Session Coordinators: Matt Clifford, Trout Unlimited; Monty Schmitt, The Nature Conservancy; and Redgie Collins, California Trout
 

The health of California's rivers and fisheries is suffering as a result of persistent severely dry years. These events are not one offs but rather a harbinger of our future with climate change.  By failing to effectively leverage lessons learned from recent dry years, we continue to be caught unprepared, with management actions coming too late and on too limited a scale to protect streamflows for fish, wildlife, and drinking water supplies. To address this problem, we need a new approach. Plans need to be formulated in advance, so that when dry conditions develop we have implementable, science-based management measure ready to be put into action to protect streamflows.

We must act now to be ready for future dry years or we risk extinction of salmon populations and loss of reliable water supplies for people. This session will explore the policies, science, and water management practices that will enable us to protect the rivers that provide fish habitat and human water supplies in the face of a rapidly drying climate.
 

Drought Planning in the Western United States:  A Review of Drought Plans in the Western States and Recommendations for California’s Future Response, Dan Wilson, NOAA California Coastal Office
 

Exploring Monthly Natural Flow Predictions and Applications to Dry Year Planning to Protect Aquatic Ecosystems, Julie Zimmerman, PhD, The Nature Conservancy
 

Drought Response:  An Overview, Lessons Learned, and Moving Forward, Erin Ragazzi, Division of Water Rights, State Water Resources Control Board
 

An Ecological Drought Indicator Framework for California, Ted Grantham, PhD, UC Berkeley; and Jeffrey Mount, PhD, Public Policy Institute of California