Report Improving the Federal Response to Western Drought: Five Areas for Reform By Ellen Hanak, Jay Lund, Jeffrey Mount, Peter Moyle ... Feb 1, 2016 Coping with drought is a major challenge for the American West. The federal government is deeply involved in western water. The latest widespread drought has revealed both strengths and weaknesses in the federal role. This report proposes five pragmatic, near-term reforms that would enhance existing federal capacities and help western states better manage drought. Read a summary of the report’s policy recommendations. This research was supported with funding from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
blog post A Balancing Act for the Colorado River By Lori Pottinger Jun 20, 2018 The Colorado basin has been in drought for nearly two decades. We talked with Bonnie Colby on how to improve shared management of the river.
blog post How Is the Pandemic Affecting Wildfire Preparedness? By Henry McCann, Van Butsic Apr 27, 2020 Catastrophic wildfires in recent years set off a wave of efforts to reduce this risk across the state. The COVID-19 pandemic could complicate this work.
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.
