From DWR – California’s changing climate brings new challenges each year for water managers as they navigate extreme shifts from drought to flood while working to ensure safe, reliable water supplies for California’s 39 million residents. Water managers address these challenges in their local watersheds, which are often at the forefront of the impacts of climate change. The Department of Water Resources (DWR) is working with local and regional water agencies such as the Merced Irrigation District to conduct cutting-edge climate vulnerability assessments of watersheds in the San Joaquin Valley and evaluating how flood protection and groundwater recharge strategies can be used to adapt to climate vulnerabilities. (more)
From The Mercury News – Atmospheric river storms are like punches in a boxing match. A flurry of weak ones are OK. But it’s best to avoid the big knockout blows.
That’s exactly what happened in California this winter. Scientists say that from Oct. 1 to April 1, the state actually received more atmospheric rivers, the famous moisture-laden meteorological events that are critical to the water supply, than it did last year — 44 this winter compared to 31 last winter. But the intensity made all the difference. Statewide, California had just 2 strong atmospheric rivers this winter, compared with 7 last year. Many of the biggest this winter hit Washington and Oregon instead. The result was, for the most part, a remarkably, blissfully average rainy season for California. (more)
Video from NOAA Fisheries and mavensnotebook.com – To the residents of California’s Central Valley, salmon represent family, culture, jobs, community, and identity. The Central Valley has a rich salmon culture. Join us as we talk with community members and learn how they connect with Central Valley salmon. Salmon have been here for millions of years. They have been central to the culture and economy of Indigenous people since time immemorial. They still are to this day. In the mid-to-late 1800s, European settlers exploited West Coast salmon in excess, and overharvest continued into the 1970s. As native salmon runs declined, hatchery programs replaced the native runs. Meanwhile, impacts from industry, agriculture, mining, forestry, and urban development filled floodplains, dredged and channelized rivers, contaminated water, removed streamside forests, and built dams, blocking the habitat salmon need to spawn and rear. Together with partners and community members, we are working to ensure salmon are a vibrant contributor to a thriving Central Valley. Where they are valued as a part of our culture, their important role in our ecosystem, for the way they support jobs, recreation, and feed our families. (more)
As part of the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan implementation efforts, the Flood Board has released the Sacramento San Joaquin Drainage District Assessment District Feasibility Study – Public Draft Report of Findings. We respectfully request public review and comment on the Public Draft Report of Findings. The 2-week public review period will close on May 3, 2024.
From California Department of Water Resources (DWR) – DWR’s Water Management Planning Tool has been relaunched as the Water Management Boundary Tool. It is an interactive map that allows users to overlay geographic information system (GIS) layers onto a California map and illustrate entities involved in water management in a given area. The tool can assist local agencies with their responsibilities related to the California Water Plan, integrated regional water management, and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. (more)
From California Department of Water Resources (DWR) – DWR’s Water Management Planning Tool has been relaunched as the Water Management Boundary Tool. It is an interactive map that allows users to overlay geographic information system (GIS) layers onto a California map and illustrate entities involved in water management in a given area. The tool can assist local agencies with their responsibilities related to the California Water Plan, integrated regional water management, and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
Still time to register. (more)
From SJV and mavensnotebook.com – The basic concept of the Kern Fan project is standard groundwater banking: Put excess water underground in wet years and retrieve it in dry years, with some left behind to sustain the aquifer. Kern Fan, however, also promises to hold 25% of the banked water in an “ecosystem account” to be called on by the Department of Water Resources when needed for environmental reasons in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The ecosystem account is one of the main reasons Kern Fan won Prop. 1 funding. There are several wrinkles to iron out before the project reaches its full recharge capacity of 100,000 acre feet, however. (more)
From River Partners – Erica Gies has always cared deeply about water. As a young reporter covering renewable energy, she wrote stories for The New York Times about the water-energy nexus. Once she did that, she said, she became more interested in water.Today, Gies is an award-winning independent journalist and author who has covered sustainability and water in outlets like The New York Times, Scientific American, Nature, The Economist, and National Geographic, among others. Her 2022 book, Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge, explores how science and hydrologists around the world manage water, ways in which the United States has historically managed (and mismanaged) water, and the “slow-water” movement—how allowing water to sit on the landscape longer and infiltrate underground helps in multiple ways, something River Partners advances in our work reconnecting rivers to their historic floodplains. River Partners sat down with Gies recently to talk about bringing back floodplains, the importance of native seeds and plants in restoration, what California is doing—and what it could be doing—in managing water, and how optimistic she is that we can thrive in an era of weather whiplash. (more)
From Courthouse News Service – Canals in California may soon feature a new look — solar panel canopies, designed to stop evaporation and soak up the sun’s rays, created under a new project funded with help from the federal government to boost green energy infrastructure. Governor Gavin Newsom joined staff from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Thursday to highlight a new “solar-over-canal” project along one of the state’s primary aqueducts. The pilot project proposes placing a solar canopy to “float” over a major waterway as a source of renewable energy that can also prevent loss of precious water through evaporation. (more)
From DWR – As snowmelt season begins, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) continues to perform flood protection releases from Lake Oroville using the main spillway and Hyatt Powerplant. Releases from Lake Oroville during the spring months help maintain storage capacity in the reservoir to capture runoff from mountain snowmelt, while optimizing storage for the benefit of water supply, recreation, and fish and wildlife enhancement. DWR coordinates releases closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other water operators and adjusts releases as needed to maintain balance throughout the water system. (more)
