Stretching along the eastern edge of the state, the Sierra Nevada
region incorporates more than 25 percent of California’s land
area and forms one of the world’s most diverse watersheds.
It features granite cliffs, lush forests and alpine meadows on
the westside, and stark desert landscapes at the base of the
eastside. Wildlife includes bighorn sheep, mule deer, black bear
and mountain lions, hawks, eagles, and trout.
The majority of total annual precipitation – in the form of rain
and snow – falls in the Sierra Nevada. Snowmelt from the Sierra
provides water for irrigation for farms that produce half of the
nation’s fruit, nuts and vegetables, and also is a vital source
for dairies, which have made California the largest milk producer
in the country.
In addition, Sierra snowmelt provides drinking water to Sierra
Nevada residents and a portion of drinking water to 23 million
people living in cities stretching from the Bay Area to Southern
California.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is urging nearly
3 million water customers throughout the Bay Area to cut water
usage by 10%, as it declares a water shortage emergency due to
the ongoing drought. … By declaring the emergency, the agency
would be able to access water reserves and resources only
available during emergencies, officials said. Under the
measure, customers are urged to reduce water usage by 10%
compared to 2019-2020 levels…. Along with providing
water to San Francisco, the agency also has customers in
portions of Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
While the U.S. Forest Service pours resources into a runaway
battle on wildfire, it is losing the
war over water. About half of Western
water supply originates on national forest
land. But before that water reaches the West’s
major cities or great rivers, much
of it has already been claimed. Thousands of
farmers, ranchers, cities, housing developments and
industrial users pump water from the ground, channel
it away from streams into ditches or pipelines, and hold it
back in ponds and reservoirs — all to use public
water, often for private purposes.
The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday
approved a bipartisan bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Blake Moore
(R-UT) to better manage conservation efforts for saline lake
ecosystems and migratory birds in the West. … The Saline
Lake Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Program Act of 2021,
H.R. 5345, which Rep. Moore introduced on Sept. 23 with lead
original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), would
authorize the director of the United States Geological Survey
(USGS) to establish a regional program to assess, monitor and
benefit the hydrology of saline lakes in the Great Basin …
Don’t hold your breath for California’s drought ending with
this winter’s rains. Instead, you’d do well to hold your shower
time to a minimum. There’s less than a 40% chance of water
supplies getting back to normal after this winter, with a
slightly better than 50% chance that the state’s drought will
worsen, according to forecasters at a Monday, Nov. 22, drought
webinar hosted by the National Integrated Drought Information
Center.
The Placer County Water Agency entertained dozens of guests
Nov. 4 for tours of its Ophir Pump Station and, a short drive
away, the Foothill Water Treatment Plant in Newcastle. There
were pastries and beverages at the Ophir Station and gift bags
at Foothill. Presentations were made, pictures taken, questions
asked and speeches given – all with beaming smiles, and reason
to celebrate.
The amount of fire activity in the Sierra Nevada region may be
on track to considerably increase, according to new research on
the effects of the hottest summer days on fire risk. In an
article published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances,
researchers predicted the ramifications associated with hotter
summer days increasing in frequency. They estimate the number
of fires in the Sierra Nevada could increase by at least 19%
and as much as 83% by the 2040s.
California is likely to emerge from the winter with little
relief from drought, federal climate experts said Thursday,
setting the stage for a third year of dry weather and
continuing water shortages. The monthly climate report from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects that
drought conditions will persist in almost all of California
through February. With the next three months historically the
state’s wettest, the opportunity for drought recovery is
essentially lost.
At the top of Donner Summit, an old cabin rests in a thicket of
tall trees. … The cabin is the home of an obscure laboratory,
called the Central Sierra Snow Lab, that holds records of
snowfall on Donner Summit dating back to 1878. That makes the
laboratory’s measurements one of the longest sets of data on
snowfall in the world — and many of those records were written
by hand, in long-form cursive penned on dated entries in small
red notebooks.
Lake Tahoe’s water quality and clarity are in good condition
following this summer’s devastating Caldor Fire, new research
showed. According to the League to Save Lake Tahoe, citizen
volunteers from its Pipe Keepers program collected stormwater
samples during an atmospheric river storm on Oct. 24. The
samples came from 25 sites on Tahoe’s south shore, including 16
storm water pipes and eight stream sites that drain the areas
burned by the Caldor Fire.
Naturalists have long noted isolated examples of tree roots
boring far down through loose soil and into the unforgiving
bedrock below—rare incursions that were deemed a mere
curiosity. But in 2013 hydrologist Daniella Rempe probed deep
into a northern California hillside and found tree roots
extracting substantial amounts of moisture from pores and
crannies in the rock, where groundwater had seeped in and
become trapped.
The Sierra Nevada mountains are the source of more than 60% of
California’s water, with much of that originating in small
headwater streams. Unfortunately, the water supply and water
quality coming from these streams is at risk from record
setting wildfires, climate change, loss of riparian habitats,
and the extensive network of forest roads.
Calif.’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) today announced
its fourth round of funding through the Small Community Drought
Relief program. This fourth round will provide $25 million to
14 projects. DWR and the State Water Resources Control Board
identified the 14 projects for funding in 10 counties: Tulare,
Lake, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sonoma, Humboldt, Santa Barbara, San
Mateo, Yolo and Colusa.
Mountain snowpacks around the world are in decline. And as the
planet continues to warm, climate models forecast that
snowpacks will shrink dramatically and possibly even disappear
altogether on certain mountains, including in the western
United States. A new study by researchers at several
institutions, including UC Santa Barbara and Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), analyzes the likely timing
of a low-to-no-snow future, what it will mean for water
management, and opportunities for investments now that could
stave off catastrophic consequences.
You probably know that California’s recent torrential storms
were not enough to end the drought. The state has been so
parched for so long that the rains, while welcome, did not
provide much more than a few drops in the metaphorical bucket.
But the downpour did help quash two of the year’s worst fires
and nourish lands that had been tinder-dry for months. So, you
might be wondering, did the showers at least save us from a
severe fall fire season?
“My girlfriend tells me I smell like trash,” says Colin West.
And he takes that as a compliment. West spends 40 to 60 hours a
week scuba diving Lake Tahoe to locate and remove submerged
trash. On the day I spoke with him, he and a group of divers
had collected 576 pounds of underwater garbage, including a
massive monster truck–style tire. And since launching the
nonprofit Clean Up the Lake in 2018, West and his team of ten
full-time employees and contractors, plus an army of trained
volunteers, have picked up more than 18,000 pounds of
refuse.
Climate change is raising temperatures and increasing the
frequency and intensity of droughts in those high-elevation
alpine environments, where mines typically are located. A
growing body of research links these hotter, drier conditions
to increasingly acidic water, which causes rocks to shed more
minerals into waterways. And the list of what’s entering those
waters continues to grow. These trends could potentially
compromise water quality in watersheds anywhere in the world
where mountains contain high concentrations of minerals…
In the arid West, saline lakes and their wetlands form an
irreplaceable network of habitats that support millions of
migrating shorebirds, waterfowl and other waterbirds throughout
their annual travels. These lakes and their wetlands – from
emergent marshes to playas and mudflats – are part of the
habitat mosaic essential to many bird species. Saline lakes are
sometimes referred to as terminal lakes because they are
situated at the bottom of a watershed basin. -Written by Marcelle Shoop, Audubon’s Saline Lakes
Program Director.
Yosemite’s fall colors come with a special treat this year:
More water rushing through waterfalls from big storms last
month. [Photographer Glenn Lee] Robinson said Yosemite’s
best-known waterfalls, Yosemite Falls and Bridalveil Fall, are
still going strong.
The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service today for failing to protect two populations
of imperiled speckled dace under the Endangered Species Act.
The Service failed to make required decisions on protection for
the Santa Ana speckled dace, in Southern California, and the
Long Valley speckled dace in Mono County, which is nearing
extinction in the wild.
The impacts of California’s ongoing dry and warm years were
seen this year with a historic wildfire season.
Correspondingly, the risk of wildfire damage to water
infrastructure is increasing, including risks of secondary
impacts from burned area sediment entering waterbodies and
affecting water treatment plant operations.
Another series of storms is set to sweep through the Pacific
Northwest and Northern California into next week and not only
bring much-needed rain and mountain snow but also flooding
concerns. A dip in the jet stream across the Bering Sea through
the northern Pacific Ocean will push waves of energy toward the
Canadian Rocky Mountains and Northwest this week, according to
AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Senior Meteorologist Paul Pastelok,
who added that temperatures will be near to below normal.
Demand for snow runoff forecasting is surging in the San
Joaquin Valley, particularly after the past bone-dry year. Snow
monitoring flights are already being tentatively scheduled by
valley water districts ahead of winter. … One of the newer
and more effective ways of monitoring is by flying imaging
technology over watersheds to see and analyze snowpack.
Airborne Snow Observatories (ASO) is the company behind this
method.
A delegation of 15 state lawmakers is joining a conference of
world leaders in Scotland to discuss climate change solutions.
As leaders of the world’s 5th largest economy, their
participation is important, but it’s more urgent for them to
act once they return. … The climate is already changing.
This summer was California’s hottest on record, after the
2010s were the hottest decade ever. California just
experienced its driest year in a century. Every corner of
the state faces severe drought. -Written by Mike Young, the political and
organizing director for California Environmental
Voters.
The big storm that dumped rain and snow on northern Nevada did
not relieve us from our severe drought. All that rain in Reno
and Sparks quickly filled the Truckee River but most of it is
just surface runoff. Every drop of that water in the Truckee is
already spoken for, no matter how high or low the water levels.
… Jim Litchfield who is a former surface water
hydrologist says not everyone getting a fair cut of the water.
While Las Vegas residents watch nervously as the water level
falls at Lake Mead, our fellow Nevadans are also seeing the
alarming effects of climate change on Lake Tahoe. In both
cases, it’s a call for action on reducing global warming.
Southern Nevadans are well aware of the situation at Lake Mead,
which has reached historically low levels, but they may not be
as familiar with the problems at Lake Tahoe. In a nutshell,
climate change has disrupted weather patterns there to the
point of causing the lake to drop below its natural rim
…
Just days after a historic storm soaked the drought-stricken
Bay Area, more good weather news is on the way. Two new storm
systems are expected to bring rain Monday and next Thursday to
much of Northern California. They won’t be nearly as soaking as
last weekend’s atmospheric river, which shattered rainfall
records across the region and opened the Sierra ski season
nearly a month early. But the rain shows that the “storm door”
is still open, meteorologists say, a promising trend building
on the wet start to this year’s winter rainy season after the
last two years of severe drought.
The Paiute tribes of eastern California have a deeply alarming
insight into the future. We must listen to their story, for
soon it may be our story too. The indigenous people here are
being encircled by three inter-connected threats: drought, dust
storms and wildfires. The history of the Paiute is already one
of heartbreak and betrayal. In the 19th century, their land was
stolen. In the 20th century, their water was stolen. Now in the
21st century, their environment is being stolen – by the
relentless forces of climate change and by political
indifference to their plight.
Early-season storms that have dumped several feet of snow
across the Lake Tahoe region have prompted the Palisades Tahoe
ski areas to open this Friday, a month sooner than expected.
Palisades, the umbrella brand of adjacent ski resorts in North
Lake Tahoe formerly called Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows,
announced Tuesday afternoon that more than 3½ feet of snow had
fallen on its upper mountains in recent days.
It rained so hard in California in 1862 that a 300-mile-long
lake was created in the Central Valley, stretching from
Bakersfield to Red Bluff. … Yes, climate change is
distressingly real. The melting Arctic ice cap and rising seas
are evidence enough. So are higher average summer temperatures.
The warming is exacerbated by humans burning fossil
fuels. That doesn’t mean global warming is the mother of
every freak of nature. Not all major events are caused by
climate change, regardless of what Gov. Gavin Newsom repeatedly
asserts about the extremes of wetter and windier storms, dryer
droughts and hotter wildfires. -Written by LA Times columnist George Skelton.
Between historic drought and a lively fire season, California
has experienced a troublesome year. Now, the state may have
received the first sign of major relief: 8 trillion gallons of
rain. Like an epic fire hose, a long, narrow band of water
vapor located in the lower atmosphere — known as an atmospheric
river — doused California with record-setting rains Sunday and
Monday. The event unloaded upward of 12 inches of rain on the
northern Sierras, almost a quarter of the annual average
precipitation for the region.
World Resources Institute, Blue Forest Conservation, National
Forest Foundation, U.S. Forest Service, Yuba Water Agency and
the North Yuba Forest Partnership are pleased to announce the
launch of the second Forest Resilience Bond (FRB): the Yuba II
FRB. The new FRB on the Tahoe National Forest will finance $25
million in forest resilience and post-fire restoration projects
in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains to restore 48,000
forested acres, protect nearby communities, and enhance water
security.
As California faces what is predicted to be one of its worst
droughts in recorded history, water managers are seeing record
increases in water theft, leaving communities angry and police
chasing water bandits constantly on the move. Byrhonda Lyons of
CalMatters, the nonprofit news site, has the story of how water
meant for residential use is flowing to illegal marijuana
farms.
Despite the deluge of rain sparked by an atmospheric river in
Northern California this week, the state is still gripped by an
unprecedented drought. Karla Nemeth, director of the California
Department of Water Resources, and others will discuss how the
drought has impacted wildlife, farms, cities and more
at our Water Summit on Thursday, and explore what
longer-term projects and partnerships are aiming to make the
state more drought-resilient.
Mountain snowpacks around the world are on the decline, and if
the planet continues to warm, climate models forecast that
snowpacks could shrink dramatically and possibly even disappear
altogether on certain mountains, including in the western
United States, at some point in the next century. A new study
led by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
(Berkeley Lab) analyzes the likely timing of a low-to-no-snow
future, what it will mean for water management, and
opportunities for investments now that could stave off
catastrophic consequences.
Lake Tahoe’s water levels are back up above the natural rim,
thanks to precipitation from the massive storm system that
pushed across Northern California this weekend. Data from
the U.S. Geological Survey shows that water levels at the
Tahoe City dam, near the outlet of the Truckee River, rose
almost a half of a foot in 24 hours. Meanwhile, more than
2 feet of snow accumulated on the mountaintops surrounding
the Tahoe Basin.
It took 30 days for a crew of seven El Dorado Irrigation
District employees and the district’s dam safety engineer to
totally rebuild key elements of the Outingdale Dam. The
community of Outingdale gets its water from the dam, a
diversion dam on the Middle Fork of the Cosumnes
River. Water had to be trucked in when the leaking and
deteriorating dam stopped spilling this summer.
California bore the brunt on Sunday of what meteorologists
referred to as a “bomb cyclone” and an “atmospheric river,” a
convergence of storms that brought more than half a foot of
rain to parts of the Bay Area, along with high winds, flash
floods and the potential for heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada.
… The convergence of storms comes at a challenging time
for California, which has been besieged by wildfires and
drought, the result of extreme weather brought on by climate
change.
A Northern California family found mysteriously dead in August
on a hiking trail in the Sierra most likely died from a
combination of hyperthermia and dehydration, the local Sheriff
who led the investigation said Thursday. The news sheds light
on a case that has confounded investigators and the public and
raised new questions about outdoor recreational activities in
an era of rising temperatures and climate fueled extreme
weather.
A moisture-rich atmospheric river is forecast to hit California
on Sunday and Monday, delivering a much needed drenching of
rain to a drought-plagued state at a time of year when big
storms are unusual…. We checked in with Marty Ralph, the
director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes
with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San
Diego…”When we’re in a drought and we get a good atmospheric
river, it can break the drought. It might be what’s sort of
happening right now. At least, we’re hopeful that if this isn’t
the only one we get this year, it’s the start of a wetter
winter….”
After nearly a year without rain, a series of potent Pacific
storms are directed at Northern California this week,
potentially bringing as much as a foot of rainfall and up to
three feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada. Supercharged by a
classic atmospheric river pattern, the storms could lead to
flash floods and dangerous debris flows in a wide swath of the
region already devastated by recent wildfires. With each
successive storm, the moisture potential increases, peaking
with possibly a rare category 5 atmospheric river event on
Sunday.
Gov. Gavin Newsom today declared a drought emergency for the
entire state of California, as conservation efforts continue to
fall far short of state targets. Newsom also authorized
California’s water regulators to ban wasteful water use, such
as spraying down public sidewalks, and directed his Office of
Emergency Services to fund drinking water as needed. But he
stopped short of issuing any statewide conservation mandates.
A parade of Pacific storm systems will bring soaking rain and
some mountain snow to drought-stricken California and the West
Coast beginning this week, but could also trigger dangerous
debris flows over recent areas burned by wildfires. Last
weekend, a weak Pacific frontal system ended a record-long dry
streak in Sacramento, and shut down Interstate 80 for a time
due to snow and wrecks in the Sierra. It was a sample of what’s
ahead.
Light rain started falling Sunday evening in the Bay Area, as a
week of much-needed precipitation was forecast for the parched
Northern California landscape. One to 2 inches of rain is
expected to fall across the Bay Area over the next week, and
even more could fall across the North Bay as a series of storms
dives in from the northwest, said Rick Canepa, meteorologist
with the National Weather Service. To the east, parts of the
Sierra Nevada could see more than a half-foot of snow by Monday
morning.
Lake Tahoe’s water level has dropped so low that water is no
longer flowing into the Truckee River and salmon aren’t
expected to spawn in a major tributary this year. Some boat
ramps and docks are hundreds of feet from the water line, and
clumps of stringy algae have been washing up on beaches, said
Geoffrey Schladow, director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental
Research Center. … The receding water level, which is
driven by climate change and drought, comes as the latest
insult to the treasured tourist destination nestled in the
Sierra Nevada.
Innovative efforts to accelerate
restoration of headwater forests and to improve a river for the
benefit of both farmers and fish. Hard-earned lessons for water
agencies from a string of devastating California wildfires.
Efforts to drought-proof a chronically water-short region of
California. And a broad debate surrounding how best to address
persistent challenges facing the Colorado River.
These were among the issues Western Water explored in
2019, and are still worth taking a look at in case you missed
them.
Many of California’s watersheds are
notoriously flashy – swerving from below-average flows to jarring
flood conditions in quick order. The state needs all the water it
can get from storms, but current flood management guidelines are
strict and unyielding, requiring reservoirs to dump water each
winter to make space for flood flows that may not come.
However, new tools and operating methods are emerging that could
lead the way to a redefined system that improves both water
supply and flood protection capabilities.
It’s been a year since two devastating wildfires on opposite ends
of California underscored the harsh new realities facing water
districts and cities serving communities in or adjacent to the
state’s fire-prone wildlands. Fire doesn’t just level homes, it
can contaminate water, scorch watersheds, damage delivery systems
and upend an agency’s finances.
The majestic beauty of the Sierra
Nevada forest is awe-inspiring, but beneath the dazzling blue
sky, there is a problem: A century of fire suppression and
logging practices have left trees too close together. Millions of
trees have died, stricken by drought and beetle infestation.
Combined with a forest floor cluttered with dry brush and debris,
it’s a wildfire waiting to happen.
Fires devastate the Sierra watersheds upon which millions of
Californians depend — scorching the ground, unleashing a
battering ram of debris and turning hillsides into gelatinous,
stream-choking mudflows.
Registration opens today for the
Water Education Foundation’s 36th annual Water
Summit, set for Oct. 30 in Sacramento. This year’s
theme, Water Year 2020: A Year of Reckoning,
reflects fast-approaching deadlines for the State Groundwater
Management Act as well as the pressing need for new approaches to
water management as California and the West weather intensified
flooding, fire and drought. To register for this can’t-miss
event, visit our Water Summit
event page.
Registration includes a full day of discussions by leading
stakeholders and policymakers on key issues, as well as coffee,
materials, gourmet lunch and an outdoor reception by the
Sacramento River that will offer the opportunity to network with
speakers and other attendees. The summit also features a silent
auction to benefit our Water Leaders program featuring
items up for bid such as kayaking trips, hotel stays and lunches
with key people in the water world.
Our 36th annual
Water Summit,
happening Oct. 30 in Sacramento, will feature the theme “Water
Year 2020: A Year of Reckoning,” reflecting upcoming regulatory
deadlines and efforts to improve water management and policy in
the face of natural disasters.
The Summit will feature top policymakers and leading stakeholders
providing the latest information and a variety of viewpoints on
issues affecting water across California and the West.
One of California Gov. Gavin
Newsom’s first actions after taking office was to appoint Wade
Crowfoot as Natural Resources Agency secretary. Then, within
weeks, the governor laid out an ambitious water agenda that
Crowfoot, 45, is now charged with executing.
That agenda includes the governor’s desire for a “fresh approach”
on water, scaling back the conveyance plan in the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta and calling for more water recycling, expanded
floodplains in the Central Valley and more groundwater recharge.
There’s going to be a new governor
in California next year – and a host of challenges both old and
new involving the state’s most vital natural resource, water.
So what should be the next governor’s water priorities?
That was one of the questions put to more than 150 participants
during a wrap-up session at the end of the Water Education
Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento.
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply
originates high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
We headed into the foothills and the mountains to examine
water issues that happen upstream but have dramatic impacts
downstream and throughout the state.
GEI (Tour Starting Point)
2868 Prospect Park Dr.
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.
Water supply for
California’s cities and farms is largely dependent on
snowmelt from the upper watershed in the Sierra Nevada. But that
paradigm is being challenged by wildfires, climate change and
widespread tree mortality.
Join us for a two-day tour as we head into the Sierra foothills
and up into the mountains to examine water issues that happen
upstream, but have dramatic impacts on water supply and quality
downstream and throughout the state.
Lake
Tahoe, the iconic high Sierra water body that straddles
California and Nevada, has sat for more than 10,000 years at the
heart of the Washoe tribe’s territory. In fact, the name Tahoe
came from the tribal word dá’aw, meaning lake.
The lake’s English name was the source of debate for about 100
years after it was first “discovered” in 1844 by people of
European descent when Gen. John C. Fremont’s expedition made its
way into the region. Not long after, a man who carried mail on
snowshoes from Placerville to Nevada City named it Lake Bigler in
honor of John Bigler, who served as California’s third governor.
But because Bigler was an ardent secessionist, the federal
Interior Department during the Civil War introduced the name
Tahoe in 1862. Meanwhile, California kept it as Lake Bigler and
didn’t officially recognize the name as Lake Tahoe until 1945.
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply originates
high in the Sierra Nevada.Thus, the state’s water supply is
largely dependent on the health of Sierra forests, which are
suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought, wildfires and
widespread tree mortality.
Join us as we head into the Sierra foothills and up to the
mountains to examine water issues that happen upstream but have
dramatic impacts downstream and throughout California.
California voters may experience a sense of déjà vu this year when they are asked twice in the same year to consider water bonds — one in June, the other headed to the November ballot.
Both tackle a variety of water issues, from helping disadvantaged communities get clean drinking water to making flood management improvements. But they avoid more controversial proposals, such as new surface storage, and they propose to do some very different things to appeal to different constituencies.
Every day, people flock to Daniel
Swain’s social media platforms to find out the latest news and
insight about California’s notoriously unpredictable weather.
Swain, a climate scientist at the Institute of the
Environment and Sustainability at UCLA, famously coined the
term “Ridiculously Resilient Ridge” in December 2013 to describe
the large, formidable high-pressure mass that was parked over the
West Coast during winter and diverted storms away from
California, intensifying the drought.
Swain’s research focuses on atmospheric processes that cause
droughts and floods, along with the changing character of extreme
weather events in a warming world. A lifelong Californian and
alumnus of University of California, Davis, and Stanford
University, Swain is best known for the widely read Weather West blog, which provides
unique perspectives on weather and climate in California and the
western United States. In a recent interview with Western
Water, he talked about the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge, its
potential long-term impact on California weather, and what may
lie ahead for the state’s water supply.
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply
originates high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply originates
high in the Sierra Nevada. Thus, the state’s water supply is
largely dependent on the health of Sierra forests, which are
suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought, wildfires and
widespread tree mortality.
Join us as we head into the Sierra foothills and the mountains to
examine water issues that happen upstream but have dramatic
impacts downstream and throughout California.
ARkStorm stands for an atmospheric
river (“AR”) that carries precipitation levels expected to occur
once every 1,000 years (“k”). The concept was presented in a 2011
report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) intended to elevate
the visibility of the very real threats to human life, property
and ecosystems posed by extreme storms on the West Coast.
Owens Lake is a dry lake at the terminus of the Owens River
just west of Death Valley and on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. For at least
800,000 years, the lake had a continuous flow of water, until
1913 when the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
(LADWP) completed the 233-mile Los Angeles
Aqueduct to supplement the budding metropolis’
increasing water demands.
This 28-page report describes the watersheds of the Sierra Nevada
region and details their importance to California’s overall water
picture. It describes the region’s issues and challenges,
including healthy forests, catastrophic fire, recreational
impacts, climate change, development and land use.
The report also discusses the importance of protecting and
restoring watersheds in order to retain water quality and enhance
quantity. Examples and case studies are included.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Truckee River Basin, including
the Newlands Project, Pyramid Lake and Lake Tahoe. Map text
explains the issues surrounding the use of the Truckee-Carson
rivers, Lake Tahoe water quality improvement efforts, fishery
restoration and the effort to reach compromise solutions to many
of these issues.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, illustrates the
water resources available for Nevada cities, agriculture and the
environment. It features natural and manmade water resources
throughout the state, including the Truckee and Carson rivers,
Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Lake and the course of the Colorado River
that forms the state’s eastern boundary.
Fashioned after the popular California Water Map, this 24×36 inch
poster was extensively re-designed in 2017 to better illustrate
the value and use of groundwater in California, the main types of
aquifers, and the connection between groundwater and surface
water.
A new look for our most popular product! And it’s the perfect
gift for the water wonk in your life.
Our 24×36 inch California Water Map is widely known for being the
definitive poster that shows the integral role water plays in the
state. On this updated version, it is easier to see California’s
natural waterways and man-made reservoirs and aqueducts
– including federally, state and locally funded
projects – the wild and scenic rivers system, and
natural lakes. The map features beautiful photos of
California’s natural environment, rivers, water projects,
wildlife, and urban and agricultural uses and the
text focuses on key issues: water supply, water use, water
projects, the Delta, wild and scenic rivers and the Colorado
River.
Travel across the state on Amtrak’s famed California
Zephyr, from the edge of sparkling San Francisco Bay,
through the meandering channels of the Delta, past rich Central
Valley farmland, growing cities, historic mining areas and into
the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
Stretching along the eastern edge of
the state, the Sierra Nevada region incorporates more than 25
percent of California’s land area and forms one of the world’s
most diverse watersheds.
On average, 60 percent of California’s total annual
precipitation – in the form of rain and snow – falls in the
Sierra Nevada and a portion of the southern Cascades.
The East Fork begins in the mountains of California’s Sonora Pass
and after flowing through California and Nevada, it meets the
West Fork just south of Carson City. The West Fork forms at
California’s Carson Pass, running through California and into
Nevada to its junction with the East Fork.
