blog post Flood Insurance: Why Don’t People Buy It? By Carolyn Kousky Apr 6, 2016 Flood insurance sales have been falling in the US in recent years, but California bucked the trend this year.
Report What If California’s Drought Continues? By Ellen Hanak, Jay Lund, Jeffrey Mount, Peter Moyle ... Aug 19, 2015 California is in the fourth year of a severe, hot drought—the kind that is increasingly likely as the climate warms. Although no sector has been untouched, impacts so far have varied greatly, reflecting different levels of drought preparedness. Urban areas are in the best shape, thanks to sustained investments in diversified water portfolios and conservation. Farmers are more vulnerable, but they are also adapting. The greatest vulnerabilities are in some low-income rural communities where wells are running dry and in California’s wetlands, rivers, and forests, where the state’s iconic biodiversity is under extreme threat. Two to three more years of drought will increase challenges in all areas and require continued—and likely increasingly difficult—adaptations. Emergency programs will need to be significantly expanded to get drinking water to rural residents and to prevent major losses of waterbirds and extinctions of numerous native fish species, including most salmon runs. California also needs to start a longer-term effort to build drought resilience in the most vulnerable areas.
blog post Reminder: Droughts Often End with Floods By Jeffrey Mount, Carolyn Kousky, Nicholas Pinter Jun 9, 2015 Planning for floods is best done when the ground is dry.
blog post Testimony: Addressing California’s Growing Flood Risk By Ellen Hanak Jan 14, 2015 As a reminder that California is never more than one big storm away from flood problems—even when reeling from drought—the topic of an Assembly committee hearing yesterday was flood management.
interactive Delta Island Flooding (No Repairs) Jul 1, 2008 This animation depicts how the Delta may change over time as a result of levee failures from earthquakes and floods. Islands that lie below sea level will flood after levee failures (becoming blue). If islands are not repaired after flooding, the entire area is likely to be flooded by 2055.
press release Special Survey Of The Central Valley: Bad Air Days! Air Quality, Traffic, Other Growing Pains Hit Fast-Changing Central Valley Jun 27, 2006
