Sierra Nevada
Most of California’s water and much of its energy supply originates with the rain and snow that fall in the Sierra Nevada. Changing climate patterns, fire and human activities are putting increasing pressure on this critical ecosystem. Watershed Center scientists are studying ways for people, plants and animals to better share and conserve the resources of California’s upper watersheds.
- Mountain Meadows Wetlands Project
- Hydropower Relicensing Project
- Pulsed Flow Effects on Foothill Yellow-legged Frog
Mountain Meadows Wetlands Project
Mountain meadow wetlands provide important ecological services by providing wetland-associated biodiversity and by contributing to downstream water quality and quantity; however they are experiencing significant degradation due to diversions, logging, mining, and overgrazing, as well as exotic species. State and federal agencies have begun to survey the condition of mountain meadows in the Sierra, but to date these efforts have not been integrated or analyzed in such a way as to identify restoration or protection priorities. This project proposes to: 1) create and promote the use of a Sierra Meadow Health Database to integrate data from several agencies and to identify status and trends of mountain meadows; 2) to describe possible causal relationships between land and water use and meadow health; 3) to develop a new aquatic monitoring protocol appropriate to mountain meadows, based on fish, aquatic invertebrates, and amphibians; and 4) to develop a next-step strategy for meadow conservation and management, including upland land and water management.
This project is being conducted with close collaboration of a non-profit organization, the Natural Heritage Institute, the California Department of Fish and Game, and the US Forest Service.
Publications
- Mountain Meadows of the Sierra Nevada: An Integrated Means of Determining Ecological Condition in Mountain Meadows – Protocols and Results from 2006.
Sabra E. Purdy and Peter B. Moyle. June, 2009. Work conducted under sponsorship of The Natural Heritage Institute, pursuant to California Department of Water Resources Contract No. 4600004497. - Sierra Meadows: Historical Impact, Current Status and Trends, and Data Gaps
Final Report of USEPA Contract CD96911501. June 19, 2007. This report is a joint product of The Natural Heritage Institute, UC Davis, Stillwater Sciences, the US Forest Service and the California Department of Fish and Game. It contains the UC Davis report from the 2005 Mountain Meadows field season and UCD protocol development results.
Hydropower Relicensing Project
Hydropower generation activities from powerhouses and dams on the streams of the Sierra Nevada have an enormous impact on Sierran aquatic ecosystems. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is responsible for periodically relicensing hydropower facilities; and the relicensing process provides the only formal opportunity to mitigate negative impacts through new license conditions and settlement agreements.
With support from the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation's Preserving Wild California initiative, the Watershed Center has assembled a multidisciplinary team of experts to explore the development of new approaches to FERC relicensing. The project is: examining legal and institutional barriers to change; exploring the possibilities of a more coordinated regional approach to relicensing; and seeking to forecast climate change impacts on the hydrology and ecology of the Sierran bioregion. The goal of the project is to develop the technical tools to allow licensees, stakeholder groups, regulators and others to evaluate or promote alternative strategies or efficiencies in relicensing.
Publications
- Regional Agreements, Adaptation, and Climate Change: New Approaches to FERC Licensing in the Sierra Nevada, California
Jeffrey Mount, Peter B. Moyle, Jay Lund, and Holly Doremus. August, 2007. Final Report.
Pulsed Flow Effects on Foothill Yellow-legged Frog
Over the last half century, the Foothill Yellow-legged Frog (R. boylii) has declined dramatically, especially in Southern California and the southern Sierra Nevada mountains. Dams and reservoirs have been cited as likely factors in this decline because they drastically alter the flow regime and sediment budget of rivers in which this species has evolved, resulting in permanent alteration to in-stream habitats. The ensuing impact on R. boylii status has been a focus of study over the last decade, but many knowledge gaps remain. Perhaps one of the largest gaps in understanding the effects of dams is determining the role of large aseasonal fluctuations in water discharge, referred to as pulsed flows, in R. boylii decline. In this study conducted jointly with the U.S. Forest Service Sierra Nevada Research Center, pulsed flow effects on R. boylii are examined by combining: (1) analyses of existing empirical data; (2) laboratory and field experiments that quantify the physical tolerances and behavioral responses of tadpoles to changes in velocity; and (3) development of a 2-dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic modeling approach that evaluates the effects of pulsed flows on breeding and rearing habitat.
Publications
- Pulsed Flow Effects on the Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog (Rana boylii): Integration of Empirical, Experimental and Hydrodynamic Modeling Approaches
Jeffrey Mount, Sarah Yarnell, Sarah Kupferberg, and Amy Lind. January 2008. Public Interest Energy Research Program final project report.