9 minute read
State News
California
Survey Finds Little Snow as Statewide Snowpack Drops to 38 Percent Following Record Dry Months (April 1, 2022)
DWR conducted the fourth snow survey of the season at Phillips Station. Following three straight months of record dry conditions, the manual survey recorded just 2.5 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of one inch, which is four percent of average for this location for April 1. April 1 is typically when the snowpack is at its highest, however the statewide snowpack likely peaked in early-March this year and the Northern Sierra snowpack peaked in mid-January. Dry conditions are impacting every region of the state, as the Northern, Central, and Southern Sierra snowpacks are all standing just above 28 percent to 43 percent of average for this date. https://water.ca.gov/News/News-Releases/2022/ April-22/April-2022-Snow-Survey
Historically Dry Conditions Impact Planned State Water Project Deliveries
On March 18, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced it must reduce the State Water Project allocation to 5 percent of requested supplies for 2022. DWR previously set the allocation at 15 percent but a historically dry January and February, with no significant storms forecast for March, requires a reduction in the allocation to conserve available water supply. In addition to the 5 percent allocation, DWR will also provide any unmet critical health and safety needs of the 29 water agencies that contract to receive State Water Project supplies. https://water.ca.gov/News/News-Releases/2022/ March-22/SWP-Allocation-March 7
Early Winter Storms Provide Much-Needed Sierra Snowpack
On December 30, 2021, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted the first snow survey of the season at Phillips Station. Early winter storms this month provided a strong start to the season and some drought relief, but California remains in a drought. Today’s manual survey recorded 78.5 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 20 inches, which is 202 percent of average for this location on this date. The snow water equivalent measures the amount of water contained in the snowpack and is a key component of DWR’s water supply forecast. Statewide the snowpack is 160 percent of average for this date. https://water.ca.gov/News/News-Releases/2021/ Dec-21/DWR-12-30-21-Snow-Survey
State Hazard Mitigation Plan Update
Biweekly meetings on Tuesday afternoons are being facilitated by Cal OES and DWR, focusing on the flood element. Anyone who is an active participant in FMA is welcome to join in the process. A draft of the SHMP will be completed by the end of June 2022. The SHMP is to be used by all state and local efforts in identifying future hazards and mitigation actions, as well as driving local general plan updates. Questions: Contact Remy Gill, CoLead, at Remy.Gill@water.ca.gov or Cal OES at SHMP@ caloes.ca.gov. https://www.caloes.ca.gov/cal-oes-divisions/hazardmitigation/hazard-mitigation-planning
DWR Releases Funds for Repairs of the Friant-Kern Canal
With California now in its third year of drought, collaboration among state, federal and local partners is critical to improving the resiliency of California’s water system. Today, the California Department of Water Resources announced it has released $29.8 million in funding to the Friant Water Authority (FWA) to repair segments of the Friant-Kern Canal, a key water conveyance facility in the San Joaquin Valley damaged by land subsidence.
STATE NEWS
“Through this investment, we are furthering a partnership to restore California’s major water conveyance systems to improve the resiliency of California’s water supply during drought and flood conditions,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “The projects, when completed, will maximize the canal’s capacity to move water efficiently through the system and improve California’s ability to boost and store its water supply.” https://water.ca.gov/News/News-Releases/2022/ March-22/Repairs-Friant-Kern-Canal
The Floodplain Management, Protection and Risk Awareness (FMPRA) Grant Program supports local agency efforts to prepare for flooding by providing financial assistance for flood risk reduction activities related to stormwater flooding, mudslides, and flash floods. On February 9, 2022, DWR received 35 full proposals requesting approximately $96 million in State funding. These included 12 planning and monitoring proposals with a total State cost-share request of approximately $15 million and 23 implementation proposals with a total State cost-share request of approximately $81 million. The Program has approximately $5 million for planning and monitoring projects and $45 million available for implementation projects. The proposals are being reviewed and the draft funding award recommendations will be released in summer 2022. Register HERE
Innovative Solar Project Awarded State Funds: DWR Funds Turlock Irrigation District to Install Solar Panels Over Canals
On February 8, the California Department of Water Resources announced the award of $20 million in funding for an innovative pilot project to install solar energy generation over water supply canals in California. This funding, allocated by Governor Newsom and the State Legislature through the 2021-22 state budget, will be used by the Turlock Irrigation District (TID) to construct a solar energy generation project over the district’s water canals. https://water.ca.gov/News/NewsReleases/2022/Feb-22/DWR-Funds-TurlockIrrigation-District-to-Install-Solar-Panels-Over-Canals
Resources
California Drought Action
The California Drought Action website provides a repository of news stories, state drought programs, and water conservation information. Each week, an update is posted about drought conditions, news, upcoming events, and key data sources. https://drought.ca.gov/
California Water Watch Website
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has launched a new website, California Water Watch, that helps Californians easily access information on current local and statewide water conditions - down to their own region and even neighborhood. The website brings together data from DWR and other sources to provide dynamic realtime information on precipitation, temperature, reservoirs, snowpack, groundwater, streamflow, soil moisture, and vegetation conditions. Users can enter an address to see local conditions, including daily precipitation and temperature statistics, for their area and links to water supplier information. The website also allows users to compare data on local conditions by year and by region. https://cww.water.ca.gov/ Training
Floodplain Management and Duties of a Local Floodplain Administrator Workshop
Hosted by California Department of Water Resources and Nevada Division of Water Resources.
Intended Audience: Floodplain administrators, private consultants, surveyors, government officials, building, planning, and public works staff from communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program. Register HERE
Tuesday, April 12, 2022 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM City of Roseville, 2005 Hilltop Circle Roseville, CA 95747
STATE NEWS
FEMA Elevation Certificate
Hosted by California Department of Water Resources and Nevada Division of Water Resources.
Intended Audience: Floodplain administrators, private consultants, surveyors, government officials, building, planning, and public works staff from communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program. Register HERE
Wednesday, April 13, 2022 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM City of Roseville, 2005 Hilltop Circle Roseville, CA 95747
Floodplain Management Review Course
Hosted by California Department of Water Resources and Nevada Division of Water Resources.
This one-day workshop is designed as a review course of basic floodplain management principles for those who are considering taking the examination to become Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM®). This full-day review is not a replacement for studying for the exam. Attendees should not expect to complete this workshop and pass the CFM® exam without additional study. Suggested additional materials to study, for those intending to become a CFM®, can be found on the Association for State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) website. Attendance at this course is not a guarantee of passing the CFM® exam. Additional training is provided by FEMA through the Emergency Management Institute (EMI). Register HERE
Thursday, April 14, 2022 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM City of Roseville, 2005 Hilltop Circle Roseville, CA 95747
Certified Floodplain Manger Exam
Hosted by the California Department of Water Resources and Nevada Division of Water Resources. You will need to first register through Eventbrite and then you will be sent the link to register for the CFM exam through ASFPM. The ASFPM registration requires downloading and returning a completed application package with the required payment. Register HERE
Friday, April 15, 2022 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM PDT City of Roseville, 2005 Hilltop Circle Roseville, CA 95747 9
Upcoming Events
2022 Watershed University Summit: April 26-27 (9:00 am-11:30 am both days)
Join other professionals in floodplain management, water management, emergency management and related fields to learn about innovative projects and technology, as well as new approaches to projects. Virtually connect with peers from local, state, and federal agencies on these issues and build relationships for the future. Topics include: • Floodplain Management in the 21st Century • The Unified National Program for Floodplain Management • Nature-Based Flood Management Solutions: Engineering with Nature • The National Flood Insurance Program Community Rating System • Nonstructural and Resilience-Based Approaches to Flood Management Register HERE
Flood Safety Stakeholder Technical Workshop
Sponsored by the Oroville Dam Citizens Advisory Commission, this workshop will allow the California Resources Agency, Department of Water Resources, and other government officials to hear directly from and speak directly to stakeholders about their goals, interests and concerns related to flood safety and downstream communities. Planned topics include extreme precipitation, managing large floods, role of Oroville Dam in floodplain management, mapping, and evacuation planning. The workshop will be held virtually from 9:00 am-12:00 pm on Friday, April 22. Contact Nikki Blomquist, DWR, at (916) 820-7749 or Nick Saffold, Event Facilitator (415) 697-0577 for more information about the event. Meeting information
STATE NEWS
Hawaii
See the latest news stories relating to Hawaii’s floodplain management issues. For the transformed flood information platform from Hawaii visit their exciting weekly blog at https://waihalana.hawaii.gov/ Some of the latest postings relate to hurricane preparedness, stewarding our environment, and Flood Insurance. For archived Wai Halana Newsletters (prior to 2018) https://dlnreng.hawaii.gov/nfip/wai-halana/
Nevada
The Nevada Floodplain Management Program has been out and about in the community doing outreach. We attended the Fernley STEM Festival which had a large turn out and an interested audience. This was one of our most successful events since before 2020. Our Flood Fighter Nevada educational computer game with its newly created paired educational curriculum has been making has been making its debut in some Northern Nevada classrooms. A goal of ours this year is to work with teachers and to provide training on our flood awareness educational resources.
A new round of Silver Jackets projects is just kicking off! These projects include a virtual forum that will take place during Nevada’s Flood Awareness Week in November that will include relevant flood awareness topic discussion and education, along with a teacher training portion. We will also be working with Silver Jackets to prepare some Floodplain Management Plans for a few watersheds that contain dams that are eligible to apply for the Rehabilitation of High Hazard Potential Dams (HHPD) grant program. Nevada Floodplain Management collaborated with California Division of Water Resources to bring trainings to local floodplain managers in April. We had a great turnout and topics included Floodplain Management, NFIP, Elevation Certificates and CFM prep. We were able to offer the last in person CFM exam before ASFPM transitions to offering it virtually. Nevada Floodplain Management is performing more Community Assistance Contacts than ever before. Our goal is to get our communities on a 5-year cycle for Community Assistance Contacts/ Community Assistance Visits. This requires Nevada’s State Coordinator to complete about 7 a year, which is a big lift. As funding is likely to increase for our program in the next couple of years, we are starting to look toward expanding our staff so that we can better manage the needs of Floodplain Management for Nevada.
