California WaterBlog

By Jay Lund This op-ed piece was originally featured in the Sacramento Bee. “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.” (anonymous) Water is always important for California, as a dry place with a boisterous economy and unique ecosystems. A growing … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund “In February, 1914, the rainfall in the Mojave Desert region exceeded by nearly fifty per cent in three days the average annual precipitation. Where the steel siphon crosses Antelope valley at the point of greatest depression, an … Continue reading →

by Robert Lusardi This article originally appeared in California Trout’s The Current. For the full issue, click here. Native fish conservation and recovery is an onerous task.  While there are many threats, hybridization has played an integral role in the … Continue reading →

By Timothy Nelson, Heidi Chou, Prudentia Zikalala, Jay Lund, Rui Hui, and Josué Medellín–Azuara Surface water and groundwater management are often tightly linked, even when linkage is not intended or expected. This link has special importance in drier regions, such … Continue reading →

by Megan Nguyen Which display is more engaging to you? The table or the map? Do you remember a time when you really needed to find something in your room that you know you for certain have but can’t remember … Continue reading →

By Jay Lund Summary of conditions March 2016 has been unusually wet, and quite a contrast to February.  The “Godzilla” El Nino this year has been a bit “Gonzo”, but overall has brought a welcome above average precipitation for northern … Continue reading →

By Nan W. Frobish Visitors to Yosemite’s iconic Hetch Hetchy reservoir are doing a double-take. Instead of seeing the majestic backdrop of the Sierra Nevada reflected in the pristine mountain water, they are now greeted by millions of black balls … Continue reading →

By Nathaniel Homan Reusing water is not a new concept to many Californians. Many municipalities across California have facilities that treat wastewater to high standards, which allows it to be reused for agricultural irrigation, landscape irrigation, and industrial use. Other … Continue reading →

By Eric Holmes The floodplain smorgasbord is open! Wrapping up a successful fifth season, the Knaggs Nigiri  project places fall run juvenile Chinook salmon in inundated rice fields during a six week period in February and early March, the non-rice-growing season.  … Continue reading →

By Rui Hui, Jay Lund and Kaveh Madani Levees protect land from floods, but not perfectly. Different levees on a river often are controlled by different agencies or groups. A landowner on one riverbank sees the levee system differently from … Continue reading →

  By Jay Lund During dry years, water becomes scarcer, and, economically, people should pay more for it. But most urban residents do not pay directly for water scarcity. We only pay the financial cost of providing water through pipes, … Continue reading →

By Jay Lund Summary of conditions February 2016 has been dry, despite El Nino-besotted promises of aqueous abundance. There is sometimes a difference between climatic conditions and hydrologic reality (and economic reality). Annual precipitation and snowpack are now about average … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund “You can’t always get what you want But if you try sometimes you just might find You get what you need,” Rolling Stones (1969, Let It Bleed album) The ongoing California drought has many lessons for water … Continue reading →

By K. Martin Perales Chinook salmon are a remarkably adaptable species. There is good reason to believe there are multiple populations of landlocked Chinook salmon completing their entire life cycle above Central Valley dams. We recently documented spawning above six of … Continue reading →

By Sarah Yarnell and Ann Willis Every spring for the past 12 years, a class of a dozen or so UC Davis undergraduates ride a river in the American West for a learning adventure like none other in their college … Continue reading →

Summary of conditions January 2016 has been much wetter than the previous Januaries during this drought. Precipitation is modestly above average, as is snowpack, and climatic conditions remain promising. The largest reservoirs are mostly fuller than a year ago, although … Continue reading →

By Jason Baumsteiger Even with a strong El Niño year, there are no assurances the drought is over. Clearly we need a better plan for future droughts and that plan needs to include provisions for native freshwater fish.  But why … Continue reading →

By Andrew Nichols California’s drought plays on, and a recent series of storms to start the New Year have done little to change this broken record.  However, promising weather conditions suggest a change of tune may be coming soon.  This … Continue reading →

By Devon Lambert Remote sensing is all the rage as we start the New Year, largely due to its ability to exponentially increase our areas of analysis for research. What used to take us weeks to survey with traditional field … Continue reading →

By Jay Lund “One afternoon they take me … to witness a great religious ceremony. It is the invocation to the gods for rain.” John Wesley Powell (1895, p. 338) 2016 starts with slightly above average precipitation and snowpack and … Continue reading →