Climate Change
Nonlinear Trends in Temperature and Precipitation in California
(Submitted as comments on the staff draft Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan Update.)
Climate change impacts have been accelerating in the 21st Century. This report shows how the hydroclimate in California has fundamentally shifted.
The Water Board cannot rely on modeling which implicitly assumes the 20th Century hydrology to show that flow and temperatures thresholds needed for survival of species and achievement of Water Quality Control Plan objectives will be met.
The last evaluation of the proposed Delta conveyance / Delta tunnel intake performance with high sea level rise was done in 2010. The 3D hydrodynamic modeling assumed 55 inches of sea level rise and no failure of North Delta levees. California Water Research recommends new 3D hydrodynamic modeling of the Delta tunnel intake performance with 2018 California Ocean Protection Council high sea level rise estimates of 5.7 to 6.9 feet by 2100, with a maximum of 10 feet.
Incorporating Drought Risk from Climate Change into California Water Planning, August 2, 2012.
This report, submitted to the California Department of Water Resources as comments on the draft Climate Adaptation Strategy, compared modeled projections of areas of increased drought under climate change with the unprecedented droughts in Texas, New Mexico, Australia, and around the world. The report discussed how in California, many climate change models predicted increased frequency and severity of droughts, as well as markedly reduced stream flow and reduced reservoir inflows. The report made specific recommendations for incorporating drought risk into climate modelling and planning by the Department of Water Resources. The severe drought in the Southwest came to California the following year.
Mendota: Evidence that Soil and Groundwater Salinization is the Predominant Cause of Land Fallowing
Compiled information from maps, satellite photos, USDA and other salinity
investigations, which showed that the greatest concentration of fallowed land in Westlands Water District in 2009 was near Mendota, and that the fallowing in that area was associated with severe soil and groundwater impairment, and with land retirement. The district later admitted that 100,000 acres had gone out of production.