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California WaterBlog

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  • Irrigation Management in the Western States, seen from overseas

    by Fandi P. Nurzaman The transformation of the western United States by irrigation offers hope for developing countries looking for models to improve their irrigation system for food security or agricultural prosperity. The transformation of the American West from barren desert and low value grazing into one of the largest agriculture areas in the United…

  • Summer Snowmelt Safety – Know the Flow Before You Go

    By Megan Nguyen As recently as this weekend, winter storms have brought much snow to the Sierra Nevada after five years of drought. Warm temperatures have begun to melt the mountain snow that will flow down the valley through a network of rivers. The recreation opportunities seems endless: Mammoth Resort announced they plan to stay…

  • Blacklock Marsh: Tidal Habitat No Panacea for Thoughtful Restoration

    by John Durand and Peter Moyle Returning open tidal exchange to diked lands is a primary goal of Delta restoration, driven by the 2008 Biological Opinion from USFWS. This document requires 8000 acres of tidal and subtidal habitat to be created. California EcoRestore is coordinating with state and federal agencies to restore at least 30,000…

  • Better Information Can Help the Environment

    by Henry McCann and Alvar Escriva-Bou This blog was originally posted on the Public Policy Institute’s Viewpoints blog. We know that California’s aquatic species are at risk from a host of stressors and that drought pushes them closer to the brink. Yet there are significant gaps in our understanding of key factors affecting ecosystem health…

  • The Future of California’s Unique Salmon and Trout: Good News, Bad News

    by Robert Lusardi, Peter Moyle, Patrick Samuel, and Jacob Katz California is a hot spot for endemic species, those found nowhere else in the world.  Among these species are 20 kinds of salmon and trout. That is an astonishing number considering California is also literally a hot-spot in terms of summer temperatures and that these…

  • Facing Extinction II: Making hard decisions

    by Jason Baumsteiger and Peter Moyle In part I of our blog, we projected a bleak future for many freshwater fishes, especially in California. Some difficult decisions will need to be made to prevent extinctions or to verify them.  However these decisions will rely on answers to one sweeping question: When is a species, in…

  • Facing extinction: California fishes

    by Peter Moyle and Jason Baumsteiger At least two species of California fishes appear to be facing imminent extinction in the wild: delta smelt and winter-run Chinook salmon.  These species could join about 57 other North American fishes declared extinct. If we are fortunate, these species will continue to scrape by with small populations, maintained…

  • GRA’s Contemporary Groundwater Issues Council weighs in on BMPs for Groundwater Sustainability Plans

    by Thomas Harter, Vicki Kretsinger Grabert, Reid Bryson, and Tim Parker On May 26, 2016, eight days after the California Water Commission voted to approve emergency regulations for Groundwater Sustainability Plans, the Groundwater Resources Association (GRA) held the sixth annual workshop of the Contemporary Groundwater Issues Council (CGIC) to address a closely related component of Sustainable Groundwater…

  • Accounting for Water in the San Joaquin Valley

    by Brad Arnold1, Alvar Escriva-Bou1,2, Jay Lund1, and Ellen Hanak2 University of California – Davis, Center for Watershed Sciences Public Policy Institute of California Accounting for water supplies and uses is fundamental to good water management, but it is often difficult and controversial to implement. As with other types of accounting, this task is harder…

  • California’s drought and floods are over and just beginning

    By Jay Lund  California is a land of extremes – where preparing for extremes must be constant and eternal. The last six years demonstrated California’s precipitation extremes. From 2012-2015, California endured one of its driest years of record.  2016 was an additional near-average year, classified into drought because water storage levels were so low. 2017…

  • Down the DRAIN: California gets a jump on Delta tunnels

    by Nan W. and Dunlay J. Frobish California took a step towards replumbing its archaic Delta water infrastructure by completing the first part of a contentious project. An intake for the first Delta tunnel was completed this fall, and with the return of wet weather, began transporting flows that will eventually bypass the Delta entirely.…

  • Pumping out the Inland Sea – Delta exports in a time of plenty

      By Jay Lund This is northern California’s wettest year of record, so far.  The Yolo Bypass has been flooded for most of this wet season, and is still flowing.  Are Delta water exports going to exceed the previous record exports from 2011 (6.5 maf)?  The figure above compares this year’s Delta water exports compare…

  • Post-drought groundwater in California: Like the economy after a deep “recession,” recovery will be slow

    by Thomas Harter The 2012-2016 drought has made many of us keenly aware of how “empty” our groundwater “reservoirs” have become. As the recent series of atmospheric rivers have left us with a massive snowpack, full surface water reservoirs (with some exceptions in southern California), and soggy soils, some questions are frequently asked: Is the…

  • Evading Dam-Nation to Build a Working Floodplain on the Cosumnes River

    by Michelaina Johnson This winter’s barrage of rain storms has driven most Central Valley rivers to the point of near record-breaking flooding, and the Cosumnes River is no exception. On February 10th, the Cosumnes hit the second highest peak flow in its recorded flow history: 45,400 cubic feet per second at Michigan Bar. The Cosumnes…

  • What do stream fish do during flood flows?

    By Peter B. Moyle My local stream, Putah Creek, looks like a river these days.  Water is pouring down the Glory Hole of Lake Berryessa and rushing in muddy turmoil from the ‘dry’ creeks that are its main tributaries.   The creek’s deeply incised and leveed channel is containing the flows that once would have spread…

  • California’s Floods of 2017, so far

    by Jay Lund What a wild water month!  Floods, spillway damage, and levee failures!  Mass evacuations! And Donald Trump and Barack Obama are not even remotely to blame! Flood control and preparation are vitally important for California.  Now we remember. This year we see California’s raw, boisterous, and often irresistible flood potential.  And we see…

  • Yolo Bypass: the inland sea of Sacramento

    By Megan Nguyen Land or Sea? The recent rains early this year brought much needed relief from the five-year drought in California. Reservoirs are full, mountains are covered with snow, and flood control structures are being used, some for the first time since 2006. Interstate 80 causeway commuters frequently, though perhaps unknowingly, witness one of…

  • Reconciling conservation and human use in the Delta

    By John Durand, Peter Moyle, and Amber Manfree  In a previous blog, we presented a Grand Scheme for habitat conservation in the North Delta Arc (the Arc). This follows up on our earlier broad vision for recreating a Delta more friendly to its native species.  In this essay, we give philosophical and historical reasons to approach…

  • California’s Wettest Drought? – 2017

    By Jay Lund Wet.  After five years of drought, most of California finally has become wet.  The mountains are exceptionally wet and covered with snow.  The state’s reservoirs are fuller than their long term average (with a few exceptions).  Flood control structures are being employed, some for the first time since 2006. We can now…

  • Episode 3: “Unraveling the Knot” Water Movement in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta – Managing Flows

    By William Fleenor, Amber Manfree, and Megan Nguyen Delta water diversions have significant effects on flows and water quality within the Delta. Diversions can re-direct river flows and draw salt water inland from the sea, impacting water quality and the environment. Episode 3 explores how water diversion quantity affects in-Delta flow directions and quantities. This…

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