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.
Sonoma wildlife conservationists had one word to describe Gov.
Gavin Newsom’s proposed new Beaver Restoration program:
“Damtastic!” Newsom floated the program as part of a May 13
presentation of his revised 2022-2023 fiscal budget. Pledging
$1.67 million this year and $1.44 million in years thereafter,
Newsom said the funds would go toward the Department of Fish
and Wildlife’s efforts in developing “a comprehensive beaver
management plan.” The North American Beaver is considered a
“keystone species” by Fish and Wildlife …
A wine executive faces millions in fines after razing dozens of
acres of trees for a vineyard in California, water officials
said. The clearing of the oak woodlands caused “significant
damage to the streams and wetlands” in the former Alexander
Valley Ranch in 2018, according to a news release from the
North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. Hugh Reimers
and his business Krasilsa Pacific Farms, LLC face a $3.75
million fine from the state board, according to the May 24 news
release.
A well-known Sonoma County vineyard executive is facing a
multi-million-dollar state fine for allegedly removing trees
and destroying a small wetland on a rural patch of land east of
Cloverdale. Hugh Reimers and Krasilsa Pacific Farms could be on
the hook for up to $3.75 million in fines for allegedly cutting
down trees, grading, ripping and other activities near
tributaries to Little Sulphur Creek, Big Sulphur Creek and
Crocker Creek in the Russian River Watershed … In a complaint
filed May 9, the Water Board accused Reimers and Krasilsa
Pacific Farms of also failing to abide by a 2019 cleanup and
abatement order, which required them to restore the streams and
wetlands.
When you picture water storage, a water tower on slanted stilts
imposed upon a blue sky or a concrete reservoir piping water to
the city might come to mind. The issue of water storage has
become a high priority as regions such as California experience
severe multi-year drought and are impacted by overextraction
from aquifers. … The most climate resilient and long-term
strategies to address water shortage lie at our feet, in the
meadows that anchor our rivers headwaters and floodplains that
extend across the broad lower river valleys.
After nearly two years of a collaborative effort led by the
Delta Stewardship Council’s Delta Science Program, the wait is
finally over. We’re excited and proud to present the final
2022-2026 SAA for the Delta. … Scientists, managers, and
those with a stake in the Delta were invited to participate in
two public workshops, four online surveys, and four review
periods and were engaged in various collaborative venues. The
collaborative process was a critical component of this SAA and
built on the success of the 2017-2021 SAA, which guided over
$35 million from the Council and its partners for
management-relevant research.
The Colorado River is once again flowing in its delta. The
flows, which began on May 1, are the result of binational
collaboration and deliberate management. The water is dedicated
to supporting the ecosystem and local communities in a
landscape where the river has not flowed for most years
in the past half century. It is a heartening bit of good news
for the Colorado River, which earlier this year was designated
as America’s most endangered river.
San Diego County lagoons and wetlands may get more funding for
protection and restoration under the Resilient Coasts and
Estuaries Act, introduced Tuesday by Reps. Mike Levin, D-San
Juan Capistrano, and Brian Mast, R-Fla. The bill would
authorize $60 million per year through 2026 for the Coastal and
Estuarine Land Conservation Program, which distributes money to
preserve the “conservation, recreation, ecological, historical,
and aesthetic values of estuaries,” Levin stated. That funding
could support conservation of local wetlands, including the San
Mateo Creek, San Luis Rey River, San Elijo Lagoon and others…
Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing funding to support what he
calls a “creative climate solving hero” – the North American
Beaver. The rodent is known to help restore drought-stricken
areas of California by restoring wetlands and groundwater
basins. The governor is initially requesting more than $3
million in the next few fiscal years to support and maintain a
beaver restoration program within the California Department of
Fish and Wildlife.
The Bay Area is often associated with two things – the beauty
of its natural landscape, and the skyrocketing costs of living
in it. Of late those have been seen as being in
tension. … As a planning tool, CEQA has myriad
uses, but its overarching nature also means that it can be used
by just about everyone – which is how its implementation has so
often come to pit environmentalists against
developers … Environmentalists have long wanted to
add Area 4 to the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National
Wildlife Refuge as upland migration space – to preserve room
for wetlands to move inland as sea levels rise on the Bay
shoreline.
California is hoping to get a new state park. The site, now
known as the Dos Rios Reserve, is just a 20-minute drive from
Modesto and may be open to the public by next year if Gov.
Gavin Newsom’s budget is approved. The site is where two
rivers, Tuolumne and San Joaquin, meet.
The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta lies at the confluence of two
of the state’s largest rivers. Forty percent of California’s
runoff flows into the Delta, which—together with the San
Francisco Bay—forms one of the West Coast’s largest estuaries.
The Delta watershed supplies water to roughly 30 million
residents and more than 6 million acres of farmland. Water
exported from the Delta goes to the Bay Area, the southern San
Joaquin Valley, the Central Coast, and Southern California
(first figure).
Los Angeles County on Tuesday, May 17 unveiled its final Los
Angeles River Master Plan, which the county’s Board of
Supervisors will consider for adoption on June 14. The
plan is aimed at improving water quality, increasing wildlife
habitat and biodiversity and creating equitable access to
parks. Among its specific goals are: Creating 51 miles of
connected open space along the entire river; Building
support facilities along the river; … increasing habitat
and ecosystem function along the river corridor and using it as
a living laboratory …
The rice farmer John Brennan … [is] collaborating with the
scientist Jacob Katz to turn a piece of the Sacramento Valley,
specifically in the Yolo Bypass, into a floodplain that can be
home to baby Chinook salmon during the winter months, as they
make their way down the river system to the Pacific. Their
experiment, aptly named the Nigiri Project (in reference to the
beds of seasoned sushi rice draped in little blankets of raw
fish), involves flooding Brennan’s rice fields once the grain
has been harvested so that the depleted stalks can decompose in
the water, thereby making those nutrients available to bugs and
plankton, which then serve as food for schools of growing
salmon.
Conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its
watershed are changing as droughts become warmer and more
intense. But as our new study highlights, California is not
doing a good job of tracking these changes. That’s making it
even tougher to manage the water that is available for the
benefit of the state’s communities, economy and
environment. -Written by Ellen Hanak, director of the Public Policy
Institute of California’s Water Policy Center, and Greg
Gartrell, an independent consulting engineer and an adjunct
fellow at the PPIC Water Policy Center.
California will acquire a sprawling former farm property in the
San Joaquin Valley and create a new state park for the first
time in 13 years. The park is planned for Dos Rios Ranch, where
the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers meet southwest of Modesto.
On a cool day in late April, a small crowd gathers around a
truck-mounted water tank at Lakeside Farms, on the southeastern
shore of Upper Klamath Lake…. All eyes are focused on the
tank’s outlet, where U.S. Fish and Wildlife Science fish
biologist Jane Spangler stands poised with a net. Her
colleague, science coordinator Christie Nichols, opens the
valve. Water gushes out; within seconds, a stream of tiny fish
pours into the net…. Nichols and Spangler are here to stock
the pond with over 1,000 young C’waam and Koptu — Lost River
and shortnose suckers, two endangered species that inhabit
Upper Klamath Lake and that are at the heart of the area’s
water conflicts. It’s the first time that hatchery-raised
suckers have been released on private land.
The 1972 Clean Water Act established federal authority over the
“waters of the United States.” Congress did not offer further
explanation of what was covered under that term, but the two
federal agencies given authority by the Clean Water Act
asserted broad power. The federal Environmental Protection
Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers required farmers,
homeowners, commercial and industrial concerns and developers
to obtain permits before digging a ditch for water run-off,
shoring up existing erosion protection structures, or draining
swampy land. -Written by columnist Tom Campbell.
At a scenic spot where two rivers meet amid sprawling almond
orchards and ranchlands between San Jose and Modesto,
California’s state park system is about to get bigger. On
Friday, as part of his revised May budget, Gov. Gavin Newsom is
scheduled to announce that the state is acquiring 2,100 acres
near the confluence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers to
become a new state park — an area rich with wildlife and
brimming with possibilities to reduce flood risk and restore
some of California’s lost natural heritage.
Sea levels in San Francisco Bay have risen nearly 8 inches in
the last 100 years and continue to rise. The sea level in this
area could rise as much as 3 feet over the next 50 years, and
this project will help protect future generations. In December
2021, Valley Water and its partners broke ground on the first
portion of the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Phase 1
Project. … Once completed, this project will help reduce
coastal flood risk for about 5,500 residents, commuters and
businesses within the vicinity of Alviso and North San José.
More organic farming. Less driving. No more natural gas in new
buildings. Electric off-road vehicles. For the first time
in five years, California regulators have released an
ambitious plan for tackling climate change.
… Among the methods: encouraging Californians to eat
plant- or cell-based products instead of meat. Doubling
the amount of acres of cropland that are certified organic.
… Restoring an immense amount of acreage in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta — 130,000 acres under one
scenario. For context, a state-funded project in the works that
will convert 1,200 acres will have taken 20 years and $63
million when it’s complete.
On Thursday, the Orange County Coastkeeper filed a complaint in
the Central District of California against Hixson Metal
Finishing, FPC Management, LLC and Reid Washbon alleging
violations of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and Clean
Water Act. According to the complaint, the Orange County
Coastkeeper is a California nonprofit public benefit
corporation dedicated to the preservation, protection and
defense of the environment, wildlife and natural resources of
Orange County.
The Yolo Bypass is one of two large flood bypasses in
California’s Central Valley that are examples of multi-benefit
floodplain projects (Figure 1; Serra-Llobet et al.,
2022). Originally constructed in the early 20th century
for flood control, up to 75% of the Sacramento River’s flood
flow can be diverted through a system of weirs into the Yolo
Bypass and away from nearby communities (Figure 2; Salcido,
2012; Sommer et al., 2001). During the dry season, floodplain
soils in the bypass support farming of seasonal crops (mostly
rice). Today, the bypass is also widely recognized for its
ecological benefits.
Public developments on the California coast would be required
to capture carbon in wetlands or other natural systems under an
Assembly bill that calls for projects to add “blue carbon”
measures to their mitigation plans. Blue carbon refers to
coastal habitat such as wetlands, marshes, kelp forests and
eelgrass beds that capture and store carbon in soil, plant
matter and the sea floor. AB 2593, authored by
Assemblymember Boerner Horvath, D-Encinitas, would require
projects on public lands to compensate for greenhouse gas
emissions by building or contributing to blue carbon projects.
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) from the world’s scientific community leaves no
doubt that we must take urgent action on climate change while
we still have a chance to prevent the most destructive impacts
to the globe’s communities and ecosystems. This report must
spur every one of us to look at actions we can take in our
region to rapidly reduce emissions and prepare our communities
to adapt. … One of the most effective nature-based
solutions is the expansion and restoration of coastal
wetlands. -Written by Carin High, co-chair of the Citizens
Committee to Complete the Refuge; and Arthur
Feinstein, vice-chair of the Sierra Club California
Conservation Committee and Chair of the Sierra Club’s Bay
ALIVE! Campaign.
The [Tejon Ranch] company’s proposals promise a reprieve from
California’s existential crisis about its way of life,
suggesting that the environmental consequences of the state’s
notorious sprawl can be reformed with rooftop solar panels,
induction cooktops, electric cars, and careful bookkeeping.
… During the years of litigation surrounding FivePoint
Valencia, environmentalists scored a few rare wins. The
development had to reduce its footprint to protect the Santa
Clara River’s floodplain. It had to conserve land to protect
the unarmored threespine stickleback—an endangered fish that
lives in the river—and the San Fernando Valley spineflower, a
rare plant.
What does Slow Water mean? In our attempt to control water
we’re often trying to eradicate the slow phases and move it a
lot more quickly. We’re putting up levees so that it won’t
settle on floodplains. We’re filling in wetlands so that we can
build or farm on top of them. We’re cutting down mountain
forests that act as water towers, generating water and
releasing it slowly. In all of the cases I looked at, the water
detectives were trying to give water access to its slow phases
again, whether that meant restoring or protecting wetlands, or
reclaiming floodplains, or protecting wet meadows, or in a
city, creating something like bioswales.
Onja Davidson Raoelison, a doctoral candidate in environmental
engineering at UCLA, has been working to keep waterways safe.
Her research and studies focus on green infrastructure and how
wildfires impact water systems…. Raoelison has been looking
at how biofilters can protect water from debris and toxic
pollutants such as heavy metals.
The state of California has released the final version of its
Pathways to 30×30 report. Here are five things to know about
the terrestrial conservation elements of this landmark
effort: 1. Freshwater Conservation The Pathways
document is explicit about the critical need to expand
protection of California’s rivers, streams, wetlands, and other
freshwater resources …
The Salton Sea, located in Southern California, is a saline
terminal lake that has had many identities over the past
century or so. Since its reincarnation in 1905 due to lower
Colorado River flooding that partially refilled the Salton
Sink, it has been California’s largest lake by surface area,
covering approximately 350 square miles…. Yet with nearly 90%
of its inflow comprised of agricultural drainage waters from
the approximately 500,000 acres of irrigated farmland in the
Imperial Irrigation District (IID), and exposure to an
extremely arid climate that results in excessive evaporation
… the Sea’s natural attractions have faded as the lake has
become more polluted and nearly twice as saline as the
ocean….
Over the past two centuries, 95% of the Central Valley’s
wetlands have been lost to development, landscaped out of
existence to satisfy the hunger of an urbanizing, growing
nation. But that’s only part of the picture. California’s
Central Valley extends far beyond what you can see from the
freeways bisecting the belly of the state to connect the
Redding to the Bay Area to Los Angeles. The region once boasted
one of the largest and most biologically diverse wetlands on
earth nourished by the mighty Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers
…
At its height, Lake Aculeo — 5,810 miles from the Great Salt
Lake and in South America’s Chile — attracted people from
nearby Santiago and the surrounding area to enjoy sailing,
boating and swimming in its fresh waters that occupied a
surface area four times the size of New York City’s Central
Park. All that is gone. In fact, like the Great Salt Lake’s
surface that has been reduced by more than half and its volume
diminished by 64% as of 2019, Lake Aculeo began to shrink
during a drought. In May 2018, Lake Aculeo dried up completely.
Environmentalists are concerned Caltrans isn’t doing enough to
keep trash from washing off its properties into the San
Francisco Bay. The state transportation department has been
under a cease and desist order since 2019 requiring it to
reduce trash over the next seven years. The order
covers more than 8,000 acres of its property in the Bay
Area, including the South Bay. The San Francisco Bay Regional
Water Quality Control Board issued the order following
widespread community outrage about Caltrans failing to pick up
trash polluting local waterways.
Between vast almond orchards and dairy pastures in the heart of
California’s farm country sits a property being redesigned to
look like it did 150 years ago, before levees restricted the
flow of rivers that weave across the landscape. The 2,100 acres
(1,100 hectares) at the confluence of the Tuolumne and San
Joaquin rivers in the state’s Central Valley are being reverted
to a floodplain.
Entering a third year of drought, the once-vast Tule Lake, a
vestige of the area’s volcanic past and today a federally
protected wetland, is shriveling up. Its floor is mostly
cracked mud and tumbleweed. By summer, the lake is expected to
run completely dry, a historic first for the region’s signature
landmark and the latest chapter in a broader, escalating water
war.
With high biodiversity and rich farmland, San Diego County is
exploring ways to put the region’s land to use to cut carbon
emissions. In an online public workshop Thursday, county
officials explained ways to expand the use of wetlands,
marshes, forests and agricultural lands to capture and store
carbon through the county’s Regional Decarbonization
Framework.
Despite being the largest estuary on the West Coast and
supporting both a highly diverse ecosystem and a multi-billion
dollar economy, the San Francisco Bay Estuary was not getting
its fair share of federal funding for restoration, according to
local lawmakers and environmental organizations. That changed
this year after Congress and President Joe Biden approved more
than $50 million in funding to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency for projects to restore lost wetlands,
improve water quality, address pollution and bolster sea-level
rise defenses throughout San Francisco Bay.
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.
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.
