California Rivers and Streams provides a clear and informative overview of the physical and biological processes that shape California’s rivers and watersheds. Jeffrey Mount introduces relevant basic principles of hydrology and geomorphology and applies them to an understanding of the differences in character of the state’s many rivers. He then builds on this foundation by evaluating the impact on waterways of different land use practices—logging, mining, agriculture, flood control, urbanization, and water supply development.
Water may be one of California’s most valuable resources, but it is far from being one we control. In spite of channels, levees, lines and dams, the state’s rivers still frequently flood, with devastating results. Almost all the rivers in California are dammed or diverted; with the booming population, there will be pressure for more intervention.
Mount argues that Californians know little about how their rivers work and, more importantly, how and why land-use practices impact rivers. The forceful reconfiguration and redistribution of the rivers has already brought the state to a critical crossroads.
California Rivers and Streams forces us to reevaluate our use of the state’s rivers and offers a foundation for participating in the heated debates about their future.
California Rivers and Streams provides a clear and informative overview of the physical and biological processes that shape California’s rivers and watersheds. Jeffrey Mount introduces relevant basic principles of hydrology and geomorphology and ap
Table of Content
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I. How Rivers Work
1. Introduction to the Rivers of California: The First 4 Billion Years
2. Water in Motion
3. A River at Work: Sediment Entrainment, Transport, and Deposition
4. The Shape of a River
5. Origins of River Discharge
6. Sediment Supply
7. River Network and Profile
8. Climate and the Rivers of California
9. Tectonics and Geology of California’s Rivers
Part II. Learning the Lessons: Land Use and the Rivers of California
10. Rivers of California: The Last 200 Years
11. Mining and the Rivers of California
12. Logging California’s Watersheds
13. Food Production and the Rivers of California
14. A Primer on Flood Frequency: How Much and How Often?
15. The Urbanization of California’s Rivers
16. The Damming of California’s Rivers
17. The Future: Changing Climate, Changing Rivers
About the author
Jeffrey F. Mount is Professor of Geology at the University of California, Davis. Janice C. Fong is Principal Illustrator in the Department of Geology at the University of California, Davis.
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