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What’s Worse Than a Flood? A Debris Flow

By Sarah Bardeen

Move over, floods—there’s a new natural disaster in town: debris flows. We know that debris flows can be even more destructive than floods, but what are they and why do they happen? We speak with expert Jimmy Guilinger to learn more.

Fact Sheet

Sea Level Rise in California

By Letitia Grenier, Gokce Sencan

Sea levels are rising, and Californians are already feeling the impact. Adaptation will require new forms of collaboration and coordination—as well as working with nature—to find solutions.

Report

Labor Force Participation in California

By Julien Lafortune, Sarah Bohn, Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Jenny Duan ...

California’s labor force participation is shrinking, mainly because of an aging population. But significant gaps across demographic groups are also a concern. How can California remove barriers to work, boost participation, and build a strong workforce for years to come?

blog post

Commentary: Californians Need to Do More to Prepare for Wet Years

By Letitia Grenier, Ellen Hanak

Climate change is supercharging the extremes of drought and flood in California. But our infrastructure and institutions remain woefully underprepared for rising flood risk and increasingly erratic rainfall. It’s time to take this threat—and this opportunity—seriously and accelerate preparations.

Report

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?

video

Drought and Floods in California

By Ashlyn Perri

“Weather whiplash,” “atmospheric rivers,” “severe drought”—if you live in California, this is probably not the first time you’ve seen these phrases. But why are these wild weather swings happening, and what do they mean for California?

blog post

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.

blog post

The Promise of a Wet January

By Jeffrey Mount

California is in an impressive—and much-needed—wet period. But the current parade of atmospheric rivers also highlights how difficult it is to capture and store water during times of great abundance. Can we do better?

Report

English as a Second Language at California’s Community Colleges

By Olga Rodriguez, Laura Hill, Daniel Payares-Montoya

Colleges began implementing reforms aimed at improving English as a Second Language pathways in fall 2021—during a historic pandemic. We cannot yet disentangle the impact of reforms from the effects of the COVID-19 crisis, but an analysis of early implementation finds that colleges have made significant progress.

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