Join Steven Springhorn and Katherine Dlubac of DWR’s Basin Characterization Program to learn how the program provides the latest data, tools, and information about California’s groundwater aquifers, a critical component to California’s natural infrastructure. The presentation will also serve as the launch of the Basin Characterization Exchange (BCX), the BC Program’s meeting series and networking space. The hour-long webinar begins at 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 5.

The California Water and Environmental Modeling Forum (CWEMF) will host its 31st annual meeting in Folsom from Monday to Wednesday, May 12–14. The meeting program is available online. This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Peter Goodwin. Dr. Goodwin is a professor and the president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and is an internationally recognized expert in ecosystem restoration, ecohydraulics, and enhancement of river, wetland, and estuarine systems. Registration is open now. Early bird rates are available until Friday, April 18. Discounted rates are available to CWEMF members in the Non-Profit/NGO, Academic Postdoc, Senior, and Student categories. More information about this event is available on the CWEMF website.

The Water Education Foundation will offer its annual workshop on Thursday, April 10, at the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. The workshop offers an opportunity for new water district board members and those working in water-related fields to gain a statewide perspective on key water issues and the myriad of agencies involved in managing and regulating water. The workshop also covers the State’s water rights system, governing laws and regulations, groundwater basics, and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The all-day event runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Also available is an optional watershed tour the following day that includes stops in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, along the American River, and into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.  More information is available online. Registration is open now.

The San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) recently completed the Suisun Landscapes project, a multi-million, multi-year effort funded by Delta Stewardship Council and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The project’s report will help inform water managers on landscape-scale, collaborative adaptation planning in Suisun Marsh; the project also updated a modeling tool to help planners evaluate the impact of restoration projects at a landscape scale. Because Suisan Marsh is just downstream from the source of the State and federal water projects, the health of the marsh affects the state’s water supply and decisions about water infrastructure in the Delta. A summary of the project, report, and modeling tool is on the SFEI website.

A new NASA-led study reveals that regional estimates of substantially understate sea level rise in parts of San Francisco and Los Angeles, projecting more than double the expected rise by 2050. Using California as a case study, a NASA-led team has shown how seemingly modest vertical land motion could significantly impact local sea levels in coming decades. The study also mapped land sinking in parts of the Central Valley resulting from soil compaction, erosion, and groundwater withdrawal. A summary of the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory report is available online.