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A Look Back at 2023’s Volatile Year in Water

By Letitia Grenier

Volatility was the name of the game in 2023, as drought-weary California suddenly found itself inundated by atmospheric rivers—and the changes kept coming. We look back on California’s weird (and sometimes wonderful) year in water.

data set

PPIC Sacramento Valley GSP Supply and Demand Projects

This spreadsheet includes project and management actions data collected from 16 groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) from the 16 Sacramento Valley groundwater basins, submitted to the Department of Water Resources in January 2022.

blog post

Addressing Groundwater Overdraft in the Sacramento Valley

By Spencer Cole, Kyle Greenspan, Andrew Ayres

As the Sacramento Valley seeks to bring its groundwater basins into balance under SGMA, the valley’s groundwater sustainability agencies recently submitted plans to manage overdraft. Do the numbers add up? Our researchers take a look.

data set

PPIC Urban Water Use Standards Analysis

This spreadsheet includes data on reported water uses, calculated water use objectives, and estimated compliance costs of meeting new urban water use standards to comply with the 2018 Making Conservation a California Way of Life legislation for 398 retail urban water suppliers across California. It accompanies the November 2023 blog post “A Better Way to Promote Urban Water Conservation.”

blog post

A Better Way to Promote Urban Water Conservation

By David Mitchell, Ellen Hanak

Californians have been making great strides in water conservation in recent years. Now the State Water Board is considering new urban water use regulations whose statewide costs would far exceed their benefits—and significantly impact affordability. Are there better approaches? We take a look.

blog post

Video: Stewarding California’s Wet Years

By Sarah Bardeen

Wet weather brought relief to our parched state last winter. And while full reservoirs are great, is there room to improve California’s wet year management? At our fall conference last week, three panels of experts gave a resounding yes—and then offered insights on how to improve. Read our recap!

data set

PPIC Sacramento Valley GSP Water Budgets

This spreadsheet includes water budget data collected from 16 groundwater sustainability plans from the 16 Sacramento Valley groundwater basins, submitted to the Department of Water Resources in January 2022.

Report

Priorities for California’s Water

By Jeffrey Mount, Letitia Grenier, Ellen Hanak, Caitlin Peterson ...

California has made great strides in preparing for a drier, hotter future, but it remains a challenge to harness the bounty of wet years while also reducing flood risk. How did California’s water sector manage the unusually wet 2023 water year—and what lessons can we glean for the future?

video

Drought and Floods in California

By Ashlyn Perri

“Weather whiplash,” “atmospheric rivers,” “severe drought”—if you live in California, this is probably not the first time you’ve seen these phrases. But why are these wild weather swings happening, and what do they mean for California?

blog post

The Weird Weather of 2023: Better Get Used to It

By Jeffrey Mount, Gokce Sencan, Michael Dettinger

Water Year 2023 comes to an end on September 30. For most weather-watchers, this was an unusual year, with very wet conditions following several very dry years—but are the frequency and intensity of these variations increasing as the planet’s temperature rises? And if so, what might be the implications for water management? We take a look.

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