IEP Stakeholders News

Climate Bond Grant Program Announcement

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy Board voted to approve two new solicitation notices that will primarily be funded by the Proposition 4 Climate Bond.

1. The Delta Community, Environment, and Climate Grant Program: This program will fund multi-benefit projects in the Delta and Suisun Marsh.
2. A Small Grant Program: This program will fund projects under $100,000 that make transformative investments in the Delta's social, economic, scientific, and physical infrastructure.

The Conservancy will solicit proposals that focus on at least one of three priorities, as described below:

• Nature Based Solutions: Projects that help stop or reverse ongoing subsidence and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on highly organic soils by supporting farmers transitioning to rice cultivation or managed wetlands and providing them with technical assistance.
• Community Enhancement: Projects that improve outdoor access, preserve the Delta's heritage, or enhance the unique values of the Delta. Examples include planning, land acquisition, trails, parks, environmental education, or historic building renovations.
• Ecosystem Restoration: Projects that protect and restore the Delta and Suisun Marsh's natural resources, environment, and biodiversity. Examples include planning; education; habitat restoration; enhancement, and protection; watershed resilience; land acquisitions; and conservation easements.

The Conservancy expects to release these detailed solicitation notices in September 2026.

More information on these solicitations will be available on their website under the Proposition 4 Climate Bond Grant Program.

ABOUT THE SACRAMENTO-SAN JOAQUIN DELTA CONSERVANCY

Working collaboratively with local communities, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy leads efforts to protect, enhance, and restore the Delta’s economy, agriculture and working landscapes, and environment for the benefit of the Delta region, its local communities, and the citizens of California.

Greetings IEP Community Members,

Our next quarterly meeting of the IEP Project Work Team (PWT) Chair & Stakeholder Group is Wednesday, August 12, 2026 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

• August 12 meeting agenda (PDF) (meeting link included in agenda)

The meeting is hybrid (in person + MS Teams). However, for this meeting we are kindly requesting PWT Chairs attend in person, if possible. The meeting will be held in the Garibaldi Conference Room #114 at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife West Sacramento office (1010 Riverside Parkway, West Sacramento, CA 95605).

If you will be attending in person, RSVP to iep@wildlife.ca.gov. We will provide your name to the front desk security. Guest WiFi is not available, but you can hotspot with your phone, if needed.

Our last meeting of the year is Thursday, November 12, 2026. If you have an interest in presenting at this meeting, contact us at iep@wildlife.ca.gov.

Greetings IEP Community Members,

Below is a list of newly published or updated IEP datasets and recently published papers from IEP partners.

If you have something you'd like to share with the IEP community, please contact us at iep@wildlife.ca.gov.

IEP Datasets

Listed below are three recently published or updated IEP datasets on EDI from IEP Program Elements.

• IEP Program Element 062 – The Quantitative Analysis of Stomach Contents and Body Weight for Pelagic Fishes (aka The Diet and Condition Study)
  • This group recently published their new Delta smelt diet dataset on EDI.
    • Burdi, C.E., N.K. Ugbah, S.B. Slater, T.L. Bippus, D. Anaya, M.W. Johnson, and J.A. Jimenez. 2026. Interagency Ecological Program: Delta Smelt Diet Data collected in the San Francisco Estuary ver 1. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/20501215a5c73b1260ad847f266ced6e (Accessed 2026-06-09)
• IEP Program Element 077 – Upper Estuary Zooplankton Sampling (aka Zooplankton Study)
  • This group recently published their new zooplankton dataset on EDI.
    • Shaw, C.T. 2026. Interagency Ecological Program Zooplankton Study ver 14. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/3678dfea5b965f8ef408f58803fbb11b (Accessed 2026-06-11).
• IEP Program Element 353 – The Fish Facilities Monitoring Project
  • They recently updated their Fish Facilities Salvage Data, San Francisco, California 1993-2025 on EDI.
    • Afentoulis, V., G. Aasen, W. Griffiths, T. Celeste, T.D. Malinich, S. Siddiqui, and L. Damon. 2026. Fish Facilities Salvage Data, San Francisco, California, 1993-2025 ver 9. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/f1da5e94135634b7f601be6379dda133 (Accessed 2026-06-11).

Publications

Listed below are three recently published papers from the U.S. Geological Survey highlighting some of their activities in the Bay-Delta.

• Designs for Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
  • This is a preprint article available on the Earth and Space Science Open Archive.
    • Keith Bouma-Gregson, Lisa V Lucas, Andrea Jaegge, et al. Designs for Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California. ESS Open Archive. 05 December 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.176495220.03206867/v1
• An Integrated Sensor Network and Data Driven Approach to Satellite Remote Sensing of Dissolved Organic Matter
  • This is an open access article.
    • Avouris, D. M., Hestir, E. L., Fleck, J., Hansen, J. A., & Bergamaschi, B. A. (2025). An integrated sensor network and data driven approach to satellite remote sensing of dissolved organic matter. Earth and Space Science, 12, e2024EA004048. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EA004048
• Estimating Biogeochemical Rates Using a Computationally Efficient Lagrangian Approach
  • This is an open access article.
    • Gross, E., Holleman, R., Kimmerer, W. et al. Estimating Biogeochemical Rates Using a Computationally Efficient Lagrangian Approach. Estuaries and Coasts 47, 1435–1455 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-024-01381-4

Greetings IEP Community Members,

The State Water Contractors would like us to share the announcement on their upcoming Summer Science Symposium - Cleaner Waters and Broader Benefits: Lessons from the Convergence of Physical, Biological, and Chemical Restoration.

Registration is required to attend, so please RSVP to science@swc.org to save your spot.

This workshop aims to advance a more integrated approach towards co-managing contaminants for broader ecosystem benefits in the Bay-Delta and watersheds.

Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 4:15 p.m. with a Social hour to follow.
Place: Capitol Event Center at the MAY Building - 1020 11th St., Sacramento

The formal agenda will be sent closer to the event.

Greetings IEP Community Members,

The Delta Coordination Group's Science and Monitoring Work Group, an interagency team of government scientists and resource managers, recently released their report "Summer-Fall Habitat Actions for Delta Smelt — Report on Effectiveness of Actions Taken Between 2011 and 2024 (PDF)".

This report describes the science behind the Delta Smelt Summer-Fall Habitat Action, including Fall X2 and the operation of the Suisun Marsh Salinity Control Gates. It provides a weight-of-evidence approach to evaluate the effectiveness of the actions intended to improve Delta smelt habitat, survival, and recruitment.

Questions? Contact Rosemary Hartman at the California Department of Water Resources (Rosemary.Hartman@water.ca.gov).

Greetings IEP Community Members,

The Aquatic Vegetation Project Work Team plans to host a free Delta Aquatic Identification Workshop in September if there is enough interest. Please complete this survey by June 12.

• Aquatic Vegetation Identification Workshop Survey

Tentative Agenda

During the first half of the workshop, experts will give presentations covering common species of emergent, floating, and submersed aquatic vegetation found in the Bay-Delta ecosystem, including native and non-native species. During the second half, participants will get hands-on identification experience with live specimens of many of the species covered in the presentations. The workshop will be approximately four hours and will likely take place at the California Department of Water Resources West Sacramento office (3500 Industrial Blvd., West Sacramento, CA 95691).

Feel free to share this survey link with others.

Nicholas Rasmussen and Shruti Khanna
Co-chairs of the Aquatic Vegetation Project Work Team

Greetings IEP Community Members,

The Delta Science Program would like us to share the announcement from the National Academies on their call for experts for Cycle #2 Central Valley Project & State Water Project Review. Nominations are due this Friday, May 22, 2026.

Review of the Long-Term Operations of the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project: Cycle 2

We are seeking experts to participate in a study on monitoring and modeling to support long-term operations of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project. To be considered, please submit your nomination by May 22, 2026.

• Nomination Link

The National Academies are convening an ad hoc committee to conduct a biennial review of the scientific activities that support the long-term operations of the Central Valley Project (CVP). Conducted alongside the State Water Project, these coordinated federal-state water operations move millions of acre-feet of water annually across California and have implications for species protected under the Endangered Species Act. This second cycle of the review will focus on monitoring and modeling improvements to better understand how ecosystem functions are affected by project operations.

We are seeking suggestions for experts with experience in the following areas:

• Fish biology, ecology, genetics, modeling, and monitoring
• Habitat restoration
• Freshwater ecology
• Climate science
• Endangered Species Act and other relevant laws and regulations
• Water resources management, including reservoir operations
• Surface water hydrology, including estuarine circulation
• Statistics or biostatistics

Selected experts may contribute as committee members, speakers, participants, or peer reviewers for the resulting consensus study and report. Nominations will inform the development of a volunteer committee and related activities for this study.

Submissions are due by May 22, 2026, at 11:59 PM (ET).

You’re Invited – Delta ISB Panel on Nature-based Solutions

Over the coming months, the Delta Independent Science Board will host a series of panels to explore nature-based solutions, including associated challenges and needs, to help shape a potential review that is meaningful and useful for the Delta community.

The first panel will take place on May 22, 2026 at 1 pm at the Board’s meeting, focusing on perspectives from State agencies to understand what is happening in California. Panelists include:

• Wade Crowfoot, California Natural Resources Agency
• Campbell Ingram, Delta Conservancy
• Tawny Mata, California Department of Food and Agriculture
• Nick Martorano, State Water Resources Control Board, and
• Steve Rothert, California Department of Water Resources.

Later in the year, the Delta ISB will also host panels focused on work at the national level and within the Delta.

You can participate via Zoom or in-person at the California Natural Resources Agency (Room 2-302, 715 P St, Sacramento, CA 95814).

See the meeting notice for additional information (PDF).

Questions? Contact disb@deltacouncil.ca.gov

Greetings IEP Community Members,

Mark your calendar! Our next quarterly meeting of the IEP PWT Chair & Stakeholder Group is Wednesday, May 13, 2026 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

• May 13 meeting agenda (PDF) (meeting link included in agenda)

The meeting is hybrid (in person + MS Teams). The meeting will be held in the Garibaldi Conference Room at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (1010 Riverside Parkway, West Sacramento, CA 95605) West Sacramento office. 

If you'd like to join us in person, RSVP to iep@wildlife.ca.gov so we can provide your name to the front desk. No guest WiFi will be available, but you can hotspot with your phone, if needed.

Would you like to present at a future meeting or request a topic for the agenda? Contact us at iep@wildlife.ca.gov.

This is a reminder that the 2026 Delta Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Bloom (CHABs) Workshop is less than 2 weeks away. The workshop will be held on March 19, 2026, at the California Natural Resources Building in Sacramento (also a remote attendance option). The agenda is below and the registration link included the agenda.

• March 19 Delta CHABs Workshop Agenda (PDF) (registration link inside the agenda)

Please register by March 17th. We look forward to seeing you all there to discuss the ongoing efforts to understand and manage CHABs in the Delta.

If you have any questions, please contact Keith Bouma-Gregson (kbouma-gregson@usgs.gov).

Delta CHABs Implementation Team Co-chairs:
Keith Bouma-Gregson, Ellen Preece, Laura Twardochleb, and Scott Navarro

Location:
California Natural Resources Building
715 P St, Sacramento, CA 95814, Room 2-302A & 2-302B (In-person or remote; sessions after lunch will be in-person only)
March 19, 2026 | 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Goal: Implement Recommendation 1.5 of the Delta CHABs Monitoring Strategy (PDF)

“Recommendation 1.5: Hold an annual meeting focused specifically on Delta CHABs
As recommendations are implemented and lessons are learned, consistent meetings with people engaged in Delta CHAB monitoring are necessary. This allows a cohesive approach to CHAB monitoring and community-based course correction to support adaptive management. An annual meeting is an important event that can be used to inform the community about ongoing efforts related to CHABs.”