Author Archives: UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

Support our Students and Engagement at the Center for Watershed Sciences

Posted on April 19, 2024 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

California WaterBlog is a long-running outreach project from the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, a research center dedicated to interdisciplinary study of water challenges, particularly in California. We focus on environmentally and economically sustainable solutions for managing rivers, lakes, … Continue reading →

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Manifesting Successful Aquatic Restoration

Posted on April 1, 2024 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

by E.J. Baybe-Mahn Successful aquatic restoration traditionally comes from extensive research and knowledge of the system, collaboration among stakeholders, and thorough planning. But what if there was another way to ensure restorations are creating the results we want to see? … Continue reading →

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A Functional Flows approach to implementing Flood-MAR

Posted on January 8, 2024 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

by Bronwen Stanford, Julie Zimmerman, Kris Taniguchi-Quan, Ted Grantham, Sarah Yarnell, Alyssa Obester, Eric Stein, Jessi Ayers, Alex Milward As recent droughts have highlighted, groundwater overuse is a serious problem in California. Overdraft is drying shallower domestic and municipal wells, … Continue reading →

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Can Sacramento Valley reservoirs adapt to flooding with a warmer climate?

Posted on June 25, 2023 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

  by Jay Lund and Ann Willis Editor’s note: This is a blog that was originally posted on 6/25/17. Since publication of the blog, there has been interesting newer research about running the San Joaquin rim dams for “functional flows” … Continue reading →

Posted in California Water, Climate Change, Floodplains | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Demystifying mist as a source of water supply

Posted on June 5, 2022 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

By Jay Lund (originally posted in 2015) In some of the world’s driest places, atmospheric moisture is a major source of water for native ecosystems. Some algae, plants and insects in the Israeli and Namibian deserts get much of their water … Continue reading →

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Why give away fish flows for free during a drought?

Posted on April 10, 2022 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

by Jay Lund, Ellen Hanak, Barton “Buzz” Thompson, Brian Gray, Jeffrey Mount and Katrina Jessoe This is a re-posting from 11 February 2014 (in the previous drought).   With California in a major drought, state and federal regulators will be under … Continue reading →

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Episode 2: “Unraveling the Knot” Water Movement in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta – Tidal Forces

Posted on October 10, 2021 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

By William Fleenor, Amber Manfree, and Megan Nguyen Tides are the biggest driver of Delta flows, and in Episode 2 we look at their impacts in different locations under a variety of inflow conditions.  Tides have a twice-daily cycle in … Continue reading →

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Dammed hot: California’s regulated streams fail cold-water ecosystems

Posted on August 29, 2021 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

by Ann Willis, Ryan Peek, and Andrew L. Rypel Given the current drought, it’s no surprise that California’s dams are struggling to provide cool water habitats to support native freshwater ecosystems. But what if they were never able to support … Continue reading →

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Assessing portfolios of actions for winter-run salmon in the Sacramento Valley

Posted on May 29, 2021 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

by Francisco Bellido Leiva, Robert Lusardi and Jay Lund  We may be entering a time when more mechanistic understanding can be used to estimate effects of habitats and flows on fish populations and health, and help design ecosystem restoration efforts. … Continue reading →

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The Collapse of Water Exports – Los Angeles, 1914

Posted on March 17, 2019 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

by Jay Lund “In February, 1914, the rainfall in the Mojave Desert region exceeded by nearly fifty per cent in three days the average annual precipitation. Where the steel siphon crosses Antelope valley at the point of greatest depression, an … Continue reading →

Posted in California Water | Tagged | 5 Comments