Our Blog
San Joaquin Valley Watershed Studies Blog Series: Ecosystem Infrastructure
The I-FIRM strategy models habitat improvements through reservoir reoperations and additional natural infrastructure that includes river restoration, flow-through basins, and shorebird habitat. This blog walks through each of these components and outcomes as they relate to ecosystem impacts in the Watershed Studies.
Groundwater Recharge Incentives and Strategies
Distributing water across the landscape for groundwater recharge benefits the groundwater basin and helps reduce downstream flood risks. The State of California has promoted the practice of on-farm recharge by making it easier for landowners to access floodflows for recharge without a water right.
GrizzlyCorps Fellow Hayley Willner’s Final Reflections
Sustainable Conservation’s Accelerating Restoration team was interested to hear perspectives from experts, project proponents, and funders throughout California on funding mechanisms for habitat restoration and what else could be done to create a stable, adequate funding system.
2026 California Leopold Conservation Award Finalists
Three finalists have been selected for the 2026 California Leopold Conservation Award. The award honors farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners who go above and beyond in their management of soil health, water quality and wildlife habitat on working land.
Announcing 2026-27 Recharge Readiness Webinar Series
While California water managers gear up for a “Super El Niño” and a potentially active water year, partners across the State have brought a variety of new advances to topics that Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) practitioners will find familiar. This recharge readiness webinar series will share information about recently completed guidance, projects, and case studies to help recharge project planners and implementers (growers and local agencies, in particular) prepare for the wet season ahead.
Why is El Niño so Hard to Understand?
Declaring an El Niño has formed is a bit like announcing the first domino in a massive Rube Goldberg machine has tipped over. What happens next depends on dozens of interconnected steps, each capable of amplifying, redirecting, or dampening the chain reaction before it reaches California.
San Joaquin Valley Watershed Studies Blog Series: Recharging for Communities and Ecosystems
Many communities have residents who have already lost or are at risk of losing their access to drinking water. These communities cannot afford to see an unmitigated, climate change-fueled future come into effect.
Sustainable Conservation 2025 Annual Report
Learn about our collective impact and environmental wins in Sustainable Conservation’s 2025 Annual Report!
San Joaquin Valley Watershed Studies Blog Series: Modeling the Future of Groundwater Recharge
To understand how water managers may protect California against flooding and groundwater overdraft in a warming climate, DWR linked several distinct pieces of software that simulated upper watershed snowpack and runoff, routed river flows, managed reservoir pools, optimized recharge operations, and modeled the resulting groundwater movement to determine the ultimate fate of recharged water.
San Joaquin Valley Watershed Studies Blog Series: A Roadmap for a Changing Climate
The Watershed Studies are a novel approach to modeling climate change impacts at the watershed scale, from precipitation trends in the upper watershed to groundwater behavior beneath the Valley floor.
Riparian Restoration 101: Definition, Techniques & Benefits
At a glance Riparian zones (the thin ribbons of green along riverbanks) are California’s most wildlife-dense habitats, supporting over 225 species of birds, mammals, and reptiles. Read full summary ▾ Over the last 100 years, development and river regulation have destroyed between 90% and 95% of these critical corridors. Investing in riverbank restoration is a…
New Guide to Help Winegrape Growers Perform Recharge on Vineyards
A Groundwater Recharge Guide for Vineyards Sustainable Conservation and the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA) have released A Groundwater Recharge Guide for Vineyards to help winegrape growers evaluate, plan, and implement on-farm groundwater recharge to contribute to regional groundwater sustainability. As California’s wine regions face growing groundwater pumping regulations under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), the guide equips growers with…