Wetlands are among the most important ecosystems in the world.
They produce high levels of oxygen, filter toxic chemicals out of
water, reduce flooding and erosion and recharge groundwater. They
also serve as critical habitat for wildlife, including a large
percentage of plants and animals on California’s endangered
species list.
As the state has grown into one of the world’s leading economies,
Californians have developed and transformed the state’s marshes,
swamps and tidal flats, losing as much as 90 percent of the
original wetlands acreage—a greater percentage of loss than any
other state in the nation.
While the conversion of wetlands has slowed, the loss in
California is significant and it affects a range of factors from
water quality to quality of life.
Wetlands still remain in every part of the state, with the
greatest concentration in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and
its watershed, which includes the Central Valley. The Delta
wetlands are especially important because they are part of the
vast complex of waterways that provide two-thirds of California’s
drinking water.
Eleven-year-old Gabriel Coleman and his friends Maarten and
Merel dug through driftwood piled on the shoreline under the
Dumbarton Bridge, doggedly on the hunt for pieces of plastic
and other debris to fill their white trash bags. “With
teamwork-makes-the-dream-work, we’ve been finding big pieces
and small pieces all over,” Gabriel proudly explained. The trio
from Newark was among thousands of volunteers who turned out
Saturday for the 39th annual California Coastal Cleanup at 695
beaches, lakes, creeks and rivers throughout the state —
including dozens of sites across every county in the Bay Area.
… The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal
OES) continues to work with state and local partners on
monitoring Tulare Lake and surrounding waterways that still
haven’t receded to pre-storm levels. Throughout the
response period, Cal OES and local partners provided
resources to aid residents affected by flooding in Fresno,
Kern, Kings and Tulare counties. … Following months
of coordinated efforts to combat flooding, Tulare Lake has
significantly shrunk in size.
The South Lake Tahoe resident who alleges his home was damaged
by flooding caused by a California Tahoe Conservancy hopes the
lawsuit he filed against the agency is quickly and peacefully
wrapped up. The Conservancy acquired the Upper Truckee Marsh
land between the Tahoe Keys and the Al Tahoe Neighborhood in
the 1980s, although work didn’t begin on the project until the
2000s. The project ramped up in 2021 to dig new waterways
through the marsh, place check dams along the waterways and put
more water flow into Trout Creek. The goal of this work is to
rewet the marshland so it can act as a natural filter for water
flowing into Lake Tahoe, helping to increase lake clarity.
Potent winter storms, summer heat, and tropical storm Hilary
have bred a surge of invasive, day-biting Aedes mosquitoes in
California, spawning in some regions the first reported human
cases of West Nile virus in years. The statewide rise has
brought 153 West Nile reports so far, more than double last
year’s, according to the California Department of Public
Health.
Kevin Swift, owner of Swift Water Design, has dedicated his
career to restoring meadows in the Sierra Nevada — specifically
one a few miles above Shaver Lake called the Lower Grouse
Meadow, which was severely affected by the 2020 Creek Fire. …
Swift and his team managed to restore this meadow by building
small dams along a stream — replicating what animals would have
done. To make dams, he says, think: “dirt lasagna.”
The Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority was recently awarded a
$31,852,000 grant from the California Coastal Conservancy that
will fund ongoing restoration efforts. According to wetland
ecology expert Christine Whitcraft of California State
University, Long Beach, restoring coastal wetland ecosystems is
a crucial step in protecting the endangered wildlife that calls
places like Los Cerritos home.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox says he isn’t surprised by a new report
showing that mitigating dust from the Great Salt Lake would
likely cost at least $1.5 billion in capital costs, but it
highlights why the state is “so passionate about getting more
water” into the drying lake. The Utah Office of the Legislative
Audit General released a report on the state’s “critical
vulnerabilities” this week, which notes Great Salt Lake dust
mitigation is “estimated to be at a minimum $1.5 billion in
capital costs with ongoing annual maintenance of $15 million,”
increasing in cost as more of the lakebed is exposed.
As part of the Floodplain Forward Coalition, there are
significant efforts to re-imagine and better use our system of
flood control levees and bypasses, the farmlands in the
historic floodplain, and oxbows and other features within the
river to benefit salmon, birds, and agriculture while ensuring
the flood protection system functions well when needed. By
reactivating Sacramento River floodplains and allowing bypasses
to connect to the river more frequently and for longer
durations, the Sacramento Valley can better mimic historical
flood patterns and reintegrate natural wetland productivity
into the river ecosystem needed to promote salmon recovery
while simultaneously improving flood protection and enhancing
water security.
Outbreaks of harmful algal blooms have wreaked havoc on
California river ecosystems for years. The toxic algae — a neon
green layer of muck that floats atop water — thrives in warm,
stagnant conditions brought on by drought. Presence of
this algae can make life difficult for other plants and fish in
the river, and even cause concerns for humans that accidentally
ingest or possibly breathe the area around it. But this year
was different. Faster, colder river waters led to fewer
outbreaks of the harmful algae throughout the state.
A South Lake Tahoe man is suing the California Tahoe
Conservancy (CTC) after his home was filled with water for 80
days this past winter. Damian Sowers, a lifelong local who
lives on El Dorado Avenue, can now only visit the home his
parents built 60 years ago. The house was filled with 16″ of
water that came in from the Upper Truckee River during the
heavy 2022-23 winter. The CTC started a restoration project in
the Upper Truckee River Marsh in 2020 to correct old grazing
and farming methods that straightened the river to have a drier
meadow. The two-year-long project brought back water to the
meadow, creating a healthier environment. Sowers said he
believes in the project and is a proponent of the restoration,
but he says the way it was done with check dams was
ill-conceived and the project’s floodplain alterations were
miscalculated by more than an order of magnitude.
The Great Salt Lake is one of the most unique water bodies in
the West. It’s the largest lake in the U.S. with no outlet to
the sea. Water only leaves through evaporation, so salt enters
and never leaves. Its tributaries, which include the Bear,
Weber and Jordan rivers, have scoured rocks and
mountains, depositing them in the lake as minerals and salts
over millennia. Those salty waters help critters like brine
flies and brine shrimp thrive, which in turn support millions
of migrating birds. A dazzling array of species fly in each
year, including ibis, stilts, egrets, phalaropes, gulls, swans,
pelicans, plovers and avocets. The lake also supports
multi-million dollar industries. -Written by columnist Leia Larsen.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) will
reopen the Shasta Valley Wildlife Area in Siskiyou County to
limited waterfowl hunting this season after a complete closure
the past two seasons. Although many parts of California
received record rainfall and snowpack during the winter and
spring of 2022-23, northeastern California remained
comparatively dry. As a result, only dry field hunting will be
allowed for waterfowl hunting this season at the Shasta Valley
Wildlife Area. The Northeastern Zone waterfowl season runs from
Oct. 7, 2023, through Jan. 17, 2024. Hunting at the Shasta
Valley Wildlife Area will be allowed on Wednesdays, Saturdays
and Sundays throughout the season.
During the winter of 2022, Utah lawmakers on Capitol
Hill boarded a pair of Black Hawk helicopters to tour
something bleak: the sprawling exposed lakebed, drying mud
flats and the water that remained at the Great Salt Lake, which
had reached an all-time low. It inspired them to
act. The following months saw a flurry of water
conservation bills and millions of dollars dedicated to
reversing the lake’s decline, including a $40 million
trust. The Great Salt Lake sunk to a record low in the fall of
2022, and another round of water reforms followed. Then
came a record-busting amount of snowpack in 2023 that many
Utahns hoped would buy some time and stave off the lake’s
collapse.
The 2024 legislative session is likely to see lawmakers trying
to figure out how to protect Colorado wetlands following a
recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that applied a more
stringent test on what should be considered one. A panel of
legislators last month heard pleas from municipal and state
officials to come up with a policy to continue to protect the
state’s wetlands in light of Sackett v. Environmental
Protection Agency, a case that redefined the terms by which a
body of water can get protection under the Environmental
Protection Agency’s “Waters of the United States” rule.
Pothole Thumb Meadow, a 5.65-acre groundwater-supported wetland
located at the westernmost end of Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite,
is undergoing restoration efforts. Yosemite’s wilderness
restoration team took action during the fall of 2022 to address
a significant issue—a large gully that had been impacting the
meadow’s health. The origins of this gully date back to the
late 1800s and can be attributed to various human activities,
including non-native sheep grazing, ditching, road building,
horseback riding, and camping. Initially, a small nick point
formed, and as water flowed over it, it gained speed, eroding
the soil. Over time, continuous erosion caused the nick point
to migrate upstream, resulting in a gully that is now up to 5
feet deep and 15 feet wide.
Scientists and veterinarians are racing to prevent a wildlife
disaster from getting worse in Tulare Lake, where hundreds of
birds are dying from avian botulism in its stagnant
waters. The lake that reemerged in the San Joaquin Valley
during winter flooding, which was partly brought on
by snowmelt, after decades of dormancy has become a warm
and stagnant breeding ground for toxins that cause paralysis
and death. It’s common for avian botulism to strike water fowl
when temperatures rise in summer and fall. But in 1983, the
last time Tulare Lake emerged to such a large size after
winter flooding, the disease killed more than 30,000 birds.
A mosquito breed known for carrying yellow fever and other
diseases has been spotted in portions of the San Joaquin
Valley. Last week, the San Joaquin County Mosquito and Vector
Control District said high numbers of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
have shown up in traps around South Stockton, Manteca, Escalon
and Ripon. The mosquitoes have also popped up in Butte and
Glenn counties this summer. Like the majority of other
mosquitoes that live here, Aedes aegypti are not native to the
state. They’re also relatively new to California, having first
shown up in traps in 2011, according to the state’s Department
of Public Health.
In the 1980s, the Great Salt Lake in Utah covered an area
larger than Rhode Island. Now it has shrunk to less than half
that size. Without major changes in local water use, it’s
possible that it could dry up completely before the end of this
decade. “Right now, the Great Salt Lake is on life support,”
says Ben Abbott, an ecosystem ecologist at Brigham Young
University. The ecosystem could collapse even before the water
disappears. As the lake shrinks, the water is getting saltier,
making it harder for the brine shrimp that live there to
survive—and meaning that the 10 million birds that migrate
through the area may soon have nothing to eat. The shrinking
coastline means that former islands are now connected to land,
and wildlife face new predators; this year, pelicans that used
to raise young on one former island were forced to abandon it.
Heavy rain from Tropical Storm Hilary, storms from Jova and
flooding from monsoon moisture have doctors on high alert in
the Desert Southwest for a disease outbreak that can turn
deadly if not caught. Valley fever, or Coccidioidosis, is a
fungal infection. Humans and pets can get it just by inhaling
dusty air. Fungus spores grow in dirt and soil and become
airborne when wind, construction, digging and earthquakes
disturb the soil. Wind carries the spores to noses and mouths.
The spores thrive in the rain and multiply, according to notes
in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. … This
summer’s heat wave bakes the ground and dries out the
soil. Thunderstorm winds blow the spores around.
Bill Leikam was reviewing footage from a wildlife camera he
placed along a Palo Alto creekbed recently when something
unfamiliar scampered across the screen. … Eventually, he
recognized the mysterious creature as a critically important
species that has long been missing from his beloved Baylands —
a mammal that California wildlife officials have hailed as a
“climate hero.” … For decades, developers,
municipalities and farmers focused on beavers as a problem that
required mitigation or removal. Now, the species known
as Castor canadensis is seen as offering myriad
benefits: It can help to mitigate drought and wildfires through
natural water management; it is considered a keystone species
for its ability to foster biodiversity; and it can restore
habitat through its ecosystem engineering.
Agencies restoring the Taylor and Tallac marsh areas have
completed the installation of bottom barriers to remove 17
acres of invasive plants as part of the comprehensive
restoration of one of the last natural wetlands in the Lake
Tahoe Basin, the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin
Management Unit and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency announced
today. The collaborative project that began in December 2021 is
one of the largest aquatic invasive species control projects
ever undertaken in the Tahoe Basin.
In late August 2023, the EPA removed federal protections for
most of the wetlands in the country to comply with a recent
Supreme Court ruling that reduced the power of the Clean Water
Act. The Los Cerritos Wetlands is in the middle of a sweeping
renovation project, done in partnership with the Los Cerritos
Wetlands Authority, Tidal Influence and the Aquarium of the
Pacific. Volunteers meet for a few hours on the first Saturday
of every month to pull weeds, break up cement, add mulch and
plant plants. Cassandra Davis, the volunteer services manager
at Aquarium of the Pacific, said wetlands play a crucial role
in protecting local flora and fauna, filtering water and most
importantly, wetlands help clean the air.
“The Owens Valley is nothing but a resource colony,” Kathy
Jefferson Bancroft, tribal historic preservation officer for
the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Reservation, told me. …
Bancroft’s office is a site of an historic struggle for
historic preservation and not the only site or the only
struggle against DWP in this valley. The largest, most unifying
fight in the valley community has been to force DWP to reduce
the amount of alkali dust from the dry Owens Lake, which, 20
years ago produced the worst air pollution in America. An
unintended consequence of the campaign to make DWP comply with
the state and federal Clean Air acts has been the arrival of
increasing numbers of shorebirds in the reborn Owens Lake.
A new but little-known change in
California law designating aquifers as “natural infrastructure”
promises to unleash a flood of public funding for projects that
increase the state’s supply of groundwater.
The change is buried in a sweeping state budget-related law,
enacted in July, that also makes it easier for property owners
and water managers to divert floodwater for storage underground.
Once eyed for thousands of homes, the recently restored Dutch
Slough tidal marsh in east Contra Costa County is already
flourishing as a new habitat for fish and wildlife, a living
laboratory for scientists and one of the world’s strongest
sinks for absorbing and storing carbon long-term. Led by the
state Department of Water Resources, the ambitious $73 million
project to restore 1,187 acres of freshwater Delta tidal
wetlands near Oakley – one of the largest such projects in the
state – is a little more than half finished. When it is
completed, the scientists are hoping it will become a model for
future restoration projects, climate change defenses and
scientific research. … That’s important, because many
scientists believe that capturing and storing carbon dioxide is
one of the more cost-effective ways to combat global warming.
It’s really easy to overlook and undervalue wetlands. Some are
small or just don’t look very important. Others are enormous,
and cause flooding issues for homeowners and growers. Some
might even think wetlands are gross, worry about mosquitos and
vector borne illness, or have never experienced what it’s like
to be close to or inside of one. It’s uncommon to see a home or
store positioned on a wetland (usually because it was drained),
so perhaps they can also appear to be taking up valuable real
estate better utilized for ‘human needs’. Naturally, wetlands
require water, which means they compete with humans for the
acre-feet we so often discuss in California water. Yet
according to Constanza et al. 1997, ecosystem services for
wetlands, compared to all other ecosystem types, are the most
valuable on Earth.
West Nile virus infections are on the rise this year in
California after a particularly wet winter led to more mosquito
reproduction, according to health experts. The state had 55
human cases of the virus as of Aug. 25. Five of them were
fatal, according to the California Mosquito-Borne Virus
Surveillance and Response Program. That’s more than double the
24 cases that had occurred in 2022 by late August of that year.
In total in 2022, there were 207 cases and 15 deaths. Among
California’s latest infections, a woman in Orange tested
positive for the West Nile virus this week, becoming the
first human case in Orange County this year, according to the
county Health Care Agency. The Orange resident wasn’t
experiencing any symptoms.
West Nile virus cases have been increasing in Northern
California. The West Nile virus is the most common and serious
vector-borne disease in the state. There were 29 new West Nile
Virus cases in humans last week, bringing the total for the
year to 55 cases. Those cases have been reported in Glenn,
Lake, Butte, Yolo, El Dorado, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Santa
Clara, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Kings, Tulare, Kern, Los
Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. On Wednesday,
another human case in Roseville became the first this summer in
Placer County. Five people with the virus have died, including
one person in Sacramento County and another person in Yolo
County.
Whether or not Joni Mitchell thinks creeks are paradise, it
became a lot easier to pave them over and put up a parking lot
this year. “So in May, the US Supreme Court limited really the
authority of the EPA, which is the Environmental Protection
Agency, to regulate certain elements of our nation’s waterway,”
Redgie Collins said. Collins is policy director at CalTrout.
Streams, rivers, and wetlands of many forms, across the United
States were dealt a serious blow this summer by the US Supreme
Court in their ruling on the case of Sackett v EPA. “The
federal backstops that were once present were really decimated
by that made decision by the Supreme Court,” Collins said. This
week, the EPA, their hands forced by the ruling, made official,
rollbacks of protections for various “waters of the United
States.”
… For decades, federal court battles have pitted
environmentalists who want the Clean Water Act to protect more
wetlands against industries seeking regulatory rollbacks.
The high court’s May 25 decision favoring Idaho
landowners Michael and Chantell Sackett curtailed powers of the
Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to
limit wetlands destruction. It put states at the center of
future fights over wetlands that defend against floods, purify
water and support wildlife, analysts say.“The federal rollbacks
are creating a vacuum. The states are going to have to step in
and fill the void,” said Kim Delfino, president of an
environmental consulting company and the former California
director of Defenders of Wildlife.
The state approved funding for a range of floodplain projects
in the San Joaquin Valley, clearing the way for work to
potentially begin as soon as this week. The state budget
included $40 million for floodplain restoration projects in the
San Joaquin Valley, which would let rivers spread out over
large swaths of undeveloped land to slow the flow and absorb
the water. On August 24, the California Wildlife
Conservation Board voted to spend $21 million of the funding
which will be doled out to six on-the-ground projects and 10
planning projects, all overseen by the nonprofit River
Partners. The rest of the money will be voted on in November at
another board meeting and is proposed for two land
acquisitions.
What is going on? There have been four West Nile-related deaths
in California this year, including the one confirmed case in
San Bernardino County. Cases are being reported as far north as
Lake County and as far south as Imperial. So far this year 55
people have tested positive — over half were reported just last
week. What can I do? The solution is easy, simple and cheap:
Wear insect repellent. It has the added bonus of fewer itchy
mosquito bites as well as protecting your health. Stop
mosquitoes from laying eggs in or near standing water. Dump any
standing water around your house, such as in flower pots, tires
or buckets to keep mosquitoes from breeding. Check and repair
holes in screens to keep mosquitoes outdoors.
The Environmental Protection Agency and US Army on Tuesday
released a new rule that slashes federally protected water by
more than half, following a Supreme Court decision in May that
rolled back protections for US wetlands. The rule will
invalidate an earlier definition of what constitutes the
so-called waters of the United States, after the Supreme Court
ruled Clean Water Act protections extend only to “wetlands with
a continuous surface connection to bodies that are waters of
the United States in their own rights.” It could impact up to
63% of US wetlands by acreage and around 1.2 million to 4.9
million miles of ephemeral streams, an EPA spokesperson told
CNN. An ephemeral stream is one that typically only has water
flowing through it during and immediately after rain events.
Ducks Unlimited and its scientific partners have several
studies planned or underway to study waterfowl and their
habitats in the Pacific Flyway. … The lack of floodplain
habitat for salmon and other migratory fish in the Sacramento
Valley in California has contributed to their decline. As a
result, there are proposals to manage floodplain habitats to
benefit fish. This study, led by a team in Ducks Unlimited’s
Western Region, will determine the effects of floodplain
reactivation for fish on waterfowl and Sacramento Valley
waterfowl hunting.
Floodplain restoration, halted by budget cuts, will resume now
that the state reallocated funding. [Last] Friday morning,
Chico-based River Partners announced that the California
Wildlife Conservation Board approved $40 million for projects
in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys… “This level
of Central Valley floodplain investment is historic,” River
Partners President Julie Renter said by email. “It will result
in the transformation of over 4,000 acres, delivering improved
flood safety, groundwater recharge, habitat for salmon and
other imperiled wildlife, outdoor access for park-starved
communities, restoration-related jobs to grow local economies,
and so much more.”
After a century of getting dammed, diverted, moved out of its
channel and, in some places, tapped completely dry, a big
section of the Price River now flows free. The historic rail
and mining town of Helper celebrated the completion of its
river revitalization project this year. It marks the end of a
decade-long effort to rid a seven-mile stretch of old piling
structures impeding the river’s movement, along with concrete,
junk and invasive plants choking the river’s banks. Residents
and visitors can now fish, float and boat unimpeded through
this increasingly popular tourist destination located halfway
between Salt Lake City and Moab.
Today, the bumblebee is among more than 200 endangered species
whose existence is threatened by the nation’s most widely used
insecticides (one classification of pesticides), according to a
recent analysis by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The endangered species range from Attwater’s greater
prairie chicken to the Alabama cave shrimp, from the American
burying beetle to the slackwater darter. And the star cactus
and four-petal pawpaw are among the 160-plus at-risk plants.
The three neonicotinoids — thiamethoxam, clothianidin and
imidacloprid — are applied as seed coatings on some 150 million
acres of crops each year, including corn, soybeans and other
major crops. Neonicotinoids are a group of neurotoxic
insecticides similar to nicotine and used widely on farms and
in urban landscapes.
Rebuilding State Route 37 to elevate it above water in the face
of rising sea levels got a welcome $155 million boost from the
$1.2 trillion U.S. infrastructure Law of 2021, the California
Transportation Commission announced this week. The two-mile
Marin County section of the 21-mile commuter artery that runs
alongside San Pablo Bay connecting Marin, Sonoma, Napa and
Solano counties marks the beginning of a larger $4 billion
project planned for the whole corridor. State transportation
officials say work is expected to start in 2027 and end two
years later. The $180 million project approved Aug. 18 by the
state’s transportation commission will raise the roadway by 30
feet over Novato Creek by 2029, well above the projected year
2130 sea-level rise.
The state received a significant boost to its efforts with
State Route 37 and San Pablo Bay last week with the infusion of
$155 million in federal funding. The California Transportation
Commission announced on Wednesday it formally allocated the
funds to elevate a key section of State Route 37 to guard
against future flooding on a vital regional corridor connecting
Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties and enhance habitat
connectivity for San Pablo Bay. The $180 million project will
raise the roadway by 30 feet over Novato Creek by 2029 — well
above the projected year 2130 sea-level rise. The $155 million
allocation comes from the federal Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act (IIJA) and is lauded by environmental groups and local
leaders who have been calling for investments to support the
long-term viability of state route 37.
A wetland restoration project is now underway in the 400-acre
former herding area known as Ackerson Meadow, which was
controversially added to Yosemite National Park in 2016, the
National Park Service announced this week. Ackerson Meadow is
on the west edge of Yosemite, on Evergreen Road in Tuolumne
County, between Highway 120 and the entrance to Hetch Hetchy,
and it borders Stanislaus National Forest land. Ackerson Creek
flows into the South Fork Tuolumne River. Natural subalpine
meadows there used to be magnets for cattle and sheep herders
who sought grazelands when they were outside park
boundaries.
One of the most famous, though possibly apocryphal, quotes to
come out of the Vietnam War appeared in a Feb. 7, 1968,
Associated Press report. It quoted an unnamed “United States
Major” explaining why U.S. forces leveled the Vietnamese town
of Ben Tre—in one succinct, memorable turn of phrase: “It
became necessary to destroy the town to save it,” the major
reportedly commented. The quote lives on because, real or
not, it seemed to perfectly encapsulate the absurdity of
military logic. … But the quote didn’t apply only to the
military. In fact, it could easily be applied to the
large-scale public improvement project that built much of what
California is today—via a process known as “land reclamation.”
The reclamation projects of the late 19th and early 20th
century turned the so-called swamps of California’s Central
Valley into some of the country’s most fertile
agricultural land—but in the process, destroyed or damaged 90
percent of the wetlands that were the natural habitat for
hundreds of species of birds, mammals, reptiles and
many other kinds of life.
Avian botulism, a lethal disease for birds, has been found
spreading throughout Tulare Lake. The disease is caused by
bacteria that thrive in shallow, warm waters with decaying
organic matter. The bacteria that causes the disease is
found naturally in wetland soil. But it doesn’t produce the
toxin that causes the disease unless environmental conditions
are right. As temperatures soared in the San Joaquin Valley
over the past few months, Tulare Lake warmed, causing perfect
conditions for the disease to spread. Neighboring
wildlife areas, such as the Kern National Wildlife Refuge,
often have standing, shallow water for bird habitat.
The latest phase of a decades-long effort to help restore
California’s largest tract of tidal salt marsh south of San
Francisco Bay is underway this summer, thanks to the efforts of
Ducks Unlimited and its partners at Elkhorn Slough. For
years, Ducks Unlimited has partnered with the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Elkhorn Slough Foundation
on the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve to
restore degraded salt marsh and surrounding habitats.
Meandering seven miles inland from the coast, the Elkhorn
Slough sits at the center of California’s iconic Monterey Bay.
Last century, the mouth of the sinuous waterway was relocated
to create a harbor which resulted in stronger tides washing in
and out of the slough. Instead of shallow salt marshes, the
slough began to function as a bay.
One of our favorite aspects to teaching is (occasionally) being
able to really surprise a student. Many of the fun nature facts
folks pick up nowadays come from TV, YouTube, social media, and
other media outlets. But these outlets have an inherent bias:
they focus on the charismatic species. That is, the species
that are big, fluffy, and widely adored. Yet there are so many
fascinating species and ecology in the lesser appreciated
taxonomic groups (not to mention, focusing on charismatic
species leads to inequitable conservation – Rypel et al. 2021).
And often, learning about these overlooked species can really
blow the mind! Today, we’d like to introduce you all to the
fascinating reproductive behavior of freshwater mussels.
It was exactly the sort of deluge
California groundwater agencies have been counting on to
replenish their overworked aquifers.
The start of 2023 brought a parade of torrential Pacific storms
to bone dry California. Snow piled up across the Sierra Nevada at
a near-record pace while runoff from the foothills gushed into
the Central Valley, swelling rivers over their banks and filling
seasonal creeks for the first time in half a decade.
Suddenly, water managers and farmers toiling in one of the
state’s most groundwater-depleted regions had an opportunity to
capture stormwater and bank it underground. Enterprising agencies
diverted water from rushing rivers and creeks into manmade
recharge basins or intentionally flooded orchards and farmland.
Others snagged temporary permits from the state to pull from
streams they ordinarily couldn’t touch.
Land and waterway managers labored
hard over the course of a century to control California’s unruly
rivers by building dams and levees to slow and contain their
water. Now, farmers, environmentalists and agencies are undoing
some of that work as part of an accelerating campaign to restore
the state’s major floodplains.
Biologists have designed a variety
of unique experiments in the past decade to demonstrate the
benefits that floodplains provide for small fish. Tracking
studies have used acoustic tags to show that chinook salmon
smolts with access to inundated fields are more likely than their
river-bound cohorts to reach the Pacific Ocean. This is because
the richness of floodplains offers a vital buffet of nourishment
on which young salmon can capitalize, supercharging their growth
and leading to bigger, stronger smolts.
Water is flowing once again
to the Colorado River’s delta in Mexico, a vast region that
was once a natural splendor before the iconic Western river was
dammed and diverted at the turn of the last century, essentially
turning the delta into a desert.
In 2012, the idea emerged that water could be intentionally sent
down the river to inundate the delta floodplain and regenerate
native cottonwood and willow trees, even in an overallocated
river system. Ultimately, dedicated flows of river water were
brokered under cooperative
efforts by the U.S. and Mexican governments.
State work to improve wildlife habitat and tamp down dust at California’s ailing Salton Sea is finally moving forward. Now the sea may be on the verge of getting the vital ingredient needed to supercharge those restoration efforts – money.
The shrinking desert lake has long been a trouble spot beset by rising salinity and unhealthy, lung-irritating dust blowing from its increasingly exposed bed. It shadows discussions of how to address the Colorado River’s two-decade-long drought because of its connection to the system. The lake is a festering health hazard to nearby residents, many of them impoverished, who struggle with elevated asthma risk as dust rises from the sea’s receding shoreline.
This tour guided participants on a virtual journey deep into California’s most crucial water and ecological resource – the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The 720,000-acre network of islands and canals support the state’s two major water systems – the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project. The Delta and the connecting San Francisco Bay form the largest freshwater tidal estuary of its kind on the West coast.
Out of sight and out of mind to most
people, the Salton Sea in California’s far southeast corner has
challenged policymakers and local agencies alike to save the
desert lake from becoming a fetid, hyper-saline water body
inhospitable to wildlife and surrounded by clouds of choking
dust.
The sea’s problems stretch beyond its boundaries in Imperial and
Riverside counties and threaten to undermine multistate
management of the Colorado River. A 2019 Drought Contingency Plan for the
Lower Colorado River Basin was briefly stalled when the Imperial
Irrigation District, holding the river’s largest water
allocation, balked at participating in the plan because, the
district said, it ignored the problems of the Salton Sea.
Deep, throaty cadenced calls —
sounding like an off-key bassoon — echo over the grasslands,
farmers’ fields and wetlands starting in late September of each
year. They mark the annual return of sandhill cranes to the
Cosumnes River Preserve,
46,000 acres located 20 miles south of Sacramento on the edge of
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
For the bulk of her career, Jayne
Harkins has devoted her energy to issues associated with the
management of the Colorado River, both with the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation and with the Colorado River Commission of Nevada.
Now her career is taking a different direction. Harkins, 58, was
appointed by President Trump last August to take the helm of the
United States section of the U.S.-Mexico agency that oversees
myriad water matters between the two countries as they seek to
sustainably manage the supply and water quality of the Colorado
River, including its once-thriving Delta in Mexico, and other
rivers the two countries share. She is the first woman to be
named the U.S. Commissioner of the International Boundary and
Water Commission for either the United States or Mexico in the
commission’s 129-year history.
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.
Farmers in the Central Valley are broiling about California’s plan to increase flows in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems to help struggling salmon runs avoid extinction. But in one corner of the fertile breadbasket, River Garden Farms is taking part in some extraordinary efforts to provide the embattled fish with refuge from predators and enough food to eat.
And while there is no direct benefit to one farm’s voluntary actions, the belief is what’s good for the fish is good for the farmers.
Deep, throaty cadenced calls —
sounding like an off-key bassoon — echo over the grasslands,
farmers’ fields and wetlands starting in late September of each
year. They mark the annual return of sandhill cranes to the
Cosumnes River Preserve,
46,000 acres located 20 miles south of Sacramento on the edge of
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
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.
Along the banks of the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in Oakley, about 50 miles southwest
of Sacramento, is a park that harkens back to the days when the
Delta lured Native Americans, Spanish explorers, French fur
trappers, and later farmers to its abundant wildlife and rich
soil.
That historical Delta was an enormous marsh linked to the two
freshwater rivers entering from the north and south, and tidal
flows coming from the San Francisco Bay. After the Gold Rush,
settlers began building levees and farms, changing the landscape
and altering the habitat.
As vital as the Colorado River is to the United States and
Mexico, so is the ongoing process by which the two countries
develop unique agreements to better manage the river and balance
future competing needs.
The prospect is challenging. The river is over allocated as urban
areas and farmers seek to stretch every drop of their respective
supplies. Since a historic treaty between the two countries was
signed in 1944, the United States and Mexico have periodically
added a series of arrangements to the treaty called minutes that
aim to strengthen the binational ties while addressing important
water supply, water quality and environmental concerns.
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 30-minute documentary, produced in 2011, explores the past,
present and future of flood management in California’s Central
Valley. It features stories from residents who have experienced
the devastating effects of a California flood firsthand.
Interviews with long-time Central Valley water experts from
California Department of Water Resources (FloodSAFE), U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, Central Valley Flood
Management Program and environmental groups are featured as they
discuss current efforts to improve the state’s 150-year old flood
protection system and develop a sustainable, integrated, holistic
flood management plan for the Central Valley.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
15-minute DVD that graphically portrays the potential disaster
should a major earthquake hit the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
“Delta Warning” depicts what would happen in the event of an
earthquake registering 6.5 on the Richter scale: 30 levee breaks,
16 flooded islands and a 300 billion gallon intrusion of salt
water from the Bay – the “big gulp” – which would shut down the
State Water Project and Central Valley Project pumping plants.
Water truly has shaped California into the great state it is
today. And if it is water that made California great, it’s the
fight over – and with – water that also makes it so critically
important. In efforts to remap California’s circulatory system,
there have been some critical events that had a profound impact
on California’s water history. These turning points not only
forced a re-evaluation of water, but continue to impact the lives
of every Californian. This 2005 PBS documentary offers a
historical and current look at the major water issues that shaped
the state we know today. Includes a 12-page viewer’s guide with
background information, historic timeline and a teacher’s lesson.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, features
a map of the San Joaquin River. The map text focuses on the San
Joaquin River Restoration Program, which aims to restore flows
and populations of Chinook salmon to the river below Friant Dam
to its confluence with the Merced River. The text discusses the
history of the program, its goals and ongoing challenges with
implementation.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Klamath River Watershed. The
map text explains the many issues facing this vast,
15,000-square-mile watershed, including fish restoration;
agricultural water use; and wetlands. Also included are
descriptions of the separate, but linked, Klamath Basin
Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Agreement,
and the next steps associated with those agreements. Development
of the map was funded by a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
A companion to the Truckee River Basin Map poster, this 24×36
inch poster, suitable for framing, explores the Carson River, and
its link to the Truckee River. The map includes Lahontan Dam and
Reservoir, the Carson Sink, and the farming areas in the basin.
Map text discusses the region’s hydrology and geography, the
Newlands Project, land and water use within the basin and
wetlands. Development of the map was funded by a grant from the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region, Lahontan Basin
Area Office.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, explains how
non-native invasive animals can alter the natural ecosystem,
leading to the demise of native animals. “Unwelcome Visitors”
features photos and information on four such species – including
the zerbra mussel – and explains the environmental and economic
threats posed by these species.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Delta explores the competing
uses and demands on California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Included in the guide are sections on the history of the Delta,
its role in the state’s water system, and its many complex issues
with sections on water quality, levees, salinity and agricultural
drainage, fish and wildlife, and water distribution.
Wetlands are among the most
important and hardest-working ecosystems in the world, rivaling
rain forests and coral reefs in productivity of life.
They produce high levels of oxygen, filter toxic chemicals out of
water, sequester carbon, reduce flooding and erosion, recharge
groundwater and provide a
diverse range of recreational opportunities from fishing and
hunting to photography. They also serve as critical habitat for
wildlife, including a large percentage of plants and animals on
California’s endangered species
list.
The Pacific Flyway is one of four
major North American migration routes for birds, especially
waterfowl, and extends from Alaska and Canada, through
California, to Mexico and South America. Each year, birds follow
ancestral patterns as they travel the flyway on their annual
north-south migration. Along the way, they need stopover sites
such as wetlands with suitable habitat and food supplies. In
California, 90 percent of historic wetlands have been lost.
In the Central Valley, wetlands—partly or seasonally saturated
land that supports aquatic life and distinct ecosystems— provide
critical habitat for a variety of wildlife.
This printed issue of Western Water examines how the various
stakeholders have begun working together to meet the planning
challenges for the Colorado River Basin, including agreements
with Mexico, increased use of conservation and water marketing,
and the goal of accomplishing binational environmental
restoration and water-sharing programs.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the issues
associated with the State Water Board’s proposed revision of the
water quality Bay-Delta Plan, most notably the question of
whether additional flows are needed for the system, and how they
might be provided.
This printed copy of Western Water examines the Colorado River
Delta, its ecological significance and the lengths to which
international, state and local efforts are targeted and achieving
environmental restoration while recognizing the needs of the
entire river’s many users.
