A practical guide to environmental flows for policy and planning (with 9 case studies)

The Nature Conservancy | May 18th, 2012

Environmental flows are gaining broad recognition across the United States, and the underlying science is sufficiently developed to support regional planning and policy a

Environmental flows are gaining broad recognition across the United States, and the underlying science is sufficiently developed to support regional planning and policy applications. This report explores how six states and three interstate river basins are effectively developing and applying regionalized environmental flow criteria to water resource planning, water withdrawal permitting, and multi-dam re-operation. The broad range of approaches they relate clearly demonstrates the feasibility of integrating science-based environmental flow needs into regional water management in the absence of site-specific assessments. The case studies embrace the following principles: • Regionalized environmental flow criteria apply to all the water bodies across a state or large river basin for which site-specific criteria have not yet been established. • Flow criteria link explicitly to the health of the entire aquatic and riparian ecosystem, and are not limited to specific species. • Flow regimes mimic natural inter- and intra-annual flow variability. • The development of environmental flow criteria and the policies for their implementation are closely linked.  Defining a clear path to policy implementation from the onset ensures that the ensuing science answers the right management questions. • Flow criteria are developed through a transparent, inclusive social process informed by sound science. A structured social process for identifying, understanding, and negotiating tradeoffs is critical. To varying degrees, the Ecological Limits of Hydrologic Alteration (ELOHA) framework influenced each of the case studies. ELOHA is a flexible framework for determining and implementing environmental flows at the regional scale using existing hydrologic and biological information. Major components of ELOHA include a hydrologic foundation of streamflow data, classification of natural river types, flow-ecology relationships associated with each river type, and river condition goals.

Adapting Restoration for a Changing Climate Symposium

Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) | November 5th, 2021

Addressing Stakeholder Science Needs for Integrated Drought Science in the Colorado River Basin

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | May 31st, 2022

Advancing One Water Through Arts and Culture: A Blueprint for Action

U.S. Water Alliance | June 26th, 2018

No matter who we are, where we live, or what we do, water is essential to our lives. It is life’s most precious resource, an indispensable ingredient for prosperity, pr

No matter who we are, where we live, or what we do, water is essential to our lives. It is life’s most precious resource, an indispensable ingredient for prosperity, progress, and well­-being. Water challenges in the United States are vast and mounting—communities are suffering from poor water quality, drought, flooding, and more.  Our water and wastewater infrastructure is aging and in urgent need of replacement and renewal. Our water systems are further stressed by increasingly unpredictable weather, sea level rise, and shifting populations. The complex water challenges we face today cannot be solved solely by the approaches we have used in the past. Water leaders—utility managers, public officials, farmers, river keepers, business leaders, manufacturers, com­munity leaders, philanthropy, and others—recognize that business as usual will not get us to a sustainable water future. Visionary water leaders are working to shift the paradigm of how water is viewed, valued, and managed. They are taking a One Water approach, elevating water as a national priority, inspiring our collective imagination, and activating new solutions. Water leaders are increasingly turning to artists and cultural leaders to help bring visibility to water issues, create more inclusive and imaginative planning pro­cesses, and leverage infrastructure investments to provide additional benefits to the communities they serve. At the same time, many artists and cultural leaders have become increasingly aware of and engaged in the water issues facing their communities. There is tremendous  opportunity to utilize arts and culture strategies to advance sustainable, integrated, and inclusive manage­ment of our nation’s water resources. As creative thinkers and doers, artists can be powerful partners to water leaders seeking to reimagine traditional approaches to water planning and management, and connect with communities in new ways. This report aims to help water leaders envision the various ways that arts and culture can advance One Water goals, and how they can most effectively partner with artists and cultural leaders. In addition to serving water leaders, we hope this document will provide artists and cultural leaders with insights on the priorities of the water sector and reveal synergies. By establishing a shared framework, we hope to enable increased collaboration between the water and arts sectors. The report is organized in the following manner: • Our Current Water Landscape provides a brief overview of the complex water ­related challenges that face our communities; • A New Paradigm for Water: The One Water Approach describes how the water sector is embracing a more innovative, integrated, and inclusive approach to water management; • Opportunities at the Intersection of Water, Arts, and Culture outlines seven ways that arts and culture can advance One Water goals; • The Path Forward: Building Cross-Sector Capacity for Collaboration offers recommendations for how we can seed and spread collaborations between arts, culture, and water leaders; and • Art in Action presents eight case studies that demon­strate how arts and culture strategies are driving positive water ­related outcomes in communities across the country.

Assessing and communicating the impacts of climate change on the Southern California coast

California Natural Resources Agency | August 27th, 2018

 Over the course of this and the next century, the combination of rising sea levels, severe storms, and coastal erosion will threaten the sustainability of coastal commu

 Over the course of this and the next century, the combination of rising sea levels, severe storms, and coastal erosion will threaten the sustainability of coastal communities, development, and ecosystems as we currently know them. To clearly identify coastal vulnerabilities and develop appropriate adaptation strategies for projected increased levels of coastal flooding and erosion, coastal managers need user-friendly planning tools based on the best available climate and coastal science. In anticipation of these climate change impacts, many communities are in the early stages of climate change adaptation planning but lack the scientific information and tools to adequately address the potential impacts. In collaboration with leading scientists worldwide, the USGS designed the Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) to assess the coastal impacts of climate change for the California coast, including the combination of sea level rise, storms, and coastal change. In this project, we directly address the needs of coastal resource managers in Southern California by integrating a vast range of global climate change projections and translate that information using sophisticated physical process models into planning-scale physical, ecological, and economic exposure, shoreline change, and impact assessments, all delivered in two simple, user-friendly, online tools. Our results show that by the end of the 21st century, over 250,000 residents and nearly $40 billion in building value across Southern California could be exposed to coastal flooding from storms, sea level rise, and coastal change. Results for the other major population center in California (the greater San Francisco Bay Area) are also available but not explicitly discussed in this report. Together, CoSMoS has now assessed the exposure of 95% of the 26 million coastal residents of the State (17 million in Southern California) 

California Natural Resources Agency Tribal Consultation Policy

California Natural Resources Agency | November 20th, 2012

California Native American Tribes and tribal communities have sovereign authority over their members and territory and a unique relationship with California's resources.

California Native American Tribes and tribal communities have sovereign authority over their members and territory and a unique relationship with California's resources. All California Tribes and tribal communities, whether federally recognized or not, have distinct cultural, spiritual, environmental, economic and public health interests and unique traditional cultural knowledge about California resources. On September 19, 2011, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. issued Executive Order B-10-11, which provides, among other things, that it is the policy of the administration that every state agency and Department subject to executive control to implement effective government-to-government consultation with California Indian Tribes.

Changes in water consumption linked to heavy news media coverage of extreme climatic events

Science Magazine, American Association for the Advancement of Science | October 25th, 2017

Public awareness of water- and drought-related issues is an important yet relatively unexplored component of water use behavior. To examine this relationship, w

Public awareness of water- and drought-related issues is an important yet relatively unexplored component of water use behavior. To examine this relationship, we first quantified news media coverage of drought in California from 2005 to 2015, a period with two distinct droughts; the later drought received unprecedentedly high media coverage, whereas the earlier drought did not, as the United States was experiencing an economic downturn coinciding with a historic presidential election. Comparing this coverage to Google search frequency confirmed that public attention followed news media trends. We then modeled single-family residential water consumption in 20 service areas in the San Francisco Bay Area during the same period using geospatially explicit data and including news media coverage as a covariate. Model outputs revealed the factors affecting water use for populations of varying demographics. Importantly, the models estimated that an increase of 100 drought-related articles in a bimonthly period was associated with an 11 to 18% reduction in water use. Then, we evaluated high-resolution water consumption data from smart meters, known as advanced metering infrastructure, in one of the previously modeled service areas to evaluate breakpoints in water use trends. Results demonstrated that whereas nonresidential commercial irrigation customers responded to changes in climate, single-family residential customers decreased water use at the fastest rate following heavy drought-related news media coverage. These results highlight the need for water resource planners and decision makers to further consider the importance of effective, internally and externally driven, public awareness and education in water demand behavior and management.

Citizen's Guide to Working with the California Water Boards

California State Water Resources Control Board | July 8th, 2011

The Guide provides an overview of the Water Boards and the many opportunities that all Californians have to participate with the Water Boards in decisions and activities

The Guide provides an overview of the Water Boards and the many opportunities that all Californians have to participate with the Water Boards in decisions and activities that affect the state’s water resources. While some of the public participation opportunities are formal, e.g., at a Water Board hearing, others are less formal, but just as important, e.g., a stakeholder process implemented by a Regional Board. Although the Guide doesn’t contain information about specific water quality decisions that are before the Boards, it will direct you where you can find that information. We look forward to updating this Guide periodically to assure its continuing usefulness to you, the public.

Climate information? Embedding climate futures within temporalities of California water management

Environmental Sociology | March 27th, 2018

This article uses the case of drinking water utility managers in California to understand uses of climate-change information in resource management. A dominant

This article uses the case of drinking water utility managers in California to understand uses of climate-change information in resource management. A dominant narrative suggests that producing management practices best adapted to climate-change impacts is a matter of reconciling the supply of scientific knowledge with the demand signals of resource managers. We question this narrative with reference to the diverse cultural and socio-technical structures in which the future climate takes on meaning in water management. Using interviews (n = 61), we analyze three ideal-typical ‘social temporalities’ of climate change: modeled futures, whose future?, and truncated futures. We define social temporalities as alternative constructions of the future built into socio-technical engagement with water and into collective orientations to climate change. Of the three ideal types, we found that only one (modeled futures) closely aligns with the supply-demand relationship as constructed in scholarly literature and climate adaptation-related policy. This leaves nonconforming types without guidance that resonates with their relationship to climate change information. Consideration of sociological dimensions of climate knowledge may warrant a revised or additional approach to climate service programs or related assistance efforts.

Collaborative Versus Technocratic Policymaking: California’s Statewide Water Plan

CSUS Center for Collaborative Policy | January 1st, 2008

In 2001, the California Department of Water Resources embarked on one of the most elaborate public involvement processes in state history. Over the course of five years a

In 2001, the California Department of Water Resources embarked on one of the most elaborate public involvement processes in state history. Over the course of five years and 200 meetings, a 65-member Stakeholder Advisory Committee and a 350-member Extended Review Forum worked with agency staff to produce a new water plan for California. The process consumed some 23,000 person-hours in face-to-face discussions alone. Although the state had been updating its water plan approximately every five years since 1957, the 2005 process produced a dramatically different type of document. For one thing, the 2005 Update is conceptually more accurate, complex, nuanced, and comprehensive. The policy recommendations described in its strategic plan address a broader range of issues—including climate change and environmental justice—yet they engendered somewhat less political controversy than the policies identified in the 1998 Update. Moreover, there is evidence that the collaborative process used in 2001-2005 catalyzed improvements in the relationships among California's historically warring water stakeholders, and also sparked the beginnings of positive cultural changes within certain quarters of DWR.This research report authored by Ariel Ambruster catalogues the outcomes of the 2005 Water Plan Update process and those of its predecessor, the 1998 Update.