blog post Helping Communities Meet Their Basic Water Needs By Zaira Joaquín Morales Apr 17, 2023 This week, State Water Contractors general manager Jennifer Pierre speaks with us about a proposed pipeline that will both improve water supply reliability in Antelope Valley—and free up water for San Joaquin Valley communities facing water insecurity. “This is the most exciting thing I’m working on,” she says.
blog post Californians See a Rise in Homelessness in Their Communities By Deja Thomas Apr 14, 2023 A record-high seven in ten Californians—including strong majorities across regions and racial/ethnic groups—say the presence of homeless people in their community has increased over the past 12 months.
blog post Commentary: Catastrophic Floods and Breached Levees Reveal a Problem California Too Often Neglects By Jeffrey Mount, Brett Sanders Apr 10, 2023 For much of the past decade, Californians have been fixated on drought, and rightly so. But the storms of the past winter, and the snowmelt-fueled deluges we can expect this spring, are a reminder that we should be equally preoccupied with floods.
blog post Implications of Chronic Absenteeism for Student Learning By Laura Hill, Emmanuel Prunty Apr 4, 2023 Chronic absenteeism among California’s K–12 students increased dramatically during the pandemic. Schools with larger increases in absenteeism saw steeper declines in student performance on state tests, especially in math.
blog post A Regional Look at California’s Latest Employment Trends By Sarah Bohn, Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Jenny Duan, Julien Lafortune Mar 30, 2023 While employment is higher than it was before the pandemic, California’s economy could face headwinds in the coming months. We look at how seven major regions are faring and discuss the factors driving job growth in different parts of the state.
blog post Saving Precious Water in the Colorado River’s Upper Basin By Andrew Ayres, Sarah Bardeen Mar 28, 2023 Climate change is putting pressure on all the states that rely on the Colorado River for water. We spoke with University of Wyoming professor Kristi Hansen about an innovative pilot program that’s finding new ways to save water in the increasingly parched basin.
blog post Housing Costs Have Californians Considering an Interstate Move By Dean Bonner Mar 27, 2023 More than four in ten Californians say that housing costs have made them seriously consider moving, and an overwhelming majority of this group say they would leave the state. The share of Californians considering a move out of the state has about doubled across all income and education groups since 2004.
blog post Despite State Action, Grim Views on Housing Persist By Dean Bonner Mar 22, 2023 While policymakers have taken steps in recent years to address the state’s housing challenges, seven in ten Californians say that housing affordability is a big problem—the highest share since 2017. In addition, a solid majority of residents are very concerned that the cost of housing will prevent their family’s younger generation from buying a home in their part of California.
blog post Sites Reservoir’s Novel Approach to Storing Water for the Environment By Gokce Sencan Mar 20, 2023 The proposed Sites Reservoir would take a novel approach to storing water to benefit freshwater ecosystems when they need it most. We spoke with Jerry Brown, executive director of the Sites Project Authority, to learn more about plans for the reservoir and its ecosystem water budget.
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.
