TOP STORIES
CA Department of Water Resources, 3/3/23 - DWR conducted the third snow survey of the season at Phillips Station. The manual survey recorded 116.5 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 41.5 inches, which is 177 percent of average for this location on March 3.
FOX Weather, 3/6/23 - Of particular concern is a forecast for an atmospheric river that is eyeing Central and Southern California for the end of this week, promising a renewed round of several inches of lowland rain and feet of mountain snow to parts of the state that simply have too much of both right now. Flooding is also a growing concern for the region.
WATER INFRASTRUCTURE
NBC Bay Area, 3/3/23 - Images from space show just how much California’s biggest reservoirs have benefited from winter storms. Ian Cull reports.
Marin Independent Journal, 3/3/23 - After a year of study, the Marin Municipal Water District has selected a list of new water supply options to explore in its effort to bolster availability during droughts.
WATER SUPPLY & QUALITY
San Francisco Chronicle, 3/3/23 - California water officials on Friday recorded the biggest accumulation of statewide snow this century for the start of March, a bounty that is likely to grow with coming storms – and further ease the state’s drought-time water shortages.
Newsweek, 3/6/23 - California has been in the grips of a drought for the past ten years. But will that change following the influx of snow and rain that have pummeled the state over the winter. At the end of February the state was hit by severe snowstorms, even in areas used to extremely dry conditions. A historic amount of rain also fell on the state between December 26 and January 19.
CLIMATE & WEATHER
New York Times, 3/3/23 - John Radleigh thought he was ready for the snowstorm that pounded the mountains in Southern California for a week. A general contractor who has lived for more than five decades in Lake Arrowhead, a vacation hamlet, he had a backup generator and gas for his snowblower. He had enough food to hunker down with his family and chains for his car tires.
San Francisco Chronicle, 3/5/23 - Northern California could be in for a new atmospheric river storm by the end of the week, potentially blasting the Bay Area with substantial rain, and the Sierra with even more heavy snow, but likely not as fierce as the wet storms that wreaked damage across the region at the start of the year, forecasters say.
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES
FOX Weather, 3/5/23 - NOAA researchers found that the loss of tree canopy as wildfires in California reach higher elevations is leading to snow melting at much greater rates than average and wiping out snowpacks much sooner than usual.
CALIFORNIA WATERSHEDS
Fishbio, 3/6/23 - Thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency complex (TDC) has become a widespread affliction in fisheries around the world. During the 2022 annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society, a special symposium on TDC included presentations from researchers describing findings addressing the root causes of thiamine deficiency.
Sierra Nevada Conservancy, 3/3/23 - At its March 2 quarterly meeting in Sacramento, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy Governing Board approved just over $27 million in Watershed Improvement Program grants to wildfire recovery and forest resilience, recreation, and land conservation projects. The funds were awarded to 18 different projects throughout California’s Sierra Nevada-Cascade region.
AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE
CA Department of Water Resources, 3/3/23 - For the first year since its construction in 2020, the Loafer Point Stage I boat ramp is open for use thanks to rising lake levels. Open for water elevations above 805 feet, Loafer Point Stage I has three boat launch lanes and a boarding dock.
Maven’s Notebook, 3/6/23 - Yet another atmospheric river in the forecast; CA’s antiquated water rights system faces new scrutiny; Low fall-run chinook salmon stocks expected on Sacramento River; States struggle to find Colorado River cuts as Lake Mead shrinks; and more …
Sacramento Bee, 3/6/23 - Jennifer Peters signed on to have her Madera ranch become the site of an experiment in replenishing groundwater in California’s Central Valley. Though this pilot program led by a subdivision of the United States Department of Agriculture is far from the first effort to address the depletion of groundwater stores, it offers farmers like Peters hope for the future of agriculture in the region.
EVENTS
Join the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and our Groundwater Community Partners as we kick off National Groundwater Awareness Week 2023
When: March 6, 2023 | 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
When: March 15, 2023 | 9:30 a.m.
Where: Warren-Alquist State Energy Building, 1516 9th Street, Rosenfeld Hearing Room, Sacramento, CA, 95814
This online short course will review the fundamental principles of groundwater and watershed hydrology, water budgets, water quality, and water law and regulation in an intuitive, highly accessible fashion. Through real world examples, participants learn about the most common tools for measuring, monitoring, and assessing groundwater and surface water resources. We then review the key steps and elements of planning for groundwater sustainability and implementing projects and management actions.
This tour ventures through California’s Central Valley, known as the nation’s breadbasket thanks to an imported supply of surface water and local groundwater. The southern part of the vast region, the San Joaquin Valley, is the focus of this tour as it faces challenges after years of drought, dwindling water supplies, decreasing water quality and farmland conversion for urban growth.
This tour explores the heart of California water policy – the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay – to learn about the critical role the Delta plays in the state, Delta planning initiatives, water project operations, fish passage, ecosystem restoration, levees and flood management, Delta agriculture and water supply reliability.
Groundwater Resources Association of California - The popular Annual GSA Summit is getting revamped in collaboration with the ACWA Groundwater Committee and SGMA Implementation Subcommittee. This is a once-a-year get-together to foster progress on SGMA implementation, collaborating with ACWA members and implementers and GRA technical experts.
When: June 7 - 8, 2023
Where: Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in Sacramento
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