Announcements

There’s still time for K-12 educators in the Sacramento region to sign up for an Oct. 3 workshop exploring activities to engage students in the study of local watersheds and their connections to the Pacific Ocean.

The workshop is part of Project WET (now called Water Education Today), an international, award-winning nonprofit water education program and publisher of materials geared toward K-12 educators. The Water Education Foundation is the coordinator for Project WET in California.

Register here by Sept. 25 for the Oct. 3 workshop that includes an online study at your own pace and a socially distanced field trip at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center along the American River. Cost is $18.00 (plus a nominal Eventbrite fee) and includes a copy of the Project WET 2.0 and Aquatic WILD guides.

The Salton Sea in California’s far southeast corner has challenged policymakers and local agencies alike to save the desert lake – a vital stopover for migrating birds – from becoming a fetid, hyper-saline water body inhospitable to wildlife and surrounded by clouds of lung-choking dust.

The state of California, long derided for its failure to act in the past, says it is now moving full-bore to address the sea’s problems, with ambitious plans for wildlife habitat expansion and dust suppression.

The latest article in Western Water examines the state’s efforts, the longstanding concerns of people living and working around the Salton Sea and how those concerns are affecting Colorado River management. 

Our popular Layperson’s Guide to the Delta has just been updated to reflect the latest information about efforts to reconcile ecosystem needs of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta with its role as California’s vital water delivery hub as well as its place as an important agricultural region and a popular recreation destination.

The Delta is the largest freshwater tidal estuary on the West Coast and is a unique resource and distinct feature of Northern California’s landscape. The water that flows through the Delta provides a significant portion of drinking water for more than 29 million Californians, serves a $50 billion agricultural industry, is home to native and nonnative plants and animals and is a crucial part of the state’s two largest surface water delivery systems – the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.

Colorado is home to the headwaters of the Colorado River and the water policy decisions made in the Centennial State reverberate throughout the river’s sprawling basin that stretches south to California, Arizona and Mexico.

The task of working with interstate partners to address the challenges of the Colorado River Basin while balancing competing water demands within the state of Colorado rests largely with Becky Mitchell, director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board.

In the latest article in Western Water, Mitchell talked about her state’s plan to address an expected water supply shortfall, climate risks and the prospects for future Colorado River operations as the river system deals with prolonged drought.

Sprawled across a desert expanse along the Utah-Arizona border, Lake Powell’s 100-foot high bathtub ring etched on its sandstone walls belie the challenges of a major Colorado River reservoir at less than half-full. 

Recent studies point to warmer and drier conditions ahead, with reduced runoff into the Colorado River. Meanwhile, the Upper Basin is looking to use more of its share of the river’s waters. On the horizon is a rewrite of the operating guidelines for the river, and already there is talk about how changes to those guidelines could affect Lake Powell, a key reservoir in the Colorado River system.

The latest article in Western Water explores the different concerns being raised around the Colorado River Basin and how the river’s challenges could play out in Powell’s future.