blog post California’s Snow Drought By Jeffrey Mount Nov 11, 2016 Low snowpack during the latest drought is bringing major challenges to water managers.
blog post A California Drought Report Card By Ellen Hanak, Jeffrey Mount Apr 11, 2016 We graded California’s drought response for urban areas, the farming sector, rural water supply, and the environment, and found great disparities in the results.
blog post There’s Always Drought Somewhere in the West By Jeffrey Mount, Jelena Jezdimirovic Feb 4, 2016 A time-lapse look at western drought in the past decade.
blog post Testimony: Planning for Future Droughts By Ellen Hanak Nov 23, 2015 In a week that began with Governor Brown extending the statewide water conservation mandate into next year, a panel of experts testified at an state assembly water committee about improving drought management.
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 A Dry Run for a Dry Future By Jeffrey Mount, Daniel Cayan May 27, 2015 The severity of this drought provides a window into what future droughts may look like—and important lessons for managing water in a warmer climate future.
blog post Video: Press Club Focuses on Water By Lori Pottinger May 5, 2015 The Sacramento Press Club hosted PPIC’s Water Policy Center director Ellen Hanak last week, who talked about the five things you need to know about water.
blog post Video: Water in Silicon Valley By Caitrin Chappelle Apr 30, 2015 As Silicon Valley has transitioned from fruits and nuts to bits and bytes, its water challenges have evolved—along with the approaches to dealing with them.
blog post Experts Weigh In on Drought Solutions By Ellen Hanak, Jay Lund Apr 27, 2015 The Los Angeles Times published nine bite-sized opinion pieces on solutions to help California better manage droughts. Ellen Hanak and Jay Lund focused on strategic investments in water storage and water accounting systems.
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.
