra Nevada. The river stretches some 384 miles from its headwaters near Mount Shasta to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

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Aquafornia news April 16, 2021 Fox40

Recreational waterways can still be dangerous despite drought conditions, officials warn

The Yuba Water Agency manages water storage and deliveries to downstream customers while having a hand in preserving fish habitats and recreational areas. Currently, the agency has already begun doubling its reservoir releases at a time when visitors to the river are also expected to go up. Due to the time of year, those releases from upstream reservoirs are dictated by irrigation needs of downstream growers. 

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Aquafornia news April 16, 2021 California Natural Resources Agency

News release: CNRA launches website public input questionnaire

The California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) today launched  California Nature to engage Californians in advancing the State’s commitment to conserving 30 percent of lands and coastal waters by 2030 (30×30) and enlisting nature-based solutions to combat climate change. The website and a new online questionnaire are aimed at gathering input from a broad cross-section of Californians.

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Aquafornia news April 15, 2021 The Washington Post

Biden picks energy lawyer Tommy Beaudreau as Interior Department’s No. 2 official

President Biden announced Wednesday that he will nominate Tommy Beaudreau to be deputy secretary of the Interior Department, ending a standoff between the White House and senators from fossil-fuel-rich states who derailed the president’s first choice. The selection of Beaudreau, an energy lawyer who was an Obama administration official, came after Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W. V.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) objected to Elizabeth Klein because of her past stance against fossil fuels.

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Aquafornia news April 15, 2021 Maven's Notebook

Harmful algal blooms in the Delta (and elsewhere)

Harmful algal blooms (or HABs) occur when colonies of algae, under the right conditions, grow out of control and produce toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and birds. Every U.S. coastal and Great Lakes state experiences harmful algal blooms. In California, reports of harmful algal blooms have increased from 91 in 2016 to 241 in 2019. In 2020, Stockton experienced a severe harmful algal bloom; it marked the first year that algal blooms spread into the San Joaquin and Calaveras Rivers so early in the summer and fall months. Drought and heat are factors that increase harmful algal blooms …

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Aquafornia news April 15, 2021 Northern California Water Association

Blog: The pillars for sustainable water management in the Sacramento River basin

On Wednesday, March 3rd, the Northern California Water Association (NCWA) Board of Directors officially adopted our 2021 Priorities. The water leaders in this region look forward to working with our many partners in 2021 to cultivate a shared vision for a vibrant way of life in the Sacramento River Basin. We will continue to re-imagine our water system in the Sacramento River Basin as we also work to harmonize our water priorities with state, federal, and other regions’ priorities to advance our collective goal of ensuring greater water and climate resilience throughout California for our communities, the economy, and the environment. 

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Aquafornia news April 15, 2021 Water Education Foundation

Announcement: Last chance to register for next week’s Water 101 workshop

There’s just one week left to register for our Water 101 Workshop, which offers a primer on the things you need to know to understand California water. One of our most popular events, this once-a-year workshop will be held as an engaging online event on the afternoons of Thursday, April 22 and Friday, April 23.

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Aquafornia news April 14, 2021 Water World

Opinion: Keeping water affordable

California households face over $600 million in household water debt, with some 1.6 million homes — roughly 12 percent of all state residents — dealing with an average of $500 in arrears. The findings show clear racial inequities, with households of color bearing the brunt of this debt. More than 130 smaller utilities across the state will need federal help in the next six months if they are to survive. It is clear that we need a solution now. 
-Written by Michael Carlin, the acting general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

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Aquafornia news April 14, 2021 Scientific American

Editorial: We are living in a climate emergency, and we’re going to say so

[C]onsider the following scenarios: A hurricane blasts Florida. A California dam bursts because floods have piled water high up behind it. A sudden, record-setting cold snap cuts power to the entire state of Texas. These are also emergencies that require immediate action. Multiply these situations worldwide, and you have the biggest environmental emergency to beset the earth in millennia: climate change. Given the circumstances, Scientific American has agreed with major news outlets worldwide to start using the term “climate emergency” in its coverage of climate change. 

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Aquafornia news April 14, 2021 The Reporter

Lower Putah Creek Salmon Study extended through SCWA approval

How many salmon populate the Lower Putah Creek? What are the demographics of these fish? In what ways can their habitat be preserved so the lower creek remains healthy? Researchers at the University of California, Davis are researching these questions, and the Solano County Water Agency (SCWA) has given them another year of funding to continue their research as part of the Lower Putah Creek Salmon Study through the rest of the 2021-22 fiscal year. 

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Aquafornia news April 14, 2021 Record Searchlight

Shasta Dam raise threatens McCloud River, group says

While the federal government sees the prospect of raising the height of Shasta Dam as a way to increase water storage for a thirsty California, the Winnemem Wintu of Shasta County see it as a threat to their culture. It was a theme picked up this week by American Rivers, a conservation group that named the McCloud River one of America’s 10 most endangered rivers because of the proposal to raise the height of Shasta Dam. … Raising the height of the dam would raise the level of the lake about 20 feet when full. It would also further inundate about a third of a mile of the McCloud River … 

Related article: 

  • The Guardian: Endangered US rivers at grave risk from dams, mining and global heating
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Aquafornia news April 14, 2021 The Mercury News

San Francisco Bay: Protections being thrown away, scientists say

For more than 100 years after California’s Gold Rush, developers and city leaders filled in San Francisco Bay, shrinking it by one third to build farms, freeways, airports and subdivisions. All that changed in the 1970s with modern environmental laws. But now as sea level rise threatens to cause billions of dollars of flooding in the coming decades, the bay is going to need to be filled again — but this time in a different way, according to a new scientific report out Tuesday.

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Aquafornia news April 14, 2021 San Francisco Chronicle

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: Despite second dry year, Newsom resists declaring a drought emergency

Despite bipartisan calls to declare a state of emergency over California’s deepening drought, Gov. Gavin Newsom sidestepped questions Tuesday about when he may issue a proclamation. The governor said his administration is talking with federal officials daily about the status of the state’s water supply after two years of minimal rainfall that have dried out much of California.

Related articles: 

  • The Independent: U.S. to enter mega drought which will be the worst for 1200 years – here’s what to expect
  • GV Wire: April has never been this dry, say researchers, as Cal Fire begins to staff up 
  • Los Angeles CBS Local: LA County Now In Severe Drought Category
  • The Guardian: California is poised for a catastrophic fire season. Experts say its plan isn’t nearly enough
  • KCRA: California targets urgent projects as wildfire season looms
  • Arizona Central: New snowpack totals suggest the 20-year Western drought will persist, intensify
  • Lompoc Record: Solvang declares stage one drought condition, calls for 15% voluntary use reduction
  • Triple Pundit: Drought Is Consuming the Western U.S., but Water Technologies Offer Lifelines
  • SFist: Climate Change Is Setting Us Up for a Terrible Wildfire Season; It’s Also Killing Off Rare California Elk
  • Escalon Times: SSJID Pulls Plug On Water Deal Amid Drought Concerns
  • Atlas Obscura: Can ‘Banana Buffers’ Save California From Wildfires?
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Aquafornia news April 13, 2021 San Francisco Chronicle

The simple local solution to sea level rise? Mud from the bottom of San Francisco Bay

Protecting the Bay Area from sea level rise may all come down to mud. That’s the finding of a new report from San Francisco Estuary Institute that tries to address a two-part problem related to the looming threat of sea level rise: the lack of natural sediment coming into the bay and the need to reinforce its shorelines to protect the region from rising seas. There’s a fairly straightforward solution, the nonprofit research organization proposes: Take the sediment that’s dredged from the bay’s shipping channels and barged out to sea or to deep parts of the bay — 2½ to 3 million cubic yards of mud a year — and use it to restore wetlands on the perimeter. 

Related article:

  • San Francisco Estuary Institute: Sediment for Survival
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Aquafornia news April 13, 2021 GV Wire

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Biden administration declares California drought disaster. What is Newsom waiting for?

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack designated 50 California counties as natural disaster areas last month because of the drought. And, over the weekend, Fresno Congressman Jim Costa said on KSEE-24’s Sunday Morning Matters program that Gov. Newsom should declare a statewide emergency because of the dangerously dry conditions. …Yet, Newsom… last week rejected a request from a bipartisan coalition of state lawmakers from the Valley to declare a statewide drought emergency. 

Related articles:

  • CalMatters opinion: Drought hits California — and Newsom  
  • Your Central Valley: Valley congressman Costa urges Newsom to declare a statewide water emergency after rejecting state lawmakers request
  • Pasadena Now: No Restrictions Expected in Pasadena as County Sees ‘Severe Drought’ Conditions
  • Manteca/Ripon Bulletin: ‘Bleak’ Water Outlook
  • AgNet West: Officials Confident in Water Supply Management Without Drought Declaration
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Aquafornia news April 12, 2021 Sacramento News & Review

Delta tunnel authority changes leaders as Newsom fights the recall by turning to billionaire champions of the project

The little-known Joint Powers Authority charged with getting the embattled Delta tunnel across its finish line recently changed executive directors, marking an exit for Kathryn Mallon, who had stirred controversy for her exorbitant pay and alleged pressuring of a citizens advisory committee to work through the most dangerous part of the pandemic. Meanwhile, as California Governor Gavin Newsom begins campaigning against the effort to remove him from office, he’s soliciting huge donations from the same south-state barons of agriculture who have promoted the environmentally fraught tunnel concept for years.

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Aquafornia news April 12, 2021 Forbes

Blog: Southern California water price jumps 48% in 3 weeks as rainy season disappoints

Californians received a double dose of not so happy water news last month; cutbacks were made to water allocations and a key water price index surged higher. … The state’s Department of Water Resources has wasted no time in sounding alarm bells; officials have already announced 50 percent cutbacks from December 2020’s projected water allotments to State Water Project allocations for the 2021 water year. California residents were warned “to plan for the impacts of limited water supplies this summer for agriculture as well as urban and rural water users.”

  • San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego’s soaring water rates have avocado, other growers eyeing break with county​
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Aquafornia news April 12, 2021 Napa Valley Register

Cities with the most properties at risk of flooding

Here’s a look at the nation’s top 10 cities with the most properties at risk of flooding, according to 2020 data from the First Street Foundation’s First National Flood Risk Assessment. Flooding is a huge problem in America and is only getting worse as global warming increases the frequency and strength of tropical storms and hurricanes, and the warmer atmosphere holds more water, leading to more rainfall. Warmer temperatures also trigger winter snow to melt faster and earlier. Flooding in the United States is likely to cause some $20 billion in damages this year and cost as much as $32 billion by 2051, according to research from First Street. Sundae took a look at the nation’s top 10 cities with the most properties at risk of flooding… #10. San Jose … #5. Fresno … #3. Sacramento…

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Aquafornia news April 12, 2021 Association of California Water Agencies

News release: ACWA testifies in support of climate resilience bond proposal with amendments

ACWA staff testified with a support-if-amended position on AB 1500 (E.Garcia) during an Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee hearing on April 8. The bill is one of two climate resilience bond proposals that are currently advancing through the state Legislature and could be headed for the June 2022 ballot. AB 1500 would create a $6.7 billion bond measure. ACWA, with input from the State Legislative Committee’s Bond Working Group, is requesting amendments to the bills to add funding for water-related climate resilience projects that help provide a reliable water supply during drought and flood. The amendments propose the bill include funding for conveyance, dam safety, groundwater protection and sustainable groundwater management, flood management, integrated regional water management and safe drinking water for disadvantaged communities, as well as water quality and water reuse and recycling.

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Aquafornia news April 9, 2021 San Francisco Chronicle

SF Baykeeper sues Biden administration to list local longfin smelt as endangered species

A tiny silver fish few people in the Bay Area have heard of could be a new symbol of the state’s continuing battle over water resources. San Francisco Baykeeper sued the Biden administration on Thursday to list the local population of longfin smelt as an endangered species. The environmental group’s legal action comes nine years after the federal government first declared that the fish warranted that status. Once an important source of food for marine mammals, birds and chinook salmon, the local population of the longfin smelt has dropped by 99.9% since the 1980s. Scientists and environmentalists say that reduction is a direct result of too much water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin river system being diverted to farms and other water users rather than flowing through the bay to the Pacific.

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Aquafornia news April 9, 2021 Storm Water Solutions

Blog: California is ramping up its efforts to address sources of pyrethroid concentrations in its watersheds

In June 2017, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Central Valley Region adopted a Basin Plan Amendment for the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River Basins for the control of pyrethroid pesticide discharges. The amendment establishes controls for pyrethroid discharges, including prohibition of discharges of pyrethroid pesticides above certain concentrations, total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for pyrethroid pesticides, recommendations for agency regulation of pyrethroids and potential monitoring requirements. Synthetic pyrethroids are the most common forms of commercially available urban pesticides for ants, termites and flying insects…

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Aquafornia news April 9, 2021 Water Education Foundation

Announcement: Updated Layperson’s Guide to the Central Valley Project hot off the press

Our Layperson’s Guide to the Central Valley Project has just been updated to reflect the latest developments affecting California’s largest surface water delivery system. The 24-page guide explores the history of the Central Valley Project, from its roots as a state water project that stalled amid the Great Depression to its development as a federal project that stretches from Shasta Dam in far Northern California to Bakersfield in the southern San Joaquin Valley. 

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Aquafornia news April 8, 2021 ABC30 Action News

Thursday Top of the Scroll: California legislators want Gov. Newsom to declare state of emergency over water ‘crisis’

California’s hottest commodity could become even more scarce as state and federal officials announce water cutbacks on the brink of another drought. Now, state legislators are banding together to ask Governor Newsom to declare a state of emergency amid what they call a water crisis. … [State Senator Andreas] Borgeas authored a letter alongside the Assembly agriculture committee chair and several other state lawmakers to send to the governor. This comes after the California Department of Water Resources announced a 5% allocation to farmers and growers in late March.

Related articles: 

  • Monterey County Weekly: Water restrictions and housing shortage converge in a request for additional Carmel River water.
  • Marin Independent Journal: Marin Municipal Water District proposes mandatory conservation
  • AgriPulse: USDA, counties—not California—likely to declare drought emergencies
  • The Signal: Drought Shouldn’t Be Ignored
  • AgAlert: Farmers try to plan for a critically dry year​
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Aquafornia news April 8, 2021 California Department of Water Resources

Blog: Q/A with Delta Conveyance Project Executive Director Tony Meyers

In the first episode in the Delta Conveyance Team Spotlight video series, [DWR] spoke with the project’s Executive Director Tony Meyers about his long and eventful career in engineering, including work on some of DWR’s most ambitious and significant infrastructure projects. In this excerpt, he reflects on the appeal of large-scale engineering projects and speaks about the importance of the Delta Conveyance Project in protecting the security of California’s water supply.

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Aquafornia news April 8, 2021 Northern California Water Association

Blog: Managing water for multiple benefits – Why spring diversions on the Sacramento River are important

As we begin spring in the Sacramento Valley, the region illuminates – we see the brown landscape turn verdant, and the Valley bustles with activity as people share the hope of a new year and collectively cultivate a shared vision in the region for a vibrant way of life. With the dry year in Northern California, the water resource managers are working overtime to carefully manage our precious water systems including rivers, streams, reservoirs and diversions to serve multiple benefits. To effectively do this, water resources must be managed in an efficient manner, with the same block of water often used to achieve several beneficial uses as it moves through the region’s waterways. 

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Aquafornia news April 8, 2021 Water Education Foundation

Announcement: Explore California’s water basics & the lifeblood of the Southwest during upcoming virtual events

Our two-day Water 101 Workshop begins on Earth Day, when you can gain a deeper understanding of California’s most precious natural resource. One of our most popular events, the once-a-year workshop will be held as an engaging online event on the afternoons of Thursday, April 22 and Friday, April 23. California’s water basics will be covered by some of the state’s leading policy and legal experts, including the history, geography, legal and political facets of water in the state, as well a look at hot topics and current issues of concern.

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Aquafornia news April 7, 2021 The Modesto Bee

Opinion – Are water wars about to boil?

Not counting long and ugly court battles, the two most likely solutions to California water wars are voluntary agreements or involuntary edicts. Our Modesto Bee Editorial Board long has favored voluntary agreements, or compromises negotiated mainly between local irrigation districts (representing our farmers) and state and federal officials. The other side, chiefly represented by environmental and fishing interests, would prefer that the California State Water Board simply take huge amounts of water from our Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers, mostly to benefit fish — what could be called involuntary edicts. 
-Written by Garth Stapley, The Modesto Bee’s opinion editor.

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Aquafornia news April 7, 2021 California Fisheries Blog

Blog: Use of Shasta Dam TCD slide gates

The slide gates at the bottom of the Temperature Control Device (TCD) on the inside face of Shasta Dam (Figure 1) allow deeper, colder water in the reservoir to be drawn into the power plant intake penstocks and released to the river below. Use of the slide gates allows more colder water to be released for salmon in the river below in summer and fall in years when reservoir levels are low and the cold-water-pool is limited. In 2014 and 2015, NMFS and the Bureau of Reclamation learned that when the reservoir level is low and the slide gates are opened to access cold water, some warmer surface water is also drawn downward into the slide gate openings.

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Aquafornia news April 7, 2021 Restore the Delta

Blog: The dam problem for the Bay-Delta estuary

The dams that are built in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Watershed protect thousands of people and billions of dollar’s worth of agriculture but they are far too old and far too many of them need repair. Some unnecessary dams are drying rivers and putting business in front of the environment.

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Aquafornia news April 7, 2021 California Fisheries Blog

Blog: Drastic measure to meet Delta outflow

For seven days in mid-March 2021, the Bureau of Reclamation substantially increased Folsom Lake storage releases. Roughly, the releases tripled in volume (Figure 1). The release of over 20,000 acre-feet of water is significant for a year in which Folsom storage is not much better than it was in the worst year on record – 1977 (Figure 2).1 With the release in mid-March, the lake level dropped 3 feet. Yes, there was rain in the forecast and a decent snowpack, but certainly no flood concerns. So why? The reason was to meet state water quality requirements for Delta outflow. Delta outflow increased from 7,000 cfs to 12,000 cfs for a few days (Figure 3).

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Aquafornia news April 7, 2021 The Hill

Third-driest year reported in California

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has marked 2021 as the third-driest water year, a period marked from October to March, on record for the Golden State, potentially setting up another deadly wildfire season after last year’s record setting blazes. The department’s annual snow survey released this month recorded precipitation levels at 50 percent the annual average for the water year.  The dry conditions can also be seen in the state’s water supply, with the department reporting that California’s major reservoirs are at just 50 percent of overall capacity.

Related articles: 

  • Axios: Drought stokes fears of severe fire season in West
  • Santa Cruz Sentinel: Santa Cruz Water Commission unanimously recommends water restrictions
  • ABC7 News: Petaluma cattle ranchers brace for ‘worst drought ever’ as rainwater runs dry
  • Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Editorial: Getting ready for another dry year
  • Lake County News: Statewide snowpack well below normal as wet season winds down
  • NBC Bay Area: Climate in Crisis: Fire Season Changing
  • The Independent: California facing another drought and worse wildfires after unseasonably dry wet season, officials warn
  • Mendocino Voice: Inland reservoirs historically low as serious drought looms for Mendocino Co.
  • The Coast News Group: Water Authority says no water shortage, despite dry conditions throughout West
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Aquafornia news April 7, 2021 Ingrained

Podcast: Moving forward in a dry year

Tractors are working ground in the Sacramento Valley, as the 2021 rice season is underway. Whether it’s farmers, those in cities or for the environment, this year will pose challenges due to less than ideal rain and snowfall during the fall and winter. Jon Munger At Montna Farms near Yuba City, Vice President of Operations Jon Munger said they expect to plant about one-third less rice this year, based on water cutbacks. As water is always a precious resource in this state, rice growers work hard to be as efficient as they can. Fields are precisely leveled and will be flooded with just five-inches of water during the growing season. Rice is grown in heavy clay soils, which act like a bathtub to hold water in place. High-tech planting and harvest equipment also help California rice farms and mills operate at peak efficiency.

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Aquafornia news April 7, 2021 Maven's Notebook

CA Water Commission: Ensuring the reliability of the State Water Project, Part 1: Strategic Priorities and Programs

One of the California Water Commission’s statutory responsibilities is to conduct an annual review of the construction and operation of the State Water Project and make a report on its findings to the Department of Water Resources and the Legislature, with any recommendations it may have.  Having just finished the 2020 State Water Project review, the Commission has launched its 2021 State Water Project review with a theme focused on creating a resilient State Water Project by addressing climate change and aging infrastructure to provide multiple benefits for California. 

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Aquafornia news April 7, 2021 Western Farm Press

More water spending sought for West in infrastructure bill

As drought worsens in the West, a coalition of more than 200 farm and water organizations from 15 states that has been pushing to fix the region’s crumbling canals and reservoirs is complaining that President Joe Biden’s new infrastructure proposal doesn’t provide enough funding for above- or below-ground storage.

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Aquafornia news April 6, 2021 The Guardian

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: California is on the brink of drought – again. Is it ready?

California is at the edge of another protracted drought, just a few years after one of the worst dry spells in state history left poor and rural communities without well water, triggered major water restrictions in cities, forced farmers to idle their fields, killed millions of trees, and fueled devastating megafires. … Just four years since the state’s last drought emergency, experts and advocates say the state isn’t ready to cope with what could be months and possibly years of drought to come.

Related articles: 

  • E&E News: Megadrought: ‘Climate change starting to hammer home’
  • The Sacramento Bee: Felt a few raindrops in Sacramento? Well, don’t get your hopes up for lots of rain 
  • Chicago Sun Times: Out West, another dry year takes shape, as drought takes hold
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Aquafornia news April 6, 2021 The New York Times

A battle over water comes to a sweet end

Nearly five years ago we brought you the story of a little town an hour south of the Oregon border that was doing battle with a big timber company over who owned the rights to a pristine spring that gurgles in the shadows of Mount Shasta, the majestic snow-capped dormant volcano. After $1.5 million in legal fees and countless hours of argument and activism, the City Council of that town, Weed, Calif., recently approved a deal securing use of the water in perpetuity. It was a David-over-Goliath victory for Weed, population 2,700. 

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Aquafornia news April 6, 2021 Capitol Weekly

Podcast: Jeff Kightlinger

In this episode John Howard and Tim Foster welcomed the longtime but soon-to-be-retired Metropolitan Water District of Southern California head honcho Jeff Kightlinger for a wide-ranging discussion that covered the status of the Delta Tunnel Project, climate change and the snow survey, the drought, working from home, jukeboxes, his punk rock roots and Dan Walters‘ connection to the Zasu Pitts Memorial Orchestra. 

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Aquafornia news April 5, 2021 San Mateo Daily Journal

Fishermen worried over salmon season

With commercial salmon fishing in California likely headed toward a shortened season starting in late June, fishermen out of Half Moon Bay remain worried about what a short season means during an already down year. … The shortened season will be set based on an estimated low stock of chinook salmon derived from statistical modeling. An ocean abundance forecast of adult salmon estimated the Sacramento River in 2021 to have around 271,000 salmon, while the Klamath River had around 181,500, both lower than their 10-year averages of 487,600 and 449,000, respectively, Morgenstern said.

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Aquafornia news April 5, 2021 The Weather Network

Another California drought in 2021 is possible, along with more wildfires

It was in 2016 that the state of California declared a four-year drought had finally come to an end. Now, in 2021, it could be entering another very dry season. It is in the winter season that folks on the West Coast welcome dreary days packed with cloud and rain. California usually sees the most rain and snow in the month of February. This year, however, was different: It was quite dry all of the winter season, and we can blame La Niña for this pattern. … Thirty per cent of California’s water supply comes from the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges and only 57 per cent of normal precipitation has fallen this season. This, coupled with lower than average snowpack for 2020 as well, could spell trouble down the road when it comes to water supply.

Related articles:

  • Santa Rosa Press Democrat: North Bay braces for water cuts with reservoirs at record lows after second dry winter
  • Times of San Diego: Latest snowpack measurements indicate ‘critically dry year’ ahead for California
  • 23ABC News: Annual survey shows 2021 water levels are near historic lows
  • Los Angeles Times: Opinion: California Senate leader’s plan to avoid drought crisis
  • Capital Press: Drought emergency declared in Klamath County
  • SF Gate: Before-and-after photos of California reservoirs show looming drought 
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Aquafornia news April 5, 2021 California Department of Justice

News release: California Department of Justice expresses concern over proposal to allow exploratory drilling in the Suisun Marsh

The California Department of Justice (DOJ) filed comments with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) regarding Sunset Exploration’s proposal to drill for natural gas in the Suisun Marsh. Located in the San Francisco Bay-Delta, this 88,000-acre wetland is home to a number of endangered and threatened species, including California Ridgway’s rail, black rail, and Chinook salmon – and is just a few short miles from environmental justice communities in Solano County…. DOJ urges the Army Corps to fully consider the proposal’s significant environmental impacts, including harm to these communities and protected species, as well as increased greenhouse gas emissions, before deciding whether to grant the requested permit.

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Aquafornia news April 5, 2021 ABC7 San Francisco

California Dreaming: Farmers, scientists sustainably getting by with less water

Water covers 71% of the earth’s surface, but only about 3% percent of it is fresh water, making it the planet’s most precious resource. But what do you do when water is in danger of going dry? California’s Central Valley is no stranger to drought, and because of that, farmers and scientists are joining forces to figure out how to get by with less.

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Aquafornia news April 5, 2021 California Trout

Blog: Sierra meadows strategy – Moments that write history #8

In 2016—after two years of rigorous scientific study by CalTrout and its partners in the Sierra Meadows Partnership—the Sierra Meadows Strategy for restoring and protecting our state’s Sierra Nevada meadows was officially released. A key piece of CalTrout’s source-waters-to-sea approach to combatting the effects of drought and climate change, this strategy developed among a broad coalition of conservation partners aims to restore and conserve meadows throughout the Sierra Nevada, protecting a major source of our state’s water supply and critical habitats to fish and other species.

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Aquafornia news April 1, 2021 UC Irvine

Podcast: How drought and climate change threaten California’s water

Rain is scarce in much of California, and most of California’s people live in water-starved regions. And yet the state is, by some measures, the fifth largest economy in the world. How? Because during the last century, California has built a complex network of dams, pumps and canals to transport water from where it falls naturally to where people live. But climate change threatens to upend the delicate system that keeps farm fields green and household taps flowing. In this episode of the UCI Podcast, Nicola Ulibarri, an assistant professor of urban planning and public policy who is an expert on water resource management, discusses how droughts and floods have shaped California’s approach to water…

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Aquafornia news April 1, 2021 CalMatters

Opinion: With San Francisco Bay on life support, Newsom withholds the cure

San Francisco Bay’s life support systems are unravelling quickly, and a wealth of science indicates that unsustainable water diversions are driving this estuary’s demise. Yet, with another drought looming, federal and state water managers still plan to divert large amounts of water to their contractors and drain upstream reservoirs this summer. Meanwhile, the state’s most powerful water districts are preparing yet another proposal to maintain excessive water diversions for the long-term. By delaying reforms that the law requires and that science indicates are necessary, Gov. Gavin Newsom encourages wasteful water practices that jeopardize the Bay and make the state’s water future precarious. 
-Written by Jon Rosenfield, a senior scientist for SF Baykeeper.

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Aquafornia news April 1, 2021 Delta Stewardship Council

Council hires new Chief Deputy Executive Officer

The Delta Stewardship Council (Council) announced the hiring of Ryan Stanbra, the Council’s legislative and policy advisor, to the key post of chief deputy executive officer. … Appointed by Governor Brown in 2015, Ryan joined the Council in the role of legislative and policy advisor. He has played a pivotal role in advising on critical Council initiatives like implementation of reduced reliance on the Delta, interagency coordination and outreach for the Delta Levees Investment Strategy, increasing funding for critical science investments, and more. He has served in the acting chief deputy executive officer role since January.

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Aquafornia news April 1, 2021 California WaterBlog

April Fools Blog: Looking for a new challenge? Retrain as a Delta Smelt

The Federal government is beginning a program for the unemployed to retrain as much-needed Delta Smelt.  Following a two-day course, candidates will learn to: Seek out turbid waters; Spawn in sand at secret locations; Surf the tides; Make themselves present for counting in mid-water trawls. Major California water projects and water users are preparing to hire successful graduates for 1-2 year non-renewable contracts. 

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Aquafornia news March 30, 2021 NRDC

Blog: California and feds still plan to drain reservoirs & kill salmon

Updated water supply allocations announced last week would still drain upstream reservoirs in order to deliver 4.5 million acre feet of water to the contractors of the federal Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP), devastating fish and wildlife. This week, the fisheries biologists at the National Marine Fisheries Service projected that these planned operations are likely to result in lethal water temperatures that will kill 89% of endangered winter-run Chinook salmon below Shasta Dam this year. This mortality estimate is even worse than what was observed in 2014 and 2015, when salmon populations were devastated by warm water in their spawning grounds. 

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Aquafornia news March 30, 2021 KCRA

Lessons learned from previous California drought helpful in ‘dry years’

As the rain season comes to a close across Northern California, water districts are keeping a close eye on rain totals that are below average, and water managers are explaining what another “dry water year” means for our region. According to California’s Department of Water Resources, or DWR, the state is well into its second consecutive dry year. That causes concern among water managers. However, it comes as no surprise. … With the memory of drought years between 2012 and 2016 not too distant, [DWR information officer Chris] Orrock explained how lessons learned from that time period are still being implemented.

Related articles: 

  • Mammoth Times: Drought sets in; Sierra snowpack likely only 55 percent of normal by April 1
  • SF Chronicle: Bay Area temps to break into the 80s this week – when will rain return?
  • Bakersfield.com: COMMUNITY VOICES: The 2021 drought is already an emergency​
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Aquafornia news March 29, 2021 Water Education Foundation

Monday Top of the Scroll: California weighs changes for new water rights permits in response to a warmer and drier climate

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.

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Aquafornia news March 29, 2021 CalMatters

Opinion: Strong state oversight needed to ensure California’s wetlands are protected

When the first European explorers arrived in California’s Central Valley, they found a vast mosaic of seasonal and permanent wetlands, as well as oak woodlands and riparian forests. What remains of those wetlands are still the backbone of the Pacific Flyway; along with flooded agricultural fields, they support millions of migrating waterbirds each year. According to a just-released study from Audubon, tens of millions of land birds rely on the Central Valley as well… But today, the situation is dire. More than 90% of wetlands in the Central Valley – and throughout California – have disappeared beneath tractors and bulldozers. 
-Written by Samantha Arthur, the Working Lands Program Director at Audubon California and a member of the California Water Commission.

Related article:

  • Brinkwire: Over 65 million migrating birds stop in the same California town on their way south for the winter

  

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Aquafornia news March 29, 2021 The New York Times

Water shortages and fires loom after a dry winter

The lack of rain and snow during what is usually California’s wet season has shrunk the state’s water supply. The Sierra Nevada snowpack, a crucial source of water as it melts over the spring and summer, is currently at 65 percent of normal. Major reservoirs are also low. Two state agencies warned last week that the dry winter is very likely to lead to cuts in the supply of water to homes, businesses and farmers. The federal Bureau of Reclamation also told its agricultural water customers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to expect no water this year.

Related articles: 

  • Santa Cruz Sentinel: Early indicators of drought surface in Santa Cruz County
  • NBC Palm Springs: California Preparing For Another Drought? Local Experts Say The Coachella Valley Is Prepared
  • Ukiah Daily Journal: State issues water warning, Supes take heed please
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Aquafornia news March 26, 2021 Science News

Simple structures can help streams survive wildfires and drought

Many of the wetlands in the western United States have disappeared since the 1700s. California has lost an astonishing 90 percent of its wetlands, which includes streamsides, wet meadows and ponds. In Nevada, Idaho and Colorado, more than 50 percent of wetlands have vanished. Precious wet habitats now make up just 2 percent of the arid West — and those remaining wet places are struggling. Nearly half of U.S. streams are in poor condition, unable to fully sustain wildlife and people, says Jeremy Maestas, a sagebrush ecosystem specialist with the NRCS who organized that workshop on Wilde’s ranch in 2016. As communities in the American West face increasing water shortages, more frequent and larger wildfires and unpredictable floods, restoring ailing waterways is becoming a necessity.

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Aquafornia news March 26, 2021 The Press

California seeks input on Delta benefit program

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has announced a series of workshops intended to solicit public input on the development of a community benefit program associated with the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP). According to DWR, community benefit programs go beyond traditional concepts of mitigation. They attempt to provide greater flexibility in addressing possible community impacts associated with the major construction projects.

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Aquafornia news March 26, 2021 KCRA

Below-average winter prompts California water conservation

The second consecutive dry winter has prompted state water managers to reduce allocations to the state water project that supplies millions of Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland. The state Department of Water Resources announced this week that it will only be able to deliver 5% of the requested allocations following below-average precipitation across the state. That figure is down from the initial allocation of 10% announced in December. Many of the state’s major reservoirs are recording just 50% of average water storage for this time of year, and won’t see a major increase due to a snowpack that is averaging just 65% of normal, according to state statistics..

Relate articles:

  • Modesto Bee: Some water suppliers have just 5% amid drought. Oakdale district has surplus to sell
  • Marin Independent Journal: Marin water suppliers nearing decision on drought measures
  • The Ceres Courier: TID sets reduced irrigation cap amid dry year
  • Wine Business: California Vineyards Prepare for 2021 Drought Conditions
  • Brownstein Water: SWRCB Notifies Water Users of Potential Shortages; DWR reduces SWP Allocations
  • GV Wire: As Drought Warnings Rise, Will Local Water Restrictions Return?
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Aquafornia news March 26, 2021 San Francisco Estuary Magazine

Friday Top of the Scroll: Delta study predicts stronger floods and less water supply

[F]or those who live in the legal Delta zone – some 630,000 people – the braided weave of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and their maze of associated wetlands and levees provides a place of home, community, and recreation. And, as a recent study by the Delta Stewardship Council shows, climate change is tugging on the watery thread holding it all together. … The council’s overview reveals a grim outlook for the millions of people that are tethered to the region’s water: drought similar to that experienced in 2012-2016 will be five to seven times more likely by 2050. This will result in more severe and frequent water shortages and, as the report bluntly states, “lower reliability of Delta water exports.”

Related article:

  • San Francisco Estuary Magazine: Sub-Standard Snow
  • Landscape Architecture Magazine: Toward reclamation 
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Aquafornia news March 26, 2021 Grist

Farms, feathers, and fins share water in California

The rivalry between farms and wildlife for water and land was long seen as a zero-sum game, especially in California where water is such a precious commodity that the state’s water futures are traded on the stock exchange. That competition has been particularly sharp in the Central Valley: 95% of the region’s historic wetlands have transformed into farmland, and the region’s increasingly scarce water supply has been prioritized for farming. As a result, some of the migratory birds that rely on the Central Valley for habitat, food, and water sources have seen steep declines in the past century. 

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Aquafornia news March 26, 2021 California Department of Water Resources

Blog: New DWR powerplant turbine helps California achieve clean energy future

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) took another step in its ambitious efforts to reduce climate change impacts by replacing an old electricity-generating turbine with a new, energy efficient model at the Ronald B. Robie Thermalito Pumping-Generating Powerplant in Butte County that will help the Department achieve its goal of using 100 percent zero-emission resources by 2045.

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Aquafornia news March 25, 2021 Politico

Thursday Top of the Scroll: California’s drought is back, but nobody wants to hear it from Newsom

California’s drought conditions might normally prompt calls for shorter showers and shutting off sprinklers. But Californians are in no mood to hear it after a year of pandemic deprivation. Especially from Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is facing an almost certain recall election after imposing multiple rounds of business closures and constantly telling residents to stay home. … California is particularly parched because 2020 was not only dry, but extremely hot. Experts think the state is about where it was in 2014, when former Gov. Jerry Brown asked Californians to reduce their water use by 20 percent.

Related articles: 

  • Weather West: The Ridiculously Resilient Ridge returns…again
  • Axios: Climate-influenced “megadroughts” endanger the future of the U.S. West 
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Aquafornia news March 25, 2021 Half Moon Bay Review

Water war continues to affect salmon run

The upcoming salmon season doesn’t look promising for recreational and commercial fishermen on the Coastside. But environmentalists from the Central Valley are hoping to change that in the future by easing the movement of salmon between the Pacific Ocean and inland rivers. One of those rivers is the Tuolumne River. Its stewards at the Tuolumne River Trust are sounding the alarm over the river’s health and say that committing more water to this distant river will help the salmon populations more than 100 miles away in places like Coastside fisheries.

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Aquafornia news March 25, 2021 San Francisco Estuary Magazine

Flow rules stalled as tunnel advances

As California stares down the barrel of yet another dry year, alarm bells are already ringing over conditions in the Delta. Environmental groups, fishermen, tribes, and a host of others are calling on the State Water Resources Control Board to complete and implement a long-delayed update to the Water Quality Control Plan for the Bay and Delta (Bay-Delta Plan), to protect the imperiled ecosystem. At the same time, plans for a structure with the potential to divert more water than ever to southern cities and farms are creeping ahead. 

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Aquafornia news March 25, 2021 CBS Sacramento

California water officials tell communities to prepare for potential water shortages

An extra dry summer with potential for water shortages – that’s what state and federal officials are telling Californians to prepare for. Predictions for 2021 are bleak. Lake levels are low and the Sacramento region is not getting the spring showers many hoped for. According to the US drought monitor, most of the Central Valley is experiencing severe to extreme drought conditions. This week the Department of Water Resources lowered its expected forecast of water deliveries made to cities and farms by half. But any conservation restrictions would be up to local authorities.

Related articles:

  • KPBS: California’s Water Worries May Not Affect San Diego
  • San Joaquin Valley Sun: Feds suspend, Calif. cuts water allocation for Valley farmers
  • USA Today: Newsom taps Rob Bonta as attorney general, and California braces for water cutbacks
  • Danville-San Ramon: Citing weak rain year, Zone 7 asks residents to cut back water usage 
  • The Sun-Gazette: Friant-Kern Canal water allocation currently unchanged after storm
  • Sen. Robert Hertzberg news release: Hertzberg’s Drought Resilient Communities Act to Invoke Action against Looming “Megadrought”
  • AgAlert: Drought worries surface at Farm Bureau Capitol AG Day 
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Aquafornia news March 25, 2021 Northern California Water Association

Blog: Valuing water in the Sacramento Valley: Celebrating World Water Day

With World Water Day this week and the dry year emerging throughout the Sacramento Valley, we take this moment to reflect on the value of water as we cultivate a shared vision in the region for a vibrant way of life. We encourage you to watch and read the following vignettes that all showcase the value of water.

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Aquafornia news March 24, 2021 San Francisco Chronicle

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: Drought is real and California is now facing water restrictions

State and federal water officials have delivered their most dire warning yet of California’s deepening drought, announcing that water supply shortages are imminent and calling for quick conservation. Among a handful of drastic actions this week, the powerful State Water Board on Monday began sending notices to California’s 40,000 water users, from small farms to big cities like San Francisco, telling them to brace for cuts. It’s a preliminary step before the possibility of ordering their water draws to stop entirely. 

Related articles:

  • Patch: California faces water cutbacks as drought looms 
  • U.S. Bureau of Reclamation: Reclamation updates Central Valley Project 2021 water supply allocation
  • California Department of Water Resources: DWR Adjusts State Water Project Allocation Following Dry Winter
  • Metropolitan Water District: Metropolitan statement on reduction of State Water Project allocation to 5 percent
  • Westlands Water District: Westlands Water District Responds to Reclamation’s Delay in Access to Water Allocation for South-of-Delta Repayment and Water Service Contractors
  • Association of California Water Agencies: ACWA Statement on Reduced State Water Project Allocation
  • The Mendocino Voice: Lake Mendocino hits record low for March; water managers plead for inland residents to conserve
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Aquafornia news March 23, 2021 Public Policy Institute of California

Video: Water use in California

California’s water use varies dramatically across regions and sectors, and between wet and dry years. With the possibility of another drought looming, knowing how water is allocated across the state can make it easier to understand the difficult tradeoffs the state’s water managers must make in times of scarcity. The good news is that we’ve been using less over time, both in cities and on farms. While there are still ways to cut use further to manage droughts, it won’t always be easy or cheap to do so. California’s freshwater ecosystems are at particular risk of drought, when environmental water use often sees large cuts. Watch the video to learn how Californians use water.

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Aquafornia news March 23, 2021 Civil Eats

20 hotspots to start fixing nitrogen pollution in agriculture

Nitrogen pollution is one of agriculture’s biggest and most intractable problems. Crops can’t grow without the critical nutrient, and because sources of nitrogen are easy to come by—synthetic fertilizer is cheap and manure from large animal agriculture operations is plentiful—farmers often apply too much, to try to ensure the highest yields. Because plants can’t use it all, the excess makes its way into groundwater and washes into waterways where it contaminates drinking water and creates vast dead zones in oceans and lakes. … California’s largest hotspot unsurprisingly includes 21 counties that cover the Central Valley, America’s produce capital.

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Aquafornia news March 23, 2021 Manteca Bulletin

State warns of possible water shortages

California farmers relying on State Water Project water were warned Monday to prepare for potential shortages by reducing water use and adopting practical conservation measures.

Related articles: 

  • State Water Resources Control Board: Continued dry conditions prompt early warning about potential water shortages
  • The Economist: Snow drought is worsening the American West’s water woes
  • Ukiah Daily Journal: Drought and weed 
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Aquafornia news March 22, 2021 Los Angeles Times

Opinion: California needs to repeat history by passing new clean water laws

The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Act, California’s state clean water law, passed in 1969 and became the model for the 1972 federal Clean Water Act. Nearly half a century after passage of the landmark federal law, it is time for both the state and the nation to assess progress and chart a new course. Once again, California is leading the way with Assembly Bill 377, a new bill introduced by Assemblyman Robert Rivas (D-Hollister). Although new legislation is needed, the existing federal and California clean water acts have produced successes that should be celebrated.
-Written by Terry Tamminen, president of 7th Generation Advisors and founder of Santa Monica Baykeeper. 

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Aquafornia news March 22, 2021 Northern California Water Association

Blog: The collaborative habitat creator

When Ann Hayden first joined EDF in 2002, shortly after finishing her own stint in the Peace Corps in Belize and graduate school where she studied environmental science and management, she was immediately thrown into one of California’s thorniest water debates: the restoration of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Bay-Delta, the hub of the state’s water supply. She hit the jackpot when she was hired by Tom Graff, founder of EDF’s California office and a renowned water lawyer, and Spreck Rosekrans, who garnered the respect of the water community for his ability to understand the state’s hypercomplex water operations.

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Aquafornia news March 22, 2021 California Trout

Blog: Fish in hot water – Moments that write history #7

As of 2021, California is home to 31 distinct kinds of native salmon, steelhead and trout species, 20 of which are found only in our state. These fish are prized for their economic and cultural significance by local communities, and for their recreational attributes by anglers from around the world. But these fish face an alarming threat that can’t be ignored. If current trends continue, nearly half of these fish will be extinct within the next 50 years. How do we know this? And perhaps an even better question: what can be done about it? 

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Aquafornia news March 19, 2021 California Trout

Blog: Highlights from the Peter B. Moyle and CalTrout Endowed Professorship

The Peter B. Moyle and California Trout Endowed Professorship was established by a group of donors concerned with the conservation and management of coldwater fishes in California. The endowed chair honors Peter Moyle and the historical and productive working relationship between CalTrout and UC Davis, with an endowment fund resting at over $2 million. Dr. Andrew L. Rypel was appointed to this professorship as the inaugural holder in 2017, therefore this report reflects year-3 work on behalf of the chair. A total of 13 peer-reviewed scientific publications were produced by the Rypel Lab at UC Davis in 2019-2020.

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Aquafornia news March 19, 2021 Associated Press

Friday Top of the Scroll: Forecast for spring – Nasty drought worsens for much of US

With nearly two-thirds of the United States abnormally dry or worse, the government’s spring forecast offers little hope for relief, especially in the West where a devastating megadrought has taken root and worsened. Weather service and agriculture officials warned of possible water use cutbacks in California and the Southwest, increased wildfires, low levels in key reservoirs such as Lake Mead and Lake Powell and damage to wheat crops.

Related articles: 

  • The Marin Independent Journal: North Marin Water District approves Novato drought measures
  • Ukiah Daily Journal: Another year of drought in Mendocino County
  • Newsweek: With 66% of U.S. in Drought, NOAA Expects ‘Enhanced’ Wildfire Season
  • AgNet West: Secretary Vilsack Declares Drought Conditions in California
  • Patch: Riverside County On Track For Bone-Dry Year
  • The Mercury News: Opinion: Water conservation is a way of life in the Valley
  • Deseret News: Water restrictions could come early with 90% of Utah in ‘extreme drought,’ Cox warns 
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Aquafornia news March 19, 2021 Northern California Water Association

Blog: Managing water on our floodplains for multiple benefits: the proof is in the projects

Through collaborative projects, birds and endangered fish are returning to areas they once reared in more than 100 years ago. Partnerships among farmers, conservationists, universities, and state and federal agencies are proving that by reactivating our historic floodplains and using our bypasses during key times of the year, we can create high-quality habitat that produces safe haven and up to 149 times more food for salmon than the river. These key projects demonstrate some of the work being done on the wet-side of the levee.

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Aquafornia news March 18, 2021 SFist

Once again, Lake Oroville and other reservoirs are at drought emergency levels

If you were around here in 2014 or 2015, you were likely inundated with images of dried up reservoirs that looked like dirt canyons with little ponds in them, when a punishing drought forced the state to institute restrictions on water usage. Well, we’re likely headed for another summer of dried-up lawns (and wildfires) if Mother Nature continues to withhold the rain and snow that we need to make up for a super-dry November, December, and February.

Related article:

  • California Department of Food and Agriculture blog: Report on the 2012-2016 California drought
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Aquafornia news March 17, 2021 CBS Sacramento

Placer County leaders say collapsed bridge, under water for 60 years, poses new safety risks

Placer County leaders are supporting the removal of a bridge that collapsed 60 years ago near the confluence of the North Fork and Middle Fork American River in the Auburn State Recreation Area. … [Gary Estes, a board member for Protect American River Canyons,] said the debris poses threats to swimmers and kayakers. A sign posted on the State Route 49 bridge, where the collapsed bridge used to stand, warns people to use extreme caution around the steel and concrete debris.

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Aquafornia news March 17, 2021 Courthouse News Service

Feds may look at spring-run chinook salmon as genetically distinct

The National Marine Fisheries Service is considering whether the spring-run and fall-run Chinook salmon that occupy the rivers of Northern California and southern Oregon are genetically distinct.  The decision … would almost certainly result in a listing under the Endangered Species Act if seen as a separate species. … [T]he dams and reservoirs that have been installed at various points throughout the rivers of the West Coast create problems for spring-run Chinook that are unique and separate from their closely related cousins. It also allows the fall-run species to outcompete the spring run since they both are able to reach the same spots in the river to reproduce. 

Related article:

  • North Bay Business Journal: California salmon season delayed and shortened, angering North Bay fishermen​
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Aquafornia news March 16, 2021 Public Policy Institute of California

Blog: Finding a balance between supply and demand to get to groundwater sustainability

The San Joaquin Valley has begun to grapple with implementing the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Figuring out the math of balancing water supply and demand in ways that cause the least economic harm to farmers and local economies is challenging, and difficult tradeoffs are inevitable. We talked with Emmy Cattani, a fifth-generation farmer from Kern County, about some options.

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Aquafornia news March 16, 2021 ABC30 Action News

Valley farmers assess impacts of recent storms

Storm activity has been bittersweet for Valley farmers. In some cases, hail has damaged crops, making them unusable, while snow and rainfall are helping Central California recover from a water deficit. … Eric Engelman inspected his almonds in Fresno County after the recent back-to-back storms brought heavy rain and even quarter-sized hail to parts of the Valley. For foothill communities like Coarsegold, they even brough snowfall. … It’s a detrimental part of the almond growing process to experience hail. Any damage that was done won’t be known until closer to harvest. 

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Aquafornia news March 16, 2021 CalMatters

Opinion: As drought alarms sound, is California prepared?

We’re facing another very dry year, which follows one of the driest on record for Northern California and one of the hottest on record statewide. The 2012-16 drought caused unprecedented stress to California’s ecosystems and pushed many native species to the brink of extinction, disrupting water management throughout the state.  Are we ready to manage our freshwater ecosystems through another drought?
-Written by Jeffrey Mount, senior fellow, and Caitrin Chappelle, associate director, at the Public Policy Institute of California Water Policy Center.

Related article:

  • Santa Clarita Valley Signal: SCV Water releases water-shortage plan for public comment 
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Aquafornia news March 15, 2021 California WaterBlog

Blog: California’s new drought

As March begins to drag on with little precipitation in the forecast and few weeks left in California’s traditional wet season, we are in another dry year. This is California’s second dry year in a row since the 2012-2016 drought.  Statistically, California has the most drought and flood years per average year than anywhere in the US.  This statistical fact seems to becoming increasingly extreme, as predicted by many climate change models.

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Aquafornia news March 15, 2021 Eureka Times-Standard

‘We’re getting hit left and right’: Dwindling salmon runs to restrict 2021 commercial season

Dwindling Chinook salmon runs have forced the Pacific Fishery Management Council to shorten the commercial salmon fishing season. The Sacramento Valley fall-run Chinook salmon runs are projected to be half as abundant as the 2020 season while the Klamath River fall Chinook abundance forecast is slightly higher than the 2020 but is still significantly lower than the long-term average. During a press briefing on Friday morning, John McManus President of the Golden State Salmon Association said the added restrictions will deal a blow to commercial fishermen.

Related article: 

  • Daily Kos: Ocean salmon seasons slashed on much of California Coast due to low Sacramento, Klamath fish numbers​
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Aquafornia news March 15, 2021 Comstock's Magazine

Women in Leadership: Mary Paasch

In the Capital Region, water determines destinies. The 10-county area is both plagued by drought and one of the country’s most at-risk regions for catastrophic flooding. The physical existence of Sacramento and surrounding cities and the viability of the region’s heavily irrigated agriculture depend on water resources engineers like Mary Paasch. 

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Aquafornia news March 15, 2021 Sierra Nevada Conservancy

Blog: Megafires create risks for water supply

The forested watersheds of the Sierra Nevada are the origin of more than 60 percent of the state’s developed water supply. Sierra Nevada megafires that kill all, or nearly all, vegetation across large landscapes pose serious risks to this system. In the immediate aftermath of a fire, high-severity burn areas lack vegetation to stabilize soils. … The resulting sediment enters nearby creeks and rivers, degrading water quality and adversely affecting regional aquatic habitats.

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Aquafornia news March 14, 2021 Vox

Drought in California – Why 77 percent of the Western US is abnormally dry

The Western US is in the midst of yet another dangerous dry spell. The drought has been building over the past year, and since November, a greater stretch of the West has been in the most severe category of drought than at any time in the 20 years that the National Drought Mitigation Center has been keeping records. … Ryan Jensen saw the impacts of California’s last major drought firsthand while working for the Community Water Center in the San Joaquin Valley. When residential wells ran dry, students had to shower in their school locker rooms. To keep toilets running, some rural households relied on hoses slung over fences from their neighbors.

Related articles:

  • Associated Press: California gets another round of late-winter rain and snow
  • ABC10: Cold weather system bringing more rain, low snow to Northern California
  • Fresno Irrigation District: Dry Winter Conditions Prompt Postponing FID’s Water Deliveries
  • Georgetown Gazette: Snowpack below average
  • AccuWeather: Rain, snow to storm the West Coast​ 
  • ABC15 Arizona: How experts say climate change is impacting Arizona snowpack, water supply
  • The Denver Post: “They’re getting bigger, faster”: Colorado braces for what’s next after last year’s explosive wildfires
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Aquafornia news March 12, 2021 Maven's Notebook

Delta Watermaster update: Preparing for a dry year in the Delta; addressing problems in the south Delta

At the February meeting of the Delta Stewardship Council, Delta Watermaster Michael George updated the councilmembers on the efforts underway at the State Water Board to prepare for the increasing possibility of 2021 being critically dry.  He also gave an update on the efforts to address the deteriorating conditions in the south Delta.

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Aquafornia news March 11, 2021 Northern California Water Association

Blog: Celebrating National Groundwater Awareness Week in the Sacramento Valley

As we celebrate National Groundwater Awareness Week, the Northern California Water Association (NCWA) convened its groundwater management task force this week to help coordinate the various Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) in the Sacramento Valley and to advance groundwater sustainability throughout the region. 

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Aquafornia news March 11, 2021 Water Education Foundation

Announcement: Groundwater session added to April 22-23 virtual Water 101 workshop

Learn from top water experts at our annual Water 101 Workshop about the history, hydrology and law behind California water as well as hot topics such as water equity, the Delta and flows, new federal administration and more. This year’s workshop, set for April 22-23, will be held virtually and feature a presentation devoted solely to groundwater.

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Aquafornia news March 11, 2021 ABC10

How recent storms play into California’s drought position

Hail and rain blanketed much of the Greater Sacramento Area this week, though experts say it’s not likely to play a major role in the state’s drought position. … Having endured two consecutively dry winters, California’s snowpack in most areas is less than 75% of normal for this time of year, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center. Many water agencies in California have discussed water conservation measures, the center wrote in its latest drought report. The North Marin Water District in the San Francisco Bay Area has already considered voluntary and mandatory water conservation orders.

Related articles: 

  • Herald and News: Commissioners declare another drought for Klamath Basin
  • San Diego Union-Tribune: Pacific storm giving greater San Diego a soaking that’ll last 3 days
  • Colusa County Sun-Herald: Snow below average again
  • KTVU: Rain, hail and lightning soak the Bay Area​
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Aquafornia news March 11, 2021 KQED

The San Francisco Bay once teemed with oysters. What happened?

There’s one type of oyster that’s indigenous to the San Francisco Bay, and that’s the Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida). It’s named after Olympia, Washington, though these small, tangy oysters can be found up and down the west coast from Alaska all the way down into central Mexico. Olympias — or Olys for short — can still be found in the San Francisco Bay today. But scientists say pollution from agricultural runoff is too high for commercial fishing.

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Aquafornia news March 11, 2021 San Francisco Chronicle

Bay Area salmon season is expected to be much shorter this year, bringing higher prices

Bad news for salmon lovers: The quantity of fish in Bay Area coastal waters this year is expected to be far lower than in 2020. And fewer fish means less work for local fishers and fewer salmon in stores. The number of adult king salmon from the Sacramento River fall run is projected to be 271,000 this spring and summer, compared with last year’s estimate of 473,200….The limited season reflects a downward trend in the population of king salmon, also known as chinook, over the last decade because of drought and state policies that have limited the amount of water allotted to the parts of the Sacramento River basin where the fish spawn and juveniles spend their early months. 

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Aquafornia news March 10, 2021 Water Education Foundation

Announcement: Hot off the press! Our map of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has a new look

Our map of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta has been updated with a fresh, new look and new text and images to better tell the story of one of California’s most important ecological and water supply resources.  The new map explores the Delta’s importance as a haven for birds, fish and other wildlife, its vital role in moving water to farms and cities across California, and the array of challenges facing the Delta’s present and future.

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Aquafornia news March 10, 2021 The Mercury News

Editorial: Newsom should kill plan to drain state reservoirs

On the tail end of the second dry winter in a row, with water almost certain to be in short supply this summer, California water officials are apparently planning to largely drain the equivalent of the state’s two largest reservoirs to satisfy the thirst of water-wasting farmers. Gov. Gavin Newsom must stop this irresponsible plan, which threatens the environmental health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the water supply for about one-third of the Bay Area residents. We should be saving water, not wasting it. 

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Aquafornia news March 9, 2021 Public Policy Institute of California

Blog: Operating dams to better manage big storms can build resiliency to climate extremes

California’s large reservoirs are currently operated using historical hydrology and outdated assumptions about the state’s climate. Many experts are calling for changing how reservoirs are managed to reflect advances in weather forecasting, which can help the state adapt to a warmer, more volatile climate. We talked to Martin Ralph—director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography—about advances in this field.

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Aquafornia news March 9, 2021 Agri-Pulse Communications

Crowfoot calls for patience with voluntary agreements

Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said the Delta flows issue has been decades in the making and “it’s going to take some time to figure this out.”

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Aquafornia news March 9, 2021 Stockton Record

Road trip through the Delta for river towns, history, food and more

Today’s road trip features the Delta “super highway” of the 1800s, with plenty of water, quaint river towns, history and food along the way. From Stockton, you’ll travel a little more than 100 miles, so plan for a fun day-long outing. You’ll see every type of agriculture, levees built by Chinese labor after the early railroads were constructed, and boats and cargo ships travelling the same sloughs as did old steamboats and sailing packets. 

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Aquafornia news March 9, 2021 High Country News

Invasive mussels in aquarium supplies alarm wildlife managers

Zebra mussels — fingernail-sized mollusks named for their striped shells — are benign in their native Black Sea and Caspian Sea ecosystems. But they are disastrous almost everywhere else. Since they were first discovered in the Great Lakes in 1986, these rapid-spawning animals have infested every watershed in the Lower 48 except the Columbia River Basin….The mussel found in [a pet store in] Seattle came from the California distributor….

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Aquafornia news March 9, 2021 University of Miami

Blog: Should water be traded as a commodity?

In times of drought, California’s Central Valley is full of farmers hindered by the lack of water. And this region, where the bulk of the nation’s fruits and vegetables are cultivated, is driving up the demand for water. Although many farmers without easy access to water often buy and pump it in from their neighbors, droughts often fuel massive price increases. And this often makes water so cost-prohibitive that it can discourage farmers from even planting crops. This predicament led a firm to recently list water as the newest commodity on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Now, water futures are traded daily. This helps farmers lock in a price for water, so they have a cushion if a drought threatens their crop revenues.

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Aquafornia news March 8, 2021 HortiDaily

Blog: Will California remain leader in U.S. agricultural production?

[A] new 18-chapter book, written by agricultural economists at UC Davis, UC Berkeley and UC Riverside, addresses issues such as labor, water, climate and trade that affect all of California agriculture. … Water, climate and trade pose challenges and opportunities for California agriculture. In the last decade, water scarcity and decreased water quality, along with regulations to address these issues like the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, have prompted farmers to use scarce water to irrigate more valuable crops, as with the switch from cotton to almonds. 

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Aquafornia news March 8, 2021 The Denver Channel

The most vulnerable levees in the nation have a lot in common

The U.S. levee system — once considered the second largest piece of the country’s infrastructure ”rivaled only by the highway system” — is now nearly a century old and failing inspections far more often than it passes them. Only one in 25 federal levees are rated Acceptable. … Those systems can be found nationwide, from the Sacramento region in California to the south Florida seaboard; from Appalachia to North Dakota to the Mississippi River Valley. And the people who maintain those vulnerable levees say their problems are remarkably similar: systems that are too old and far too expensive for locals to fix, much less replace.

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Aquafornia news March 8, 2021 Lake County News

Water Resources to update supervisors on invasive mussel prevention program

The Board of Supervisors will hear the latest this week on the program that aims to prevent destructive mussels from infesting Clear Lake and will consider a proposal to extend a contract for using the former juvenile hall as a temporary support shelter for the county’s homeless residents. The‌ ‌meeting‌ ‌will‌ ‌begin‌ ‌at‌ ‌9‌ ‌a.m.‌ ‌Tuesday,‌ ‌March 9, and will be available to the public virtually only.

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Aquafornia news March 8, 2021 California Department of Water Resources

Blog: Multi-agency collaboration restores critical habitat for endangered Delta smelt, other native species

Native fish, including smelt and salmon, in the southern Yolo Bypass in Yolo County have new sources of food and shelter thanks to a project that successfully restored more than 1,600 acres of former cattle pasture. The Lower Yolo Ranch Tidal Restoration Project is a collaboration between multiple agencies including the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and Westlands Water District (Westlands) which serves western Fresno and Kings counties. The agencies are working together to meet a portion of state and federal requirements to restore 8,000 acres of tidal wetland habitat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

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Aquafornia news March 5, 2021 Stanford News

New research: How much do humans influence Earth’s water levels?

Water levels in the world’s ponds, lakes and human-managed reservoirs rise and fall from season to season. But until now, it has been difficult to parse out exactly how much of that variation is caused by humans as opposed to natural cycles. Analysis of new satellite data published March 3 in Nature shows fully 57 percent of the seasonal variability in Earth’s surface water storage now occurs in dammed reservoirs and other water bodies managed by people. … The western United States, southern Africa and the Middle East rank among regions with the highest reservoir variability, averaging 6.5 feet to 12.4 feet. 

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Aquafornia news March 5, 2021 Yale Climate Connections

New report: U.S. dams, levees get D grades, need $115 billion in upgrades

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave America’s infrastructure a C- grade in its quadrennial assessment issued March 3. ASCE gave the nation’s flood control infrastructure – dams and levees – a D grade. This is a highly concerning assessment, given that climate change is increasingly stressing dams and levees as increased evaporation from the oceans drives heavier precipitation events. … Climate scientists at Stanford University found that between 1988 and 2017, heavier precipitation accounted for more than one-third of the $200 billion in [flood] damage…

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Aquafornia news March 5, 2021 Yuba Water Agency

News Release: Cordua Irrigation District joins historic Lower Yuba River Accord

Yuba Water Agency’s board of directors today approved an agreement that adds the Cordua Irrigation District to the historic Lower Yuba River Accord, a model water management agreement that supports endangered salmon and steelhead, ensures water supplies for cities and farms and reduces conflict over water use.

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Aquafornia news March 4, 2021 The Santa Barbara Independent

Santa Barbara County extends state water contract to 2085

The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Tuesday to approve an extension of the county’s state water contract for 50 years, saying it would ultimately save ratepayers money. … Eight water agencies in Santa Barbara County, from the Carpinteria Valley to the City of Santa Maria, presently import water through the California Aqueduct. By 2035, their ratepayers will have paid off the $575 million construction debt for the pipeline that county voters approved in 1991 on the heels of a six-year drought. It extends from the aqueduct in Kern County to Lake Cachuma.

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Aquafornia news March 4, 2021 WaterWorld

Kleinfelder/Stantec team supporting critical California levee projects for US Army Corps of Engineers

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Sacramento District selected Kleinfelder and Stantec to provide engineering services for levee improvements on the Sacramento River in Northern California. The design project consists of seepage/stability improvements along the Sacramento River East Levee (SREL) downstream of the American River confluence in Sacramento. The project is part of the ongoing modernization of Sacramento’s aging flood infrastructure system.

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Aquafornia news March 4, 2021 ABC10 - Sacramento

California spring flood outlook 2021

Sacramento is typically ranked first or second in the country for the risk of flooding….This year, the California-Nevada River Forecast Center is forecasting a low potential for flooding due to spring snowmelt.

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Aquafornia news March 3, 2021 The Sun-Gazette Newspaper

Valadao hopes to pump funding into water infrastructure

Despite taking two years off from Congress, David Valadao (R—Hanford) is getting back to work by introducing new legislation to help keep water flowing in the Central Valley. Early this month, Valadao introduced the Responsible, No-Cost Extension of Western Water Infrastructure Improvements, or RENEW WIIN, Act, a no-cost, clean extension of operations and storage provisions of the WIIN Act. The RENEW WIIN Act would extend the general and operations provisions of Subtitle J of the WIIN Act and extend the provision requiring consultation on coordinated operations of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project. 

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Aquafornia news March 3, 2021 The (Vacaville) Reporter

Online public meeting planned to discuss groundwater sustainability

A part of the natural water cycle, groundwater is an important element of California’s water supply, especially in the Central Valley, where one in four people rely on it entirely. It is an especially important resource in the Solano Subbasin, a geographic area that includes Dixon, parts of Vacaville, Elmira, Rio Vista, unincorporated Winters, Davis, the Montezuma Hills, Isleton, Sherman Island and Walnut Grove. And every quarter, the Solano Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agency Collaborative, aka the Solano Collaborative, hosts a Community Advisory Committee meeting and will so again from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday. 

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Aquafornia news March 3, 2021 Los Angeles Times

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: This year will likely be critically dry for California

The winter storms that dumped heavy snow and rain across California early in 2021 are likely not enough to negate what will be a critically dry year, state water officials believe. California’s Department of Water Resources on Tuesday recorded a snow depth of 56 inches and water content of 21 inches at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada. The water content of the overall snowpack was 61% of the average for March 2 and 54% of the average for April 1, when it is historically at its maximum.

Related articles: 

  • The Mercury News: Sierra snowpack at 61% as new drought looms for California this summer 
  • NBC Bay Area: Seventh Driest Bay Area Rain Season
  • KTLA5: California likely faces a critically dry year, with reservoirs and Sierra snowpack already well below average
  • Tahoe Daily Tribune: Without a series of storms, California facing critically dry year
  • Ag Net West: California Snow Levels Low, Matching Water Storage Levels
  • Merced Sun-Star: Is California in for drought? Second dry winter evident in latest Sierra snowpack reading
  • ABC10: California’s grim water totals show ‘well below’ normal rainfall totals
  • The Weather Channel: Pattern Shift Likely to Bring Much-Needed Rain, Snow to Parts of California, the West Into Next Week
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Aquafornia news March 2, 2021 San Francisco Chronicle

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: California’s wet season nears an end with big concerns about drought

A disappointingly dry February is fanning fears of another severe drought in California, and cities and farms are bracing for problems. In many places, including parts of the Bay Area, water users are already being asked to cut back. The state’s monthly snow survey on Tuesday will show only about 60% of average snowpack for this point in the year, the latest indication that water supplies are tightening. With the end of the stormy season approaching, forecasters don’t expect much more buildup of snow, a key component of the statewide supply that provides up to a third of California’s water.

Related articles: 

  • The Tribune: SLO sees driest back-to-back Februaries in 150 years. Here’s when it might rain again
  • Manteca Bulletin: SSJID worried drought may be on the way 
  • GV Wire: ‘It’s Just Not Enough’ Says Senator Caballero About 5% Water Allocation to SJV Farmers​
  • FOX2 KTVU: Sierra snowpack measurement of season
  • Sacramento Bee: Opinion: As another dry year looms in California, key steps will make a resilient water future
  • CBS8: February rainfall was more than two inches below normal in San Diego
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Aquafornia news March 2, 2021 NRDC

Blog: Bad news – CVP and SWP plan to drain CA’s largest reservoirs

The Bureau of Reclamation and Department of Water Resources plan to allocate approximately 5 million acre feet of water this year – as long as California allows them to effectively drain the two largest reservoirs in the state, potentially killing most or nearly all the endangered winter-run Chinook salmon this year, threatening the state’s resilience to continued dry conditions, and maybe even violating water quality standards in the Delta.

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Aquafornia news March 1, 2021 The Reporter

Congress passes Garamendi bill to expand National Heritage Area into Rio Vista

Approximately 62 acres of land in Rio Vista, including the former Army Reserve Center, have been incorporated into legislation by Rep. John Garamendi, D-Solano, to increase the boundaries of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area. This bill, known as House Resolution 1230, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives Friday and will move on to the Senate. The bill is an expansion of bicameral legislation by Garamendi and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that was signed into law in 2019 to provide $10 million for community-based efforts to preserve the Delta’s cultural heritage as well as its historical landmarks. 

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Aquafornia news February 26, 2021 Times of San Diego

Water Authority to split $44.4m among local agencies after win in legal battle with MWD

The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors Thursday announced a plan to distribute a rebate of $44.4 million to its 24 member agencies across the region. They did so after receiving a check for that amount from the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to pay legal damages and interest after a long legal battle. The money resulted from the water authority’s decade-long litigation in Superior Court seeking to compel MWD to set legal rates and repay overcharges. 

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Aquafornia news February 26, 2021 Winters Express

Opinion: Nature nearby – Climate change and Putah Creek

How do you factor in climate change? It can be a worrisome question, yet, it’s one that rightfully so demands an answer. A question that seems to loom over us, especially those who work within and on behalf of the environment. Yet, it might be difficult to notice the effects of climate change on Putah Creek. A walk along the creek exposes you to native riparian habitat and birds aplenty. Surely, the Chinook salmon return to their historic spawning habitat along Putah Creek could only signal a more healthy and stabilized habitat.
-Written by Alli Permann, Putah Creek Council Education Program Assistant. 

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Aquafornia news February 26, 2021 KCET

Michael Preston: Helping sacred water heal people, land, spirits and salmon

Michael Preston grew up in the old village site of the Winnemem Wintu tribe, along the McCloud River in Northern California where the Shasta Dam has flooded spiritual and cultural lands. Since the 1940s, the creation of the dam has also blocked the usual migration of winter-run salmon, effectively endangering the species. Now, there are proposals to raise the dam by an additional 18.5 feet, which will cause further destruction. “Our tribal goal is to bring the salmon back … ” he said, adding that it’s more than just the fish. With the lack of salmon, which is a keystone species, other animals, such as bears, eagles and mountain lions are being starved.

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Aquafornia news February 26, 2021 Chico Enterprise-Record

Thousands of native plants placed near Sacramento River

The organization River Partners teamed up with California State Parks and Butte County Resource Conservation District on Thursday to host a flood plain restoration and reforestation event. The event was called the Bidwell-Sacramento River State Park Riparian Restoration Project and was held near the Pine Creek Access point of the Sacramento River in Chico.

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Aquafornia news February 26, 2021 The San Francisco Examiner

Opinion: The SFPUC is tarnishing SF’s record as an environmental leader

San Francisco has long been an international leader on environmental issues. However, water policy has been a stain on that record. … Many California rivers are overtapped by excessive pumping, but few are in worse condition than the Tuolumne River. In drier years, more than 90% of the Tuolumne’s water is diverted. On average, 80 percent of the river’s flow never makes it to the Bay. It’s not a surprise that the river’s health has collapsed. …
-Written by Bill Martin, a member of the Sierra Club Bay Chapter Water Committee, and Hunter Cutting, a member of the Sierra Club Bay Chapter’s San Francisco Group Executive Committee. 

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Aquafornia news February 26, 2021 Bloomberg Law

California must face water quality challenge in federal court

The Department of Justice can proceed with its claims that California violated state law when it changed its water quality control plan for the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta system in federal court, the Ninth Circuit ruled. Granting a partial stay of the state law claims in federal court is allowed in limited circumstances, but the federal government’s actions here don’t amount to the type of forum shopping that justifies a stay, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. 

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Aquafornia news February 25, 2021 Santa Clarita Magazine

Christy Smith appointed to Delta Stewardship Council

Former Assemblymember Christy Smith announced that she has been appointed by Speaker Anthony Rendon to serve on the Delta Stewardship Council. … The Council was created to advance the state’s coequal goals for the Delta – a more reliable statewide water supply and a healthy and protected ecosystem, both achieved in a manner that protects and enhances the unique characteristics of the Delta as an evolving place.

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Aquafornia news February 25, 2021 Colusa Sun Herald

Applications being accepted for 2021 Wetland Conservation Easement

Private landowners interested in enhancing, restoring and protecting wetlands are encouraged to apply for the Wetland Reserve Easements in California program facilitated by the Natural Resource Conservation Service. 

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Aquafornia news February 25, 2021 Delta Stewardship Council

Blog: Delta adapts – Assessing climate change vulnerabilities

As Executive Officer Jessica R. Pearson identified in her December blog on the Delta Adapts initiative, “social vulnerability means that a person, household, or community has a heightened sensitivity to the climate hazards and/or a decreased ability to adapt to those hazards.” With an eye toward social vulnerability and environmental justice along with the coequal goals in mind, we launched our Delta Adapts climate change resilience initiative in 2018. 

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Aquafornia news February 25, 2021 Northern California Water Association

Blog: A remembrance of George Basye

Many of my best days as a lawyer were spent driving through the Sacramento Valley and north Delta with George Basye (always in his Volvo).  As George neared his retirement, he wanted to ensure that I, as the successor to a number of his clients, understood the foundations of his client relationships.  George seemingly knew the history of every quarter section of land up and down the Valley.  He had a deep affection not only for the landscape but, most important to George, for the individuals and families who had settled and reclaimed the land and built the agricultural economy of the region.

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Aquafornia news February 24, 2021 Atlas Obscura

Cresta Aqueduct – Oroville, California

AT FIRST GLANCE, THIS STRUCTURE appears to be an enigma. It’s a bridge between two granite monoliths, an above-ground tunnel, and an aqueduct carrying water over a creek. This structure is actually part of an elaborate water system. The Feather River Canyon is a scenic wonder. Sheer granite slabs rise hundreds of feet above the water. Almost equally impressive are the measures engineers have taken to conquer this rugged terrain.

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Aquafornia news February 23, 2021 East County Today

City of Antioch breaks ground on water project in Delta

On Friday,  the City of Antioch, along with local and State dignitaries, broke ground on their new and historic Brackish Water Desalination Plant. At a price of $110 million, the project was made possible with $93 million in funding from the State, and $17 million from the City of Antioch.

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Aquafornia news February 23, 2021 Daily Democrat

Woodland council adopts initial phase of Cache Creek flood plan

Despite objections from some of the same landowners who have complained for nearly a decade that their property is being put at risk, the Woodland City Council has advanced its Lower Cache Creek Flood Feasibility Study. Acting this past week, the council voted unanimously to put the financial well-being of residents and businesses first in adopting an environmental impact report which favors a multi-million dollar project to divert Cache Creek floodwaters. 

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Aquafornia news February 22, 2021 ScienceDaily

New method to track genetic diversity of salmon, trout

Scientists at Oregon State University and the U.S. Forest Service have demonstrated that DNA extracted from water samples from rivers across Oregon and Northern California can be used to estimate genetic diversity of Pacific salmon and trout. The findings, just published in the journal Molecular Ecology, have important implications for conservation and management of these species, which are threatened by human activities, including those exacerbating climate change.

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Aquafornia news February 22, 2021 The Sacramento Bee

Obituary: George Basye, long-time water law practitioner

In 1955 he joined Downey, Brand, Seymour and Rohwer in Sacramento, becoming a partner in 1958 and specializing in water and natural resources law. He represented the California Central Valley Flood Control Association and over 30 reclamation, levee, water, and irrigation districts and mutual water companies in the Sacramento Valley. He was actively involved in negotiations leading to the water right settlement agreements between the Sacramento River water users and the United States in 1964. He formed the North Delta Water Agency and negotiated the agreement in 1981 between that Agency and the State of California, protecting water quality and uses within the northern half of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

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Aquafornia news February 19, 2021 DredgingToday.com

Spotlight on Hamilton City levee project

Home to just under 2,000 people, the history of Hamilton City includes many flooding events and several near misses. One of the primary reasons for this susceptibility to flooding has been the town’s reliance on a substandard and undersized levee called the “J levee” – a levee that does not meet any USACE engineering standards.

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Aquafornia news February 19, 2021 The Press

Delta Stewardship Council holds resilience scavenger hunt

Climate change is impacting the whole Earth, including the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. There are some big challenges ahead as the region changes over the next 30 years. In order to adapt to a world with increased flooding, drought, wildfire and intense heat, we need to start by understanding what’s going on. But where to begin? The Delta Stewardship Council is hosting a climate resilience scavenger hunt as part of its Delta Adapts initiative…. Now through Feb. 26, participants can complete as many activities as possible and submit their findings online. 

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Aquafornia news February 19, 2021 KSRO

California Sierra snow pack at 68% of average following series of winter storms

California’s Sierra snow pack is 68% of average after a series of storms in recent weeks. The Department of Water Resources says the statewide average is down slightly from the 70% number about two weeks ago during the last monthly snow survey. The snow pack was sagging at about 40% of normal back in mid-January.

Related article:

  • Outside Magazine: Is This Winter’s Sketchy Snowpack the New Normal?
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Aquafornia news February 19, 2021 KCRA

Millions of steelhead to be released throughout Central Valley

Steelhead season is underway in the Central Valley as three major hatcheries are set to release over 1.1 million fish into the Feather, American and Mokelumne rivers later this month. Steelhead are the migratory form of rainbow trout that make their journey to the Pacific Ocean and return to freshwater streams. 

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Aquafornia news February 19, 2021 KCRA

Revisiting one of the costliest storms in NorCal history 35 years later

It is the 35th anniversary of one of the costliest and devastating storms in the history of Northern California. From Feb. 11 to Feb. 20, 1986, a series of three storms, each stronger than the previous, brought record-setting rain that, in some areas, overwhelmed flood control measures. In the end, the storms claimed 13 lives, and the damage was estimated at $400 million. The storm also brought eventual changes to California’s existing flood control system.

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Aquafornia news February 18, 2021 Northern California Water Association

Blog: Our future in the Sacramento Valley – Serving water for multiple benefits

There has been recent commentary and discussion around a commodity futures market for water in California. In the Sacramento Valley, we are not involved in this process; nor are we participating in these contracts. Although we are not entirely clear on this market or what is being traded, it is clear that this new market does not involve real/wet water–which is our focus in the Sacramento Valley. We will continue to focus on serving water for cities and rural communities, farms, fish, birds, other wildlife and recreation.

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Aquafornia news February 18, 2021 Yuba Water Agency

News release: Yuba Water commits $6.5 million to improving forest health and reducing wildfire risk

Yuba Water Agency’s board of directors took bold action to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and advance landscape-scale forest restoration in the Yuba River watershed. In two separate actions, the board approved $6.5 million in funding for forest restoration projects as part of the North Yuba Forest Partnership. The partnership is a diverse group of nine organizations working collaboratively to plan, finance and implement forest restoration across 275,000 acres of private and public land spanning Sierra and Yuba counties and two national forests.

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Aquafornia news February 18, 2021 The Press

Delta study examines climate change effect

For the better part of the last two centuries, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has been modified in any number of ways to meet the demands of Californians. But a new wide-ranging study looks at what might be the most serious Delta threat that doesn’t come in the form of an excavator – global warming. 

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Aquafornia news February 17, 2021 Antelope Valley Press

Palmdale Water District to host informative meeting on fire

A local water utility company is set to share information about how the Littlerock Creek watershed was adversely affected by the Bobcat fire. Palmdale Water District will host a free, virtual event at 3 p.m. on Feb. 24 and provide information to the public about what steps are being taken to mitigate the damage. Much of the watershed has been burned and there is concern that potential heavy debris flow will create excessive sediment in the Littlerock Reservoir and affect water quality.

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Aquafornia news February 16, 2021 The Sacramento Bee / The Guardian

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Trump’s California water plan troubled federal biologists. They were sidelined

Federal scientists and regulators repeatedly complained they were sidelined by Donald Trump’s administration when they warned of risks to wildlife posed by a California water management plan, according to newly unveiled documents.

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Aquafornia news February 16, 2021 Chico Enterprise-Record

FEMA releases more funds for reimbursing Oroville Dam spillway repair costs

The process to recoup over $1 billion in repairs to Oroville Dam’s spillways after the 2017 crisis is receiving more federal funds. The Department of Water Resources announced Feb. 1 that the Federal Emergency Management Agency released an additional approximately $308 million in requested funds for the Oroville Dam spillways reconstruction and emergency response. These funds are in addition to over $260 million that FEMA has already committed to …

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Aquafornia news February 16, 2021 Daily Republic

Scientists still waiting to prove a Putah Creek-born ‘race’ of salmon

Scientists studying annual salmon runs in Putah Creek are still waiting for the absolute proof that fry born in the creek and leave for the ocean as juveniles are returning to spawn. However, since identifying one spawning fish in 2017 that was identified with a Putah Creek-Feather River origin, the University of California, Davis, and NOAA scientists have been collecting additional samples each year for analysis. 

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Aquafornia news February 12, 2021 Bakersfield.com

Local ag looks to spotlight its climate-friendly profile

The Kern County Farm Bureau issued a “call to action” this week asking local growers and ranchers to participate in a series of upcoming meetings that will influence the role California’s agricultural lands will be expected to play, or continue to play, in fighting climate change.

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Aquafornia news February 11, 2021 Columbia University

Blog: Rising water temperatures could be a death sentence for Pacific Salmon

In the Pacific Northwest, several species of salmon are in danger of extinction. The Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office has released a report on the state of salmon populations in the state’s watersheds — and the findings predict a grim future. … The population changes aren’t surprising to [scientist Daniel] Pauly. “This is what happens when temperature increases,” he said. “The fish are looking for the temperatures that they are attuned to, and if those temperatures are farther north, they move farther north. If you make a map from high arctic Alaska to California, the salmon stocks in California are essentially dead.”

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Aquafornia news February 11, 2021 Northern California Water Association

Blog: Dry year myths revisited

It might be hard to imagine that it has already been more than five years since we exited the extreme dry years of 2014 and 2015. At that time, local, state and federal water managers were taking unprecedented actions in response to the dry conditions to maximize beneficial uses and every Californian was feeling the impact of multiple dry years. … In their blog earlier this year, Fritz Durst and Brent Hastey outlined much of the work that has occurred since 2015 to prepare for the next dry year. In addition to those actions, we also have worked to better identify the timing and quantity of water needed during dry years to maximize habitat benefits with limited resources.

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Aquafornia news February 10, 2021 California Department of Water Resources

Blog Q&A: How is the Delta conveyance project financed?

In the latest Delta Conveyance Deep Dive video, we take a look at the financing mechanisms that make the project possible, both now, in the initial planning stages, and in the future if the project is approved. It might not sound like the most exciting aspect of the project but it’s certainly one area where there’s a lot of public interest and concern. With a project of this scale (the most recent estimate of the total cost is around $16 billion) it’s not surprising that people want to know who’s footing the bill.

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Aquafornia news February 10, 2021 Sacramento Business Journal

Cascadian Farm supports Nature Conservancy’s water research

An organic food company has committed $750,000 to studying a sustainable farming strategy in the Sacramento Valley. Cascadian Farm, a manufacturer of cereal, granola, granola bars and frozen vegetables, announced the partnership with The Nature Conservancy last week. The money will fund a trial on a strategy that could turn working farmland into wildlife habitat, regenerate groundwater and reduce flood risk.

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Aquafornia news February 9, 2021 Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc.

Citing support for a grand bargain, Water Board member calls it quits

State Water Board Member Tam Doduc believes the board will approve a Bay-Delta Plan that includes voluntary agreements with agricultural water interests.

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Aquafornia news February 8, 2021 Bureau of Reclamation

News release: Water America’s crops challenge

Reclamation maintains and operates over 8,000 miles of water distribution systems that use, among other means, reservoirs and canals to store and deliver water. Water lost to seepage reduces the efficiency of the water delivery to the users and can cause undermining/erosion, subgrade soil migration, adverse vegetation growth, and even canal failure….This prize competition seeks innovative solutions that can reduce the costs and burdens associated with installation and maintenance of seepage reduction methods, and improve durability in a range of climatic conditions.

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Aquafornia news February 8, 2021 Public Policy Institute of California

Blog: Building resilience for cities and farms with water partnerships

Moving from competition to cooperation can help solve water problems facing farms in the San Joaquin Valley and cities in Southern California, and better prepare both for a changing climate. At a virtual event last week, PPIC research fellow Alvar Escriva-Bou summarized a new PPIC report showing how cooperative investments in new supplies and water-sharing agreements can help address both regions’ needs.

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Aquafornia news February 8, 2021 The Sacramento Bee

Monday Top of the Scroll: Can Newsom end California water wars now that Trump is gone?

Shortly after taking office two years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to deliver a massive compromise deal on the water rushing through California’s major rivers and the critically-important Delta — and bring lasting peace to the incessant water war between farmers, cities, anglers and environmentalists. … [C]oming to an agreement as promised will require Newsom’s most artful negotiating skills. He’ll have to get past decades of fighting and maneuvering, at the same time California is continuing to recover from the worst wildfire season in modern state history and a pandemic that has since killed more than 42,000 state residents.

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Aquafornia news February 5, 2021 Manteca Bulletin

Despite storms, San Joaquin County, Sierra still in drought

Manteca, Ripon, and Lathrop may not see any more rain until March. The long-range forecast by Accuweather based off of National Weather Service modeling underscores the fact California isn’t out of the woods when it comes to the potential for 2021 being a drought year even with the recent heavy storms that dumped significant snow in the Sierra. The rest of the month is expected to see weather that has daily highs in the mid-60s to the low 40s with no rain anticipated until March 1.

Related articles: 

  • Antelope Valley Press: Powerful storm eased drought in parts of state
  • SFist: Bay Area Remains In a Drought Following Storms, Likely Will Not Reach Seasonal Average for Rainfall
  • Sierra Sun: Under average snowpack reflects statewide trend
  • VC Star: Recent storms may dampen fire risk but did little to help the water supply. Here’s why:​
  • The Journal: Winter recovering in Southwest Colorado, but intense drought lingers
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Aquafornia news February 4, 2021 CSR Wire

News Release: Cascadian farm commits $750,000 to The Nature Conservancy to rebuild wildlife habitat and restore groundwater on farmland in the Sacramento Valley

Cascadian Farm, a pioneering brand in the organic movement, announced its commitment of $750,000 to The Nature Conservancy to help rebuild farmland in California’s Sacramento Valley. The two-year investment will focus on partnering with farmers to rebuild wildlife habitat and regenerate groundwater on more than 25 million square feet, equal to 600 acres of farmland, in this key sourcing region for the brand.

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Aquafornia news February 4, 2021 Yale Environment 360

Water warning: The looming threat of the world’s aging dams

Tens of thousands of large dams across the globe are reaching the end of their expected lifespans, leading to a dramatic rise in failures and collapses, a new UN study finds. These deteriorating structures pose a serious threat to hundreds of millions of people living downstream…. In 2017, a spillway collapsed at the 50-year-old Oroville Dam in California’s Sierra Nevada foothills. It caused the evacuation of around 180,000 people. The 770-foot dam is the highest in the U.S. and, after repairs to the spillway, remains critical to the state’s water supply.

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Aquafornia news February 3, 2021 KRCR

Open spaces renamed with Wintu language in Redding

In an act of cultural appreciation, two open spaces in Redding are being renamed using the native Wintu language. What has been known as the Henderson Open Space along the bank of the Sacramento River in the heart of the city will now be known as “Nur Pon Open Space.” About $5-million have been spent in the area in the last 10 years, including the construction of a salmon spawning channel. 

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Aquafornia news February 2, 2021 KALW

One Planet: California’s ecological crisis and our relationship with its wild places

On this edition of Your Call’s One Planet Series, we are speaking with Sacramento Bee environment reporter Ryan Sabalow about his five part investigation, Nothing Wild: California’s relationship with the animal kingdom is broken. Can it be fixed? Invasive grasses are causing fires to explode, thousands of water birds are dying miserable deaths, and the sage grouse is at risk of disappearing forever. Sabalow explores California’s ecological crisis and our relationship with its wild places.

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Aquafornia news February 2, 2021 ABC7 KRCR

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: DWR secures additional $300M for Oroville Dam spillway repairs

The California Department of Water Resources has secured $308 million in funding to pay for reconstruction and repair work that has been done on the Oroville Dam’s spillways. The funds, released by FEMA, are in addition to the $260 million that the agency provided for repairs on the lower portion of the dam’s main spillway. Repair work on the damaged emergency and main spillways has been ongoing for nearly four years following February 2017’s spillway crisis. The $308 million announced Monday was at first rejected but later approved by FEMA following an appeal from the DWR last year.

Related articles: 

  • CA Department of Water Resources: FEMA Releases Additional Reimbursement Funds for Oroville Spillways Repairs and Reconstruction
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Aquafornia news February 2, 2021 Bay Area Monitor

New Delta carbon market could boost Bay Area water security

The Delta Conservancy has launched a new initiative aimed at fixing all these problems — carbon emissions, soil subsidence, and water security — at the same time. Called the Delta Carbon Program, the initiative entails a two-pronged solution. First, subsided islands are flooded, protecting them from the air and so arresting further soil and carbon loss. Then the newly inundated islands are re-vegetated with water-loving plants that rebuild peat, reversing subsidence and so reducing the risk of levee failure.

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Aquafornia news February 1, 2021 Santa Cruz Sentinel

The 1862 Megaflood and the ‘finger of fate’

While Global Warming only intensifies weather conditions, the geological record shows that Megafloods have occurred in California every century or two, likely triggered by “atmospheric rivers” dumping a conveyor belt of drenching rains out of the Pacific. The last Megaflood occurred in 1861-62, flooding all western states, putting vast sections of California underwater for months, ruining a quarter of the state’s economy, and pushing California into near-bankruptcy.

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Aquafornia news January 29, 2021 California Department of Water Resources

Blog: How does DWR manage water allocations to the state’s public water agencies?

The business of water allocations – simply put, who receives water from the State Water Project (SWP) and who gets to decide how much – is the subject of two new episodes in the Delta Conveyance Deep Dive video series.  In Part One, State Water Operations Chief Molly White explains the operations and regulations that govern the process of allocating water to the state’s 29 Public Water Agencies and addresses the question of how the proposed Delta Conveyance Project would affect that process. 

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Aquafornia news January 29, 2021 California Department of Water Resources

News Release: A late Christmas gift arrives for Lake Oroville fish

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) completed its yearly post-holiday tradition of recycling Christmas trees into prime habitat for fish species at Lake Oroville and the Thermalito Afterbay.   DWR’s Oroville Field Division and their local partners collect the trees and bundle them together as habitat structures that provide juvenile fish shelter to conceal themselves from predators. Providing these small fish with safe refuge areas boosts their chance of survival, thereby increasing fish populations in Lake Oroville and the Thermalito Afterbay.

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Aquafornia news January 29, 2021 San Francisco Chronicle

Feds ’shortchange’ San Francisco Bay – local Congress members want money for restoration

San Francisco Bay is dwarfed by the Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound and other treasured estuaries when it comes to federal funding, and California lawmakers want that changed. On Thursday, a contingent of Bay Area members of Congress introduced legislation that would boost federal money tenfold for restoration of the region’s signature waters. Under the proposal, $50 million a year for five years would flow to bay projects that reduce water pollution, support wildlife, revive wetlands and protect shoreline communities from sea level rise.

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Aquafornia news January 28, 2021 California Department of Water Resources

Blog: Water Year 2021 – How are we doing?

We are now past the halfway mark in California’s normally wettest winter months, and the wet season to date has been anything but. Most of the state has received less than half of its average annual precipitation to date. Coming after a very dry Water Year 2020 these conditions are concerning. More precipitation will certainly occur in February and March, but will it be enough to erase the state’s large deficit?  

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Aquafornia news January 28, 2021 Hakai Magazine

The ocean’s mysterious vitamin deficiency

California researchers now investigating the source of [the Sacramento River's Chinook] salmon’s nutritional problems find themselves contributing to an international effort to understand thiamine deficiency, a disorder that seems to be on the rise in marine ecosystems across much of the planet. It’s causing illness and death in birds, fish, invertebrates, and possibly mammals, leading scientists from Seattle to Scandinavia to suspect some unexplained process is compromising the foundation of the Earth’s food web by depleting ecosystems of this critical nutrient. 

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Aquafornia news January 28, 2021 Daily Republic

Salmon count in Putah Creek drops from 2019, 2018

The official salmon count for Putah Creek revealed just 140 individuals for the winter run. That was down from 550 reported last year and close to the same number the year before that, and is considerably lower than the peak of nearly 2,000 fish during the 2017 run. One count put the number for the 2019 report at closer to 1,500 fish.

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Aquafornia news January 28, 2021 Northern California Water Association

Blog: The floodplain forward – Bypasses and fish habitat

Today, 95% of the Central Valley’s historical floodplains are cut off from the river by levees. Built in the early 1900s to combat devastating floods, levees and bypasses were constructed to corral mighty rivers and push water quickly through the system. Even before invasive species, large rim dams, and Delta water export facilities were introduced into the system, salmon populations started to dramatically decline with the construction of the levees. Simply put, the levees prevented Chinook salmon from accessing their primary food source. 

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Aquafornia news January 28, 2021 UC Davis

News release: Eye-popping research helps inform salmon and floodplain management

If you look deep into the eyes of a fish, it will tell you its life story. Scientists from the University of California, Davis, demonstrate that they can use stable isotopic analysis of the eye lenses of freshwater fish—including threatened and endangered salmon—to reveal a fish’s life history and what it ate along the way. They conducted their study, published today in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution, through field-based experiments in California’s Central Valley. The study carries implications for managing floodplains, fish and natural resources; prioritizing habitat restoration efforts; and understanding how landscape disturbances impact fish.

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Aquafornia news January 27, 2021 Los Angeles Times

California salmon deaths traced to thiamine deficiency

The biologists working in a fish hatchery near Shasta Dam grew increasingly concerned last year when newly hatched salmon fry began to act strangely — swimming around and around, in tight, corkscrewing motions, before spiraling to their deaths at the bottom of the tanks. … [S]cientists eventually unlocked part of the mystery: The fish had a deficiency of thiamine, or vitamin B1.

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Aquafornia news January 27, 2021 Audubon

Blog: Tens of millions of western birds depend on these two regions during migration

Each spring and fall, an estimated 1 billion birds migrate through the Pacific Flyway, which snakes down from Alaska, along the West Coast of the United States and Mexico, and into South America. … Now new research reveals what has been long-suspected but never confirmed: California’s Central Valley and the Colorado River Delta are hotspots for North America’s migratory landbirds. 

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Aquafornia news January 26, 2021 San Francisco Chronicle

Opinion: San Francisco – Save the river you drink from

San Francisco rightly prides itself on being an environmental leader. Given this deep commitment to protecting the environment, the city’s water agency — the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission — should be a leader in smart, sustainable water policy. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. But Mayor London Breed now has a once-in-a-decade chance to turn the SFPUC in a new direction by appointing a progressive, visionary new general manager who reflects the city’s values. San Francisco’s Bay-Delta ecosystem and the Central Valley rivers that feed it are in steep decline…
-Written by John McManus, president of the Golden State Salmon Association, and Kate Poole, the water lead for the Natural Resources Defense Council. 

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Aquafornia news January 25, 2021 Regional Water Authority

News release: Michelle Banonis selected as RWA manager of strategic affairs

The Regional Water Authority (RWA) is delighted to announce that Michelle Banonis has been selected as the organization’s new Manager of Strategic Affairs. Banonis has over two decades of experience in water, ecosystems, engineering, policy, and law, and most recently served as the Assistant Chief Deputy Director of the California Department of Water Resources where she worked on water-related issues of statewide significance with multiple interests.

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Aquafornia news January 25, 2021 California WaterBlog

Blog: A Swiss cheese model for fish conservation in California

California water issues are notoriously complicated by a massive diversity of users, ecosystems, applications and futures. Indeed, water in the Delta has been described as a “wicked problem” indicating that these problems cannot be ignored and defy straightforward characterization and solutions. Below we highlight how a Swiss cheese model might be applied to vexing long-term declines in native fish populations in California.

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Aquafornia news January 22, 2021 Los Angeles Times

Biden faces tough climate balancing act on public lands

The Trump administration left President Biden a dilemma in the California desert: a plan to remove protections from millions of acres of public lands and open vast areas to solar and wind farms. Biden’s team could easily block the proposed changes, which were slammed by conservationists as a last-gasp effort by the outgoing administration to support private industry at the expense of wildlife habitat and treasured landscapes….There are also places to put solar and wind installations besides intact habitat, including Central Valley farmland with dwindling water supplies … 

Related articles:

  • CapRadio: Biden’s Climate Orders Help California, But Will Also Challenge The State To Do Better, Experts Say
  • Scientific American: Here Are All the Climate Actions Biden Took on Day One
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Aquafornia news January 22, 2021 Bloomberg Law

Friday Top of the Scroll: California water operations among Biden agency review plans

California’s tussle with federal authorities over water operations will get a second look under the new administration of President Joe Biden. The 46th president plans to sign a number of executive orders, including one that instructs agency heads to review actions taken under President Donald Trump that “were harmful to public health, damaging to the environment, unsupported by the best available science, or otherwise not in the national interest.” On the list for both the departments of Commerce and Interior is a review of new biological opinions adopted in 2019 governing water delivery in California. 

Related article: 

  • The Guardian: California has environmental allies once again with Biden in the White House​
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Aquafornia news January 21, 2021 Colusa Sun Herald

Virtual workshop planned about Well Monitoring Pilot Program

The Colusa and Glenn Groundwater Authorities will host an online workshop about a Well Monitoring Pilot Program the agencies are implementing.  The voluntary, non-regulatory program will gather information about groundwater use in the Colusa Subbasin while also providing participants with near-real time access to information on well production and groundwater levels at their wells, according to a press release. 

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Aquafornia news January 20, 2021 California Farm Water Coalition

Blog: Delta smelt remain on the brink of extinction – We can change that

Recent fish surveys confirm what many biologists, ecologists, and water experts have known for some time – Delta smelt remain on the brink of extinction. Zero Delta smelt were found in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s recent Fall Midwater Trawl Survey. Even the Enhanced Delta Smelt Monitoring Program, which is specifically designed to capture the tiny fish, only successfully caught two Delta smelt from September 8 to December 11, 2020.

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Aquafornia news January 20, 2021 U.S. Department of Justice

News release: Agricultural developer agrees to pay clean water act fines, mitigate impacts to sensitive streams and wetlands

A California agricultural developer has agreed to pay a civil penalty, preserve streams and wetlands, effect mitigation, and be subject to a prohibitory injunction to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) on property near the Sacramento River located in Tehama County, California, the Justice Department announced today.  Roger J. LaPant Jr. purchased the property in this case in 2011 and sold it in 2012…

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Aquafornia news January 20, 2021 Northern California Water Association

Blog: Water resources managers in the Sacramento Valley are preparing for a dry year

While they remain hopeful the rest of winter will provide much more rain and snow, water resources managers in the Sacramento Valley are preparing for the potential for a dry year. While the prospect of a dry year is always jarring and challenging, we have confidence in the experience and knowledge that our water resources managers gained in 2014-15, and the strategies this region has implemented since that time to prepare for a dry year.

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Aquafornia news January 19, 2021 Red, Green, and Blue

Chinook salmon are able to ascend Upper Auburn Ravine to spawn

Chinook salmon have spawned for millennia in Auburn Ravine Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River in Northern California northeast of Sacramento, but biologists have been uncertain if salmon could get past the Chaparral Cascades. … Now there is proof that salmon can get through the cascades to spawn upstream. A local resident noticed salmon spawning about 375 yards upstream from the Chaparral Cascades on November 5, 2016 and preserved video proof of that…

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Aquafornia news January 13, 2021 CalMatters

Opinion: 3 critical lessons California offers to improve restoration of land on a global scale

California has lost more than 90% of its wetlands since the arrival of European settlers. Wetlands play an increasingly crucial role in absorbing excess water and protecting coastal and inland communities from flooding. They also provide critical habitat for wildlife, including a variety of species found nowhere else on Earth, some of which are at risk of blinking out of existence…. we’ve identified three critical lessons California has to offer the world to improve restoration on a global scale…
-Written by Julie Rentner, president of River Partners, and Manuel Oliva, CEO of Point Blue Conservation Science.

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Aquafornia news January 11, 2021 Northern California Water Association

Blog: Salmon recovery work in the Sacramento Valley shows promise as we start the new year

In the latter part of 2020, various actions were implemented in the Sacramento Valley to promote salmon recovery that point positive as we begin 2021.  Even during a global pandemic, partners were working together on efforts to advance science to inform salmon recovery decisions and tangible projects to improve habitat for fish

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Aquafornia news January 6, 2021 Inside Climate News

Harnessing rice fields to resurrect California’s endangered salmon

California’s labyrinthine system of dams and levees cut off once roaring rivers from millions of acres of their floodplains, drastically reducing the habitat and food salmon need to thrive. Climate change may hasten extinctions by raising water temperatures and disrupting flows with bigger floods and more frequent and severe droughts, which also threaten to reignite conflicts over increasingly scarce water. But such dire prospects have inspired a novel alliance in one of the most productive agricultural valleys in the country, which has turned adversaries into allies to offer salmon and other threatened wildlife a lifeline.

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Aquafornia news January 4, 2021 Woodland Daily Democrat

Sites Reservoir receives $13.7 million in federal spending bill

The Sites Reservoir was awarded $13.7 million in the 2021 federal spending bill. The 2021 federal spending bill … included $1.4 trillion to fund government agencies and a $900 billion pandemic relief package. Sites Reservoir is proposed for construction in remote ranch lands in Colusa County, about 70 miles north of Sacramento. It was originally given a $5.1 billion price tag, but the Sites Project Authority reduced it to $3 billion in May.

Related article:

  • Bureau of Reclamation news release: Trump Administration advances plan to create new water storage in Northern California
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Aquafornia news December 21, 2020 Army Corps of Engineers

Blog: Sacramento District quick to adapt in face of COVID

USACE Sacramento District has a proven track record of facing challenges head-on. When 2020 brought with it the Novel Coronavirus, the District responded quickly to address the needs of a rapidly changing work environment…This year marked the start of major construction on the [American River Common Features] project, and the pandemic hit just as crews were mobilizing, meaning both USACE and its contractors faced unexpected public impacts.

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Aquafornia news December 18, 2020 Water Forum

News release: Water Forum names Jessica Law as executive director

The Water Forum is pleased to announce the selection of Jessica Law as its new Executive Director. The Water Forum is a diverse group of local governments, environmentalists, water managers, businesses and others working together to balance the coequal goals of providing reliable water supplies for the Sacramento region and preserving the environment of the Lower American River.

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Aquafornia news December 18, 2020 Northern California Water Association

Blog: Our blessings in the Sacramento Valley: water + land + sunlight

 As we reflect on this tumultuous year, we have much to be thankful and a lot to learn. Along with the truly special people that grace our lives, we are all thankful for the Sacramento Valley’s unique combination of water, land and sun–the essential ingredients for bountiful life and the amazing biodiversity of our region.

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Aquafornia news December 14, 2020 Woodland Daily Democrat

Opinion: Statewide network would improve floodplains

In California’s contentious water battles, finding points of agreement is a challenging task as diverse interests compete for a steadily dwindling, essential natural resource. By pulling together these diverse interests, we found a way to make progress towards improving what is arguably California’s hardest-working floodplain, the 60,000-acre Yolo Bypass.
-Written by Jim Provenza and Gary Sandy, Yolo County Supervisors, and Robin Kulakow, founder of the Yolo Basin Foundation.

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Aquafornia news November 30, 2020 California WaterBlog

Blog: Functional flows can improve environmental water management in California

Over the past three years, a team of scientists from universities, NGOs, and state agencies across California have been working to provide guidance on how to better manage river flows for freshwater ecosystems throughout the state. A key product of this effort is the California Environmental Flows Framework (Framework), a guidance document and set of tools to help managers and stakeholders develop environmental flow recommendations for California’s rivers.

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Aquafornia news November 30, 2020 Redding Record-Searchlight

Groups bash Trump administration report on raising height of Shasta Dam

While Republican members of Congress praised the most recent step toward approving raising the height of Shasta Dam, fishing and environmental groups criticized it as the illegal actions of a “lame duck federal agency.”

Related articles:

  • Sierra Nevada Ally: Blog: Raising Shasta Dam – completely erasing the Winnemem Wintu   
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Aquafornia news November 23, 2020 The Fresno Bee

Opinion: Tom Birmingham: Why restoring tidal marsh is good for SJ Valley farmers

Why would a public water agency that exists primarily to serve irrigation water to farmers on the west side of Fresno and Kings counties undertake an ecosystem restoration project in the Delta?

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Aquafornia news November 23, 2020 Action News Now

Sacramento River salmon restoration will continue with new $10M federal grant

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has provided a $10 million grant to Chico State and its partners to re-establish juvenile salmon and salmonid habitats along the Sacramento River.

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Aquafornia news November 20, 2020 San Joaquin Valley Sun

Westlands celebrates habitat restoration following third straight year of finding zero Delta Smelt

Westlands Water District announced Wednesday that it recently completed the Lower Yolo Restoration Project, which restored the habitat for fish and other wildlife species in part of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. … The land had been previously used for cattle grazing, and now it has transformed into tidal marsh, riparian and upland buffer habitat. 

Related articles:

  • Endangered Species Law & Policy: Blog: Smelt get a review, but no change in status
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Aquafornia news November 20, 2020 Northern California Water Association

Blog: State investing in Sacramento Valley salmon recovery

The California Natural Resources Agency recently announced the investment of almost $50 million in Proposition 68 funding for projects to promote salmon recovery. More than $220 million in Proposition 1 and Proposition 68 funds have also been dedicated for multi-benefit flood protection projects in the past two years that will benefit salmon.

Related articles:

  • Estuary Magazine: Study: Estimates of salmon lost to Delta pumps outdated
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Aquafornia news November 20, 2020 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

News release: Trump administration finalizes Shasta Dam raise plan to increase water storage for Californians and the environment

The Trump Administration Thursday released the Shasta Lake Water Resources Investigation Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to increase water storage capacity in the Shasta Lake reservoir by 634,000 acre-feet,

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Aquafornia news November 20, 2020 KCRA TV

What’s that digging in the Delta?

Work crews have been busy this week along Twin Cities Road near Courtland. They are conducting core sampling, the first step in drafting an environmental impact report for a tunnel plan known as the Delta Conveyance Project.

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Aquafornia news November 19, 2020 SJV Water

Kern farmers tapped for $14 million to study Delta tunnel

The Kern County Water Agency board of directors voted unanimously to approve an agreement with the Department of Water Resources to pay $14 million over 2021 and 2020 as its initial share of the early planning and design phase for what’s now being called the Delta Conveyance Facility.

Related article:

  • California Department of Water Resources: Blog: Q/A: How would the proposed Delta Conveyance Project address climate change in California?
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