blog post Video: Policy Priorities for California’s Water By Lori Pottinger Oct 24, 2016 Expert panels discuss four key water challenges: urban drought resilience, groundwater, declining ecosystem health, and safe drinking water in disadvantaged communities.
blog post Recycled Drinking Water: The Next Frontier By Lori Pottinger Oct 17, 2016 California is poised to become an early adopter of the direct reuse of purified wastewater. An expert interview on this potential new drinking water source.
blog post New Laws Strengthen State’s Water Safety Net By Ellen Hanak, Henry McCann Oct 5, 2016 Several new laws will help communities lacking reliable access to safe and affordable drinking water.
blog post Building a Better Water Safety Net By Lori Pottinger Oct 21, 2015 California’s poor rural communities have been hard hit by the drought. We interviewed Laurel Firestone about our water inequities, and ways to solve them.
blog post Video: What If California’s Drought Continues? By Lori Pottinger Aug 25, 2015 State and local experts told a capacity crowd in Sacramento what they have learned from the drought. They described successes, surprises, and looming challenges if it persists.
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.
press release If Drought Continues: Environment and Poor Rural Communities Most Likely to Suffer Aug 19, 2015
blog post The High Cost of Drought for Low-Income Californians By Ellen Hanak Jun 18, 2015 Poor rural communities are being hit hard by the drought. Solutions will be challenging.
blog post Drought: 10 Ways the Federal Government Can Help By Ellen Hanak, Jay Lund, Jeffrey Mount May 28, 2015 Here is a short list of things the federal government can do to help California get through this drought and better prepare for future droughts.