California WaterBlog

by Jay Lund California’s water policy community continues to be embroiled on how best to manage what remains of California’s native aquatic ecosystems, particularly for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its tributaries.  One aspect of this controversy is the dedication … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund So far, October and November 2019 has been the driest (or almost the driest) beginning of any recorded water year with almost zero precipitation. (The 2020 water year began October 1, 2019 – so you might have … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund Here is part two of a partial collection of truisms on water management.  These ideas seem obviously true, but still offer insights and perspective.  Original sources are mostly unknown (but apocryphal citations are common).  Any that I … Continue reading →

by Kelly Neal and Gabe Saron On a cool and misty morning somewhere south of Redding, California, jet boats roar across the tranquil Sacramento River. Armed with tridents, machetes and poleaxes, it seems akin to a scene from an action … Continue reading →

by Ann Willis We are all sinners. At least, that’s the impression Mark Arax leaves in The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California. What’s bold, and distinguishes this book from others about California, is that Arax grapples with … Continue reading →

This is my favorite water cartoon.  It depicts how well the public (and elected officials) will ever understand how water systems work. Today, as individuals we understand only a little about the detailed world around us (cell phones, medical technology, … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund Here is a partial collection of truisms on water management.  These are common ideas that seem obviously true (particularly in the western US), but still offer insights and perspective.  The original sources of these are unknown (although … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund Just a brief, and slightly pedantic, blog post this week on the importance of liberal education and broad thinking for those want to solve real problems, illustrated with a bit of history. Engineers and physical scientists will … Continue reading →

By Dr Anna Sturrock Trucking juvenile hatchery salmon downstream is often used in the California Central Valley to reduce mortality during their perilous swim to the ocean. But is it all good? Researchers at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC San … Continue reading →

by Peter Moyle A reality in California and the American West is that people are competing with fish for water. We humans are winning the competition.  However, because there are moral, aesthetic, and legal obligations to provide fish with water … Continue reading →

by Amy Talbot Amy Talbot is the Regional Water Efficiency Manger for the Regional Water Authority, which represents 21 water suppliers in the Sacramento region.  She manages an award-winning public outreach and education program.  Additionally, she is a board member … Continue reading →

By Kristin Dobbin and Amanda Fencl A key feature of California’s drinking water system is the large number of individual water systems. There are approximately 3,000 Community Water Systems (CWSs) in the state, meaning systems that serve a residential population … Continue reading →

by Teejay O’Rear and Peter Moyle To most people, Suisun Marsh is either the seemingly blank area visible at 70 MPH from the north side of Highway 680 or the sudden expanse of tules visible after the Amtrak train leaves … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund It is said that, “In the US, we hate government so much that we have thousands of them.”  This decentralization has advantages, but poses problems for integration. Integration is easy to say, and hard to do.  Integration … Continue reading →

by Karrigan Bork It is important if a stream, river, wetland, or even a dry ditch is protected by the Clean Water Act (CWA). The CWA is a federal law “to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund This week’s short post is on groundwater law – from the viewpoint of physics.  Water policy, management, and human law often misunderstand how groundwater and surface water work physically. Bredehoeft, et al. (1982) distill a longstanding lament … Continue reading →

by Kathleen Schaefer As we are enter another hurricane season, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is on its 12th short-term extension since September 30, 2017.  And after having $16 billion in debt forgiven, it remains $24.6 billion in debt … Continue reading →

by Mustafa Dogan, Ian Buck-Macleod, Josue Medellin-Azuara, and Jay Lund Groundwater overdraft is a major problem globally and has been a persistent and growing problem in California for decades. This overdraft is predominantly driven by the economic value of water … Continue reading →

By Kristin Dobbin, Jessica Mendoza and Michael Kuo The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is an historic opportunity to achieve long-term sustainable groundwater management and protect drinking water supplies for hundreds of small and rural low-income communities, especially in the … Continue reading →

by Peter Moyle With a big collective sigh of relief, Californians rejoiced that we have largely recovered from 2012-2016 drought[1].  Streams are flowing.  Reservoirs are full. Crops are watered. Native fishes are reproducing   But this not a time for complacency; … Continue reading →