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These UC Davis faculty and staff members have expertise on topics related to dry weather and water supply:
Water supply issues
Water and agriculture
Water quality and contamination
Water, weather and computer modeling
Water law
WATER SUPPLY ISSUES
Urban runoff and landscape water use
Qingfu Xiao, an assistant research water scientist, studies urban water problems in both runoff and water resources. He says one solution to reducing urban runoff is through urban rainwater harvesting. His recent study is bringing urban forestry and urban hydrology together to develop new technologies for reducing pollutants in urban runoff. Xiao has been working on a new type of urban landscape design to reduce landscape irrigation water use. He is coordinating his research with the Center for Urban Forest Research, USDA Forest. Contact: Qingfu Xiao, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-6804, qxiao@ucdavis.edu.
Freshwater fish
Professor Peter Moyle, the foremost expert on native freshwater fishes of California, can discuss their declines and the environmental impacts that are responsible, such as water diversions. Moyle advises state and national policymakers on the conservation of fish, amphibians and watersheds. He was a member of the blue-ribbon scientific panel that assessed the Klamath Basin situation in 2001, after federal agencies cut off irrigation water to farmers, and is a co-author on the 2007 UC Davis-Public Policy Institute of California report, "Envisioning Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta." Since the 1970s, he has worked on fish and ecological issues in the San Francisco Estuary, the San Joaquin River and the Sierras. He teaches basic courses in fish biology, wildlife conservation and watershed ecology. Contact: Peter Moyle, Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, (530) 752-6355, pbmoyle@ucdavis.edu.
Understanding natural waters
Greg Pasternack, a professor of hydrology, is a broad-based expert on water and sediment in rivers, lakes and wetlands. He works with diverse stakeholders on technical solutions to water problems associated with the management and rehabilitation of major systems in California, including the Yuba, American, Mokelumne and Trinity rivers as well as the Salton Sea and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Contact: Greg Pasternack, Hydrology Program, (530) 754-9243, gpast@ucdavis.edu.
Groundwater
Professor of hydrogeology Graham Fogg is a groundwater expert who can comment on sustainability of groundwater quality and quantity in the context of agricultural, urban and industrial pollutant sources and climate change. His research shows that groundwater quality in many basins is on a long-term (decades to centuries) decline that will increasingly impinge on water use. Fogg's recent work on the Cosumnes River and aquifer system shows how historical groundwater development affected stream flows, and hence migration of salmon and viability of riparian habitat. Current research thrusts include the role of groundwater in hydrology of the Sierra Nevada, new methods for predicting human or ecosystem exposure to toxic compounds via groundwater transport, and new paradigms for subsurface storage of water under future climate scenarios. Contact: Graham Fogg, Department of Land, Air and Water Resources & Hydrologic Sciences Graduate Group, (530) 752-6810, gefogg@ucdavis.edu.
WATER AND AGRICULTURE
Growing fruits and nuts with less water
With most field and row crops, yield is directly related to how much water the plants consume. Cut water by one-quarter and the harvest is cut by one-quarter. But this is not the case with some major fruit and nut crops in California, according to studies by David Goldhamer, a University of California Extension water management specialist. Based at the Kearney Agricultural Center in Parlier, Goldhamer has demonstrated that regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) can reduce seasonal water use in navel oranges by 20 percent and actually increase crop revenue to the grower due to better fruit quality. RDI also works on pistachio trees. The key to successful RDI is measuring tree stress, and Goldhamer is testing various measuring strategies, including small electronic sensors that measure branch diameter changes over the day, and remote sensing of canopy temperatures. Contact: David Goldhamer, Kearney Agricultural Center, (559) 646-6500, dgoldhamer@sbcglobal.net.
Wastewater as irrigation
Mark Grismer, a professor of hydrology, and biological and agricultural engineering, studies the potential for using treated wastewater to irrigate forage crops (such as alfalfa for dairy cattle). Contact: Mark Grismer, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, (530) 752-3243, megrismer@ucdavis.edu.
Root zone water for sustainable ecosystems
Professor Jan Hopmans' area of expertise of soil hydrology applies to both agricultural and natural ecosystems, with a focus on monitoring and modeling of soil water availability. Much of his research applies to irrigated agriculture, including its sustainability and the impacts of global warming. His laboratory is developing innovative soil moisture sensors that can be deployed in remote locations, as is being investigated at high elevations in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Contact: Jan Hopmans, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-3060, jwhopmans@ucdavis.edu.
WATER QUALITY AND CONTAMINATION
Groundwater contamination and resources
Thomas Harter, an expert on the effects of human activities and agriculture on groundwater quality, holds the Robert M. Hagan Endowed Chair in Water Management and Policy. Harter, a professor in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, can discuss confined animal facilities (such as dairies and feed lots), groundwater contaminants (such as nitrates from fertilizer), pathogens (such as Cryptosporidium parvum, E. coli, and Salmonella), and emerging concerns (such as antibiotics, hormones and other pharmaceuticals). He also has expertise on salt intrusion in deep aquifers, surface water and groundwater resource management, and computer modeling of groundwater basins and pollution. Harter is director of the UC Cooperative Extension Groundwater Hydrology Program. Contact: Thomas Harter, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-2709, thharter@ucdavis.edu.
Erosion and water quality
Mark Grismer, a professor of hydrology and biological and agricultural engineering, measures the impacts of various land uses (such as forests, orchards and vineyards) on erosion and water quality in streams and rivers. Contact: Mark Grismer, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, (530) 752-3243, megrismer@ucdavis.edu.
Hydrodynamic effects on water quality
Bill Fleenor, research engineer in Civil and Environmental Engineering, uses field data collection and computer models to examine how physical water properties influence water quality. From water temperature of reservoir releases to water chemistry in stratified water systems, the hydrodynamics can play a large part in resultant water quality. Fleenor utilizes existing equipment and models, and develops models as needed to examine these hydrodynamic influences in lakes, reservoirs and estuaries. Contact: Bill Fleenor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, (530) 752-5669, wefleenor@ucdavis.edu.
WATER, WEATHER AND COMPUTER MODELING
Computer modeling and El Niño
Bryan Weare, a professor and meteorologist, is collaborating with a team of University of California researchers to combine a number of atmospheric and hydrologic computer models so that precipitation can be accurately predicted weeks in advance. Weare specializes in climate change, particularly in the tropics. Contact: Bryan Weare, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-3445, bcweare@ucdavis.edu.
Geographic information systems and water quality
Ecologist Minghua Zhang studies the impact of agriculture on water quality in the watersheds of the Central Valley, California. She employs geographic information systems (GIS) applications, remote sensing technology, and watershed modeling to address various water quality issues in relation to pesticide use and to identify alternative, reduced-risk pest-management practices. Currently, she is conducting several multiyear projects relating to water quality assessment of pesticide impact at a watershed scale. Please contact her regarding questions concerning watershed modeling and the impacts of pesticide use on water quality. Contact: Minghua Zhang, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-4953, mhzhang@ucdavis.edu.
WATER LAW
Water rights and public policy
Harrison "Hap" Dunning, a professor emeritus of law, can comment on public rights to water resources, the doctrine of public trust, and instream flows. He is author of the public rights portion of the leading national treatise on water law, "Waters and Water Rights," and he has written numerous articles on water law, particularly with regard to the public-trust doctrine. He is a member of the boards of directors of the Water Education Foundation and the Bay Institute of San Francisco. Dunning says a lot of California's water infrastructure was planned and built between the 1920s and 1940s with very little attention paid to environmental consequences. "Today our values are quite different," he said. "There's much more attention to the environmental consequences of water projects. So a lot of today's struggle is trying to recalibrate the system to take account of today's environmental values." Contact: Harrison "Hap" Dunning, School of Law, (530) 756-7244, or cell (530) 979-1600, hcdunning@ucdavis.edu.
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Last updated May 25, 2007
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