Blog: Dammed hot – California’s regulated streams fail cold-water ecosystems
Given the current drought, it’s no surprise that California’s dams are struggling to provide cool water habitats to support native freshwater ecosystems. But what if they were never able to support them under any conditions? New research shows how current stream management fails to provide the patterns of cool water that California’s native ecosystems need. The challenges stem from two issues: an oversimplification of stream temperature targets and the assumption that dam regulation can replicate desirable cold water patterns.