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…

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,…

Where are they now: Dana Myers “Where are they now” is a series on the California WaterBlog. The series will celebrate the many alumni who got their start at the Center for Watershed Sciences (CWS) and have now gone on to bigger and better things. Blog posts from the “Where are they now” series…

Future Ancestors of Freshwater Fishes in California By Peter B. Moyle Smoky sunset over Eagle Lake, Lassen County, CA - home of endemic Eagle Lake rainbow trout and other endemic fishes and invertebrates. Sept 23, 2014. Will this terminal lake and its unique ecosystem survive global warming? This…

Day 12 – California Water: The Gift that Keeps on Giving By Karrigan Börk and Jay Lund Yolo bybass at sunset. Photo by Karrigan Börk, 2024. California is full of gifts that keep on giving. California water provides for a bounty of social, environmental, economic, and cultural benefits. Water is…

Day 11 – The Gift of Students By Karrigan Börk You might think that teaching the same thing again every year would get old, or that taking field trips to the same location year after year would be repetitive. And, sure, gearing up to teach landlord-tenant law for the nth time can be a bit daunting.

Day 10 – One lucky penny A juvenile water penny beetle (Eubrianax edwardsii). Photo credit: Christine Parisek. By Christine A. Parisek Imagine a time you were standing at the edge of a creek – perhaps small pebbles and cobblestone were stacked along the shallow water edge, aquatic vegetation…

Day 9 – A Visit From S.T. Nicholas By Kimberly Evans Our view of the Suisun Marsh when the weather becomes chilly, including Kimberly’s (top right, that’s me!) dazzling tule perch, Abigale’s wondrous starry flounder (middle left), Lynette’s swift Sacramento splittail (middle right), Kyle’s…

Day 8 – Haikus We invited haiku submissions from CWS members and friends to be a part of the 8th day of our California WaterBlog series, "12 Days of CWS". A haiku is a traditional Japanese three-line poem (5-7-5 syllables) that focuses on capturing a moment, feeling, or image. We hope you enjoy...…

Day 7 – Pickles and Hidden Gems: The UC Davis Fish Collection By Rachel Alsheikh Dr. Peter Moyle and Rachel Alsheikh in the Ichthyology Collection room. On the UC Davis campus, past the Watershed Sciences Building, past the cows and the Arboretum, there’s a nondescript building with a locked room.…

Day 6 – Recharging Resilience: Balancing climate grief with curiosity and purpose By Kira Zalis Waldman  Intro to Water Science (ESM 100) students exploring UC Davis’ water systems through field visits - where curiosity, community, and on-the-ground learning helped transform questions into…

Day 5 – A Day in the Life of an Indoor Ecologist By Jonathan Walter Many ecologists spend substantial time conducting research in the field – but for some of us, our skillsets (e.g., statistics, mathematical models, data science) lend themselves to a different, more indoor career. Here’s what a…

Day 4 – The Ghost of Carp-mas Past! By Kim Luke Kim Luke holding a common carp (Cyprinus carpio) while sampling in the UC Davis Arboretum. Photo credit Greg Urquiaga. Back in 2019, I began a project called the Carp Dependent Ecosystem Urgent Management (Carp-DEUM) Project. I started this project…

Day 3 – An Ode to Gulls By Lynette Williams Duman Clockwise from left to right: The Heermann’s Gull, Bonaparte’s Gull, Short-billed Gull, and Lesser Black-backed Gull. A small slice of winter visitors to California. (Images courtesy of Lynette Williams Duman and Konshau Duman). There is no better…

Day 2 – Fish Eye View By Miranda Bell-Tilcock Adult salmon eye lens. Photo Credit: Johnson-Jeffres Lab. That’s no moon. That is the lens of a fish eye. While it looms large in the photo, this lens is tiny, approximately 3-5mm in diameter, similar to a small bead on a friendship bracelet. How did…

Day 1 – Introducing “12 Days of CWS” By Christine A. Parisek and Miranda Bell-Tilcock The California WaterBlog celebrates its 15th anniversary this January 2026, and so we thought we’d try out something a little special and festive this month. This December, we’re piloting a new short-post format…

What’s next in river science? Takeaways from the International Symposium of River Science (ISRS) conference By Miranda Bell-Tilcock and Sarah Yarnell A big thank you to everyone who attended the International Symposium of River Science (ISRS) conference, hosted by the Center for Watershed Sciences…

Eight California Water Rites By Jay Lund “Rite” noun:1. a religious or other solemn ceremony or act.2. a social custom, practice, or conventional act. California has complex and hallowed water rites. Here are some: Claim other water users are engaged in a “water grab” (when you grabbed it first).…

Announcing the International Fish Passage Conference 2026

Physics and Chemistry of San Francisco Bay Sediments – Lectures by Professor Ray B. Krone, 1991 By Jay Lund, Jamie Anderson, William Fleenor, and Fabián A. Bombardelli Ray Krone (left) and fellow UC Davis professors Ian King (middle), Gerald T. Orlob (right), and George Tchobanoglous (not shown)…

Think Now about the Unthinkable in US Disaster Management By Nicholas Pinter and David Conrad In a turbulent year for US disaster management, changes that seemed unthinkable a few months ago are now coming to pass. California leaders should be planning proactive responses now. The California Flood…

The search for flow metrics that support fish success – case study in Scott River, Siskiyou County, California By Claire Kouba, Sarah Yarnell, Leland Scantlebury, and Thomas Harter How much water do fish really need, and is it possible to ask the fish? One approach to answering this question is to…

It’s Elementary My Dear Walleye By George Whitman, who is dressed as Dr. John Watson this Halloween While this Sherlockian mystery is fictional, it is inspired by a real event in which a Walleye was illegally introduced into Lake Cascade, Idaho. The events described below parallel the actual…

Where are they now: Kelly Neal “Where are they now:” is a blog series on the California WaterBlog, written in the voices of our alumni. The series celebrates the many alumni who got their start at the Center for Watershed Sciences (CWS) and have now gone on to bigger and better things. Blog posts…

Unleash your inner biologist! 🐟🦋🦇🐦 Come see live fish and bugs, go birdwatching, and explore animal collections at “Putah Creek Animal Adventures” – happening now at the Winters Community Library! All ages are welcome and it’s free! Hosted by the Center for Watershed Sciences💧 and UCD MWFB🌿

And explore the dataset on Dryad at datadryad.org/dataset/doi:...

A profound and inspiring post.

The Texas flood tragedy was predictable, but was it preventable? We need a new approach to flood management and community resilience, writes Kathleen Schaefer in the California WaterBlog @ucdaviswater.bsky.social californiawaterblog.com/2025/09/14/t...

Carson Jeffres has loved and studied fish for 40 years. Here, he reflects on salmon, identity and CA's past and future as a Salmon Society. It "has been difficult to have hope, but some changes are happening now." @ucdavis.bsky.social @ucdaviswater.bsky.social californiawaterblog.com/2025/10/05/c...

Had a wonderful time at my first International Symposium on River Science meeting at UC Davis last week! Met many researchers from around the world who share my love of river ecosystems 🐟🌊🌱 @riversociety.bsky.social @ucdaviswater.bsky.social #ISRS2025

Peter Moyle and Tom Taylor shining a light on one of the most righteous California native fish - the Sacramento Sucker. Enjoy! 👇👏🐟

Exciting news! The International Fish Passage Conference will be held at UC Davis from May 4–8, 2026. Session and workshop proposals are being accepted through October 31. Talk and poster abstracts will be accepted from November 17 to January 15. Learn more: watershed.ucdavis.edu/news/fish-pa...

Resilient California Fishes: Sacramento Sucker By Peter Moyle and Tom Taylor ____________________ The fresh waters of California support a diverse native fish fauna, 130 taxa by our count (Leidy and Moyle 2021). At least 56 of these taxa are on trajectories towards extinction 7 are already…

Representing interannual variability for environmental flow operations: the functional flow regime By Lindsay Murdoch, Sarah Yarnell, and Jay Lund California’s local communities and native ecosystems alike have adapted to cycles of flood, drought, and a healthy portion of everything in between.…

California: A Salmon Society? By Carson Jeffres Consider for a moment the identity of the Pacific Northwest as a Salmon Society. When you fly into an airport in the Pacific Northwest, salmon are on the floors and walls as art. This art is an expression of societal values in which salmon are…

Don’t Let a Shutdown Wash Away U.S. Flood Protection By Nicholas Pinter A US federal government shutdown is looming, potentially starting Oct. 1, with broad impacts across the government and across the country. The scope of these unfolding events is beyond the wheelhouse of the California Water…

Happy New Water Year 2026! – following 2025’s Normal and Extreme Hydrology By Jay Lund October 1 marks the beginning of California’s new Water Year (WY). Water years here run from October 1 until September 30 of the next calendar year and are named for the calendar year of the bulk of the water…

International Approaches to Freshwater Management By Nicholas Pinter and Sarah Yarnell In late June and July of this year, UC Davis convened an Advanced Studies Institute (ASI) on “International Approaches to Freshwater Management,” bringing 11 top graduate students from across the US to study…

The Texas Flood Tragedy was Predictable, but was it Preventable? By Kathleen Schaefer Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images In the wake of recent tragic events, such as the devastating floods in Texas, it's become clear that our current approach to flood management and disaster preparedness is…

California’s Amazing Terminal Lakes By Peter B. Moyle Figure 1. Eagle Lake, Lassen Co. * This is a re-post of a blog originally published 11/26/2023. When Californians talk of lakes, they usually mean reservoirs, the 1500 or so artificial bodies of water behind dams. Alternately, they may be…

Being the Lorax By Andrew L. Rypel “Way back in the days when the grass was still green and the pond was still wet and the clouds were still clean, and the song of the Swomee-Swans rang out in space...one morning, I came to this glorious place. And I first saw the trees! The Truffula Trees! The…

“Anyone out hiking in confined, rugged topography needs to be aware that we have this risk of flash flooding in California, kind of similar to Texas,” @ucdaviswater.bsky.social expert Nicholas Pinter says. Learn more from the experts. via @kqednews.kqed.org www.kqed.org/science/1997...

Change at the Center for Watershed Sciences By Karrigan Börk Readers of the California Water Blog (Blog) may have noticed some changes over the past year. The Blog is a product of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences (CWS), and after many years of dedicated service, longtime CWS leaders Dr.…

Sites – The Permitting Process By Christopher Mouawad This blog provides a glimpse into the complexity of permitting for large water projects like Sites. California water law is as intricate and varied as the systems it governs. What begins as a seemingly simple doctrine, such as “first in time,…

Announcing the 7th International Symposium on River Science The International Society for River Science (ISRS) will hold the 7th International Symposium on River Science at the University of California, Davis on October 6-9, 2025. We invite you to attend! The first river symposium was held in 1979…

Where are they now: Caroline Newell “Where are they now:” is a blog series on the California WaterBlog, written by our alumni. The series will celebrate the many alumni who got their start at the Center for Watershed Sciences (CWS) and have now gone on to bigger and better things. Blog posts from…