Report Improving the Health of California’s Headwater Forests By Van Butsic, Henry McCann, Jodi Axelson, Brian Gray ... Sep 18, 2017 This report looks at regulatory, legal, and management reforms that can help build resilience in the state’s headwater forests and prepare them for a challenging future.
blog post How Unhealthy Forests Affect Water Supply By Lori Pottinger May 30, 2017 California’s forested watersheds are feeling the effects of drought and fire suppression practices that encourage overly dense stands of trees.
blog post California’s Changing Headwaters By Lori Pottinger Nov 29, 2016 Much of the state’s water supply originates in forested headwaters. An expert interview on how a warming climate and extreme wildfires are changing these ecosystems.
blog post Managing Wildfires Requires New Strategies By Jeffrey Mount, Henry McCann Sep 23, 2015 As wildfires have ravaged drought-stricken California, experts say new tactics are needed to combat them long term.
Report What If California’s Drought Continues? By Ellen Hanak, Jay Lund, Jeffrey Mount, Peter Moyle ... Aug 19, 2015 California is in the fourth year of a severe, hot drought—the kind that is increasingly likely as the climate warms. Although no sector has been untouched, impacts so far have varied greatly, reflecting different levels of drought preparedness. Urban areas are in the best shape, thanks to sustained investments in diversified water portfolios and conservation. Farmers are more vulnerable, but they are also adapting. The greatest vulnerabilities are in some low-income rural communities where wells are running dry and in California’s wetlands, rivers, and forests, where the state’s iconic biodiversity is under extreme threat. Two to three more years of drought will increase challenges in all areas and require continued—and likely increasingly difficult—adaptations. Emergency programs will need to be significantly expanded to get drinking water to rural residents and to prevent major losses of waterbirds and extinctions of numerous native fish species, including most salmon runs. California also needs to start a longer-term effort to build drought resilience in the most vulnerable areas.
