UC Natural Reserve System Kicks Off New Water-Focused Initiative
The UC Natural Reserve System is building a new initiative to monitor and quantify California's precipitation from the mountains to the deserts to the coasts. The California Heartbeat Initiative, so called because "water is the life-blood of California" aims to monitor water across the state, from sap flow and transpiration to groundwater and soil moisture, to quantify the spatial and temporal movement of water through the state's multitude of ecosystems and environments. By utilizing the Natural Reserves as laboratories, data collected through this initiative will feed into models to provide information about the mid-term future (5-15 years) of California's water availability. The initiative scientists note that this information will be useful for land and water managers, farmers, and policy makers in their decision making.