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California WaterBlog

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  • Will California’s drought extend into 2015?

    By Jay Lund and Jeffrey Mount Debates over how to manage California’s critically dry water supplies this year have displaced most discussion about water next year. This year’s drought is bad, but another dry year that begins with even lower groundwater and reservoir levels could be much worse. The state’s reservoir storage is already at near-record…

  • Should California expand reservoir capacity by removing sediment?

    By Jay Lund Removing sediment from reservoirs is often suggested as a potentially better way to expand storage capacity than raising dam heights or building new reservoirs. This is a natural notion to explore given the cost and likely environmental impacts of traditional expansions. For perspective, the construction cost of conventional reservoir expansion is about…

  • Beyond bonds: Funding the governor’s Water Action Plan

    Ellen Hanak, Brian Gray, Jay Lund, David Mitchell, Caitrin Chappelle, Emma Freeman, Dean Misczynski, James Nachbaur In late January, Gov. Jerry Brown released the California Water Action Plan, which outlines 10 strategic priorities for putting the state on a more sustainable water management path. The plan – intended to guide state water policy for the…

  • Is shorting fish of water during drought good for water users?

    By Jay Lund and Peter Moyle In drought years, California usually reduces “environmental water flows” — the amount of river flows needed to maintain aquatic ecosystems — to make more water available for farms and cities. The current drought has been no exception. Depriving fish of adequate river flows, however, might not be in the interests…

  • Why California’s agriculture needs groundwater management

    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 permanent crops, however, cannot be sustained unless agricultural communities commit to preserve and manage groundwater…

  • Severe drought impacts to Central Valley agriculture forecast this year

    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 surface water supplies (based on interviews with Valley water providers) — with limitations on groundwater…

  • Time to revisit economics of dam removal

    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 regulation can drive water management. California’s Bay Delta – a water source for 25 million…

  • Planning for the inevitable at Suisun Marsh

    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 back on themselves. Flocks of red-winged blackbirds rise from thickets of cattails and rushes with…

  • A cheat sheet on the California drought

    By Jay Lund Here’s a primer to keep the water-cooler conversation flowing when the subject turns to the California drought. Just how dry are we? We cannot know exactly, but we have some good indications: Northern Sierra. Currently, precipitation is about half of average. The region’s 8-station precipitation index is at 27 inches, compared with…

  • UC Drought Summit, April 25: Managing water scarcity in California

    Fellow Water Buffs, On April 25, the University of California will bring together a wide range of experts in the state Capitol for thoughtful discussion of drought and water supply issues. We are honored to host the daylong UC Drought Science, Policy & Management Summit, which is free and open to the public. Faculty from…

  • Drought’s No. 1 lesson: Modernize water management

    Jeff Mount, Ellen Hanak, Bruce Cain, Caitrin Chappelle, Richard Frank, Brian Gray, Richard Howitt, Katrina Jessoe, Jay Lund, Josué Medellín-Azuara, Peter Moyle, Leon Szeptycki and Buzz Thompson This year’s drought is testing how well California manages water during severe dry periods. As we head into spring and the major irrigation season, rainfall totals, snowpack, reservoir…

  • Funding sustainable groundwater management in California

    Ellen Hanak, Emma Freeman, Caitrin Chappelle, Brian Gray, Jay Lund, Dean Misczynski, Josué Medellín-Azuara, David Mitchell, Jeff Mount, James Nachbaur, Robyn Suddeth, Buzz Thompson One of the few current bright spots on California’s waterfront is that the drought seems to be spurring momentum to improve groundwater management in the state’s rural areas. Outside of a…

  • ‘Tahoe to tap’ could ease California’s water woes

    By Nestle J. Frobish A new study shows how Lake Tahoe might serve as a mammoth reservoir that could significantly mitigate California’s chronic water shortages without tarnishing the lake’s world-renowned beauty. The development, reported today (April 1) in the scientific journal Limnology Tomorrow, drew surprise and delight from California water interests who have long regarded…

  • Where did all that water go? Some dry numbers on today’s drought

    By Greg Gartrell Various water interests lately have been blaming operators of California’s state and federal water projects for worsening this year’s drought. The claims appearing in news stories run along these lines: They exported far more water than they said they would. They drained Northern California reservoirs to fill Southern California reservoirs. They should…

  • Funding water services in California

    By Ellen Hanak, Brian Gray, Jay Lund, David Mitchell, Caitrin Chappelle, Andrew Fahlund, Katrina Jessoe, Josué Medellín-Azuara, Dean Misczynski, James Nachbaur and Robyn Suddeth The current drought has brought renewed calls for more conservation, reservoirs, recycled water use, stormwater capture and desalination plants. But more than calls to action are needed to make these things happen.…

  • Yurok stewardship of Klamath’s Blue Creek bodes well for fish

    By Peter Moyle Last summer I had the privilege of camping overnight with members of the Yurok Tribe and Western Rivers Conservancy on Blue Creek, one of California’s loveliest streams and an important cold-water refuge for migrating salmon and steelhead. The creek tumbles down the misty Siskiyou Mountains not far from Redwood National Park. I…

  • Virtual Water vs. Real Water in California

    By Jay Lund There has been considerable kvetching during this drought about California exporting agricultural products overseas, with some saying that this implies we are virtually exporting water that we should be using in California. Those concerned should take comfort with California’s major imports of virtual water. Much of the food consumed here comes from…

  • Saving California’s salmon during a severe drought

    By Peter Moyle California is in one of the most severe droughts in recent years. This means water agencies are under great pressure to sacrifice river flows meant to sustain fish and wildlife for increased water delivery to farms and cities. Here are some questions decision-makers should consider in the tradeoff. Why save native fish?…

  • The ultimate California water cheat sheet

    There’s only so many acre-feet of water jargon the public can absorb during a drought. Here’s a primer that avoids wading into cubic-feet-per-second, appropriative water rights, overdraft, conjunctive water use and the like. Further reading http://CaliforniaWaterBlog.com Hanak, et al. 2011, Managing California’s Water: From Conflict to Reconciliation, Public Policy Institute of California http://mavensnotebook.com

  • California droughts precipitate innovation

    Percentage of average precipitation, Oct. 1, 2013 – Jan. 19, 2014. Source: National Weather Service “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste” – Paul Romer, Stanford University economist By Jay Lund The 2013 calendar year was the driest on record for much of California. There is almost no snow in the Sierra Nevada or…

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