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.
Proponents of a new plan to rehabilitate San Francisco Bay say
they hope to make significant gains in the coming years because
of millions of dollars in new federal funds. The estuary, the
largest on the west coast of North America, covers 60,000
square miles from the foot of the Sierra Nevada to the Golden
Gate, including the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The
estuary and the surrounding mountains, which hold about half of
California’s water supply, are home to highly diverse
ecosystems, including 100 endangered and threatened species,
and support a multi-billion dollar economy.
The Morro Bay National Estuary Program is getting $4.5 million
over five years to protect and restore water quality and
habitat, the Biden administration announced on Monday. The
funding comes from the bipartisan $978 billion Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act that Biden signed last November.
In the past few years, the San Francisco Estuary region has
confronted epic wildfires, historic rainfall intensity and
flooding, and chronic drought. The whiplash of these events has
confirmed that climate change has already begun to impact human
and wildlife communities from Sacramento to San Francisco, and
beyond. [T]he pervasive, horrific violence against Black,
Brown, and Asian and Asian-American people has amplified
long-term calls for racial justice, galvanizing new commitments
to address historic and present inequity through every thread
of our social fabric. These events have set the context for the
multi-stakeholder process that updates the San Francisco
Estuary Blueprint.
For generations, the 21-mile route linking Marin County and
Vallejo has been essential for commuters and travelers. Now
Highway 37 has become something more — a centerpiece in a
growing debate on how the Bay Area and California should
respond to climate change and when politicians should bite the
bullet to spend the billions of dollars needed to deal with it.
Caltrans is studying a plan to widen a traffic-prone, 10-mile
stretch of the highway at a cost of nearly half a billion
dollars while it comes up with a longer-term fix. But some
advocates say they should skip that step while significant
funding is available and do what all parties agree will
eventually need to be done by elevating the road.
The Klamath Basin is one of the most iconic watersheds in North
America. It’s also one of the most troubled. The basin, which
spans 15,751 square miles along the remote California-Oregon
border, was once considered the “Everglades of the West” for
its network of more than 440,000 acres of
wetlands. … From a tribal lawyer laser-focused on
protecting her people’s salmon-fishing traditions to a
biologist doing everything he can to preserve the remnants of
the basin’s wetlands, these are the people fighting to return
the Klamath to its former glory. This is their river.
One day while [civil engineer James Levine] was looking
out at the bay from his Emeryville office, Levine was struck by
the steep unnatural riprap shoreline surrounding most of the
bay that discourage wildlife from gathering there. He also
thought about the many tons of sediment that needed to be
dredged from the bay so that big ships could pass — and what he
could do with that fill to encourage wildlife habitat
elsewhere. Thus was born the Montezuma Wetlands Project in
Solano County, a private initiative begun in the early 2000s
that addresses two problems: the historic loss of wetlands and
how one can responsibly dispose of millions of cubic yards of
sediments dredged annually from San Francisco Bay Area ports,
harbors and channels.
Democratic-led states, tribes, and conservation groups will not
see a Trump-era water rule declared invalid before the Ninth
Circuit decides the issue or the EPA issues a new rule, a
federal judge in California ruled. The plaintiffs wanted the US
District Court for the Northern District of California to
resume their lawsuit over the Clean Water Act Section 401
Certification Rule issued in 2020 that they said unlawfully
restricted states’ and tribes’ ability to reject water
polluting projects. But Judge William Alsup questioned the
point of moving forward when the Environmental Protection
Agency said it would “eviscerate” the rule anyway.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued guidance July
26 for place-based projects using $132 million in
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds being distributed
via its National Estuary Program. The NEP, which started in
1987, funds water quality and ecological integrity recovery
projects at 28 estuaries along the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific
coasts, plus Puerto Rico, considered to be of “national
significance.” … Local program directors detailed
funding plans in a statement, including building defenses in
California’s Santa Monica Bay area against sea level rise …
State Fish and Wildlife Department officials have awarded a $1
million grant to the San Diego Association of Governments for
planning the restoration of the Buena Vista Lagoon at the
Oceanside-Carlsbad border. The $1 million announced last
month comes on top of $3 million the state Wildlife
Conservation Board awarded in December to SANDAG, which
oversees planning and contracting for the proposed cleanup of
the stagnant 220-acre lagoon. The new grant gives the
agency about half the money it needs to finish the engineering
and design work that must be completed before the project can
be offered for construction bids.
Millions of highly skilled environmental engineers stand ready
to make our continent more resilient to climate change. They
restore wetlands that absorb carbon, store water, filter
pollution and clean and cool waters for salmon and trout. They
are recognized around the world for helping to reduce wildfire
risk. Scientists have valued their environmental services at
close to $179,000 per square mile annually. And they work for
free. Our ally in mitigating and adapting to climate change
across the West could be a paddle-tailed rodent: the North
American beaver. -Written by Chris Jordan, mathematical biology
and systems monitoring program manager at NOAA Fisheries’
Northwest Fisheries Science Center; and Emily Fairfax, an
assistant professor of environmental science and resource
management at Cal State Channel Islands.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting
applications for approximately $29 million in grants, the
largest annual allocation ever, to protect and restore San
Francisco Bay watersheds and wetlands. The agency is announcing
two separate funding opportunities with a due date for
applications of September 20, 2022. … The San Francisco
Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (SFBWQIF), a
competitive grant program EPA has administered since 2008, has
already provided $71 million over the years in 59 grant
awards.
The lake at the Park at River Walk is fast disappearing, as are
the Truxtun Lakes and some other city-owned water features.
Blame the drought. The City of Bakersfield Water Resources
Department has cut off flows to city-owned recreation and water
recharge facilities to hold on to what little surface water
it’s receiving from the dwindling Kern River for drinking
water, according to Daniel Maldonado, a water planner with the
department. … Local resident Calletano Guiterrez understood
the city has to contend with the drought but hoped at least
some water could be set aside for what he said he and his
family have come to love about Bakersfield.
Over 560 acres of vernal pools and wetlands are planned for
conservation in Sheridan, with the Placer County Board of
Supervisors recently approving the use of $445,000 of Placer
Legacy open space funds. The funding will be combined with a
$5,244,000 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a
$1,311,000 grant from the California Wildlife Conservation
Board to acquire a portion of the Riosa Redwing Ranch property.
Environmental agencies on the local, state and federal levels
are commending the efforts of two tidal habitat restoration
projects in Solano County. The California Department of Water
Resources is aiming to preserve smelt and other fish
populations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by improving
food sources and habitat conditions in the Suisun Marsh,
specifically by restoring Bradmoor Island and Arnold Slough.
The 161-acre restoration project in Arnold Slough, located in
eastern Suisun Marsh, was recently completed in the fall of
2021.
Firefighters and air quality experts are cautiously optimistic
that a plan to flood the stubborn Marsh Fire with 10 million to
20 million gallons of water could finally end a two-month
nightmare for several eastern Contra Costa County cities
perpetually shrouded in a fog of acrid smoke from the
long-simmering blaze. ConFire crews flipped on three additional
water pumps Wednesday, bringing to five the number of pumps
pulling water from nearby Mallard Slough onto the 200-acre
property outside Pittsburg, which has been burning since late
May.
A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a 15-year plan for
several drought-stricken wildlife refuges along the Oregon and
California border against challenges by agribusiness and
conservation groups alike. The three decisions by the 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals mark a stalemate in a century-old
water war in the Klamath Basin, where a federal irrigation
project to support farming began in 1906 and the nation’s first
wildlife refuge was established in 1908. The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service’s 2017 Comprehensive Conservation Plan drew
fire from agribusiness for regulating farming practices in the
Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex, while
conservationists argued the restrictions did not go far enough.
Southern California is experiencing a drought of historic
proportions. In fact, some scientists are now referring to this
uber-drought as “aridification.” While droughts
are thought of as somewhat temporary, aridification signals a
whole new condition, one that Matthew Kirby, a
paleoclimatologist and professor at California State University
Fullerton, says, could mean living “under a permanent state
of water conservation.” Meanwhile, while the
summer months can mean mosquitos, a drought doesn’t necessarily
mean that their threat is diminished.
It may seem counterintuitive in this very dry year to be
thinking and talking about floodplains; yet, these years
highlight the importance of the floodplain in the Sacramento
Valley and the opportunities we have in all years–including
critically dry years–to reactivate our floodplains as part of
ridgetop to river mouth water management. To learn more about
these opportunities, we encourage you to grab some popcorn and
watch several award-winning films that explore how reconnecting
our landscape with our vital rivers can have a profound impact
on recovery of endangered fish and wildlife populations in
harmony with our cities, rural communities and farms.
Extreme precipitation from hurricanes and atmospheric rivers
can lead to increased flooding in the world’s coastal zones,
where more than 630 million people reside. Tidal marshes act as
important buffers in these areas, absorbing the initial impact
of storm surges and strong winds. In addition, tidal marsh
ecosystems rely on storm events to deposit sediments that help
with marsh accretion. In a new study, Thorne et al. focused on
tidal marsh accretion and elevation change in the San Francisco
Bay after an atmospheric river event in 2016-2017.
Los Angeles County has 25 state parks, recreation areas,
historical sites and beaches. There are 24 more in Orange and
San Diego counties. But in the eight counties of the San
Joaquin Valley, which stretches from the Tehachapis to the
northern edge of San Joaquin County, there are only 15 state
sites, and only five of those are state parks. That is
about to change. In the budget just signed by Gov. Gavin
Newsom, enough money has been dedicated to start creating
California’s first new state park since Fort Ord Dunes in
Monterey County joined the system more than a decade ago. -Written by Julie Rentner, president of River
Partners, a nonprofit conservation organization; and
Assemblymember Adam Gray, a
Democrat representing Merced County and part of
Stanislaus County, including Dos Rios Ranch.
When the flood protection plan for Sacramento was conceived and
constructed, the aim was to divert Sacramento River flood flows
away from the city. The plan was successful, but it did not
provide much for the needs of fish that migrate through
the floodplain to connect with the river channel. … Fast
forward to a warm summer day in 2022 as officials with federal,
state, local agencies and Native American tribes gathered to
break ground on the second phase of the largest floodplain
salmon rearing habitat restoration in California history.
Dubbed the “Big Notch” Project, the $190 million effort
(partially funded by Reclamation) aims to improve 30,000-acres
of floodplain habitat in the Yolo Bypass in Yolo County.
Two environmental groups asked a judge to block a permit for a
314-acre housing development in Chico, California, arguing that
federal officials failed to consider its effect on seasonal
wetlands …
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has
completed its 2022 waterfowl breeding population survey. The
resulting data indicate the overall number of breeding ducks
has decreased by 19 percent, including mallards that are the
most abundant duck in the survey. … The full Breeding
Population Survey Report, which can be found on the CDFW
website, indicates the total number of ducks … is 30 percent
below the long-term average. The estimated breeding population
of mallards decreased from 239,830 in 2019 to 179,390 this
year, which is below their long-term average. The decline is
attributed to the ongoing drought and the loss of upland
nesting habitat for ducks.
The Great Salt Lake has hit a new historic low for the second
time in less than a year, a dire milestone as the US west
continues to weather a historic mega-drought. The Utah
department of natural resources said in a news release on
Monday that the Great Salt Lake dipped over the weekend to
4,190.1ft (1,277.1 meters). … The giant lake near Salt
Lake City is the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi.
Its dwindling water levels have put millions of migrating birds
at risk and threaten a lake-based economy that is worth an
estimated $1.3bn in mineral extraction, brine shrimp and
recreation.
A natural habitat for Delta waterfowl and wildlife, and more
recently grazing cattle, Jersey Island in East Contra Costa
County has remained largely undeveloped for more than a hundred
years. Plans are percolating, though, that could turn it into a
vacation getaway with a wave pool, sandy beaches, a wildlife
refuge — and more — close to home. That’s what one
entrepreneur/developer, Montezuma Water LLC, has in mind with a
preliminary concept it has presented to the island’s owner,
Ironhouse Sanitary District, which has been looking for ways to
reduce its responsibilities for the surrounding levees and shed
some of its expenses for an island it no longer needs.
[S]tate, federal, and local agencies gathered to celebrate the
groundbreaking of the largest tidal habitat restoration project
in California history. The Department of Water Resources (DWR)
and Ecosystem Investment Partners (EIP) are teaming up on the
Lookout Slough Tidal Habitat Restoration and Flood Improvement
Project in Solano County. It is a multi-benefit effort to
restore the site to a tidal wetland, creating habitat and
producing food for Delta Smelt and other fish species while
also creating new flood capacity in the Yolo Bypass and
reducing overall flood risk in the Sacramento area.
As far back as the 1870s, the people of Reclamation District
108 were faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges, but
they always seemed to find a resolution to the problem before
them. From building levees to corral the mighty Sacramento
River, to pumping out millions of gallons of floodwater from
the fields, to creating unique irrigation systems to support
crop growth, our ancestors uncovered innovative and sustainable
solutions that we still use to this day.
A project to protect and restore more than 500 acres of
critical shore area habitats in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park
received a $1 million grant from the San Francisco Bay
Restoration Authority, the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers
Authority, announced on Friday, June. 24. The grant will help
fund the Strategy to Advance Flood Protection, Ecosystems and
Recreation along San Francisco (SAFER) Bay Project, leading up
to the preparation of an environmental impact report.
News headlines in mid-June captured what Audubon’s Western
Water team knows well: the Colorado River Basin and Great Salt
Lake are in trouble—both facing historically unprecedented
risks. Both may be headed towards ecological disasters, years
in the making, the result of a pernicious combination of
climate change aridifying the region and water management that
does not adequately prioritize the environment. In the Colorado
River Basin and at Great Salt Lake, warming temperatures and
declining river flows threaten people and nature. And, we know
there’s significant quality wildlife and bird habitat still
worthy of attention and investments.
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.
