• In today’s Aquafornia scroll:
• Building California: Lawmakers approve deal that will speed up infrastructure projects, affect wildlife, CalMatters
• How the Western drought has increased carbon emissions, Grist
• California to provide $20 million to flooded Central Valley farm town, New York Times
• Click here to read all of today’s water news from California and across the West

Water Word of the Week: Nutria, large invasive rodents that rapidly consume vegetation and can wreck levees, were eradicated from California in the 1970s. But the orange-toothed aquatic rodents have made a comeback in recent years, returning to the Central Valley in 2017 and were found last month in Sacramento County. Officials are concerned about the burrowing animal spreading farther into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, so we’re making Nutria our Water Word of the Week. To learn more about California water, visit Aquapedia, our water encyclopedia.

What’s on Tap This Week: Southern California water supply experts will discuss future water management in the Colorado River basin on Thursday. On Friday, the State Water Resources Control Board will discuss drinking water and water equity. Be sure to check out our calendar for the latest information on events by the Foundation and other groups.

Fall Water Tours: Registration is now open for our one-time-only Eastern Sierra Tour September 13-15! The 3-day, 3-night tour will journey from the Truckee River to Mono Lake and on through the Owens Valley and Mojave Desert.

We’ve also opened registration for our popular Northern California Tour Oct. 18-20. This 3-day, 2-night excursion across the Sacramento Valley features stops at Lake Oroville, Shasta Lake, rice farms, a national wildlife refuge and more. 

Water Resource of the Week: Our Layperson’s Guide to the Delta spotlights the estuary’s key features and issues, including land subsidence, flooding and salinity. Grab a copy today of the 24-page guide that includes the latest information about the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan, a glossary of common terms and more. 

Western Water, our flagship publication produced by Foundation journalists, is available online. Check out our latest articles: 

• High-Tech mapping of Central Valley’s underground blazes path to drought resilience
• Upper Colorado River states add muscle as decisions loom on the shrinking river’s future
• Testing at the source: California readies a groundbreaking hunt to check for microplastics in drinking water

To get the latest updates on Foundation tours, conferences and publications, including Western Water, sign up here for announcements.

Aquafornia is a news aggregation compiled each weekday and published by the Water Education Foundation.