Water in the West and California Jim Sedell Station 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 Samoa Landcover Change % increase in urban lands in 16 years 18% 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 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.

Pacific Ocean Orange County San Gabriel Mtns.. Los Angeles San Bernardino Mtns. San Jacinto Mtns. Lake Elsinore/ San Jacinto Watershed Santa Ana Mtns. The Santa Ana River Watershed Chino Basin Mojave Desert

Forest Fire costs to Santa Ana Watershed over the next 10 years $440 million Directly Affecting 6,000,000 people

Denver

Denver Drinking Water Supply Buffalo Fire $37 million Hayman Fire $47 million

New York City Drinking Water Supply An investment of $2 billion in watershed protection avoids construction of a $6-8 billion filtration plant

5,099 miles designated 2,720 miles suitable or eligible California Rivers of Opportunity

Water Allocation for Ecosystem Support –South Africa’s National Water Act –Council of Australian Governments Water Reform Framework –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 Upstream freshwater forest algae fern Marine and reef habitats … Ridge to Reef… balancing and sustaining ecological, social, and cultural needs aapuaha