Recharge Alone Won’t End California’s Groundwater Drought
Groundwater recharge is a useful way to put surface water back underground, but experts say it is a limited solution.
Water
The Rewilding of California’s Parched Central Valley
As SGMA deadlines loom, groundwater sustainability agencies, environmental organizations, and farmers in the San Joaquin Valley are scrambling to prepare for a drier future by experimenting with ways to repurpose...
Historic Money for Bay Area Nature Has Started to Flow. The Challenge? Spending it.
Meet BIL and IRA—two federal bills with forgettable names that belie their enormous potential impact on the environment.
After the Algal Bloom Cleared Out of Lake Merritt, the Nudibranchs Came to Party in Droves
Oodles of nudibranchs showed up in Lake Merritt after the harmful algal bloom of August 2022. These sea slugs appeared in record breaking numbers, taking Oakland's beloved tidal lagoon by...
How the DNA We Leave Behind Can Help Conservation
Bits of DNA linger on the forest floor, in the ocean, and even in the air—and these strands have stories to tell, back at the lab. Here's how environmental DNA...
Is The Western Drought Finally Ending? That Depends On Where You Look
After three years of extreme drought, the Western U.S. is finally getting a break. Mountain ranges are covered in deep snow, and water reservoirs in many areas are filling up...
As Whale Populations Grow, Dungeness Crabbers Foresee Their Own Demise
For decades, whale migration and crabbing operated as a tag team. But now, the whales are coming sooner—widening the window for exposure to fishing gear.
How a ‘Sturgeon Surgeon’ Tracks the Bay’s Giant, Stealthy Living Fossils
Researchers are investigating the secrets of our two resident sturgeon species, which have razor-sharp armor and shlorp up clams with their vacuum-shaped mouths.
That Foam on the Beach Is (Probably) Fine
Storms on the California coast whip up sea foam, especially in winter and spring. Here's a frothy dollop of the science behind how this stuff forms (it's kind of a...
A Nasty Salmon-Killing Tire Chemical Is in Bay Waterways. Can It Be Cleaned Up?
6PPD-quinone comes from a long-used chemical that will be hard to replace in tires. But green infrastructure like "living levees" may help trap it.
