- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
You hear it every time drought returns to California: “Turn off the faucet when you brush your teeth.” “Collect shower water in a bucket before it warms up.”
While valuable, these tried and true drought resilience strategies can also deflect attention from the monumental challenges posed by droughts to natural areas, waterways, agriculture and people in California. Far-sighted and discerning management of the state's annual precipitation and groundwater is critical, particularly as droughts become more frequent due to climate change, said Faith Kearns, the academic coordinator of UC's California Institute for Water...
- Author: Liana Wolfe
California has faced many droughts in the past, and we have always been able to manage them to some extent. However, with climate change creating a new hydrologic regime with more precipitation falling as rain than snow and higher evaporative demand, the state may be more at risk for drought now than in year's past according to Safeeq Khan, Cooperative Extension Specialist in Water and Watershed Sciences at the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resource. Presently, the state is experiencing one of the driest years on record with only half of its average annual snow pack this past winter and appears to be heading towards another drought. Even more concerning is that this year's water and snow...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
New certification program will increase opportunities for prescribed fire across California
A group of 19 experienced prescribed burners are gathered in Eureka this week to become certified as prescribed fire burn bosses. The group is the first cohort to participate in the California State-Certified Burn Boss course, part of a certification program that was mandated by legislation in 2018, but was only recently finalized and approved. The course, hosted in Eureka by University of California Cooperative Extension, is a full week session and includes topics from laws, regulations, and permits to burn planning and smoke management.
"With each catastrophic...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
In April 2021, scientists released weevils from the Mediterranean region of Europe at the Bureau of Land Management Magnolia Ranch day-use area in El Dorado County to join the battle against yellow starthistle. Yellow starthistle rosette weevil is a newly approved natural enemy of yellow starthistle, which was introduced in California more than 150 years ago and, with no natural enemies in its new location, became one of the state's most harmful weeds, infesting nearly 15 million acres.
In California, yellow starthistle can grow to shoulder height, forming massive, thorny patches that block hiking trails, crowd out native plants and present a wildfire danger. The plant is...
- Author: Olivia Henry
From cities to rural communities, UC Climate Stewards are fostering climate resilience
Earth Day has strong California roots: Senator Gaylord Nelson was inspired to organize the first event in 1970 after witnessing the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. Today, California is once again the focus of a national conversation about the health of the planet — both because of the state's groundbreaking climate policies and the scale of its climate challenges: wildfires, drought, extreme heat and sea level rise are redefining life in the country's most populous...
