Statewide Survey PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Rachel Lawler, Deja Thomas Jun 5, 2023 Californians name economic conditions, homelessness, and housing as the most important issues facing the state today. A majority of Californians favor changing state environmental regulations as a way to increase housing affordability.
blog post Video: Making the Most of a Wet Year By Sarah Bardeen May 1, 2023 Last week, we hosted an expert panel to discuss how we’re handling the sudden deluge of precipitation after years of drought. While the rain and snow has helped transform what was a grim water supply situation, it’s clear that we need to do a better job of preparing for floods—and storing some of that excess water for the dry times that will return.
Fact Sheet Water Use in California By Jeffrey Mount, Ellen Hanak, Caitlin Peterson Apr 19, 2023 To understand California’s water, start here. Water use in California varies dramatically between wet and dry years: learn who’s using California’s water, where, and how much.
Fact Sheet Water Use in California’s Agriculture By Caitlin Peterson, Alvar Escriva-Bou, Josué Medellín-Azuara, Spencer Cole Apr 19, 2023 California is an agricultural powerhouse that relies heavily on irrigation. Discover how much water the sector uses and how groundwater laws and climate change are bringing change.
Fact Sheet Water Use in California’s Environment By Jeffrey Mount, Caitlin Peterson, Gokce Sencan Apr 19, 2023 What exactly is “environmental water,” and how much water does California’s environment actually use? This explainer sticks to the facts—and dispels a few myths in the process.
blog post The Troubled History—and Uncertain Future—of the Salton Sea By Sarah Bardeen Nov 22, 2022 Southern California’s hundred-year-old Salton Sea is drying up, and that’s creating a host of problems, as both wildlife and air quality in the region suffer. We sat down with an expert—UC Riverside professor and PPIC Water Policy Center adjunct fellow Kurt Schwabe—to discuss the issues facing the sea and explore potential solutions.
event Surplus and Shortage: California’s Water Balancing Act Nov 18, 2022 As climate change accelerates, it’s bringing more extreme weather to California: The dry periods are hotter and drier than ever before—and the wet periods can be torrential. The only certainty is that water managers at every level will have to plan for and respond to extremes. How can we cope with the increasing volatility of our water cycle? We bring together three panels of experts to find out.
blog post A New Tool Could Help Protect 30% of the State’s Waters by 2030 By Sarah Bardeen Sep 12, 2022 California has set an ambitious goal of protecting 30% of the state’s lands and waters by 2030. We spoke with CalTrout’s legal and policy director Redgie Collins about a promising but underutilized tool that could help protect water bodies throughout the state: The Outstanding Natural Resource Waters designation.
Report Storing Water for the Environment By Sarah Null, Jeffrey Mount, Brian Gray, Kristen Dybala ... Aug 22, 2022 Large reservoirs are essential for managing water in California’s highly variable climate—but over the years, the construction and operation of these reservoirs have had significant environmental costs. Our new research outlines how reservoir operations could be changed to improve the health of the state’s fragile freshwater ecosystems.
Report Exploring the Potential for Water-Limited Agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley By Caitlin Peterson, Cameron Pittelkow, Mark Lundy Jul 20, 2022 As irrigated farmland comes out of production in the San Joaquin Valley, valley residents will face increased pests, weeds, and dust—as well as a loss of employment and economic activity. Water-limited cropping is one alternative to fallowing that can improve soil health and air quality, create habitat, and keep land in production.
