SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - On June 14, 2023, the Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) along with GiddyUp EV Charging, Inc. and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) officially unveiled a new high-speed electric vehicle public charging hub at the Power Inn light rail station.

This public-private partnership offers a state-of-the-art charging solution for Sacramento’s emerging electric vehicle market, aimed to meet the region and state’s sustainability goals, and provide a revenue sharing model for SacRT.

The Charging Hub is a large-scale network of Level 3 charging stations that provides the ability to charge both passenger and commercial vehicles simultaneously, and dramatically faster than the Level 2 chargers found in the majority of public charging stations. The new Charging Hub occupies 20 underutilized parking spots in the Power Inn light rail station. The Charging Hub will serve everyday drivers and commercial fleets alike, with several spots designed to accommodate large fleet vehicles such as buses and semi-trucks.

SMUD estimates that there will be nearly one million electric vehicles in the region by 2040.

“California continues to lead the nation in setting big, bold climate goals and building the clean energy infrastructure required to make the transition from fossil fuels,” said California State Treasurer, Fiona Ma. “Projects in local communities, like the Power Inn station charging hub, make electric vehicle adoption more attractive and charging more convenient for existing owners. It’s projects like this that help California solidify its position as the country’s leader in zero emissions vehicle integration into our way of life. Congratulations to SacRT, SMUD, and GiddyUp EV Charging on a successful public-private partnership!”

As a member of the State Assembly in 2011, Ma authored AB 631 which placed into law a California Public Utilities Commission decision not to regulate EV charging stations as utilities.

 “This public private partnership is delivering state of the art charging solutions to help us meet the region and state’s sustainability goals, while providing revenue sharing for SacRT. Offering a mobility hub for multiple transportation modes at our light rail stations is an excellent way to connect riders and enhance our stations,” said SacRT General Manager/CEO Henry Li.

“It’s projects and partnerships like this that will increase EV deployment and help us expedite the transition to a carbon free economy,” said SMUD General Manager and CEO Paul Lau. “Locating a fast-charging hub along a major thoroughfare helps increase access to varied forms of clean transportation. At SMUD we are partnering with our customers and community to bring electrification to under resourced communities, and this hub provides a bridge to get there.”

“If we’re serious about solving the EV charging infrastructure crisis, especially in underserved communities, we must get away from the idea that public EV charging is only for specific types of vehicles and slow charging. Public private partnerships like the SacRT Power Inn Station are the logical way to bring fast charging options to all community stakeholders at no cost to taxpayers,” said GiddyUp EV Charging, Inc Founder and CEO Chris Jerome. “Hopefully, GiddyUp’s Power Inn partnership with SacRT inspires other communities to adopt the policy that fast charging has to be available for everyone.”

GiddyUp EV Charging, Inc. is financing the purchase and installation of some of the fastest DCFC/Level 3 chargers in the industry, which will have the ability to recharge light and medium vehicles simultaneously in minutes compared to Level 2 chargers that may take hours. The Charging Hub is brightly lit and offers customers a high-tech security system using high-definition video cameras and real-time monitoring.

Learn more at sacrt.com/charginghub.

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - The California Museum announces the opening of “Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West,” a timeline of original pictorial quilts exploring the path of Black history in the West. On view from June 10 through October 1, 2023, the exhibit dispels the myth that Black people in the old West were mostly cowboys, showing the rich diversity in African Americans’ occupations and achievements in society, religion, education and the arts from 1528 through the Civil Rights Movement.

Organized by The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art and curator, historian and artist Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, Black Pioneers features 50 quilts created for this exhibit by the Women of Color Quilters Network.

“Quilts and quilt making are important to America and Black culture in particular because the art form was historically one of the few mediums accessible to marginalized groups to tell their own story, to provide warmth for their families and to empower them with a voice through cloth,” said Dr. Mazloomi.

Quilts were chosen as the exhibit’s visual medium because they highlight the intersection of African Americans in the western frontier with the art form's important role in African American history. For African American women, quilts have always been at the core of artistic expression, taking form in their social, economic and spiritual lives.

“We are honored to host Black Pioneers at the California Museum,” said Executive Director Amanda Meeker. “The quilts themselves are works of art, with elaborate materials and intricate details. The artistic and narrative elements of the quilts come together to create a powerful visual history lesson that we hope will leave visitors with an expanded view of Black history and American history.”

For more information on the exhibit, visit https://www.californiamuseum.org/black-pioneers.

The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art, located in St. Petersburg, Florida, provides experiences that inspire human connection and transformation through art depicting the peoples, landscapes and history of the American West, and wildlife of the world. The museum engages the community through programs and educational opportunities, for all ages, that bring our history to life and amplify voices that are not often at the forefront of mainstream Western art.

Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi’s own quilts have been exhibited extensively nationwide. She also has curated 21 exhibits of quilts made by members of the Women of Color Quilters Network, a non-profit she founded in 1985 to educate, preserve, exhibit, promote and document quilts made by African Americans. Among the exhibitions she has curated is Still We Rise: Race, Culture and Visual Conversations, which visually surveys 400 years of African American history. The largest traveling exhibit of African American quilts ever mounted, it appeared at the California Museum in 2018.

The California Museum—home of the California Hall of Fame—focuses on the state’s rich history, its diversity and its unique influence on the world of ideas, innovation, art and culture. Through interactive experiences, the Museum inspires visitors to make a mark on history. Located at 1020 O Street in the March Fong Eu Secretary of State complex, the Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. General admission is $8-$10. Plan a visit at https://www.californiamuseum.org.

 

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - Dozens of adult sturgeon and hundreds of other large fish including threatened Chinook salmon have moved safely from receding floodwaters within the Yolo Bypass back to the Sacramento River thanks to the coordinated operation of the Fremont Weir Adult Fish Passage among the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), NOAA Fisheries and Yolo County.

Over one 48-hour period when the Fremont Weir Adult Fish Passage was opened on April 28 and 29, the facility’s fish-counting sonar counted 55 sturgeon passing through the facility to the Sacramento River to migrate upstream and spawn. Sturgeon are large fish that often measure 6 to 7 feet long and certain species can live over a century. They must reach the river to spawn, which they do only every few years.

In another 24-hour window between May 3 and 4, seven more sturgeon passed through the facility. Hundreds of other large fish and Pacific lamprey were also counted moving back to the Sacramento River during the two operational windows in April and May.

Before the passage was modified and greatly expanded in 2018, biologists rescued trapped sturgeon and other fish species in the Yolo Bypass by hand. Stress from handling could cause the fish to stop their upstream migration and not spawn. Finding ways for fish to swim through on their own – as they can do now – is highly preferable for the fish and for the safety of biologists working in the flooded conditions.

Protected Sturgeon Benefited

Given the time of year, scientists believe many of those sturgeon passing through the Fremont Weir were federally threatened green sturgeon in addition to white sturgeon. The sonar images don’t provide enough clarity to distinguish one species of sturgeon from the other. The southern population of green sturgeon in California is believed to number only around 1,000 fish.

“Green sturgeon are a threatened species that are so long-lived and with such a small population that every fish is crucial in supporting their recovery, especially when they are of spawning age,” said Garwin Yip, Branch Chief for Water Operations in NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region.

White sturgeon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin system represent the southernmost spawning population of the species and support a popular recreational fishery. 

“This is a huge success for these iconic fish species and for our agencies working together to support these species,” said Colin Purdy, Environmental Program Manager for CDFW’s North Central Region. “Those 62 total sturgeon could very well represent the majority of California’s spawning population for the season, so to get these fish to their spawning grounds is critical for recruitment and recovery.”

California’s sturgeon populations are particularly vulnerable after consecutive years of drought and due to an algal bloom that occurred in San Francisco Bay last summer that killed many sturgeon.

Passage Allows Sturgeon Spawning

Sturgeon are slow to mature. They spawn just once every two to four years. Like salmon and steelhead, they are anadromous, meaning they migrate up freshwater rivers to spawn. Sturgeon and other fish species enter the Yolo Bypass floodplain from the Sacramento River in high water years and can become stranded when the waters recede.

“Seeing so many fish utilize the Fremont Weir Adult Fish Passage in such a short period of time shows the success that can happen when state, federal and local entities work in partnership to develop a plan to provide immediate relief to threatened and endangered fish species,” said Josh Martinez, DWR’s Restoration Ecology Unit Manager. “We’re especially grateful to Yolo County, which quickly communicated with surrounding communities that the adult fish passage would operate outside its normal winter season. This is a win for fish and the communities that depend on them.”

Oscar E. Villegas, Chair of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, said, “We appreciate our state and federal partners’ early engagement on this effort and look forward to future collaboration in protecting and enhancing our mosaic landscape of agriculture and wetlands.”

Since 1965, a small fish ladder was in place in the northern end of the Yolo Bypass within Yolo County. That passage through the Fremont Weir back to the Sacramento River proved far too small and difficult for large fish to navigate. White sturgeon can exceed 12 feet in length.

In 2018, DWR and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation modified, modernized and greatly expanded the fish passage structure to accommodate sturgeon, adult salmon, large striped bass and other adult fish species. The upgraded structure includes a fish-counting sonar station, a large stream channel leading to and from the Sacramento River and a control gate that can be opened and closed remotely as needed to accommodate fish passage and water flows.

This is the second year the Fremont Weir Adult Fish Passage has operated. Due to drought conditions, the facility was last operated in the winter of 2019.