blog post Commentary: Newsom’s Water Strategy Needs to Go a Step Further By Sarah Null, Jeffrey Mount Sep 8, 2022 Dams are essential to managing California’s water supply, but their construction and operation has harmed freshwater ecosystems. We propose a novel approach to water management that treats the environment as a priority rather than a constraint on reservoir operations—and that may help to manage growing threats to the health of our rivers and estuaries.
blog post Groundwater and the Colorado River By Lori Pottinger Oct 1, 2018 Like so many rivers, the Colorado is closely linked to groundwater. We talked to Doug Kenney about managing groundwater in the basin.
blog post Managing Freshwater Ecosystems in a Pandemic By Jeffrey Mount Jun 8, 2020 Efforts to maintain the health of California’s freshwater ecosystems have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet maintaining momentum on this work is key to reducing the impact of a hotter, drier climate.
blog post A Look Back at 2023’s Volatile Year in Water By Letitia Grenier Jan 9, 2024 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.
blog post A Faster Track for Ecosystem Restoration By Lori Pottinger Aug 24, 2020 The state’s rivers and aquatic species are in trouble, but restoration projects are often slowed by complex permitting requirements. We talked to Erika Lovejoy of Sustainable Conservation about efforts to simplify the process.
blog post A New Tool Could Help Protect 30% of the State’s Waters by 2030 By Sarah Bardeen Sep 12, 2022 California has set an ambitious goal of protecting 30% of the state’s lands and waters by 2030. We spoke with CalTrout’s legal and policy director Redgie Collins about a promising but underutilized tool that could help protect water bodies throughout the state: The Outstanding Natural Resource Waters designation.
blog post The Yolo Bypass: It’s a Floodplain! It’s Farmland! It’s an Ecosystem! By Lori Pottinger Jul 29, 2019 The Sacramento River needs room to spread in wet years. The Yolo Bypass allows it to safely flood while also providing habitat. Scientist Ted Sommer explains this unique landscape.
