blog post How Does Cannabis Cultivation Affect California’s Water? By Sarah Bardeen, Lori Pottinger Jun 28, 2021 The number of cannabis farms in California has grown dramatically in recent years. How is this affecting the state’s water?
blog post Ensuring Safe Drinking Water for California’s Native American Communities By Joy Collins, Caitrin Chappelle Jun 22, 2021 California’s tribes frequently lack access to safe drinking water—and lack the funds to fix aging infrastructure. A new state program may help improve the situation.
Fact Sheet Paying for California’s Water System By Caitrin Chappelle, Ellen Hanak, Annabelle Rosser May 26, 2021 Most funding for California’s water system comes from local water bills and taxes. During droughts and recessions, revenues decline, making it harder for water agencies to keep up with needed investments.
blog post A Look at California’s Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Gaps By Caitrin Chappelle May 24, 2021 A new state study identified a $4.6 billion funding gap to resolve safe drinking water problems over five years. We talked to UCLA’s Greg Pierce, the study’s lead researcher, about the findings.
blog post Can Dryland Farming Help California Agriculture Adapt to Future Water Scarcity? By Lori Pottinger Apr 19, 2021 Future restrictions on groundwater pumping to meet sustainability requirements could result in large areas of farmland coming out of production in the San Joaquin Valley. We talked to agroecologist Caity Peterson about the potential for dryland farming to reduce the need to fallow land.
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.
Fact Sheet Access to Safe Drinking Water in California By Caitrin Chappelle, Joy Collins, Ellen Hanak Apr 2, 2021 Not every Californian has access to safe and reliable drinking water. Small communities relying on groundwater are most likely to have chronic water quality problems.
blog post Commentary: As Drought Alarms Sound, Don’t Ignore the Environment By Jeffrey Mount, Caitrin Chappelle Mar 29, 2021 The last major drought caused unprecedented stress to California’s freshwater ecosystems and pushed many native species to the brink. Are we ready this time to better manage ecosystems through another drought?
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.
