From the CA Water Board's Media Release:

SACRAMENTO – The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) today
adopted rules to protect wetlands and other environmentally sensitive waterways throughout
the state.

More than 90 percent of California’s historic wetlands have been lost to development and other
human activity. Wetlands are a critical natural resource that protect and improve water quality,
provide habitat for fish and wildlife, and buffer developed areas from flooding and sea-level
rise.

The newly adopted rules provide a common, statewide definition of what constitutes a wetland.
They also provide consistency in the way the State Water Board and nine regional water
boards regulate activities to protect wetlands and other waterways, such as rivers and
streams, and bays and estuaries.

“Californians take pride in balancing both the ecologic and economic needs of our state,” said
State Water Board Chair E. Joaquin Esquivel. “It’s critical we established this consistent
statewide framework that protects and enhances our most sensitive water resources, while
creating regulatory certainty for housing, agriculture, water managers, conservationists, and
communities.”

The rules have two components that support each other. First, the rules define what is
considered a wetland and include a framework for determining if a feature defined as a
wetland is a “water of the state” subject to regulation. Second, the rules clarify requirements for
permit applications to discharge dredged or fill material to any water of the state. 

​Please continue to read in full HERE. 

by John Austin

Click below to access:

Reedley Peace Center Climate Change Effects in the Central Valley Presentation, April 5, 2019

From the last slide of the presentation:

Strategic Land Conservation Grant ProgramThe Strategic Land Conservation Grant Program supports fee title or easement acquisition projects that permanently protect high-benefit lands that are threatened with conversion, represent unique natural characteristics, or are critical for resilience to climate change. These projects must deliver clear, long-term public benefit and result in conditions that contribute to the health and resiliency of the watershed. Acquisitions may protect, restore, or create:

• Unique cultural and/or natural areas
• Working landscapes that provide public resource or economic benefit
• Access to public lands and recreation opportunities

The grant program is funded by Proposition 68, the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018.

​Pre-application can be found HERE.

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2019 –USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) plans to invest $450 million this year through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) to help private landowners, tribes, land trusts and other groups wanting to restore and protect critical wetlands and protect agricultural lands and grasslands.
“For over 25 years, NRCS has worked with landowners to protect their wetlands and agricultural lands,” NRCS Chief Matthew Lohr said. “Conservation easements are important tools for people who are trying to improve soil health, water and air quality and wildlife habitat on their land.”
ACEP provides assistance to landowners and eligible entities helping conserve, restore and protect wetlands and productive agricultural lands and grasslands. NRCS accepts ACEP applications year-round, but applications are ranked and funded by enrollment period, which have application deadlines set by the states. Many states have upcoming deadlines this spring.
Wetland Reserve Easements
Through ACEP Wetland Reserve Easements, NRCS helps landowners and tribes restore, enhance and protect wetland ecosystems. NRCS and the landowner work together to develop a plan for the restoration and maintenance of the easement.
“Seventy-five percent of the nation's wetlands are situated on private and tribal lands,” Lohr said. “Wetlands provide many benefits, including critical habitat for a wide array of wildlife species. They also store floodwaters, clean and recharge groundwater, sequester carbon, trap sediment and filter pollutants for clean water.”
Wetland conservation easements are either permanent, for 30 years or the maximum extent allowed by state law. Tribal landowners have the added option of enrolling in 30-year non-easement restoration contracts. Eligible lands include:

• Farmed or converted wetlands that can successfully be restored;
• Croplands or grasslands subject to flooding; and
• Riparian areas that link protected wetland areas.

Agricultural Land Easements
Through ACEP Agricultural Land Easements (ALE), NRCS provides funds to eligible entities to purchase easements on private working lands. This program helps keep working lands working, especially in areas experiencing development pressure.
Eligible cooperating entities include state or local agencies, non-profits and tribes. Landowners continue to own their property but voluntarily enter into a legal agreement with a cooperating entity to purchase an easement. The cooperating entity applies for matching funds from NRCS for the purchase of an easement from the landowner, permanently protecting its agricultural use and conservation values. Landowners do not apply directly to NRCS for funding under ALE.
Easements are permanent. Eligible lands include privately owned cropland, rangeland, grassland, pastureland and forestlands.
More Information
ACEP remains a major part of the recently passed 2018 Farm Bill and program implementation will continue during fiscal year 2019 with some minor changes. 
Landowners and tribes interested in wetland reserve easements and partners interested in agricultural land easements should contact their local USDA service center.

From the California Department of Conservation:

SACRAMENTO March 21, 2019 – Eight organizations have received $1.85 million in grants to hire watershed coordinators who will build local capacity to improve forest health, the Department of Conservation (DOC) announced today.
“Healthy forests are essential to reduce catastrophic wildfires, supply clean water, and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” DOC Director David Bunn said. “Watershed coordinators can play a major role in ensuring the health of our forests by promoting collaboration, integrating watershed management efforts, and supporting local activities that restore resilience to forest lands.”
Local projects will support the state’s Forest Carbon Plan and Executive Order B-52-18 and help achieve the California Global Warming Solutions Act’s goal of reducing California’s greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.
Just as the state is divided into counties, it is also divided into watersheds: the geographic areas that channel rain and snow into creeks, streams, lakes, and rivers. Watershed coordinator positions will be funded for two years in project areas that encompass about 31,000 square miles within 26 counties – from Modoc County in the northeast, to coastal areas from southern Humboldt County to San Luis Obispo County, and to Madera, Tulare, and Fresno counties in the inland central part of the state.
The Forest Health Watershed Coordinator Grant Program is funded by the California Environmental License Plate Fund and administered by DOC. Areas identified by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as being most at risk of catastrophic wildfires were given priority for the grants. The recipients, headquarters location, and amount of funding each received:
♦ Resource Conservation District of Butte County, Oroville, $217,564.
♦ Sierra Resource Conservation District, Auberry (Fresno County), $235,000
♦ South Yuba River Citizens League, Nevada City (Nevada County), $234, 995
♦ Humboldt County Resource Conservation District, Eureka, $231,900
♦ Tuolumne River Trust, San Francisco, $235,000
♦ Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County, Capitola, $234,959
♦ Pit Resource Conservation District, Bieber (Lassen County), $235,000
♦ Sierra Institute for Community and Environment, Taylorsville (Plumas County), $228,2645
“Each grant application received highlighted good local projects and collaboration,” said Keali’i Bright, director of DOC’s Division of Land Resource Protection. “Our ability to protect forested lands depends on strong local leadership, and this fantastic response underscores the need for continued support.”
The strategy of funding watershed coordinators to organize efforts at the local level has an outstanding track record. DOC provided grants from 2000-2015. A study of that program by the Sierra Institute for Community and Environment indicated that every dollar spent to hire a coordinator leveraged more than seven times that investment in the development of watershed management plans and restoration projects. The study also found that that forest health and watershed health are inextricably linked.
“The return on investment in watershed and forest health has been impressive, and California’s commitment to these issues is strong,” DOC Director Bunn said, noting that the Natural Resources Agency and DOC recently announced $20 million in block grants for local and regional projects to improve forest health and increase fire resiliency.
DOC’s Division of Land Resource Protection also manages programs that map land-use changes in California, permanently conserve important farmland, help reduce development pressure on agricultural and open-space land, and provide assistance to California’s Resource Conservation Districts. It also works with the Strategic Growth Council on the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program and the Transformative Climate Communities Program, and with the High Speed Rail Authority on the Agricultural Land Mitigation Program.

From the March 12, 2019 Press Release:

SACRAMENTO – The California Natural Resources Agency and Department of Conservation
today announced awarding $20 million in block grants for local and regional projects to improve
forest health and increase fire resiliency.

Funded by Cap-and-Trade revenues through California Climate Investments, the Regional Forest
and Fire Capacity Program aims to help communities prioritize, develop, and implement
projects to strengthen fire resiliency, increase carbon sequestration, and facilitate greenhouse
gas reductions.

The program is one element of the state’s efforts to improve forest health, protect
communities from wildfire risk and implement the California Forest Carbon Plan and Executive
Order B-52-18. Projects funded through the program will build on priority projects identified by
the Forest Management Task Force and the California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection through Executive Order N-05-19.

“Getting this funding out the door will help local communities develop watershed-level projects
that can make a big difference in forest health and fire resiliency,” California Secretary for
Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot said. “With California facing unprecedented wildfire risk, we
need every tool available to put the state on a path toward long-term wildfire prevention and
forest health.”

Six regional block grants are being awarded on a noncompetitive basis to support project
implementation in the North Coast, Central Coast, Sierra Nevada, Klamath-Cascade, and
Southern California Regions. In addition, two grants are being awarded to assist in
implementing statewide efforts.

Regional block grant recipients will oversee distribution of funding and collaborative planning
with local entities including municipal and Tribal governments, nonprofits and community
organizations, fire safe councils, land trusts, resource conservation districts, residents, private
and public forest landowners and managers, businesses, and others to accomplish the
program’s objectives.

Block grant recipients were selected based on their history of implementing related projects,
demonstrated capacity to work across regional partners, and ability to serve as fiscal
administrators for the program. 

Learn more about recipients HERE. 

From the IPCC Press Release:​

Limiting global warming to 1.5ºC would require rapid, farreaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society, the IPCC said in a new assessment. With clear benefits to people and natural ecosystems, limiting global warming to 1.5ºC compared to 2ºC could go hand in hand with ensuring a more sustainable and equitable society, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said on Monday.

The Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC was approved by the IPCC on Saturday in Incheon, Republic of Korea. It will be a key scientific input into the Katowice Climate Change Conference in Poland in December, when governments review the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change.

“With more than 6,000 scientific references cited and the dedicated contribution of thousands of expert and government reviewers worldwide, this important report testifies to the breadth and policy relevance of the IPCC,” said Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC.

Ninety-one authors and review editors from 40 countries prepared the IPCC report in response to an invitation from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) when it adopted the Paris Agreement in 2015.

The report’s full name is Global Warming of 1.5°C, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty.

“One of the key messages that comes out very strongly from this report is that we are already seeing the consequences of 1°C of global warming through more extreme weather, rising sea levels and diminishing Arctic sea ice, among other changes,” said Panmao Zhai, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group I.

The report highlights a number of climate change impacts that could be avoided by limiting global warming to 1.5ºC compared to 2ºC, or more. For instance, by 2100, global sea level rise would be 10 cm lower with global warming of 1.5°C compared with 2°C. The likelihood of an Arctic Ocean free of sea ice in summer would be once per century with global warming of 1.5°C, compared with at least once per decade with 2°C. Coral reefs would decline by 70-90 percent with global warming of 1.5°C, whereas virtually all (> 99 percent) would be lost with 2ºC.

“Every extra bit of warming matters, especially since warming of 1.5ºC or higher increases the risk associated with long-lasting or irreversible changes, such as the loss of some ecosystems,” said Hans-Otto Pörtner, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II. 

Please continue to read the IPCC Report Press Release HERE.

via the California Water Plan eNews | Sept 12, 2018

Just days before the world comes to San Francisco for the Global Climate Action Summit to collaborate on ways to protect the environment, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed an executive order to safeguard California’s unique plants, animals, and ecosystems which are threatened by climate change. The steps outlined in the executive order and complimentary California Biodiversity Initiative will improve understanding of the state’s biological richness and identify actions to preserve, manage, and restore ecosystems to protect the state’s biodiversity from climate change.

The Nature Conservancy has recently created a map overlaying GDEs and GSA boundaries. The map allows users to view where GDEs are located in their sub-basin, as well as the dominant species in each GDE. This map is a complement to the iGDE mapping mentioned below, which includes a document explaining the source of the data in the database.
 
If stakeholders, GSAs or consultants are interested in learning more about how to comply with requirements to consider GDEs, we are offering an interactive workshop at the Groundwater Resources Association Western Groundwater Conference. The workshop is on Sept. 26 from 2:30-5pm and registration is required.

If there are any questions related to any of this information, please feel free to contact me or Susan Tatayon, statayon@tnc.org.

From the workshop registration page:
"SGMA empowers local agencies to sustainably manage groundwater to benefit California’s communities, economy, and diverse natural resources.  To do this, SGMA requires local agencies to develop groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) that consider the impacts of groundwater use on a variety of beneficial uses and users including people, business, and the environment.  SGMA also includes specific requirements to identify and consider impacts to groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) in groundwater management.  Recognizing data and resource limitations, The Nature Conservancy has developed a GDE indicators mapping database in partnership with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and Department of Fish and Wildlife,  as well as a guidance document designed to help agencies identify where GDEs exist, determine whether potential effects on GDEs are occurring or may occur due to groundwater conditions, and consider GDEs when setting sustainable management criteria.  These tools provide a systematic and defensible approach that takes advantage of local, statewide, and best available scientific information to inform local decision making. This hands-on workshop will walk attendees through the GDE indicators mapping database (hosted by DWR as the “Natural Communities Commonly Associated with Groundwater dataset”) and GDE guidance document.  This is your opportunity to do a preliminary assessment of the GDEs in your basin with support from TNC and other practitioners.  Whether you are a board member on a GSA, a consultant developing a GSP, or an interested stakeholder trying to understand how GDEs fit into GSPs – this is the workshop for you!
MUST BE A REGISTERED CONGRESS ATTENDEE TO ATTEND
There is no additional charge for this workshop but space is limited so please RSVP  in order to save yourself a seat."

The CA Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Proposition 1 Watershed Restoration Grant Program Solicitation Notice has been released. The due date for the application is June 13, 2018.
The purpose of the Watershed Restoration Grant Program is to build resiliency and address immediate issues from the aftermath of recent wildfires, as well as address long-standing environmental challenges, by supporting water quality, river, and watershed protection and restoration projects of statewide importance outside the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Funds will support planning or implementation projects that address at least one of the following priorities:

• Central Valley salmon resilience and recovery: shovel-ready implementation projects that focus on Central Valley anadromous fish habitat restoration and that benefit salmonids and other native and anadromous fishes
• Large-scale wildfire recovery response: planning and implementation projects in fire-damaged watersheds that will contribute to restoration and recovery of stream and riparian habitats, prevent erosion, protect and improve water quality, and prevent potential future negative ecosystem effects
• Restoration project implementation: shovel-ready implementation projects that contribute to the recovery and conservation of special status species and protect, restore, or enhance important ecosystems identified in the California Water Action Plan (CWAP)

Examples of eligible projects include:

• Installation of fish screens
• Removal of fish barriers and dams
• Prevention of upslope erosion
• Restoration of riparian habitat
• Improvement of water quality for aquatic and riparian species
• Restoration of coastal wetland ecosystems

A workshop for this grant will be held on May 30. For more information see: https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Watersheds/Restoration-Grants
​