Join California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) Secretary Wade Crowfoot and a panel of five experts for a discussion about the Colorado River Basin and how climate change has reduced the water availability promised decades ago. The river provides water to 40 million people, half of whom reside in California, and supports 5.5 million acres of agriculture in the Western U.S. With the current 20-year agreement expiring at the end of this year, the region urgently needs a new plan to manage shrinking water supplies. Join today’s hour-long webinar to learn more about this environmental challenge, what California is doing about it, and the prospects for a shared solution. “What’s Happening on The Colorado River? Securing Water Sustainability Across Seven States” begins at noon today. Registration is required.

“Accelerating Soil Health and Sustainable Agricultural Productivity with Realtime Data” is the title of next week’s Lunch-MAR meeting. This presentation will feature Kathleen Glass from AquaSpy, an agriculture technology company that provides advanced, in-ground soil monitoring sensors and data analytics to help farmers optimize irrigation and nutrient management. The discussion will explore how below-ground nitrate, water, and redox sensors provide data intelligence that can inform smart nitrogen strategies and support better soil health and cleaner water through reduced runoff and leaching. Next week’s Lunch-MAR will be on Wednesday, Feb. 4, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Registration is not required to attend.

In partnership with the California Air Resources Board, NASA Ames Research Center, and the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, the California Natural Resources Agency has released the first statewide, high-resolution LiDAR datasets that map forest and vegetation conditions, using more than 100 million acres of LiDAR data. The effort provides a single, wall-to-wall view of California’s forests at the highest available resolution. The publicly available datasets show vegetation location, height, density, ladder fuels, and carbon storage, and support wildfire risk reduction, ecosystem management, and climate planning. The data are available now for use by agencies, Tribes, researchers, land managers, and communities. Read more at the California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force website.

The Delta Stewardship Council (Council) has a new blog highlighting the progress the Council has made in integrating social sciences into Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta science and decision-making. Co-authored by Senior Environmental Scientist Hollis Jones and Environmental Program Manager Rachael Klopfenstein, the blog explores efforts to build capacity, develop a long-term vision for social science, and more. It also introduces the new social science extension specialist for the Delta, a shared position between the Council and California Sea Grant, Dr. Tara Pozzi.

On Dec. 12, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) released the Revised Draft Sacramento/Delta Updates to the Bay-Delta Plan for public review and comment. The State Water Board will receive oral comments on the plan at its public hearing this week. The hearing spans three days, Wednesday–Friday, Jan. 28–30, and begins at 9 a.m. each day. The hearing will be held at the Joe Serna Jr. CalEPA Building, Coastal Hearing Room (second floor), 1001 I Street in Sacramento. Written comments will be accepted through 5 p.m. Monday, Feb 2. Comments should be submitted via email to SacDeltaComments@waterboards.ca.gov with the subject line “Comment Letter – Revised Draft Sacramento/Delta Bay-­Delta Plan Updates & Ch. 13 of Draft Staff Report.” For more information, see the public notice issued by the State Water Board.

Last September, the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) and the California Natural Resources Agency partnered to host the third annual Science Day. Science Day 2025 welcomed more than 400 participants representing numerous State government agencies, universities, research institutions, community groups, and — for the first time — high school students. Science Day 2025 Convening Proceedings, published this month, is now available for download on the CCST website. The 76-page PDF provides an overview of daily events and documents in detail each day’s presentations, panel discussions, breakout sessions, and key takeaways, highlighting the continuing success of sustaining partnerships to build a more climate change-resilient California.