Monthly Archives: May 2014

Why California’s agriculture needs groundwater management

Posted on May 26, 2014 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

California’s agricultural prosperity increasingly depends on groundwater availability during drought. Global markets favoring high-value nuts, fruits and wine grapes are fueling a steady conversion of farmland from annual crops and pasture to orchards and vineyards. The growing profitability of these … Continue reading →

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Severe drought impacts to Central Valley agriculture forecast this year

Posted on May 19, 2014 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

By Richard Howitt, Josué Medellín-Azuara, Duncan MacEwan and Jay Lund This year’s drought will have severe impacts on irrigated agriculture in California’s Central Valley. To estimate this impact, we updated and applied the Statewide Agricultural Production (SWAP) model for estimated cutbacks in … Continue reading →

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Time to revisit economics of dam removal

Posted on May 11, 2014 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

By Sarah Null In California, we ask water managers to do the near-impossible task of managing rivers for both environmental and economic objectives, which are often at odds. Where we have repeatedly failed to stem or reverse environmental problems, environmental … Continue reading →

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Planning for the inevitable at Suisun Marsh

Posted on May 1, 2014 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

By Amber Manfree and Peter Moyle In Suisun Marsh, it seems, you can go back in time. You get a haunting sense of the vast marshes that once dominated central California’s lowlands. Sloughs flush with tule perch and Sacramento splittail bend … Continue reading →

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