blog post Drought Savvy? Take Our Water Trivia Quiz By Lori Pottinger Nov 17, 2016 Test yourself on your knowledge about the drought and how to respond to it.
blog post Making Homes More Water Efficient By Lori Pottinger Sep 29, 2016 An expert interview on how California could save billions of gallons a year if older homes were as water efficient as newer ones.
blog post A Changing State of Water Conservation By Lori Pottinger Jun 1, 2016 The state continues to learn from the latest drought--an expert interview with Fran Spivy-Weber of the California State Water Board.
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 Video: Let’s Pull Together to Solve the Groundwater Crisis By Lori Pottinger Jun 11, 2015 The Central Valley is ground zero for groundwater issues. At a recent event, local leaders talked about solutions.
blog post Californians Can Save Water—and Preserve Quality of Life By Ellen Hanak Apr 14, 2015 Californians are starting to realize that it’s possible to have beautiful communities while using much less water for landscaping.
Report Policy Priorities for Managing Drought By Ellen Hanak, Jay Lund, Jeffrey Mount, Peter Moyle ... Mar 16, 2015 State, federal, and local water managers have worked diligently to reduce the economic, social, and environmental harm from the current drought. But as the drought continues, the challenges will grow more acute. California can learn from experiences to date—and from Australia’s response to its Millennium Drought—to better prepare both for the year ahead and for future droughts. State leaders should address weaknesses in four areas of drought preparation and response, by: 1) improving water use information, 2) setting clear goals and priorities for public health and the environment, 3) promoting water conservation and more resilient water supplies, and 4) strengthening environmental management.
blog post Drought Watch: Trends in Urban Water Use By Caitrin Chappelle, Emma Freeman Aug 20, 2014 This is part of a continuing series on the impact of the drought. As water agencies look beyond the current emergency for ways to adapt to future droughts, it is instructive to examine urban use in two relatively normal water years, 2000 and 2010.
blog post Drought Watch: Our Thirsty Lawns By Ellen Hanak, Jeffrey Mount, Caitrin Chappelle Jul 18, 2014 This is part of a continuing series on the impact of the drought. The unprecedented restrictions on outdoor water use that the state enacted this week send a message that Californians need to conserve more water. But we can do more to move toward sustainable consumption.
