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.
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.
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.
Recharge is a practice that Sustainable Conservation has championed for over a decade largely because of the myriad beneficiaries it creates. The “Recharge For…” dropdown menu focuses on specific benefits and resources for growers, water districts and groundwater sustainability agencies, communities, ecosystems, and policymakers.
Sustainable Conservation’s team is hard at work to scale multibenefit groundwater recharge to capture water in wet years, store it underground, and make it available in dry years.
Sustainable Conservation and the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), along with UC ANR and other partners, have released a new guidance document — Cover Cropping in California’s Water Scarce Environments — to help growers harness the many benefits of cool-season cover crops while reducing water use. As farmers adapt to a changing water supply, this guide provides practical considerations about cover crop species, timing, and management to reduce runoff, increase infiltration and water retention, and bolster overall soil health.
Are you a California farmer, rancher, or forestland owner who improves soil health, water quality, and wildlife habitat on your working land? Apply for the 2025 California Leopold Conservation Award®
Read Don Cameron’s Fresno Bee op-ed on why a vote for California’s Proposition 4
presents historic investment in nature-based solutions to safeguard both natural resources and the communities that rely on them.
Proposition 4 offers a significant opportunity to mitigate these disasters and bolster our state’s environmental resilience for decades to come. This critical funding initiative — which will appear for all Californians on the November ballot — presents historic investment in nature-based solutions to safeguard both natural resources and the communities that rely on them.
Sustainable Conservation, in partnership with Netafim USA, is excited to announce the award of a Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). This grant will fund a first-of-its-kind pilot project at De Jager Dairy, where the award-winning Subsurface Drip Irrigation for Dairy Effluent (SDI-E) system will be adapted to irrigate and fertilize almond crops.
John Chacon / California Department of Water Resources Sustainable Conservation recognizes that healthy soil is foundational to the state’s water system, agricultural production, and human health. Agriculture is the backbone of our state’s rural communities, food supply, and economy. However, California’s farming future and our collective health hinge on how we steward our precious water…
Sustainable Conservation’s CEO Ashley Boren recently contributed a guest opinion column that has been published in the Sacramento, Modesto, and Fresno Bees as well as the Merced Sun-Star. The piece, titled “A resilient water future for the San Joaquin Valley is within reach. Here’s how”, emphasizes how 2023 was a banner year for groundwater recharge, yet there’s more we…