Tag: UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences
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Change at the Center for Watershed Sciences
By Karrigan Börk Readers of the California Water Blog (Blog) may have noticed some changes over the past year. The Blog is a product of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences (CWS), and after many years of dedicated service, longtime CWS leaders Dr. Andrew Rypel (Director) and Dr. Cathryn Lawrence (Assistant Director) are transitioning…
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UC Davis Give Day! Seeking Support for our Graduate Students
California WaterBlog is a long-running outreach project from the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, a research center dedicated to interdisciplinary study of water challenges, particularly in California. We focus on environmentally and economically sustainable solutions for managing rivers, lakes, groundwater, and estuaries. This week, for UC Davis Give Day (April 11-12), we have a matching gift…
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Some curious things about water management
By Jay R. Lund *This is a repost of a blog originally published in 2012. Water management is often very different from what we think intuitively, or what we have been taught. Here are some examples. 1. Most water decisions are local. Water policy and management discussions often seem to assume that state and federal…
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Marsh on the move: bringing environmental education into the classroom
By Josie Storm, Christine Parisek, Brian Williamshen, Caroline Newell, Sarah Yarnell, Kim Luke, Jake Shab, and Erin Tracy This spring, a group of researchers and students at the Center for Watershed Sciences (“Watershed”) organized a community engagement event at a local high school, with the help of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Committee. At Watershed,…
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Can Sacramento Valley reservoirs adapt to flooding with a warmer climate?
by Jay Lund and Ann Willis Editor’s note: This is a blog that was originally posted on 6/25/17. Since publication of the blog, there has been interesting newer research about running the San Joaquin rim dams for “functional flows” (Willis et al. 2022). This work also shows there is also an important component about…
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This Drought is Dead – Long Live the Drought
by Jay Lund and Andrew L. Rypel Floods and droughts are not opposites and can occur simultaneously. This occurs often in California and is especially well-illustrated this year. Floods, droughts, and water scarcity are different. Floods are too much water at a place and time, and we would often pay to reduce the water present…
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Picture this research – a photo blog from the Center for Watershed Sciences
by Scientists at CWS Holidays are a natural time of introspection on who we are, what we do, and why. Towards a bit of our own self-reflection, some researchers from UC Davis’ Center for Watershed Sciences (CWS) have each contributed a photo and short description of their work. We hope you enjoy reading about us…
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Initial Sampling of the Carp-DEUM Project
By Kim Luke, John Durand, Rachel McConnell, Aaron Sturtevant, Nina Suzuki, Andrew L. Rypel This spring, the Carp-Dependent Urgent Management (Carp-DEUM) Project began its first round of sampling in the UC Davis Arboretum before the Covid-19 lockdown. The project has two planned phases; a population estimate of common carp (and other arboretum fishes) in the…
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Black Lives Matter
We have elected to suspend our regular CalifornaWaterBlog.com posts for this week. Institutional racism is urgent and real, and should divert us from topics of California water at this time. The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others are horrific, and the effects of a pandemic are disproportionately affecting communities of color. At…
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Contemplating the Carp
By Kim Luke and Brian Williamson The UC Davis Arboretum is a defining feature of the campus. Students, faculty, and ducks alike all enjoy the waterway that was once a part of Putah Creek. Many organisms call the Arboretum “home”, but one of recent interest is the non-native Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio). Originally native to…
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Reconciling wild things with tamed places – a future for native fish species in the Delta
Peter Moyle, William Bennett, John Durand, William Fleenor, Jay Lund, Jeffrey Mount, University of California – Davis Ellen Hanak, Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco Brian Gray, University of California – Hastings School of Law Today, the Public Policy Institute of California released two reports that look at how California can better manage the…
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Water and California’s Economy
Ellen Hanak, Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), San Francisco, CA Jay Lund, Center for Watershed Sciences, University of California – Davis Buzz Thompson, Stanford School of Law Today, PPIC released “Water and the California Economy,” a report that presents the consensus view of 15 experts* on the role of water in California’s economy, key…
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Some springtime reading on California water
Jay R. Lund, Director, Center for Watershed Sciences and the Ray B. Krone Chair of Environmental Engineering, University of California – Davis California is a wonderful place to study water, with so many interesting and important problems, many thoughtful and insightful authors, and much to be learned. Here is a short selection of readings on…
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When Good Fish Make Bad Decisions
Carson Jeffres, Staff Research Associate, Center for Watershed Sciences Restoration of degraded habitat is generally considered to be a no-brainer. But, what if by “restoring” the habitat, you inadvertently create a habitat that causes either the target species or other important non-target species to spiral towards extinction—that is, a place that looks good on the…
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Recent News Stories You May Have Missed–A Compilation
State Budget Gap Solved by Sale of Department of Water Resources It was announced today that the Department of Water Resources (DWR) has been formally sold to the State and Federal Water Contractors Association. The $5 billion price will substantially reduce this year’s state budget deficit and the merger will remove much lingering public confusion.…
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Can solid flood planning improve all California water planning?
Jay R. Lund, The Ray B. Krone Chair of Environmental Engineering, University of California – Davis “No single raindrop believes it is to blame for the flood.” E.L. Kersten The best time to prepare for floods is during a drought. In December, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released their new Central Valley flood…
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Wanted: An integrated strategy for recovery of Central Valley salmon
Jacob Katz, Ph.D. Candidate, Center for Watershed Sciences Peter Moyle, Professor of Fish Biology, University of California – Davis Historically, the rivers of the Central Valley had seasonally variable stream flows and diverse habitats. Rivers tended to flood in winter, with low flows in summer. Salmon used in-channel gravel beds for spawning, deep in-channel pools…
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Growing costs and concern for drinking water in Tulare Basin and Salinas Valley
Thomas Harter, Robert M. Hagan Endowed Chair in Water Management and Policy, University of California – Davis Jay R. Lund, The Ray B. Krone Chair of Environmental Engineering, University of California – Davis A potential public health concern has been percolating into aquifer drinking water supplies in the Tulare Basin and Salinas Valley for the…
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Have our salmon and eat them too: Re-thinking Central Valley salmon hatcheries
By Jacob Katz and Peter Moyle In the previous blog, Jay Lund argued that wide-scale, integrated management of California’s water system will better balance water needs of the environment and water demands by humans. Here we expand on the need for fundamental shifts in policy to recover populations of Central Valley salmon using integrated management…
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Expanding water storage capacity in California
Jay R. Lund, The Ray B. Krone Chair of Environmental Engineering, University of California – Davis “The old gray mare, she ain’t what she used to be.” The recent report from the US Bureau of Reclamation on the economic feasibility of raising Shasta Dam illustrates that we are in a new era for considering water…