Socio‐ecohydrology and the urban water challenge

Ecohydrology (Wiley) | March 11th, 2011

Urban water systems are highly engineered. However, hydrology and ecology are still closely linked in semi‐arid urban ecosystems in which surface characteristics, veget

Urban water systems are highly engineered. However, hydrology and ecology are still closely linked in semi‐arid urban ecosystems in which surface characteristics, vegetation, and water flows are all highly transformed. Although these systems are human‐dominated, there are many uncertainties in the water budgets of semi‐arid cities, because evapotranspiration, runoff, groundwater recharge, and leakage are poorly constrained. Decision‐making, governance, and socioeconomic factors play important roles in determining urban hydrologic budgets. We offer a framework to integrate these factors in studies that combine biophysical and social dimensions of the urban water system using the example of western US cities, which are facing critical issues in water supply and demand, and which can benefit from a more comprehensive understanding of the factors that determine water consumption, distribution and availability. Because of the severity of the water crisis in the western US, and the biophysical, institutional, and cultural barriers to developing and implementing new water management practices, this region provides useful lessons for addressing water challenges in other regions.

South-Central California Coast Steelhead Recovery Plan

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) | December 19th, 2013

The goal of this Recovery Plan is to prevent the extinction of South-Central California Coast steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the wild and to ensure the long-term pers

The goal of this Recovery Plan is to prevent the extinction of South-Central California Coast steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the wild and to ensure the long-term persistence of viable, self-sustaining, populations of steelhead distributed across the South-Central California Coast Steelhead (SCCCS) Distinct Population Segment (DPS). It is also the goal of this Recovery Plan to ensure a sustainable South-Central California steelhead sport fishery through the restoration of a suite of viable steelhead populations across the SCCCS DPS. Recovery of the SCCCS DPS will require the protection, restoration, and maintenance of a range of habitats throughout the DPS in order to allow the natural diversity of O. mykiss to be fully expressed (e.g., anadromous and resident forms, timing and frequency of runs, and dispersal between watersheds).

State and green crimes related to water pollution and ecological disorganization: water pollution from publicly owned treatment works (POTW) facilities across US states

Palgrave Communications | August 1st, 2017

Green criminologists often refer to water pollution as an example of a green crime, but have yet to produce much research on this subject. The current article addresses�

Green criminologists often refer to water pollution as an example of a green crime, but have yet to produce much research on this subject. The current article addresses the need for green criminological analyses of water pollution problems, and draws attention to an overlooked issue: water pollution emissions from state owned public water treatment facilities or POTWs. Legally, POTWs may emit certain quantities and kinds of pollutants to waterways following treatment. This does not mean, however, that those emissions have no adverse ecological or public health impacts, or that those emissions cannot also be employed as examples of green crimes or green-state crimes. Indeed, from the perspective of environmental sociology and ecological Marxism, those emissions generate ecological disorganization. Moreover, POTW emissions contain numerous pollutants that generate different forms of ecological disorganization. The current study uses POTW emissions data drawn from the US EPA’s Discharge Monitoring Report system for 2014 to illustrate the extent of pollution emitted by POTWs in and across US states as one dimension of ecological disorganization. To contextualize the meaning of those data, we review US water pollution regulations, review the health and ecological impacts of chemicals emitted by POTWs, and situate those emissions within green criminological discussions of green crime and greenstate crimes.

State Climate Policy and Nature-based Solutions: A Match that Provides Multiple Benefits for Climate, Water, and More

Stanford University | August 17th, 2022

This report examines potential synergies between state climate policies and nature-based solutions that yield multiple benefits; outlines barriers to meeting that potenti

This report examines potential synergies between state climate policies and nature-based solutions that yield multiple benefits; outlines barriers to meeting that potential; and provides recommendations to accelerate the implementation of nature- based solutions with water benefits in state climate policies. It is not meant to be exhaustive, but to point out areas for further productive work. The audience is non-climate water practitioners working in the Colorado River Basin and state climate policy practitioners who may not be familiar with the opportunities nature-based solutions (NBS) provide for both climate and water. As a result, the report can be considered something of a primer or resource, including basic information about both fields to educate water practitioners as to what state climate plans entail, and to educate climate practitioners about the opportunity to include (and the necessity of including) NBS as part of their climate planning. The report’s intent is to illuminate an area where further engagement and technical work can help seize an opportunity to meet the climate and water challenges facing the Colorado River Basin states.

State of Bay Delta Science 2016: Introduction

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

The first edition of SBDS presented seven shifts in perspective or changes in the way that scientists understood the Delta and water supply that had emerged in the decade

The first edition of SBDS presented seven shifts in perspective or changes in the way that scientists understood the Delta and water supply that had emerged in the decade before its publication (Healey et al. 2008). These changes in scientific understanding have profoundly affected the long-term vision for the Delta and the way that it is managed (Delta Vision Task Force 2008; Delta Stewardship Council 2010). A similar evolution in understanding has emerged in the eight years since publication of the first edition of SBDS, and we expect our understanding of the Delta and California water will continue to evolve and change as new studies are conducted. SBDS will be a living document, updated from time to time as sufficient new findings accumulate and, in particular, as the effects of climate change become more apparent. Meeting the new and unprecedented challenges to water supply and ecosystem conservation that climate change will bring will require both an intensification of scientific effort and much better coordination and planning of Delta science. The papers that make up the second edition of SBDS represent one step toward an integrated and policy-relevant compilation of science in the Delta.

State of California Department of Natural Resources Division of Fish and Game Thirtieth Biennial Report 1926-1928

State of California | September 30th, 1928

State of California Department of Natural Resources Division of Fish and Game Thirty-Fifth Biennial Report for the Years 1936-1938

State of California | September 1st, 1938

State of California Department of Natural Resources Fortieth Biennial Report of the Division of Fish and Game for the Years 1946-1948

State of California | July 1st, 1948

State of California Fish & Game Commission Twenty-Fourth Biennial Report for the Years 1914-1916

State of California | June 30th, 1916

State of the Estuary 2019 Update

San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) | October 22nd, 2019

The San Francisco Estuary is a large and diverse system. Hundreds of miles of coastline stretch from the wide valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers to the stee

The San Francisco Estuary is a large and diverse system. Hundreds of miles of coastline stretch from the wide valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers to the steep headlands of the Golden Gate, with vast agricultural fields in the Delta and urbanized shorelines in Silicon Valley and many of the region’s cities. The complexity and scale of this system means it can take years to detect and assess changes. This interim State of the Estuary Report checks in on a few indicators of health and explores where the assessment should head over time. In the four years since the 2015 State of the Estuary Report, two issues have emerged as critical to how we assess the health of the estuarine ecosystem at the heart of the Bay Area and the Delta. First, the health of the Estuary and of the people who live near it and depend on it are inextricably linked. We need a healthy Bay and Delta to protect our shorelines from sea level rise, help keep our waters clean, provide food and habitat for fish and wildlife, and give people a place to enjoy nature. We also need to think more about human communities as we assess the health of natural communities. This focus means addressing environmental injustices that are deeply embedded in our culture and patterns of development. The second critical issue to emerge is the need for a greater focus on landscape resilience—how well the Bay and the Delta are equipped to respond to change—so that people and wildlife can thrive as climate change progresses. Taking these two ideas together, this report focuses on the nexus of social and ecological resilience as we look toward the future. The first section of the Report updates indicators of ecological health that span the entire extent of the San Francisco Estuary (Bay and Delta). Recent data show continued progress along the trajectories of the past decade. Tidal marsh restoration is proceeding at a brisk pace in the Bay and gaining traction in the Delta, while urban water conservation continues to meet mandated benchmarks, even during the drought. On the other hand, flows through the Estuary and across its floodplains continue to be well below levels that could increase and restore ecosystem health. Freshwater flows are a lynchpin of ecosystem processes that sustain physical habitats, fuel the food web, and regulate water quality. Creative approaches to using and re-using fresh water for environmental purposes are needed. Long-term trend analysis shows that fish communities in the Bay are declining. This analysis scores an index of 10 attributes of a healthy fish community. The index focuses on fish in offshore areas, and may not capture benefits to fish from near-shore wetland restoration projects. Despite this slow decline, fish communities in the saltier parts of the Estuary remain in good condition, while those in the brackish and freshwater areas are in poor condition. The next section of the report discusses three emerging indicators of Estuary health, offering options for how to assess resilience in future reports. Here, for the first time, the resilience of the Estuary’s shores is evaluated through the lens of subsidence and nature-based features. Elevation relative to sea level is a basic currency that must be tracked as the Pacific Ocean rises into the Estuary. The potential for the Estuary shore to be resilient to climate change and continue to provide benefits to people is related to how much of the shore zone is nature-based. The final emerging indicator, urban green space, is a first attempt to assess how access to nature is distributed across more and less advantaged communities. More work is needed to finalize all these emerging indicators before they can be included in any future quantitative assessment of the State of the Estuary. These emerging and updated indicators will help focus efforts to restore the Estuary’s health. In addition to continuing the successful aspects of restoration and conservation that this report describes, we need more investment in creative ways to use and restore flows for environmental health, to expand and build resilient shorelines and to weave considerations of social equity more strongly into efforts to improve environmental health. - J. Letitia Grenier, Lead Scientist