by Jay Lund 2020 was terrible, and as a water year (WY), October 2019 – September 2020, it is over.  A dry winter (drier than 2014-2015 in Sac. Valley), COVID-19, deep recession and unemployment, wildfires, racial violence and unrest, extreme high temperatures, water documents disappearing from State of California websites, and finally a very unpresidential…

by Lorie Srivastava Climate change is affecting natural resources in California, with water being one of the most important in the state. Water is critical for municipalities, agriculture, industry, and habitat/environmental purposes. Will future supply meet future demand? How will the economic value of water change over this century? The economic value of raw –…

by Jay Lund Today’s water struggles have deep roots. In our shared summer confinement, we hopefully have some time for some deeper reading on California water.  Here is a small collection of older writings on California water, the youngest of which is still older than me.  Beyond historical interest, these early writings have useful perspectives…

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 to people. Since the 1950s, various agencies and UC Davis have established long-term surveys to…

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 a record-breaking drought, California passed another piece of historic legislation known as the Sustainable Groundwater…

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 2012-2016 had no less precipitation and was no longer than previous historical droughts (Figure 1),…

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 health, to supporting economic prosperity, to supporting healthy ecosystems, even when these goals conflict. Since…

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 entertaining yet somewhat off-beat books, reviewed here. The books are very different but both involve…

by Kathleen Schaefer and 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 static event, rather than flood risks for a range of events under changing conditions…

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 for the well-being of millions of people, and the success and failure of rural, agricultural,…

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 of California, delivering water to 29 wholesale contractors shown in Figure 1. Each year, the…

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 stream health because they link aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and are strongly tied to natural…

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 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, these plans must address any “significant and unreasonable” impacts of groundwater…

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 outdoors, especially along a local stream like Putah Creek, is one of the best ways…

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 goal of restoring and protecting their water quality. Typically, these permits are issued by the…

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. Based on their value as a sport fish and as table fare, striped bass were one of the early introductions to the San Francisco Estuary (SFE). Their life-history…