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Announcement

Registration Now Open for Popular Northern California Tour; Join our Team as Operations Manager
Journey into the Sierra Nevada on our Headwaters Tour; Save the Date for our Annual Water Summit

Registration Now Open for Northern California Tour: October 16-18

Registration is now open for our popular Northern California Tour October 16-18, and seats always fill quickly! This 3-day, 2-night excursion across the Sacramento Valley travels north from Sacramento to Oroville, Redding and Shasta Lake.

Announcement

July Headwaters Tour Filling Up Quickly; Save The Dates for Water Summit, NorCal Tour in the Fall
Our 2023 Annual Report is Hot Off the Press!; Last Call for June International Groundwater Conference

As we head into summer, don’t miss your chance to explore the statewide impact of forest health on water resources in July and be sure to mark your calendars for our popular fall programming!

  • Northern California Tour, October 16-18: Explore the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic landscape while learning about the issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply. Registration opens June 12!
  • Water Summit, October 30: Attend the Water Education Foundation’s premier annual event hosted in Sacramento with leading policymakers and experts addressing critical water issues in California and across the West. More details coming soon!

Water News You Need to Know

Aquafornia news E&E News by POLITICO

Monday Top of the Scroll: Western lawmakers want more support for water recycling

Western lawmakers are urging the Bureau of Reclamation to increase the amount of money it spends on water recycling projects, citing rising construction costs. California Sen. Alex Padilla (D) and Rep. Grace Napolitano (D) on Friday pressed the Biden administration to raise the per-project cap on federal funding for water recycling by $10 million, up from its current $30 million limit. “As the West continues to recover from the impacts of long-term drought while also preparing for inevitable future droughts, it is imperative that the federal government continues to invest in local water supplies to meet the demands of recycled water in the West,” the lawmakers wrote in a Friday letter to Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton.

Related western water articles:

Aquafornia news San Jose Mercury News

How bad are wildfires going to be in California this summer?

After brutal wildfire seasons in 2020 and 2021, California has enjoyed two mild years in a row. The good fortune was driven largely by rain and snow that ended three years of drought. What’s on tap for this summer and fall? Nobody knows for sure. But three points are key, experts say. First, California had a wet winter this year, with rainfall since Oct. 1 in San Francisco at 113% of normal, 157% in Los Angeles, and 92% in Fresno. The Sierra Nevada snowpack was 111% of normal on April 1. Second, California has a Mediterranean climate, and wildfires are part of the state’s natural landscape. Third, wildfires have generally been getting worse across the West in recent decades. Climate change is raising temperatures and drying out vegetation more than in the past. Forests in many areas are unnaturally dense after generations of fire suppression by state and federal agencies. And more people are moving to fire-prone areas, increasing fire risk from power lines, vehicles and other human causes.

Related article:

Aquafornia news SJV Water

Energy storage project above Isabella Lake is back on the table, along with two other similar proposals

A roundly castigated proposal to build a holding reservoir above Isabella Lake in order to pump water up from the lake and run it back down through turbines for power – known as pumped energy storage –  is back.  And it brought friends. There are now three pumped energy storage proposals in Kern County, including the old-now-new-again Isabella proposal. That proposal and another for a project near Rosamond are undergoing review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for preliminary permits. FERC is seeking public comments on both proposals through Aug 12. A third proposal, for a project in the mountains above Gorman  (though it’s listed as Tehachapi) has an approved preliminary permit from FERC. 

Aquafornia news The Washington Post

Why this type of ‘forever chemical’ seems to be everywhere

For years, scientists have worried about “forever chemicals,” substances used to make hundreds of household items that have been linked by research to a wide range of health problems. In response, a growing number of companies have pledged not to use the chemicals, and regulators have increasingly taken aim at them. But even as work continues to phase out the substances, scientists are beginning to focus on new types that are far more widespread than earlier realized — prompting worries about undetected health risks. A growing body of research has raised concerns about a forever chemical known as TFA, which is short for trifluoroacetic acid and has been found in increasing amounts in rainwater, groundwater and drinking water. The chemical has a composition that scientists say may make it especially hard to filter, although scientists lack consensus on whether it poses a human health risk.

Related PFAS article:

Online Water Encyclopedia

Aquapedia background Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map

Wetlands

Sacramento National Wildlife RefugeWetlands are among the world’s most important and hardest-working ecosystems, rivaling rainforests and coral reefs in productivity. 

They produce high levels of oxygen, filter water pollutants, sequester carbon, reduce flooding and erosion and recharge groundwater.

Bay-Delta Tour participants viewing the Bay Model

Bay Model

Operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bay Model is a giant hydraulic replica of San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. It is housed in a converted World II-era warehouse in Sausalito near San Francisco.

Hundreds of gallons of water are pumped through the three-dimensional, 1.5-acre model to simulate a tidal ebb and flow lasting 14 minutes.

Aquapedia background Colorado River Basin Map

Salton Sea

As part of the historic Colorado River Delta, the Salton Sea regularly filled and dried for thousands of years due to its elevation of 237 feet below sea level.

The most recent version of the Salton Sea was formed in 1905 when the Colorado River broke through a series of dikes and flooded the seabed for two years, creating California’s largest inland body of water. The Salton Sea, which is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, includes 130 miles of shoreline and is larger than Lake Tahoe

Lake Oroville shows the effects of drought in 2014.

Drought

Drought—an extended period of limited or no precipitation—is a fact of life in California and the West, with water resources following boom-and-bust patterns. During California’s 2012–2016 drought, much of the state experienced severe drought conditions: significantly less precipitation and snowpack, reduced streamflow and higher temperatures. Those same conditions reappeared early in 2021 prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom in May to declare drought emergencies in watersheds across 41 counties in California.