Products

We identify issues and uncertainties that pose obstacles to conservation and then—in collaboration with internal and external colleagues—develop science products that help overcome those obstacles.

2022 | Freshwater | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports

Modeling Functional Flows in California’s Rivers

Theodore E. Grantham, Daren M. Carlisle, Jeanette Howard, Belize Lane, Robert Lusardi, Alyssa Obester, Samuel Sandoval-Solis, Bronwen Stanford, Eric D. Stein, Kristine T. Taniguchi-Quan, Sarah M. Yarnell, Julie K. H. Zimmerman

Protecting water in rivers is made more challenging by the lack of quantitative estimates of the amount of water required to protect river ecosystems. The authors developed a model and made…

2022 | Freshwater | Science | Publications & Reports

Functional Flows in Groundwater-Influenced Streams: Application of the California Environmental Flows Framework to Determine Ecological Flow Needs

Sarah M. Yarnell, Ann Willis, Alyssa Obester, Ryan A. Peek, Robert A. Lusardi, Julie Zimmerman, Theodore E. Grantham, Eric D. Stein

Very few rivers have protections to protect flow for species and ecosystems, in part because of the complexity and resources required to develop ecological flow criteria - the amount of water needed…

2021 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Using information on forest succession to advance strategies for salmon recovery and carbon storage in meandering river systems

John C. Stella, Li Kui, Gregory H. Golet, Frank Poulsen

Streamside forests are incredibly important for fish, birds and other wildlife. They are also valuable for storing carbon which is needed to combat climate change. This is especially the case in…

2021 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Sacramento River: balancing ecological and social restoration goals to restore riparian habitat along a lowland floodplain river, California, USA

Case study by: K.D. Holl, G.H. Golet

Advancing conservation requires understanding the constraints imposed on natural systems by human societies. This understanding typically comes from engagement with local stakeholders, as opposed…

2021 | Freshwater | Science | Publications & Reports

The California Environmental Flows Framework: Meeting the Challenges of Developing a Large-Scale Environmental Flows Program

Eric D. Stein, Julie Zimmerman, Sarah M. Yarnell, Bronwen Stanford, Belize Lane, Kristine T. Taniguchi-Quan, Alyssa Obester, Theodore E. Grantham, Robert A. Lusardi, Samuel Sandoval-Solis

The first step to protecting rivers is figuring out how much water they need to protect species and ecological functions - known as ecological flow criteria. Scientists have struggled to develop flow…

2021 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports

Planting Stormwater Solutions: A methodology for siting nature-based solutions for pollution capture, habitat enhancement, and multiple health benefits

Kelsey Jessup, Sophie S. Parker, John M. Randall, Brian S. Cohen, Rowan Roderick-Jones, Shona Ganguly, Jill Sourial

This paper presents results from Planting Stormwater Solutions, part of TNC’s Urban Conservation work in Los Angeles. The authors develop a methodology to prioritize siting of vegetated…

2021 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Marine | Planning | Science | Video

StoryMap: Restoring coastal wetlands for climate resilience: A case study at Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu

Charlotte Stanley, Alyssa Mann, Walter Heady

The United States operates thousands of military installations in the U.S. and worldwide, worth about $1.2 trillion. These facilities are where personnel train and test weaponry, with…

2021 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Marine | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Restoring coastal wetlands for climate resilience: A case study at Naval Base Ventura County, Pt. Mugu

Walter Heady, Alyssa Mann, Stacey Solie, Bob Battalio, James Jackson, Kendall Lousen, and Bob Barnes

The U.S. Congress and the Department of Defense (DoD) have determined that climate change is a threat to national security and have required military installations to develop plans to improve the…

2021 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports

Cannabis farms in California rely on wells outside of regulated groundwater basins

Christopher Dillis, Van Butsic, Jennifer Carah, Samuel Zipper, Theodore Grantham

Water management practices for cannabis farming in California are not well understood. This study examined permit reporting data and found that the vast majority (>75%) of permitted cannabis farms…

2021 | Freshwater | Science | Maps & Webmaps

California Natural Flows Webapp

Julie K.H. Zimmerman, Daren M. Carlisle, Jason T. May, Kirk R. Klausmeyer, Theodore E. Grantham, Larry R. Brown, Jeanette K. Howard, Nathaniel Rindlaub, Falk Schuetzenmeister

Water is essential for California’s people, economy, and environment. Centuries of water management through dams and diversion have altered the flows in many streams and rivers, which can harm…

2021 | Freshwater | Planning | Maps & Webmaps

ICONS: Interconnected Surface Water in the Central Valley

Charlotte Stanley, Kirk Klausmeyer

This dataset categorizes the rivers and streams in the Central Valley on the likelihood that they are interconnected surface water (ISW) -- surface water hydraulically connected to groundwater. The…

2021 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Predicting shorebird distributions in managed wetland habitats to inform where to implement habitat programs

Erin Conlisk, Gregory H. Golet, Mark D. Reynolds, Blake Barbaree, Kristin Sesser, Kristen Byrd, Sam Veloz, Matthew E. Reiter

Highly mobile species, such as migratory birds, respond to seasonal and yearly changes in resource availability by moving among habitats. Understanding how they select among habitats is important for…

2020 | Freshwater | Science | Publications & Reports

Evaluating and Protecting Environmental Water Assets: A Guide for Land Conservation Practitioners

Author: Chris Alford, Editors and Reviewers: Amy Campbell, Monty Schmitt, Sara Press, Wendy Eliot, Bob Neale

Evaluating and Protecting Environmental Water Assets: A Guide for Land Conservation Practitioners, a publication by TNC and the Sonoma Land Trust (SLT), provides provides easy to understand guidance,…

2020 | Freshwater | Marine | Science | Microsite

State of Salmon in California

Sally Liu, Megan Webb, Jeanette Howard, Jennifer Carah

Chinook, coho and steelhead were once tremendously abundant in most of California’s major rivers and streams. As recently as the 1960s, salmon and steelhead were so plentiful in streams that…

2020 | Freshwater | Science | Publications & Reports

A functional flows approach to selecting ecologically relevant flow metrics for environmental flow applications

Sarah M. Yarnell, Eric D. Stein, J. Angus Webb, Theodore Grantham, Rob A. Lusardi, Julie Zimmerman, Ryan A. Peek, Belize A. Lane, Jeanette Howard, Samuel Sandoval-Solis

The authors of this paper are engaged in developing flow criteria for California Streams through California Environmental Flows Framework (CEFF) collaboration. The effort is funded by the State…

2019 | Freshwater | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Dynamic multibenefit solutions for global water challenges

Melissa M. Rohde, Mark Reynolds, Jeanette Howard

In this article, the authors provide an example of how dynamic multi-benefit solutions used to provide “pop-up” wetland habitat for migratory birds also replenishing depleted aquifers to…

2019 | Freshwater | Science | Publications & Reports

Cannabis and residential groundwater pumping impacts on streamflow and ecosystems in Northern California

Samuel C. Zipper, Jennifer K. Carah, Christopher Dillis, Tom Gleeson, Ben Kerr, Melissa M. Rohde, Jeanette K. Howard, Julie K.H. Zimmerman

Using a newly developed tool for estimating streamflow depletion from groundwater pumping, this study examined the impacts of ongoing groundwater pumping on streamflow and aquatic ecosystems in the…

2019 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports

First known survey of cannabis production practices in California

Houston Wilson, Hekia Bodwitch, Jennifer Carah, Kent Daane, Christy Getz, Theodore E. Grantham, Van Butsic

Cannabis has been an industry in the shadows for many decades and little studied. In partnership with U.C. Berkeley and U.C. Cooperative Extension, the Conservancy staff developed the first cannabis…

2019 | Freshwater | Science | Publications & Reports

Rapid and Accurate Estimates of Streamflow Depletion Caused by Groundwater Pumping Using Analytical Depletion Functions

Samuel C. Zipper, Tom Gleeson, Ben Kerr, Jeanette K. Howard, Melissa M. Rohde, Jennifer Carah, Julie Zimmerman

Reductions in streamflow from groundwater pumping can negatively impact water users and aquatic ecosystems but are challenging to estimate due to the time and expertise required to develop numerical…

2019 | Freshwater | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Conservation Planning Foundation for Restoring Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and O. mykiss in the Stanislaus River

Prepared by Anchor QEA, LLC (John Ferguson, Elizabeth Greene, and Michelle L. Ratliff), Contributors and Participants: John Cain, Jon Rosenfield, Alison Weber-Stover, Stephen Louie, John Shelton, Tim Heyne, Brian Ellrott, Sierra Franks, Monica Gutierrez, Rhonda Reed, David Swank, Steve Edmundson, Katie Schmidt, Rachel Johnson, Jeanette Howard, Julie Zimmerman, Chris Carr, Daniel Worth, Rene Henery, Ron Yoshiyama, Joshua Israel, Paul Cadrett, Ramon Martin, and J.D. Wikert

Also view Appendix A: Stanislaus Survival Model and and other report Appendices.