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Friends of the River works to protect, restore, and preserve California's rivers and their watersheds, and advocates for sustainable water management.

California Local Pin Marker Local Sustainability Digest

A Century Later, Salmon Again Spawning in Klamath River After Dams Removed

10/31/2024

Sixty years ago, I was a reporter for the Klamath Falls (Oregon) Herald and News and with my family lived in a small house on the Link River, which flows out of Upper Klamath Lake, draining a large portion of the Cascade mountain range.

A Third Straight Year With No California Salmon Fishing?  Early Fish Counts Suggest It Could Happen

10/30/2024

Low counts of spawning salmon could mean another year without fishing. Experts say the outlook still has time to turn around.

California Local Pin Marker Recent Articles

Image caption: The author, left, with Hilltromper Managing Director Mike Kahn at the Cotoni Coast Dairies National Monument.
A Collective, Monumental Effort

The Cotoni Coast Dairies National Monument, just north of Santa Cruz, brought a community together.

Image caption: Tens of thousands of truck loads of earth will be moved to raise the B.F. Sisk Dam by ten feet.
The Ups and Downs of California Dams

We check in on efforts to raise some dams in the state to store more water, and to raze some dams to to let water run free.

Image caption: Incorporated communities in California must manage local resources and your tax dollars according to a plan.
The Central Role of Planning in California Government

General Plans, mandated by the state and carried out by local counties, cities, and other municipalities, serve as a locality’s ‘constitution'.

San Jose Inside logo LOCAL NEWS
California Climate Programs Would Lose Billions in Newsom’s Budget

As funds for climate change programs are cut, Democrats and environmentalists are pushing for a bond measure on the ballot to restore some funding.

Image caption: 207 units of market rate housing in Santa Cruz almost ready for occupancy in May 2024
How California Manages Housing as a Public Resource

Like the 33 million acres of forest in California, the nearly 15 million units of housing in the state are tended and managed with future generations in mind. Meet the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

Image caption: A view of the Helen Madere Memorial Bridge crossing the Sacramento River at Rio Vista in Solano County, California.
California Forever: Building a New Community From the Ground Up

We take a closer look at ambitious plans to build a new community of up to 400,000 residents in Solano County.

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Stewart Brand’s ‘Whole Earth’ and its Place in the Universe

Meet the hippie intellectual who changed the world with the first published photograph of our entire planet.

Image caption: West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz, California, following a storm in January 2023. Throughout the state, communities are being forced to budget for disaster.
Budgeting for Resilience

California communities are focusing resources in response to the effects of climate change and other challenges.

Image caption: California has a goal of 6 million heat pumps cooling and heating buildings by 2030.
6 Million New Heat Pumps: Essential to California's Climate Future

Heat pumps, an energy-efficient way to both heat and cool homes, are a necessary element of California's climate goal of net zero carbon emissions. Here's what they are, how they work, and how to get one.

Image caption: Felicia Van Stolk in her museum's front-yard garden.
A Native-Plant Garden Helps Transform a Neighborhood

On Hilltromper, a conversation with Felicia Van Stolk of the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History about her Garden Learning Center.

Featured

Water is a human right under California law, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
Agriculture and Water Shortages in the State’s Breadbasket, Explained
There are many causes contributing to this crisis. And as you may already know, this situation really is nuts.
RCDs look after the land, whether it’s used for grazing, growing, or getting out into nature.
California Dirt
RCDs were created to avoid a repeat of the Dust Bowl. Now they work with landowners to preserve the air, water and natural habitats that sustain us all.
Moss Landing in Monterey Bay is the world’s largest battery storage facility for solar and other renewable energy.
Solar Power and California’s Clean Energy Goals
How the sun is helping push the state toward 100 percent renewable energy.
Dairy products are California’s top agricultural commodity, but the industry is often criticized for its impact on the environment.
Sustainable Sustenance
Greener ways to feed the world’s growing population
How California reclamation districts turned millions of acres of wetlands into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush.
Reclamation Districts: Turning ‘Swamps’ Into Farmland
From its earliest days as a state, California has been trying to turn marshes into productive land.
Long-duration energy storage, such as this thermal energy storage facility, allows renewable energy sources to operate at full capacity without overloading the power grid.
How California Leads the Race For Long Duration Energy Storage
For renewable energy sources such as solar and wind to be viable, ways to store the power they create are essential.
California has a goal of 6 million heat pumps cooling and heating buildings by 2030.
6 Million New Heat Pumps: Essential to California's Climate Future
Installing 6 million heat pumps by 2030 is essential if California is to reach its goal of net zero carbon emissions.
207 units of market rate housing in Santa Cruz almost ready for occupancy in May 2024
How California Manages Housing as a Public Resource
Like the 33 million acres of forest in California, the nearly 15 million units of housing in the state are tended and managed with future generations in mind.
Incorporated communities in California must manage local resources and your tax dollars according to a plan.
The Central Role of Planning in California Government
General Plans, mandated by the state and carried out by local counties, cities, and other municipalities, serve as a locality’s ‘constitution'.
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