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A Look Back at 2023’s Volatile Year in Water

By Letitia Grenier

Volatility was the name of the game in 2023, as drought-weary California suddenly found itself inundated by atmospheric rivers—and the changes kept coming. We look back on California’s weird (and sometimes wonderful) year in water.

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Addressing Groundwater Overdraft in the Sacramento Valley

By Spencer Cole, Kyle Greenspan, Andrew Ayres

As the Sacramento Valley seeks to bring its groundwater basins into balance under SGMA, the valley’s groundwater sustainability agencies recently submitted plans to manage overdraft. Do the numbers add up? Our researchers take a look.

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New Progress in California Water Rights Reform

By Sarah Bardeen

Many have argued that California’s water rights laws are sorely in need of modernization. Is recent legislation taking a step in that direction? We spoke with two legal experts to find out.

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A Better Way to Promote Urban Water Conservation

By David Mitchell, Ellen Hanak

Californians have been making great strides in water conservation in recent years. Now the State Water Board is considering new urban water use regulations whose statewide costs would far exceed their benefits—and significantly impact affordability. Are there better approaches? We take a look.

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Video: Stewarding California’s Wet Years

By Sarah Bardeen

Wet weather brought relief to our parched state last winter. And while full reservoirs are great, is there room to improve California’s wet year management? At our fall conference last week, three panels of experts gave a resounding yes—and then offered insights on how to improve. Read our recap!

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Stewarding California’s Wet Years

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 conditions of the 2023 water year—and what lessons can we glean for the future? We speak with three panels of experts to find out.

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Measuring Groundwater Overdraft in the Sacramento Valley

By Spencer Cole, Kyle Greenspan, Andrew Ayres

As the Sacramento Valley works to bring its groundwater basins into balance, we review the valley’s groundwater sustainability plans to understand how they’re estimating overdraft in their basins—and to see just how much overpumping they found.

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Priorities for California’s Water

By Jeffrey Mount, Letitia Grenier, Ellen Hanak, Caitlin Peterson ...

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?

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Is Agrivoltaics Right for California?

By Sarah Bardeen

Agrivoltaics—the practice of using the same piece of land simultaneously for agriculture and solar power generation—has enjoyed a lot of positive press lately. But is it right for California? We spoke with two experts with very different views on the subject.

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The Weird Weather of 2023: Better Get Used to It

By Jeffrey Mount, Gokce Sencan, Michael Dettinger

Water Year 2023 comes to an end on September 30. For most weather-watchers, this was an unusual year, with very wet conditions following several very dry years—but are the frequency and intensity of these variations increasing as the planet’s temperature rises? And if so, what might be the implications for water management? We take a look.

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