ARCHIVE
-
Taking agricultural conservation seriously
Jay Lund1, Ellen Hanak2, Richard Howitt3, Ariel Dinar4, Brian Gray5, Jeffrey Mount6, Peter Moyle7, Barton “Buzz” Thompson8 For decades, people have observed that human water use in California is largely devoted to irrigating farmland, and they have therefore assumed that farms are the obvious places to save water. Our recent book, Managing California’s…
-
Sea level rise and Delta subsidence—the demise of subsided Delta islands
Jay R. Lund, the Ray B. Krone Professor of Environmental Engineering, University of California – Davis Periodically, scientists point to the weaknesses of levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The press and policy makers respond with astonishment, followed by local assertions of levee sustainability and pleas for greater subsidies. This cycle has recurred several times…
-
Water to the sea isn’t wasted
By Jeffrey Mount In December of 2010 we had a remarkable set of storms. Relentless rain and snowfall hit both southern and northern California. The news reports about these events followed a predictable pattern, including the inevitable articles that bemoan floodwaters as “wasted” because they discharge to the sea. This generalization about floodwaters or any…
-
What’s next for California water?
Jay Lund, UC Davis, Ray B. Krone Professor of Environmental Engineering California faces yet another period of transition in water management, with attendant turmoil and uncertainties. Since statehood, California’s landscape, society, economy, government, and environment have undergone a series of great changes. So going through another shift, while dramatic, is not especially shocking. Water management…
-
Delta “chicken” – A tragedy
Jay Lund, UC Davis, Ray B. Krone Professor of Environmental Engineering Few dispute the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta’s poor and deteriorating condition—for native fishes, many landowners, and water users locally and statewide—and the subsequent need for major changes in Delta policy. Most parties understand that without a credible comprehensive solution, continued deterioration will become more…
-
Reconciliation or extinction—the future of California?
By Peter Moyle It is easy to be pessimistic about the future of familiar life on this planet, especially here in California. We face an ever-growing human population, the rise of consumerism, and the refusal of most Americans to recognize that their life style is a major contributor to the problem. Climate change also threatens…
-
Striped bass control: cure worse than disease?
By Peter B. Moyle and William A. Bennett Seven species of fish in the Delta are listed as threatened or endangered, including Delta smelt, salmon and steelhead. Although the ultimate cause of decline in these species is adverse water management throughout the Central Valley, there is a constant search for ways to increase their numbers…