blog post New Opportunities for Trading Surface Water in the Sacramento Valley under SGMA By Alex Ehrens, Joy Collins, Andrew Ayres Sep 14, 2021 Successful groundwater stewardship under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) demands good information—not only about groundwater conditions, but also about surface water availability. We produced a new dataset of how access to this vital resource varies across irrigated farmland in the Sacramento Valley and the Delta, so it’s now possible to assess surface water conditions across the entire Central Valley.
blog post Video: Advancing Ecosystem Restoration with Smarter Permitting By Sarah Bardeen Aug 23, 2021 Many of California’s ecosystems are in dire need of help, but complex permitting processes are hindering restoration efforts. Letitia Grenier, our 2020 PPIC CalTrout Ecosystem Fellow, convened a panel of experts to discuss how to reform permitting and scale up restoration in California.
blog post Commentary: To Restore California’s Ecosystems, We Must Adopt Smarter Permitting By Letitia Grenier, Jeffrey Mount Aug 18, 2021 California’s ecosystems are vital to the state’s economy and wellbeing, yet they’re in dire health. Large-scale restoration is needed, and implementing smarter permitting can help.
blog post How Water Agencies Could Catalyze Headwater Forest Management By Henry McCann, Van Butsic Aug 2, 2021 Forest managers, community and environmental stakeholders, and policymakers alike have called for an increase in the pace and scale of proactive forest management to prevent extreme wildfires. Could water agencies lead the effort?
blog post What It Means to Store Water for the Environment By Sarah Bardeen Jul 26, 2021 In times of drought, California’s ecosystems often suffer. CalTrout Ecosystem Fellow Sarah Null is investigating how to better manage scarce water supplies so that the state can protect vulnerable ecosystems—even as the climate changes.
blog post Why Is It Taking So Long to Restore the Sediment-Choked Elk River? By Lori Pottinger Apr 5, 2021 The Elk River was damaged by landslides from logged land more than 20 years ago, which harmed fisheries and drinking water supplies. Darren Mierau of CalTrout talks about ongoing efforts to restore the river.
blog post Finding a Balance between Supply and Demand to Get to Groundwater Sustainability By Lori Pottinger Mar 15, 2021 The San Joaquin Valley is facing difficult tradeoffs in getting to sustainable groundwater management. We talked with Emmy Cattani, a fifth-generation farmer from Kern County, about how to minimize economic harm resulting from efforts to reduce groundwater use.
blog post Operating Dams to Better Manage Big Storms Can Build Resiliency to Climate Extremes By Lori Pottinger Mar 8, 2021 California’s reservoirs are operated using outdated assumptions about climate. Advances in weather forecasting can improve how they manage big storms. We talked to Martin Ralph of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography about this approach.
blog post Video: Improving the Health of California’s Freshwater Ecosystems By Lori Pottinger, Ashlyn Perri Mar 1, 2021 California’s freshwater ecosystems are in poor health, and the current approach for managing them is not working. Jeff Mount, senior fellow at the PPIC Water Policy Center, describes a path for improving their condition to protect the benefits they bring.
