Global warming is affecting California’s water. Fresh water will be ever more scarce due to:
more rain and less snow during winter
less mountain snowpack that melts earlier each year
warmer water in rivers and streams
increasing sea level and storm surges
warming and more acidic ocean waters
Without healthy rivers, wetlands and coastal habitats, California is on the brink of losing outdoor traditions such as:
fishing for Chinook salmon on the Klamath River,
hunting pintail ducks in the Central Valley,
sighting the Western snowy plover and other birds in the marshes and beaches of the southern coast.
Take an Online Tour
Virtually visit some of California’s iconic landscapes. See how global warming is stressing fish, waterfowl and their habitats. Many of these ecosystems are already fragile due to human activities. Global warming will magnify these pressures.
Natural resources: Third largest salmon and steelhead run on the West Coast, heavy rainfall and mountain stream runoff making phenomenal aquatic habitats, spring and fall stopover for migrating birds along the Pacific Flyway, largest population of wintering bald eagles in the lower 48
Challenges: 80% of the basin's wetlands have been drained to support agriculture, dams and water
diversions, mining operations, logging practices, livestock grazing, high water temperatures, salmon and steelhead populations have dropped 80%
Global warming impacts: A projected 66 percent decrease in the snowpack of the Cascades would greatly reduce the snowmelt feeding the basin during summer. Combined with increasing water demands for irrigation, low river flows would spell disaster for fish in the Klamath River Basin.
Natural resources: Largest estuary on the west coast of North and South America, 700,000
acres of waterways, wildlife habitat, reclaimed farmland, and agricultural towns, thousands of waterfowl use freshwater areas in their Pacific Flyway migration, more than 40 fish species live or pass through, some of the best access to hunting and fishing opportunities in the western United States
Challenges: Habitat loss from dredging, levees and other development
Global warming impacts: Rising sea levels combined with less freshwater contributions from snowmelt could lead to extensive saltwater inundation of key fish and waterfowl habitat. Diving ducks such as canvasbacks and ruddy ducks will be hit especially hard.
Natural resources: Supply about 40% of the surface-water runoff flows to the Central Valley and help replenish groundwater basins throughout California, snowpack serves as the region's largest natural water reservoir
Challenges: Dams, water diversions, livestock grazing, mining, forestry practices, and urban development
Global Warming Impacts: Average snowpack in the Sierra Nevada is projected to decrease by as much as 12 to 47 percent by mid-century. As deep, cold pools become increasingly shallow and warm, most steelhead trout habitat and potentially all spring-run salmon habitat may disappear.
Natural resources: 60% of Pacific Flyway migratory waterfowl stop over or spend the winter here, 5.5 million ducks and geese, one of the largest concentrations of wintering waterfowl in the world
Challenges: 95% of the region's wetlands have been destroyed or highly modified, Chinook populations declined to less than 1% of historic levels, with only 20 percent of historic habitat still accessible
Global warming impacts: Hotter, drier summers with low stream flows will threaten waterfowl species that breed there over the summer and will increase irrigation costs, threatening rice farming and the habitat it provides to migratory waterfowl that overwinter in the Central Valley.
Natural Resources: Birdwatching, hunting, and fishing, 13,000 acres of coastal wetlands, important habitat for more than 60 fish species
Challenges: Home to more threatened and endangered species than any other region in the continental United States, more flood-control dams, debris basins and miles of cemented stream channels than any other region in the country, fragmented watersheds and altered natural flow patterns
Global Warming Impacts: As sea level rises, beaches will be eroded and coastal wetlands and estuaries that abut developed areas will be blocked from moving inland. Habitat for the Western snowy plover, light-footed clapper rail, California least tern, and other species prized by birdwatchers will be especially at risk.
California Official State Fish At Increased Risk Due to Global Warming
The beautiful golden trout is native to two small watersheds of the high Sierra. It has been severely impacted by
hybridization with non-native rainbow trout and habitat degradation from grazing.
Global warming is a potentially serious threat as temperatures increase and Sierra snowpack declines. Although the golden trout is native to high mountain waters, even these areas are susceptible to increasing water temperatures, which have been recorded as high as 77 degrees Fahrenheit. At these temperatures, golden trout stop feeding.
“I want people like me, who have enjoyed more than forty years of wild trout fishing in places like the
backcountry of Sequoia and Kings Canyon, to be able to pass their love of the Sierra experience onto their
grandchildren.
But if we allow global warming to alter the natural systems upon which our beautiful trout depend, I’m
concerned that those opportunities may not exist for tomorrow’s anglers."
Pete Pumphrey - Fishing Guide in Bishop, California and writer for California Fly Fisher Magazine
California Outdoor Facts:
1.3 million acres in state parks,
attracting about 80 million visitors
each year
34 million visitors to national parks
in California
40 National Wildlife Refuges
1,100 miles of coastline with 450
beaches
1,894 miles of rivers designated as
“wild” or “scenic”
8.1 million wildlife watchers in 2006
1.7 million anglers
284,000 hunters
1 out of every 14 residents hunts
or fishes
$4.6 billion spent by wildlife
watchers in 2006
$3.6 billion spent by hunters and
anglers in 2006
54,700 jobs supported by hunting
and fishing industries in 2006
North America's Fish Feel the Heat - How will climate change affect fish? New studies from across the continent provide some dramatic and troublesome answers (National Wildlife® magazine from August / September 2002)
