water in the west and california jim sedell station director pacific southwest research station...
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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