The Center for Watershed Sciences is excited to share that a new research project to quantify the relative risk of collapse for fish populations using the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has been funded by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Congratulations to PIs Jonathan Walter, Danny O’Donnell, Levi Lewis, and Andrew Rypel! 

Widespread collapse of native fisheries in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is an existential threat to fisheries management and water policy in California. However, species already known to be in severe decline receive most attention from research and management. This strategy may be sub-optimal, costly, and tends to fail to restore species to former abundances. In contrast, intervention prior to collapse tends to be less costly and more effective but requires tools for detecting early indicators of population decline. The central aim of this project is to develop and share tools for identifying populations of Delta fishes vulnerable to collapse. The investigators will leverage long-term investments in monitoring of fish abundances and water quantity and quality throughout the Delta to quantify changes in both widely researched and understudied fish populations that could signal declines or sudden collapses, as well as the environmental conditions associated with changes in fish abundances. They will synthesize their findings into an evidence-based index of the relative risk of population collapse, thereby helping to identify potential problems before they become severe and extremely costly to manage. Stay tuned for exciting new findings!