Delta Landscapes Workshop – July 25, 2017
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy is pleased to announce the Delta Landscape Workshop co-hosted by the Delta Conservancy, the Delta Stewardship Council’s Delta Science Program, the San Francisco Estuary Institute, and the Water Education Foundation. At this Delta Landscapes briefing, participants will test-run and provide feedback on a user’s guide that can be used to integrate the technical findings of the Delta Landscapes Project for use by the Delta community.
This Workshop is scheduled on July 25th from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at the City of West Sacramento Civic Center Galleria, 1110 West Capitol Ave., West Sacramento. A flyer for the event can be found here.
Please click here to register for the event.
OPEN FOR COMMENTS – Draft 2017/2018 Proposition 1 Grant Guidelines
The Delta Conservancy has released its draft 2017-2018 Grant Guidelines for public review and comment. Please submit comments via email to prop1grants@deltaconservancy.ca.gov. The public comment period will close on June 30, 2017.
On June 20th, the Conservancy will hold a public workshop to provide information about the revised Grant Guidelines and to prepare applicants for the upcoming grant proposal cycle. Public comment will be invited at the workshop. For more information, visit the Conservancy’s Training Opportunities webpage.
For more information about the Delta Conservancy’s Ecosystem Restoration and Water Quality Grant Program, please visit the Grant Program webpage.
Delta Conservancy Approves $4.4 Million to Benefit Delta Ecosystems, Water Quality, and Water-Related Agricultural Sustainability
Monday, 5/1/2017
WEST SACRAMENTO – The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy (Conservancy) approved approximately $4.4 million for four projects that restore and enhance ecosystems, improve water quality, and support water-related agricultural sustainability in the Delta. The Conservancy provides funding through a competitive grant process made possible by a voter-approved bond measure, Proposition 1 – the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014.
Read the press release here.
ACR Approves Landmark Carbon Offset Methodology for California Wetland Restoration
SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 25, 2017 – Today the American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, announced approval of a new carbon offset methodology to scientifically quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions from the restoration of California deltaic and coastal wetlands. The methodology was developed by a high-profile group of partners — the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy as lead agency and HydroFocus as lead author with technical support from the University of California at Berkeley and Tierra Resources. Funding for the methodology was provided by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), the California Coastal Conservancy, the Metropolitan Water District and California Department of Water Resources (DWR).
The new ACR methodology combines California data and restoration techniques to create a rigorous scientific framework for carbon offset project development. Opportunities are abundant to enhance current land-use practices by restoring wetlands or converting to rice cultivation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Suisun Marsh, and California coastal areas. Carbon offsets generated by the projects can be sold to corporations to meet their voluntary emissions-reduction goals. Additional sources of offsets are also being considered by California regulators for eligibility in the state’s Cap-and-Trade Program, under which power plants and oil refineries are mandated to reduce or offset their emissions.
“Restoration activities that rebuild subsided lands are critical to long-term ecosystem sustainability, are important to reducing the risk of levy failure and sea level rise, and are a significant source of GHG emissions reductions.” said Steve Deverel, President of HydroFocus.
In the Bay-Delta Area, more than 90 percent of historic tidal wetlands disappeared in the last 150 years. Over 2.5 billion cubic meters of organic soils have disappeared since delta islands were first diked and drained for agriculture in the late 1800s, resulting in land subsidence up to 25 feet below sea level. Drained and cultivated organic soils continue to oxidize, subside and emit an estimated 1.5 to 2 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent annually — equal to annual emissions from over 300,000 passenger vehicles.
Research in freshwater emergent wetlands on delta organic soils shows that carbon capture wetlands are the most carbon-rich landscape per acre. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), DWR, HydroFocus and the University of California at Berkeley have been studying subsidence and GHG emissions of rice and managed wetlands in the delta since the 1980s and have documented very high rates of primary productivity in wetlands.
“State and federal funding remains insufficient to address land subsidence that threatens the California water system, and carbon market revenues could help fill the funding gap,” said Campbell Ingram, executive officer of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy. ”The new ACR methodology provides an incentive to landowners in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Suisun Marsh, and other historically natural wetland areas in California to convert their most subsided and marginal agricultural lands to wetlands or to produce wetlands crops such as rice, which will stop land subsidence and reverse it over time.”
ACR Presents Innovation Award to the Delta Conservancy
SAN FRANCISCO, April 20, 2017 – Last night, the American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, hosted its annual gala reception to recognize and thank its members and partners. ACR Director John Kadyszewski welcomed guests, presented highlights from the year and described the awards to be presented, including the individual Climate Leadership award as well as organizational awards based on ACR’s guiding principles of innovation, quality and excellence.
The Innovation award was presented to the developers of a landmark methodology for California wetland restoration. ACR honored the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy as the lead agency, HydroFocus as the lead author and both U.C. Berkeley and Tierra Resources for technical support for the development of the methodology for the Restoration of California Deltaic and Coastal Wetlands. Funding for the methodology was provided by the California Coastal Conservancy, Department of Water Resources, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Metropolitan Water District and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD).
In the San Francisco Bay Area, more than 90 percent of historic tidal wetlands disappeared in the last 150 years. Over 2.5 billion cubic meters of organic soils have disappeared since delta islands were first diked and drained for agriculture in the late 1800s, resulting in land subsidence up to 25 feet below sea level. Drained and cultivated organic soils in the delta continue to oxidize, subside and emit an estimated one to two million metric tons of CO2-equivalent annually — equal to annual emissions from over 300,000 passenger vehicles.
“We have been pleased to work with ACR and other partners on this methodology and appreciate the recognition,” said Steve Deverel, president of HydroFocus. “Restoration activities that rebuild subsided lands are critical to long-term ecosystem sustainability, are important to reducing the risk of levy failure and sea level rise, and are a significant source of GHG emissions reductions.”
“State and federal funding remains insufficient to address land subsidence that threatens the California water system, and carbon market revenues could help fill the funding gap,” added Campbell Ingram, executive officer of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy. ”The new ACR methodology provides an incentive to landowners in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Suisun Marsh and other historically natural wetland areas in California to convert their most subsided and marginal agricultural lands to wetlands, or to produce wetlands crops such as rice, which will stop land subsidence and reverse it over time.””
Winter 2017 Conservancy Newsletter Now Available!
The Conservancy’s Winter Newsletter is now available and can be found here. The newsletter includes updates on the first sign postings of the Delta MERP Program, the Conservancy’s Strategic Plan, and the Proposition 1 Grant Program, among many others!
