The Klamath River basin, which spans parts of southern Oregon and northern California, has been the focus of a prominent conflict over competing uses for water. Management actions to protect threatened and endangered fish species in the basin have left less water available for irrigation in dry years and heightened tensions among farmers and other … Continue reading “Hydrology, Ecology, and Fishes of the Klamath River Basin (2008)”
Instead of focusing primarily on how water levels and flows affect endangered and threatened fish in Oregon’s Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River — which run from the lake in Oregon through northern California before emptying into the Pacific — the federal agencies charged with protecting the fish should focus on other kinds of … Continue reading “Endangered and Threatened Fishes in the Klamath River Basin: Causes of Decline and Strategies for Recovery (2003)”
When it comes to fresh water consumption in California, going forward we will need to learn to do more with less. There are at least two main reasons why California will need to learn to do more with less water. First, there is a growing population in the state, a population that is increasingly urban … Continue reading “In the Field and In the Stream: California Reasonable Use Law Applied to Water for Agriculture”
This report constitutes the conceptual model for Chinook and steelhead for the Delta Regional Ecosystem Restoration Implementation Plan (DRERIP). The report describes conceptual models, not numerical models, but several important considerations apply to both kinds, especially when they are used for management of living natural resources. First, the proper purpose of models is to help … Continue reading “DRERIP Ecosystem Conceptual Model: Chinook Salmon & Steelhead”
This booklet is a primer on the Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM). Our objective for this primer is to give you a short but comprehensive introduction to the background, philosophical and ecological underpinnings, individual components, and steps in applying IFIM. As a primer, we have tried to keep it simple. Scientific names and other technical … Continue reading “The Instream Flow Incremental Methodology: A Primer for IFIM”
THANK YOU! to all of our founding sponsors who have made development of the first phase of the California Water Library possible Brownstein Hyatt Farber Shreck LLP Central Valley Flood Protection Board Coachella Valley Water District Phillip and Marilyn Isenberg Kindel Gagan Mesa Water Sacramento County Regional Sanitation District San Luis-Delta Mendota … Continue reading “Founding Sponsors”
California Water Infrastructure Where does California’s water come from? Most of us remember learning the water cycle, and so can understand easily enough that it’s the rain and snow that is the ultimate source of our water supply. But what most Californians might not realize is vast the state’s water infrastructure is that irrigates the … Continue reading “CA Water 101”
A Self-Regulating, Inclusive and Sustainable Solution for the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta This white paper outlines a comprehensive solution to the current problems of the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta called the Western Delta Intakes Concept (WDIC). The white paper introduced the concept that in normal to dry years, water would be extracted from the … Continue reading “Western Delta Intakes Concept”
The San Francisco Estuary is a young estuary, about 6-10,000 years old in its present location. It became established during periods of high climatic variability (reflected in extreme floods and long droughts) compared to the relatively stable past 150 years. The Delta was formed as a huge freshwater marsh through the interaction of river inflow … Continue reading “Changing ecosystems: a brief ecological history of the Delta”
The Conservation Strategy describes ERP goals and conservation priorities for Stage 2 of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program (CALFED) and was developed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) in coordination with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), collectively known as the … Continue reading “Conservation Strategy for Restoration of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley Regions”