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Understanding how atmospheric rivers
affect the location, duration and intensity of storms could help
managers in the water-short Santa Barbara area make better
decisions about operations. Some are even using cloud seeding to
increase precipitation in the region’s watershed.
During our Edge of Drought
Tour Aug. 27-29, we’ll visit an atmospheric river observatory
in Santa Barbara that specifically monitors the meteorological
phenomenon and also visit Lopez Lake to hear from the County of
San Luis Obispo on their cloud seeding efforts.
Registration opens today for the
Water Education Foundation’s 36th annual Water
Summit, set for Oct. 30 in Sacramento. This year’s
theme, Water Year 2020: A Year of Reckoning,
reflects fast-approaching deadlines for the State Groundwater
Management Act as well as the pressing need for new approaches to
water management as California and the West weather intensified
flooding, fire and drought. To register for this can’t-miss
event, visit our Water Summit
event page.
Registration includes a full day of discussions by leading
stakeholders and policymakers on key issues, as well as coffee,
materials, gourmet lunch and an outdoor reception by the
Sacramento River that will offer the opportunity to network with
speakers and other attendees. The summit also features a silent
auction to benefit our Water Leaders program featuring
items up for bid such as kayaking trips, hotel stays and lunches
with key people in the water world.
In the weekly sprint through work,
it’s easy to miss some interesting nuggets on water resource
issues in California and the West that you might want to read.
Despite Santa Barbara County’s
decision to lift a drought emergency declaration after this
winter’s storms replenished local reservoirs, the region’s
recovery often has lagged behind much of the rest of California
due to the nature of its watershed.
Our new Edge of Drought
Tour Aug. 27-29 explores this connection between the area’s
distinctive hydrology and the lurking threat of drought with an
up-close look at water projects and programs across the southern
Central Coast.
New to this year’s slate of water
tours, our Edge of
Drought Tour Aug. 27-29 will venture into the Santa
Barbara area to learn about the challenges of limited local
surface and groundwater supplies and the solutions being
implemented to address them.
Despite Santa Barbara County’s decision to lift a drought
emergency declaration after this winter’s storms replenished
local reservoirs, the region’s hydrologic recovery often has
lagged behind much of the rest of the state.
Our 36th annual
Water Summit,
happening Oct. 30 in Sacramento, will feature the theme “Water
Year 2020: A Year of Reckoning,” reflecting upcoming regulatory
deadlines and efforts to improve water management and policy in
the face of natural disasters.
The Summit will feature top policymakers and leading stakeholders
providing the latest information and a variety of viewpoints on
issues affecting water across California and the West.
Today is Summer Solstice, and
to celebrate the longest day of the year we’re offering a
special 25% discount on our beautiful
poster-size water maps, Layperson’s Guides and other water
education materials.
Don’t miss out! This summer sale runs until midnight tonight
(Friday). Use the promo code SOLSTICE2019 at
checkout to get your discount.
Our Headwaters Tour next week will
feature a new route, new stops and some new speakers who will
provide a fresh look at the Sierra Nevada watershed so vital to
California’s water supply.
Only a few seats are left for the June 27-28 tour and
registration ends soon, so
sign up here to ensure your spot!
Summer Solstice happens
Friday, and to celebrate the longest day of the
year we’re offering a special 25% discount
on our beautiful poster-size water
maps, layperson’s guides and
other water education materials.
Don’t miss out! This summer sale runs until midnight Friday. Use
the promo code SOLSTICE2019 at checkout to get
your discount.
Californians have been doing an
exceptional job reducing their indoor water use, helping the
state survive the most recent drought. With more droughts
inevitable, Californians are likely to face even greater calls to
save water in the future.
However, less water used in the home for clothes washing and
toilet flushing means less water flowing out and pushing waste
through the sewers. That has created
a host of complications (including stinking neighborhoods and
damaged treatment equipment), some of which add to the cost of
treating wastewater. It also means less recycled water for such
things as irrigating parks, replenishing groundwater or keeping
rivers vibrant for fish and wildlife.
Get an up-close view of California’s
diverse water resource issues with two of our summer tours — to
the Sierra Nevada headwaters where wildfires and tree mortality
pose significant challenges to the upper watershed and a Southern
California coastal region chronically prone to drought.
But first, we are on the road today through Friday
on our Bay-Delta
Tour, and you can follow our travels on
Twitter. We’re
taking participants into the heart of California water policy -
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay. Along the
way we’ll share photos and interesting facts from the diverse
array of speakers we’ll hear from. Track us with the hashtag
#BayDeltaTour.
Get an up-close view of California’s
diverse water resource issues with two of our summer tours — to
the Sierra Nevada headwaters that were blessed this winter with a
plentiful snowpack, and a Southern California coastal region
chronically prone to drought.
But first, we hit the road June 5-7 for our Bay-Delta Tour,
andyou can follow our travels on
Twitter. We’ll
take participants into the heart of California water policy – the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay. Stops
include Clifton Court Forebay and the federal pumping plant, a
Delta farm tour, Suisun Marsh and a ferry ride across San
Francisco Bay to the Bay Model in Sausalito. Along the
way we’ll share photos and interesting facts from the diverse
array of speakers we’ll hear from. Track us with the hashtag
#BayDeltaTour.
The 2019 Water Summit will
take place in a new location on the Sacramento riverfront on Oct.
30, 2019. At this event, attendees will have the opportunity to
hear the latest information on key issues affecting water in
California and the West from leading experts and top
policymakers.
We hope to see you there. Look for more details and
speaker announcements for this exciting daylong event coming
soon!
One hundred and fifty years after
John Wesley Powell’s expedition down the Colorado River, the
magnitude of his accomplishment remains a fascinating chapter in
the history of the American West and a key moment in the
understanding of the region’s geology and hydrology.
But Powell’s imprint on the West hardly ends there. He had strong
opinions of how the West should be settled and how people should
use its water, views that often set him in conflict with those at
the time who pushed for unbridled development. In a
Q&A with Western Water’s Gary Pitzer,
Emeritus Professor Charles Wilkinson from the University of
Colorado Law School and a scholar of the American West, assesses
Powell’s legacy on the 150th anniversary of his expedition to
explore the Colorado, a river that 40 million people now
depend on.
Water supply for California’s cities
and farms is largely dependent on snowmelt from the upper
watershed in the Sierra Nevada, but that pattern is being
challenged by wildfires, climate change and widespread tree
mortality. Fire damage in an upstream watershed can last for
decades with the effects felt far downstream through increased
risk of flood and erosion.
Our Headwaters
Tour June 27-28 highlights this connection between
fire and water with an up-close look at the critical role healthy
Sierra forests play in water supply and quality across
California.
Sixty percent of California’s
developed water supply originates high in the Sierra Nevada,
making the state’s water supply largely dependent on the health
of Sierra forests. But those forests are suffering from ecosystem
degradation, drought, wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
On our Headwaters Tour
June 27-28, we will visit Eldorado and Tahoe national forests to
learn about new forest management practices, including efforts to
both prevent wildfires and recover from them.
Stakeholders throughout the Colorado
River Basin just wrapped up arduous negotiations on a drought
plan considered critical to keeping water levels in Lake Mead,
the nation’s largest-capacity reservoir, from falling to
unacceptable levels.
There’s little time to rest, however. Stakeholders are expected
to begin the even more difficult task of hammering out
sweeping new guidelines for delivering water and sharing
shortages that could re-imagine how the overworked river is
managed. The existing interim guidelines, first adopted in 2007,
are due to expire in 2026.
The California coast is known for
its scenic landscape, but the beauty belies a region chronically
prone to drought, mudslides and wildfire.
On our August Edge of
Drought Tour, we’re venturing into the Santa Barbara
area to learn about the water challenges and the steps being
taken to boost supplies.
Get a firsthand view of California’s
diverse water resource issues with two of our summer tours — to
the Sierra Nevada headwaters that were blessed this winter with a
plentiful snowpack, and a Southern California coastal region
chronically prone to drought.
On tap this June is a new route for our Headwaters Tour as we
head into the Sierra Nevada mountains, where 60% of California’s
developed water supply originates. With the health of our Sierra
forests suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought, wildfires
and widespread tree mortality, we’ll examine water issues that
happen upstream but have dramatic impacts downstream and
throughout the state. Among our stops is a pilot project for
thinning the forest in the Yuba River watershed.