blog post California’s Environment Needs a Water Budget By Jeffrey Mount, Brian Gray Dec 14, 2015 Giving the environment its own water budget would help protect species and ecosystems, and foster cooperation over water allocation during droughts.
blog post Improving Water Allocation During Droughts By Lori Pottinger Dec 1, 2015 The drought has been a stress test for California’s water system. We talked to Brian Gray about how to improve our water rights system to better prepare for future droughts.
blog post Extinction Risk for Native Fish if Drought Persists By Jeffrey Mount, Peter Moyle Sep 10, 2015 If the drought continues another few years, 18 of California’s native freshwater fishes are at imminent risk of extinction.
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.
blog post Central Coast a Microcosm of State Water Challenges By Lori Pottinger Aug 11, 2015 Water challenges around the state are in many ways place-specific, but the Central Coast offers some lessons for addressing dwindling water supply in times of drought. An interview with Richard Frank.
blog post California Streams Going to Pot from Marijuana Boom By Caitrin Chappelle, Lori Pottinger Jul 23, 2015 A surge in marijuana growing is having an unhealthy effect on some California rivers and streams, and the wildlife they support.
blog post Better Reservoir Management Would Take the Heat off Salmon By Jeffrey Mount Jun 23, 2015 The survival of a run of endangered salmon is dependent on how Shasta Dam is managed. Will the cold water flow when they need it?
blog post Farms that Help Wildlife By Jeffrey Mount, Nathaniel Seavy, John Eadie, Peter Moyle Apr 21, 2015 Some crops that generate low revenue for farmers may have high environmental value, particularly for birds and fish.
blog post Managing Tough Trade-offs in the Delta By Ellen Hanak, Jeffrey Mount Apr 15, 2015 New data illustrate the tough trade-offs California faces in managing water in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
