Water UCI

Highlighting several Indigenous knowledge strategies on freshwater management💧In contrast to Western water management, Indigenous cultures often regard water as sacred, approaching it with respect, reciprocity, and care rather than as a resource to be controlled or exploited. To achieve genuine sustainable water management, it is essential to establish active partnerships that center Indigenous leadership and perspectives, as well as respect Tribal sovereignty.

Resources cited at the end of the slide, along with a list of some Indigenous-led water organizations.

Post credit: Kailey Gharavi

TribalSovereignty IndigenousLeadership WaterJustice IndigenousKnowledge WaterStewardship DecolonizeWater WaterHarvesting BiocharFiltration Phytoremediation WetlandFiltration

As California continues to combat intensifying climate change and severe droughts, one proposed solution to the state’s water supply is desal plants. Desalination removes salts and minerals from seawater, making it suitable for human consumption, agricultural irrigation, or industrial use. To separate contaminants, water is distilled through thermal desalination or is pumped through a semi-permeable membrane that filters impurities while allowing clean water to pass through. This process typically involves 4 steps: seawater intake, pretreatment, reverse osmosis filtration, and final collection into freshwater reservoirs. While desalination may initially appear as an innovative solution, there are various drawbacks to the environmental, financial, and public health concerns produced by desal plants. These consequences by desal plants spark serious questions about whether or not California should bring back desal plants as a source for water supply.

Desalination is effective in providing a consistent and reliable water source to serve the water needs of vulnerable regions like California. Not only does desalination provide a stable source of clean drinking water, but its advanced technology produces desalinated water for crop irrigation and industrial and commercial use. As a result, California is relieved of its dependence on groundwater sources without facing water scarcity. However, the energy intensive desalination process contributes to a high carbon footprint, deeming it counterproductive in aiding the issue of global warming in California. Furthermore, desalination raises concerns for the wellbeing of marine life with the release of brine, high levels of salt and chemicals, released into marine ecosystems.

While desalination may be used as a “drought buffer” in extreme circumstances, the permanence of desalination plants in California is not sustainable. The temporary advantages are largely ineffective considering the potential risks of environmental damage, intensified global warming as a result of high energy consumption, cost inefficiency, and potential health risks. Alternatively, California can look toward integrating renewable energy sources like solar panels in order to mitigate the high energy cost caused by the need for high pressure electricity during desalination. In addition, the promotion of water conservation and stormwater collection would pose sustainable, cost-effective solutions for the increasing water crisis in California.

California has shown a complicated history with the installation of desal plants. Located in Santa Barbara, the Charles E. Meyer Desalination Plant was reactivated during California’s severe drought of 2015. Despite being used as an emergency water source rather than permanent solution, the plant had cost $72 million to reactivate (City of Santa Barbara). On a much larger scale, a $1.4 billion desalination plant in Huntington Beach was proposed but rejected as critics argued the potential environmental consequences of marine life and high costs (Rachel Becker, CalMatters). Together, these cases reveal evident concerns to the multiple consequences of desalination in California.

It is notable that California’s water crisis remains a reality, and there are alternative methods to the current process of desalination. When resorting to the use of desalination plants in extreme circumstances, reconstructing and upgrading existing plants pose a more sustainable option by reducing infrastructure and energy demands. Although the high cost to operate desal plants remains a challenge, it currently justifies a necessary trade-off for a reliable supply of clean water to California in return. With current desalination methods including high energy demands, marine ecosystem damage, pollution, and high costs, these issues can be combated with potential solutions. Ultimately, if desalination methods were to be brought back to California, it can evolve with a variety of sustainable methods to reduce carbon footprint and protect the ecosystem.

How do you feel about desalination? Do you think California should revisit this idea amidst record breaking water scarcity?

Post credit: Kara Truong and Meva Bayraktar!! 😊

The combination of climate change and water demand in California is raising concern for the declining groundwater balance. Climate change in California is starting to affect future water availability, impacting water supplies necessary for housing growth and agricultural demand. Regions in the western United States are already facing decades of drought and those dependent on groundwater sources lack sufficient water resources. Future climate and increasing use of groundwater is putting water security at risk for several counties in California. 
 
The housing demand in California is outpacing construction (Wilson et al., 2024). Federal and state legislation has promoted housing growth but failed to consider the availability of water sources, especially in regions with limited water supply (Wilson et al., 2024). Of course, when new homes are built, they require additional water sources to serve occupants. Additionally, the continuous warming shown in climate change projections as well as drought conditions add to the uncertainty of water sources.  
 
Agriculture is the largest use of water in the western U.S., with agriculture accounting for ~80% of water demand in California (Wilson et al., 2024). Recent agricultural trends show the increased demand for water as a result of more intense practices including more water intensive vineyards and croplands. This continued expansion would stress groundwater supplies, limit the adaptability of farmers, and overall increase water demand (Wilson et al., 2024). 

Land-use related water demand in coastal regions of California may put housing policies and sustainable groundwater management in conflict. Housing policies such as the 1969 Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) states that local municipalities must accommodate housing growth (Wilson et al., 2024). However, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) develops sustainability plans to manage and limit groundwater supply and use. The incompatibility of the RHNA and SGMA in California cause instability in water resources needed for the growing population and gradual need for land use. 

Post credit: Meva Bayraktar! 😊

Speaking of Water presents Nataly Escobedo Garcia! The webinar will be taking place on May 21, 2026 at 2:30pm. RSVP now by clicking the link in our bio!

With droughts being a recurring feature to California’s climate, global warming is contributing more to this phenomenon. As California continues to grow in population and agricultural demands, the reliability of water supplies has become a major issue the state faces. Based on the most severe California drought from 2011 to 2015, it was caused by four consecutive years of failed rainy seasons. This failure of rainy seasons resulted in extreme moisture deficits, reducing agricultural productivity and depleting groundwater. 
 
However, failed rainy seasons are not the only cause of droughts in California. Climate change alters the frequency and severity of droughts through two prominent ways: precipitation and rising temperatures. As global temperatures continue to rise, the atmosphere’s capacity to capture moisture, known as evaporative demand, has begun to outpace the rate of precipitation. Droughts in California can also be derived from the warmer atmosphere that can increase droughts and drain moisture from the land. 
 
From the effects of climate change, results from a 2024 UC Merced study discovered that the probability of California’s drought recovery has dropped 25% to 50% lower than historical records, with ⅓ of the reduction caused by human-induced climate change (Williams et al., 2024) This indicates that on average, California may take three months longer to recover from a drought compared to historical norms due to increasing summer temperatures that evaporate soil moisture. (Lorena Anderson, UC Merced) 

Based on these statistics, human-induced climate change has fundamentally altered California’s drought risk. With these effects of rising evaporative demand, slower drought recovery, and snow loss, the trends all suggest that drought will become a more frequent and severe feature of California’s climate.

Post credit: Kara Truong! 😊

Water UCI welcomes our Spring 2026 Field Study Students! 😁🎉
We are looking forward to working with each of you. Your efforts and work will not go unrecognized! Please join us in welcoming our cohort for this quarter!👏👏

Read more about their interests on our Water UCI Fellows page!

The California Natural Resources Agency is currently launching a new policy that plans to return land and water rights to Indigenous tribes, with the goal of repairing injustices and working towards environmental stewardship. The new policy grants Tribes 7% of California’s land and coastal waters, which is roughly 7.5 million acres. The policy establishes three types of land-use agreements: land access agreements that restore Tribal members’ ability to reconnect with their communities and cultural practices, co-management agreements that enable shared stewardship between landowners and Tribes, and finally land return agreements where ownership is transferred back to Tribes. However, agreement requirements require navigating complex relationships with land managers whose priorities may not always align with Tribal communities.

This policy is a step in the right direction to reducing harm to Native communities while strengthening environmental stewardship by embracing Indigenous practices that lower wildfire risk, control invasive species, restore ecosystems and water quality, and enhance biodiversity. Morning Star Gali, member of the Ajumawi band of the Pit River Tribe and founder of Indigenous Justice, said in a statement: “until there is a true and sustained commitment to land return, co-management, and meaningful investment for all California tribes, repairing these historic injustices will remain a long-standing effort that will take decades to fully address.” Indigenous knowledge and practices are essential for sustainable water and land management, and there is a lot of work left to be done.

Source: Noah Haggerty. California pledges to open 7% of its land and waters to Indigenous tribes. Los Angeles Times. March 17, 2026.

[Photo caption: Tribes participate in a race after building traditional tule boats at the American River in Folsom, CA. (Kori Cordero)]

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2026-03-17/california-pledges-to-open-land-waters-to-indigenous-tribes

UCI Spring Career & Internship Fair 2026 Recap 😄

We had a great time connecting with students at UC Irvine’s Spring Career & Internship Fair, hosted by the Division of Career Pathways.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our table! We loved meeting you and sharing more about Water UCI. Looking forward to staying connected!

When you hear the term wetlands, do puddles of water filled with mosquitoes, diseases, and ringworm come to mind? Though they sound uninviting, wetlands are one of the most important
ecosystems in the world because of their biodiversity and productivity (Environmental Protection Agency). They are also considered a globally threatened habitat, with over 60% of coastal
wetlands having been lost (Beheshti et al.). Coastal development, including the construction of houses and other projects, has interfered with the watersheds that supply wetlands and has
increased runoff (Beheshti et al.). Around 90% of California’s historic wetlands have been lost over the past 100 years (Kalua). The wetlands that do remain acquired the title of impaired, not
functioning as they should because of pollutants. California requires healthy wetlands, but faces a crisis.

As water and sediment run down from mountains or hills, they collect nutrients and accumulate into shallow pools, forming wetlands. They are essentially a body of water with concentrated
nutrients that can be called a “biological supermarket”. The high amount of nutrients feeds organisms at the bottom of the food web, and attracts bigger predators like birds (Environmental
Protection Agency). All kinds of species rely on wetlands for their food, shelter, and water. Many species of fish and crustaceans use wetlands for food, shelter, and breeding grounds (Environmental Protection Agency). Bird populations will use wetlands to raise their young, and some migratory birds use them as resting, feeding, breeding, or nesting grounds (Environmental Protection Agency). Other animals and plants depend entirely on wetlands for survival, like wood ducks and cattails (Environmental Protection Agency).
In addition to wildlife diversity, wetlands improve natural water quality, bring flood protection, shoreline erosion control, and natural aesthetic appreciation (Environmental Protection Agency).
Wetlands serve as sponges, trapping and then slowly releasing water (Environmental Protection Agency). In the process, they filter pollutants and also aid in flood protection and erosion. Flood
water gets slowed down by wetlands, and the water can be distributed slowly across the floodplain, slowing down floods and reducing erosion (Environmental Protection Agency). What’s not to like? Wetlands provide beauty, wildlife health, and protection from natural hazards.

Human development has caused these effects on wetlands. Primary methods include: filling wetlands for development, pollution from runoff, draining for agriculture, and/or modifying higher bodies of water (Morgan). Besides the fight for adequate environmental protection, the loss of wetlands has encouraged investment in restoring wetlands. These projects have their limitations, and achieving the original state of wetlands requires a lot.

The complex nutrient density, microbes, plants, and wildlife are all necessary for wetlands to thrive (Environmental Protection Agency). With this in mind, wetland restoration projects have many factors to consider. They typically include grading soils that are different from natural wetlands. Grading compacts soil and creates a wetland with poor drainage, poor aeration, and too much salt in the soil (Beheshti et al.). Wetlands need enough drainage, room for the soil to move around, either by adding more soil or eroding. The compactness of grading makes it difficult for a wide variety of plants to grow or establish themselves in the soil.

A study found that copying the effects of existing vegetation can reduce the stress from the environment and help restoration (Beheshti et al.). Trying to mimic natural conditions of the
wetland can help with the high salinity, compact soils, and establishment of new plants (Beheshti et al.). Since each wetland is different, local restoration methods should be tailored to each
wetland's unique natural environment.

Restoring and protecting wetlands brings a load of benefits: aesthetics, flood and erosion control, water purification, and biodiversity. What can you do to help protect wetlands? You can
volunteer with organizations or groups that intend to improve or restore wetlands, report suspected illegal actions, reduce pollution, plant native plants, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and spread the word about wetlands!

Post Credit: Penny Terranova! ☺️

Overjoyed for Dr. Feldman to participate in event in Italy! Thank you for the opportunity !

Photos originally from Instagram page, view their profile for more pictures and information about the trip!