Erik Porse joined the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) on Jan. 11 as director of the California Institute for Water Resources (CIWR).

Porse has built an outstanding career in water as a research engineer with the Office of Water Programs at California State University, Sacramento and an assistant adjunct professor with UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. His research focuses on urban and water resources management. He specializes in bringing together interdisciplinary teams to investigate complex environmental management questions.

Porse earned a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering (water resources) from UC Davis and a master's degree in public...

Trees are essential to lowering temperatures and cooling ‘heat islands'

Water restrictions prompted by drought are driving Californians to prioritize how they will use their limited water. Because landscape irrigation is a major water use for many households, residents are looking outdoors to conserve water.

When choosing which landscape plants to save, "trees come first," said Janet Hartin, UC Cooperative Extension area environmental horticulture advisor for San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and Riverside counties. "Healthy communities need trees. Fortunately, new California water...

Ten years ago, Rob Schuh was on the verge of retiring. As a lifelong farmer, he had become disillusioned by how his work had become a series of numbers – adding and subtracting pounds of fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide every year. Then he discovered the concept of regenerative farming, alongside his son-in-law Andrew Carroll. Regenerative farming gave Schuh a newfound appreciation for agriculture and the land.

The more he learned, the more regenerative farming made sense when combined with his decades of experience treating his 210 acres of almond orchards in Chowchilla, California as a living, complex ecosystem. Schuh began to develop a more holistic approach for his orchard that led him to implement...

It's intuitive that wildfires can affect ecosystems, harm wildlife, and contaminate streams and rivers. But wildfires can also have complex, severe, and direct effects on our water supply and infrastructure—effects that have only become clear in recent years. Scientists and policymakers must integrate insights and experience from many disciplines and sectors to understand and address the consequences.

In September, 23 scholars and practitioners with a diversity of water and fire expertise came together to answer a critical question: How can California proactively protect its water supply from fires? Their findings, combined with the insights of the author team, form the basis of a new