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

California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) | 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) 

Atmospheric River Precipitation Enhanced by Climate Change: A Case Study of the Storm That Contributed to California's Oroville Dam Crisis

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | February 9th, 2022

California's reliance on precipitation from atmospheric rivers is expected to increase as our climate warms. Understanding how climate change is impacting this increasing

California's reliance on precipitation from atmospheric rivers is expected to increase as our climate warms. Understanding how climate change is impacting this increasingly dominant mode of precipitation is vitally important for water-resource management throughout the state, across the North American West Coast, and for other similarly impacted regions. Our case study of an impactful atmospheric river from early February 2017 that contributed to the Oroville Dam crisis in Northern California, modeled under preindustrial, present-day, mid-, and late-21st century unabatedly warming environments, demonstrates an overwhelming increase in precipitation throughout the event. This particular storm was comprised of two distinct pulses, and while both pulses of the storm are enhanced in the warmer future epochs, the estimated precipitation increases are disproportionately higher for the second pulse due to larger increases in temperature and moisture. Our results therefore suggest that not all atmospheric rivers are similarly affected by climate change and point to specific directions for relevant future research.

Bay Area Green Infrastructure Water Quality Synthesis

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | June 1st, 2018

San Francisco Bay is impacted by the numerous urban pollutants that flow from the surrounding landscape during storm events. In San Francisco Bay, total maximum daily lo

San Francisco Bay is impacted by the numerous urban pollutants that flow from the surrounding landscape during storm events. In San Francisco Bay, total maximum daily load (TMDL) clean-up plans are in place for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and mercury (Hg) (Davis et al., 2007; Davis et al., 2012). As municipalities strive to reach regulatory targets, green infrastructure (GI) presents a promising solution for managing stormwater pollutants while achieving additional environmental and social benefits. However, remaining data gaps including the best design layout, media composition, and vegetation and submerged zone effects on performance can prevent local managers from accurately assessing water quality benefits provided by green infrastructure as well as the maintenance needs to sustain adequate performance.

Benefit Accounting of Nature-Based Solutions for Watersheds Landscape Assessment

United Nations (UN) | August 3rd, 2020

This landscape assessment is the outcome of Phase 1 of a tri-phased project and was designed to inform the path forward for engaging the private sector to invest in natu

This landscape assessment is the outcome of Phase 1 of a tri-phased project and was designed to inform the path forward for engaging the private sector to invest in nature-based solutions (NBS). A literature review was undertaken to understand the contemporary thinking around NBS and identify key opportunities and challenges faced by decision makers, practitioners and researchers. Interviews conducted with representatives of businesses, civil society and academia who have already implemented NBS projects or are looking to do so yielded qualitative responses to complement or contrast with the findings from the literature review.

Boulder Canyon Project Act

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | December 21st, 1928

Building Ecological Resilience in Highly Modified Landscapes

BioScience (Oxford University Press) | November 7th, 2018

Ecological resilience is a powerful heuristic for ecosystem management in the context of rapid environmental change. Significant efforts are underway to improve

Ecological resilience is a powerful heuristic for ecosystem management in the context of rapid environmental change. Significant efforts are underway to improve the resilience of biodiversity and ecological function to extreme events and directional change across all types of landscapes, from intact natural systems to highly modified landscapes such as cities and agricultural regions. However, identifying management strategies likely to promote ecological resilience remains a challenge. In this article, we present seven core dimensions to guide long-term and large-scale resilience planning in highly modified landscapes, with the objective of providing a structure and shared vocabulary for recognizing opportunities and actions likely to increase resilience across the whole landscape. We illustrate application of our approach to landscape-scale ecosystem management through case studies from two highly modified California landscapes, Silicon Valley and the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. We propose that resilience-based management is best implemented at large spatial scales and through collaborative, cross-sector partnerships.

Building water resilience in the face of cascading wildfire risks

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) | September 15th, 2023

Bulletin 17-00, Dams within Jurisdiction of the State of California

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | July 31st, 2000

Bulletin 17-65, Dams within Jurisdiction of the State of California

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | August 31st, 1965

Bulletin 17-71, Dams within Jurisdiction of the State of California

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | October 29th, 1971