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Video: Water Stress in San Joaquin Valley

By Lori Pottinger

Expert panels discuss how the valley can address growing water stress and the changes it will bring to the region’s farms, communities, and economy.

Report

Water Stress and a Changing San Joaquin Valley

By Ellen Hanak, Jay Lund, Richard Howitt, Peter Moyle ...

The San Joaquin Valley—California’s largest agricultural region and an important contributor to the nation’s food supply—is facing growing water stress and a number of related environmental and public health problems. Large parts of the valley have become dependent on unsustainable pumping of groundwater. Tackling these linked issues with cooperative, coordinated approaches is key to success.

This research was supported with funding from the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the TomKat Foundation, and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

blog post

Three Lessons on Water Accounting for California

By Henry McCann, Alvar Escriva-Bou

California can learn a thing or two from our neighbors on understanding how much water is available, who has claims to it, and how much is being used.

blog post

Implementing California’s Groundwater Law

By Jelena Jezdimirovic, Stephen Maples

What will it take to successfully manage groundwater in California’s Central Valley? Key takeaways from a joint workshop by UC Water and the PPIC Water Policy Center.

blog post

Paying for Groundwater Recharge

By Andrew T. Fisher

A pilot program to incentivize groundwater recharge near Monterey could be replicated across the state.

Report

What If California’s Drought Continues?

By Ellen Hanak, Jay Lund, Jeffrey Mount, Peter Moyle ...

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.

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