Water & Rivers

California Water Policy Seminar Series: Michael Rosenzweig: Tactics for conserving diversity: Global vertebrae patterns point the way:

The 2014 California Water Policy Seminar Series presented by the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences and the law school’s California Environmental Law & Policy Center is focusing on how to manage water systems for both ecosystem and economic objectives – an immense challenge for engineers, ecologists, lawyers, water managers and policymakers alike.

On the calendar for this week …

• The California Water Policy Seminar Series continues today from 4:10 pm – 5:30 pm at UC Davis with Jay Lund moderating a panel discussion with Peter Goodwin, Lead Scientist of the Delta Science Program; Stuart Siegel, Wetlands and Water Resources Inc.; and Robin Grossinger, San Francisco Estuary Institute, discussing science and ecosystem reconciliation.  The public is welcome to attend.  Click here for more information.

• Kickoff meeting to form advisory committee and expert panel to focus on nitrate in groundwater: The State Water Board is soliciting nominations for an Expert Panel and announcing the formation and meeting of an Advisory Committee. These actions are in fulfillment of Recommendation 14 of Chapter 1 of the Second Extraordinary Session of 2008 (SBX 2 1, Perata) Report to the Legislature – Recommendation 14.  The kickoff meeting will be held on Monday, March 10, at 1:30 pm.  Click here for meeting notice.  Click here for the program page.
• Joint informational hearing on managing California’s groundwater resources:  On Tuesday, March 11 at 9 am, the Joint Hearing Assembly Water, Parks And Wildlife and Budget Subcommittee No. 3 On Resources and Transportation will hold a hearing on managing California’s groundwater resources.  Click here for more information.  The hearing will be webcast on the CalChannel, and look for upcoming coverage here on Maven’s Notebook.
• WebEx meeting on Sacramento and San Joaquin basin studies:  Reclamation is hosting a WebEx meeting on Tuesday, March 11, from 1:30 to 3:30 pm.  This is the second of a series of web-based presentations designed to inform stakeholders and the public about the basin study process and will present the findings and data developed in the first part of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Basins Study. The presentation will also identify the next steps in the preparation of the study which includes participation by stakeholders and the public to propose climate adaptation strategies.  Click here for more information.
• The Commonwealth Club: The West Without Water:  In 2013, California suffered its driest calendar year on record. Wildfires raged across the state – from the massive Rim Fire in Yosemite to the flames that engulfed Big Sur – and Governor Brown has since declared a drought state of emergency as the unprecedented dry spell has stretched into 2014. UC Berkeley paleoclimatologist B. Lynn Ingram, co-author of The West Without Water, believes this could potentially be the driest water year we’ve had in 500 years. Join Ingram and co-author Frances Malamud-Roam on Tuesday, March 11, at 6:30pm in Lafeyette for a discussion on California’s current water crisis, the region’s climatic past and predictions about the future of climate change and its effect on water resources. Click here for more information.
• Delta Conservancy Board Meeting and a joint Delta Conservancy/Sierra Nevada ConservancyMeeting:The Conservancy’s regular Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday March 12 from 11 am – 12 noon, at the Conservancy offices, 1450 Halyard Dr, West Sacramento. To view the Board meeting agenda and reports, please click here.  Following the regular board meeting, the Conservancy Board is holding a Special Joint Board Meeting with Sierra Nevada Conservancy, 1 pm to 5 pm at the Sacramento Convention Center, Room 202, 1400 J Street, Sacramento. To view the Special Joint Board Meeting agenda and reports,please click here.  Following the Special Joint Board Meeting, the Conservancies will host a Sierra to the Sea Reception for legislators, board members and the public from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm.  To register for the reception, please click please click here.
• Assembly Water Bond Hearing in Monterey Park:  The Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife will hold an informational hearing to receive public input on local perspectives on a water bond on Friday, March 14, from 1pm to 4pm in Monterey Park.  Click here for more information.

Upcoming events and meetings …

• Brown Bag Seminar Series: The Delta Carbon Cycle: Quantify, Manage and Trade: The Delta Stewardship Council’s Delta Science Program, Ecosystem Restoration Program and Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program jointly present a five-part series on the Delta carbon cycle from noon to 1:00 p.m. on various dates through the end of April that will explore aspects of the Delta carbon cycle – quantity, storage & flux, land use, and cap & trade – to describe its role in ecosystem processes, current and future landscape planning and management, and the economy.   The series begins on March 17th with Wetland Carbon Offsets. For more information:  Brown Bag Seminar Series: The Delta Carbon Cycle – Quantify, Manage, & Trade!
• Zocalo: Will we ever have clean water for all?  On Monday, March 17, beginning at 7:30pm, General manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Jeffrey Kightlinger, California State Water Resources Control Board chair Felicia Marcus, Arizona State University sustainability scholar Michael Hanemann, and Natural Resources Defense Council water program director Steve Fleischli will join Zocalo Public Square to discuss what can be done worldwide to deliver clean water to people, and why have well-funded efforts so far fallen short.  Click here for more information.
• State Water Board workshop on method for developing flow criteria for high-priority tributaries to the Delta: On March 19, beginning at 9am, the State Water Resources Control Board will hold a public workshop to receive information and solicit public input on the Delta Stewardship Council – Delta Science Program’s Recommendation on the Method to Develop Flow Criteria for Priority Tributaries to the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta) for phase 4 of the update to the Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan. Click here for more information.
• House Natural Resources Committee field hearing on the Central Valley drought:  Republican legislators are coming to Fresno on March 19th for the field hearing titled “California Water Crisis and Its Impacts: The Need for Immediate and Long-Term Solutions.” The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10am at Fresno City Council chambers.  The event will be livestreamed.  Click here for more information.
• California Central Valley Flood Control Association Annual Meeting:  On March 19 from 10am to 1:30pm, the California Central Valley Flood Control Association will hold their annual meeting at the Red Lion Hotel in Sacramento.  Click here for more information.
• 32nd Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference:  The Salmonid Restoration Federation will hold their annual conference on March 19-22 in Santa Barbara.  The conference will feature workshops, field tours, and sessions that will will focus on a broad range of salmonid and watershed restoration topics of concern to restoration practitioners, watershed scientists, fisheries biologists, resource agency personnel, land-use planners, and landowners.  Click here for more information.
• Cal-Neva American Fisheries Society 48th annual meeting – “Challenges. Collaboration. Solutions”:  The Cal-Neva AFS will hold their annual meeting on March 27-29 in Sacramento.  This year’s theme is intended to showcase the scientists with their different areas of expertise and knowledge in both fisheries science and regulatory policies to inform the audience about their role to improve the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems. Click here for more information.
• WELL: Water Education for Latino Leaders: Water is one of the most important and expensive public policy issues facing California that will impact our state’s economic development and growth. Yet local Latino leaders have been virtually absent as voices of leadership and typically have little background knowledge in the water policy arena. Increasingly, these Latino decision makers are facing the daunting challenge of balancing the need for repairs to a dilapidated local water delivery infrastructure while ensuring equitable water rates. The WELL conference, set for March 27 and 28, will arm this new generation of policy makers with the information they need to form strategies that will protect the environment while balancing the interests of agriculture, industry, and urban populations, all with the aim of ensuring a clean and safe local water supply.  If you are a mayor, council person, county supervisor, or small water system director, click here to learn more and to register.
• California Water Policy Conference:  Now in its 23rd year, on April 3-4, the California Water Policy Conference will being together government officials, water agency officials, and business, agricultural and environmental leaders as well as members of the interested public for a stimulating conference agenda that will take the leading water issues of the day head-on and bring all participants into the heart of the debate and problem-solving.  Those scheduled to appear include Cynthia Koehler, Executive Director, WaterNow, Tina Swanson, Director, NRDC’s Science Center, Tim Palmer Author, photographer, and Jeff Mount Founding Director, Center for Watershed Sciences, UC Davis.  Click here for more information.
• Brown Bag Seminar Series: The Delta Carbon Cycle: Quantify, Manage and Trade: The Delta Stewardship Council’s Delta Science Program, Ecosystem Restoration Program and Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program jointly present a five-part series on the Delta carbon cycle from noon to 1:00 p.m. on various dates through the end of April.  The series will explore aspects of the Delta carbon cycle – quantity, storage & flux, land use, and cap & trade – to describe its role in ecosystem processes, current and future landscape planning and management, and the economy.   The series continues with part 2 on April 4 with Judy Drexler from the USGS presenting Peat, Subsidence and Modeling.  For more information:  Brown Bag Seminar Series: The Delta Carbon Cycle – Quantify, Manage, & Trade!
• Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife water bond public hearing:  Assembly Committee members travel to Merced on April 17th from 4 to 6pm.  Click here for more information.
• Delta Plan Interagency Implementation Committee:  The first meeting of the Delta Plan Interagency Implementation Committee will be held on April 9, 2014 from 8:00 a.m to 12:00 p.m. at the Embassy Suites, 100 Capital Mall, Sacramento, CA 95814.  Click here for more information.
• Paying for Water in California:  The Public Policy Institute of California will host a half-day event on April 10th in Sacramento.  California’s latest drought highlights the need to improve how we manage and pay for our precious water resources. At this event, participants will discuss where California’s water finance system is failing, how we might fill the gaps, and whether significant reforms are needed to enable our water resources to support a healthy economy, society, and environment. This event follows the release of a new PPIC report, Paying for Water in California. Please register by April 3. There is no charge to attend, but space is limited. Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.  Click here for more information.

• Delta cleanup events:  The Delta Conservancy is sponsoring a Delta waterways cleanup on Saturday, April 12, from 9am to noon at three sites in the Delta.  Also, the Delta Conservancy will host a tire recycling point for Delta landowners to recycle tires that have been illegally dumped on their islands.  Click here for more information.
• Brown Bag Seminar Series: The Delta Carbon Cycle: Quantify, Manage and Trade: This series of seminars continues on April 14 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm with part 3, Remote Sensing Wetland C, presented by Maggi Kelly from UC Berkeley.  For more information:  Brown Bag Seminar Series: The Delta Carbon Cycle – Quantify, Manage, & Trade!

• Climate Change and the Future of Groundwater in California:  On April 16, the 2nd Annual IGERT State of the Science and Policy workshop on climate change and groundwater will bring together scientists, water managers, policy and decision makers, engineers and other interested stakeholders to identify key challenges and solutions for a sustainable groundwater future.  The workshop if free and open to anyone interested in California groundwater, but registration is required. Click here for more information and to register.
• Brown Bag Seminar Series: The Delta Carbon Cycle: Quantify, Manage and Trade: This series of seminars continues on April 21 with part 4, Alternative Cropping and Constructed Wetlands, presented by Phil Bachand with Tetra Tech.  For more information:  Brown Bag Seminar Series: The Delta Carbon Cycle – Quantify, Manage, & Trade!
• Drought, Science and Policy Summit: On April 25, UC Davis will bring together a wide range of experts from across the state for thoughtful discussion of California’s drought and water supply issues. Experts will engage with water managers and policymakers on how best to manage current and long-term water shortages. Topics range from agricultural production and employment to wildfires, public health and welfare, the economy, energy production and use, fish and wildlife, and water conservation.  The event will include a review on what university campuses are doing to conserve water and provide water-saving advice for residents, farmers and business owners.  Click here for more information.
• Brown Bag Seminar Series: The Delta Carbon Cycle: Quantify, Manage and Trade: The series concludes on April 29 with Dennis Baldocchi from UC Berkeley presenting on CO2 & CH4 flux from natural & managed ecosystems.  For more information:  Brown Bag Seminar Series: The Delta Carbon Cycle – Quantify, Manage, & Trade!

Click here to view the full calendar.