Category: Climate Change

Analysis: Proposed state investments inadequate to address increase in catastrophic flood risk

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 1 Comment

The Governor Newsom's May Revise Budget provides an additional $115 million in investments in flood risk reduction, including: $75 million to support local flood control projects $40 million for the San Joaquin Floodplain restoration This is in addition to the $202 million proposed by the Governor in January to reduce flood risk in urban areas, … Continue reading Analysis: Proposed state investments inadequate to address increase in catastrophic flood risk

Water Board’s Decision 1641 adopted in wetter period

Tree in wet and dry landscape
~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 2 Comments

This blog post analyzes long term changes in the Sacramento Four River runoff using a 10 year and 30 year running mean. Sacramento River runoff was lower during the Dust Bowl era drought of 1928-34, and the current 30 year mean runoff is close to the mean for the historic record. However, the current 10 … Continue reading Water Board’s Decision 1641 adopted in wetter period

Delta tunnel — Inconvenient truths about sea level rise and salinity intrusion

Polar ice sheet melting
~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 2 Comments

The Delta tunnel Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) has a new Sea Level Rise Study in Technical Appendix 5A-F. The study was done with Bay-Delta SCHISM, a 3-D hydrodynamic model of the San Francisco Bay and Delta. The new SCHISM study has limitations, in that it assumes that Delta levees are raised to keep up … Continue reading Delta tunnel — Inconvenient truths about sea level rise and salinity intrusion

The eye of the storm and the State Water Resources Control Board

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 2 Comments

The State Water Resources Control Board’s Climate Change Mitigation Strategist, Max Gomberg, just retired, and sent an incendiary parting letter to his colleagues, stating, Witnessing the agency’s ability to tackle big challenges nearly eviscerated by this Administration has been gut wrenching. The way some of you have simply rolled over and accepted this has also … Continue reading The eye of the storm and the State Water Resources Control Board

Budget negotiations could determine the future of California’s Central Valley

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ Leave a comment

Modeling by the Department of Water Resources for the 2022 Central Valley Flood Protection Plan Update shows that peak flood flows on the San Joaquin River could more than double with climate change, and peak flows on the Sacramento could increase by 40%. In 2018, Daniel Swain, Baird Langenbrunner, and David Neelin found that there … Continue reading Budget negotiations could determine the future of California’s Central Valley

The State Water Project Delivery Reliability Report may have created systemic drought vulnerability

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 1 Comment

On June 7, 2022, Adel Hagekhalil, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, issued the following statement: We are in an unprecedented situation, where our water supplies from the State Water Project are so limited by drought and climate change that they do not meet demands. Southern Californians must decrease their water … Continue reading The State Water Project Delivery Reliability Report may have created systemic drought vulnerability

Senate Climate Budget Plan proposals on water management science

Tree in wet and dry landscape
~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 1 Comment

This Water and Drought package of the California Senate's Climate Budget Plan proposes major investment in water management science. One of the goals is to: Strengthen water rights quantification and enforcement at SWRCB. Currently the state does not have a reliable quantification of water rights or the ability to effectively enforce. The budget plan includes … Continue reading Senate Climate Budget Plan proposals on water management science

California Senate proposes $2 billion program to balance water supply and water rights

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ Leave a comment

The California Senate has proposed a $2 billion reconciliation framework to rebalance water supply and water rights, as part of proposed investments of $7.5 billion in state and federal funds spread over three years for climate resiliency. It is the most sweeping land retirement proposal since the landmark 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act. According … Continue reading California Senate proposes $2 billion program to balance water supply and water rights

Social network weaving for climate adaptation

Interconnected people
~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ Leave a comment

Network weaving is a concept from community organizing.  Here's a definition from the Kansas Opportunity Innovation Network: Network weaving is the process of building community and strengthening social capital in a community by bringing together and connecting better the actors in a social network ... A successful network weaving approach uses social network maps to … Continue reading Social network weaving for climate adaptation