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Reconnecting the Klamath

By Jeffrey Mount, Peter Moyle

The agreements to remove four Klamath dams are major milestones but are only first steps toward restoring the basin’s fisheries

blog post

Making Federal Farm Support Drought-Smart

By Ellen Hanak

The White House has released a plan to better coordinate federal drought management at the basin scale. Improving US Department of Agriculture farm programs will be key.

blog post

State’s Ecosystems Face a Flood of Changes

By Lori Pottinger

Talk of drought has turned to worries about floods. How will the state’s drought-starved ecosystems adapt to the taps being turned on again? An expert interview with Josh Viers.

blog post

A Pragmatic Reason to Protect Freshwater Fish

By Ellen Hanak, Jeffrey Mount, Peter Moyle

When species make the endangered species list, we’ve not only failed them, we’ve made it harder to manage water during drought. 

blog post

California’s Environment Needs a Water Budget

By Jeffrey Mount, Brian Gray

Giving the environment its own water budget would help protect species and ecosystems, and foster cooperation over water allocation during droughts.

blog post

Testimony: Planning for Future Droughts

By Ellen Hanak

In a week that began with Governor Brown extending the statewide water conservation mandate into next year, a panel of experts testified at an state assembly water committee about improving drought management.

blog post

The Great Nutrient Pollution Challenge

By Caitrin Chappelle

In excess, "nutrients” can harm the environment and our drinking water supplies. Nutrient-polluted runoff poses a major water treatment challenge for the Bay-Delta.

blog post

Saving Native Fishes from Extinction

By Jeffrey Mount, Peter Moyle

Native fishes have been hit hard by the drought. Here are some actions we can take now to avert extinctions.

Report

What If California’s Drought Continues?

By Ellen Hanak, Jay Lund, Jeffrey Mount, Peter Moyle ...

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.

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