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Policy Brief

Policy Brief: Storing Water for the Environment

By Sarah Null, Jeffrey Mount, Brian Gray, Kristen Dybala ...

To protect and restore California’s freshwater ecosystems and respond to the changing climate, California’s water managers must change how they operate reservoirs. Our policy brief offers recommendations for how to do this in a way that makes the most efficient use of scarce water for the environment while minimizing impacts on other water uses.

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Community College English in California’s New Era of Student Access

By Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Olga Rodriguez, Hans Johnson, Cesar Alesi Perez

Major assessment and placement reforms at the state's community colleges have all but eliminated remedial prerequisites. As a result, students are much more likely to complete college composition—the “gateway” transfer-level English course. However, more work is needed to address persistent racial equity gaps and pandemic challenges.

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Farmland in Transition: The San Joaquin Valley

As the San Joaquin Valley works to bring its groundwater basins into balance, hundreds of thousands of acres of irrigated farmland may come out of production. How do we manage all this newly fallowed land? Our latest research examines whether water-limited agriculture might help ease the transition—and what other management practices could mitigate dust and air quality concerns in the valley.

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Land Transitions and Dust in the San Joaquin Valley

By Andrew Ayres, Jaymin Kwon, Joy Collins

Agricultural operations and wind erosion are two of the largest sources of dust in the San Joaquin Valley, and the valley’s air quality may decline with increased farmland fallowing and a warmer, drier climate. This will impact low-income, rural communities first and foremost, but proactive management can help identify high-risk areas and direct funding to cost-effective interventions.

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Exploring the Potential for Water-Limited Agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley

By Caitlin Peterson, Cameron Pittelkow, Mark Lundy

As irrigated farmland comes out of production in the San Joaquin Valley, valley residents will face increased pests, weeds, and dust—as well as a loss of employment and economic activity. Water-limited cropping is one alternative to fallowing that can improve soil health and air quality, create habitat, and keep land in production.

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Homeownership Trends in California

By Hans Johnson, Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Julien Lafortune, Cesar Alesi Perez

California’s homeownership rate is among the lowest in the nation, but varies widely across the state. The share of families owning the home they live in has changed little in the past 60 years.

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Responding to the Youth Mental Health Crisis

When COVID–19 shuttered businesses and schools, it disrupted the lives of all Californians, especially children and adolescents. What impact has two years of living through a pandemic had on the mental health of our youth—and what can be done to help mitigate the effects? Join PPIC vice president and senior fellow Lande Ajose in a wide-ranging discussion with Alberto Carvalho of Los Angeles Unified School District; Lishaun Francis of Children Now; and Melissa Stafford Jones of California Health and Human Services.

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