Tag: drought
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Drought a ghost of Christmas past — and present
By Peter Moyle I love this cartoon because it says so much about water and droughts in California. Alan Marciochi drew this during the 1976-77 drought. He knew what he was drawing. A farm boy from Los Banos with a degree in biology, Alan worked for me studying endangered Modoc suckers in remote northeastern corner of…
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Drought Journal: Hope springs eternal
Is the drought hastening the decline of California’s native fish? Will they be able to recolonize once normal conditions return? To help find out, a team of researchers with the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences took the pulse of about 70 streams and rivers across northern and central California this summer, examining habitat conditions and recording the…
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Groundwater reform more important than water bond
By Jay Lund and Thomas Harter California lawmakers recently found extraordinary consensus in approving a $7.5 billion water bond for the November election ballot. If the measure wins, however, future generations will not necessarily reap many of the promised water supply benefits without additional actions. To significantly improve its resilience to drought, California must quickly…
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Getting through the dry times
California’s economy overall is weathering the worst drought in decades remarkably well, thanks in part to groundwater use and water market transfers. But as a recent UC Davis study noted, the resilience is tenuous because groundwater is treated like an unlimited savings account and water marketing is hobbled by red tape and lack of transparency.…
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Why utilities shy from mandatory water saving during a drought
By Jay Lund The State Water Board’s recent decision to outlaw some water-wasting activities under penalty of $500 fines helps alert urban residents and businesses to the seriousness of the drought. These water conservation actions, though, are fairly mild compared with the water rationing and other mandatory restrictions that Santa Cruz and a few other…
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Weathering the drought by drawing down the bank
By Richard Howitt, Josué Medellín-Azuara, Duncan MacEwan and Jay Lund Today, UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences economists join the California Department of Food and Agriculture in releasing a second, more comprehensive and forward-looking report estimating the effects of the California drought on farm production. (UC Davis news release, Video of national press briefing) The study…
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Challenging myth and mirage in California’s drought
In a July 6, 2014 op-ed for The Sacramento Bee, three prominent California water experts challenge some claims that they say are hindering the search for solutions to California’s water shortages. We reprint the commentary here with a sidebar on some of the calculations supporting the article. By Jay Lund, Jeffrey Mount and Ellen Hanak As the effects…
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Could California weather a mega-drought?
By Jay Lund In the past 1,200 years, California had two droughts lasting 120-200 years. 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? With careful management, California’s economy in many ways could withstand such a severe drought. That’s…
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Will California’s drought extend into 2015?
By Jay Lund and Jeffrey Mount Debates over how to manage California’s critically dry water supplies this year have displaced most discussion about water next year. This year’s drought is bad, but another dry year that begins with even lower groundwater and reservoir levels could be much worse. The state’s reservoir storage is already at near-record…
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Is shorting fish of water during drought good for water users?
By Jay Lund and Peter Moyle In drought years, California usually reduces “environmental water flows” — the amount of river flows needed to maintain aquatic ecosystems — to make more water available for farms and cities. The current drought has been no exception. Depriving fish of adequate river flows, however, might not be in the interests…
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Why California’s agriculture needs groundwater management
California’s agricultural prosperity increasingly depends on groundwater availability during drought. Global markets favoring high-value nuts, fruits and wine grapes are fueling a steady conversion of farmland from annual crops and pasture to orchards and vineyards. The growing profitability of these permanent crops, however, cannot be sustained unless agricultural communities commit to preserve and manage groundwater…
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Severe drought impacts to Central Valley agriculture forecast this year
By Richard Howitt, Josué Medellín-Azuara, Duncan MacEwan and Jay Lund This year’s drought will have severe impacts on irrigated agriculture in California’s Central Valley. To estimate this impact, we updated and applied the Statewide Agricultural Production (SWAP) model for estimated cutbacks in surface water supplies (based on interviews with Valley water providers) — with limitations on groundwater…
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UC Drought Summit, April 25: Managing water scarcity in California
Fellow Water Buffs, On April 25, the University of California will bring together a wide range of experts in the state Capitol for thoughtful discussion of drought and water supply issues. We are honored to host the daylong UC Drought Science, Policy & Management Summit, which is free and open to the public. Faculty from…
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Drought’s No. 1 lesson: Modernize water management
Jeff Mount, Ellen Hanak, Bruce Cain, Caitrin Chappelle, Richard Frank, Brian Gray, Richard Howitt, Katrina Jessoe, Jay Lund, Josué Medellín-Azuara, Peter Moyle, Leon Szeptycki and Buzz Thompson This year’s drought is testing how well California manages water during severe dry periods. As we head into spring and the major irrigation season, rainfall totals, snowpack, reservoir…
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Where did all that water go? Some dry numbers on today’s drought
By Greg Gartrell Various water interests lately have been blaming operators of California’s state and federal water projects for worsening this year’s drought. The claims appearing in news stories run along these lines: They exported far more water than they said they would. They drained Northern California reservoirs to fill Southern California reservoirs. They should…
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Virtual Water vs. Real Water in California
By Jay Lund There has been considerable kvetching during this drought about California exporting agricultural products overseas, with some saying that this implies we are virtually exporting water that we should be using in California. Those concerned should take comfort with California’s major imports of virtual water. Much of the food consumed here comes from…
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Saving California’s salmon during a severe drought
By Peter Moyle California is in one of the most severe droughts in recent years. This means water agencies are under great pressure to sacrifice river flows meant to sustain fish and wildlife for increased water delivery to farms and cities. Here are some questions decision-makers should consider in the tradeoff. Why save native fish?…
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California droughts precipitate innovation
Percentage of average precipitation, Oct. 1, 2013 – Jan. 19, 2014. Source: National Weather Service “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste” – Paul Romer, Stanford University economist By Jay Lund The 2013 calendar year was the driest on record for much of California. There is almost no snow in the Sierra Nevada or…
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Getting through the dry times
By Ellen Hanak and Elizabeth Stryjewski This week, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) released a new report that provides a checkup on California’s progress with two innovative water management tools: water marketing and groundwater banking. These tools are part of a modern approach that will enable California to manage its scarce water resources…
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Water Storage in California
Jay R. Lund, The Ray B. Krone Chair of Environmental Engineering, University of California – Davis “With a larger reservoir, there is some increasing gain with further size, but in a diminishing ratio.” – Alan Hazen (1914) Water storage capacity is an important tool in California’s water system for capturing lower-value water for higher-value uses…