California WaterBlog: Dear Santa – A California Water Holiday Wish List

by folks at UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences: Karrigan Börk, John Durand, Jay Lund, Christine Parisek, Andrew Rypel, Kathleen Schaefer, Jonathan Walter (authors listed alphabetically, and all are now PhDs. Congratulations to Doctors Parisek and Schaefer!)

‘Tis the season of gift-giving (and gift-seeking).  So we thought a California Water Holiday wish list might be good.  Here are some serious and gag holiday gift ideas to make California water wonks happy all year.

1. Goodwill towards fish – We wish people generally would show more appreciation for fish, and habitats, flows, and other conditions needed to support them, from small juvenile fish to returning salmon and sturgeon, from the plankton and zooplankton that feed the food web that feeds them.  There aren’t so many native fish left, so let’s give them some understanding (science) and some room (habitat, flows, and water quality).
2. Ample but not excessive precipitation – We wish for just the right amount of precipitation in the right places, no floods or droughts, with lots of snow in the mountains. So far, we are on pace for an averagish water year, with northern California precipitation and snowpack near historical averages, and reservoir storage at 116% of historical average. A healthy snowpack is a gift that keeps on giving.
3. A low-interest rate bond market – Since the $10 billion Climate Bond passed, we wish for a low interest rate so the state will have more funds for water, the environment, and climate change. 
4. A statewide cross-agency water accounting system – SGMA, conjunctive use, environmental flows, water markets, FIRO, water rights enforcement, and almost all water management requires water accounting.  Every agency (and program) tends to have its own accounting system, so it is getting awfully noisy and expensive.
5. Universal water use reporting – Whether from remote sensing data or increased participation by water users in the state reporting system, knowing who is using what water under what right would make water management easier and more efficient. The Delta has a 90%+ water use reporting rate.  Give the gift of knowledge.  
6. The gift of working together, even if we don’t agree on everything – Our problems are too significant to decamp into smaller and smaller fractals of the science, water and political communities. We wish for colleagues that appreciate the value of working together, even from different perspectives, and don’t immediately agree on everything (which can also improve outcomes).
7. A real time tracking system for adult salmon escapement – Think tracking juvenile salmon with telemetry is exciting? Just wait until a fully integrated system of real time adult salmon returns is available to all. Planning pulse flows for fish will never be the same!
8. Universal marking of hatchery fish – To show you care about fish management and want it to succeed, and to show pity for the many scientists trying to make management successful, please mark all hatchery fish.  
9. Permanently plentiful aquifers – Aquifers are nature’s time-travel foreward for water powered by recharge from rain, snow, and stormwater. Well-managed groundwater can provide permanently plentiful-enough water. Dralle et al. 2024.
10. Accessible well-managed floodplain habitat – California’s native fishes and salmon need floodplains. Further debate delays the positives. We wish for implemented programs that make floodplains (including rice fields) accessible and well-managed to support Central Valley endemics.
11. An open salmon fishing season – Three years of closures from severe population declines reflect grave California salmon conditions and bring deep troubles for communities who depend on salmon economically, for subsistence, and culturally. People should enjoy fish and fishing.
12. Great success for the Klamath River – the dam removals are already a major gift, one given by the Indigenous peoples of California and Oregon who advocated for decades for removal of the dams. There are hopefully many more gifts coming.
13. A water equality genie – State and county programs to raise up the most suffering water systems would foster stronger healthier communities, and bring fairness and sustainability to water access for households and communities. We keep trying.
14. Increased funding, management, and collaboration for wildfire solutions – Wildfires are a natural part of California’s past, present, and future, and can have long-term landscape benefits.  Historical mismanagement of the landscape has increased the frequency of large-wildfires and threaten freshwater resources. We need more science to help freshwater and fish management in scorched landscapes and improve protection of aquatic ecosystems from wildfires – before, during, and after fires. Lawrence and Rypel 2023, Moyle et al. 2023, Kwan and Parisek 2024.
15. 30% of California rewilded by 2030 to benefit humans and ecosystems.
16. A lump of coal salt for each maniacally self-interested stakeholder!
17. Stocking stuffers for the flood-prone – A “calm before the storm” prep kit with every flood insurance policy: portable sandbags, an inflatable boat for evacuations, and a flood alert subscription — keeping ahead of Mother Nature’s house cleaning. Let’s float into the New Year with levees and homes are both covered against floods!

Gift funds for the Watershed Science Center – In the spirit of giving, you can donate here to support this blog and the Watershed Science Center’s broader mission: finding environmentally and economically sustainable solutions for managing rivers, lakes and estuaries. We produce problem-focused and immediately relevant research to manage water, species, and habitat in California and beyond.  Innovative solutions require gifts from individuals and foundations; we hope you’ll support our work!

Karrigan Börk is a UC Davis Professor of Law focusing on western water law and is interim Director for the Center for Watershed Sciences. John Durand is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Watershed Sciences. Jay Lund is an emeritus professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Vice-Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California – Davis. Christine A. Parisek is a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California Davis and a Science Communications Fellow at the Center for Watershed Sciences. Andrew Rypel is a Professor and the Peter B. Moyle and California Trout Chair of coldwater fish ecology at the University of California, Davis. He is a faculty member in the Department of Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology and Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences. Kathleen Schaefer is a recent PhD graduate at UC Davis focusing on integrated water resources management, hydrological modeling, water resources management, and water resources engineering. Jonathan Walter is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Watershed Sciences.