This month is the driest January on record for Sacramento. The following UC Davis faculty members are available for comment on various topics related to dry weather. If you need more help in finding a dry-weather or drought source, please contact Sylvia Wright at (530) 752-7704, swright@ucdavis.edu, or Patricia Bailey, News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu.

FORECASTING DROUGHTS -- Historically, scientists have looked at records of precipitation and river flows to estimate how frequently droughts occur. Professor M. Levent Kavvas in the UC Davis Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has developed a different method that relates drought occurrence and regional weather patterns to the ongoing changes in the atmosphere and oceans. Kavvas' laboratory aims to develop a process that provides a season-to-season estimate of the likelihood of drought conditions. This drought probability forecast could be used in the management of California water resources. Contact: Levent Kavvas, Civil and Environmental Engineering, (530) 752-2518, mlkavvas@ucdavis.edu.

RIVER VARIATIONS -- Geologist Jeffrey Mount is a watershed expert, specializing in the rivers of California and land-use impacts on watersheds, rivers and streams. He can discuss the natural function of variable rainfall and snowfall in watersheds and floodplains, and the effects of a dry year on levee safety and future flood risks. Mount's oft-repeated message to residents and policymakers in California is that our traditional engineering approaches to flooding and water supply, involving costly levees, channels and dams, conflict with the natural and irrepressible behavior of rivers. In the long run, Mount says, it is cheaper, safer and more environmentally sound to adapt to a river, than to force it to adapt to us. Contact: Jeffrey Mount, Geology, (530) 752-7092, jfmount@ucdavis.edu.

WATER STRESS IN ORCHARDS -- Everyone knows what happens when a tree runs short of water -- or do we? Plant physiologist Ken Shackel is exploring how plants, particularly fruit and nut trees, respond to water limitations in terms of growth, development, yield and even gas-exchange in their leaves. Such basic information about tree physiology is crucial for knowing what irrigation practices will optimize performance of tree crops. Shackel can discuss how a statewide drought might affect orchard crops and how growers might adjust to shortages of irrigation water. Contact: Ken Shackel, Plant Sciences, (530) 752-0928, kashackel@ucdavis.edu.