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The Assembly Committee on Appropriations voted 13-6 Wednesday to approve a measure by Senator Lois Wolk, D-Solano, to promote the protection and management of natural and working lands as part of California’s ongoing efforts to meet its climate change goals. “From farms to rangelands, wetlands to parks, California’s natural and working lands have the potential to store considerable amounts of carbon,” Wolk said. “SB 1386 will reinforce that investment in these lands’ management is an important strategy in meeting the California’s ongoing efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.”

 

Even before the plane left the runway, it was clear the crew of researchers examining the fallout from California’s historic drought would not return with good news.

A drive around the north state these days shows how remarkably fast the fragile water picture can change. It can be confusing as well. Just three months ago, at the end of an El Niño rainy season, the state’s two largest reservoirs — Shasta and Oroville — looked blissfully the same. They were full for the first time in years, to the point that houseboats on the lakes could tie up to trees on the bank rather than pound a stake into the dirt bathtub ring.

Scientists from two federal agencies are about to overhaul the rules governing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, potentially increasing protections for endangered fish populations and limiting the amount of water pumped to Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley. The National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will re-examine the nearly decade-old environmental regulations covering the Delta water pumps – rules that some experts say have been rendered nearly obsolete by drought and the devastation of endangered species. The old rules will remain in effect during the review, which could take two years or longer.

The American West is in the midst of a serious drought – which compounds the underlying water crisis that stems from overdevelopment, misuse, and political maneuvers carried out long ago. This documentary examines the causes and consequences.