A Delta Renewed: A Guide to Science-Based Ecological Restoration in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | November 1st, 2016

A Delta Renewed and the larger Delta Landscapes project are part of an ongoing effort to address these critically important challenges. They provide guidance for restora

A Delta Renewed and the larger Delta Landscapes project are part of an ongoing effort to address these critically important challenges. They provide guidance for restoration that renews critical functions over time without having major negative impacts on the current human enterprise in the Delta area and on other areas dependent on its services. The idea is to determine the most efficient ways to recover Delta functioning so that human benefits are maintained, while investing in process-based recovery of landscape functions. The scientists working on this project assume that this goal is best achieved if we can understand how the Delta functioned before major European modification. We can then use that knowledge as a guide to developing a diverse portfolio of habitats and connections that might sustain native species, and the attributes of a healthy Delta into the future. The effort to reconstruct the Delta of the early 1800s has been challenging, but is now completed. The next step is to devise management scenarios that will recover important functions and native species where possible. There is no intent to try to recreate the Delta of the past. That is impossible without sacrificing our objective of maintaining and even improving the human enterprises now present. What is essential now is to obtain general agreement among all of the stakeholders, which includes all citizens of California, that the Delta should be managed for the benefit of people and wildlife in a sustainable way. Given the uncertainties inherent in any large-scale reconciliation effort, there is a real need to appreciate the complex interactions and inter-dependencies that characterize the various components of the Delta landscape. There is also a need to understand the uncertainties of future climate change and to recognize the diversity of needs among our fellow citizens. Our hopes for success will ultimately depend on generating a spirit of cooperation for the common good. It won’t be easy, but the stakes are high. The Delta Landscapes project is dedicated to that goal.

A freshwater conservation blueprint for California: prioritizing watersheds for freshwater biodiversity

Society for Freshwater Science | April 18th, 2018

Conservation scientists have adapted conservation planning principles designed for protection of habi- tats ranging from terrestrial to freshwater ecosystems. We

Conservation scientists have adapted conservation planning principles designed for protection of habi- tats ranging from terrestrial to freshwater ecosystems. We applied current approaches in conservation planning to prioritize California watersheds for management of biodiversity. For all watersheds, we compiled data on the pre- sence/absence of herpetofauna and fishes; observations of freshwater-dependent mammals, selected invertebrates, and plants; maps of freshwater habitat types; measures of habitat condition and vulnerability; and current manage- ment status. We analyzed species-distribution data to identify areas of high freshwater conservation value that op- timized representation of target taxa on the landscape and leveraged existing protected areas. The resulting priority network encompasses 34% of the area of California and includes ≥10% of the geographic range for all target taxa. High-value watersheds supported nontarget freshwater taxa and habitats, and focusing on target taxa may provide broad conservation value. Most of the priority conservation network occurs on public lands (69% by area), and 46% overlaps with protected areas already managed for biodiversity. A significant proportion of the network area is on private land and underscores the value of programs that incentivize landowners to manage freshwater species and habitats. The priority conservation areas encompass more freshwater habitats/ha than existing protected areas. Land use (agriculture and urbanization), altered fire regimes, nonnative fish communities, and flow impairment are the most important threats to freshwater habitat in the priority network, whereas factors associated with changing climate are the key drivers of habitat vulnerability. Our study is a guide to a comprehensive approach to freshwater conservation currently lacking in California. Conservation resources are often limited, so prioritiza- tion tools are valuable assets to land and water managers.

A Legal Guide to the Public's Rights to Access and Use of California's Navigable Waters

California State Lands Commission (SLC) | November 20th, 2017

In California, members of the public have rights to access and use navigable waters for many beneficial uses, including, but not limited to navigation, fishing, and

In California, members of the public have rights to access and use navigable waters for many beneficial uses, including, but not limited to navigation, fishing, and recreation. These public rights are expressed in federal law, California’s Act of Admission, the California Constitution, court opinions, and state statutes. However, the public’s rights to access and use the state’s navigable waters are sometimes misunderstood. California public officials are periodically called on to address disputes about the public’s rights to access and use the state’s navigable waters. These disputes may arise between recreational water users, such as boaters, fishermen, hunters, shoreline and beach users, and adjacent private property owners. In this guide, the California State Lands Commission seeks to inform and clarify, for the public, government officials, and private property owners, the public’s rights to access and use the state’s navigable waters by summarizing the relevant legal principles.

Adaptability and adaptations of California’s water supply system to dry climate warming

Climactic Change (Springer) | November 27th, 2007

Economically optimal operational changes and adaptations for California’s water supply system are examined for a dry form of climate warming (GFDL CM2.1 A2) with year 2

Economically optimal operational changes and adaptations for California’s water supply system are examined for a dry form of climate warming (GFDL CM2.1 A2) with year 2050 water demands and land use. Economically adaptive water management for this climate scenario is compared to a similar scenario with the historical climate. The effects of population growth and land use alone are developed for comparison. Compared with the historic hydrology, optimized operations for the dry climate warming scenario raise water scarcity and total operation costs by $490 million/year with year 2050 demands. Actual costs might be somewhat higher where non-economic objectives prevail in water management. The paper examines the economical mix of adaptation, technologies, policies, and operational changes available to keep water supply impacts to such modest levels. Results from this screening model suggest promising alternatives and likely responses and impacts. Optimized operations of ground and surface water storage change significantly with climate. Dry-warm climate change increases the seasonal storage range of surface reservoirs and aquifers. Surface reservoir peak storage usually occurs about a month earlier under dry-warm climate change.

Addressing California's Uncertain Water Future by Coordinating Long-Term Land Use and Water Planning: Is a Water Element in the General Plan the Next Step

Ecology Law Quarterly | January 15th, 2004

More people, less water: this is the widely anticipated future of the state of California. As the state's population grows to 46 million by the year 2020, Califor

More people, less water: this is the widely anticipated future of the state of California. As the state's population grows to 46 million by the year 2020, California will strive to meet water demand with a reduced water supply from the Colorado River, and struggle with the devastating impacts to the Sierra Nevada snow pack caused by global warming. Yet isCalifornia preparingfor this future today? Does the law direct land-use planners on the city and county levels to work in concert with their water planning counterparts to prepare for these significant challenges? Asconcern over these issues has grown, recent judicial and legislative action has added new substantive requirements for land-use and water planning, as well as adding procedural requirements that ask land use and water planners to communicate with one another more consistently. In addition,both the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) and the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) are currently updating influential reference documents for land use and water planning professionals.

Agricultural Land Stewardship (Resource Management Strategy)

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | July 29th, 2016

This resource management strategy focuses primarily on private land in agriculture including cultivated land and rangeland. Agricultural land in California comprises abou

This resource management strategy focuses primarily on private land in agriculture including cultivated land and rangeland. Agricultural land in California comprises about 31.6 million acres (California Department of Conservation, Division of Land Resource Protection, Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program 2008). About 12.4 million of these acres are cultivated, while the remaining 19.2 million acres are rangeland (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection 2010). Agricultural systems in California are varied in the way resources are used, ranging from intensive conventional agriculture (irrigated crop cultivation) to more extensive systems such as livestock grazing, each with a different relationship to natural resources. They also affect and are affected by surface hydrology and groundwater recharge in different ways. Stewardship of this land requires constant balancing among natural constraints, market forces, and ever-changing social expectations. Institutions and policies have been developed in response to these challenges. Public investment in water infrastructure (reservoirs, canals, drains, levees, dykes) has been in the forefront of these. This resource management strategy report focuses on agricultural land stewardship (ALS) strategies that can be incorporated into relevant adaptive management of agricultural land at different levels, including landscape, regional and project.

Agricultural Land Use in California

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | June 25th, 2024

Annotated Bibliography for Sycamore Alluvial Woodland Habitat Mapping and Regeneration Studies Project

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | February 27th, 2017

The California sycamore (Platanus racemosa) is a riparian tree native to California and northern Baja California. California sycamore is the dominant species in sycamore

The California sycamore (Platanus racemosa) is a riparian tree native to California and northern Baja California. California sycamore is the dominant species in sycamore alluvial woodland (SAW), a habitat type defined as open to moderately closed, winter-deciduous broad-leafed riparian woodland dominated by well-spaced Platanus racemosa (Holland 1986), and California sycamore also occurs in the “Platanus racemosa woodland alliance” with various associated species (Sawyer, Keeler-Wolf, and Evens 2009). The central California sycamore alluvial woodland (SAW) habitat type is cited in the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan (VHP) as a “very rare and threatened land cover type,” and the VHP contains various goals to conserve and restore SAW habitat. The San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) and H. T. Harvey & Associates (HTH), in conjunction with the Santa Clara Habitat Agency, have undertaken the Sycamore Alluvial Woodland Habitat Mapping and Regeneration Studies Project to assess biotic and abiotic factors that influence California sycamore stand health and regeneration. The study is intended to gather and generate data that will be used by the Santa Clara Habitat Agency to guide acquisition and management of California sycamore habitat to meet its conservation goals. 

Bayesian nitrate source apportionment to individual groundwater wells in the Central Valley by use of elemental and isotopic tracers

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | July 31st, 2016

Groundwater quality is a concern in alluvial aquifers that underlie agricultural areas, such as in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Shallow domestic wells (less tha

Groundwater quality is a concern in alluvial aquifers that underlie agricultural areas, such as in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Shallow domestic wells (less than 150 m deep) in agricultural areas are often contaminated by nitrate. Agricultural and rural nitrate sources include dairy manure, synthetic fertilizers, and septic waste. Knowledge of the relative proportion that each of these sources contributes to nitrate concentration in individual wells can aid future regulatory and land management decisions. We show that nitrogen and oxygen isotopes of nitrate, boron isotopes, and iodine concentrations are a useful, novel combination of groundwater tracers to differentiate between manure, fertilizers, septic waste, and natural sources of nitrate. Furthermore, in this work, we develop a new Bayesian mixing model in which these isotopic and elemental tracers were used to estimate the probability distribution of the fractional contributions of manure, fertilizers, septic waste, and natural sources to the nitrate concentration found in an individual well. The approach was applied to 56 nitrate-impacted private domestic wells located in the San Joaquin Valley. Model analysis found that some domestic wells were clearly dominated by the manure source and suggests evidence for majority contributions from either the septic or fertilizer source for other wells. But, predictions of fractional contributions for septic and fertilizer sources were often of similar magnitude, perhaps because modeled uncertainty about the fraction of each was large. For validation of the Bayesian model, fractional estimates were compared to surrounding land use and estimated source contributions were broadly consistent with nearby land use types.

Before the Well Runs Dry: Improving the Linkage Between Groundwater and Land Use Planning

Stanford University | April 17th, 2014

There is no comprehensive regulation of groundwater use in the state of California,* and the right to withdraw groundwater is based on surface land ownership. This create

There is no comprehensive regulation of groundwater use in the state of California,* and the right to withdraw groundwater is based on surface land ownership. This creates a direct linkage between every land use that requires water and the groundwater underneath that land. Because so many aspects of groundwater use are not regulated by the state, local governments’ land use decisions become a key driver of demands on groundwater. Nonetheless, land use decisions and planning are not well coordinated with groundwater management. Understanding how land use decisions affect groundwater resources has become increasingly important in recent years, as groundwater provides approximately 30 percent of California’s water supply in average years and 40 percent of the supply in dry years. In some places, the reliance on groundwater during droughts is much higher, due to reduced supplies of surface water. Growth from housing and irrigated agriculture, among other demands, have led to chronic overdraft and declining groundwater elevations in many communities that rely heavily on groundwater. To address this problem, Water in the West convened groundwater managers, land use planners, water lawyers, consultants and academics at Stanford University for an Uncommon Dialogue in the fall of 2013. Its aim was to discuss a growing consensus that more effective integration of land use planning and groundwater management is an essential component of preserving groundwater aquifers for the future, and to share possible means of accomplishing this in California. This report, shaped in part by the Dialogue, provides the background and regulatory context for land use planning and groundwater management in California, shares case studies that highlight the intersection of groundwater and land use, and makes specific recommendations to improve the linkage between land use decisions and groundwater management in the state. *The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was signed into law five months after this was published.