Western and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in ecocultural restoration

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | October 1st, 2018

 The Delta Plan (DSC 2013) calls for “protecting and enhancing the unique cultural values” of California’s Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, a 2,800-km2 (1,100 mi2)

 The Delta Plan (DSC 2013) calls for “protecting and enhancing the unique cultural values” of California’s Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, a 2,800-km2 (1,100 mi2) region that was occupied by indigenous peoples for ~5,000 years. The legacies of Native Californians need to be included in the Delta Plan, especially Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of ways to gather, hunt, and fish for food; build shelters; prepare medicines; and perform ceremonies — along with ways to make tools, clothing, baskets, and shelters. Plants were not just collected but also tended, which involved planned burning, digging, planting, weeding, harvesting, and seed dispersal. Populations of plants that have cultural significance and unique values should be enhanced under the Delta Plan. While Western Ecological Knowledge (WEK) offers a strong foundation for restoration of species assemblages and ecosystems, TEK adds culturally-significant species to restoration targets and traditional management practices to achieve ecological resilience. We compare 11 attributes of WEK and TEK that aid ecological restoration; all are complementary or shared by these two ways of knowing. Both WEK and TEK emphasize adaptive approaches for managing natural resources, as mandated in the Delta Plan. We suggest that WEK–TEK restoration sites throughout the Delta can be linked (virtually) to honor cultural integrity and nurture a “Sense of Place” for Native Californians and others. At the same time, such a network could foster ways to achieve sustainability through the TEK ethic of reciprocity, which WEK lacks. A network of WEK–TEK sites could enhance unique cultural values while supporting passive recreation and attracting ecotourists. 

Wetland geomorphology and tidal hydrodynamics drive fine‑scale fish community composition and abundance

Environmental Biology of Fishes (Springer) | January 19th, 2024

What If California’s Drought Continues?

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | August 20th, 2015

California is in the fourth year of a severe, hot drought—the kind that is increasingly likely as the climate warms. Although no sector has been untouched, impacts so

California is in the fourth year of a severe, hot drought—the kind that is increasingly likely as the climate warms. Although no sector has been untouched, impacts so far have varied greatly, reflecting different levels of drought preparedness. Urban areas are in the best shape, thanks to sustained investments in diversified water portfolios and conservation. Farmers are more vulnerable, but they are also adapting. The greatest vulnerabilities are in some low-income rural communities where wells are running dry and in California’s wetlands, rivers, and forests, where the state’s iconic biodiversity is under extreme threat. Two to three more years of drought will increase challenges in all areas and require continued—and likely increasingly difficult—adaptations. Emergency programs will need to be significantly expanded to get drinking water to rural residents and to prevent major losses of waterbirds and extinctions of numerous native fish species, including most salmon runs. California also needs to start a longer-term effort to build drought resilience in the most vulnerable areas.

When the River Meets the Sea

Pacific Institute | June 7th, 2019

Where the Wild Things Aren't: Making the Delta a Better Place for Native Species

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | April 5th, 2012

This report proposes a reconciliation approach for addressing 160 years of accumulated problems and for managing the Delta’s ecosystem in the future. Reconciliation eco

This report proposes a reconciliation approach for addressing 160 years of accumulated problems and for managing the Delta’s ecosystem in the future. Reconciliation ecology seeks to improve conditions for native species while recognizing that most ecosystems have been altered irrevocably by human use and will continue to be used to support human goals. Improving ecosystem conditions for native species must, therefore, happen in a context of continuing use of land and water by humans and continuing physical and biological change.

Wildfire Impacts on Snowpack Phenology in a Changing Climate Within the Western U.S.

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | July 8th, 2022

Snowpack accumulation and melt are critical for water supply in the western United States. As the number and size of wildfires have increased, it is important to understa

Snowpack accumulation and melt are critical for water supply in the western United States. As the number and size of wildfires have increased, it is important to understand how these events impact the seasonal snowpack. Using data from the Snow Telemetery monitoring network, we quantify the impacts of wildfires on snowpack for various regions across the western U.S. and Alaska. The results indicate that decreases in snowpack tend to occur following fires. Also, the snowmelt period usually begins and finishes earlier in the spring due to the conditions in the burned forests. In regions of the western U.S. that are already experiencing earlier snowmelt due to climate changes, wildfires are further shifting the melt earlier, which could have substantial consequences for water supply and flood risks.

Willingness to Pay to Protect Wetlands and Reduce Wildlife Contamination from Agricultural Drainage

Springer | December 2nd, 1991

This chapter presents the results of a survey of the general population in California regarding their willingness to pay for alternative programs to protect and expand we

This chapter presents the results of a survey of the general population in California regarding their willingness to pay for alternative programs to protect and expand wetlands as well as reduce wildlife contamination in the San Joaquin Valley (Valley). The results of 803 completed interviews from 1,573 successfully contacted households indicate that Californians would pay $154 each year in higher taxes to purchase water to prevent a decrease in wetland acreage from 85,000 acres to 27,000 acres. This value rose to $254 to provide foran increase in wetland acreage to 125,000 acres with an associated 40 percent increase of bird populations. California households would pay $313 each year in additional taxes to implement agricultural drainage programs that would reduce waterbirds exposure to contamination from 70 percent to 20 percent exposure. The water management implication of these results is that Californians value clean water supplies for refuges at over $3 billion a year.

Winnemem Wintu Salmon Restoration Plan for the McCloud River

Winnemem Wintu | February 1st, 2016

The National Marine Fisheries Service 2009 Biological Opinion for salmon specifically calls out for volition passage alternatives to be investigated and considered. [The

The National Marine Fisheries Service 2009 Biological Opinion for salmon specifically calls out for volition passage alternatives to be investigated and considered. [The Winnemem Wintu] have not seen any real evidence that the Pilot Project is even considering this option. Fortunately, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe has a solution to the above, a full repatriation and restoration of the Salmon to the McCloud River, their Spiritual and Cultural home. It is those Spiritual and Cultural ties and beliefs that have sustained us thus far, and will continue to sustain us as we bring our NUR (Salmon) back home. We therefore request that the following Spiritual, Cultural and Practical Fish Restoration Plan be included in the Pilot Project Plan and submitted out for public comment and consideration.

Workshop on Delta Outflows and Related Stressors Panel Summary Report

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | May 15th, 2014

This report was prepared as part of the State Water Resources Control Board’s (“Board”) process of developing and implementing updates to the Bay-Delta Plan and flo

This report was prepared as part of the State Water Resources Control Board’s (“Board”) process of developing and implementing updates to the Bay-Delta Plan and flow objectives to protect beneficial uses in the Bay-Delta Watershed. The focus of this report is Delta outflows and related stressors. The report is based upon reading extensive background materials selected by the Delta Science Program as well as materials identified by individual Panel members to be relevant, a two-day public meeting that included a number of presentations and during which public comments were received by the Panel, review of some of the materials provided during and after the meeting, and the Panel’s internal discussion and deliberations. The Board conducted a review of the current 2006 Bay-Delta Plan in 2009 and determined that Delta outflows and other requirements for the protection of fish and wildlife beneficial uses should be considered for revision. “Delta Outflows and Related Stressors” was further identified by the Delta Science Program as one of four topics emerging from a series of Board workshops in 2012 for which additional workshops should be conducted to provide input on the best available scientific information. Delta outflows and their management have been the subject of extensive scientific and management discussion for decades. A benchmark in this discourse is the report from a series of technical workshops facilitated by Dr. Jerry Schubel (Schubel et al. 1993). Schubel notes in the preface to that report that estuarine standards are required to protect the estuarine ecosystem from “further degradation” until “debate and disagreement over the relative importance of the benefits of low salinity habitat and therefore of flow, on the one hand, and of the liabilities of the physical diversion of a portion of that flow and the associated processes of entrainment of organisms, on the other,” can be resolved with a degree of scientific certainty acceptable to the Board. To some extent, this Panel has been asked to revisit whether standards for Delta outflow are still required, and to identify the degree of scientific certainty regarding the importance of Delta outflow to the ecosystem relative to other stressors.

Yolo Bypass Juvenile Salmon Utilization Study 2016— Summary of Acoustically Tagged Juvenile Salmon and Study Fish Releases, Sacramento River, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | September 12th, 2017

The Yolo Bypass is a flood control bypass in Sacramento Valley, California. Flood plain habitats may be used for juvenile salmon rearing, however, the potential value of

The Yolo Bypass is a flood control bypass in Sacramento Valley, California. Flood plain habitats may be used for juvenile salmon rearing, however, the potential value of such habitats can be difficult to evaluate because of the intermittent nature of inundation events. The Yolo Bypass Juvenile Salmon Utilization Study (YBUS) used acoustic telemetry to evaluate the movements and survival of juvenile salmon adjacent to and within the Yolo Bypass during the winter of 2016. This report presents numbers, size data, and release data (times, dates, and locations) for the 1,197 acoustically tagged juvenile salmon released for the YBUS from February 21 to March 18, 2016. Detailed descriptions of the surgical implantation of transmitters are also presented. These data are presented to support the collaborative, interagency analysis and reporting of the study findings.