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Water articles on key water topics and more!
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The Santa Barbara region’s recovery
from drought often has lagged behind much of the rest of
California due to the nature of its watershed. But a variety of
efforts are underway to enhance the region’s limited local water
resources.
Our new Edge of Drought
Tour Aug. 27-29 explores the connection between the area’s
distinctive hydrology and the lurking threat of drought and
persistent water scarcity with an up-close look at water projects
and programs across the southern Central Coast.
Our event calendar is an excellent
resource for keeping up with water events in California and the
West.
Groundwater is top of mind for many water managers as they
prepare to meet next January’s deadline for submitting
sustainability plans required under California’s Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act. We have several upcoming featured
events listed on our calendar that focus on a variety of relevant
groundwater topics:
Ranchers and conservationists in the
headwaters of the Colorado River decided that to get something
done to benefit the ranches, the fish and the river, they needed
to work together. Their partnership, which could serve as a
template for similar regions across the West, is the focus of
a new article in our flagship publication, Western
Water.
The article by the Foundation’s team of veteran journalists
explores what drove the need to act, how the partnership came
together and some of the projects undertaken to improve
irrigation for ranchers and habitat for fish.
A planned indirect potable reuse
project in Carpinteria that will inject highly treated wastewater
into the local groundwater basin is just one of several drought
resiliency efforts examined as we trek across the water-scarce
Santa Barbara region on our Edge of Drought Tour Aug.
27-29.
Construction of the project, called the Carpinteria Advanced
Purification Project, is expected to begin in 2021. It is
currently undergoing engineering design and environmental
review.
New to the Foundation’s water tours
this year, our Edge of
Drought Tour Aug. 27-29 will journey through the
Santa Barbara area to examine the portfolio approach being taken
to the challenges of limited surface and groundwater supplies by
several local agencies as they work to build drought resilience
for the future.
Solutions such as ocean and brackish water desalination, advanced
purification and groundwater injection and pervious concrete
retrofitting for groundwater recharge will be explored, as
well as cloud seeding and atmospheric river research.
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.
