Independent research and analysis of California's developed water systems
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
Bear Grylls is a British soldier who spent three years as a soldier in the British Special Forces. He broke his back in three places in a parachuting accident and spent many months in military rehabilitation He recovered and went on to become one of the youngest climbers ever to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Bear … Continue reading Tales from the Water Wars — On Facing Fears
In 2011, I wrote the report, Mendota: Evidence that soil and groundwater salinization is the predominant cause of land fallowing. Eventually Westlands Water District officials admitted that there was over 100,000 acres of land in the District that had been retired from irrigated production. (Westlands’ 2017 Water Management Plan shows that 176,000 acres had been … Continue reading Tales from the Water Wars — Westlands Accident
This year (2021) we have seen unprecedented flooding in Europe and on the East Coast. We’ve also just seen unprecedented flooding in British Columbia. As David Wallace Wells reports in "This Is What Happens When One Climate Disaster Follows Another," The impacts have been significantly greater than expected,” acknowledged Mike Farnworth, the deputy premier of British Columbia, … Continue reading We need to plan for extreme flooding in California
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
Climate scientist Michael Mann wrote an Op Ed in the LA Times, On the climate crisis, delay has become the new form of denial. The Op Ed has many concepts that resonate with what is happening with California water management. Mann argues: One can no longer credibly deny that climate change is real, human-caused, and a … Continue reading For California water management, delay is denial of climate change impacts
At the August 2021 meeting, the Delta Stewardship Council voted to approve a revised Delta Levees Investment Strategy and to move to formal rulemaking, with Councilmember Don Nottoli, Chair of the Delta Protection Commission, voting against the proposal. The Delta Levees Investment Strategy prioritizes state funding for Delta levees. Levees marked "very high" priority (red), … Continue reading Revised Delta Levees Investment Strategy approved over objections by Delta stakeholders
On Thursday, October 7, 2021, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 821, which mandates that members of the Delta Independent Science Board shall not be employees of the Delta Stewardship Council, and that the Council shall issue contracts to pay the Delta Independent Science Board members at professional scientific rates. The Governor’s signing of SB 821 … Continue reading Governor Newsom signs SB 821, restoring compensation to Delta Independent Science Board
In 2006, for the first California Climate Assessment, DWR published a study of operations of the State Water Project and Central Valley Project with climate change. The report was titled, "Progress on Incorporating Climate Change Into Management of California’s Water Resources." DWR's 2006 modeling predicted the current crisis, with Shasta, Folsom, and Oroville reservoirs being … Continue reading DWR 2006 study: “too much risk” taken with reservoir operations