UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA -Your Family Forest
  • EXPLORE
  • PLAN
    • Start with a Plan
    • What's important to you: Developing management goals
    • Profiling Your Land: History and Mapping
    • Assessing Forest Properties
    • Conservation Easements
    • Family Heritage
  • LEARN
    • Drought and Infestation
    • Enhancing Wildlife
    • Silviculture
    • Vegetation Management and Reforestation
    • Safety and Roads
    • Threats and Issues
    • Water Quality
    • Wildfire
  • Act
    • Working with a Forester
    • Cost Share Programs
    • Workshops

Drought and Infestation

Any landowner in California is impacted by drought and the stresses in places on the forest. Drought weakens trees and can lead to insect infestation and risk of fire. In a healthy forest, trees will use their natural defense mechanisms to fight infestation but once a tree is damaged their ability to pitch bugs out is greatly reduced and can lead to the death of the tree.

"Aesthetic was the main reason we bought the property. We've had to turn away from aesthetics and focus on fire. Our job as we see it right now is to get the property as fire safe as we can so we avoid that crown fire that kills the 500 year oak trees and everything else."

Dale Mitchell, Landowner

FAQ's
what is a drought?
No simple, precise definition of drought exists. In general, a drought is an extreme event characterized by a prolonged period of abnormally low levels of precipitation that has adverse impacts on vegetation, animals, and people. A drought is a temporary phenomenon and as such, it is distinct from aridity, which is a climatic feature of a particular region. Droughts occur periodically in every climatic zone, although some areas are more drought-prone than others.

source: California Drought
How will we know when the ca drought IS OVER?
Generally speaking, a third of the state’s water needs are met by the Sierra snowpack, another third by groundwater, and the rest by surface runoffs and water collected in reservoirs. Since the drought began in 2012, the state has incurred a significant water deficit. California will need substantial amounts of rain and snow to fall in the right places (i.e., in the mountains) and under the right conditions (i.e., as snow) to have a lasting chance of drought recovery. While a few large storms have refilled some reservoirs, others remain low.

source: California Drought
Resources
  • California Institute for Water Resources
  • Insights: Water and Drought Online Seminar Series
  • Drought Tips Series for Growers
  • UC California Water Virtual Tour
  • UC Drought Summit
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© 2016 Regents of the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources

  • EXPLORE
  • PLAN
    • Start with a Plan
    • What's important to you: Developing management goals
    • Profiling Your Land: History and Mapping
    • Assessing Forest Properties
    • Conservation Easements
    • Family Heritage
  • LEARN
    • Drought and Infestation
    • Enhancing Wildlife
    • Silviculture
    • Vegetation Management and Reforestation
    • Safety and Roads
    • Threats and Issues
    • Water Quality
    • Wildfire
  • Act
    • Working with a Forester
    • Cost Share Programs
    • Workshops