blog post Addressing Groundwater Overdraft in the Sacramento Valley By Spencer Cole, Kyle Greenspan, Andrew Ayres Dec 11, 2023 As the Sacramento Valley seeks to bring its groundwater basins into balance under SGMA, the valley’s groundwater sustainability agencies recently submitted plans to manage overdraft. Do the numbers add up? Our researchers take a look.
Report Managing Water and Farmland Transitions in the San Joaquin Valley By Ellen Hanak, Andrew Ayres, Caitlin Peterson, Alvar Escriva-Bou ... Sep 18, 2023 How can the San Joaquin Valley adapt to a future with less water? We’ve been researching this issue for the past seven years, and our new report presents highlights from we’ve learned, including a robust list of policy suggestions to help the valley weather—and make the most of—the coming changes.
blog post The EPA’s Martha Guzman Discusses New Environmental Justice Initiatives By Sarah Bardeen May 15, 2023 Martha Guzman is leading the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to protect public health and the environment for Region 9, which includes California. We spoke with Ms. Guzman to learn more about the EPA’s latest environmental justice initiatives—and found her to be a fountain of both information and enthusiasm about the new opportunities.
blog post Metropolitan Water District: “We’re the Squirrels of the Water System” By Sarah Bardeen May 8, 2023 Deven Upadhyay is the assistant general manager and executive officer for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which provides water to 19 million people. This week on the blog, Upadhyay describes how Met is handling California’s recent precipitation whiplash—and shares some improvements that are in the works.
Fact Sheet Water Use in California By Jeffrey Mount, Ellen Hanak, Caitlin Peterson Apr 19, 2023 To understand California’s water, start here. Water use in California varies dramatically between wet and dry years: learn who’s using California’s water, where, and how much.
blog post Tackling “Forever Chemicals” in the Water Supply By Sarah Bardeen Jan 19, 2023 Much has been made of two drinking water pollutants recently: PFAS and microplastics. We spoke with Jason Dadakis of the Orange County Water District to learn more about these pollutants—and to find out how worried we should be.
Fact Sheet Water and Energy in California By Alvar Escriva-Bou, Gokce Sencan, Andrew Ayres Dec 5, 2022 Water and energy are closely entwined in California: the energy sector relies heavily on water for electricity generation, and statewide water use consumes a lot of energy. Our new fact sheet illuminates the connections between these two sectors, and explores ways to make both systems more resilient in the face of climate change.
blog post The Troubled History—and Uncertain Future—of the Salton Sea By Sarah Bardeen Nov 22, 2022 Southern California’s hundred-year-old Salton Sea is drying up, and that’s creating a host of problems, as both wildlife and air quality in the region suffer. We sat down with an expert—UC Riverside professor and PPIC Water Policy Center adjunct fellow Kurt Schwabe—to discuss the issues facing the sea and explore potential solutions.
blog post Making Water Affordable for Low-Income Households By Sarah Bardeen Jun 21, 2022 Carlos Torres is a program specialist with the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP), a new federal program that assists low-income households with water and wastewater bills. We spoke to him about what it’s like working with the first-ever federal water assistance program.
blog post “When You Know Better, Do Better”: A Water Agency’s Journey Through the Pandemic By Sarah Bardeen Mar 14, 2022 When Clifford Chan took over as EBMUD’s general manager just a few months into the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020, he had no idea how the pandemic would transform this large urban water utility. Two years later, he reflects on how EBMUD pivoted—and found innovative ways to support its customers.
