blog post Tackling Cold-water Droughts in a Changing Climate By Jeffrey Mount, Michael Dettinger Sep 16, 2024 Drought comes in many forms in California, but one common type of drought isn’t receiving enough attention: the cold-water drought. Our senior fellow Jeffrey Mount and researcher Mike Dettinger explain what a cold-water drought is—and why it matters so much.
blog post California Continues to Prioritize Water and Climate Programs Despite Budget Cuts By Gokce Sencan Sep 3, 2024 Historic budget surpluses in 2021 and 2022 allowed the Newsom administration to invest $16.3 billion in water and climate projects. Decreased tax revenues in the last two years have necessitated significant budget cuts, however—check out our detailed look at what’s changed.
blog post The Chumash Tribe’s Long Struggle to Protect California’s Coastal Waters By Sarah Bardeen Aug 14, 2024 The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is working on a proposed marine sanctuary on California’s Central Coast—but planning has been complicated by the development of offshore windfarms. We spoke with Sam Cohen, the Tribe’s government affairs and legal officer, to learn more.
blog post How Have California’s Water Issues Changed in the Past Thirty Years? By Sarah Bardeen, Ellen Hanak, Jeffrey Mount, Brian Gray Aug 5, 2024 PPIC drew its first breath thirty years ago—back when Ace of Base was topping the charts and the White House had launched its very first webpage. What has changed in California’s water in the past three decades? We sat down with our experts to find out.
blog post Rethinking Stormwater—From Waste to Treasure By Sarah Bardeen Jul 22, 2024 Unmanaged stormwater can be a flood hazard and a contaminant, but when it’s properly managed, it actually can benefit communities by creating green spaces and recharging aquifers. We spoke with CASQA’s Karen Cowan to learn more about this underappreciated resource.
blog post Unpacking the Supreme Court’s Recent Ruling on the “Chevron Doctrine” By Sarah Bardeen, Brian Gray Jul 17, 2024 What is the Chevron doctrine, and why did the Supreme Court recently abolish it? We asked our senior fellow Brian Gray, a retired environmental law professor, to help us understand the implications of the US Supreme Court’s decision.
blog post Does Managed Retreat Make Sense in Wildfire-Prone Lands? By Sarah Bardeen Jul 8, 2024 The concept of “managed retreat” originated in coastal areas that are dealing with sea level rise. Now, the term is increasingly used in discussions around wildfire—but does that make sense? We asked two researchers to tell us more.
blog post Data Is Key to Protecting California’s Groundwater By Spencer Cole Jun 27, 2024 Implementing the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act has been no simple feat, yet one surprising ally has emerged in the struggle to restore California’s groundwater: data. Learn more about recent improvements and what they mean for water management!
blog post Video: Replenishing Groundwater in the San Joaquin Valley By Sarah Bardeen Jun 18, 2024 Groundwater recharge is one of the most promising ways to address groundwater overdraft in the San Joaquin Valley. So are we socking away enough water during the wet periods? In an event last week, we shared our latest research on the subject. Read the highlights and watch the video!
blog post Commentary: California Needs Bold New Strategies to Save What’s Left of Its Freshwater Species By Ted Sommer May 29, 2024 Californians are blessed with a dazzling array of freshwater species, but we now live in a world in which a few extreme events could wipe some species out. Biologist and PPIC-CalTrout Ecosystem Fellow Ted Sommer describes the bold actions needed to meet this moment in a commentary for CalMatters.
