This program quantifies agricultural production, land use, water use, economic value and employment using optimization approaches such as the SWAP model (http://SWAP.ucdavis.edu) and statistical information.
This study for the state Delta Protection Commission compared the effectiveness of using new remotely sensed measurement technology to estimate farmers' "consumptive water use," or the amount of irrigation water crops transpire and evaporate from the nearby soil.
This research project was convened by the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California Davis with financial support from the California State Water Resources Control Board Office of the Delta Watermaster and other agencies. Its objective is to develop a better understanding of consumptive water use in the Delta by coordinating modeling, measurement, and other information from a variety of independent research and estimation efforts.
This project aims to improve the understanding and application of two-dimensional (2-D) models in producing flood insurance maps for California and the nation.
California is looking to expand the Sacramento River Flood Control Project, partly as a defense against severe storms in a changing climate. This study creates a model of the Project for exploring various scenarios. Researchers are analyzing how the system's bypass channels and weirs interact during big storms and how expansions of these structures might reduce flood damage at various locations in the Sacramento Valley and the Delta.
The Center for Watershed Sciences is investigating harvested rice fields as potential salmon nurseries that could help boost struggling Central Valley populations. Experimental releases of young hatchery salmon on the Yolo Bypass near Sacramento indicate that parts of the 57,000-acre floodway could make productive rearing habitat at relatively little cost to farmers.
For over 35 years, this project has monitored abiotic and biotic conditions in tidal wetlands, making it the longest established study in Suisun Marsh. The long-term data collected has enabled numerous studies and will continue to support research on the ecology and conservation of Suisun Marsh fishes, as well as the effects of Marsh restoration and management, and climate change.
The focus of the Striped Bass project is to update understanding on striped bass demographics in the San Francisco Estuary and compare data with populations on the Atlantic Coast and elsewhere. The study will rely on existing and new research, including radio-tagging and stable isotope analysis.
