California WaterBlog
Fish surveys in the estuary: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
by Dylan K. Stompe, Peter Moyle, Avery Kruger, John Durand The San Francisco Estuary is a dynamic and altered estuary that supports a high diversity of fishes, both native and non-native. These species have substantial recreational, commercial, and intrinsic value … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
SGMA and the Human Right to Water: How do submitted Groundwater Sustainability Plans address drinking water?
by Kristin Dobbin, Darcy Bostic, Michael Kuo and Jessica Mendoza In 2012 California passed the Human Right to Water (AB 685) which declares all Californians have the right to safe, clean, affordable and accessible drinking water. Two years later during … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
Drought and the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, 2012–2016: Environmental Review and Lessons
by John R. Durand, Fabian Bombardelli, William E. Fleenor, Yumiko Henneberry, Jon Herman, Carson Jeffres, Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, Jay R. Lund, Robert Lusardi, Amber D. Manfree, Josué Medellín-Azuara, Brett Milligan, and Peter Moyle Droughts are common in California. The drought of … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
106 Years of Water Supply Reliability
by Jay Lund Water supply reliability is a major policy and management goal in California, and in the rest of the world, today and since the beginning of time. The goals of reliable water supplies have grown from supporting human … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
Summer Reading in the Time of Covid 19
by Peter B. Moyle Tired of reading about the constant haggling over California water? Or of binge-watching old TV shows? Or, worse, watching the news as the Covid 19 virus spreads in our free country? For relief, I recommend two … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
Can we talk? New nationwide flood maps provide opportunities for dialogue
By Kathleen Schaefer, Brett F. Sanders Why Dialogue Matters For fifty years, Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) have unintentionally stifled conversations of flood risk. They have encouraged property-owners and governments at all levels to dwell on map details for one … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
Initial Sampling of the Carp-DEUM Project
By Kim Luke, John Durand, Rachel McConnell, Aaron Sturtevant, Nina Suzuki, Andrew L. Rypel This spring, the Carp-Dependent Urgent Management (Carp-DEUM) Project began its first round of sampling in the UC Davis Arboretum before the Covid-19 lockdown. The project has … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
People, Agriculture, and Water in California
by Jay Lund Agriculture is California’s predominant use of managed water. Agriculture and water together are a foundation for California’s rural economy. Although most agriculture is economically-motivated and commercially-organized, the sociology and anthropology of agriculture and agricultural labor are basic … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
What’s the dam problem with deadbeat dams?
by Andrew L. Rypel, Christine A. Parisek, Jay Lund, Ann Willis, Peter B. Moyle, Sarah Yarnell, Karrigan Börk Damming rivers was once a staple of public works and a signal of technological and scientific progress. Even today, dams underpin much … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
Black Lives Matter
We have elected to suspend our regular CalifornaWaterBlog.com posts for this week. Institutional racism is urgent and real, and should divert us from topics of California water at this time. The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
An Introduction to State Water Project Deliveries
By Nicole Osorio Most people in California receive some of their drinking water supply from the State Water Project (SWP). The SWP also supplies water to over 10% of California’s irrigated agriculture. The SWP and its service area span much … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
Drawing boundaries with DNA to improve conservation
by Ryan Peek Foothill Yellow-legged Frogs have begun to spawn, laying small snow-globe sized egg masses in streams and rivers. They are one of the few stream-breeding frogs endemic to California and Oregon. This species is a good indicator of … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
How reliable are Groundwater Sustainability Plans?
by Alvar Escriva-Bou, Jay Lund, Josue Medellin-Azuara, and Thomas Harter Earlier this year, the first local Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) were submitted to California’s Department of Water Resources for basins with the most severe groundwater overdraft. To comply with the … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
Protecting California’s Aquatic Biodiversity in a Time of Crisis
by Peter Moyle, Jeanette Howard, Ted Grantham “Nowhere is the biodiversity crisis more acute than in freshwater ecosystems” (Tickner et al. 2020) Weeks of being confined indoors under shelter-in-place orders increases our appreciation of the natural world. Walking and exercising … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
Supreme Court Ruling Finds Old, New Middle Ground on Clean Water Act’s Application to Groundwater
By Thomas Harter, Steph Tai, and Karrigan Bork In 1972, the U.S. Clean Water Act (CWA) created a permit system for point source discharges to navigable waters of the United States – rivers, lakes, and coastal waters – with the … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
Science of an underdog: the improbable comeback of spring-run Chinook salmon in the San Joaquin River
By Andrew L. Rypel, Gabriel Singer, and Nann A. Fangue “You can’t design a worse evolutionary strategy for the Anthropocene” There are many variants on this quote, and we’ve heard them often in reference to the status of native fishes … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
Striped Bass in the Pacific Ocean: When, where and why?
by Dylan K. Stompe Striped bass are an iconic and recreationally-important fish species throughout the United States, including within their native range on the Atlantic Coast. They are also important predators in fish communities within countless reservoirs and estuaries in … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
Eating Delta Smelt
by Peter Moyle, Center for Watershed Sciences, UC Davis Delta smelt are an endangered species and the latest estimates of their numbers indicate they will likely not be around much longer as wild fish. When I first started working on … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
MWDC Proposes Overarching Delta Solution
by Nestle J. Frobish Today the Megalopolitan Water District of California (a consortium of southern California and Bay Area urban water suppliers) proposed building a new aqueduct to take water from the Sacramento River to Bay Area and southern California … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related
Is California’s dry 2020 water year a drought? Prepare anyway
by Jay Lund Not again! There was not a “Miracle March” to follow California’s precipitation “Flat-line February.” Instead, we’ve had a “Meh March.” With the near-end of its wet season, California’s 2020 water year is and will be dry. The … Continue reading →
Categories: California Water Related