South Coast

Climate change-resilient snowpack estimation in the Western United States

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | June 18th, 2024

Climate-Altered Wetlands Challenge Waterbird Use and Migratory Connectivity in Arid Landscapes

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | March 15th, 2019

Wetlands in arid landscapes provide critical habitat for millions of migratory waterbirds across the world and throughout their annual cycle. The scope and scale

Wetlands in arid landscapes provide critical habitat for millions of migratory waterbirds across the world and throughout their annual cycle. The scope and scale of understanding avian use of these wetlands in conjunction with changes in climate are daunting yet critical to address lest we lose continent-wide migratory pathways. Here, we assess changes in waterbird use of North America’s Pacific Flyway in the Great Basin by examining water availability and climate trends over the past 100 years. We found recent (1980–2015) climate warming has significantly reduced the amount and shifted seasonality of water flowing into wetlands. Further, we found remarkable changes in waterbird species composition over time. We propose that a reduced hydroperiod and lower water quality from reduction in water level and flow limits sites used by waterbirds. These factors reduce chick survivorship as they cannot metabolize saline water, which makes suitable freshwater conditions a limiting resource. Collectively, climate-induced changes in Great Basin wetlands suggest a major shift in freshwater ecosystems, resulting in degradation of a continental migratory route. This work illustrates the importance of examining multi-scale changes in critical regional resources to understand their impact across a hemispheric flyway and provides a model to examine other flyways.

Climate-driven aerobic habitat loss in the California Current System

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) | May 15th, 2020

Climate warming is expected to intensify hypoxia in the California Current System (CCS), threatening its diverse and productive marine ecosystem. We analyzed past region

Climate warming is expected to intensify hypoxia in the California Current System (CCS), threatening its diverse and productive marine ecosystem. We analyzed past regional variability and future changes in the Metabolic Index, a species-specific measure of the environment’s capacity to meet temperature-dependent organismal oxygen demand. Across the traits of diverse animals, exhibits strong seasonal to interdecadal variations throughout the CCS, implying that resident species already experience large fluctuations in available aerobic habitat. For a key CCS species, northern anchovy, the long-term biogeographic distribution and decadal fluctuations in abundance are both highly coherent with aerobic habitat volume. Ocean warming and oxygen loss by 2100 are projected to decrease below critical levels in 30 to 50% of anchovies’ present range, including complete loss of aerobic habitat—and thus likely extirpation—from the southern CCS. Aerobic habitat loss will vary widely across the traits of CCS taxa, disrupting ecological interactions throughout the region.

Climate-informed hydrologic modeling and policy typology to guide managed aquifer recharge

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) | April 21st, 2021

Harvesting floodwaters to recharge depleted groundwater aquifers can simultaneously reduce flood and drought risks and enhance groundwater sustainability. However, deploy

Harvesting floodwaters to recharge depleted groundwater aquifers can simultaneously reduce flood and drought risks and enhance groundwater sustainability. However, deployment of this multibeneficial adaptation option is fundamentally constrained by how much water is available for recharge (WAFR) at present and under future climate change. Here, we develop a climate-informed and policy-relevant framework to quantify WAFR, its uncertainty, and associated policy actions. Despite robust and widespread increases in future projected WAFR in our case study of California (for 56/80% of subbasins in 2070–2099 under RCP4.5/RCP8.5), strong nonlinear interactions between diversion infrastructure and policy uncertainties constrain how much WAFR can be captured. To tap future elevated recharge potential through infrastructure expansion under deep uncertainties, we outline a novel robustness-based policy typology to identify priority areas of investment needs. Our WAFR analysis can inform effective investment decisions to adapt to future climate-fueled drought and flood risk over depleted aquifers, in California and beyond.

Climate-Smart Tools to Protect California’s Freshwater Biodiversity

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | May 28th, 2024

California’s freshwater ecosystems—and the native plants and animals that rely on them—have been in decline for decades. Roughly half of California’s native fresh

California’s freshwater ecosystems—and the native plants and animals that rely on them—have been in decline for decades. Roughly half of California’s native freshwater species are highly vulnerable to extinction within this century. But efforts to protect and recover native species now face an additional serious threat: climate change, which is accelerating and compounding the impacts of past and current land and water management issues. Simply working harder, using the same insufficient approaches to conservation, is unlikely to be successful. New approaches, including some that are experimental or highly controversial, are urgently needed. Although California has recently made important strides in setting goals for salmon, the state lacks a comprehensive approach to protecting native biodiversity in the face of climate change. We have identified a portfolio of actions that can help California rise to this urgent challenge.

Climatic Fluctuations, Drought, and Flow in the Colorado River Basin

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | August 16th, 2004

Coastal hardening and what it means for the world’s sandy beaches

Publisher not available | December 5th, 2024

Coastal Plain of Orange County, Basin 8-001 Alternative to a Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Orange County Water District (OCWD) | January 1st, 2017

Coastal vulnerability across the Pacific dominated by El Niño/Southern Oscillation

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | September 21st, 2015

To predict future coastal hazards, it is important to quantify any links between climate drivers and spatial patterns of coastal change. However, most studies of future c

To predict future coastal hazards, it is important to quantify any links between climate drivers and spatial patterns of coastal change. However, most studies of future coastal vulnerability do not account for the dynamic components of coastal water levels during storms, notably wave-driven processes, storm surges and seasonal water level anomalies, although these components can add metres to water levels during extreme events. Here we synthesize multi-decadal, co-located data assimilated between 1979 and 2012 that describe wave climate, local water levels and coastal change for 48 beaches throughout the Pacific Ocean basin. We find that observed coastal erosion across the Pacific varies most closely with El Niño/Southern Oscillation, with a smaller influence from the Southern Annular Mode and the Pacific North American pattern. In the northern and southern Pacific Ocean, regional wave and water level anomalies are significantly correlated to a suite of climate indices, particularly during boreal winter; conditions in the northeast Pacific Ocean are often opposite to those in the western and southern Pacific. We conclude that, if projections for an increasing frequency of extreme El Niño and La Niña events over the twenty-first century are confirmed, then populated regions on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean basin could be alternately exposed to extreme coastal erosion and flooding, independent of sea-level rise.

Colorado River Aqueduct Recording Project 1998

National Park Service (NPS) | December 15th, 1988

The Colorado River Aqueduct Recording Project is part of the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), a long-range program that documents historically-significant eng

The Colorado River Aqueduct Recording Project is part of the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), a long-range program that documents historically-significant engineering, industrial, and maritime sites In the United States. The HAER program is administered by the Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) Division of the National Park Service. U.S. Department of the Interior. The recording project was co-sponsored during the summer of 1998 by HABS/HAER under the general direction of E. Blaine Oliver, Chief; and by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Gary M. Snyder, Chief Engineer, and Wally M. Lieu, Assistant Chief Engineer. The measured drawings, historical report, and photographs were prepared under the direction of Eric N. DeLony, Chief of HAER, The recording team included Supervisory Architect Andrew Johnston (University of California, Berkeley) and architects Chrysti Chun (Illinois Institute of Technology), Imola Klrlzsa'n (ICOMOS, Romania), Sydney Mainster (University of California, Berkeley), Elizabeth Mllnarik (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), and Nina Shatberashvili (ICOMOS, Republic of Georgia); Project Historian J. Philip Gruen (University of California, Berkeley); and photographer Jet Lowe (Washington, D. C.) Additional drawings were provided by architects Christopher B. Brown (University of Washington) and Adrim Maksay (Transylvania Trust Foundation, Romania). Engineer Allien Whitsett (Metropolitan Water District of Southern California) provided consultation and advice. Devon Kobayashi (Metropolitan Water District of Southern California) served as HAER liaison.