The Confluence

Landscape with New Melones Lake in Spring


The Confluence is the blog of the California Institute for Water Resources (CIWR) within University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. We cover timely topics of water management in California, highlight innovative research and voices. 

CIWR's mission is to integrate California's research, extension, and education programs to develop research-based solutions to water resource challenges. We do this by facilitating collaborative research and outreach on water issues across California's academic institutions and with international, federal, state, regional, nonprofit, and campus communities.

Visit us at: ciwr.ucanr.edu | follow us on Bluesky @ucanrwater.bsky.social, LinkedIn, and Twitter/X @ucanrwater

Firefighters on the 2019 Kincade Fire in northern California. Photo by Faith Kearns

Rethinking Water Systems in a Fire-Prone West: A Fire Chief’s Approach

December 9, 2025
By Faith Kearns
 Firefighters on the 2019 Kincade Fire in northern California. Photo by Faith KearnsBy Faith KearnsThe 2017 Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa, California is memorable for many reasons, including the almost unbelievable way this wildland fire pushed into neighborhoods and leapt across Highway 101. It is also the…
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capitola

Water Systems and Wildfire: Understanding Capacities and Limitations

September 29, 2025
  The January 2025 fires in Los Angeles made clear an issue that has been brewing for years: as wildfires become more urban in nature, what is the role of urban water systems in their prevention, response and recovery? In the last decade, wildfires in Colorado and Northern California revealed how…
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exhibition

Engaging audiences in water science and policy through art

September 25, 2025
By Edith de Guzman
 Attendees mingling at the exhibit opening reception at Avenue 50 Studio in Los Angeles. (Photo Credit: Shanley Kellis)Engaging audiences at the nexus of art and science can produce results that are more profound and surprising than expected. As both an artist and a scientist I’ve had several…
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Example of pitcher point of use filters used in study

Reducing 1,2,3-TCP Contamination in Drinking Water

July 2, 2025
By Hope Hauptman
The Challenge of Clean Water AccessAcross the country, many communities are fighting an uphill battle to protect their drinking water. Newly detected chemicals that may pose health risks—known as emerging contaminants—often fall outside current regulations and are hard to remove with standard treatment…
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Walnut Fields in the Sacramento Valley

How is SGMA affecting growers’ planting and drilling decisions?

June 24, 2025
By Ellen M Bruno
By Ellen Bruno and Nick Hagerty  California is now ten years into a revolution in groundwater management. In 2014, the state passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) which requires newly formed local groundwater sustainability agencies to develop long-term plans to reduce overdraft by…
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