The Confluence

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The Confluence is the blog of the California Institute for Water Resources (CIWR) within University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. We cover timely topics of water management in California, highlight innovative research and voices.

CIWR's mission is to integrate California's research, extension, and education programs to develop research-based solutions to water resource challenges. We do this by facilitating collaborative research and outreach on water issues across California's academic institutions and with international, federal, state, regional, nonprofit, and campus communities.

Visit us at: ciwr.ucanr.edu | follow us on Bluesky @ucanrwater.bsky.social, LinkedIn, and Twitter/X @ucanrwater

University of California
Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
California Institute for Water Resources

Huntington Gardens in San Marino, California, provides an example of an attractive, low water use landscape. Photo by John Karlik.

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Landscape water conservation

May 17, 2021

By John Karlik, UC Cooperative Extension, Environmental Horticulture/Environmental Science Advisor, Kern County As California enters another dry summer, the supply and use of water are once again becoming topics of immediate concern.

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Woodsmansee on ranch land in Shasta Valley in Siskiyou County, California. Photo by Nicole Stevens.

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Looking back to manage future drought on rangelands

May 10, 2021

By Kathryn M Stein

As California enters another dry period, it can be painful to think about the last time the state was in this situation. There is value, however, in looking back to the last long drought.

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Join us for season 2 of Water Talk, new episodes weekly starting April 2, 2021, watertalkpodcast.com [image: abstracted topographic lines in various shades of blue and yellow with the words Water Talk in a square with a yellow background]

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The Water Talk podcast is back for a second season

April 5, 2021

The podcast Water Talk launched its second season on Friday, April 2. This season focuses in part on drought, a water issue at the top of many minds during this relatively dry rainy season.

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Michael Mendez at the Port of Long Beach. Photo by Keith Carlsen.

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From the Ground Up: Climate Change and Environmental Justice in California

March 15, 2021

Michael Mendez is an assistant professor in the School of Social Ecology at UC Irvine, and has spent time doing public policy work as an advisor, senior legislative consultant, lobbyist, and as a gubernatorial appointee during the passage of California's internationally acclaimed climate change laws...

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New research gives California date growers the data they need to apply a more precise amount of irrigation water to meet the trees' needs to produce a healthy crop. Photo by Ali Montazar.

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Growers and researchers refine date palm irrigation

February 18, 2021

California's $86 million date industry produces more than half of the nation's dates. Most of the fruit is grown in the arid Coachella Valley.

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