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"title": "Bay Area Red Tide Crisis Ends, Watchdog Group Declares Algae Bloom Over",
"headTitle": "Bay Area Red Tide Crisis Ends, Watchdog Group Declares Algae Bloom Over | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The red tide that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1983631/last-summers-fish-killing-algae-bloom-is-back-in-the-bay\">gave East Bay waters a light brown sheen\u003c/a> earlier this month is likely over, declared the environmental watchdog group San Francisco Baykeeper Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would say this bloom is done for now,” said the group’s staff scientist \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Ian__Wren\">Ian Wren\u003c/a> on a boat under the eastern half of the Bay Bridge, where the water was olive green instead of a murky tea color brought on by the bloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Almost overnight the bloom died and the water was crystal clear,” he added.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Eileen White, executive officer, San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board\"]‘We don’t have enough knowledge of the species. Warmer weather could bring it back and we will continue to monitor the situation.’[/pullquote]Even though the red tide has dissipated, Eileen White, executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, is hesitant “to declare victory.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is still summertime and at this time I am cautiously optimistic,” she said. “We don’t have enough knowledge of the species. Warmer weather could bring it back and we will continue to monitor the situation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year the red tide — literally billions of tiny algae called \u003ca href=\"https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/toxicity-toxic-alga-heterosigma-akashiwo-puget-sound/\">Heterosigma akashiwo\u003c/a> — killed an immeasurable amount of fish. This year, the algae killed fewer than 100, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/sf-bay-harmful-algae-bloom-2023\">a state-run citizen science project\u003c/a>. Sitings of important Bay Area species, including sturgeons, bat rays and crabs, were among the dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983935\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983935\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The wake of a boat on the water.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Waves from the San Francisco Baykeeper splash in Oakland, on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I am so happy it’s only 85 fish and I am glad it didn’t spread to the South Bay,” White said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last week, Wren said citizen scientists monitoring the bloom looked at bay water “under the microscope and couldn’t find any of the problem algae.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The microscopic critter looks like a swimming potato chip with a tail, said Raphael Kudela, a phytoplankton ecologist at UC Santa Cruz. He said the organism thrives in the bay because the shallow water warms up quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just really happy when it’s in the bay,” he said. “As long as it’s happy, it’s just going to keep going, and going, and going.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wren, with SF Baykeeper, isn’t exactly sure what cut the bloom short this year. Still, he said there are a few theories as to why the algae didn’t return in force: it could have been too cloudy decreasing light, it wasn’t warm enough, the bay waters mixed causing the algae to die off or there weren’t enough concentrations of tiny particles in the water that the algae like to dine on.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Ian Wren, staff scientist, SF Baykeeper\"]‘With the bloom getting so big and widespread last year, it is highly likely a lot more cysts are present throughout the bay, ready to spark again.’[/pullquote]Wren said output from the region’s 37 regional wastewater treatments is a big part of why the algae blooms can get so bad. The wastewater includes nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, which the algae go to town on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There could have been a lower level of nutrients to start with and this bloom could have just fizzled out naturally, eating what it could and never having the chance to take off,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists like Wren and Peter Roopnarine, curator of invertebrate zoology and geology at the California Academy of Sciences, said humans are the main reason why this algae bloom got so bad. He blames wastewater agencies almost continually pumping nutrient-filled water into the bay and a warming world because of the burning of fossil fuels globally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983936\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983936\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Small boats and buildings along a waterfront.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Francisco Baykeeper is seen in the Oakland Marina in Oakland on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s almost all about us to blame,” said Roopnarine. “The bay is kind of a gigantic laboratory flask in some ways where you can put in ingredients, can mix them and it’s not easy for those to have an outside influence from the ocean.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wren said the tide is unlikely to return this year, but just because the red tide has disappeared doesn’t mean it won’t come back next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When under stress, the algae can create little cysts, like seeds, and plant themselves at the bottom of the bay, lying dormant until the right conditions for the organisms to proliferate return. Conditions include light, warmth and calm water.[aside tag=\"algae, algal bloom\" label=\"More Related Stories\"]“With the bloom getting so big and widespread last year, it is highly likely a lot more cysts are present throughout the bay, ready to spark again,” Wren said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s sort of like a long-term easter egg hunt with potentially deadly consequences for fish, Wren said. The idea is that when the algae are present, the water holds less oxygen, killing the fish. The algae are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1983775/as-algal-bloom-returns-to-the-bay-is-swimming-safe-for-humans-and-pets\">not known to have any direct harmful effects on humans or mammals\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Given that we have had two back-to-back years of blooms, this likely could be the new normal,” he said. “We might see small, medium and large blooms on an annual basis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A new normal because Wren said climate change likely means more algae blooms — and not just the lesser toxic bloom this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are other harmful algae in the bay that could just as easily have taken off with more lethal consequences to wildfire and humans,” he said. “These algae are just waiting to go nuts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"headline": "Bay Area Red Tide Crisis Ends, Watchdog Group Declares Algae Bloom Over",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The red tide that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1983631/last-summers-fish-killing-algae-bloom-is-back-in-the-bay\">gave East Bay waters a light brown sheen\u003c/a> earlier this month is likely over, declared the environmental watchdog group San Francisco Baykeeper Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would say this bloom is done for now,” said the group’s staff scientist \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Ian__Wren\">Ian Wren\u003c/a> on a boat under the eastern half of the Bay Bridge, where the water was olive green instead of a murky tea color brought on by the bloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Almost overnight the bloom died and the water was crystal clear,” he added.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We don’t have enough knowledge of the species. Warmer weather could bring it back and we will continue to monitor the situation.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Even though the red tide has dissipated, Eileen White, executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, is hesitant “to declare victory.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is still summertime and at this time I am cautiously optimistic,” she said. “We don’t have enough knowledge of the species. Warmer weather could bring it back and we will continue to monitor the situation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year the red tide — literally billions of tiny algae called \u003ca href=\"https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/toxicity-toxic-alga-heterosigma-akashiwo-puget-sound/\">Heterosigma akashiwo\u003c/a> — killed an immeasurable amount of fish. This year, the algae killed fewer than 100, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/sf-bay-harmful-algae-bloom-2023\">a state-run citizen science project\u003c/a>. Sitings of important Bay Area species, including sturgeons, bat rays and crabs, were among the dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983935\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983935\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The wake of a boat on the water.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Waves from the San Francisco Baykeeper splash in Oakland, on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I am so happy it’s only 85 fish and I am glad it didn’t spread to the South Bay,” White said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last week, Wren said citizen scientists monitoring the bloom looked at bay water “under the microscope and couldn’t find any of the problem algae.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The microscopic critter looks like a swimming potato chip with a tail, said Raphael Kudela, a phytoplankton ecologist at UC Santa Cruz. He said the organism thrives in the bay because the shallow water warms up quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just really happy when it’s in the bay,” he said. “As long as it’s happy, it’s just going to keep going, and going, and going.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wren, with SF Baykeeper, isn’t exactly sure what cut the bloom short this year. Still, he said there are a few theories as to why the algae didn’t return in force: it could have been too cloudy decreasing light, it wasn’t warm enough, the bay waters mixed causing the algae to die off or there weren’t enough concentrations of tiny particles in the water that the algae like to dine on.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘With the bloom getting so big and widespread last year, it is highly likely a lot more cysts are present throughout the bay, ready to spark again.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Wren said output from the region’s 37 regional wastewater treatments is a big part of why the algae blooms can get so bad. The wastewater includes nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, which the algae go to town on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There could have been a lower level of nutrients to start with and this bloom could have just fizzled out naturally, eating what it could and never having the chance to take off,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists like Wren and Peter Roopnarine, curator of invertebrate zoology and geology at the California Academy of Sciences, said humans are the main reason why this algae bloom got so bad. He blames wastewater agencies almost continually pumping nutrient-filled water into the bay and a warming world because of the burning of fossil fuels globally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983936\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983936\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Small boats and buildings along a waterfront.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Francisco Baykeeper is seen in the Oakland Marina in Oakland on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s almost all about us to blame,” said Roopnarine. “The bay is kind of a gigantic laboratory flask in some ways where you can put in ingredients, can mix them and it’s not easy for those to have an outside influence from the ocean.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wren said the tide is unlikely to return this year, but just because the red tide has disappeared doesn’t mean it won’t come back next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When under stress, the algae can create little cysts, like seeds, and plant themselves at the bottom of the bay, lying dormant until the right conditions for the organisms to proliferate return. Conditions include light, warmth and calm water.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“With the bloom getting so big and widespread last year, it is highly likely a lot more cysts are present throughout the bay, ready to spark again,” Wren said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s sort of like a long-term easter egg hunt with potentially deadly consequences for fish, Wren said. The idea is that when the algae are present, the water holds less oxygen, killing the fish. The algae are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1983775/as-algal-bloom-returns-to-the-bay-is-swimming-safe-for-humans-and-pets\">not known to have any direct harmful effects on humans or mammals\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Given that we have had two back-to-back years of blooms, this likely could be the new normal,” he said. “We might see small, medium and large blooms on an annual basis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A new normal because Wren said climate change likely means more algae blooms — and not just the lesser toxic bloom this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are other harmful algae in the bay that could just as easily have taken off with more lethal consequences to wildfire and humans,” he said. “These algae are just waiting to go nuts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"headTitle": "What Happened to California’s Salmon Season This Year? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>On the steps of the state Capitol in Sacramento last week, beneath the grand white dome, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/04/11/opinion-californias-salmon-season-shutdown-was-avoidable/\">Sarah Bates\u003c/a> called out the absence of salmon from July 4th holiday celebrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There had been parades and fireworks, said Bates, who commercially fishes out of San Francisco. “But when I sat down for dinner with my family, what was missing? Where’s the fish?” she shouted with disdain, presumably within earshot of some lawmakers. “Where’s the salmon? Where’s my fresh, local salmon? Today’s my baby’s first birthday. She’s not eating salmon tonight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next generation was also on the mind of Jason Jackson-Reed, a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. He addressed the crowd as he cradled his 1-month-old son in a carrier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our [tribe’s] social well-being, physical, our cultural, our spiritual well-being, it all runs parallel to the salmon,” he said. “If the salmon aren’t doing good, we’re not doing good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He traced the construction of dams and demise of once abundant fishing stocks to hard times and poor health for the Hoopa people, including diabetes, high blood pressure and addiction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And it’s not going to change until the Natives start writing the narrative and we start re-Indigenizing [water] management,” Jackson-Reed said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983349\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1983349\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"A group of protesters under colorful umbrellas rally in front of the white, stately Capitol building. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gary Mulcahy, government liaison for the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, addresses the crowd at the Day of Action for California Water Justice and Salmon rally on July 5, 2023, at the state Capitol. \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This spring, fisheries managers closed the commercial and recreational salmon season off the coast of California, owing to cratering fish populations, for the first time since 2009. Every one of the few fish left from the generation of Chinook salmon currently swimming in the ocean are needed to return to their natal streams and spawn, managers decided.[pullquote align='right' citation='Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist, San Francisco Baykeeper']‘The state is responsible for reviewing and updating water quality standards. And for at least 14 years, the state has not acknowledged that its water quality standards are inadequate to protect fisheries and the native fish in the Bay Delta writ large: not just endangered species, not just commercial fisheries, like all of them.’[/pullquote]On the Capitol steps, Bates, Jackson-Reed and other tribal leaders and environmental activists charged that officials, and the Newsom administration in particular, are failing the people and species that benefit from the Sacramento River system by appeasing wealthy farms and other big water users.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The closure of the fishing season was not an inevitable result of this drought, say members of this \u003ca href=\"https://www.restorethedelta.org/wp-content/uploads/Coalition-Statement-Day-of-Action.pdf\">broad coalition\u003c/a>, which includes the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and Restore the Delta. Instead, they say, it was a result of choices made by state and federal officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This view is shared even by some former state employees.[pullquote align='right' citation='Chuck Bonham, director, California Department of Fish and Wildlife']‘I just want to get something done. I’ve been watching this debate for a long time and I think what’s mostly needed is putting water back in our rivers, combined with significant habitat restoration as fast as we can do it. There’s great promise in the voluntary agreements, but I understand the criticisms.’[/pullquote]“It’s a damning reflection on the state of California water management and policy and just how degraded our aquatic ecosystems have become,” said Max Gomberg, water consultant and former climate change mitigation strategist at the State Water Resources Control Board (also known as the State Water Board), in an interview with KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The season’s closure, he said, is due to the lack of government action on its legal and moral responsibilities to protect the state’s natural heritage, its wildlife and ecosystems, against the agricultural industry, which he characterized as “overly focused on short-term profits and too used to getting its way with respect to regulatory policy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gomberg was so frustrated by what he saw as the Newsom administration’s commitment to a dysfunctional status quo and a desire to control regulatory agencies, that \u003ca href=\"https://onthepublicrecord.org/2022/07/16/on-your-watch/\">he quit\u003c/a> the water board last summer in protest over its direction, or lack of it — a direction he said comes from the top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It got to a point where [I was] watching on the one hand the [water] board make commitments towards racial justice and equity and environmental restoration, and then on the other hand, being impeded to honor those commitments by the governor’s office,” Gomberg said. “I realized that I could no longer tolerate that state of affairs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Storing, sharing and saving water in California is a complex cotillion among federal, state and local agencies — and has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/flood-desert-california-water-wars-violent/\">a point of social tension for decades\u003c/a>. But conservation groups, and those aligned with them, say the state has failed in its role for years and the situation has gotten worse under Newsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#fish\">\u003ci>Confused about who manages California’s water? Jump to a quick primer.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Before Newsom took office\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Newsom and current state officials say they are seeking to balance the needs of the environment and a state full of thirsty people and businesses — and that climate change and a punishing drought have dealt them unprecedented challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there was a change in tenor regarding California water policy even before Newsom officially took office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under former Gov. Jerry Brown, the California Water Board completed the first phase of its water quality control plan review in 2018 — a scientific review process that tries to ensure fish have what they need. It dramatically increased environmental flow standards for the San Joaquin River’s three lower tributaries — the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced — and was expected to greatly improve the health of the rivers, but it was unpopular among commercial farmers who stood to receive less water. (These plans are supposed to be evaluated, and updated if need be, every three years. In reality, it takes decades.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was a major accomplishment,” said Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist with San Francisco Baykeeper. But “the Newsom administration, before it even became the Newsom administration, tried to block that update.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23870314-20181106-brown-newsom-ltr-postponing-swrcb-phase-i-process\">Newsom sent a letter to Board Chair Felicia Marcus (PDF)\u003c/a>, dated Nov. 6, 2018, the day he was elected, asking the board to postpone the changes, saying the extension would allow the state and water stakeholders to keep negotiating voluntary agreements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Newsom took office in January, he did not reappoint Marcus as Water Board chair. While Marcus had attracted the \u003ca href=\"https://mcclintock.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/letter-to-felicia-marcus-chair-california-water-resources-control-board\">ire of conservative politicians\u003c/a> such as Tom McClintock during her tenure, many in the environmental nonprofit and academic California water policy world saw her as an effective champion for fish. They were disappointed with the change in direction, which they saw as backtracking, signaled by her removal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Witnessing the agency’s ability to tackle big challenges nearly eviscerated by this Administration has been gut wrenching,” Gomberg wrote in his \u003ca href=\"https://onthepublicrecord.org/2022/07/16/on-your-watch/\">resignation letter\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thus it is that while state law has officially afforded greater protections and more water to the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, the fish in that system have not benefited yet. The updates have not been implemented, and the state has not made anyone responsible to provide the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same month the Water Board released its proposal for the first phase of updates, in July 2018, it also signaled that its second phase, covering the Sacramento River and the delta, would \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrdc.org/bio/doug-obegi/state-water-board-proposes-increased-delta-outflow\">recommend that more water flow\u003c/a> out of the delta and the state divert less water to farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom blocked the first phase of the update from going into effect and the second phase from proceeding, seeking instead to form “\u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/delta_watermaster/docs/frameworkofvolagreementsfnl.pdf\">voluntary agreements\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are governance structures formed by the state, water users and participating conservation groups working together, instead of the rules being written by the Water Board itself. \u003ca href=\"https://voluntaryagreements.org/\">Water agencies\u003c/a> and some conservation groups, such as Ducks Unlimited, support this approach, saying it is more flexible, saves time and avoids litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>When Newsom took charge of the state’s vast water infrastructure\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When asked “who is to blame” for the closure of the current salmon season, Baykeeper’s Rosenfield points squarely at the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The state is responsible for reviewing and updating water quality standards. And for at least 14 years, the state has not acknowledged that its water quality standards are inadequate to protect fisheries and the native fish in the Bay Delta writ large — not just endangered species, not just commercial fisheries, like all of them,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The State Water Board last overhauled these standards in 1995. They are supposed to be reviewed every three years. The current review process began in 2008 and is now stalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In reports and memos, the State Water Board, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell have all said the current regulations for the San Francisco Bay Delta do not protect the ecosystem and are not enough to ensure the future of salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosenfield points to a decrease in water quality in the delta, seen in the increasing frequency of harmful algal blooms — stagnant, green water that’s toxic to touch. What’s needed, he says, is more flowing water and fewer diversions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are all signs that the water quality standards have been inadequate,” said Rosenfield. “And yet Gov. Newsom has actively blocked updates of those water quality standards in favor of voluntary agreement that he wants to negotiate with water districts and that still haven’t materialized.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tribes, environmental justice organizations and other conservation groups strongly oppose this non-regulatory route, saying the process excludes them when the real, important decisions are being made and still prioritizes water deliveries to grow export crops over native fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosenfield also faults Newsom for, early in his administration, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-09-27/gavin-newsom-vetoes-california-bill-trump-environment-rollbacks\">vetoing a bill, SB1\u003c/a>, passed by wide margins that would have allowed the state to adopt Obama-era federal endangered species regulations as state regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was seen as a bulwark against the Trump administration rolling back environmental protections at the federal level,” said Rosenfield. “Gov. Newsom vetoed that legislation over his own party’s majority and said, ‘We have the tools that we need to deal with this. We can protect the fish on our fish and water quality on our own, and we will.’ And he hasn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, six out of the last 10 years, and in all of the last three years, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drought/tucp/\">state waived\u003c/a> its basic water quality standards, which means that flows have been reduced both in critically dry years and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/02/water-board-waives-environmental-rules-delta-water/\">even in wetter-than-normal\u003c/a> years with an abundant snowpack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1951544\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1951544 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-1020x573.jpg\" alt=\"A large fish with a crooked nose and a bright pink belly. \" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-1200x674.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This coho salmon’s red belly indicates it is spawning. \u003ccite>(U.S. Geological Survey)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>What happened to the fish that should have been caught this year?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Eggs from the fish that should have been in the ocean this winter and spring were laid in their natal streams back in the fall of 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But so few survived the warm, shallow river and drought conditions that fisheries managers decided it could imperil species survival for any of them to be caught commercially or recreationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a case of climate whiplash. While 2019 was a wet year, 2020 was dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And even though we had just come off of pretty much full reservoirs in 2019, too much water was delivered [to irrigators] in 2019,” said Rosenfield, who says water managers did not prepare for the 2020 drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Water Resources are sort of notorious for not preparing for drought,” he added. “They treat every wet year as though next year is going to be wet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, when dry years began again in 2020, not much backup water was in reserve. And then?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They start asking to cut environmental regulations,” Rosenfield said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He points to one particular example with the Bureau of Reclamation’s decision to reduce flows below Shasta Dam in the fall of 2020, under the oversight of the State Water Board. Endangered winter-run Chinook salmon were no longer in the river, having spawned the previous spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency was able to deliver water to “their clients downstream,” Rosenfield said. “But they did it in such a way that wound up de-watering the nests — the redds — of fall-run Chinook salmon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These fish make up the heart of the West Coast salmon fishery. The bureau prioritized one group of salmon over the other so they could still serve clients, Rosenfield said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In early February through mid-April of 2021, the water temperature below Shasta Dam was too hot. Fish suffocated. The amount of water flowing was too low to meet legal requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And the fact that they didn’t even meet the already very low and known-to-be-inadequate river flow standard that applies in a critical dry year,” said Rosenfield, “it tells you that the survival was very bad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an experiment, about 1,000 hatchery fish tagged with transmitters were released near Red Bluff on the Sacramento River. Of these, just three survived to swim past Sacramento, and \u003ca href=\"https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/CalFishTrack/pageCNFH_FMR_2021.html\">none survived\u003c/a> to exit the delta and make it into the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1945871\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1945871 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/07/GettyImages-53033438-1020x735.jpg\" alt=\"Green and sliver fish swim through grey water. \" width=\"640\" height=\"461\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Chinook salmon, along with a school of shad. \u003ccite>(Photo b Jeff T. Green/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A long, extended decline for salmon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chuck Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that the closure of this year’s salmon season occurred against a backdrop of a century of ecological devastation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we only focus on this year, it does a disservice to salmon and their legacy,” he told KQED. “Because the reality is since maybe the 1950s, what’s been going on for the populations of salmon is a long, extended decline.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He points to roads, dams and the rest of the built environment affecting salmon, cutting them off from the bulk of their natural habitat. (Two California academics specializing in salmon also pointed to the decades-long degradation of salmon habitat as a key reason for the season’s closure.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Layer on top of that, Bonham says, huge demands for water from 40 million people and the rapidly increasing climate change impacts, Western society has effectively dealt salmon a one-two-three punch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Referencing the critical time period during the spring and summer of 2021, when the fish that could otherwise have been caught in the ocean this year were dying, Bonham said the collection of state and federal agencies that manage flow and temperature below Shasta Dam had to make very challenging decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We didn’t do well at it,” he said, speaking frankly. “And as a result, we had increased mortality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, he said, things were different the following year; the collection of agencies learned from missteps in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We — this agency dynamic — did better trying to achieve those flow and temperature objectives below Shasta Dam,” Bonham said. “And we had much lower mortality and impacts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it came at a cost to some water users.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things that also occurred was, in the Sacramento Valley, agriculture fallowed about 500,000 acres, which is an unprecedented result from their perspective,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state gave \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/12/01/california-drought-state-water-project-will-deliver-no-water-next-year/\">farms and cities virtually no water\u003c/a> from the State Water Project in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked about the state’s preference for seeking voluntary agreements instead of the normal regulatory route, Bonham acknowledged that many advocates view them as insufficient. But, he said, they’re part of a sincere effort to make progress amid “seemingly unwinnable” water wars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just want to get something done,” he said. “I’ve been watching this debate for a long time and I think what’s mostly needed is putting water back in our rivers, combined with significant habitat restoration as fast as we can do it. There’s great promise in the voluntary agreements, but I understand the criticisms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In public comments Gov. Newsom has pushed away the idea of any blame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/ytSO6YRNW38?t=1294\">March 24 press conference\u003c/a>, at a ground recharge project in Yolo County, he announced he was easing drought restrictions, aiming to boost water storage. A reporter asked if he thought his policies may have done some harm to salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Absolutely not,” Newsom said. He pointed out that what went wrong with this year’s salmon occurred three years ago, implying he could not have played a role. (Newsom was sworn in as governor four years and six months ago.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So anyone who suggests otherwise is being purposely misleading or unknowingly misleading. I think it’s more the former often in terms of what I hear out there and some of the extreme statements that are made,” he said, hinting at the fish activists. He added that he listens to expert advice and takes salmon issues seriously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ll take a back seat to no governor in the United States of America in terms of my environmental stewardship and passion,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983366\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1983366\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"A group of protestors in colorful clothing stand with banners and signs in front of a white, ornate building. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Morning Star Gali, vice-chairperson of the Pit River Tribe, told the assembled crowd that ‘we cannot have truth and healing for California tribes and drive salmon into extinction,’ at the Day of Action for California Water Justice and Salmon rally on July 5, 2023, at the state Capitol. \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tribes say the state’s inaction is a violation of civil rights\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>However, several tribal and environmental justice groups, including the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, along with Little Manila Rising, a neighborhood group from South Stockton, feel so neglected by the state and the current administration, they are \u003ca href=\"https://www.restorethedelta.org/2022/12/16/civil-rights-complaint-seeks-us-epa-oversight-of-ca-state-water-board-bay-delta-ecological-crisis-harms-california-tribes-and-delta-ej-communities/\">petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency to step in to enforce the Clean Water Act\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They say the State Water Board’s failures to update the Bay-Delta Plan is a violation of their civil rights, and the board’s mismanagement of the Bay delta has disproportionately harmed Native tribes and communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Addressing the assembled crowd on Wednesday, Malissa Tayaba, Vice-Chairwoman of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, said, “The state is going against its own policies and commitment to consult with tribes on matters impacting our communities and tribal citizens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voluntary agreements, she said, did not offer a solution as they failed to provide enough ecological protections for the delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morning Star Gali, vice-chairperson of the Pit River Tribe, said if the health of salmon cannot be improved, Indigenous people cannot thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The governor’s office has promised California Native people truth and healing and has taken some positive steps,” Gali said. “But he’s made a lot of decisions that favor agriculture over all other interests. We cannot have truth and healing for California tribes and drive salmon into extinction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"fish\">\u003c/a>A quick primer on California’s confusing water policy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Two main canals come out of the delta and deliver water to the Central Valley and Southern California: the federally run Central Valley Project, federally managed by the Bureau of Reclamation, and the state-run State Water Project, managed by the California Department of Water Resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The State Water Board (also called the State Water Resources Control Board) sets regulatory standards and is supposed to enforce them. Serving underneath the main board are nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor appoints all members of these boards and the state Senate confirms them. Keeping an eye on fish in the river, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife enforces the state’s endangered species laws, while NOAA Fisheries, or the National Marine Fisheries Service, is in charge of federal endangered species protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the agencies must work together to keep the cogs of California’s water policy wheel spinning, each has a different objective and mission.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Storing, sharing and saving water in California has been a point of social tension for decades. But some conservation groups say the state has failed in its role for years and the situation has gotten worse under Gov. Gavin Newsom.",
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"description": "Storing, sharing and saving water in California has been a point of social tension for decades. But some conservation groups say the state has failed in its role for years and the situation has gotten worse under Gov. Gavin Newsom.",
"title": "What Happened to California's Salmon Season This Year? | KQED",
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"headline": "What Happened to California's Salmon Season This Year?",
"datePublished": "2023-07-11T04:00:00-07:00",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On the steps of the state Capitol in Sacramento last week, beneath the grand white dome, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/04/11/opinion-californias-salmon-season-shutdown-was-avoidable/\">Sarah Bates\u003c/a> called out the absence of salmon from July 4th holiday celebrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There had been parades and fireworks, said Bates, who commercially fishes out of San Francisco. “But when I sat down for dinner with my family, what was missing? Where’s the fish?” she shouted with disdain, presumably within earshot of some lawmakers. “Where’s the salmon? Where’s my fresh, local salmon? Today’s my baby’s first birthday. She’s not eating salmon tonight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next generation was also on the mind of Jason Jackson-Reed, a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. He addressed the crowd as he cradled his 1-month-old son in a carrier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our [tribe’s] social well-being, physical, our cultural, our spiritual well-being, it all runs parallel to the salmon,” he said. “If the salmon aren’t doing good, we’re not doing good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He traced the construction of dams and demise of once abundant fishing stocks to hard times and poor health for the Hoopa people, including diabetes, high blood pressure and addiction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And it’s not going to change until the Natives start writing the narrative and we start re-Indigenizing [water] management,” Jackson-Reed said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983349\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1983349\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"A group of protesters under colorful umbrellas rally in front of the white, stately Capitol building. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gary Mulcahy, government liaison for the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, addresses the crowd at the Day of Action for California Water Justice and Salmon rally on July 5, 2023, at the state Capitol. \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This spring, fisheries managers closed the commercial and recreational salmon season off the coast of California, owing to cratering fish populations, for the first time since 2009. Every one of the few fish left from the generation of Chinook salmon currently swimming in the ocean are needed to return to their natal streams and spawn, managers decided.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘The state is responsible for reviewing and updating water quality standards. And for at least 14 years, the state has not acknowledged that its water quality standards are inadequate to protect fisheries and the native fish in the Bay Delta writ large: not just endangered species, not just commercial fisheries, like all of them.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>On the Capitol steps, Bates, Jackson-Reed and other tribal leaders and environmental activists charged that officials, and the Newsom administration in particular, are failing the people and species that benefit from the Sacramento River system by appeasing wealthy farms and other big water users.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The closure of the fishing season was not an inevitable result of this drought, say members of this \u003ca href=\"https://www.restorethedelta.org/wp-content/uploads/Coalition-Statement-Day-of-Action.pdf\">broad coalition\u003c/a>, which includes the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and Restore the Delta. Instead, they say, it was a result of choices made by state and federal officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This view is shared even by some former state employees.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I just want to get something done. I’ve been watching this debate for a long time and I think what’s mostly needed is putting water back in our rivers, combined with significant habitat restoration as fast as we can do it. There’s great promise in the voluntary agreements, but I understand the criticisms.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It’s a damning reflection on the state of California water management and policy and just how degraded our aquatic ecosystems have become,” said Max Gomberg, water consultant and former climate change mitigation strategist at the State Water Resources Control Board (also known as the State Water Board), in an interview with KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The season’s closure, he said, is due to the lack of government action on its legal and moral responsibilities to protect the state’s natural heritage, its wildlife and ecosystems, against the agricultural industry, which he characterized as “overly focused on short-term profits and too used to getting its way with respect to regulatory policy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gomberg was so frustrated by what he saw as the Newsom administration’s commitment to a dysfunctional status quo and a desire to control regulatory agencies, that \u003ca href=\"https://onthepublicrecord.org/2022/07/16/on-your-watch/\">he quit\u003c/a> the water board last summer in protest over its direction, or lack of it — a direction he said comes from the top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It got to a point where [I was] watching on the one hand the [water] board make commitments towards racial justice and equity and environmental restoration, and then on the other hand, being impeded to honor those commitments by the governor’s office,” Gomberg said. “I realized that I could no longer tolerate that state of affairs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Storing, sharing and saving water in California is a complex cotillion among federal, state and local agencies — and has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/flood-desert-california-water-wars-violent/\">a point of social tension for decades\u003c/a>. But conservation groups, and those aligned with them, say the state has failed in its role for years and the situation has gotten worse under Newsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#fish\">\u003ci>Confused about who manages California’s water? Jump to a quick primer.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Before Newsom took office\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Newsom and current state officials say they are seeking to balance the needs of the environment and a state full of thirsty people and businesses — and that climate change and a punishing drought have dealt them unprecedented challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there was a change in tenor regarding California water policy even before Newsom officially took office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under former Gov. Jerry Brown, the California Water Board completed the first phase of its water quality control plan review in 2018 — a scientific review process that tries to ensure fish have what they need. It dramatically increased environmental flow standards for the San Joaquin River’s three lower tributaries — the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced — and was expected to greatly improve the health of the rivers, but it was unpopular among commercial farmers who stood to receive less water. (These plans are supposed to be evaluated, and updated if need be, every three years. In reality, it takes decades.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was a major accomplishment,” said Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist with San Francisco Baykeeper. But “the Newsom administration, before it even became the Newsom administration, tried to block that update.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23870314-20181106-brown-newsom-ltr-postponing-swrcb-phase-i-process\">Newsom sent a letter to Board Chair Felicia Marcus (PDF)\u003c/a>, dated Nov. 6, 2018, the day he was elected, asking the board to postpone the changes, saying the extension would allow the state and water stakeholders to keep negotiating voluntary agreements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Newsom took office in January, he did not reappoint Marcus as Water Board chair. While Marcus had attracted the \u003ca href=\"https://mcclintock.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/letter-to-felicia-marcus-chair-california-water-resources-control-board\">ire of conservative politicians\u003c/a> such as Tom McClintock during her tenure, many in the environmental nonprofit and academic California water policy world saw her as an effective champion for fish. They were disappointed with the change in direction, which they saw as backtracking, signaled by her removal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Witnessing the agency’s ability to tackle big challenges nearly eviscerated by this Administration has been gut wrenching,” Gomberg wrote in his \u003ca href=\"https://onthepublicrecord.org/2022/07/16/on-your-watch/\">resignation letter\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thus it is that while state law has officially afforded greater protections and more water to the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, the fish in that system have not benefited yet. The updates have not been implemented, and the state has not made anyone responsible to provide the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same month the Water Board released its proposal for the first phase of updates, in July 2018, it also signaled that its second phase, covering the Sacramento River and the delta, would \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrdc.org/bio/doug-obegi/state-water-board-proposes-increased-delta-outflow\">recommend that more water flow\u003c/a> out of the delta and the state divert less water to farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom blocked the first phase of the update from going into effect and the second phase from proceeding, seeking instead to form “\u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/delta_watermaster/docs/frameworkofvolagreementsfnl.pdf\">voluntary agreements\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are governance structures formed by the state, water users and participating conservation groups working together, instead of the rules being written by the Water Board itself. \u003ca href=\"https://voluntaryagreements.org/\">Water agencies\u003c/a> and some conservation groups, such as Ducks Unlimited, support this approach, saying it is more flexible, saves time and avoids litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>When Newsom took charge of the state’s vast water infrastructure\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When asked “who is to blame” for the closure of the current salmon season, Baykeeper’s Rosenfield points squarely at the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The state is responsible for reviewing and updating water quality standards. And for at least 14 years, the state has not acknowledged that its water quality standards are inadequate to protect fisheries and the native fish in the Bay Delta writ large — not just endangered species, not just commercial fisheries, like all of them,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The State Water Board last overhauled these standards in 1995. They are supposed to be reviewed every three years. The current review process began in 2008 and is now stalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In reports and memos, the State Water Board, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell have all said the current regulations for the San Francisco Bay Delta do not protect the ecosystem and are not enough to ensure the future of salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosenfield points to a decrease in water quality in the delta, seen in the increasing frequency of harmful algal blooms — stagnant, green water that’s toxic to touch. What’s needed, he says, is more flowing water and fewer diversions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are all signs that the water quality standards have been inadequate,” said Rosenfield. “And yet Gov. Newsom has actively blocked updates of those water quality standards in favor of voluntary agreement that he wants to negotiate with water districts and that still haven’t materialized.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tribes, environmental justice organizations and other conservation groups strongly oppose this non-regulatory route, saying the process excludes them when the real, important decisions are being made and still prioritizes water deliveries to grow export crops over native fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosenfield also faults Newsom for, early in his administration, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-09-27/gavin-newsom-vetoes-california-bill-trump-environment-rollbacks\">vetoing a bill, SB1\u003c/a>, passed by wide margins that would have allowed the state to adopt Obama-era federal endangered species regulations as state regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was seen as a bulwark against the Trump administration rolling back environmental protections at the federal level,” said Rosenfield. “Gov. Newsom vetoed that legislation over his own party’s majority and said, ‘We have the tools that we need to deal with this. We can protect the fish on our fish and water quality on our own, and we will.’ And he hasn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, six out of the last 10 years, and in all of the last three years, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drought/tucp/\">state waived\u003c/a> its basic water quality standards, which means that flows have been reduced both in critically dry years and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/02/water-board-waives-environmental-rules-delta-water/\">even in wetter-than-normal\u003c/a> years with an abundant snowpack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1951544\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1951544 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-1020x573.jpg\" alt=\"A large fish with a crooked nose and a bright pink belly. \" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-1200x674.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This coho salmon’s red belly indicates it is spawning. \u003ccite>(U.S. Geological Survey)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>What happened to the fish that should have been caught this year?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Eggs from the fish that should have been in the ocean this winter and spring were laid in their natal streams back in the fall of 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But so few survived the warm, shallow river and drought conditions that fisheries managers decided it could imperil species survival for any of them to be caught commercially or recreationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a case of climate whiplash. While 2019 was a wet year, 2020 was dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And even though we had just come off of pretty much full reservoirs in 2019, too much water was delivered [to irrigators] in 2019,” said Rosenfield, who says water managers did not prepare for the 2020 drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Water Resources are sort of notorious for not preparing for drought,” he added. “They treat every wet year as though next year is going to be wet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, when dry years began again in 2020, not much backup water was in reserve. And then?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They start asking to cut environmental regulations,” Rosenfield said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He points to one particular example with the Bureau of Reclamation’s decision to reduce flows below Shasta Dam in the fall of 2020, under the oversight of the State Water Board. Endangered winter-run Chinook salmon were no longer in the river, having spawned the previous spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency was able to deliver water to “their clients downstream,” Rosenfield said. “But they did it in such a way that wound up de-watering the nests — the redds — of fall-run Chinook salmon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These fish make up the heart of the West Coast salmon fishery. The bureau prioritized one group of salmon over the other so they could still serve clients, Rosenfield said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In early February through mid-April of 2021, the water temperature below Shasta Dam was too hot. Fish suffocated. The amount of water flowing was too low to meet legal requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And the fact that they didn’t even meet the already very low and known-to-be-inadequate river flow standard that applies in a critical dry year,” said Rosenfield, “it tells you that the survival was very bad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an experiment, about 1,000 hatchery fish tagged with transmitters were released near Red Bluff on the Sacramento River. Of these, just three survived to swim past Sacramento, and \u003ca href=\"https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/CalFishTrack/pageCNFH_FMR_2021.html\">none survived\u003c/a> to exit the delta and make it into the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1945871\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1945871 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/07/GettyImages-53033438-1020x735.jpg\" alt=\"Green and sliver fish swim through grey water. \" width=\"640\" height=\"461\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Chinook salmon, along with a school of shad. \u003ccite>(Photo b Jeff T. Green/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A long, extended decline for salmon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chuck Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that the closure of this year’s salmon season occurred against a backdrop of a century of ecological devastation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we only focus on this year, it does a disservice to salmon and their legacy,” he told KQED. “Because the reality is since maybe the 1950s, what’s been going on for the populations of salmon is a long, extended decline.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He points to roads, dams and the rest of the built environment affecting salmon, cutting them off from the bulk of their natural habitat. (Two California academics specializing in salmon also pointed to the decades-long degradation of salmon habitat as a key reason for the season’s closure.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Layer on top of that, Bonham says, huge demands for water from 40 million people and the rapidly increasing climate change impacts, Western society has effectively dealt salmon a one-two-three punch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Referencing the critical time period during the spring and summer of 2021, when the fish that could otherwise have been caught in the ocean this year were dying, Bonham said the collection of state and federal agencies that manage flow and temperature below Shasta Dam had to make very challenging decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We didn’t do well at it,” he said, speaking frankly. “And as a result, we had increased mortality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, he said, things were different the following year; the collection of agencies learned from missteps in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We — this agency dynamic — did better trying to achieve those flow and temperature objectives below Shasta Dam,” Bonham said. “And we had much lower mortality and impacts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it came at a cost to some water users.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things that also occurred was, in the Sacramento Valley, agriculture fallowed about 500,000 acres, which is an unprecedented result from their perspective,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state gave \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/12/01/california-drought-state-water-project-will-deliver-no-water-next-year/\">farms and cities virtually no water\u003c/a> from the State Water Project in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked about the state’s preference for seeking voluntary agreements instead of the normal regulatory route, Bonham acknowledged that many advocates view them as insufficient. But, he said, they’re part of a sincere effort to make progress amid “seemingly unwinnable” water wars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just want to get something done,” he said. “I’ve been watching this debate for a long time and I think what’s mostly needed is putting water back in our rivers, combined with significant habitat restoration as fast as we can do it. There’s great promise in the voluntary agreements, but I understand the criticisms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In public comments Gov. Newsom has pushed away the idea of any blame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/ytSO6YRNW38?t=1294\">March 24 press conference\u003c/a>, at a ground recharge project in Yolo County, he announced he was easing drought restrictions, aiming to boost water storage. A reporter asked if he thought his policies may have done some harm to salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Absolutely not,” Newsom said. He pointed out that what went wrong with this year’s salmon occurred three years ago, implying he could not have played a role. (Newsom was sworn in as governor four years and six months ago.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So anyone who suggests otherwise is being purposely misleading or unknowingly misleading. I think it’s more the former often in terms of what I hear out there and some of the extreme statements that are made,” he said, hinting at the fish activists. He added that he listens to expert advice and takes salmon issues seriously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ll take a back seat to no governor in the United States of America in terms of my environmental stewardship and passion,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983366\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1983366\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"A group of protestors in colorful clothing stand with banners and signs in front of a white, ornate building. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Morning Star Gali, vice-chairperson of the Pit River Tribe, told the assembled crowd that ‘we cannot have truth and healing for California tribes and drive salmon into extinction,’ at the Day of Action for California Water Justice and Salmon rally on July 5, 2023, at the state Capitol. \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tribes say the state’s inaction is a violation of civil rights\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>However, several tribal and environmental justice groups, including the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, along with Little Manila Rising, a neighborhood group from South Stockton, feel so neglected by the state and the current administration, they are \u003ca href=\"https://www.restorethedelta.org/2022/12/16/civil-rights-complaint-seeks-us-epa-oversight-of-ca-state-water-board-bay-delta-ecological-crisis-harms-california-tribes-and-delta-ej-communities/\">petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency to step in to enforce the Clean Water Act\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They say the State Water Board’s failures to update the Bay-Delta Plan is a violation of their civil rights, and the board’s mismanagement of the Bay delta has disproportionately harmed Native tribes and communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Addressing the assembled crowd on Wednesday, Malissa Tayaba, Vice-Chairwoman of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, said, “The state is going against its own policies and commitment to consult with tribes on matters impacting our communities and tribal citizens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voluntary agreements, she said, did not offer a solution as they failed to provide enough ecological protections for the delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morning Star Gali, vice-chairperson of the Pit River Tribe, said if the health of salmon cannot be improved, Indigenous people cannot thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The governor’s office has promised California Native people truth and healing and has taken some positive steps,” Gali said. “But he’s made a lot of decisions that favor agriculture over all other interests. We cannot have truth and healing for California tribes and drive salmon into extinction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"fish\">\u003c/a>A quick primer on California’s confusing water policy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Two main canals come out of the delta and deliver water to the Central Valley and Southern California: the federally run Central Valley Project, federally managed by the Bureau of Reclamation, and the state-run State Water Project, managed by the California Department of Water Resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The State Water Board (also called the State Water Resources Control Board) sets regulatory standards and is supposed to enforce them. Serving underneath the main board are nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor appoints all members of these boards and the state Senate confirms them. Keeping an eye on fish in the river, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife enforces the state’s endangered species laws, while NOAA Fisheries, or the National Marine Fisheries Service, is in charge of federal endangered species protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Ford, General Motors and several other large-truck manufacturers announced an agreement today with California over its clean truck rules, including a ban on the sale of new diesel big rigs by 2036, which the state passed in an attempt to fight air pollution and climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carbon pollution wafting from cars and trucks remains the state’s largest source of planet-warming emissions, and transportation has been one of the trickiest sectors for the state to decarbonize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s powerful Air Resources Board solidified two nation-leading clean truck rules this year. The new agreement is an industry stamp of approval on those plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last March, the Biden administration approved California’s plan to require truck makers to ramp up the sale of electric, heavy-duty trucks by 2035. Next year, the state will require truck manufacturers to begin to sell more and more electric models. By 2045, most heavy-duty vehicles on the road must be electric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in April, California banned the sale of combustion engine trucks by 2036.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those rules are likely to face legal challenges from Republican-led states or industry groups, but the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association agreed to follow them anyway. And the large-truck manufacturers say they are committed to electrification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom applauded the agreement in a statement that said: “Today, truck manufacturers join our urgent efforts to slash air pollution, showing the rest of the country that we can both cut dangerous pollution and build the economy of the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Gov. Gavin Newsom\"]‘Today, truck manufacturers join our urgent efforts to slash air pollution, showing the rest of the country that we can both cut dangerous pollution and build the economy of the future.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jed Mandel, president of the manufacturing association, said in a statement that the agreement is evidence of the group’s “commitment to reducing emissions and to a zero-emissions commercial vehicle future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He touted it as an example of industry and California’s air regulators working together, although truck makers had previously fought these clean truck rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mandel’s manufacturers association and several truck companies, including Volvo, Daimler Truck, Volkswagen and PACCAR, had opposed clean truck rules on the federal and state level while they were publicly promoting zero-emissions fleets, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/12/08/1141303693/truck-makers-lobby-to-weaken-u-s-climate-policies-report-finds\">KQED’s Laura Klivans reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sasan Sadaat, a senior researcher and policy analyst with the environmental law organization Earth Justice, said the manufacturing association has for years actively fought against clean trucks in California and across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At every turn, whether it’s the Advanced Clean Truck rule, the Advanced Clean Fleets rule, the Heavy Duty NOx rule, challenging California’s authority to pass its own regulations, countering the stringency of EPA’s regulations, they’ve been the greatest barrier to more ambitious rules in slashing air pollution from trucks.” he said. “That’s their record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the new agreement, California will adopt some of the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s less-strict rules on nitrogen oxide emissions and provide several years of lead time before passing new regulations.[aside label='More on Climate Change' tag='climate-change']“Through this agreement, we have aligned on a single nationwide nitrogen oxide emissions standard, secured needed lead time and stability for manufacturers, and agreed on regulatory changes that will ensure continued availability of commercial vehicles,” Mandel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Trucking Associations has said that California’s regulations are too costly and will be burdensome for businesses to adopt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry group did not appear to approve of the agreement and issued a statement Thursday that said that while it has long advocated for harmonious regulations between California and the federal government, “the trucking industry shouldn’t be strong armed by the government into an agreement with such terms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our association represents motor carrier members — the paying customers who will inherit the costs of this agreement — and we will not roll over nor relinquish our right to litigate with any party when our interests are threatened,” the statement said. “It is clear that America has lost its way when the government bullies the private sector to succumb to unachievable timelines, targets and technologies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pact will have national implications, as other states typically follow California’s rules. Several other states adopted some of California’s earlier truck rules, representing more than one-fifth of the U.S. truck market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal government sets emissions standards by law, but the EPA has allowed California to pass tighter rules on cars and trucks that the federal government eventually adopts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Ford, General Motors and several other large-truck manufacturers announced an agreement today with California over its clean truck rules, including a ban on the sale of new diesel big rigs by 2036, which the state passed in an attempt to fight air pollution and climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carbon pollution wafting from cars and trucks remains the state’s largest source of planet-warming emissions, and transportation has been one of the trickiest sectors for the state to decarbonize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s powerful Air Resources Board solidified two nation-leading clean truck rules this year. The new agreement is an industry stamp of approval on those plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last March, the Biden administration approved California’s plan to require truck makers to ramp up the sale of electric, heavy-duty trucks by 2035. Next year, the state will require truck manufacturers to begin to sell more and more electric models. By 2045, most heavy-duty vehicles on the road must be electric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in April, California banned the sale of combustion engine trucks by 2036.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those rules are likely to face legal challenges from Republican-led states or industry groups, but the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association agreed to follow them anyway. And the large-truck manufacturers say they are committed to electrification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom applauded the agreement in a statement that said: “Today, truck manufacturers join our urgent efforts to slash air pollution, showing the rest of the country that we can both cut dangerous pollution and build the economy of the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jed Mandel, president of the manufacturing association, said in a statement that the agreement is evidence of the group’s “commitment to reducing emissions and to a zero-emissions commercial vehicle future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He touted it as an example of industry and California’s air regulators working together, although truck makers had previously fought these clean truck rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mandel’s manufacturers association and several truck companies, including Volvo, Daimler Truck, Volkswagen and PACCAR, had opposed clean truck rules on the federal and state level while they were publicly promoting zero-emissions fleets, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/12/08/1141303693/truck-makers-lobby-to-weaken-u-s-climate-policies-report-finds\">KQED’s Laura Klivans reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sasan Sadaat, a senior researcher and policy analyst with the environmental law organization Earth Justice, said the manufacturing association has for years actively fought against clean trucks in California and across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At every turn, whether it’s the Advanced Clean Truck rule, the Advanced Clean Fleets rule, the Heavy Duty NOx rule, challenging California’s authority to pass its own regulations, countering the stringency of EPA’s regulations, they’ve been the greatest barrier to more ambitious rules in slashing air pollution from trucks.” he said. “That’s their record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the new agreement, California will adopt some of the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s less-strict rules on nitrogen oxide emissions and provide several years of lead time before passing new regulations.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Through this agreement, we have aligned on a single nationwide nitrogen oxide emissions standard, secured needed lead time and stability for manufacturers, and agreed on regulatory changes that will ensure continued availability of commercial vehicles,” Mandel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Trucking Associations has said that California’s regulations are too costly and will be burdensome for businesses to adopt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry group did not appear to approve of the agreement and issued a statement Thursday that said that while it has long advocated for harmonious regulations between California and the federal government, “the trucking industry shouldn’t be strong armed by the government into an agreement with such terms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our association represents motor carrier members — the paying customers who will inherit the costs of this agreement — and we will not roll over nor relinquish our right to litigate with any party when our interests are threatened,” the statement said. “It is clear that America has lost its way when the government bullies the private sector to succumb to unachievable timelines, targets and technologies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pact will have national implications, as other states typically follow California’s rules. Several other states adopted some of California’s earlier truck rules, representing more than one-fifth of the U.S. truck market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal government sets emissions standards by law, but the EPA has allowed California to pass tighter rules on cars and trucks that the federal government eventually adopts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "What California's Wet Winter Means for Fire Season",
"headTitle": "What California’s Wet Winter Means for Fire Season | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The series of 31 atmospheric rivers that drenched California this past winter has wildfire officials and scientists breathing sighs of relief — for the most part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a coalition of state and federal fire directors, which puts out regular \u003ca href=\"https://gacc.nifc.gov/oncc/predictive/outlooks/Outlook_NOps.pdf\">predictions about wildfire season in Northern California (PDF)\u003c/a>, the potential for significant fires this year is normal to below normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That Northern California Geographic Area Coordination Center’s prediction comes from a compilation of factors, chief among them weather (past, present and future) and fuel moisture (how much water trees and plants are holding onto). Given the wet, cool winter and spring months, this year’s fire season is off to a slow start. The ground is still wet and grasses, shrubs and trees are holding onto that moisture, making them less likely to burn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the same thing as when you try to start a campfire: You don’t use wet wood. It’s very hard to get wet wood to ignite,” said Craig Clements, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sjsu.edu/wildfire/team/faculty.php\">director\u003c/a> of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center at San José State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"California Statewide Rainfall/Acres Burned (2000-2022) \" aria-label=\"Scatter Plot\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-61l7B\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/61l7B/4/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>But what about all that extra vegetation?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Maybe you’ve heard that all that rain means more vegetation, and that more vegetation means more fuel for wildfires. That’s true — but only in certain ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, you might’ve noticed grasses are extra tall this year due to all the rain. Grassland ecosystems are certainly more dense this year and once those grasses cure, they’ll be primed for burning. Thus, if conditions are ripe for fires in August, September and October, grassy environments could be at increased risk. That risk could spill over into next year, too, depending on the weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year is going to be more a function of the soil moisture content being so high,” said Clements. In other words, because grasses, shrubs and trees are holding onto their moisture longer than usual, the window for them to cure — and for severe wildfire risk — is narrower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, Clements added, grass fires are among the least concerning to firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re dangerous, they spread rapidly, but aircraft suppression works really well on grass fires,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire ramped up its flight suppression last year, which the agency said helped prevent wildfires from blazing out of control.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>So where will fires be worst this year?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In short: likely in the coastal grasslands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we do get significant heat waves or wind events in August, September and October, there could be a high level of fire activity in [the grasslands],” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a recent live YouTube \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E45I9YeO0ek\">video\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the Bay Area is considered coastal grassland and, depending on the late summer weather — particularly heat waves followed by gusty, dry offshore winds — the region could see increased fire activity later this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, forest and mountain ecosystems like the Sierra Nevada are still blanketed in snow, which could mean they’ll be spared this fire season. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/03/30/california-snowpack-record-sierra/\">record-breaking snowpack in the mountains is lingering into the summer months\u003c/a>, thereby decreasing fire danger. Even when it all melts later this summer, the fuel moisture will likely stay high enough to ward off any severe burning.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How will this summer’s weather factor in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Of course all of these predictions are contingent upon the weather, which in California is notoriously fickle. June has already been cooler and wetter than usual, and with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982822/6-common-misconceptions-about-el-nino-and-its-impact-on-california-weather\">El\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982822/6-common-misconceptions-about-el-nino-and-its-impact-on-california-weather\">Niño\u003c/a> conditions here, that trend is likely to continue later on this year. That narrows the window for high fire danger conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that window will still exist. Although fuel moisture is higher than normal right now, the tall grasses and shrubs will cure at some point this summer, likely in August, and will be ready to burn. August, September and October are notoriously hot, dry and windy across California, and even the dozens of atmospheric rivers from the previous winter won’t be enough to quell the fire season entirely. That’s thanks in part to climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re getting more fire weather days and worse high fire risk days because of climate change,” said Clements. “It’s day-to-day weather that really drives fire behavior on the ground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One heatwave can drastically change the fire danger outlook. “It can happen just in a matter of days,” said Clements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s too soon to know how those late summer months will play out weather-wise, but one thing is for sure: There will be fires in California this year. Because fire is a natural part of the state’s landscape, and many ecosystems are adapted to it and even need it to survive and thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The series of 31 atmospheric rivers that drenched California this past winter has wildfire officials and scientists breathing sighs of relief — for the most part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a coalition of state and federal fire directors, which puts out regular \u003ca href=\"https://gacc.nifc.gov/oncc/predictive/outlooks/Outlook_NOps.pdf\">predictions about wildfire season in Northern California (PDF)\u003c/a>, the potential for significant fires this year is normal to below normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That Northern California Geographic Area Coordination Center’s prediction comes from a compilation of factors, chief among them weather (past, present and future) and fuel moisture (how much water trees and plants are holding onto). Given the wet, cool winter and spring months, this year’s fire season is off to a slow start. The ground is still wet and grasses, shrubs and trees are holding onto that moisture, making them less likely to burn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the same thing as when you try to start a campfire: You don’t use wet wood. It’s very hard to get wet wood to ignite,” said Craig Clements, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sjsu.edu/wildfire/team/faculty.php\">director\u003c/a> of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center at San José State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"California Statewide Rainfall/Acres Burned (2000-2022) \" aria-label=\"Scatter Plot\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-61l7B\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/61l7B/4/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>But what about all that extra vegetation?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Maybe you’ve heard that all that rain means more vegetation, and that more vegetation means more fuel for wildfires. That’s true — but only in certain ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, you might’ve noticed grasses are extra tall this year due to all the rain. Grassland ecosystems are certainly more dense this year and once those grasses cure, they’ll be primed for burning. Thus, if conditions are ripe for fires in August, September and October, grassy environments could be at increased risk. That risk could spill over into next year, too, depending on the weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year is going to be more a function of the soil moisture content being so high,” said Clements. In other words, because grasses, shrubs and trees are holding onto their moisture longer than usual, the window for them to cure — and for severe wildfire risk — is narrower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, Clements added, grass fires are among the least concerning to firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re dangerous, they spread rapidly, but aircraft suppression works really well on grass fires,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire ramped up its flight suppression last year, which the agency said helped prevent wildfires from blazing out of control.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>So where will fires be worst this year?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In short: likely in the coastal grasslands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we do get significant heat waves or wind events in August, September and October, there could be a high level of fire activity in [the grasslands],” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a recent live YouTube \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E45I9YeO0ek\">video\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the Bay Area is considered coastal grassland and, depending on the late summer weather — particularly heat waves followed by gusty, dry offshore winds — the region could see increased fire activity later this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, forest and mountain ecosystems like the Sierra Nevada are still blanketed in snow, which could mean they’ll be spared this fire season. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/03/30/california-snowpack-record-sierra/\">record-breaking snowpack in the mountains is lingering into the summer months\u003c/a>, thereby decreasing fire danger. Even when it all melts later this summer, the fuel moisture will likely stay high enough to ward off any severe burning.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How will this summer’s weather factor in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Of course all of these predictions are contingent upon the weather, which in California is notoriously fickle. June has already been cooler and wetter than usual, and with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982822/6-common-misconceptions-about-el-nino-and-its-impact-on-california-weather\">El\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982822/6-common-misconceptions-about-el-nino-and-its-impact-on-california-weather\">Niño\u003c/a> conditions here, that trend is likely to continue later on this year. That narrows the window for high fire danger conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that window will still exist. Although fuel moisture is higher than normal right now, the tall grasses and shrubs will cure at some point this summer, likely in August, and will be ready to burn. August, September and October are notoriously hot, dry and windy across California, and even the dozens of atmospheric rivers from the previous winter won’t be enough to quell the fire season entirely. That’s thanks in part to climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re getting more fire weather days and worse high fire risk days because of climate change,” said Clements. “It’s day-to-day weather that really drives fire behavior on the ground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One heatwave can drastically change the fire danger outlook. “It can happen just in a matter of days,” said Clements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s too soon to know how those late summer months will play out weather-wise, but one thing is for sure: There will be fires in California this year. Because fire is a natural part of the state’s landscape, and many ecosystems are adapted to it and even need it to survive and thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Step right up to see tiny springtails spin through the air with the greatest of ease! In ponds and streams, they skyrocket out of the reach of hungry insects like water striders by slapping a tail-like appendage against the water. And you won’t believe how they stick the landing.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h3>\n\u003ch3>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Now presenting: the springtail!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It jumps … right off the water! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Explosive! 150 times faster than a blink!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here at the water’s edge, where these springtails live, it’s a tiny circus that never stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sure, they can also walk … and glide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the spring in springtail is for escaping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you’re the size of a poppy seed, lots of things want to eat you. Like this young water strider.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nope!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not today, kid!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hey, hold my beer!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To power these lifesaving leaps, a springtail deploys … the furcula! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It just pushes down this lever and in two milliseconds it’s defying gravity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It vaults up to what would be a sixth floor for you and me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But what goes up must come down, and hopefully you land right side up … so you’re ready to dart off again when the water strider catches up. Yeah, water striders jump too. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, how does the springtail stick that landing?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all starts up in the air. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists at Georgia Tech put springtails in a wind tunnel, blowing air up from below. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they hover, they spin like wild trapeze artists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By curving its body into a U shape, a springtail stops spinning and rights itself midair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And see that little circle on its belly? That’s a teeny tiny drop of water clinging to a tube called the collophore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That droplet makes all the difference. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It lowers the springtail’s center of gravity and stabilizes it. When it lands, the drop glues the springtail in place. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s really helpful during a bumpy landing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It even works on dry land. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without that drop, oh … ooh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But most of the time they fly through the air with the greatest of ease, the daring young springtails on the flying trapeze.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cp>The smoke from wildfires that bathed the Eastern Seaboard in recent days prompted officials to issue air quality alerts and refocused wide attention on the issue of fire pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also the urgent backdrop to \u003ca href=\"https://www.padilla.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Letter-to-EPA-re_-PM2.5-Rule-Limiting-Prescribed-Fire-Opportunities1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a letter congressional leaders from California\u003c/a> sent to the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday, pressing regulators to amend their update of the Clean Air Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While specifying their support for cleaner standards, the members of Congress want the implementation of the EPA’s new rule to support, rather than hinder, the use of prescribed burns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of our colleagues from other parts of the country [are] finally getting an appreciation for a very real challenge that we’ve had in California for many years,” said Sen. Alex Padilla in an interview with KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He led the effort to draft the letter and is one of 25 leaders to co-sign, along with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Rep. Katie Porter, Rep. Adam Schiff and Rep. Zoe Lofgren.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They expressed concern that a new rule intended to improve air quality — tightening standards on a class of pollutants that include soot and smoke — could have the opposite intended effect by making it harder to conduct prescribed burns, setting the stage for the types of big fires currently raging out of control in Canada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We ask for your continued focus on developing a solution that both safeguards clean air and prevents the consistent cycle of devastating wildfires that also undermines our efforts to make progress on clean air,” the letter says. It also urges officials to collaborate with air districts, land managers and fire practitioners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is, if you don’t do these controlled burns, you’re going to have more catastrophic fires that blast way past anyone’s air quality standards. And that has become a chronic problem in Northern California year after year,” said North Bay Congressmember Jared Huffman, who co-signed the letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While controlled burns do produce smoke, it’s more manageable and less toxic than wildfire smoke. And, crucially, prescribed fires help inoculate areas against disastrous fires — the kind that produce debilitating\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>smoke for weeks on end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If regulators are not allowing us to use the most powerful tool we have to prevent those kind of massive air quality violations, then we need to urge them to do better. That’s what this letter is all about,” Huffman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Increasing the pace and scale of prescribed fire is a cornerstone of plans from both the state of California and the U.S. Forest Service for addressing the wildfire crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the EPA’s proposed rule might hinder that approach by requiring air districts to meet newly strengthened standards for smoke and soot. Air districts, in turn, might err on the side of not approving planned burns to safeguard their compliance with air quality standards. (Consequences can be severe for air districts that are out of compliance. The EPA may take over air permitting and impose a ban on new federal highway funds.) \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982166\">The fire science community in California has said this is wrongheaded\u003c/a> and risks ultimately leading to smokier days in this state and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By treating prescribed fire smoke similarly to industrial pollution sources, the draft EPA rule would significantly curb the use of beneficial fire,” wrote Matt Weiner of the nonprofit Megafire Action in an email; Megafire Action gave input on the letter. “This letter shows that the issue has gone from relatively obscure to top of mind, even among those who are fiercely supportive of EPA lowering the PM 2.5 threshold.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PM 2.5 is a class of pollutants defined by their size: 2.5 microns in length or smaller (about 3% of a hair’s width). Their small size allows them to get deep into the lungs and even pass into the bloodstream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA has not said when it will publish their final rule. According to reports, they are in discussions with the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies about this issue.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The smoke from wildfires that bathed the Eastern Seaboard in recent days prompted officials to issue air quality alerts and refocused wide attention on the issue of fire pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also the urgent backdrop to \u003ca href=\"https://www.padilla.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Letter-to-EPA-re_-PM2.5-Rule-Limiting-Prescribed-Fire-Opportunities1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a letter congressional leaders from California\u003c/a> sent to the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday, pressing regulators to amend their update of the Clean Air Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While specifying their support for cleaner standards, the members of Congress want the implementation of the EPA’s new rule to support, rather than hinder, the use of prescribed burns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of our colleagues from other parts of the country [are] finally getting an appreciation for a very real challenge that we’ve had in California for many years,” said Sen. Alex Padilla in an interview with KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He led the effort to draft the letter and is one of 25 leaders to co-sign, along with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Rep. Katie Porter, Rep. Adam Schiff and Rep. Zoe Lofgren.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They expressed concern that a new rule intended to improve air quality — tightening standards on a class of pollutants that include soot and smoke — could have the opposite intended effect by making it harder to conduct prescribed burns, setting the stage for the types of big fires currently raging out of control in Canada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We ask for your continued focus on developing a solution that both safeguards clean air and prevents the consistent cycle of devastating wildfires that also undermines our efforts to make progress on clean air,” the letter says. It also urges officials to collaborate with air districts, land managers and fire practitioners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is, if you don’t do these controlled burns, you’re going to have more catastrophic fires that blast way past anyone’s air quality standards. And that has become a chronic problem in Northern California year after year,” said North Bay Congressmember Jared Huffman, who co-signed the letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While controlled burns do produce smoke, it’s more manageable and less toxic than wildfire smoke. And, crucially, prescribed fires help inoculate areas against disastrous fires — the kind that produce debilitating\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>smoke for weeks on end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If regulators are not allowing us to use the most powerful tool we have to prevent those kind of massive air quality violations, then we need to urge them to do better. That’s what this letter is all about,” Huffman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Increasing the pace and scale of prescribed fire is a cornerstone of plans from both the state of California and the U.S. Forest Service for addressing the wildfire crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the EPA’s proposed rule might hinder that approach by requiring air districts to meet newly strengthened standards for smoke and soot. Air districts, in turn, might err on the side of not approving planned burns to safeguard their compliance with air quality standards. (Consequences can be severe for air districts that are out of compliance. The EPA may take over air permitting and impose a ban on new federal highway funds.) \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982166\">The fire science community in California has said this is wrongheaded\u003c/a> and risks ultimately leading to smokier days in this state and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By treating prescribed fire smoke similarly to industrial pollution sources, the draft EPA rule would significantly curb the use of beneficial fire,” wrote Matt Weiner of the nonprofit Megafire Action in an email; Megafire Action gave input on the letter. “This letter shows that the issue has gone from relatively obscure to top of mind, even among those who are fiercely supportive of EPA lowering the PM 2.5 threshold.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PM 2.5 is a class of pollutants defined by their size: 2.5 microns in length or smaller (about 3% of a hair’s width). Their small size allows them to get deep into the lungs and even pass into the bloodstream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA has not said when it will publish their final rule. According to reports, they are in discussions with the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies about this issue.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "How Sea Level Rise Poses a Looming Threat to San Leandro's Underground Infrastructure",
"headTitle": "How Sea Level Rise Poses a Looming Threat to San Leandro’s Underground Infrastructure | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>On an unseasonably hot day on the edge of the San Leandro neighborhood of Mulford Gardens, David O’Donnell uses a heavy metal bar to lift a thick steel cover off a utility hole, exposing an echoey chamber running several hundred feet to the bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh, we got a crab in there. It crawled all the way through,” said O’Donnell, a maintenance supervisor for the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below ground, tidal water pushes through the city’s pipes that were built to pump stormwater in the opposite direction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re fighting the tide and fighting nature,” O’Donnell said. “It’s a bit of an uphill battle. There’s no pump we can install underground to hold the bay back at high tide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These pipes — and other below-ground infrastructure — which already periodically flood during high tides could become more routinely inundated as the bay continues to rise because of human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982915\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982915\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A view of a drain with water flowing.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water flows from a drain into the bay at the San Leandro Marina on June 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Leandro recently secured a small grant to develop a comprehensive plan to address the potential impact rising sea levels could have on its roughly 10-mile shoreline and intricate network of underground pipes. The city is also partnering with a team of San Diego State University climate scientists to determine how many of its 90,000 residents may be at risk from flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having the plan now will put us in a much better place to plan how we can move forward into [the future],” said Hoi-Fei Mok, San Leandro’s sustainability manager, who uses they/them pronouns.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"science_1981900,science_1982800,science_1981687\"]“It’s not like people don’t care,” said Mok, who grew up in San Leandro, where the vast majority of residents are people of color. “I’m able to tap into what the community is saying and bring that forward to [the San Leandro City Council] and be that extra amplification of community voices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A former community organizer, Mok says they are dedicated to making sure this community is able to persevere through smoky skies, heat waves, floods and other increasingly frequent climate-induced conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ultimately, it is my community that is being impacted,” they added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Leandro’s shoreline makes up less than 3% of the entirety of the lip of San Francisco Bay, but sea level rise will affect this entire region. Mok’s work is feeding into a regional partnership to ready every inch of the shoreline for the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Bay Area-wide Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan is expected to be completed in mid-2024. The team behind it, led by Dana Brechwald, must get buy-in from more than 40 cities and counties — including San Leandro — to engage environmental-justice communities and develop uniform sea level rise standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure we’re considering impacts on neighbors so that we don’t have this issue of one city behind a tall wall and everybody around it flooding,” said Brechwald.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982918\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982918\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"An Asian American person sits and looks away from the camera.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hoi-Fei Mok, sustainability manager for the city of San Leandro, stands outside San Leandro City Hall on June 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s still unclear how San Leandro’s underground infrastructure will be affected as groundwater rises under the city. \u003ca href=\"https://sfei.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/portfolio/index.html?appid=2ab0c998497f4f7398aa54f176a6fb26%20\">Maps\u003c/a> produced by the San Francisco Estuary Institute and Pathways Climate Institute show that even 1 foot of sea level rise will cause groundwater to emerge in San Leandro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s stormwater pipes appear to be in good condition, according to Hassan Davani, associate professor at SDSU and a water resources engineer who is leading the team that’s partnering with San Leandro. Davani’s models don’t show major threats in the near term. Still, he said, his work, sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, does not include many other underground infrastructures like sewers, belowground power lines and drinking water pipes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, by looking at United States Geological Survey groundwater data, maps of underground infrastructure in the city and middle-of-the-road climate models, Hassan concluded that — as climate change worsens — the current stormwater system will almost certainly “be disrupted” by the end of the century. This could look like the bay pushing further up the drainage system, preventing stormwater from escaping and in turn flooding inland areas of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982880\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982880\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Two young men stand by the side of a street and gaze at a handheld screen.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hassan Davani (right), a San Diego State University professor and water resources engineer, said that as climate change worsens, San Leandro will become increasingly vulnerable, and its current stormwater system will almost certainly ‘be disrupted’ by the end of the century. Kian Bagheri (left) is a doctoral student in Davani’s lab. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to have flooding further inland, kilometers inland, because the system will be packed with water at the downstream side,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when taking into account more extreme climate models, Davani said, the disruption to the stormwater system could come around mid-century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pauline Russo Cutter, who served as mayor of San Leandro until earlier this year, said the city has also tested its wastewater infrastructure and has yet to find any red flags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she recognizes “it’s only a matter of time” before emerging groundwater becomes an issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If no one’s thinking about it, then these things kind of appear. That’s what can sink a city,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982881\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982881\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A middle aged white woman with dark brown hair stands beside the shore of San Leandro Bay as she talks toward the camera with sunglasses on.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former San Leandro Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter says ‘it’s only a matter of time’ before emerging groundwater becomes an issue. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In preparing for sea level rise, Mok, the sustainability manager, dreams of a range of solutions — everything from building levees to utilizing marshes to soak up waves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think nature-based solutions have a lot of benefits that I think would be great for us,” Mok said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, despite the imminent threat that sea level rise poses — with the bay expected to rise by at least a foot in the next three decades — Mok acknowledges that actively preparing for it now can be a hard sell given more immediate concerns like budget issues, staff shortages and ongoing health emergencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982916\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982916\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A view of a street leading to a marina sign.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for the San Leandro Marina marks the entrance to the shoreline in the Mulford Gardens neighborhood in San Leandro on June 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Sea level rise is tricky for people to wrap their heads around,” said Mok. “I’m hoping this is an opportunity not to get alarmed, but to realize this is something that is coming, not just in San Leandro, but regionally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "San Leandro is fighting an uphill battle as climate change leads to sea level rise. Sustainability manager Hoi-Fei Mok amplifies community voices and dreams of nature-based solutions amid emerging challenges.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On an unseasonably hot day on the edge of the San Leandro neighborhood of Mulford Gardens, David O’Donnell uses a heavy metal bar to lift a thick steel cover off a utility hole, exposing an echoey chamber running several hundred feet to the bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh, we got a crab in there. It crawled all the way through,” said O’Donnell, a maintenance supervisor for the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below ground, tidal water pushes through the city’s pipes that were built to pump stormwater in the opposite direction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re fighting the tide and fighting nature,” O’Donnell said. “It’s a bit of an uphill battle. There’s no pump we can install underground to hold the bay back at high tide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These pipes — and other below-ground infrastructure — which already periodically flood during high tides could become more routinely inundated as the bay continues to rise because of human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982915\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982915\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A view of a drain with water flowing.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water flows from a drain into the bay at the San Leandro Marina on June 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Leandro recently secured a small grant to develop a comprehensive plan to address the potential impact rising sea levels could have on its roughly 10-mile shoreline and intricate network of underground pipes. The city is also partnering with a team of San Diego State University climate scientists to determine how many of its 90,000 residents may be at risk from flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having the plan now will put us in a much better place to plan how we can move forward into [the future],” said Hoi-Fei Mok, San Leandro’s sustainability manager, who uses they/them pronouns.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It’s not like people don’t care,” said Mok, who grew up in San Leandro, where the vast majority of residents are people of color. “I’m able to tap into what the community is saying and bring that forward to [the San Leandro City Council] and be that extra amplification of community voices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A former community organizer, Mok says they are dedicated to making sure this community is able to persevere through smoky skies, heat waves, floods and other increasingly frequent climate-induced conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ultimately, it is my community that is being impacted,” they added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Leandro’s shoreline makes up less than 3% of the entirety of the lip of San Francisco Bay, but sea level rise will affect this entire region. Mok’s work is feeding into a regional partnership to ready every inch of the shoreline for the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Bay Area-wide Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan is expected to be completed in mid-2024. The team behind it, led by Dana Brechwald, must get buy-in from more than 40 cities and counties — including San Leandro — to engage environmental-justice communities and develop uniform sea level rise standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure we’re considering impacts on neighbors so that we don’t have this issue of one city behind a tall wall and everybody around it flooding,” said Brechwald.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982918\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982918\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"An Asian American person sits and looks away from the camera.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hoi-Fei Mok, sustainability manager for the city of San Leandro, stands outside San Leandro City Hall on June 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s still unclear how San Leandro’s underground infrastructure will be affected as groundwater rises under the city. \u003ca href=\"https://sfei.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/portfolio/index.html?appid=2ab0c998497f4f7398aa54f176a6fb26%20\">Maps\u003c/a> produced by the San Francisco Estuary Institute and Pathways Climate Institute show that even 1 foot of sea level rise will cause groundwater to emerge in San Leandro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s stormwater pipes appear to be in good condition, according to Hassan Davani, associate professor at SDSU and a water resources engineer who is leading the team that’s partnering with San Leandro. Davani’s models don’t show major threats in the near term. Still, he said, his work, sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, does not include many other underground infrastructures like sewers, belowground power lines and drinking water pipes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, by looking at United States Geological Survey groundwater data, maps of underground infrastructure in the city and middle-of-the-road climate models, Hassan concluded that — as climate change worsens — the current stormwater system will almost certainly “be disrupted” by the end of the century. This could look like the bay pushing further up the drainage system, preventing stormwater from escaping and in turn flooding inland areas of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982880\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982880\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Two young men stand by the side of a street and gaze at a handheld screen.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hassan Davani (right), a San Diego State University professor and water resources engineer, said that as climate change worsens, San Leandro will become increasingly vulnerable, and its current stormwater system will almost certainly ‘be disrupted’ by the end of the century. Kian Bagheri (left) is a doctoral student in Davani’s lab. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to have flooding further inland, kilometers inland, because the system will be packed with water at the downstream side,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when taking into account more extreme climate models, Davani said, the disruption to the stormwater system could come around mid-century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pauline Russo Cutter, who served as mayor of San Leandro until earlier this year, said the city has also tested its wastewater infrastructure and has yet to find any red flags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she recognizes “it’s only a matter of time” before emerging groundwater becomes an issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If no one’s thinking about it, then these things kind of appear. That’s what can sink a city,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982881\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982881\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A middle aged white woman with dark brown hair stands beside the shore of San Leandro Bay as she talks toward the camera with sunglasses on.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former San Leandro Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter says ‘it’s only a matter of time’ before emerging groundwater becomes an issue. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In preparing for sea level rise, Mok, the sustainability manager, dreams of a range of solutions — everything from building levees to utilizing marshes to soak up waves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think nature-based solutions have a lot of benefits that I think would be great for us,” Mok said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, despite the imminent threat that sea level rise poses — with the bay expected to rise by at least a foot in the next three decades — Mok acknowledges that actively preparing for it now can be a hard sell given more immediate concerns like budget issues, staff shortages and ongoing health emergencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982916\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982916\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A view of a street leading to a marina sign.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for the San Leandro Marina marks the entrance to the shoreline in the Mulford Gardens neighborhood in San Leandro on June 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Sea level rise is tricky for people to wrap their heads around,” said Mok. “I’m hoping this is an opportunity not to get alarmed, but to realize this is something that is coming, not just in San Leandro, but regionally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "California Is Still at Risk of Flooding. Maybe Rivers Just Need Some Space",
"headTitle": "California Is Still at Risk of Flooding. Maybe Rivers Just Need Some Space | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>With much of California’s massive snowpack yet to melt, downstream communities remain on high alert for flooding. Hundreds of homes were destroyed or damaged during the record-breaking winter, which tested the state’s aging flood infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Communities are looking for ways to protect themselves from future floods, and some are using a novel solution: just giving rivers some space to flow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Building homes on the waterfront comes with a long-term arms race: levees must be built and maintained over time to hold back floodwaters. With climate change \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/02/09/1078261183/an-unexpected-item-is-blocking-cities-climate-change-prep-obsolete-rainfall-reco\">making storms more intense\u003c/a>, many levees will need to be raised or improved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, a growing number of projects are trying to work with nature, instead of trying to contain it. Levees are being removed and moved back, creating natural floodplains that are designed to fill with water when rivers run high. The idea is to take pressure off downstream levees by giving water somewhere to go farther upstream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Floodplain restorations also create much-need wildlife habitat. But buying out and relocating landowners, whether farmers or homeowners, can be challenging. Getting necessary permits can take years, because most flood regulations are written to keep levees in place forever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>We have to find ways to do this more efficiently,” says Julie Rentner, president of River Partners, a river restoration non-profit. “It’s not ok for it to take 25 years to undo the paperwork that we put in place a generation ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1300px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/05/26/playground-3_custom-c169e186167c37255a78cd4d3523adb45f720947-s1300-c85.webp\" alt=\"A playground and picnic area is seen partially submerged in flood waters. \" width=\"1300\" height=\"863\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The melt of California’s massive snowpack has led to chronic flooding in the Central Valley this spring, like this riverfront park near the town of Grayson.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Farmworker communities at risk\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When heavy floods hit the farmworker communities of Pajaro and Planada this winter, John Mataka watched it closely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He knew it could easily have been his town, Grayson, California. It’s also a lower-income, farmworker community located next to a river in the Central Valley. After decades of underinvestment in their infrastructure, residents felt vulnerable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not just farmworkers and people that don’t speak English living in these communities,” says Mataka, a Grayson resident. “We’re people. We’re human. We’ve got needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As California’s snowpack has melted, swelling the San Joaquin River, roads into town have been shut down due to flooding. Mataka’s neighbors watched nervously as the river overtopped its banks, edging closer to houses and staying high for weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even as the water rose, Mataka felt less worried than he had in the past because of a $46 million dollar project completed nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe that it saved our community from some drastic flooding this year,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982897\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1982897\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mataka-lilia2_custom-d9f7310803148c8d15cd2a3879fa01adf968cb5d-s1100-c50-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Two people stand in front of a floodplain.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mataka-lilia2_custom-d9f7310803148c8d15cd2a3879fa01adf968cb5d-s1100-c50-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mataka-lilia2_custom-d9f7310803148c8d15cd2a3879fa01adf968cb5d-s1100-c50-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mataka-lilia2_custom-d9f7310803148c8d15cd2a3879fa01adf968cb5d-s1100-c50-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mataka-lilia2_custom-d9f7310803148c8d15cd2a3879fa01adf968cb5d-s1100-c50-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mataka-lilia2_custom-d9f7310803148c8d15cd2a3879fa01adf968cb5d-s1100-c50.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grayson residents Lilia Lomeli-Gil and John Mataka stand next to a restored floodplain at the edge of town, providing a new open space for the community. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Giving the river room\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Just a few miles upstream from Grayson, hundreds of acres of land are covered in water, submerging the trunks of willow and cottonwood trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We love to see the floodwater on our property,” says Jon Carlon, co-founder of River Partners, as he looks across the water from an aluminum boat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This land is designed to flood. About a decade ago, it was mostly fields of tomatoes, melons and wheat. But being at the confluences of two rivers, the property was prone to being damaged when the river ran high. River Partners struck a deal to buy the land, using state and federal grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had a very successful ranching and farming operation here, but there was always that element of risk,” says Bill Lyons, the former landowner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the years, River Partners removed earthen berms that were holding back the river. Around 1,600 acres were restored to wildlife habitat, planted with native California trees and grasses, creating the \u003ca href=\"https://riverpartners.org/project/dos-rios-ranch-preserve/\">Dos Rios Ranch Preserve\u003c/a>. The ground is dry most of the year, but when heavy winters arrive, the river is free to spread across the floodplain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re looking back in time,” Carlon says. “We’re looking at what this river looked like 100 years ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982888\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982888 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/carlon1-d4f6a9b84343bece06819d5c293fb83620d4e1d6-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A grizzly middle-aged white man with shaggy white hair and beard, plus a camo hat and sunglasses, sits in the front of a skiff on brown water, wearing a black puffer vest and an orange life vest.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/carlon1-d4f6a9b84343bece06819d5c293fb83620d4e1d6-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/carlon1-d4f6a9b84343bece06819d5c293fb83620d4e1d6-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/carlon1-d4f6a9b84343bece06819d5c293fb83620d4e1d6-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/carlon1-d4f6a9b84343bece06819d5c293fb83620d4e1d6-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/carlon1-d4f6a9b84343bece06819d5c293fb83620d4e1d6-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/carlon1-d4f6a9b84343bece06819d5c293fb83620d4e1d6.jpg 1611w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Carlon of River Partners says restoring floodplains can help take pressure off downstream levees by storing floodwaters, as well as providing much-needed wildlife habitat. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This watery habitat is rare in California. Before the era of dam-building, the state’s rivers would seasonally flood every year as the snow melted in the Sierra Nevada, creating a vital refuge for birds and fish. Development has destroyed 95% of the riparian habitat in the Central Valley. The San Joaquin River is so heavily tapped by cities and agriculture that in many years, it runs completely dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Dos Rios Ranch Preserve is now being proposed \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-16/california-to-get-a-new-state-park-in-over-a-decade\">as California’s next state park\u003c/a>. Today, the surrounding area has few parks and recreation areas available for residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having a refuge, an outlet, somewhere where you can go back to basics – that’s what we should strive for,” says Lilia Lomeli-Gil, a Grayson resident. “I think what’s happening here is a major contribution to that balance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1982908 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/0river4.gif\" alt=\"A video clip of either drone footage or video taken from the front of a boat, going over flooded land.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Floodplains as flood protection\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As the river spreads out and slows down in the floodplain, water experts say it can help absorb a major pulse of floodwater, potentially reducing the risk for communities downstream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All this water flows past populated areas,” Carlon says. “So you’re taking that pressure off those downstream communities by moving the levees back up here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Floodplains can also be more adaptable to climate change, since they can handle varying levels of water. Levees are designed to handle only a certain amount of flow. Carlon says traditional concrete infrastructure is often in conflict with the way rivers naturally behave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rivers move and that’s a really hard concept for us with property rights and roads and infrastructure,” Carlon says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wide floodplains also allow water to seep into the ground, filling up underground aquifers. Many aquifers in the Central Valley are at the lowest levels ever recorded, after being heavily pumped for agriculture for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982899\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1982899\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/sjr-1_custom-51d3c8554bf1628ec09281330f4644736b1058d1-s1100-c50-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"A floodplain is seen with mountains in the background, clouds and blue skies. \" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/sjr-1_custom-51d3c8554bf1628ec09281330f4644736b1058d1-s1100-c50-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/sjr-1_custom-51d3c8554bf1628ec09281330f4644736b1058d1-s1100-c50-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/sjr-1_custom-51d3c8554bf1628ec09281330f4644736b1058d1-s1100-c50-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/sjr-1_custom-51d3c8554bf1628ec09281330f4644736b1058d1-s1100-c50-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/sjr-1_custom-51d3c8554bf1628ec09281330f4644736b1058d1-s1100-c50.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Moving levees and creating floodplains can more than a decade, since securing the land and permitting can be challenging. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Regulations are for levees to stay put, not move\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Projects to move levees back – “levee setbacks,” as they’re known – are being done around the country, including on the Missouri River and elsewhere in California. But they can often take more than a decade, given the complexities of buying land and securing the permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In urban areas, residents often don’t want to be displaced or bought out. Rural areas often have larger parcels where it’s easier to piece together the necessary land. But taking agricultural fields out of production also can face pushback.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have low-hanging fruit where we haven’t yet urbanized the floodplain,” says Rentner of River Partners. “Those are the spots we really need to prioritize moving on right away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Historically, it’s been hard for levee setback projects to get federal support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the agency responsible for levees and flood protection. The agency evaluates projects using a cost-benefit analysis – so if the rural land being protected isn’t worth as much, it doesn’t justify the cost of constructing the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Biden Administration has been \u003ca href=\"https://ewn.erdc.dren.mil/\">pushing agencies to consider “engineering with nature\u003c/a>.” The Army Corps and others are now looking at how to include social and environmental benefits in their analysis, in addition to simply the cost of moving levees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve been hard to justify from an economic standpoint in the past,” says Beth Salyers, deputy district engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District. “I think we are seeing some positive changes when it comes to our ability from the federal level and the national level to do these types of projects where we have setback levees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, sorting out federal, state and local permits can take years, since most regulations were written to ensure the levees were preserved for the long-term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we engineered these levees back in the 1950s and 60s, nobody was thinking about how you undo the levee,” Rentner says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the damage from the winter storms, California is facing a new urgency to invest in its flood infrastructure. In the Central Valley alone, a \u003ca href=\"https://water.ca.gov/Programs/Flood-Management/Flood-Planning-and-Studies/Central-Valley-Flood-Protection-Plan\">new state flood protection plan\u003c/a> puts the cost between $25 and $30 billion dollars over the next 30 years. California officials say floodplain restoration should be a piece of the puzzle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should think bigger, because it’s working,” Rentner says. “Maybe it’s not so ambitious to imagine that we could scale this tremendously, to the point that it actually makes a really big difference in the way California manages its water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=California+is+still+at+risk+of+flooding.+Maybe+rivers+just+need+some+space&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "To prevent flooding, communities often raise levees next to rivers higher and higher. Now, a new approach is about backing off, and moving levees away from rivers to create floodplains.",
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"description": "To prevent flooding, communities often raise levees next to rivers higher and higher. Now, a new approach is about backing off, and moving levees away from rivers to create floodplains.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>With much of California’s massive snowpack yet to melt, downstream communities remain on high alert for flooding. Hundreds of homes were destroyed or damaged during the record-breaking winter, which tested the state’s aging flood infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Communities are looking for ways to protect themselves from future floods, and some are using a novel solution: just giving rivers some space to flow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Building homes on the waterfront comes with a long-term arms race: levees must be built and maintained over time to hold back floodwaters. With climate change \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/02/09/1078261183/an-unexpected-item-is-blocking-cities-climate-change-prep-obsolete-rainfall-reco\">making storms more intense\u003c/a>, many levees will need to be raised or improved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, a growing number of projects are trying to work with nature, instead of trying to contain it. Levees are being removed and moved back, creating natural floodplains that are designed to fill with water when rivers run high. The idea is to take pressure off downstream levees by giving water somewhere to go farther upstream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Floodplain restorations also create much-need wildlife habitat. But buying out and relocating landowners, whether farmers or homeowners, can be challenging. Getting necessary permits can take years, because most flood regulations are written to keep levees in place forever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>We have to find ways to do this more efficiently,” says Julie Rentner, president of River Partners, a river restoration non-profit. “It’s not ok for it to take 25 years to undo the paperwork that we put in place a generation ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1300px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/05/26/playground-3_custom-c169e186167c37255a78cd4d3523adb45f720947-s1300-c85.webp\" alt=\"A playground and picnic area is seen partially submerged in flood waters. \" width=\"1300\" height=\"863\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The melt of California’s massive snowpack has led to chronic flooding in the Central Valley this spring, like this riverfront park near the town of Grayson.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Farmworker communities at risk\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When heavy floods hit the farmworker communities of Pajaro and Planada this winter, John Mataka watched it closely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He knew it could easily have been his town, Grayson, California. It’s also a lower-income, farmworker community located next to a river in the Central Valley. After decades of underinvestment in their infrastructure, residents felt vulnerable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not just farmworkers and people that don’t speak English living in these communities,” says Mataka, a Grayson resident. “We’re people. We’re human. We’ve got needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As California’s snowpack has melted, swelling the San Joaquin River, roads into town have been shut down due to flooding. Mataka’s neighbors watched nervously as the river overtopped its banks, edging closer to houses and staying high for weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even as the water rose, Mataka felt less worried than he had in the past because of a $46 million dollar project completed nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe that it saved our community from some drastic flooding this year,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982897\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1982897\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mataka-lilia2_custom-d9f7310803148c8d15cd2a3879fa01adf968cb5d-s1100-c50-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Two people stand in front of a floodplain.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mataka-lilia2_custom-d9f7310803148c8d15cd2a3879fa01adf968cb5d-s1100-c50-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mataka-lilia2_custom-d9f7310803148c8d15cd2a3879fa01adf968cb5d-s1100-c50-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mataka-lilia2_custom-d9f7310803148c8d15cd2a3879fa01adf968cb5d-s1100-c50-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mataka-lilia2_custom-d9f7310803148c8d15cd2a3879fa01adf968cb5d-s1100-c50-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mataka-lilia2_custom-d9f7310803148c8d15cd2a3879fa01adf968cb5d-s1100-c50.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grayson residents Lilia Lomeli-Gil and John Mataka stand next to a restored floodplain at the edge of town, providing a new open space for the community. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Giving the river room\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Just a few miles upstream from Grayson, hundreds of acres of land are covered in water, submerging the trunks of willow and cottonwood trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We love to see the floodwater on our property,” says Jon Carlon, co-founder of River Partners, as he looks across the water from an aluminum boat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This land is designed to flood. About a decade ago, it was mostly fields of tomatoes, melons and wheat. But being at the confluences of two rivers, the property was prone to being damaged when the river ran high. River Partners struck a deal to buy the land, using state and federal grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had a very successful ranching and farming operation here, but there was always that element of risk,” says Bill Lyons, the former landowner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the years, River Partners removed earthen berms that were holding back the river. Around 1,600 acres were restored to wildlife habitat, planted with native California trees and grasses, creating the \u003ca href=\"https://riverpartners.org/project/dos-rios-ranch-preserve/\">Dos Rios Ranch Preserve\u003c/a>. The ground is dry most of the year, but when heavy winters arrive, the river is free to spread across the floodplain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re looking back in time,” Carlon says. “We’re looking at what this river looked like 100 years ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982888\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982888 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/carlon1-d4f6a9b84343bece06819d5c293fb83620d4e1d6-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A grizzly middle-aged white man with shaggy white hair and beard, plus a camo hat and sunglasses, sits in the front of a skiff on brown water, wearing a black puffer vest and an orange life vest.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/carlon1-d4f6a9b84343bece06819d5c293fb83620d4e1d6-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/carlon1-d4f6a9b84343bece06819d5c293fb83620d4e1d6-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/carlon1-d4f6a9b84343bece06819d5c293fb83620d4e1d6-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/carlon1-d4f6a9b84343bece06819d5c293fb83620d4e1d6-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/carlon1-d4f6a9b84343bece06819d5c293fb83620d4e1d6-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/carlon1-d4f6a9b84343bece06819d5c293fb83620d4e1d6.jpg 1611w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Carlon of River Partners says restoring floodplains can help take pressure off downstream levees by storing floodwaters, as well as providing much-needed wildlife habitat. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This watery habitat is rare in California. Before the era of dam-building, the state’s rivers would seasonally flood every year as the snow melted in the Sierra Nevada, creating a vital refuge for birds and fish. Development has destroyed 95% of the riparian habitat in the Central Valley. The San Joaquin River is so heavily tapped by cities and agriculture that in many years, it runs completely dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Dos Rios Ranch Preserve is now being proposed \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-16/california-to-get-a-new-state-park-in-over-a-decade\">as California’s next state park\u003c/a>. Today, the surrounding area has few parks and recreation areas available for residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having a refuge, an outlet, somewhere where you can go back to basics – that’s what we should strive for,” says Lilia Lomeli-Gil, a Grayson resident. “I think what’s happening here is a major contribution to that balance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1982908 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/0river4.gif\" alt=\"A video clip of either drone footage or video taken from the front of a boat, going over flooded land.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Floodplains as flood protection\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As the river spreads out and slows down in the floodplain, water experts say it can help absorb a major pulse of floodwater, potentially reducing the risk for communities downstream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All this water flows past populated areas,” Carlon says. “So you’re taking that pressure off those downstream communities by moving the levees back up here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Floodplains can also be more adaptable to climate change, since they can handle varying levels of water. Levees are designed to handle only a certain amount of flow. Carlon says traditional concrete infrastructure is often in conflict with the way rivers naturally behave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rivers move and that’s a really hard concept for us with property rights and roads and infrastructure,” Carlon says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wide floodplains also allow water to seep into the ground, filling up underground aquifers. Many aquifers in the Central Valley are at the lowest levels ever recorded, after being heavily pumped for agriculture for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982899\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1982899\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/sjr-1_custom-51d3c8554bf1628ec09281330f4644736b1058d1-s1100-c50-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"A floodplain is seen with mountains in the background, clouds and blue skies. \" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/sjr-1_custom-51d3c8554bf1628ec09281330f4644736b1058d1-s1100-c50-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/sjr-1_custom-51d3c8554bf1628ec09281330f4644736b1058d1-s1100-c50-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/sjr-1_custom-51d3c8554bf1628ec09281330f4644736b1058d1-s1100-c50-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/sjr-1_custom-51d3c8554bf1628ec09281330f4644736b1058d1-s1100-c50-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/sjr-1_custom-51d3c8554bf1628ec09281330f4644736b1058d1-s1100-c50.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Moving levees and creating floodplains can more than a decade, since securing the land and permitting can be challenging. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Regulations are for levees to stay put, not move\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Projects to move levees back – “levee setbacks,” as they’re known – are being done around the country, including on the Missouri River and elsewhere in California. But they can often take more than a decade, given the complexities of buying land and securing the permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In urban areas, residents often don’t want to be displaced or bought out. Rural areas often have larger parcels where it’s easier to piece together the necessary land. But taking agricultural fields out of production also can face pushback.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have low-hanging fruit where we haven’t yet urbanized the floodplain,” says Rentner of River Partners. “Those are the spots we really need to prioritize moving on right away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Historically, it’s been hard for levee setback projects to get federal support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the agency responsible for levees and flood protection. The agency evaluates projects using a cost-benefit analysis – so if the rural land being protected isn’t worth as much, it doesn’t justify the cost of constructing the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Biden Administration has been \u003ca href=\"https://ewn.erdc.dren.mil/\">pushing agencies to consider “engineering with nature\u003c/a>.” The Army Corps and others are now looking at how to include social and environmental benefits in their analysis, in addition to simply the cost of moving levees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve been hard to justify from an economic standpoint in the past,” says Beth Salyers, deputy district engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District. “I think we are seeing some positive changes when it comes to our ability from the federal level and the national level to do these types of projects where we have setback levees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, sorting out federal, state and local permits can take years, since most regulations were written to ensure the levees were preserved for the long-term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we engineered these levees back in the 1950s and 60s, nobody was thinking about how you undo the levee,” Rentner says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the damage from the winter storms, California is facing a new urgency to invest in its flood infrastructure. In the Central Valley alone, a \u003ca href=\"https://water.ca.gov/Programs/Flood-Management/Flood-Planning-and-Studies/Central-Valley-Flood-Protection-Plan\">new state flood protection plan\u003c/a> puts the cost between $25 and $30 billion dollars over the next 30 years. California officials say floodplain restoration should be a piece of the puzzle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>No suction cups, no Velcro, no glue. Geckos navigate nearly any surface with something far cooler: an electron dance at the atomic scale.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h3>\n\u003ch3>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>You know you’ve dreamed of it – scaling walls with your bare hands and feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most geckos, that dream is reality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Geckos can navigate nearly any surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speeding along to score a meal, flee an enemy, or just take in the scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what’s the trick to its stick?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gecko feet aren’t covered in suction cups or velcro. They don’t squirt glue, or leave any footprints for that matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gecko’s secret is a herculean amount of grip – at the atomic scale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote]\u003cbr>\nADDITIONAL RESOURCES\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.calacademy.org/about-us/major-initiatives/islands-2030\">Learn more about the California Academy of Sciences’ research on geckos, frogs and more as part of their Islands 2030 initiative here\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/steinhart-aquarium\">\u003cbr>\nSee these geckos up close and personal at California Academy of Sciences, and celebrate 100 years of the Steinhart Aquarium and its sticky, slimy, wonderful creatures\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-120213-091839\">Lewis & Clark College Professor Kellar Autumn has been taking a very close look at gecko feet for decades. Learn more about his work in this paper\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Check out its fabulous toes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These ridges – called lamellae – are blanketed in hairs called setae.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the setae branch out further – into millions of spatula-shaped pads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spatulae, if you will.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the stick happens even closer in – check out these spatulae atoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They don’t have an electric charge, and neither do the atoms of the surfaces the gecko moves on. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the gecko pulls its foot at just the right angle – those spatulae get so close to the surfaces’ atoms that the electrons start to sync up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That shimmy is called Van der Waals force, and it’s what keeps the gecko attached to the surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If a gecko used all of its millions of setae at once, that force could hold you up – and a friend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Humans have been trying to mimic gecko adhesion for years, and they’re finally getting close.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists at Stanford University created a sort of gecko-inspired tape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under a microscope, you can see it has tiny wedges, much like the gecko’s spatulae.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you pull the tape parallel to a surface, like an apple, the wedges flatten and connect to a larger area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That close contact creates – you guessed it – Van der Waals force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To release it, simply reverse the pull.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, how does the gecko do it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, it curls up its toes, changing the angle of its spatulae.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which keeps them light on their feet, and ready to set out on more snack-robatic adventures.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "California Wants to Store Floodwaters Underground. It's Harder Than It Sounds",
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"content": "\u003cp>For much of the last few decades, when the sky didn’t produce enough water for his cows and crops, Dino Giacomazzi — like most farmers in California’s southern Central Valley — pumped it from the earth. Underground aquifers, vast bank accounts of stored water, were drained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, after a historically wet winter, Giacomazzi and the state of California want to put some of that water back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is a no-brainer, win-win, multibenefit opportunity,” said Giacomazzi, standing on his Central Valley farm, which depends on groundwater to grow almonds, lettuce and tomatoes for pizza sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More water stored underground means fewer flooded farms, and more water available to farmers like him during the next inevitable drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982778\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982778 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white man with dark brown hair and black sunglasses, wearing a black puffer jacket with an orange collared shirt and jeans, stands on a farm with a to-go cup in his hand. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dino Giacomazzi stands on his Central Valley farm, which depends on groundwater to grow almonds, lettuce and tomatoes for pizza sauce. \u003ccite>(Claire Harbage/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>An area nearly the size of New Orleans is already flooded downstream of Giacomazzi’s farm. State officials have warned more water is coming as warmer temperatures cause a record Sierra Nevada snowpack to melt. This week, however, they said some communities, such as Corcoran, should be safe from rising floodwaters because of levee improvements, favorable weather and efforts to spread the water upstream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But capturing the extra water is an opportunity that Giacomazzi worries is being missed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The condition we find ourselves in right now is that there are billions of gallons of water just flowing right through us, right on by, and heading down and filling the Tulare Lake,” Giacomazzi said, referencing the long-dried lake — once the largest west of the Mississippi River — that has come roaring back to life during this winter’s storms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California water officials are scrambling to catch as much of the floodwaters as they can. In January, as a series of atmospheric river storms \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/01/11/1148333208/storms-keep-pummeling-california-causing-widespread-flooding-and-evacuations\">blasted the state\u003c/a> with rain and snow, the state’s Department of Water Resources announced it was \u003ca href=\"https://water.ca.gov/News/News-Releases/2023/Jan-23/State-Agencies-Fast-track-Groundwater-Recharge-Pilot-Project\">accelerating permitting\u003c/a> for projects that put water back into the aquifers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Projects that capture available precipitation, stormwater or floodwaters to recharge depleted groundwater basins need to be ready to capture high flows when they are available during each wet season,” said Karla Nemeth, the agency’s director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982779\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982779 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A small, gray donkey, as well as a donkey in complete shadow in the foreground, look out at a gravel road through a low wire fence on a sunny day. Farm buildings and green-and-brown lots lay beyond the road.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Giacomazzi’s donkeys look out over some of the farmland. \u003ccite>(Claire Harbage/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Two months later, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/03/10/governor-newsom-issues-executive-order-to-use-floodwater-to-recharge-and-store-groundwater/\">an executive order\u003c/a> making it easier for farmers to divert water onto their lands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in some parts of the Central Valley, like Giacomazzi’s, bureaucracy, water rights and a history of over-pumping are creating roadblocks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The issue with these water systems in California is that every couple of miles in this state, it’s a completely different, independently operated situation,” Giacomazzi said. “There isn’t really a coordinating body that sits over the top if that says, ‘Here’s what we need to do. Let’s do it together.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A test for California’s climate future\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California has always experienced dramatic swings from drought to flood. Those \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/-/media/CNRA-Website/Files/Initiatives/Water-Resilience/CA-Water-Supply-Strategy.pdf\">swings are expected to become more severe (PDF)\u003c/a> as temperatures rise due to human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that sense, the situation playing out in California this year could be a window into the state’s climate future, said Daniel Mountjoy, director of resource stewardship for Sustainable Conservation, a California-based nonprofit water group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve worked in water my entire career and one of our sayings is never waste a good crisis,” he said, standing next to a field of purposely flooded grapevines north of Fresno. “This is our chance for everyone to be aware of what’s possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982780\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982780 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two men, one white and one Black, both wearing baseball caps and unzipped jackets, talk to each other, one gesturing toward the vineyard they stand in with one arm raised.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Daniel Mountjoy (left), director of resource stewardship for Sustainable Conservation, a California-based nonprofit water group, talks with a colleague at a vineyard that is sinking water into the ground. \u003ccite>(Claire Harbage/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California water experts like Mountjoy, hydrologists and environmental watchdog groups have long warned that the Central Valley’s use of groundwater was unsustainable. Parts of the southern Central Valley that are now flooded have sunk by as much as 28 feet over the last few decades — deflated like punctured balloons — because so much water has been pumped from the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state aimed to address the problem with legislation in 2014 that requires local water agencies to bring their underground accounts into balance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to have to put in as much as we pump out,” said Eric Holder, an irrigation research assistant with the University of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982781\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1982781\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Water is seen flowing out of pipes at a farm. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water floods a field at an irrigation project run by the University of California.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cutting groundwater use could be painful. A study by the Public Policy Institute of California last year found that an\u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/priorities-for-californias-water/\"> estimated 500,000 acres\u003c/a> of farmland would have to go unplanted in the southern Central Valley over the next 20 years to help restore water underground. That’s even with increased capturing of stormwaters in a year like this. The region produces billions of dollars in almonds, pistachios, dairy and other produce every year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got to find a safe landing pattern,” Mountjoy said. “Come up with a way to reduce the pumping or increase the groundwater supply.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Some farmers are flooding their fields\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>With so much of the state awash in water, the focus in California is on increasing groundwater supply — stashing more into the bank account — by flooding farmland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982782\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982782 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Most of the frame is taken up by slightly blurry, bright green grape leaves in the foreground. Beyond them, on the ground, two cement cisterns pour water onto the ground, with the dry land to the left looking light brown and dusty, and the wet land to the right looking dark brown and muddy.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water is pumped into a vineyard, flooding the field. In some water districts, like Madera County’s in the heart of the Central Valley, farmers are being incentivized to use their existing infrastructure to flood their fields with free or reduced-cost water. \u003ccite>(Claire Harbage/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In some areas, like Giacomazzi’s, there isn’t enough incentive for farmers to flood their fields, or the infrastructure doesn’t exist to divert water from canals and streams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It takes a lot of money to excavate a basin and build the structures to divert water off the system,” said Mark Larsen, general manager of the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District. “And then you have it sitting [dry] most of the time waiting for a year like this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some water districts, like Madera County’s in the heart of the Central Valley, farmers are being incentivized to use their existing infrastructure to flood their fields with free or reduced-cost water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s our way to motivate people to take that water, spread it and get that water in the ground when it’s available in years like this,” said Thomas Greci, general manager of the Madera Irrigation District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982783\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982783 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white man with a beard, wearing a baseball cap, a long-sleeved button-up powder blue shirt, blue jeans, and boots stands in a vineyard with his hands in his pockets, looking off to the side.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nick Davis stands in the vineyard he owns with his twin brother outside Madera. He’s been dumping water on his grapevines since the heavy rains started this winter, sinking more than four times the amount of water he typically uses on the vines into the ground. \u003ccite>(Claire Harbage/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nick Davis, who owns a vineyard with his twin brother outside Madera, has decided to participate. He’s been dumping water on his grapevines since the heavy rains started this winter, sinking more than four times the amount of water he typically uses on the vines into the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re all skeptical about trying new things,” Davis said. “But we feel it’s important to just do our part and put it back in the ground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s hopeful the state will give him credit for all the water he’s returning to the aquifer, or pay him for the water he’s deposited. Incentives like that, Davis said, would make other farmers think more seriously about flooding their fields in the current moment and in wet years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We understand that we are part of the problem,” Davis said. “But we also want to be part of the solution when it’s possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/\">https://www.npr.org\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=California+wants+to+store+floodwaters+underground.+It%27s+harder+than+it+sounds+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For much of the last few decades, when the sky didn’t produce enough water for his cows and crops, Dino Giacomazzi — like most farmers in California’s southern Central Valley — pumped it from the earth. Underground aquifers, vast bank accounts of stored water, were drained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, after a historically wet winter, Giacomazzi and the state of California want to put some of that water back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is a no-brainer, win-win, multibenefit opportunity,” said Giacomazzi, standing on his Central Valley farm, which depends on groundwater to grow almonds, lettuce and tomatoes for pizza sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More water stored underground means fewer flooded farms, and more water available to farmers like him during the next inevitable drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982778\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982778 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white man with dark brown hair and black sunglasses, wearing a black puffer jacket with an orange collared shirt and jeans, stands on a farm with a to-go cup in his hand. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7315_slide-f4ad38703f1ea83d5235b8f204ab33ca99410025-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dino Giacomazzi stands on his Central Valley farm, which depends on groundwater to grow almonds, lettuce and tomatoes for pizza sauce. \u003ccite>(Claire Harbage/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>An area nearly the size of New Orleans is already flooded downstream of Giacomazzi’s farm. State officials have warned more water is coming as warmer temperatures cause a record Sierra Nevada snowpack to melt. This week, however, they said some communities, such as Corcoran, should be safe from rising floodwaters because of levee improvements, favorable weather and efforts to spread the water upstream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But capturing the extra water is an opportunity that Giacomazzi worries is being missed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The condition we find ourselves in right now is that there are billions of gallons of water just flowing right through us, right on by, and heading down and filling the Tulare Lake,” Giacomazzi said, referencing the long-dried lake — once the largest west of the Mississippi River — that has come roaring back to life during this winter’s storms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California water officials are scrambling to catch as much of the floodwaters as they can. In January, as a series of atmospheric river storms \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/01/11/1148333208/storms-keep-pummeling-california-causing-widespread-flooding-and-evacuations\">blasted the state\u003c/a> with rain and snow, the state’s Department of Water Resources announced it was \u003ca href=\"https://water.ca.gov/News/News-Releases/2023/Jan-23/State-Agencies-Fast-track-Groundwater-Recharge-Pilot-Project\">accelerating permitting\u003c/a> for projects that put water back into the aquifers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Projects that capture available precipitation, stormwater or floodwaters to recharge depleted groundwater basins need to be ready to capture high flows when they are available during each wet season,” said Karla Nemeth, the agency’s director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982779\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982779 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A small, gray donkey, as well as a donkey in complete shadow in the foreground, look out at a gravel road through a low wire fence on a sunny day. Farm buildings and green-and-brown lots lay beyond the road.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230414-_dsc7388_slide-e1a31163a760bed0b4e1633bae0c23bc8a41adf1-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Giacomazzi’s donkeys look out over some of the farmland. \u003ccite>(Claire Harbage/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Two months later, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/03/10/governor-newsom-issues-executive-order-to-use-floodwater-to-recharge-and-store-groundwater/\">an executive order\u003c/a> making it easier for farmers to divert water onto their lands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in some parts of the Central Valley, like Giacomazzi’s, bureaucracy, water rights and a history of over-pumping are creating roadblocks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The issue with these water systems in California is that every couple of miles in this state, it’s a completely different, independently operated situation,” Giacomazzi said. “There isn’t really a coordinating body that sits over the top if that says, ‘Here’s what we need to do. Let’s do it together.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A test for California’s climate future\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California has always experienced dramatic swings from drought to flood. Those \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/-/media/CNRA-Website/Files/Initiatives/Water-Resilience/CA-Water-Supply-Strategy.pdf\">swings are expected to become more severe (PDF)\u003c/a> as temperatures rise due to human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that sense, the situation playing out in California this year could be a window into the state’s climate future, said Daniel Mountjoy, director of resource stewardship for Sustainable Conservation, a California-based nonprofit water group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve worked in water my entire career and one of our sayings is never waste a good crisis,” he said, standing next to a field of purposely flooded grapevines north of Fresno. “This is our chance for everyone to be aware of what’s possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982780\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982780 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two men, one white and one Black, both wearing baseball caps and unzipped jackets, talk to each other, one gesturing toward the vineyard they stand in with one arm raised.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1148_slide-fb7786a4ff4d53e45a28bd5a1e545f524af71028-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Daniel Mountjoy (left), director of resource stewardship for Sustainable Conservation, a California-based nonprofit water group, talks with a colleague at a vineyard that is sinking water into the ground. \u003ccite>(Claire Harbage/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California water experts like Mountjoy, hydrologists and environmental watchdog groups have long warned that the Central Valley’s use of groundwater was unsustainable. Parts of the southern Central Valley that are now flooded have sunk by as much as 28 feet over the last few decades — deflated like punctured balloons — because so much water has been pumped from the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state aimed to address the problem with legislation in 2014 that requires local water agencies to bring their underground accounts into balance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to have to put in as much as we pump out,” said Eric Holder, an irrigation research assistant with the University of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982781\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1982781\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Water is seen flowing out of pipes at a farm. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230411-_dsc9551_slide-f61a1b40b9d27519eefd649a788dcaad9238baa4-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water floods a field at an irrigation project run by the University of California.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cutting groundwater use could be painful. A study by the Public Policy Institute of California last year found that an\u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/priorities-for-californias-water/\"> estimated 500,000 acres\u003c/a> of farmland would have to go unplanted in the southern Central Valley over the next 20 years to help restore water underground. That’s even with increased capturing of stormwaters in a year like this. The region produces billions of dollars in almonds, pistachios, dairy and other produce every year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got to find a safe landing pattern,” Mountjoy said. “Come up with a way to reduce the pumping or increase the groundwater supply.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Some farmers are flooding their fields\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>With so much of the state awash in water, the focus in California is on increasing groundwater supply — stashing more into the bank account — by flooding farmland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982782\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982782 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Most of the frame is taken up by slightly blurry, bright green grape leaves in the foreground. Beyond them, on the ground, two cement cisterns pour water onto the ground, with the dry land to the left looking light brown and dusty, and the wet land to the right looking dark brown and muddy.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1022_slide-a0b041ac2be62456d3bbd1691767f8944145102f-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water is pumped into a vineyard, flooding the field. In some water districts, like Madera County’s in the heart of the Central Valley, farmers are being incentivized to use their existing infrastructure to flood their fields with free or reduced-cost water. \u003ccite>(Claire Harbage/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In some areas, like Giacomazzi’s, there isn’t enough incentive for farmers to flood their fields, or the infrastructure doesn’t exist to divert water from canals and streams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It takes a lot of money to excavate a basin and build the structures to divert water off the system,” said Mark Larsen, general manager of the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District. “And then you have it sitting [dry] most of the time waiting for a year like this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some water districts, like Madera County’s in the heart of the Central Valley, farmers are being incentivized to use their existing infrastructure to flood their fields with free or reduced-cost water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s our way to motivate people to take that water, spread it and get that water in the ground when it’s available in years like this,” said Thomas Greci, general manager of the Madera Irrigation District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982783\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982783 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white man with a beard, wearing a baseball cap, a long-sleeved button-up powder blue shirt, blue jeans, and boots stands in a vineyard with his hands in his pockets, looking off to the side.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/20230412-_dsc1077_slide-e34560e26d1272886404c7d51574dffa21c9998d-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nick Davis stands in the vineyard he owns with his twin brother outside Madera. He’s been dumping water on his grapevines since the heavy rains started this winter, sinking more than four times the amount of water he typically uses on the vines into the ground. \u003ccite>(Claire Harbage/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nick Davis, who owns a vineyard with his twin brother outside Madera, has decided to participate. He’s been dumping water on his grapevines since the heavy rains started this winter, sinking more than four times the amount of water he typically uses on the vines into the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re all skeptical about trying new things,” Davis said. “But we feel it’s important to just do our part and put it back in the ground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s hopeful the state will give him credit for all the water he’s returning to the aquifer, or pay him for the water he’s deposited. Incentives like that, Davis said, would make other farmers think more seriously about flooding their fields in the current moment and in wet years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We understand that we are part of the problem,” Davis said. “But we also want to be part of the solution when it’s possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/\">https://www.npr.org\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=California+wants+to+store+floodwaters+underground.+It%27s+harder+than+it+sounds+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A Seabird Comeback: How Restoration Efforts Can Combat Climate Change",
"headTitle": "A Seabird Comeback: How Restoration Efforts Can Combat Climate Change | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Seabirds evolved about 60 million years ago, as Earth’s continents drifted toward their current positions and modern oceans took shape. They spread across thousands of undisturbed islands in the widening seas. And as flying dinosaurs and giant omnivorous sea reptiles died out, seabirds also started filling an ecological niche as ecosystem engineers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They distribute nutrients, in the form of guano, that’s beneficial to plankton, seagrass and coral reefs, which, in turn, nurtures fish populations that are eaten by seabirds and marine mammals in a cycle that forms a biological carbon pump. The stronger the pump, the more carbon dioxide it pushes into seabed sediment storage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seabird colonies of almost unimaginable size likely persisted through eons of profound climate shifts and the geological upheavals of colliding continents, playing a profound role in the ocean carbon cycle. But even in their most far-flung island realms, they were quickly decimated by humans who colonized and industrialized the planet during the past 200 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By some estimates, the overall global seabird population has dropped by as much as 90% during that time, with \u003ca href=\"https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0129342\">a decline of 70% just since 1950\u003c/a>. Seabirds are \u003ca href=\"https://www.iucn.org/\">the most threatened group of birds and one of the most endangered groups of species\u003c/a>, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Of 346 seabird species, 97 are globally threatened, and another 35 are listed as near-threatened. Almost half of all seabird species are known or suspected to be experiencing population declines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the damage has been from invasive predators — humans themselves, and the rats, cats, dogs and pigs they brought along as they exploited island after island. After millions of years of predator-free evolution, the birds didn’t recognize the new species as threats. They were particularly vulnerable because they don’t breed as prolifically as many terrestrial birds, and spend a long time nurturing their flightless young on land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was also direct human predation on an industrial scale, with the harvest of seabird eggs for food, their guano as fertilizer and the birds themselves to render for oil, along with seals, sea lions and whales, or as the unwanted bycatch of commercial fishing boats. On the Farallon Islands near San Francisco, home to the largest single seabird nesting colony in the United States, the murre population dropped from 400,000 to 60,000 in just a few decades during the gold rush, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-california-went-war-over-eggs-180971960/\">people harvested up to half a million eggs per year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982712\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982712 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/SeabirdRestorationWorld1000px-800x514.png\" alt='An infographic showing three different seabird species, with a background of a map. The text on the infographic says: \"A Seabird Comeback: New research tracked the implementation and success of 851 active seabird restoration projects around the world between 1954 and 2021, finding that a high percentage of them are showing signs of success. In some cases, birds are returning on their own to nesting sites where invasive predators have been eliminated. In other cases, young birds that were relocated from one place to another later returned on their own after spending several years at sea.\"' width=\"800\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/SeabirdRestorationWorld1000px-800x514.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/SeabirdRestorationWorld1000px-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/SeabirdRestorationWorld1000px-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/SeabirdRestorationWorld1000px.png 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">New research tracked the implementation and success of 851 active seabird restoration projects around the world between 1954 and 2021, finding that a high percentage of them are showing signs of success. In some cases, birds are returning on their own to nesting sites where invasive predators have been eliminated. In other cases, young birds that were relocated from one place to another later returned on their own after spending several years at sea.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Today the Farallon Islands are protected as part of a marine sanctuary and the nesting seabird colonies are recovering, helping to sustain the surrounding marine ecosystem, including great white sharks, apex predators that sometimes feed on the population of northern fur seals that have returned to the islands since they were protected. Rhinoceros auklets, related to puffins, have also returned and more than \u003ca href=\"https://farallones.org/sanctuary-wildlife/\">20 endangered and threatened species — birds, reptiles, insects, marine mammals and even sea turtles — live on and and around the islands\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The comeback has already started\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>And there are hundreds of other seabird restoration projects around the world showing signs of success, said \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Dena_Spatz\">Dena Spatz\u003c/a>, a scientist with \u003ca href=\"https://pacificrimconservation.org/\">Pacific Rim Conservation\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that focuses on ecosystem repairs. Spatz was lead author of an April 10 \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2214574120\">study\u003c/a> in the Proceedings National Academy of Sciences that \u003ca href=\"http://seabirddatabase.org/\">compiled data from 851 restoration projects in 36 countries targeting 138 species of seabirds over the past 70 years\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new study focused on efforts to actively bring back bird populations, including social attraction methods, like using decoys, as well as direct translocation of young birds to new sites free of invasive predators. In more than 75% of the restorations, targeted species visited the sites and started breeding within two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982713\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982713 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/birdcolony_guano2-1536x1062-1-800x553.jpeg\" alt=\"A bird rookery is seen in the ocean.\" width=\"800\" height=\"553\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/birdcolony_guano2-1536x1062-1-800x553.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/birdcolony_guano2-1536x1062-1-1020x705.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/birdcolony_guano2-1536x1062-1-160x111.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/birdcolony_guano2-1536x1062-1-768x531.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/birdcolony_guano2-1536x1062-1.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guano-covered bird rookery in the Pacific Ocean near Mazunte, Oaxaca, Mexico. The guano gets rinsed into the ocean, which nurtures the ocean food web. \u003ccite>(Bob Berwyn/Inside Climate News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s an incredible success story,” she said. “A lot of seabirds come back without any intervention … But that’s not always the case all the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some populations of seabirds are tiny and widely dispersed across distant islands, and a few of them have blinked out, she said. That makes it hard for the bird populations to get back to historic breeding levels without help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s where active restoration, moving things from one place to another, becomes super critical,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Restoring seabirds could bolster ocean ecosystems and their ability to draw down carbon dioxide, said \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/poertner_hans\">Hans-Otto Pörtner\u003c/a>, a climate scientist at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany, who recently co-authored a \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abl4881\">research paper in \u003cem>Science\u003c/em>\u003c/a> that spells out the connections between biodiversity, ecosystem protection and climate stabilization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to direct CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels and other industrial processes, the disruption of ecosystems and biodiversity declines have also significantly contributed to rising atmospheric greenhouse concentrations that are heating up the planet, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Biodiversity loss contributes to climate change through loss of wild species and biomass,” the paper concluded. “This reduces carbon stocks and sink capacity in natural and managed ecosystems, increasing emissions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resulting warming disturbs ecosystems in a vicious circle that worsens “the unprecedented loss of biodiversity already caused by human-induced habitat degradation, overexploitation of natural resources, and pollution,” he and his co-authors wrote in the \u003cem>Science\u003c/em> paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adding continued biodiversity loss and habitat decline with projections for greenhouse gas emissions, Earth is on a path to heat up to near 3 degrees Celsius by 2100, and that won’t change unless humans proceed on the planet in a way that “allows biodiversity to thrive, and which incorporates a strengthening of the natural pathways of carbon binding and storage,” Pörtner said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Can assisted migration help?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The new seabird restoration study is part of a growing canon that documents thousands of various nature restoration projects on every continent, according to \u003ca href=\"https://restor.eco/?lat=26&lng=14.23&zoom=3\">Restor\u003c/a>, a nonprofit network building a global restoration database.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Restoring seabirds can help turnaround the declines in biodiversity and carbon sequestration, Spatz said, describing some of the translocation research pioneered by scientists in New Zealand that will help similar efforts elsewhere. The idea of moving birds physically from one place to another to restore populations is part of a growing effort of \u003ca href=\"https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=assisted+migration+in+climate+change+research&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart\">assisted migration\u003c/a>, which some scientists think will be critical as climate change impacts intensify. For seabirds, it’s done most with species that have evolved to return to the place they are born, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s this amazing biological response in birds like petrels, shearwaters, albatross and some puffins,” she said. “They’re born on an island, they fledge, they go to sea from anywhere between one and eight years, depending on the species and then go back to the place where they were born.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982714\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982714 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/petrel-800x601.jpeg\" alt=\"A seabird is seen soaring above the ocean. \" width=\"800\" height=\"601\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/petrel-800x601.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/petrel-1020x766.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/petrel-160x120.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/petrel-768x577.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/petrel.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Seabirds include many pelagic species like petrels that spend nearly their entire lives at sea, returning to land only for a few months each year to breed. \u003ccite>(Bob Berwyn/Inside Climate News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Relocation of the chicks is timed so they imprint on their new home in the way they normally would at the site where they hatched, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a huge endeavor to do this stuff. But it works when you do it, right,” she said. “What’s amazing is, once these birds come as fluffy chicks to a restoration site, they’re raised by people, but they don’t imprint on us. That’s just the way seabirds are, so that’s not a worry. Then they get feathers, and they fly on their own out to sea. And when it’s time to breed, they go to the restoration site instead of the place they were born.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Hawai’i, she said, scientists have been relocating albatross and petrel chicks from some of the low-lying Northwest Hawaiian Islands, where there are huge bird colonies, but some nesting grounds are already being swamped by rising seas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not a future threat,” she said. “It’s a current threat. Those chicks probably wouldn’t have survived anyway if we hadn’t taken them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Let ecosystems flourish to benefit the climate\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scaling up nature restoration and conservation efforts, including with seabirds, is absolutely critical to preventing a worst-case global warming outcome, said \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BernieTershy\">Bernie Tershy\u003c/a>, an ecology and evolutionary biology researcher at UC Santa Cruz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A key part of that is pulling pollutants out of the atmosphere, right? So if you’re going to do that, one could argue that the best way to do that is to plant a whole bunch of the fastest growing trees over the most area possible,” said Tershy, who was not an author of the new seabird study but has worked on similar research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that would be like putting all your climate eggs in one basket, he said, describing risks, like wildfires and insect infestations that could quickly wipe out such monocultures before they have any climate benefits. A better approach is a diversified investment spread across ecosystems that suck carbon out of the atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s also totally the cheapest way because it’s a passive thing,” he said. “All you have to do is protect these natural areas and manage them well. They’ll soak up a ton of carbon and they’ll do it in a way that is incredibly resilient.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But you can’t just focus on a single species, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You need a bunch of different plant species,” he said. “And you need insect grazers and fertilizer-producing species. You need small mammal seed dispersers and you need the birds that disperse seeds and the fertilizers they produce that nurture the seeds. You need all that biodiversity to maintain resilient ecosystems that pull carbon out of the atmosphere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/\">Inside Climate News\u003c/a> is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/\">Sign up for the ICN newsletter here.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The number of seabirds has declined 70% since the 1950s. New research shows how restoration projects can also bolster ocean ecosystems that sequester carbon.",
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"description": "The number of seabirds has declined 70% since the 1950s. New research shows how restoration projects can also bolster ocean ecosystems that sequester carbon.",
"title": "A Seabird Comeback: How Restoration Efforts Can Combat Climate Change | KQED",
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"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/profile/bob-berwyn/\">Bob Berwyn\u003c/a>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Seabirds evolved about 60 million years ago, as Earth’s continents drifted toward their current positions and modern oceans took shape. They spread across thousands of undisturbed islands in the widening seas. And as flying dinosaurs and giant omnivorous sea reptiles died out, seabirds also started filling an ecological niche as ecosystem engineers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They distribute nutrients, in the form of guano, that’s beneficial to plankton, seagrass and coral reefs, which, in turn, nurtures fish populations that are eaten by seabirds and marine mammals in a cycle that forms a biological carbon pump. The stronger the pump, the more carbon dioxide it pushes into seabed sediment storage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seabird colonies of almost unimaginable size likely persisted through eons of profound climate shifts and the geological upheavals of colliding continents, playing a profound role in the ocean carbon cycle. But even in their most far-flung island realms, they were quickly decimated by humans who colonized and industrialized the planet during the past 200 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By some estimates, the overall global seabird population has dropped by as much as 90% during that time, with \u003ca href=\"https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0129342\">a decline of 70% just since 1950\u003c/a>. Seabirds are \u003ca href=\"https://www.iucn.org/\">the most threatened group of birds and one of the most endangered groups of species\u003c/a>, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Of 346 seabird species, 97 are globally threatened, and another 35 are listed as near-threatened. Almost half of all seabird species are known or suspected to be experiencing population declines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the damage has been from invasive predators — humans themselves, and the rats, cats, dogs and pigs they brought along as they exploited island after island. After millions of years of predator-free evolution, the birds didn’t recognize the new species as threats. They were particularly vulnerable because they don’t breed as prolifically as many terrestrial birds, and spend a long time nurturing their flightless young on land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was also direct human predation on an industrial scale, with the harvest of seabird eggs for food, their guano as fertilizer and the birds themselves to render for oil, along with seals, sea lions and whales, or as the unwanted bycatch of commercial fishing boats. On the Farallon Islands near San Francisco, home to the largest single seabird nesting colony in the United States, the murre population dropped from 400,000 to 60,000 in just a few decades during the gold rush, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-california-went-war-over-eggs-180971960/\">people harvested up to half a million eggs per year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982712\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982712 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/SeabirdRestorationWorld1000px-800x514.png\" alt='An infographic showing three different seabird species, with a background of a map. The text on the infographic says: \"A Seabird Comeback: New research tracked the implementation and success of 851 active seabird restoration projects around the world between 1954 and 2021, finding that a high percentage of them are showing signs of success. In some cases, birds are returning on their own to nesting sites where invasive predators have been eliminated. In other cases, young birds that were relocated from one place to another later returned on their own after spending several years at sea.\"' width=\"800\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/SeabirdRestorationWorld1000px-800x514.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/SeabirdRestorationWorld1000px-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/SeabirdRestorationWorld1000px-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/SeabirdRestorationWorld1000px.png 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">New research tracked the implementation and success of 851 active seabird restoration projects around the world between 1954 and 2021, finding that a high percentage of them are showing signs of success. In some cases, birds are returning on their own to nesting sites where invasive predators have been eliminated. In other cases, young birds that were relocated from one place to another later returned on their own after spending several years at sea.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Today the Farallon Islands are protected as part of a marine sanctuary and the nesting seabird colonies are recovering, helping to sustain the surrounding marine ecosystem, including great white sharks, apex predators that sometimes feed on the population of northern fur seals that have returned to the islands since they were protected. Rhinoceros auklets, related to puffins, have also returned and more than \u003ca href=\"https://farallones.org/sanctuary-wildlife/\">20 endangered and threatened species — birds, reptiles, insects, marine mammals and even sea turtles — live on and and around the islands\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The comeback has already started\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>And there are hundreds of other seabird restoration projects around the world showing signs of success, said \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Dena_Spatz\">Dena Spatz\u003c/a>, a scientist with \u003ca href=\"https://pacificrimconservation.org/\">Pacific Rim Conservation\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that focuses on ecosystem repairs. Spatz was lead author of an April 10 \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2214574120\">study\u003c/a> in the Proceedings National Academy of Sciences that \u003ca href=\"http://seabirddatabase.org/\">compiled data from 851 restoration projects in 36 countries targeting 138 species of seabirds over the past 70 years\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new study focused on efforts to actively bring back bird populations, including social attraction methods, like using decoys, as well as direct translocation of young birds to new sites free of invasive predators. In more than 75% of the restorations, targeted species visited the sites and started breeding within two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982713\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982713 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/birdcolony_guano2-1536x1062-1-800x553.jpeg\" alt=\"A bird rookery is seen in the ocean.\" width=\"800\" height=\"553\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/birdcolony_guano2-1536x1062-1-800x553.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/birdcolony_guano2-1536x1062-1-1020x705.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/birdcolony_guano2-1536x1062-1-160x111.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/birdcolony_guano2-1536x1062-1-768x531.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/birdcolony_guano2-1536x1062-1.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guano-covered bird rookery in the Pacific Ocean near Mazunte, Oaxaca, Mexico. The guano gets rinsed into the ocean, which nurtures the ocean food web. \u003ccite>(Bob Berwyn/Inside Climate News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s an incredible success story,” she said. “A lot of seabirds come back without any intervention … But that’s not always the case all the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some populations of seabirds are tiny and widely dispersed across distant islands, and a few of them have blinked out, she said. That makes it hard for the bird populations to get back to historic breeding levels without help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s where active restoration, moving things from one place to another, becomes super critical,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Restoring seabirds could bolster ocean ecosystems and their ability to draw down carbon dioxide, said \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/poertner_hans\">Hans-Otto Pörtner\u003c/a>, a climate scientist at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany, who recently co-authored a \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abl4881\">research paper in \u003cem>Science\u003c/em>\u003c/a> that spells out the connections between biodiversity, ecosystem protection and climate stabilization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to direct CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels and other industrial processes, the disruption of ecosystems and biodiversity declines have also significantly contributed to rising atmospheric greenhouse concentrations that are heating up the planet, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Biodiversity loss contributes to climate change through loss of wild species and biomass,” the paper concluded. “This reduces carbon stocks and sink capacity in natural and managed ecosystems, increasing emissions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resulting warming disturbs ecosystems in a vicious circle that worsens “the unprecedented loss of biodiversity already caused by human-induced habitat degradation, overexploitation of natural resources, and pollution,” he and his co-authors wrote in the \u003cem>Science\u003c/em> paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adding continued biodiversity loss and habitat decline with projections for greenhouse gas emissions, Earth is on a path to heat up to near 3 degrees Celsius by 2100, and that won’t change unless humans proceed on the planet in a way that “allows biodiversity to thrive, and which incorporates a strengthening of the natural pathways of carbon binding and storage,” Pörtner said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Can assisted migration help?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The new seabird restoration study is part of a growing canon that documents thousands of various nature restoration projects on every continent, according to \u003ca href=\"https://restor.eco/?lat=26&lng=14.23&zoom=3\">Restor\u003c/a>, a nonprofit network building a global restoration database.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Restoring seabirds can help turnaround the declines in biodiversity and carbon sequestration, Spatz said, describing some of the translocation research pioneered by scientists in New Zealand that will help similar efforts elsewhere. The idea of moving birds physically from one place to another to restore populations is part of a growing effort of \u003ca href=\"https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=assisted+migration+in+climate+change+research&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart\">assisted migration\u003c/a>, which some scientists think will be critical as climate change impacts intensify. For seabirds, it’s done most with species that have evolved to return to the place they are born, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s this amazing biological response in birds like petrels, shearwaters, albatross and some puffins,” she said. “They’re born on an island, they fledge, they go to sea from anywhere between one and eight years, depending on the species and then go back to the place where they were born.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982714\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982714 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/petrel-800x601.jpeg\" alt=\"A seabird is seen soaring above the ocean. \" width=\"800\" height=\"601\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/petrel-800x601.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/petrel-1020x766.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/petrel-160x120.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/petrel-768x577.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/petrel.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Seabirds include many pelagic species like petrels that spend nearly their entire lives at sea, returning to land only for a few months each year to breed. \u003ccite>(Bob Berwyn/Inside Climate News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Relocation of the chicks is timed so they imprint on their new home in the way they normally would at the site where they hatched, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a huge endeavor to do this stuff. But it works when you do it, right,” she said. “What’s amazing is, once these birds come as fluffy chicks to a restoration site, they’re raised by people, but they don’t imprint on us. That’s just the way seabirds are, so that’s not a worry. Then they get feathers, and they fly on their own out to sea. And when it’s time to breed, they go to the restoration site instead of the place they were born.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Hawai’i, she said, scientists have been relocating albatross and petrel chicks from some of the low-lying Northwest Hawaiian Islands, where there are huge bird colonies, but some nesting grounds are already being swamped by rising seas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not a future threat,” she said. “It’s a current threat. Those chicks probably wouldn’t have survived anyway if we hadn’t taken them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Let ecosystems flourish to benefit the climate\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scaling up nature restoration and conservation efforts, including with seabirds, is absolutely critical to preventing a worst-case global warming outcome, said \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BernieTershy\">Bernie Tershy\u003c/a>, an ecology and evolutionary biology researcher at UC Santa Cruz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A key part of that is pulling pollutants out of the atmosphere, right? So if you’re going to do that, one could argue that the best way to do that is to plant a whole bunch of the fastest growing trees over the most area possible,” said Tershy, who was not an author of the new seabird study but has worked on similar research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that would be like putting all your climate eggs in one basket, he said, describing risks, like wildfires and insect infestations that could quickly wipe out such monocultures before they have any climate benefits. A better approach is a diversified investment spread across ecosystems that suck carbon out of the atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s also totally the cheapest way because it’s a passive thing,” he said. “All you have to do is protect these natural areas and manage them well. They’ll soak up a ton of carbon and they’ll do it in a way that is incredibly resilient.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But you can’t just focus on a single species, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You need a bunch of different plant species,” he said. “And you need insect grazers and fertilizer-producing species. You need small mammal seed dispersers and you need the birds that disperse seeds and the fertilizers they produce that nurture the seeds. You need all that biodiversity to maintain resilient ecosystems that pull carbon out of the atmosphere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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