blog post The Future of Fog By Sarah Bardeen Apr 1, 2024 Fog is central to life in California, but climate change is going to disrupt this quintessentially Californian weather experience. We asked Todd Dawson, a scientist who has long studied the relationship between fog and redwoods, to divine the future of fog for us.
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?
Report Managing Water and Farmland Transitions in the San Joaquin Valley By Ellen Hanak, Andrew Ayres, Caitlin Peterson, Alvar Escriva-Bou ... Sep 18, 2023 How can the San Joaquin Valley adapt to a future with less water? We’ve been researching this issue for the past seven years, and our new report presents highlights from we’ve learned, including a robust list of policy suggestions to help the valley weather—and make the most of—the coming changes.
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 Communities By Andrew Ayres, Caitlin Peterson, Annabelle Rosser Apr 19, 2023 Even as California’s population has grown by millions, its per-capita water use has declined. Communities are finding ways to boost resilience in the face of climate 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.
Policy Brief Policy Brief: The Future of Agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley By Alvar Escriva-Bou, Ellen Hanak, Spencer Cole, Josué Medellín-Azuara Feb 8, 2023 Agriculture is a key driver of the regional economy in the San Joaquin Valley, but water for irrigation is an ongoing—and growing—concern. Our latest research offers the most accurate, nuanced, and localized look at where fallowing may need to occur—and details the policy and management actions that could lead to better outcomes.
blog post Can Nine Atmospheric Rivers Recharge California’s Groundwater? By Sarah Bardeen Feb 6, 2023 Last month’s storms dropped immense amounts of water on California. Now, many people are wondering if we’ve been able to sock away any of that bounty—so we asked groundwater hydrologist Helen Dahlke to give us the skinny.
blog post Can We Capture More Water in the Delta? By Sarah Bardeen Jan 17, 2023 A massive amount of water is moving through the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta in the wake of recent storms, and calls have risen from all quarters to capture more of this bounty. We spoke with PPIC Water Policy Center adjunct fellow Greg Gartrell to understand what’s preventing that—and to dispel the myth of “water wasted to the sea.”
