"Formalized agriculture within the Ukiah Valley began in the 1850s. Efforts included the raising of livestock and the growing of various grains, predominantly hops. When the Northwestern Pacific Railroad was completed in 1889, prunes, potatoes, pears, and hops were sent from the Ukiah Valley to San Francisco and other regional markets. Hops, pears, prunes and grapes were the most widely planted…

Atmospheric Rivers (ARs) are long, narrow-shaped streams of water - and lots of it. Nicknamed "Pineapple Express" they form when winds over the Pacific draw moisture from the warm, moist air over the tropics and channel it toward the West Coast. When this ribbon of moisture meets mountains, it is forced upward, cooling it and turning its water into immense quantities of rain and snow.

"Climate change is a long-term shift in global or regional climate patterns. Often climate change refers specifically to the rise in global temperatures from the mid-20th century to present.

Drought is a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, leading to a shortage of water. The Russian River Watershed is experiencing a third year of low rainfall resulting in poor soil moisture, stressed environment, and reduced runoff into storage reservoirs.

FIRO is a flexible water management approach that uses data from watershed monitoring and improved weather forecasting to help water managers selectively retain or release water from reservoirs for increased resilience to droughts and floods. FIRO applies emerging science and technology to optimize water resources and adapt to climate change without costly infrastructure. The goal of FIRO at Lake…