Independent research and analysis of California's developed water systems
Network weaving is a concept from community organizing. Here's a definition from the Kansas Opportunity Innovation Network: Network weaving is the process of building community and strengthening social capital in a community by bringing together and connecting better the actors in a social network ... A successful network weaving approach uses social network maps to … Continue reading Social network weaving for climate adaptation
Assemblymember Adam Gray has called for an audit of the Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board, in part to answer the question, What happened in the Water Year 2021 (October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021) to lead the state to miscalculate by some 700,000 acre-feet the amount of water … Continue reading Models that forecast water that isn’t there hurt all beneficial uses
This is part of a Twitter conversation with Chris Parker, a UK hydrologist who specializes in climate hazards and climate impacts, on Jan 1, 2022. Chris Parker @HyperHydr0 I often wonder how many possible climate hazards, impacts or risks there are that no one has either experienced, observed or thought possible. Given the events of … Continue reading Climate change: a conversation on interconnected risks
The State Water Resources Control Board held a workshop today (March 16, 2022) on Sacramento River Temperature Management. Among the topics considered were "hydrologic conditions, including operations, forecasting, and accounting." These were my comments. This is Deirdre Des Jardins with California Water Research. I’m the physicist who sent comments to DWR in 2012 predicting the … Continue reading Fatal errors in DWR’s runoff forecasting: comments to the State Water Resources Control Board
On Thursday March 10, 2022, the Delta Independent Science Board had a presentation by Sarah Yarnell (UC Davis) and Julie Zimmerman (The Nature Conservancy) on the California Environmental Flows Framework, and the opportunities and challenges in applying environmental flows in California. These were my comments: I really appreciate the comments by [Delta ISB members] Tanya … Continue reading California Environmental Flows Framework — comments to the Delta ISB
The Department of Water Resources’ new California Water Watch website is a great new resource, however, the site appears to miss information on the rapidly developing drought. The website displays statewide precipitation for the water year to date. It also displays a map of “Drought Risk Impacts” based on precipitation being less than 70% of … Continue reading We need to step up our game on evaluating drought risk
For decades, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has relied on runoff forecasts from the California Cooperative Snow Surveys (Bulletin 120) for planning State Water Project operations in the late winter and early spring. In 2021, the Bulletin 120 runoff forecasts, which were based on the last 50 years of historic runoff data, were … Continue reading Dear DWR, in runoff forecasting, stationarity is dead
Water whiplash in California was predicted in a 2012 study by Sarah Null and Josh Viers, funded by the California Energy Commission's PIER program. The study shows the importance of independent research. At the time of Null and Viers' CEC study, the Department of Water Resources' climate change simulation methods used Global Circulation Model (GCM) … Continue reading California water whiplash predicted in 2012 study
The outcome of COP26 has evoked very divergent responses from different climate scientists and activists. Climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe tweeted, Is #COP26 enough? No. Did anyone expect it to be enough? I sure didn't; this is a more ambitious effort to work together than anything we humans have ever, ever accomplished. But is it more … Continue reading Responses to COP26 and the attack/flight catastrophe model
The California’s Ocean Protection Council's 2018 Sea Level Rise Guidance projects up to 2 meters (6.9 feet) of sea level rise by 2100 [1]. In 2019, researchers at the US Geological Survey published a study of the risk from inundation from up to 2 m of sea level rise plus 100 year storm surge (Barnard … Continue reading Mountain and polar groups urgently call for more time at COP26