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California WaterBlog

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  • Climate change and California water – past, present and future

    Everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. – Charles Dudley Warner, 1897 By Jay R. Lund Talk of climate change and water in California is fraught with handwringing and delusions. Much discussion borders on alarmist or seems to presume magical abilities to precisely plan and prepare for a future climate. Here…

  • How engineers see the water glass in California

    By Jay R. Lund Depending on your outlook, the proverbial glass of water is either half full or half empty. Not so for engineers in California. Civil engineer: The glass is too big. Flood control engineer: The glass should be 50 percent bigger. Army Corps levee engineer: The glass should be 50 percent thicker. Mexicali…

  • Getting through the dry times

    By Ellen Hanak and Elizabeth Stryjewski This week, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) released a new report that provides a checkup on California’s progress with two innovative water management tools:  water marketing and groundwater banking.  These tools are part of a modern approach that will enable California to manage its scarce water resources…

  • The dog that didn’t bark: Unexpectedly small effects of export changes on Delta farms

    Inspector Gregory: Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention? Sherlock Holmes: To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time. Gregory: The dog did nothing in the night-time. Holmes: That was the curious incident. By Josué Medellín-Azuara and Richard Howitt, UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences California…

  • Fish and Game’s name change reflects broader mission

    By Joshua Viers and Jacob Katz, UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences The California Department of Fish and Game is one of the few state agencies with an inherently likable name. Bent fishing rods come to mind. Fishing and hunting permits are tickets to outdoor adventure and family bonding, and a license to literally bring…

  • Halloween hydrology

    By the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences staff If these 1950s ideas for solving California’s water problems don’t frighten you, we don’t know what will. Happy Halloween! The Cornell Plan Sidney Cornell, a Los Angeles construction engineer, circulated an idea for transporting Northern California water to the parched southern end of the state without…

  • Lessons from Hurricane Sandy for Bay Area business leaders

    By Jeffrey F. Mount, geology professor and founding director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences As you read this today, Hurricane Sandy is colliding with cold air from Canada and creating an impressive storm in the Northeast. Strong onshore winds and an intense low-pressure system are causing storm surges as high as 13…

  • Sierra frogs breed insights on river management

    By Sarah Yarnell, hydrologist, UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences When dam operators schedule outflows to satisfy their downstream environmental obligations, they typically want to know, “How much?” How much cold mountain water must Shasta Dam release to preserve the Sacramento River’s imperiled winter run of salmon? How much fresh Sierra water must flow out…

  • Knowing Delta’s past offers new ideas forward

    By Alison Whipple San Francisco Estuary Institute-Aquatic Science Center Teetering atop a haystack to get his bearings, Sacramento County Surveyor Edwin Sherman observed “dense tules and willows” lining the sloughs that wove through “large tule plains and some grass.” The haystack also afforded him a dry bed at night when high tides inundated the surrounding…

  • Restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley

    Jay Lund, the Ray B. Krone Professor of Environmental Engineering, University of California – Davis In November, the people of San Francisco will vote on looking into alternatives to capturing water at the Hetch Hetchy reservoir site, which could lead to restoring the fabled valley in Yosemite National Park.  While this modest step faces steep…

  • California Water – The Great Remodeling Project

    Jay R. Lund, Director, Center for Watershed Sciences, and Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UC Davis People periodically remodel their homes.  A household might need a new room for children or an ailing grandparent, want a bigger kitchen, replace a leaky roof, or want more room to entertain.  California’s water system is now…

  • Reconciling wild things with tamed places – a future for native fish species in the Delta

    Peter Moyle, William Bennett, John Durand, William Fleenor, Jay Lund, Jeffrey Mount, University of California – Davis Ellen Hanak, Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco Brian Gray, University of California – Hastings School of Law Today, the Public Policy Institute of California released two reports that look at how California can better manage the…

  • Water and California’s Economy

    Ellen Hanak, Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), San Francisco, CA Jay Lund, Center for Watershed Sciences, University of California – Davis Buzz Thompson, Stanford School of Law Today, PPIC released “Water and the California Economy,” a report that presents the consensus view of 15 experts* on the role of water in California’s economy, key…

  • Wild Things and the Delta

    Jay Lund, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Peter Moyle, Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology University of California – Davis   The recent death of Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are, brings some whimsical reflections on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.  Several quotes from the book seem to have potential lessons…

  • Some springtime reading on California water

    Jay R. Lund, Director, Center for Watershed Sciences and the Ray B. Krone Chair of Environmental Engineering, University of California – Davis California is a wonderful place to study water, with so many interesting and important problems, many thoughtful and insightful authors, and much to be learned.  Here is a short selection of  readings on…

  • When Good Fish Make Bad Decisions

    Carson Jeffres, Staff Research Associate, Center for Watershed Sciences Restoration of degraded habitat is generally considered to be a no-brainer.  But, what if by “restoring” the habitat, you inadvertently create a habitat that causes either the target species or other important non-target species to spiral towards extinction—that is, a place that looks good on the…

  • Recent News Stories You May Have Missed–A Compilation

    State Budget Gap Solved by Sale of Department of Water Resources It was announced today that the Department of Water Resources (DWR) has been formally sold to the State and Federal Water Contractors Association.  The $5 billion price will substantially reduce this year’s state budget deficit and the merger will remove much lingering public confusion.…

  • Can solid flood planning improve all California water planning?

    Jay R. Lund, The Ray B. Krone Chair of Environmental Engineering, University of California – Davis “No single raindrop believes it is to blame for the flood.”  E.L. Kersten The best time to prepare for floods is during a drought. In December, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released their new Central Valley flood…

  • Wanted: An integrated strategy for recovery of Central Valley salmon

    Jacob Katz, Ph.D. Candidate, Center for Watershed Sciences Peter Moyle, Professor of Fish Biology, University of California – Davis Historically, the rivers of the Central Valley had seasonally variable stream flows and diverse habitats.  Rivers tended to flood in winter, with low flows in summer.  Salmon used in-channel gravel beds for spawning, deep in-channel pools…

  • Growing costs and concern for drinking water in Tulare Basin and Salinas Valley

    Thomas Harter, Robert M. Hagan Endowed Chair in Water Management and Policy, University of California – Davis Jay R. Lund, The Ray B. Krone Chair of Environmental Engineering, University of California – Davis A potential public health concern has been percolating into aquifer drinking water supplies in the Tulare Basin and Salinas Valley for the…

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