IEP Stakeholders News

Greetings IEP PWT Chairs and Community members,

A reminder that our next quarterly IEP Project Work Team Chair & Stakeholder Group meeting will be Wednesday, August 14, 2024 from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. This will be a shorter meeting than normal due to summer schedules. See the meeting agenda below for the MS Teams link.

The meeting will be hybrid (in-person + MS Teams) and held at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife office (1010 Riverside Parkway, West Sacramento) in the Garibaldi Conference Room. If coming in person, send an email to iep@wildlife.ca.gov so we can provide your name to the front desk personnel. Guest WiFi will not be available inside the building, so please bring your phone to hotspot, if needed.

• August 14 meeting agenda (pdf)

We look forward to seeing you all there.

If you'd like to present at a future meeting, or would like to request a topic for a future meeting, send Program Support an email at iep@wildlife.ca.gov.

Kind regards,
IEP Program Support

Hello All!

The DELTA (Developing Environmental Literacy, Taking Action) education program was developed for grades 6 – 8, emphasizing student interactions with scientists that work in the Delta through hands-on scientific investigations, and evidence-based explanations for discoveries. It's hoped that this program will provide students in the region, as well as their families, with information about the important role that science plays in managing Delta water for the state's people and its environment.

The curriculum meets California standards for science and English-Language Arts, with different emphases for each grade level:

• 6th: Introduction to California's water infrastructure and how it works (tentative timeframe is January or early February 2025)
• 7th: Ecosystem monitoring with an interactive field component (tentatively scheduled during the week of September 9th, 2024. Many volunteers are needed due to the field component.)
• 8th: Invasive species and environmental DNA monitoring (tentative timeframe is March or April 2025)

Please fill out our DELTA Education Program Volunteer Interest Survey form if you would like to volunteer.

Thank you!
The DELTA Team

Sarah Brown, PhD
Senior Environmental Scientist (Supervisor)
sarah.brown@water.ca.gov
Division of Integrated Science & Engineering
California Department of Water Resources
Mobile: (279) 386-6084

Greetings IEP Community members,

The Culture and Supplementation of Smelt (CASS) Steering Committee has released their annual memo (PDF) to request proposals for the use of cultured Delta Smelt originating from the U.C. Davis Fish Conservation & Culture Laboratory from the 2025 year-class. Review the memo to learn more about the proposal submittal process.

Note, there will only be one opportunity to submit requests for 2025 brood year fish; 2024 brood-year post-spawn adult fish may also be available. Requests must be submitted to Nora De Cuir (Kearns & West) at ndecuir@kearnswest.com on or before September 30, 2024.

Share this announcement with others who may be interested.

Kind regards,
IEP Program Support
iep@wildlife.ca.gov

Greetings IEP Community members,

The Department of Water Resources has completed the West False River Comprehensive Emergency Drought Barrier Effectiveness Report. This report with accompanying appendices encapsulates the 2-years of the Emergency Drought Barrier activities, data, and analysis.

• Emergency Drought Barrier Effectiveness Report and Appendices (pdf)

Contact Rosemary Hartman if you have any questions or issues accessing the files.

Greetings IEP Community members,

Below are five items that may be of interest to the IEP community. Please share this information with others.

Aquatic Vegetation ID Workshop

The Aquatic Vegetation Project Work Team plans to host a vegetation ID workshop in September 2024, if a sufficient number of people (>20) express interest via this short survey. Please submit survey responses by Monday, June 10th. Please share the survey with anyone else who might be interested.

During the first half of the workshop, experts will give presentations covering common species 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 take place at DWR - West Sacramento (3500 Industrial Blvd).

• Aquatic Vegetation Identification Workshop survey

Contact Nick Rasmussen (nicholas.rasmussen@water.ca.gov) for questions.

Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds

Fiscal Year 2024 Building Partner Capacity and Promoting Resiliency and Equity under Clean Water Act, Wetlands, Nonpoint Source, Monitoring, Assessment and Listing Programs

• Initial Announcement EPA-OW-OWOW-24-03 (pdf)

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. BACKGROUND

The EPA is soliciting applications from eligible applicants to provide support for training and related activities to build the capacity of agricultural partners, state, territorial and Tribal officials and nongovernmental stakeholders in activities to be carried out to support the goals of the Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 303(d) Program, the CWA 305(b) Program, the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program, the Nonpoint Source (CWA Section 319) Program, the Fish Monitoring/Advisory Programs, the Recreational Waters/Beach Monitoring Programs and the Water Quality Monitoring Program.

B. STATUTORY AUTHORITY

The statutory authority for the assistance agreements to be funded under this announcement is Section 104(b)(3) of the CWA which authorizes assistance agreements for the following activities: conducting or promoting the coordination and acceleration of research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys and studies relating to the causes, effects (including health and welfare effects), extent, prevention, reduction and elimination of water pollution.

Implementation projects are not eligible for funding under this announcement. If the application is a demonstration project, then the applicant must describe how it meets the following requirement. Demonstration projects must involve new or experimental technologies, methods, or approaches. The EPA expects that the results of the project will be disseminated so that others can benefit from the knowledge gained in the demonstration project. A project that is accomplished through the performance of routine, traditional, or established practices, or a project that is simply intended to carry out a task rather than transfer information or advance the state of knowledge, however worthwhile the project might be, is not a demonstration project. For applications that include demonstration projects, the applicant must describe how the project meets the above requirements.

C. NATIONAL PRIORITY AREAS

Each application submitted under this announcement must address one, and only one, of the five National Priority Areas described below. Applicants may submit more than one complete application package under this announcement as long as each application is separately submitted and addresses only one National Priority Area. The cover page of each application package must clearly indicate the National Priority Area addressed in the application. If an applicant submits an application that addresses more than one National Priority Area, it will be deemed ineligible and will not be reviewed.

National Priority Area I: State and Tribal Aquatic Resource Monitoring Technical Training and Capacity Building Workshops
National Priority Area II: State, Tribal and Territorial Data Management and Data Sharing Training Workshops in Support of CWA Section 303(d), CWA Section 305(b), TMDLs and Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment
National Priority Area III: Training Workshops on Recreational Waters and Beach Monitoring Programs
National Priority Area IV: Nonpoint Source Technical Support for Tribes
National Priority Area V: Training Workshop on Fish Monitoring and Advisory Programs

A full application package  can be found on the Grants.gov web page under the grant opportunity EPA-OW-OWOW-24-03.

Applications must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov by July 17, 2024 at 11:59 P.M. EDT. Late submission will not be considered for funding. Questions about this RFA must be submitted in writing via e-mail and must be received by the Agency Contact identified in Section VII, AGENCY CONTACTS, by July 01, 2024.

2024 Bay-Delta Science Conference Call for Abstracts

The due date for submitting an abstract for the 2024 Bay-Delta Science Conference has been extended to June 10, 2024. For more information, visit the Bay-Delta Science Conference website.

Draft Grand Challenges to Delta Science

The Delta Science Program is developing the third iteration of the Delta Science Plan, which aims to provide the vision, principles, and approaches for coordinating science in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. This iteration's proposed focus is on addressing the “wicked” problems, or “grand challenges,” facing Delta science.

An essay detailing the literature review process and draft grand challenges (pdf) is now posted, and the authors are seeking feedback.

The opportunity to comment starts May 28, 2024. Comments may be submitted via this online survey, emailed to collaborativescience@deltacouncil.ca.gov, or mailed to the following address by July 12, 2024, to be considered for the final Grand Challenges Essay.

Delta Science Program
Collaborative Science and Peer Review Unit
715 P Street, 15-300
Sacramento, CA 95814

Reminder: Public Comments Wanted on the Draft Delta Plan Five-Year Review Report

The Delta Stewardship Council is seeking input on its five-year review of the Delta Plan.

This report uses established performance measures to provide a snapshot of measured progress toward Delta Plan objectives. It also includes an analysis of the Delta Plan’s regulatory functions and a series of recommendations, along with associated actions to outline how the Council and its partners can implement the Delta Plan over the next five years.

As a reminder, comments are due June 10, 2024, via email to fiveyearreview@deltacouncil.ca.gov, or by mail to the address below.

Delta Stewardship Council
715 P Street, 15-300
Sacramento, CA 95814

Greetings IEP Community members,

Please see the announcement below from the Delta Science Program concerning the extension of the deadline for Letters of Intent for the 2025 Delta Science Research Awards.

Consider sharing this announcement with others who may be interested.

IEP Program Support Team

Deadline Extended:
2025 Delta Research Awards

The deadline for the 2025 Delta Research Awards Letters of Intent (LOI) has been extended to May 28, 2024, 5:00 PM PDT, to accommodate requests for extended time to build collaborations and co-develop proposal ideas. No other deadlines listed in the Solicitation will change at this time. If you have already submitted your LOI and would like to adjust it given this extension, you may do so and resubmit in eSeaGrant by the new deadline. To find all the latest information and resources, such as the Solicitation, informational webinar recording, and FAQ document, visit the Solicitation website.

Applicants seeking collaborators are encouraged to use the "2025 Delta Research Awards Collaborator Message Board" to share what types of collaborators they are looking for and find contact information for new potential collaborators. This spreadsheet is not posted publicly and has only been shared with self-identified prospective applicants. Thus, to request access to the collaborator spreadsheet, please email sgproposal@ucsd.edu.

Additionally, mark your calendar for the second proposal webinar, scheduled for June 14, 2024, at 10:00 AM. This webinar will focus on guidance in preparing your full proposal. Registration information will be shared with applicants with successful LOIs.

For technical assistance and questions about the Solicitation, please contact sgproposal@ucsd.edu.

Greetings IEP Stakeholders,

Please see the announcements below on the IEP Workshop, an upcoming Delta Stewardship Council Science for Communities workshop, a call for IEP newsletter articles, and a save the date reminder for our next stakeholder meeting. Please share this announcement with others as appropriate.

2024 IEP Workshop: Feedback and 2025 Planning

The IEP Annual Workshop was held on April 23-25, 2024 at the California Natural Resources Agency headquarters building. A remote Data Training Course was provided a week earlier on April 18. Both events were well attended. We had 280 in-person registrants and 311 remote attendees for the 3-day workshop and ~80 remote attendees for the Data Training Course.

If you attended the 3-day workshop (in-person or remote), we would like to solicit your feedback, which will help us when planning the 2025 workshop. Please take a few moments and complete the online feedback form. If you'd like to participate in planning the 2025 workshop, send us an email at iep@wildlife.ca.gov. Planning will begin in the fall of 2024.

• 2024 IEP Workshop Feedback Form

2024 IEP Workshop: Early Career Award Winners

Each year at the Annual Workshop, we highlight the work of early career scientists and use a volunteer panel of senior researchers and scientists within the IEP community to judge their submitted posters and talks. 

While the judges noted this year's exceptional across-the-board excellence, the following presentations were found to be most outstanding.

The winners for this year's Best Poster are:

• First Place: Taryn Mitoma, UC Davis “2023 pilot experimental gillnet survey to inform an enhanced large fish study design”
• Second Place (tie): Kat Cone, USGS “This or SPATT? Designing a cyanotoxin monitoring program in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (PDF)”
• Second Place (tie): Brian Alper, UC Davis “Developing batch tagging techniques for cultured Delta Smelt (PDF)”

And the winners for Best Presentation are:

• First Place: Jackelyn Lang, UC Davis “An assessment of 6PPD-quinone acute and sublethal toxicity on San Francisco Bay Delta species of conservation concern”
• Second Place: Louise Cominassi, UC Davis “Sublethal exposures to the insecticides bifenthrin and fipronil impact the stress response and behavior of juvenile Chinook salmon”
• Third Place: Nicholas Hudson, UC Davis “Quantifying the stress response of an endangered fish species to support population supplementation”

Congratulations to the winners, all the early career presenters, and every IEP attendee for making our workshop such a welcoming environment for IEP scientists of all stripes to hone their skills.

IEP Workshop: Poster Forum and Workshop Recordings

Don’t forget to visit the online Poster Forum, where you can view available posters. Recordings from the April 18 Data Training Course and the 3-day IEP Workshop will be available soon and shared on the CDFW YouTube site under the IEP Playlist.

See you next year!
IEP Workshop Planning Committee

Delta Stewardship Council's Science for Communities Workshop

Greetings IEP Stakeholders,

A reminder that our next quarterly IEP Project Work Team Chairs & Stakeholder Group meeting will be Wednesday, May 8, 2024 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The meeting will be hybrid (in-person + MS Teams) and held at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife office (1010 Riverside Parkway, West Sacramento) in the Garibaldi Conference Room. If coming in person, please send an email to iep@wildlife.ca.gov so we can provide your name to the front desk personnel.

• May 8 meeting agenda (pdf)

We look forward to seeing you all there.

If you have an item you would like to present at a future meeting, send us an email at iep@wildlife.ca.gov.

Kind regards,
IEP Program Support

The Delta Science Program and California Sea Grant are pleased to announce the 14th round of Delta Science Fellowships to provide research support for the 2025-2026 academic years.

The fellowships fund research projects by early-career scientists for up to two years that will advance the state of knowledge underlying high-priority science issues identified in the 2022-2026 Science Action Agenda and that affect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its management as an integrated socio-ecological system.

Eligible applicants include postdoctoral researchers, Ph.D. students, and master’s students.

Due Dates:

• Notices of Intent are due June 24, 2024. 
• Applications are due August 26, 2024.

Visit the research funding and fellowships web page for more information about the Delta Science Program’s research awards.

Greetings IEP Community members,

There are two upcoming conferences that may be of interest to IEP community members.

State of the San Francisco Estuary Conference

The 2024 State of the San Francisco Estuary Conference has been rescheduled to May 28-29, 2024 at the Oakland Scottish Rite Center.

Early Bird registration closes May 2nd, so register now to take advantage of discounted tickets.

For more information about this event, visit the San Francisco Estuary Partnership's State of the San Francisco Estuary 2024 Conference website.

Bay-Delta Science Conference

The Bay-Delta Science Conference will be held September 30 - October 2, 2024 at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center (Sacramento, CA). The theme is "Cultivating Connections for a Dynamically Changing Environment".

The Call for Abstracts is now open and the deadline to submit an abstract is June 3, 2024.

For more information about the conference, visit the Bay-Delta Science Conference website.