TOP STORIES
By NBC Palm Springs, 8/29/22
As California’s water crisis deepens, a new project aims to help conserve resources and ensure disadvantaged communities are not left behind. Cadiz Inc. is hanging onto its years-long goal of storing water before it evaporates and then selling or giving it away to communities in Southern California. “We cannot afford to watch billions of gallons of water evaporate in the air while people don’t have access to clean drinking water,” said Susan Kennedy, Executive Chair of Cadiz Inc.
By The Washington Post, 8/29/22
A quiet late summer for western wildfires may be about to come to an abrupt end. Weather models are indicating that a potentially extreme and prolonged heat wave will build over western states this week and into the Labor Day weekend. The National Weather Service in Sacramento is warning of a “very dangerous heat risk” with high temperatures well above 100 degrees
WATER INFRASTRUCTURE
By Mexico News Daily, 8/29/22
Treatment plant renovation could reduce raw sewage discharged into the Pacific by 80%. Mexico and the United States will together invest almost US $500 million in a range of sewage treatment projects designed to clean up the heavily polluted Tijuana River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean just north of the border in San Diego County.
By The Sierra Sun Times, 8/29/22
Imperial Valley farmers who have senior water rights on the severely depleted Colorado River say emergency water delivery cuts ordered last week by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation do not go far enough to achieve the agency’s goal of conserving water for the river’s future sustainability. The new restrictions aren’t directed at agriculture in the Imperial Valley. Yet fears mount that farmers, who are already cutting back their water use, could lose critical irrigation supplies if an accord on 2023 water diversions isn’t reached for multiple states and agencies relying on the river.
WATER SUPPLY & QUALITY
By Outdoor Life, 8/29/22
On the morning of Aug. 26, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges will be closed to all public bird hunting for the 2022-2023 season. The reason for the closures? Both refuges are out of water. “The decision to close the hunt season was based on the ongoing and severe drought conditions and lack of available habitat, including food, water and shelter to support upland game and migratory water birds,” a FWS press release says. It notes that upland game bird, general waterfowl, special group waterfowl, and late season duck and goose hunting will all be impacted.
By the Record Searchlight, 8/29/22
Bill Robison has a "lifesaver" who drives a 1973 Ford truck. A couple times a week, Ed Roberts rolls up to Robison's house with a 500-gallon tank of water in the bed of his pickup. The truck bounces out into Robison's orchard along Balls Ferry Road in Anderson, where the two fill barrels with water. At this time of year Robison usually floods his pecan and walnut orchards with irrigation water from the Anderson-Cotttonwood Irrigation District.
CLIMATE & WEATHER
By the San Francisco Chronicle, 8/29/22
Blue whales are back hanging out off of California’s coast, gorging on krill as part of their annual journey north for summer and fall, and they’re telling each other about where the most bountiful food spots are and when to bounce again back south to Mexico and Central America, recent discoveries have shown.
By The Hill, 8/29/22
The Biden administration is ramping up federal climate action after this month’s watershed legislation, but California is showing no signs of surrendering its position leading on the issue. Two months ago, the Biden administration’s efforts to pass a sweeping climate bill seemed doomed to failure, and much of the momentum was relegated to the state level, fueling presidential chatter about Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). Now, with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), California is once again poised to take sweeping steps on climate, albeit this time against the backdrop of a newly empowered White House.
CALIFORNIA WATERSHEDS
By the University of Nevada, Reno, 8/29/22
Restoration efforts in montane meadows designed to increase late-season water flows, improve water quality, diminish flood events and provide valuable habitat have been ongoing for decades in the Sierra Nevada. It has been known that, generally, healthy meadows also soak up and hold carbon in the soil, becoming natural “sinks” for carbon, and decreasing harmful atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, how much carbon restored meadows can sequester and for how long they can consistently do so has been unclear, until now.
By the Oregon Capital Chronicle, 8/29/22
Endangered suckers and salmon in the Klamath Basin face a greater shot at survival thanks to federal funds awarded this week. On Wednesday, Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced the first 33 Klamath Basin restoration projects to receive funds totaling more than $26 million this year. The money is part of $162 million from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for improving the ailing health of the Klamath Basin in Oregon and California during the next five years.
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES
By NBC Los Angeles, 8/29/22
Brush fires burned about 15 acres and forced a road closure Monday at the start of what is expected to be one of the warmest weeks of the year in Southern California. The fires, Gulch Fire 1 and 2, were burning in the same area near San Gabriel Dam. The location is near Mile Marker 21 along San Gabriel Canyon Road in the mountains above the San Gabriel Valley east of Los Angeles.
By KCRA Sacramento, 8/29/22
As of Aug. 29, only 202,000 acres have burned statewide. That is more than 2 million acres less than the same date last year. This acreage is also just 16% of the 5-year average for the end of August. It is worth remembering that some of the most destructive fires in recent years have started after Sept. 1.
AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE
By CalMatters, 8/30/22
The land that Jim Scala and his family have been ranching for three generations is parched and brown as far as he can see. The pond where his cattle used to drink is now a puddle, ringed with cracked mud. In other years, water pumped from the Shasta River would have periodically flooded this land, keeping his pasture alive and pond full. But the state had ordered Scala and other ranchers and farmers in rural Siskiyou County to stop irrigating when the drought-plagued river dipped below a certain level.
EVENTS
This is the second of four webinars to inform and solicit input from stakeholders on the development of a guidebook to support the preparation of County Drought Plans, which focus on state small water systems and domestic wells as required under SB 552. When: August 31, 2022 | 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
By California Natural Resources Agency- Community members and all interested parties to participate in a virtual Community Workshop on September 1. The team will provide updates on the Salton Sea Management Program Long-Range Plan and seeks comments to help develop the Long-Range Plan.
When: September 1, 2022 | 5:30 p.m.
The Salton Sea Management Program will meet to discuss updates and receive feedback on the development of the Long-Range Plan.
When: September 7, 2022 | 9:30 a.m.
Join us for our 30 Year Anniversary to celebrate how GRA was built to last, and "Built for Change". This year’s event will include Individual, Panel and Poster Presentations as well as Technical Workshops that cover the following subject areas: Water Resources Exploration and Development; Groundwater Management; Contaminant Assessment and Remediation; Unique Challenges and New Opportunities
When: Sep. 19 - 21, 2022 | 8 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Where: Sacramento Convention Center & Hyatt Regency & Virtual Option
By the Water Education Foundation - This 3-day, 2-night excursion across the Sacramento Valley travels north from Sacramento through Oroville to Redding and Shasta Lake. Experts will talk about the history of the Sacramento River as the tour winds through riparian woodland, rice fields, wildlife refuges and nut orchards across the region.
When: October 12 -14, 2022
ACWA conferences are the premier destination for water industry professionals to learn and connect. Program offerings include statewide issue forums, roundtable talks, and region discussions along with sessions covering a wide range of topics including water management, innovation, public communication, affordable drinking water, energy, finance, federal forum, and more.
When: Nov. 29 – Dec. 1, 2022 Where: Renaissance Esmeralda and Hyatt Regency in Indian Wells, CA
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