blog post California’s Big-Ticket Water Challenges By Lori Pottinger May 25, 2016 An expert interview on the challenges facing California’s hundreds of local public water agencies.
blog post Testimony: Paying for California’s Water Needs By Ellen Hanak Nov 17, 2015 At a Senate committee hearing on California’s underfunded water needs, Ellen Hanak and other panelists described the challenges of paying for a water system that works for all.
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 Five Things You Need to Know About Water By Ellen Hanak Apr 6, 2015 Five immutable facts about California water guide the work of the PPIC Water Policy Center.
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.
blog post Drought Watch: Water for the Environment By Jeffrey Mount, Emma Freeman Jul 24, 2014 This is part of a continuing series on the impact of the drought. Most of what we call "environmental" water is simply too remote for people to use—or is actually reused for irrigation, drinking water, or other human benefits.
blog post Drought Watch: Groundwater, Our Hidden Asset By Ellen Hanak, Jeffrey Mount May 27, 2014 This is part of a continuing series on the impact of the drought. Water scarcity during this drought is perceived by many, including prominent elected officials, as a failure of government to build sufficient storage. But groundwater—when managed well—is the state’s best hedge against drought.
