Tag Archives: water management

Why give away fish flows for free during a drought?

Posted on April 10, 2022 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

by Jay Lund, Ellen Hanak, Barton “Buzz” Thompson, Brian Gray, Jeffrey Mount and Katrina Jessoe This is a re-posting from 11 February 2014 (in the previous drought).   With California in a major drought, state and federal regulators will be under … Continue reading →

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Dammed hot: California’s regulated streams fail cold-water ecosystems

Posted on August 29, 2021 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

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 … Continue reading →

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The banality of California’s ‘1,200-year’ drought

Posted on September 23, 2015 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

By Jay Lund California’s ongoing drought will continue to break records and grab headlines, but it is unlikely to be especially rare from a water policy and management perspective. Estimates of the current drought’s rarity range from once in 15 … Continue reading →

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How to manage drought: Ask an economist

Posted on June 23, 2015 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

The economics of water scarcity is crucial to sustainable water management, particularly during droughts. California has long benefited from the insights of economists, though their ranks in state water agencies are thinning. Luckily, California has a wealth of young, talented … Continue reading →

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Making the most of little water — with spreadsheets

Posted on June 14, 2015 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

By Jenny Ta and Joshua Viers It seems inevitable that increasing numbers of California farmers will see their claims to surface water suspended this growing season as the drought persists into a fourth year. The State Water Resources Control Board said … Continue reading →

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Getting through the dry times

Posted on August 3, 2014 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

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 … Continue reading →

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Weathering the drought by drawing down the bank

Posted on July 15, 2014 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

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 … Continue reading →

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Beyond bonds: Funding the governor’s Water Action Plan

Posted on June 5, 2014 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

Ellen Hanak, Brian Gray, Jay Lund, David Mitchell, Caitrin Chappelle, Emma Freeman, Dean Misczynski, James Nachbaur In late January, Gov. Jerry Brown released the California Water Action Plan, which outlines 10 strategic priorities for putting the state on a more … Continue reading →

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Drought’s No. 1 lesson: Modernize water management

Posted on April 9, 2014 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

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 … Continue reading →

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Where did all that water go? Some dry numbers on today’s drought

Posted on March 23, 2014 by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

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 … Continue reading →

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