blog post Can Nine Atmospheric Rivers Recharge California’s Groundwater? By Sarah Bardeen Feb 6, 2023 Last month’s storms dropped immense amounts of water on California. Now, many people are wondering if we’ve been able to sock away any of that bounty—so we asked groundwater hydrologist Helen Dahlke to give us the skinny.
blog post California Depends on Rivers—in the Air By Lori Pottinger Dec 8, 2015 Climate change could bring bigger rains and longer droughts to the state. We talked to Mike Dettinger about "atmospheric rivers” and what they mean for California’s water system.
blog post The Promise of a Wet January By Jeffrey Mount Jan 5, 2023 California is in an impressive—and much-needed—wet period. But the current parade of atmospheric rivers also highlights how difficult it is to capture and store water during times of great abundance. Can we do better?
blog post Operating Dams to Better Manage Big Storms Can Build Resiliency to Climate Extremes By Lori Pottinger Mar 8, 2021 California’s reservoirs are operated using outdated assumptions about climate. Advances in weather forecasting can improve how they manage big storms. We talked to Martin Ralph of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography about this approach.
blog post High and Rising: Flood Risk in California Grows By Jeffrey Mount, Daniel Swain Jul 20, 2020 As the climate warms, California storms are getting more intense—adding to the state’s already high flood risk. Developing a better understanding of current and future flood vulnerability is essential to managing this risk.
blog post A Look Back at 2023’s Volatile Year in Water By Letitia Grenier Jan 9, 2024 Volatility was the name of the game in 2023, as drought-weary California suddenly found itself inundated by atmospheric rivers—and the changes kept coming. We look back on California’s weird (and sometimes wonderful) year in water.
blog post Californians See a Need for Immediate Action on Climate Change By Dean Bonner Apr 21, 2023 Three in four Californians think it is necessary to take steps to counter the effects of climate change right away. Views vary across party lines, and this partisan divide has widened over the past two decades.
blog post An Epic Snowpack May Test Water Management in the San Joaquin Valley By Jeffrey Mount Mar 13, 2023 Nothing improves our understanding of water like a “stress test”—and it’s starting to look like the San Joaquin Valley will face one this spring, when California’s epic snowpack begins to melt. This week on our blog, Jeff Mount speculates about what may lie ahead for the valley.
blog post The Russian River: Managing at the Watershed Level By Gokce Sencan Sep 10, 2019 Water managers across the state face new and more extreme conditions as the climate warms. We talked to Grant Davis of Sonoma Water about his agency’s comprehensive approach to these challenges.
