UC Davis Experts: Drought, Dry Weather and Water Supply

May 22, 2008

These UC Davis faculty and staff members have expertise on topics related to dry weather, reduced water supplies and water quality.

FRESHWATER FISH -- Professor Peter Moyle, the foremost expert on native freshwater and anadromous fishes (such as salmon) of California , can discuss their declines and the environmental impacts that are responsible, such as droughts, water diversions and alien species. Moyle advises state and national policymakers on the conservation of fish, amphibians and watersheds. He was a member of the blue-ribbon scientific panel that assessed the Klamath Basin situation in 2001, after federal agencies cut off irrigation water to farmers, and is a co-author on the 2007 UC Davis-Public Policy Institute of California report, "Envisioning Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta," and the upcoming "Comparing Futures of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta." He has worked on fish and ecological issues in the San Francisco Estuary, the San Joaquin River and the Sierras since the 1970s. He teaches basic courses in fish biology, wildlife conservation and watershed ecology. Contact: Peter Moyle, Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, (530) 752-6355, pbmoyle@ucdavis.edu.

URBAN RUNOFF AND LANDSCAPE WATER USE -- Qingfu Xiao, a UC Davis assistant research scientist, studies urban water problems. He says one solution to reducing urban-runoff and water-resources problems is through urban rainwater harvesting. His ongoing study is attempting to develop new technologies for reducing pollutants in urban runoff and using it as a water source. Xiao has been working on a new type of urban landscape design and new materials to reduce landscape irrigation water use. He is coordinating his research with the Center for Urban Forest Research, a UC Davis-based program of the USDA Forest Service. Contact: Qingfu Xiao, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 759-1727, qxiao@ucdavis.edu.

THE FUTURE OF GROUNDWATER -- Professor of hydrogeology Graham Fogg is a groundwater expert who can comment on sustainability of groundwater quality and quantity in the context of agricultural, urban and industrial pollutant sources and climate change. His research shows that groundwater quality in many basins is on a long-term (decades to centuries) decline that will increasingly impinge on water use. Fogg's recent work on the Cosumnes River and aquifer system shows how historical groundwater development affected stream flows, and hence migration of salmon and viability of riparian habitat. Current research thrusts include the role of groundwater in hydrology of the Sierra Nevada , new methods for predicting human or ecosystem exposure to toxic compounds via groundwater transport, and new paradigms for subsurface storage of water under future climate scenarios. Contact: Graham Fogg, Land, Air and Water Resources, and the Hydrologic Sciences Graduate Group, (530) 752-6810, gefogg@ucdavis.edu.

GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION AND RESOURCES -- Thomas Harter, an expert on the effects of human activities and agriculture on groundwater quality, holds the Robert M. Hagan Endowed Chair in Water Management and Policy. Harter, a professor in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, can discuss confined animal facilities (such as dairies and feed lots), groundwater contaminants (such as nitrates from fertilizer), pathogens (such as Cryptosporidium parvum, E. coli, and Salmonella), and emerging concerns (such as antibiotics, hormones and other pharmaceuticals). He also has expertise on salt intrusion in deep aquifers, surface water and groundwater resource management, computer modeling of groundwater basins, effects of drought on groundwater basins, and modeling of pollution. Harter is director of the UC Cooperative Extension Groundwater Hydrology Program. Contact: Thomas Harter, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-2709, thharter@ucdavis.edu.

WATER SUPPLY AND DEMAND MANAGEMENT -- Jay Lund specializes in the management of water systems, from California 's large statewide system to local city and regional water systems. He and his colleagues have developed computer models of how California 's water system can adapt to changes in climate, infrastructure, water policies, and droughts. He has also studied water policy in California , particularly the roles of water markets in California 's complex water system. Contact: Jay Lund, Civil and Environmental Engineering, (530) 752-5671, jrlund@ucdavis.edu, http://cee.engr.ucdavis.edu/faculty/lund/. ( Lund will be out of town from June 15-July 2.)

FROM TAHOE TO NAPA -- Hydrology professor Mark Grismer has a broad range of interests, from erosion and watershed modeling in the Tahoe Basin to building wetlands for filtering winery wastewater. He also studies the vadose zone of groundwater and the water use of agricultural crops. He is a registered civil engineer. Contact: Mark Grismer, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, also Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-3243, megrismer@ucdavis.edu.

ROOT-ZONE WATER FOR SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEMS -- Professor Jan Hopmans' expertise in soil hydrology applies to both agricultural and natural ecosystems, with a focus on monitoring and modeling of soil water availability. Much of his research applies to irrigated agriculture, including its sustainability and the impacts of global warming. His laboratory is developing innovative soil-moisture sensors that can be deployed in remote locations, with experiments currently under way at high elevations in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Contact: Jan Hopmans, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-3060, jwhopmans@ucdavis.edu.

GROWING FRUITS AND NUTS WITH LESS WATER -- With most field and row crops, yield is directly related to how much water the plants consume -- if you cut water by one-quarter, then the harvest is cut by one-quarter. But this is not the case with some major fruit and nut crops in California , according to studies by David Goldhamer, a University of California Cooperative Extension water management specialist. Based at the Kearney Agricultural Center in Parlier, Goldhamer has demonstrated that regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) can reduce seasonal water use in navel oranges by 20 percent and actually increase crop revenue to the grower due to better fruit quality. RDI also works on pistachio trees. The key to successful RDI is measuring tree stress, and Goldhamer is testing various measuring strategies, including small electronic sensors that measure branch diameter changes over the day, and remote sensing of canopy temperatures. Contact: David Goldhamer, Kearney Agricultural Center , (559) 646-6500, dgoldhamer@sbcglobal.net.

HYDRODYNAMIC EFFECTS ON WATER QUALITY -- William Fleenor, research engineer in civil and environmental engineering, uses field data collection and computer models to examine how physical properties of water influence water quality. From water temperature of reservoir releases to water chemistry in stratified water systems, hydrodynamics play a large part in the resulting water quality. Fleenor develops models to examine hydrodynamic influences in lakes, reservoirs and estuaries. He is a co-author on the 2007 UC Davis-Public Policy Institute of California report, "Envisioning Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta," and the upcoming "Comparing Futures of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta." Contact: William Fleenor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, (530) 752-5669, wefleenor@ucdavis.edu.

GEOCHEMISTRY OF WATER POLLUTION -- Bill Casey is a UC Davis professor of chemistry and geology. His research in aqueous geochemistry concerns the sources of pollutant materials in streams and the rates at which these materials transform in water and soil. Casey's research group specializes in the use of spectroscopic methods and small, model molecules to detail how pollutant chemicals interact with the common minerals at the molecular scale. Contact: Bill Casey, Chemistry, (530) 752-3211, whcasey@ucdavis.edu.

Media contact(s):

• Sylvia Wright, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-7704, swright@ucdavis.edu

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