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.
An estimated 32 trillion gallons of water — in the form of rain
and snow — came down on California in a series of nine
back-to-back atmospheric rivers between late December and
mid-January. To put this in perspective, that amount is
just shy of the quantity of water held within Lake Tahoe, one
of the deepest lakes in North America. The lake has, on
average, about 37 trillion gallons of water. These storms
were destructive and deadly, claiming the lives of at least 20
people, and the estimated cost is likely to end up being in the
billions. And new research is revealing these storms will
likely become larger and drop even more rain than what we have
experienced so far this winter. Dr. Ruby Leung, an
atmospheric scientist at the Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory in Washington state, joined CapRadio’s Vicki
Gonzalez to discuss what this means for California’s future.
Attendance at our annual Water
101 Workshop includes the option of
participating in a daylong ‘watershed’ journey on
Friday, Feb. 24, that will take you from
the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, along the American River
and into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The tour
includes an on-the-water lunch cruise aboard the River City
Queen as we head down the Sacramento
River from the confluence of the American River to the
community of Freeport, the “Gateway to the Delta.” Among the
tour stops are Folsom Lake, Nimbus Dam, salmon spawning habitat
in the American River, Freeport Regional Water Facility,
Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Delta farmland and
the Delta Cross Channel. The tour will also include a firsthand
look at efforts to better handle the effects of climate change
through a “Supershed
Approach” that stretches from the headwaters to
the valley floor.
The early pandemic years overlapped with some of California’s
worst wildfires on record, creating haunting, orange-tinted
skies and wide swaths of burned landscape. Some of the impacts
of these fires are well known, including drastic declines in
air quality, and now a new study shows how these wildfires
combined with midwinter drought conditions to accelerate
snowmelt. In a study published Jan. 20 in Geophysical
Research Letters, a Desert Research Institute (DRI)-led
research team examined what happens to mountain snowpacks when
sunny, midwinter dry spells occur in forests impacted by severe
wildfire.
The snowpack in California’s mountains weighed in Wednesday as
the biggest it has been at the start of February in nearly
three decades, a product of the recent storms that have flipped
the script on drought by lessening water shortages across the
state. State water officials conducting their monthly snow
survey logged snowpack in the Sierra Nevada and southern
Cascades at 205% of the average for the date. At Phillips
Station, one of the state’s oldest and most central monitoring
sites, where surveyors convened in front of TV cameras for
measurements Wednesday morning, the snowpack was 193% of
average.
It’s something of a Golden State paradox: Dry winters can pave
the way for dangerous fire seasons fueled by dead vegetation,
but wet winters — like the one the state has seen so far — can
also spell danger by spurring heaps of new growth that can
later act as fuel for flames. Experts say it’s too soon to know
with certainty what the upcoming fire season has in store. The
atmospheric rivers that pounded California in January have left
the state snow-capped and wet, which could be a fire deterrent
if soils stay damp. But if no more rains arrive — or if other,
less predictable factors such as lightning storms and heat
waves develop later in the year — all that progress could go
out the window.
At a time when climate change is making many areas of the
planet hotter and drier, it’s sobering to think that deserts
are relatively new biomes that have grown considerably over the
past 30 million years. Widespread arid regions, like the
deserts that today cover much of western North America, began
to emerge only within the past 5 to 7 million years.
Understanding how plants that invaded these harsh deserts
biomes were able to survive could help predict how ecosystems
will fare in a drier future. An intensive study of a group of
plants that first invaded emerging deserts millions of years
ago concludes that these pioneers — rock daisies — did not come
unequipped to deal with heat, scorching sun and lack of water.
The statewide Sierra Nevada snowpack — the source of nearly
one-third of California’s water supply — is at its highest
level since 1995, boosting hopes that an end to the drought is
near, but also raising concerns that a few warm spring storms
could melt it too early and trigger major flooding. Not since
Toy Story packed movie theaters, Steve Young led the 49ers to
their fifth Super Bowl win, and gasoline cost $1.28 a gallon
has there been so much snow in California’s most famous
mountain range at the end of January. … Although
Tuesday’s snowpack reading is higher than 1995, it is expected
to lower by the official reading on Feb. 1. The snowpack
was 208% of its historical average for this time of year on
Tuesday, a day ahead of the high-profile Feb. 1 snow survey
that state officials planned to take near Highway 50 …
The Tuolumne Utilities District Board of Directors voted 4-0
Tuesday to seek more than $23 million in additional grant
funding to continue efforts to try to restore the man-made
reservoir called Phoenix Lake, a project to improve water
quality and increase storage capacity that has gained momentum
in fits and starts, stalled for years, and remains unfinished.
Phoenix is a reservoir, not a natural lake. Its surface area is
about 88 acres when full, and it’s the primary drinking water
source for about 10,000 TUD customers in Sonora, Jamestown,
Mono Village and the Phoenix Lake area, according to TUD.
Historians say a dam was first built there in the 1850s to
enable hydraulic mining in the immediate aftermath of the Gold
Rush. The original dam was destroyed in 1862.
Experts from NASA say a previously unmeasured underground
source accounts for about 10% of all the water that enters the
highly-productive Central Valley farmland each year. The NASA
study shows an average of four million acre-feet of water is
delivered through the soil and fractured rocks under
California’s Sierra Nevada mountains to the Central Valley
annually. Federal officials say the Central Valley
encompasses only 1% of the nation’s farmland but produces 40%
of the country’s fruits, vegetables, and nuts annually – but
that is only possible because of the intensive groundwater
pumping for irrigation as well as river and stream flows
captured in reservoirs. However, experts say growers who
are pumping more water than can be replenished by natural
sources are causing the ground level to sink and
requiring wells to be drilled deeper and deeper.
The new year started off with a parade of storms, leading to
San Francisco and the wider Bay Area seeing one of its rainiest
time frames since the Gold Rush era. This onslaught of storms
seemed a bit out of place with the trend of La Niña, an outlook
that traditionally brings warm, dry conditions to most of
California. Instead, the first half of the 2022-23 winter
season was marked by atmospheric river-enhanced storms and
notable reductions in drought conditions across the state.
… For meteorologists in both the Bay Area and across the
Western U.S., this January’s shift toward wet and stormy
conditions brings with it questions over what
other factors might be stomping out the typical La
Niña outlook.
A flurry of storms unloaded historic amounts of rain and snow
across California over the past month. The deluges, fueled by a
parade of atmospheric rivers, filled reservoirs and have
improved drought conditions across large swaths of the state.
The Sierra snowpack has ballooned to more than double its usual
size for this time of year. The snow will continue to replenish
California’s water supplies as it melts during the warmer
months. …Picturesque locales where Californians ski and enjoy
other snow activities are burning in wildfires more often,
undergoing long-lasting changes that make snowpack melt
earlier. Snow can even melt in the middle of winter, before
reservoir managers are ready to shift from flood control to
water storage.
California’s string of heavy rainstorms in January continue to
provide temporary relief to the state’s chronically dry land.
Drought conditions across the golden state have either improved
or remained the same compared to one week ago. The U.S. Drought
Monitor, in a weekly update published Thursday, reports the
state remains free of both “extreme” or “exceptional” drought
for the second week in a row. California’s Central Coast, which
was devastated by the severe storms, has exited moderate
drought conditions and is now “abnormally dry.” In the
northwest corner of the state, the majority of Del Norte County
is drought free for at least the second the week in a row.
The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains, which has
continued to increase throughout January as a result of storms
battering much of the state since the New Year, might help
California combat its ongoing drought. As of January 20, the
Sierra snowpack state-wide was at 240 percent of the average
for this time of year. The South Sierra stations, located
between the San Joaquin and Mono counties through to Kern
county, reported snowpacks at 283 percent of the January 20
average. The Sierra Nevada snowpack usually peaks around April
1. Currently, state-wide, the snowpack is at 126 percent of the
average for April 1, with the South Sierras in particular at
149 percent.
“During the dry years, the people forgot about the rich years,
and when the wet years returned, they lost all memory of the
dry years. It was always that way.” Sadly, nothing much has
changed in California and the Salinas Valley since 1952, when
John Steinbeck wrote those words for the opening chapters of
his novel, “East of Eden.” As a result, the atmospheric rivers
drenching the state have been a decidedly mixed blessing. The
rainfall means for the first time in more than two years, the
majority of California is no longer in a severe drought. The
Sierra snowpack is at 226% of average for this time of year,
the largest we’ve seen in more than two decades. Reservoirs are
filling at a rapid rate. … Then there’s the bad news,
starting of course with the deaths of 17 Californians …
Growing up in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, Andrew
Schwartz never missed an opportunity to play in – or study
– a Colorado snowstorm. During major blizzards, he would
traipse out into the icy wind and heavy drifts of snow
pretending to be a scientist researching in
Antarctica. Decades later, still armed with an
obsession for extreme weather, Schwartz has landed in one of
the snowiest places in the West, leading a research lab whose
mission is to give California water managers instant
information on the depth and quality of snow draping the slopes
of the Sierra Nevada.
Coming into this winter, California was mired in a three-year
drought, with forecasts offering little hope of relief anytime
soon. Fast forward to today, and the state is waterlogged with
as much as 10 to 20 inches of rain and up to 200 inches of snow
that have fallen in some locations in the past three weeks….
The [Climate Prediction Center's] initial outlook for this
winter, issued on Oct. 20, favored below-normal precipitation
in Southern California and did not lean toward either drier- or
wetter-than-normal conditions in Northern California.
… The stark contrast between the staggering amount of
precipitation in recent weeks and the CPC’s seasonal
precipitation outlook issued before the winter, which leaned
toward below-normal precipitation for at least half of
California, has water managers lamenting the unreliability of
seasonal forecasts.
Growing up in the shadow of the
Rocky Mountains, Andrew Schwartz never missed an opportunity to
play in – or study – a Colorado snowstorm. During major
blizzards, he would traipse out into the icy wind and heavy
drifts of snow pretending to be a scientist researching in
Antarctica.
Decades later, still armed with an obsession for extreme weather,
Schwartz has landed in one of the snowiest places in the West,
leading a research lab whose mission is to give California water
managers instant information on the depth and quality of snow
draping the slopes of the Sierra Nevada.
Why Guy is getting many questions about why we can’t store all
the rainwater we’re getting. California is still officially in
a drought and we need water for drinking and agriculture and
other basic needs. Even though it’s been dumping rain like
watery gold, we can’t seem to store it all. We have reservoirs
and dams that do much of the water storage, but most of the
rain we’ve been getting is flowing into the Pacific Ocean. It’s
wasted. The rain is also falling so quickly that we can’t
store it and what we want to do with it is get it out of here
to clear our roadways and landscapes as soon as
possible. The best-case scenario is that we get a ton of
snow in the high Sierra that naturally melts as the weather
warms and disperses the water in doses to a thirsty state.
A series of atmospheric river storms since Christmas has
significantly reduced California’s drought, the federal
government concluded Thursday. For the first time in more than
two years — since Dec. 1, 2020 — the majority of the state is
no longer in a severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought
Monitor, a weekly report put out by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Overall, 46% of
California’s land area remains in severe drought, the report
found, a dramatic improvement over the past month, when it was
85% on Dec. 6.
While many areas of California are coping with the destructive
impact of relentless rainfall, the news is nothing but good
when it comes to the state’s snowpack. As of Monday,
California’s snow water equivalent was 199% of normal for the
date (January 9), according to the California Department of
Water Resources. … Water experts are reluctant to signal too
much optimism since last winter California also saw snow
accumulate to above-average levels through December, only to
see January, February and March become the driest on record.
California is bracing for another week of destructive storms
that will probably bring flooding and hazardous winds Monday to
an already battered state. A series of atmospheric rivers that
pummeled coastal communities last week and left more than
400,000 without power in California on Sunday will be followed
by particularly brutal weather as rivers reach flood levels and
powerful winds wreak havoc, forecasters fear…. For days,
forecasters had warned of a “relentless parade of
cyclones” barreling out of the Pacific toward
California, and continuing until about Jan.
19, intensifying the risk of flooding in parts of the
state this week. A flood watch remains in effect for the
Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys and nearby foothills until 4
p.m. Wednesday.
We don’t always treat water like the life-sustaining resource
it is. Instead, we take it for granted: With the turn of a tap,
it’s at our fingertips to drink, grow our food and keep our
communities clean. But according to the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation, it’s time for changes if we want that to continue.
Their recently released American River Basin study highlights
the growing imbalance between water supply and consumer demand.
With the stresses of population growth, regulatory updates, and
the effects of climate change, this disparity will only get
worse without new strategies and approaches to keep water
flowing.
A powerful winter storm unleashed heavy rain and
strong winds across Northern California on Wednesday,
triggering evacuations and power outages, and heightening fears
of widespread flooding and debris flows. … Wednesday’s
storm is the third atmospheric river that’s hit California in
the last two weeks. The successive storms have brought a deluge
of water to the drought-stricken state, prompting Gov. Newsom
to declare a state of emergency to “support response and
recovery efforts.” … The series of atmospheric rivers that
started toward the end of December was somewhat surprising
after one of California’s driest years on record, which left
reservoirs drained and soils parched.
The storm door is open — at least for now. An atmospheric river
battered Northern California this past weekend. The North Bay
was largely spared, but torrential rain across much of the
region lifted streams over their banks, trapped cars as
roadways became routes for kayaks and canoes, and flooded homes
and businesses from San Francisco to Sacramento. The National
Weather Service says another “truly … brutal system” will slam
Northern California on Wednesday. This time, Sonoma County
appears to be in the path. That could mean fierce wind gusts,
intense rain, flooded roads, mudslides and power outages. By
Friday, the Russian River is expected to reach flood stage in
Guerneville.
After three years of drought, California is beginning 2023 with
more snow on the ground than at any start to a year in a
decade. State water officials trekked into the Sierra Nevada to
conduct the first snow survey of the winter season on Tuesday,
reporting 174% of average statewide snowpack for the
date. The reams of powder come amid a series of
storms that is blasting Northern California and has piled
snow onto banks up to 16 feet high at major highway passes
through the mountains. Some ski resorts count 18 feet of snow
on the slopes. Although responsible for significant flooding,
mudslides and even fatalities, the wet weather in recent weeks
has been good for drought relief.
A successive series of powerful atmospheric river storms poses
a growing threat to California as the ground becomes more
saturated, river levels rise and heavy winds threaten the power
infrastructure. This week’s storms are expected to dump intense
levels of rain in a fairly short period of time. The greatest
potential for disaster is in Northern California, which has
already been battered by several destructive storms — including
one this weekend that caused a deadly levee breach. But each
new storm, including one set to arrive Wednesday, adds new
pressure.
As the new year begins, California’s Sierra is closing in on
the second-largest snowpack we’ve seen at this time of year in
the last two decades, with more snow expected to pummel the
mountain range in the coming days. But here’s why it’s far too
soon to declare an end to the drought: Last year, we started
2022 with a similar bounty — and then ended the snow season
way, way, way below normal. … On Tuesday, state water
officials plan to tromp through the snow at Echo Summit, south
of Lake Tahoe, for the winter’s first snowpack survey, a
monthly ritual that is now mostly for show thanks to more than
100 sensors throughout the Sierra that measure accumulation
every day. It’s of vital importance in the drought-stricken
Golden State because officials use the measurements to help
manage California’s water supply, which relies heavily on
melting snow.
As California enters what is expected to be a fourth year of
drought, the State Water Resources Control Board is reviewing a
request from environmentalists to suspend Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power diversions from Mono Lake in the
Eastern Sierra Nevada. In its request, the nonprofit Mono
Lake Committee argues that the combination of drought and
diversions from streams that feed the lake are exposing the
lake bottom near islands that host one of the world’s largest
nesting gull populations. Unless this is addressed, they
say coyotes will be able to access the islands and
feast on the eggs of 50,000 California gulls.
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.
