Posts

Living with Extreme Floods in California

/in , , /by /California Water Blogby Peter Moyle, Jay Lund, Andrew L. Rypel, Carson Jeffres and Nicholas Pinter

Floods and their consequences are a reality for many worldwide, including those living in California. This reality is evidenced by pictures of people stranded on roofs surrounded by water, people paddling down water-filled streets in makeshift boats, and farm fields and orchards covered in standing water. However, there is also growing acceptance that floods are natural, recurring events that have positive aspects, especially where they support migratory waterfowl, enhance fisheries, and sustain wetlands and their high diversity of organisms (Mount et al 2023).

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Ties Between The Delta And Groundwater Sustainability In California

/in , , /by /California Water Blogby Jay Lund

Groundwater overdraft is a major problem globally and has been a persistent and growing problem in California for decades. This overdraft is predominantly driven by the economic value of water for agricultural production and cities. Spurred by the recent drought, California passed legislation requiring the elimination of groundwater overdraft by 2040. To explore potential water supply effects of ending long-term groundwater overdraft in California’s Central Valley, we compared several water policies with historical and warmer–drier climates, employing a statewide hydroeconomic optimization model, CALVIN, in our new paper.

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Sustaining Integrated Portfolios For Managing Water In California

/in , , /by /California Water Blogby Jay Lund

Recently Governor Newsom issued a call for a state portfolio of actions to manage water under rapidly changing climate and other conditions.  Portfolio approaches attempt to integrate and balance a variety of actions (supply and demand management, surface water and aquifers) for single purposes (water supply, floods, safe drinking water) and often for multiple benefits, involving multiple interests.  A previous essay reviewed the successes and limitations of portfolio approaches to water management in California

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OPINION: A Water Portfolio Planning Report Card For California

/in , /by /California Water Blogby Jay Lund

Governor Newsom recently called for a state portfolio of actions to manage water under rapidly changing climate and other conditions.  This post reviews the state of water portfolio planning in California today. In this complex changing world, major problems are rarely solved with a single solution or a single problem-solver. Portfolio-based planning and management tries to do many things in an organized and coordinated way, often wit

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