Sacramento River

The Sacramento River region includes the entire drainage of the Sacramento River and its tributaries, spanning from Chipps Island in Solano County northward to Goose Lake in Modoc County. The state’s two largest water systems, the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project, originate here. Agriculture is the main driver, with over 1.5 million acres irrigated on the valley floor. Top grossing crops include rice, walnuts, almonds, and tomatoes.

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Characterizing changes in streamflow and sediment supply in the Sacramento River basin, California, using hydrological simulation program

Water, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) | September 30th, 2016

Summary

A daily watershed model of the Sacramento River Basin of northern California was developed to simulate streamflow and suspended sediment transport to the San Francisco B

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Characterizing pyrethroid and fipronil concentrations in biosolids

Science of the Total Environment (Elsevier) | February 28th, 2025

Summary

Pesticides are prevalent in wastewater, yet few studies have measured pesticides in biosolids and aqueous media from samples collected concurrently. Seventeen California

Pesticides are prevalent in wastewater, yet few studies have measured pesticides in biosolids and aqueous media from samples collected concurrently. Seventeen California wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were sampled in May 2020. Biosolids samples were analyzed for 27 analytes, and paired aqueous samples (influent and effluent) were analyzed for 23 analytes. Analytes included fipronil and its transformation products (fiproles), pyrethroids, novaluron, and several other pesticides with down-the-drain transport potential. Of the 27 compounds analyzed in biosolids samples, 16 were detected in at least one sample, and 10 had a detection frequency (DF) of at least 25 %. Fipronil sulfone, fipronil sulfide, and fipronil were the most frequently detected fiproles (DF = 100 %, 94 %, and 67 %, respectively); permethrin was the most frequently detected pyrethroid (DF = 100 %), followed by bifenthrin (DF = 94 %), cyhalothrin (DF = 89 %), and etofenprox (DF = 78 %). To elucidate fipronil transformation pathways within the treatment system, data from the three sample types were compared; findings were generally consistent with transformation pathways reported previously (e.g., some fiproles were rarely detected in influent or biosolids, but frequently detected in effluent, indicating their formation during the treatment process). No correlations were found between WWTP characteristics and pesticide concentrations in biosolids. The fraction of organic carbon (fOC) of each biosolids sample was measured, and a statistically significant negative correlation was observed between fOC and some fiproles, but not fipronil; possible explanations are discussed. Additional analysis for two major agricultural pesticides (bifenthrin and permethrin) indicated that estimated mass loads of these pesticides in biosolids applied to land as a soil amendment are minimal (approximately 2 to 3 orders of magnitude lower) compared to inputs from agricultural applications. This study provides insight on the magnitude of pesticides entering the environment via land-applied biosolids; existing regulations surrounding agricultural pesticide applications are expected to also be protective of the relatively low inputs from biosolids.

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Civic Engagement and Water Data: How Can California Make Data Work for Decision Makers?

University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) | September 1st, 2020

Summary

Much attention is focused on water data in California, and for good reason. California is struggling to make decisions that adapt its water systems to pressures such as

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Classifying California’s stream thermal regimes for cold-water conservation

PLOS | August 20th, 2021

Summary

Stream temperature science and management is rapidly shifting from single-metric driven approaches to multi-metric, thermal regime characterizations of streamscapes. Giv

Stream temperature science and management is rapidly shifting from single-metric driven approaches to multi-metric, thermal regime characterizations of streamscapes. Given considerable investments in recovery of cold-water fisheries (e.g., Pacific salmon and other declining native species), understanding where cold water is likely to persist, and how coldwater thermal regimes vary, is critical for conservation. California’s unique position at the southern end of cold-water ecosystems in the northern hemisphere, variable geography and hydrology, and extensive flow regulation requires a systematic approach to thermal regime classification. We used publicly available, long-term (> 8 years) stream temperature data from 77 sites across California to model their thermal regimes, calculate three temperature metrics, and use the metrics to classify each regime with an agglomerative nesting algorithm. Then, we assessed the variation in each class and considered underlying physical or anthropogenic factors that could explain differences between classes. Finally, we considered how different classes might fit existing criteria for cool- or cold-water thermal regimes, and how those differences complicate efforts to manage stream temperature through regulation. Our results demonstrate that cool- and cold-water thermal regimes vary spatially across California. Several salient findings emerge from this study. Groundwater-dominated streams are a ubiquitous, but as yet, poorly explored class of thermal regimes. Further, flow regulation below dams imposes serial discontinuities, including artificial thermal regimes on downstream ecosystems. Finally, and contrary to what is often assumed, California reservoirs do not contain sufficient cold-water storage to replicate desirable, reach-scale thermal regimes. While barriers to cold-water conservation are considerable and the trajectory of cold-water species towards extinction is dire, protecting reaches that demonstrate resilience to climate warming remains worthwhile.

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Clear Lake Watershed and Lake Remediation

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | December 9th, 2024

Summary

The main goal of this joint effort between the University of California Davis, Tahoe Environmental Research Center (UCD-TERC), and the United States Geological Survey (US

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Climate Action Plan Phase 1 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan Update 2023

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | March 22nd, 2024

Summary

DWR developed the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan Update 2023 (Update 2023) to review its GHG reductions since Update 2020 and to update strategies for further re

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Climate and land change impacts on future managed wetland habitat: a case study from California’s Central Valley

Landscape Ecology (Springer) | January 7th, 2022

Summary

Concept California’s Central Valley provides critical habitat for migratory waterbirds, yet only 10% of naturally occurring wetlands remain. Competition for limited wa

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Climate and landscape drive the pace and pattern of conifer encroachment into subalpine meadows

Ecological Society of America (Wiley) | May 8th, 2018

Summary

Mountain meadows have high biodiversity and help regulate stream water release following the snowmelt pulse. However, many meadows are experiencing woody plant encr

Mountain meadows have high biodiversity and help regulate stream water release following the snowmelt pulse. However, many meadows are experiencing woody plant encroachment, threatening these ecosystem services. While there have been field surveys of individual meadows and remote sensing‐based landscape‐scale studies of encroachment, what is missing is a broad‐scale, ground‐based study to understand common regional drivers, especially at high elevations, where land management has often played a less direct role. With this study, we ask: What are the climate and landscape conditions conducive to woody plant encroachment at the landscape scale, and how has historical climate variation affected tree recruitment in subalpine meadows over time? We measured density of encroaching trees across 340 subalpine meadows in the central Sierra Nevada, California, USA, and used generalized additive models (GAMs) to determine the relationship between landscape‐scale patterns of encroachment and meadow environmental properties. We determined ages of trees in 30 survey meadows, used observed climate and GAMs to model the relationship between timing of recruitment and climate since the early 1900s, and extrapolated recruitment patterns into the future using downscaled climate scenarios. Encroachment was high among meadows with lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon var. murrayana (Balf.) Engelm.) in the immediate vicinity, at lower elevations, with physical conditions favoring strong soil drying, and with maximum temperatures above or below average. Climatic conditions during the year of germination were unimportant, with tree recruitment instead depending on a 3‐yr seed production period prior to germination and a 6‐yr seedling establishment period following germination. Recruitment was high when the seed production period had high snowpack, and when the seedling establishment period had warm summer maximum temperatures, high summer precipitation, and high snowpack. Applying our temporal model to downscaled output from four global climate models indicated that the average meadow will shift to forest by the end of the 21st century. Sierra Nevada meadow encroachment by conifers is ubiquitous and associated with climate conditions increasingly favorable for tree recruitment, which will lead to substantial changes in subalpine meadows and the ecosystem services they provide.

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Climate Change and the Delta

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | October 1st, 2016

Summary

Climate change amounts to a fast approaching, “new” stressor in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta system. In response to California’s extreme natural hydroclimatic

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Climate Change and the Delta: A Synthesis (Public Review Draft)

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | March 23rd, 2018

Summary

The Delta Reform Act of 2009 (Water Code Section 85066) requires that the Delta Stewardship Council adopt a Delta Plan (the Plan) to achieve the coequal goals of providin

The Delta Reform Act of 2009 (Water Code Section 85066) requires that the Delta Stewardship Council adopt a Delta Plan (the Plan) to achieve the coequal goals of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Delta ecosystem (Water Code Section 85000). In the time since the Plan was adopted in 2013, a significant shift in State planning for Delta ecosystem protection, restoration, and enhancement has occurred, prompting review of the Delta Plan to examine whether its strategies are still suited to achieve the ecological goals of the Delta Reform Act. As such, the Delta Stewardship Council (Council) is developing an amendment of the Plan’s Chapter 4, Protect, Restore, and Enhance the Delta Ecosystem. Council staff are reviewing the best-available science to inform amendment of Chapter 4 of the Delta Plan. To support this effort, Council staff have developed three science synthesis papers. This paper focuses on the effects of climate change in the Delta and is accompanied by two other papers focused on the Delta ecosystem (terrestrial and aquatic resources) and restoration. Climate change is of interest for the Chapter 4 amendment given recent rapid advancements in research on climate change and its effects on the Delta ecosystem that have occurred since the Delta Plan was adopted in 2013 (Dettinger et al. 2016). Climate change has the potential to significantly affect the Delta ecosystem by raising air and water temperatures, changing the timing and volume of flows into and through the Delta, increasing tidal inundation with sea-level rise (SLR), and increasing salinity intrusion into the Delta. Climate change is recognized as a global stressor in Chapter 4 of the 2013 Delta Plan, but the effects of climate change on Delta ecosystems are discussed only briefly and with limited consideration of management strategies that address the issue. Chapter 4 of the Delta Plan identifies five key stressors to the Delta ecosystem and core strategies for addressing each. Climate change has interrelated effects on all five core strategy areas: Delta flows, habitat, water quality, non-native 28 species, and hatcheries and harvest management. The Delta Reform Act specifies consideration of “the future impact of climate change and sea-level rise” (Water Code Section 85066), and identifies a restoration timeline horizon of 2100 (Water Code Section 85302). More generally, Executive Order B-30-15, signed by Governor Brown in April 2015, requires that State agencies incorporate climate change into planning and investment decisions, and that they prioritize natural infrastructure and actions for climate preparedness.

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Sacramento River

Characterizing changes in streamflow and sediment supply in the Sacramento River basin, California, using hydrological simulation program

Characterizing pyrethroid and fipronil concentrations in biosolids

Civic Engagement and Water Data: How Can California Make Data Work for Decision Makers?

Classifying California’s stream thermal regimes for cold-water conservation

Clear Lake Watershed and Lake Remediation

Climate Action Plan Phase 1 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan Update 2023

Climate and land change impacts on future managed wetland habitat: a case study from California’s Central Valley

Climate and landscape drive the pace and pattern of conifer encroachment into subalpine meadows

Climate Change and the Delta

Climate Change and the Delta: A Synthesis (Public Review Draft)

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