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What Are Baseflow Droughts—and Why Should We Care?

By Sarah Bardeen

For the six months when California receives no rain, how do its rivers keep flowing? The answer is groundwater. But increasingly frequent and intense droughts are having unexpected effects on this vital resource. We speak with two experts to learn more.

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How Business and Government Might Solve the Freshwater Crisis—Together

By Sarah Bardeen

Does the public sector need the private sector’s help to address the freshwater crisis? That’s the thesis of Stanford law and environmental social sciences professor Barton “Buzz” Thompson’s provocative new book. We sat down with him to hear more.

Fact Sheet

Sea Level Rise in California

By Letitia Grenier, Gokce Sencan

Sea levels are rising, and Californians are already feeling the impact. Adaptation will require new forms of collaboration and coordination—as well as working with nature—to find solutions.

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Making Sense of the Floods in San Diego

By Sarah Bardeen

The sudden deluge in San Diego last week has left some of that city’s communities reeling. But what actually caused the epic flooding—and could it have been avoided? We ask the experts.

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Commentary: Californians Need to Do More to Prepare for Wet Years

By Letitia Grenier, Ellen Hanak

Climate change is supercharging the extremes of drought and flood in California. But our infrastructure and institutions remain woefully underprepared for rising flood risk and increasingly erratic rainfall. It’s time to take this threat—and this opportunity—seriously and accelerate preparations.

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A Look Back at 2023’s Volatile Year in Water

By Letitia Grenier

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.

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Video: Stewarding California’s Wet Years

By Sarah Bardeen

Wet weather brought relief to our parched state last winter. And while full reservoirs are great, is there room to improve California’s wet year management? At our fall conference last week, three panels of experts gave a resounding yes—and then offered insights on how to improve. Read our recap!

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