This talk reviews the long-term problems of the Delta, some inevitable changes occurring in the Delta, and a formal analysis of alternative strategies for managing Delta water exports. The conclusions include that some Delta lands will inevitably return to a flooded condition, a peripheral canal is the best long-term solution for "co-equal" fish and water supply objectives, ending Delta exports is likely to be best for fish-only objectives, and stakeholders alone are unlikely to be able to agree on a Delta solution before the system fails. The presentation summarizes a multi-disciplinary research effort largely conducted across the UC Davis campus in cooperation with the Public Policy Institute of California to explore and evaluate solutions for some major Delta problems. The report is available at: http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=810

In 2000, the California legislature created two scientific positions with considerable influence on water policy: the CALFED Lead Scientist and the Chair of an Independent Science Board (ISB). These positions are unique in that they report directly to the decision makers most important in determining water policy in California and provide a formal linkage between scientific research and policy. In this 1.5 hour forum, JMIE will bring together past and present Lead Scientists with the Chair of the ISB to re-imagine water and environmental management in California within the context of the debate over the future of the Delta. They will bring their unique perspectives to a discussion of the most important emerging issues in the Bay-Delta; and the role science and scientists in can play as future policies unfold. This will be an opportunity to hear (and participate in) a discussion of the most important needs for new science in the Delta and to hear views on the future of science programs relevant to the Delta.

• Cliff Dahm is an expert on riverine ecology, ecosystem restoration and interdisciplinary research who took over as CALFED Lead Scientist in July 2008.
• Michael Healey is an expert on the ecology of Pacific Salmon and is widely recognized for his work on adaptive management. He was Lead Scientist from late 2006 until mid-2008, advising the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force, editing the book, "State of Bay-Delta Science, 2008" which will be released at the upcoming Science Conference, and managing the Science Program through a time of important change.
• Samuel Luoma is an expert on effects of contaminants in aquatic environments with a long-standing interest in coordinating science and policy. He was the first Lead Scientist for the Bay-Delta program from 2000 through 2003.
• Professor Jeffrey Mount is a fluvial geomorphologist with a long interest in the influence of land use on California rivers. He is Chair of the Independent Science Board and a co-author on the recently released Public Policy Institute report, Comparing Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the the hub of California's water supply system, providing water to more than 25 million Californians and over three million acres of irrigated agriculture. The ecosystems of the Delta, and the reliability of the water supply, are in sharp decline. The Delta crisis can be linked in part to the processes of landscape change. Over the past 100 years the Delta has been transformed from a dynamic, tidal marsh to a network of channels surrounding deeply subsided farmlands. This landscape is at a tipping point, with a variety of physical and economic factors aligning to transform it again. Management of this change will pose a decades-long challenge for California.

Analyses of the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta -- its sinking islands, endangered smelt, imperiled pumps, and climate change challenged levees -- are similar in calling attention to crises, but also in what they leave out --- the voices, experiences and concerns of low-income communities of color for whom the Delta is the place they live, work, play, and pray. Often depicted as "third parties" in the market transactions of buying and selling Delta domains (drinking water, irrigation water, wildlife habitat) these populations are largely invisible and entirely inaudible in the cost-benefit assessments used for most policy analysis. This presentation -- based on 12 months of ethnographic field work of participant observation, key actor interviews, and archival analysis -- examines the policies and practices deployed to solve the Delta problem (CALFED and its progeny, the Delta Vision Process) from the perspective of these "third parties." We offer an analytical lens from the social sciences to explore questions about democratic governance, dynamics of social marginalization and of social mobilization in pursuit of environmental justice.

Plant or weed? Sometimes it is just a matter of where it grows. A beautiful exotic species in one region of the world becomes an invasive weed when introduced to a habitat that provides it with a competitive advantage. In aquatic ecosystems like the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, several exotic aquatic plants are making survival much more difficult for the natives. The waterweeds are also a nuisance for recreational boaters because they transform open canals and waterways into a clogged mass of impassable vegetation. Lars Anderson, a lead scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture?s Research Service, will discuss how he helps develop ecologically sound and cost-effective solutions for controlling aquatic weeds that dominate an ecosystem badly in need of restoration.

Clear Lake is the site of an abandoned mercury (Hg) mine (active intermittently from 1873-1957), now a USEPA Superfund Site. Mining activities, including bulldozing waste rock and tailings into the lake, resulted in ca. 100 metric tons of Hg entering the lake’s ecosystem. This presentation represents the culmination of ca. 15 yrs of Hg-related studies on this ecosystem, following Hg from the ore body to the highest trophic levels.

A series of physical, chemical, biological and limnological studies elucidate how ongoing Hg loading to the lake is influenced by acid mine drainage and how wind-driven currents and baroclinic circulation patterns redistribute Hg throughout the lake. Methyl Hg (MeHg) production in this system is controlled by both sulfate-reducing bacteria as well as newly identified iron-reducing bacteria.  Sediment cores (dated with DDD, 210Pb and 14C) to ca. 250 cm depth (representing up to ca. 3000 yrs before present) elucidate a record of total Hg (TotHg) loading to the lake from natural sources and mining and demonstrate how MeHg remains stable at depth within the sediment column for decades to millennia. Core data also identify other stresses that have influenced the Clear Lake Basin especially over the past 150 yrs.

Although Clear Lake is one of the most Hg contaminated lakes in the world, biota do not exhibit MeHg concentrations as high as would be predicted based on the gross level of Hg loading.

Climate change in California takes many forms, including hydrologic shifts in the Sierra-Nevada and sea level rise at the Golden Gate. While these changes have important effects in generally non-overlapping areas of the state, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is subject to a combination of both. This presentation will provide an overview of recent results from the multidisciplinary Computational Assessments of Scenarios of Change for the Delta Ecosystem (CASCaDE) project, addressing the effects of multiple aspects of climate change on the Delta and its watershed.

The interrelations between energy consumers, energy suppliers and Government and their effect on energy demand reduction from the UK residential sector. The UK residential (household) sector is responsible for approximately 30% of total carbon dioxide emissions and is often seen as the most promising in terms of early reductions. As most direct household emissions come from only two fuel sources, this paper critically examines how existing emissions reduction policies for the sector shape - and are shaped by -relations between the three main groups of actor in this policy domain: central government, gas and electricity suppliers, and energy users. Focusing on relations between three dyads (government-suppliers, suppliers-consumers, and consumers -government) enables us to examine aspects of demand reduction that have often been overlooked to date. By 'relations' we refer to services, power relationships and flows of capital and information, as well as less easily-defined elements such as loyalty, trust, and accountability. The paper argues that the chosen government policy path to deliver demand reduction, which heavily emphasises the suppliers' role, suffers from Principal - Agent problems, fails to align consumers and supplier interests toward emissions reduction, and does not yet portray a lower carbon future in positive terms. It suggests that more attention should be paid to government-consumer relations, recognising that energy consumers are also citizens.

It's hard to imagine a world without metals. Rio Tinto is one of a handful of major corporations that have taken on sustainable development as a core value, but how can mining become more sustainable? Elaine Dorward-King is in charge of defining and implementing the policies to carry out this mission across Rio?s many operations around the world. Water, climate change and biodiversity are addressed by a complex set of strategies and programs she leads. Her talk will provide insights into what it takes to implement global policies for sustainable development in an industry that can profoundly disrupt ecosystems and communities.

The Arctic Ocean is crossing an environmental threshold from a perpetually ice-covered region to an ice-free sea during the boreal summer. This environmental state-change has awakened global interests in Arctic energy, fishing, shipping and tourism. Arctic coastal states are collectively and individually proclaiming their "sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdictions" from their coastlines seaward as stated in the May 2008 Ilulissat Declaration and January 2009 United States' Arctic Region Policy. Military interests in the Arctic Ocean are mounting as reflected by the Canadian purchase of icebreaking patrol vessels, rebuilding of the Russian northern fleet and high-level meetings of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance. Non-Arctic nations are positioning themselves on the Arctic Council and asserting Arctic policy strategies as demonstrated by the October 2008 Resolution from the European Parliament and November 2008 Communication from the European Commission. In short, soft-security as well as hard-security risks are accelerating and there is scant dialogue about preventing international discord in the Arctic Ocean. There is, however, emergence of common concerns about "ecosystem-based management" as expressed in both the United States’ Arctic Region Policy and European Commission Communication. The global challenge and opportunity is to conceive and implement holistic strategies for governing the Arctic Ocean as an international space in the lasting interest of all humanity.

Freshwater and marine ecosystem integrity is now threatened on a global scale. The decline in water quality is rapidly becoming one of the most important environmental problems to be faced in the 21st Century. It is closely linked with global warming and the resulting climatic change.

China and India with their large populations have the world's most serious water quantity and quality problems, followed by Africa and the desert nations. The conservation of lakes and streams as well as the protection of drinking water sources from pollution and possible terrorist attack are of great international concern. The enormous importance to life on our planet of lake waters such as Biwa in Japan, the North American Great Lakes and Baikal in Russia as well as of the lakes, reservoirs and streams in the Southern Hemisphere cannot be exaggerated.

Lake Tahoe continues to lose transparency as algal growth and fine particulates cloud the water column and exotic aquatic weed and fish introductions further threaten the lake. Like many of the world’s lakes, it has significantly warmed over the last three decades and has been a focal point of environmental concern. Long-term data collection and analysis together with paleolimnology have been important in detecting past changes and planning for better management of Tahoe’s air and water quality and its highly developed watersheds. New wireless technologies are emerging which benefit both the speed and accuracy of data acquisition. Researchers at UC Davis' Tahoe Environmental Research Center have been working on more user-friendly semantic data acquisition and retrieval through development of a World Wide Web site.

Strong environmental science must be at the forefront in developing improved adaptive management practices. To help address the increasing global water shortages influenced by the climatic changes that can no longer be denied for political or industrial advantage, the World Water and Climate Network (WWCN) was established in Kyoto, Japan in 2003. Data is now being assembled to assess the impact of climatic change and global warming on surface waters of the world with the hope of improving strategies to meet this world water crisis.

Charles Goldman, professor, environmental science and policy, founding director of the UC Davis Tahoe Research Group, is a recognized expert on global studies of freshwater lakes with emphasis on biological, chemical and physical interactions between the surrounding watersheds and lakes. Since joining the UC Davis faculty in 1958, he has devoted his career to studying the effects of environmental pollutants on lake ecology. Much of his work focused on Lake Tahoe and the factors contributing to the decline of the lake’s clarity. Dr. Goldman’s research has taken him to every continent on the globe, from Oregon’s Crater lake to Antarctica where a glacier was named in honor of his research. He has led several expeditions to Russia’s Lake Baikal, the oldest and deepest lake on earth.