Report Priorities for California’s Water By Jeffrey Mount, Letitia Grenier, Ellen Hanak, Caitlin Peterson ... Nov 1, 2023 California has made great strides in preparing for a drier, hotter future, but it remains a challenge to harness the bounty of wet years while also reducing flood risk. How did California’s water sector manage the unusually wet 2023 water year—and what lessons can we glean for the future?
blog post Fostering Fairness in Flood Risk Management By Sarah Bardeen Aug 15, 2023 The US Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for planning and building much of the nation’s flood management infrastructure. In the past, the Corps used an economic evaluation system that favored projects in wealthier areas, that now appears to be changing. We asked the Corps’ Dr. Tessa Beach to tell us more.
blog post Safeguarding the Future of California’s Freshwater Ecosystems By Sarah Bardeen May 22, 2023 Climate change is transforming California’s ecosystems, threatening vital habitat for many native species. Some species may be lost, which is why former Department of Water Resources lead scientist Ted Sommer and environmental law expert Jennifer Harder are joining forces as our 2023–24 PPIC CalTrout ecosystem fellows. We recently asked them to tell us more about their new project, which could help protect wildlife as the climate changes.
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.
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.
blog post Testimony: Adapting California’s Water Rights System to the 21st-Century Climate By Ellen Hanak, Brian Gray, Jeffrey Mount Feb 28, 2023 PPIC Water Policy Center director Ellen Hanak and senior fellows Brian Gray and Jeffrey Mount testified before the Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee Informational Hearing, “How Should California’s Water Right System Adapt to a 21st Century Climate?” today. Read their prepared remarks.
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.
blog post Beavers: The Unlikely Climate Hero By Sarah Bardeen Oct 24, 2022 Beavers were once ubiquitous in North America, but trapping and habitat loss decimated their population: there are just 10-15 million beavers in North America today. We asked a beaver restoration expert to tell us more about this unlikely climate hero and its role in restoring streams and meadows.
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.
Policy Brief Policy Brief: Storing Water for the Environment By Sarah Null, Jeffrey Mount, Brian Gray, Kristen Dybala ... Aug 22, 2022 To protect and restore California’s freshwater ecosystems and respond to the changing climate, California’s water managers must change how they operate reservoirs. Our policy brief offers recommendations for how to do this in a way that makes the most efficient use of scarce water for the environment while minimizing impacts on other water uses.
