Author Archives: jaylund

Erik Porse, Stephanie Pincetl, Diane Pataki, and Tom Gillespie Outdoor landscapes in California use water for irrigation, especially during summer. Outdoor water use is the largest portion of residential water use, especially in hotter inland areas and cities with larger … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund People are interested in California water problems, and they ask reasonable questions.  Here is a first installment of short science-based answers to some reasonable questions often heard at public and private discussions of water in California.  (Longer … Continue reading →

by Nicholas Pinter, Jay Lund, Peter Moyle 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 climate has made it a crucible for innovations in … Continue reading →

by Carson Jeffres, Eric Holmes, and Andrew Rypel State, federal, and local governments, water users, and the public are all concerned with the survival of salmon.   Over decades, and especially recent years, most salmon runs have severely declined in California. … Continue reading →

Jay R. Lund, Director, Center for Watershed Sciences and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California – Davis California is a wonderful place to study water.  So many interesting and important problems, thoughtful and insightful authors, and much … Continue reading →

By Cassidy Craford and Hannah Safford Californians cite drought and water-supply challenges as some of the most important environmental issues facing the state today. A whopping 85% of California voters agree that water supply is a “big problem” or “somewhat … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund   Only some parts of the world have safe drinking water almost ubiquitously, and only in the last century.  (We lucky few!)  In these countries, drinking water safety relies on a complex portfolio of actions and accountability … Continue reading →

April 1, 2019 By Nestle J. Frobish The California Department of Water Resources is working to employ the ongoing break-up of the Antarctic ice cap to provide a vast supply of water for California.  Current plans are to employ ocean … Continue reading →

By Josselin Rouillard Overview of French and Californian agricultural groundwater management France and California face a common challenge of managing overdraft in intensively exploited aquifers. As of 2018, large areas of France and California have overexploited groundwater (see maps below). … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund “Water problems in the western United States, when viewed from afar, can seem tantalizingly easy to solve: all we need to do is turn off the fountains at the Bellagio, stop selling hay to China, ban golf, … Continue reading →