ARCHIVE
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Continued drought early in a possibly wet year
by Jay Lund California’s 2021 calendar year is over, but its 2022 Water Year (which started October 2021) is already three months old and still early in its wet season. So far this wet season is actually wet. It is a good time to assess the condition of the present drought and whether it is…
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California Waterblog 2021 “Wrapped”
by Christine A. Parisek and Andrew L. Rypel “The wait is over. Your [California Waterblog 2021 Wrapped] is here.” As we embark on another new year, we reflect and earnestly thank all of our readers, partners, authors, and friends. Studying water management challenges is complex and requires vision, transdisciplinary thinking, team science, and motivated people.…
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A Fishmas Carol: Ghosts of Salmons’ Pasts
by Kelly Neal Here is a story not quite like the one you have heard before, but echoes a similar tune as traditional lore. California salmon are at a precipice with conservation attempting to mitigate threats of climate change, habitat loss, and genetic simplification. Yet today, we have the knowledge and tools to create a…
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Defending ‘Rough Fish’
by Andrew L. Rypel Have any of you ever reached a tipping point with some topic, issue, or bone-to-pick? Well, one benefit of being a tenured professor is the ability to speak up when you feel like the science or data call for it. And so, after many years of silent stewing, I finally decided…
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A Recorded Conversation with Dr. Peter B. Moyle
With John Durand Dr. Peter Moyle was the main reason that I came to UC Davis fifteen years ago to study the confusing ecology of the San Francisco Estuary. Peter is a Distinguished Professor of Fish Biology, Emeritus, and one of the first people back in the 1970s to seriously study the diversity of California…
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Science of an underdog: the improbable comeback of spring-run Chinook salmon in the San Joaquin River
By Andrew L. Rypel, Gabriel Singer, and Nann A. Fangue “You can’t design a worse evolutionary strategy for the Anthropocene” There are many variants on this quote, and we’ve heard them often in reference to the status of native fishes in California and other freshwater organisms worldwide. Indeed, the statement rings true for Pacific salmon,…
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How dry will 2022 be?
by Jay Lund Last year, Northern California had very little precipitation in October and November, and we wondered if California was entering into a multi-year drought. Today, we know – last year became the 3rd driest year on record for northern California, in terms of precipitation. This water year, so far This year, Northern California…
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Adjusting past hydrology for changes in climate
by Jay Lund Segal’s Law: “Someone with one watch knows what time it is. Someone with two watches is never sure.” Time is certain, but its estimation and measurement are uncertain, yet we are not in total ignorance. Many water management and regulation decisions require an understanding of current and future hydrology. These include regulatory…
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Which species will survive? Climate change enhances the vulnerability of California freshwater fishes to severe drought
By Peter Moyle As I write this on an October weekend, rain is falling steadily in Davis and has been for most of the day. This is the first real rain we have had in over seven months. But it is not the end of the drought. Multiple storms are needed. The landscape is a…
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Managing Water Stored for the Environment During Drought
By Sarah Null, Jeffrey Mount, Brian Gray, Michael Dettinger, Kristen Dybala, Gokce Sencan, Anna Sturrock, Barton “Buzz” Thompson, Harrison “HB” Zeff Introduction Storing water in reservoirs is important for maintaining freshwater ecosystem health and protecting native species. Stored water also is essential for adapting to the changing climate, especially warming and drought intensification. Yet, reservoir…
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Can one atmospheric river end California’s drought?
By Andrew L. Rypel and Jay Lund Given the quantity and intensity of last week’s rain, an obvious question is: ‘Is the drought over?’ Alas, the answer is a resounding no. But, the data are interesting and worth thinking about in more detail. As of now, the 8 station index in the northern Sierra registers…
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Fish eyes: the hidden diet journal
by Miranda Bell-Tilcock It is strange to think of an eye as a diet journal, but a fish’s eye can tell much about what it has been eating at each point in its life. If we know what a fish has been eating and when, then we can figure out where a fish has been.…
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Sometimes, studying the variation is the interesting thing
By Andrew L. Rypel As scientists, we’re trained to key in on ‘response variables’. In my case, fisheries scientists often examine how fish physiology, populations, communities or whole ecosystems react to various environmental drivers or human alteration. Unfortunately, variation in data is too frequently looked upon as a nuisance, an after thought, or worse –…
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Episode 2: “Unraveling the Knot” Water Movement in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta – Tidal Forces
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 the region, with a range of about six feet at Martinez. In the first part…
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The Big California Drought Stories of 2021
by Jay Lund Happy New Water Year! October 1, 2021 is the beginning of the 2022 water year in California, the traditional beginning of California’s “wet season”, such as it will be. Although there are many fine and interesting stories from California’s current drought, so far, a few stories seem more important and worth summarizing…
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Developing tools to model impaired streamflow in streams throughout California
by Jeanette Howard, Kirk Klausmeyer, Laura Read, and Julie Zimmerman Droughts are extreme, but not necessarily extreme events — at least not in the way we humans usually experience events as discrete, episodic occurrences. Droughts are continuous and exhausting; they can come out of nowhere and take us on a rollercoaster of waiting for precipitation…
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Could California weather a mega-drought?
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 to drink, grow crops and provide habitat for fish with such an extreme, prolonged drought…
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Lessons from Three Decades of Evolution of Cropland use in the Central Valley
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, and dominates national production of dozens of fruits, vegetables, tree nuts and rice. The valley…
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Dammed hot: California’s regulated streams fail cold-water ecosystems
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 them under any conditions? New research shows how current stream management fails to provide the…