California’s “Lost Salmon” May Be Returning By Rachael E. Ryan, Cho R. Adolfo, Emily K. Chen, Stephanie M. Carlson... https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/08/09/californias-lost-salmon-may-be-returning/

Where are they now: Francine De Castro By Francine De Castro . . . I worked in the Aquatic Research Collective (ARC) lab with…... https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/08/02/where-are-they-now-francine-de-castro/

UC Davis Alumnus Kaveh Madani wins the 2026 Stockholm Water Prize By Jay Lund . . .... https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/07/26/uc-davis-alumnus-kaveh-madani-wins-the-2026-stockholm-water-prize/

Water extinguishes fire, but how does fire affect water? (Part 2 of 2) By Brandon Ertis . . . Last week, we introduced our research topic and question (i.e., how does fire impact… https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/07/19/water-extinguishes-fire-but-how-does-fire-affect-water-part-2-of-2/

Water extinguishes fire, but how does fire affect water? (Part 1 of 2) By Brandon Ertis . . . Wildfires in California are increasing in frequency and intensity, resulting in a…... https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/07/12/water-extinguishes-fire-but-how-does-fire-affect-water-part-1-of-2/

Wet Season’s end for Water Year 2026 By Jay Lund . . . California’s Water Year runs from October 1 of the previous calendar year through September 30.... https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/07/05/wet-seasons-end-for-water-year-2026/

A Tributary Approach to Learning the Colorado River By Kira J.Z. Waldman, Daniel Rothberg, and Lindsay Murdoch . . . A groundwater researcher, a water modeler, and a policy nerd walk into a gravel bar… https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/06/28/a-tributary-approach-to-learning-the-colorado-river/

Resilient California Fishes: Lahontan Redside Shiners By Peter B. Moyle and Thomas L. Taylor The fresh waters of California support a diverse, highly endemic fish fauna.... https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/06/21/resilient-california-fishes-lahontan-redside-shiners/

The Scourge of the Delta: Dredge It Up! By Madison Dunlap, Aidan Rafols, and John Durand . . . Overbite clams (Potamocorbula amurensis…... https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/06/14/the-scourge-of-the-delta-dredge-it-up/

Rethinking Western Cities and Water. By Dave Owen The popular mythology of water management often treats cities as the bad guys.... https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/06/07/rethinking-western-cities-and-water/

What’s the logic of “hydrological” – One of science’s petty debates By Jay Lund A ChatGPT depiction of Hydrologic versus Hydrological. I have always wondered, but have been too embarrassed to… https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/05/31/whats-the-logic-of-hydrological-one-of-sciences-petty-debates/

Where are they now: Dylan Stompe “Where are they now” is a series on the California WaterBlog that celebrates the alumni who got their start at the Center for Watershed Sciences (CWS) and have now gone on to bigger and… https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/05/24/where-are-they-now-dylan-stompe/

Resilient California Fishes: Prickly Sculpin By Peter B. Moyle and Thomas L. Taylor . . . The fresh waters of California support a diverse, highly endemic fish fauna. Many of them are on extinction… https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/05/17/resilient-california-fishes-prickly-sculpin/

Durable Solutions in California Disaster Resilience By Nicholas Pinter . . . Earlier this month, California released its Natural Catastrophe Resiliency Study. The study addresses thorny issues in… https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/05/10/durable-solutions-in-california-disaster-resilience/

Putah Creek Fishes: A Class Gyotaku Project By Christopher M. Dewees . . . On a crisp and sunny November morning last fall, along the shores of Putah Creek, a group of students quickly dropped their beach… https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/05/03/putah-creek-fishes-a-class-gyotaku-project/

Walling off nature: Exploring the consequences of our urge to claim ecosystems By Andrew L. Rypel [This article first appeared on Tangled Nature.] Fig 1. Attempt to privatize… https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/04/12/walling-off-nature-exploring-the-consequences-of-our-urge-to-claim-ecosystems/

California and the West’s Current Snow Drought in a Long-Term Context: Key Points for Researchers By Kyle Greenspan . . . We are well into the 2026 water… https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/04/05/california-and-the-wests-current-snow-drought-in-a-long-term-context-key-points-for-researchers/

Fish domination of avian food webs By Christine Parisek & Jon Walter Food webs are the backbones of ecosystems: they chart the flow of energy through ecosystems in terms of who eats whom, and their structure helps determine whether an ecosystem will be stable over time. While food web studies…

Fish domination of avian food webs

By Christine Parisek & Jon Walter Food webs are the backbones of ecosystems: they chart the flow of energy through ecosystems in terms of who eats whom, and their structure helps determine whether an ecosystem will be stable over time. While food web studies often focus on relationships within a particular habitat type – a lake or a forest, for example – broader predator-prey relationships can couple a lake to the forest that surrounds it.

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Life history differences between natural and hatchery-origin winter-run Chinook present opportunities and challenges for managing the endangered species By Emily Chen, Katherine Lumahan, Rachel Johnson, Corey Phillis, George Whitman, Anna Sturrock, Will Satterthwaite, and Stephanie Carlson . . .…

Life history differences between natural and hatchery-origin winter-run Chinook present opportunities and challenges for managing the endangered species

By Emily Chen, Katherine Lumahan, Rachel Johnson, Corey Phillis, George Whitman, Anna Sturrock, Will Satterthwaite, and Stephanie Carlson . . . Wild Pacific salmon and trout exhibit complex variation in completing their life cycle. Within a single population, some individuals leave their natal (birth) streams soon after they emerge from the nest to begin their seaward migrations, while others remain for several months or years before migrating downstream.

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Where the sturgeon go: how age-related differences in habitat use shape exposure of white sturgeon to population risks By Jon Walter, Gabriel Singer, Scott Colborne, Andrew L. Rypel, and Erin Tracy . . . White sturgeon are a prominent member of the sturgeon family in North America. They are…

Where the sturgeon go: how age-related differences in habitat use shape exposure of white sturgeon to population risks

By Jon Walter, Gabriel Singer, Scott Colborne, Andrew L. Rypel, and Erin Tracy . . . White sturgeon are a prominent member of the sturgeon family in North America. They are generally considered the largest fish found in North American freshwaters (up to 12 feet long) and are quite long-lived (reaching 100 years or more). In California, a population of white sturgeon spawns in the Sacramento River, and these fish spend much of their lives in the San Francisco Estuary (SFE).

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Resilient California Fishes: Sacramento Pikeminnow By Peter B. Moyle and Thomas L. Taylor . . . The fresh waters of California support a diverse, highly endemic fish fauna. Many of them are on extinction trajectories. In this “Resilient California Fishes” blog series, we discuss native species…

Resilient California Fishes: Sacramento Pikeminnow

By Peter B. Moyle and Thomas L. Taylor . . . The fresh waters of California support a diverse, highly endemic fish fauna. Many of them are on extinction trajectories. In this “Resilient California Fishes” blog series, we discuss native species that have sufficient resiliency to keep populations large and sustainable, even in highly altered habitats. Information on these species should help us to understand why they have such resiliency in the face of large-scale changes to California waterways.

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Getting Our Feet Wet: Bringing Photography Students into the Yolo Bypass  By Eliza Gregory . . . The first time I heard the phrase “flood-based ecosystem," I was in New South… https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/03/08/getting-our-feet-wet-bringing-photography-students-into-the-yolo-bypass/

Lessons Learned Measuring and Modeling Evaporation across California By Dennis Baldocchi and Carlos Wang Rainfall and snow falling across the state have several fates. One is runoff to rivers, reservoirs and the ocean. Another is storage in the snowpack, soil and groundwater. The third is…

Lessons Learned Measuring and Modeling Evaporation across California

By Dennis Baldocchi and Carlos Wang Rainfall and snow falling across the state have several fates. One is runoff to rivers, reservoirs and the ocean. Another is storage in the snowpack, soil and groundwater. The third is evaporation from vegetation, soil and open water bodies. Historically, the rates and amounts of evaporation from vegetation and soil to the atmosphere have been difficult to assess.

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The truth is NOT in the eye of the beholder! By Alexandra Chu and Danhong Ally Li . . . For those familiar with fish archival tissues, fish otoliths are likely one of the first things that come to mind. Otoliths are indeed remarkable tools, offering insights into the water chemistry and trace…

The truth is NOT in the eye of the beholder!

By Alexandra Chu and Danhong Ally Li . . . For those familiar with fish archival tissues, fish otoliths are likely one of the first things that come to mind. Otoliths are indeed remarkable tools, offering insights into the water chemistry and trace elements the fish encountered while they were alive. However, we want to highlight another fascinating tissue on the rise – the fish eye lens.

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A Flood of Hope  By Ted Sommer My most inspiring bike ride this past year was not on a mountain or in some exotic destination. It was sixteen flat and muddy valley miles under overcast skies. My destination was a new concrete structure designed to reconnect the Sacramento River with its adjacent…

A Flood of Hope

 By Ted Sommer My most inspiring bike ride this past year was not on a mountain or in some exotic destination. It was sixteen flat and muddy valley miles under overcast skies. My destination was a new concrete structure designed to reconnect the Sacramento River with its adjacent floodplain, the Yolo Bypass. This habitat restoration project reflects decades of work by my team and represents one of the most important steps to save Central Valley salmon.

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2025 Annual Report: Highlights from the Center for Watershed Sciences  The Center for Watershed Sciences unveils its inaugural annual report, featuring a letter from Director Dr. Karrigan Börk, insights into ongoing research, summaries of events, and the 2025 Strategic Plan. The report also…

Students Take the Stage at the Spinning Salmon Showcase By Becca VanArnam, Peggy Harte, Rachel Johnson, Carson Jeffres, and Miranda A. Lowe-Webb . . . Spinning Salmon Program California’s Chinook… https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/02/01/students-take-the-stage-at-the-spinning-salmon-showcase/

Not dry, but drought remains an issue, mid-wet season 2026 For the first time in 20 years, no part of California is classified as in drought, but conditions remain delicate. While precipitation levels are good, concerns linger over snowpack and groundwater recovery. California faces the dual…

Resilient California Fishes: Tule Perch By Peter B. Moyle and Tom L. Taylor This is the second blog in a series on native California fishes that seem to be doing well despite multiple threats. They are still common and widely distributed, despite major changes to their habitats. The Tule Perch…

Three Generations of Stewardship: Exploring the Legacy of Environmental Protection on Putah Creek By Petrea Moyle Marchand This is a cross-post from a blog featured on Consero Solutions. After the indefinite cancellation of school at the start of the Covid-19 quarantine, my Dad, Peter Moyle,…