Author Archives: jaylund

By Jay Lund “Mega-drought” has become a frightful “thing” in public and media discussions.  In the past 1,200 years, California had two droughts lasting 120-200 years, “megadroughts” by any standard. Could the state’s water resources continue to supply enough water … Continue reading →

by José M. Rodríguez-Flores, Spencer A. Cole, Alexander Guzman, Josué Medellín-Azuara, Jay R. Lund, Daniel A. Sumner California’s Central Valley is the source of more than $30 billion of farm value. It produces more milk than any state outside California, … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund Droughts and this drought in California California has more hydrologic variability than any state in the US, meaning that we have more drought and flood years per average year than any other state.  This is a problem, … Continue reading →

by Peter Moyle Everywhere you go in California, people live in landscapes where non-native species are conspicuous:  European grasses turning the hills golden, earthworms tilling our garden soil, exotic trees providing shade, bullfrogs jumping into backyard ponds, starlings making tight … Continue reading →

by Nicholas Pinter, Jay Lund, Peter Moyle This is a slightly-edited re-posting from May 5, 2019. A review of 170 years of water-related successes in California suggests that most successes can be traced directly to past mistakes.  California’s highly variable … Continue reading →

by John Abatzoglou, Anna Rallings, Leigh Bernacchi, Joshua Viers, Josué Medellín-Azuara California’s 2021 water outlook became grimmer this spring as the state did not get fabulous February or miracle March precipitation. Unsurprisingly, spring streamflow forecasts from snowfed basins in the … Continue reading →

by Wyatt Arnold A California water myth which becomes especially pernicious in droughts is that California is “running out of water” (Hanak et al. 2009). Viewing California’s supply and demand pressures in terms of fixed water requirements perpetuates this myth … Continue reading →

by Wyatt Arnold A California water myth which becomes especially pernicious in droughts is that California is “running out of water” (Hanak et al. 2009). Viewing California’s supply and demand pressures in terms of fixed water requirements perpetuates this myth … Continue reading →

 by Dylan Stompe, Teejay O’Rear, John Durand, and Peter Moyle             The San Francisco Estuary (estuary) is sometimes called the most invaded estuary in the world, and for good reason. Through many avenues, hundreds, if not thousands, of species have … Continue reading →

by Peter Moyle and Andrew Rypel California is home to 131 kinds of native fishes that require freshwater for some or all of their life-cycle. Most of these fishes are found only in California and most (81%) are in decline … Continue reading →