A National Academies committee that includes a UC Merced researcher recently released its findings from a review of the science behind the operations of two massive California water projects.
Civil and environmental engineering Professor Josué Medellín-Azuara is a member of an ad hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The committee conducted the first of what is expected to be biennial reviews of the monitoring, modeling, and other relevant scientific activities and initiatives that support the long-term operations of the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project.
The projects are federal-state operations that annually move millions of acre-feet of water from Northern California for use throughout the state, including supplying nearly 30 million users 4.75 million acres of agricultural land and wildlife refuges. The operation of these projects affects species protected under the Endangered Species Act. Future operations will grow more complex as California faces more frequent climate extremes, rising temperatures and an already highly constrained regulatory environment .
In its report, released Nov. 10, the committee evaluated three actions considered consequential both for species survival and for their effects on water deliveries: the Shasta Coldwater Pool Management Action, the Old and Middle River (OMR) Flow Management Action and the Summer-Fall Habitat Action.
The committee suggests stronger and more consistent monitoring of the Shasta reservoir, whose cold-water pool and temperature controls are critical to salmon habitats. Committee members also find the OMR Flow Management Action, which limits pumping during sensitive fish migration periods, would benefit from better modeling, monitoring and understanding of the effects of Delta exports on fish.
Finally, the researchers said the Summer-Fall Habitat action (involving freshwater flows, salinity management and operation of salinity control gates), while scientifically grounded, requires continued study to understand the conditions that better support species. The report highlights the potential benefits of improved agency coordination through a science hub to integrate data, models and decision support tools.
The National Academies are nonprofit organizations that operate under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. They study complex and sometimes contentious issues, reach consensus based on the evidence and identify the best path forward, according to their website.
"California's water challenges lack simple answers, but this report shows how essential good science is for informed decision-making," Medellín-Azuara said. "As climate extremes become more common, better data, stronger models and improved coordination will help us manage the systems so that healthy ecosystems and reliable water for communities and agriculture can coexist."
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