Water in the West and California

Jim SedellStation Director

Pacific Southwest Research Station

Centennial Forum

November 2004

Science and Policy Interactions of Western U.S. Forest Practices

Exploitation – disappearance

Optional Science Input – Necessary Science Input Site Specific Regulations – Landscape Based Context

Shifts in the “Burden of Proof”

Multi-scale Monitoring Essential

What do we know about the future?

• There will be more people

• People will still be people

• The climate will change

American SamoaLandcover Change

2001

1985

47% increase in urban lands in 16 years18% decrease in mangrove area.

• Sea level rise from ice cap melting will contaminate water supplies for 1 million people living on the Pacific Islands well before the Island lowlands are flooded with salt water.

From Pickett Fences to Watershed Design: Getting Real About Riparian Management

Four biophysical principals Underlie Evaluation of any Riparian Management Strategy

A stream requires predictable and near-natural energy and nutrient inputs

Many plant and animal communities rely on streamside forest and vegetation

Small streams are generally more affected by hill slope activities than are larger streams

As adjacent slopes become steeper, the likelihood of disturbance resulting in discernable in-stream effects increases

Adaptive Management”…embodies a simple imperative: policies are experiments; learn from them.”

Kai N. Lee , Compass and Gyroscope (1993)

Losing Trees and Forests

to Urban Sprawl Costs Money

and Dirties Water

• Provide safe, low cost drinking water

• Benefit the urban environment

• Aid in pollution prevention

Working Trees and Forests

Working Trees and Forests Supply Drinking Water

Working Trees and Forests Supply Drinking Water

Connect the forest to the faucet…Connect the forest to the faucet…

National Forests provide a source of drinking water for 3,400 communities serving 66 million people.

Nationwide forested watersheds provide a source of drinking water for over 180 million people.

PacificOcean

OrangeCounty

San Gabriel Mtns..

LosAngeles

SanBernardino Mtns.

SanJacintoMtns.

Lake Elsinore/San Jacinto Watershed

Santa Ana Mtns.

The Santa Ana River Watershed

ChinoBasin

Mojave Desert

Forest Fire costs to

Santa Ana Watershedover the next 10 years

$440 million

Directly Affecting 6,000,000 people

DenverDenver

Denver Drinking Water Supply

Buffalo Fire

$37 million

Hayman Fire $47 million

New York City Drinking Water

Supply

An investment An investment of of $2 billion$2 billion in in watershed watershed protection protection avoids avoids construction of construction of a a $6-8 billion$6-8 billion filtration plantfiltration plant

5,099 miles designated2,720 miles suitable or eligible

California Rivers of Opportunity

Water Allocation for Ecosystem Support

– South Africa’s National Water Act 1998.

– Council of Australian Governments Water

Reform Framework 1994.

– U.S. Policy Lacks Focus on Ecological Health of Rivers.

Over 800 Watershed Councils in the U.S. integrate public-private lands and are the emerging governance

system for maintaining and sustaining watersheds.

Hydrologic Forecasting

• Challenges:– Predict changes in freshwater resources and the

environment caused by floods, droughts, sedimentation, and contamination.

– Considers effects of growing demands on water resources.

** Identified as area in need of immediate research investment.

• hydrologic responses to precipitation• environmental stresses on aquatic ecosystem• effects of landscape changes on sediment fluxes

Value of Water• Economic studies of water

value typically measure marginal values

• Marginal values of water depend on the degree of scarcity; scarcity is related to supply and demand issues

• The marginal value of water from national forests is estimated at $3.7 billion per year

• These estimates understate the true value of water in three ways:

1) They count marginal instead of average values

2) They ignore values such as navigation, waste dilution, and ecological services (eg. wetland habitats)

3) They do not count non-use values

Mangrove swamp

Upstreamfreshwat

erforest

algae

fern

Marine and reef habitats

…Ridge to Reef…

balancing and sustaining

ecological, social, and cultural needs

aapuaha