Wildfire in steep, chaparral watersheds increases runoff and erosion, which increases sediment transport from the hillslopes to the channel network. This process may cause a flux of fine sediment into streams, burying riffles and pools, or might cause a debris flow borne flux of large boulders and woody debris, eventually creating new complex fish habitat. The Basin Complex and Indians Fire of June - July, 2008 burned almost the entire upper Carmel River watershed (116 km2) in the Los Padres National Forest, Monterey County, California. I made field observations of dry ravel in a steep, narrow tributary and conducted channel surveys and grain size analysis in riffles and pools at two study reaches along the mainstem upper Carmel River. This baseline geomorphic analysis will allow me to monitor the changes in threatened steelhead and resident trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) spawning and rearing habitat this winter and compare these changes with those observed along the same study reaches following the Marble Cone Fire of August, 1977, which burned the same area with similar intensity. This comparison provides the opportunity to investigate the significance of winter rains and advance more process-based restoration of aquatic habitats affected by fire.

Many dams built over the last century in California no longer provide their intended benefits and may pose ecological and safety risks. However, a lack of clear regulatory framework, further complicated by a lack of scientific understanding of the impacts of dam removal, has handicapped many efforts to remove such outmoded dams. We investigate these challenges through a case study of York Creek Dam in St. Helena, California and show the need for standard protocols to prioritize and monitor dam removals. As a thought experiment, we explore how dam removal would proceed under the European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD) and argue that California can learn from the WFD’s systematic, watershed approach to improve dam removal decision-making. However, the monitoring programs under the WFD are driven by ecology and therefore provide little guidance on monitoring channel changes to evaluate whether dam removal increases the risk of flooding for downstream property, a major concern in California.