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California WaterBlog

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  • Being the Lorax

    By Andrew L. Rypel “Way back in the days when the grass was still green and the pond was still wet and the clouds were still clean, and the song of the Swomee-Swans rang out in space…one morning, I came to this glorious place. And I first saw the trees! The Truffula Trees! The bright-colored…

  • Change at the Center for Watershed Sciences

    By Karrigan Börk Readers of the California Water Blog (Blog) may have noticed some changes over the past year. The Blog is a product of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences (CWS), and after many years of dedicated service, longtime CWS leaders Dr. Andrew Rypel (Director) and Dr. Cathryn Lawrence (Assistant Director) are transitioning…

  • Sites – The Permitting Process

    By Christopher Mouawad This blog provides a glimpse into the complexity of permitting for large water projects like Sites. California water law is as intricate and varied as the systems it governs. What begins as a seemingly simple doctrine, such as “first in time, first in right,” can quickly spiral into a labyrinth of layered…

  • Announcing the 7th International Symposium on River Science

    The International Society for River Science (ISRS) will hold the 7th International Symposium on River Science at the University of California, Davis on October 6-9, 2025. We invite you to attend! The first river symposium was held in 1979 in Norway, and rivers conferences have continued through the decades since, across the globe. Recent conferences…

  • Where are they now: Caroline Newell

    Registration is now open for the 7th International Symposium on River Science, held in Davis, California from Oct 6-9, 2025! Early Bird Registration will remain open until 15 August 2025. “Where are they now:”  is a blog series on the California WaterBlog, written by our alumni. The series will celebrate the many alumni who got…

  • Where are they now: Anna Sturrock

    Registration is now open for the 7th International Symposium on River Science, held in Davis, California from Oct 6-9, 2025! Early Bird Registration will remain open until 15 August 2025. “Where are they now:”  is a new blog series on the California WaterBlog, written in the voices of our alumni. The series will celebrate the…

  • Bargaining for Tribal Water in California

    By Leslie Sanchez and Eric C. Edwards Stark power disparities between Native American tribes (tribes) and nontribal entities in California have shaped tribes’ legal standing to assert water rights claims, bargaining power in resolving claims, and the ability to assert meaningful control over water rights. This post outlines the status of tribal water rights in California and…

  • Microplastic Pollution: Impact on the SF Bay Delta and Remediation Strategies

    “Microplastic Pollution: Impact on the SF Bay Delta and Remediation Strategies” Symposium with Delta Stewardship Council and Coastal Marine Sciences Institute By Miranda Bell-Tilcock In May, I had the privilege of attending the Microplastic Pollution: Impact on the SF Bay Delta and Remediation Strategies symposium hosted by the Coastal Marine Sciences Institute (CMSI) and the…

  • AI explanations of California water management

    By ChatGPT prompted by Jay Lund I was playing with ChatGPT and had some fun and insightful replies.  (I’d interpret these insights, but I am no Professor of Literature, and it would probably get me into trouble.  Please add your interpretations below in the replies.) 1) Prompt: Write a buzzword sentence on California water management. ChatGPT replied:…

  • Where are they now: Mollie Ogaz

    “Where are they now:”  is the first in a new blog series on the California WaterBlog, written in the voices of our alumni. The series will celebrate the many alumni who got their start at the Center for Watershed Sciences (CWS) and have now gone on to bigger and better things. Blog posts from the…

  • Build it, and they will come: Early evidence for establishment of Chinook salmon in Putah Creek, CA

    By Lauren G. Hitt, Malte Willmes, Mackenzie C. Miner, Max Stevenson, Carson A. Jeffres, Robert A. Lusardi, Nann A. Fangue, and Andrew L. Rypel For the third year in a row, regulators have canceled California’s commercial Chinook salmon fishing season.Poor spawning salmon returns in 2024 and low predicted numbers of salmon in the ocean during 2025…

  • Bull Trout and Other Endemic Fishes: McCloud River 

    By Peter B. Moyle There are about 130 fish species (as defined by the federal Endangered Species Act) native to the fresh waters of California. Most (80%) are arguably on trajectories to extinction. Seven species are already extirpated from the state (Thicktail Chub, Clear Lake Splittail, High Rock Springs Tui Chub, Bull Trout, Tecopa Pupfish,…

  • Remembering Professor Harrison (“Hap”) Dunning

    UC Davis Professor of Law Emeritus Harrison (“Hap”) Dunning passed away at the end of March 2025 at the age of 86. You can read the details of his life in the Davis Enterprise Obituary, including the story of his extensive work in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, but he is best known in…

  • Are spring-fed rivers key to long-term persistence of salmon and trout in California?

    By Nicholas Corline, Emilio Grande, Ate Visser, Jean Moran, Jory Lerback, Tyanna Blaschak, Damon Goodman, Jake Harm, Lauren Tolley-Mann, Dylan O’Ryan, Valerie Muenker, Rollie Nearhood, Amber Lukk, Sarah Howe, and Robert Lusardi Imagine a giant sponge made of volcanic rock. That’s what scientists have recently discovered in the central Cascades of Oregon, an aquifer that…

  • The Seven Circles of Jargon Hell

    By Jay Lund The circles of jargon hell move from “lazy and less effective communication of ideas” to a general audience, to a narrower already-expert audience, to a substitute for substantive communication, to intentionally harmful and pretentious obfuscation, all of which disrupt the reader’s comprehension and eventually destroy all interest in communication. Jay Lund is…

  • Managed Aquifer Recharge on Agriculture Lands: Infiltration Basins, Flood-MAR and Regional Variability

    By Sarah Sarfaty Epstein Groundwater has long been the unseen lifeblood of irrigators across the state, and some are now taking an active role in replenishing it. When and where surface water has been insufficient, Californians have drilled down, steadily depleting the aquifer, as shown in Figure 1. California’s cumulative groundwater overdraft is over 100…

  • How redefining just one word could strip the Endangered Species Act’s ability to protect vital habitat

    This blog is a cross-post from one featured on The Conversation on May 13, 2025. By Mariah Meek & Karrigan Börk It wouldn’t make much sense to prohibit people from shooting a threatened woodpecker while allowing its forest to be cut down, or to bar killing endangered salmon while allowing a dam to dry out their habitat. But that’s…

  • Trade-offs in California Water Discussions

    By Jay Lund In policy and management, we should always be interested in performance, both overall effectiveness and efficiency of solutions, as well as trade-offs across objectives.  These are often depicted on plots of Pareto-optimality, showing the relative performance of alternatives, the performance of efficient (Pareto-optimal) solutions, and trade-offs across these most efficient alternatives, often compared with…

  • The Power of Mimics in Aquatic Management and Beyond

    By Brandi Goss, Marissa L. Baskett, and Robert A. Lusardi Humans might be the ultimate ecosystem engineers in the sense that we constantly modify ecosystems and change the processes which drive them. In some cases, this can harm biodiversity by displacing native ecosystem engineers which deliver important benefits for other species and bolster both habitat…

  • Wet Season’s end for Water Year 2025

    By Jay Lund California’s Water Year runs from October 1 of the previous calendar year through September 30.  California’s “wet” season is traditionally October 1 – April 1.  The rest of the year (and often parts of the “wet” season) is usually dry.  We can get major storms into April, but often not. So almost all of this…

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