blog post New Water Laws Address Groundwater, Marijuana By Caitrin Chappelle, Henry McCann Oct 15, 2015 Two recent bill packages took important steps toward improving groundwater management and reducing the negative environmental impacts of marijuana farming.
Report Improving California’s Water Market By Andrew Ayres, Ellen Hanak, Brian Gray, Gokce Sencan ... Sep 14, 2021 Water trading and banking will prove important tools to help California bring its groundwater basins into balance under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). A broad range of policy changes could help improve and expand California’s water market while protecting communities from harm.
Policy Brief Policy Brief: Drought and Groundwater Sustainability in California’s Farming Regions By Spencer Cole, Ellen Hanak, Alvar Escriva-Bou, Josué Medellín-Azuara Jun 24, 2024 As the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act approaches its tenth anniversary, it’s clear that California is making progress towards implementation—but the 2020–22 drought shows that much work still lies ahead.
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.
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 A Reality Check on Groundwater Overdraft in the San Joaquin Valley By Jelena Jezdimirovic, Ellen Hanak, Alvar Escriva-Bou Mar 11, 2020 A look at new plans for managing groundwater sustainably in the San Joaquin Valley—California’s largest farming region.
blog post Drought Watch: Groundwater, Our Hidden Asset By Ellen Hanak, Jeffrey Mount May 27, 2014 This is part of a continuing series on the impact of the drought. Water scarcity during this drought is perceived by many, including prominent elected officials, as a failure of government to build sufficient storage. But groundwater—when managed well—is the state’s best hedge against drought.
blog post A Balancing Act for the Colorado River By Lori Pottinger Jun 20, 2018 The Colorado basin has been in drought for nearly two decades. We talked with Bonnie Colby on how to improve shared management of the river.
Report What If California’s Drought Continues? By Ellen Hanak, Jay Lund, Jeffrey Mount, Peter Moyle ... Aug 19, 2015 California is in the fourth year of a severe, hot drought—the kind that is increasingly likely as the climate warms. Although no sector has been untouched, impacts so far have varied greatly, reflecting different levels of drought preparedness. Urban areas are in the best shape, thanks to sustained investments in diversified water portfolios and conservation. Farmers are more vulnerable, but they are also adapting. The greatest vulnerabilities are in some low-income rural communities where wells are running dry and in California’s wetlands, rivers, and forests, where the state’s iconic biodiversity is under extreme threat. Two to three more years of drought will increase challenges in all areas and require continued—and likely increasingly difficult—adaptations. Emergency programs will need to be significantly expanded to get drinking water to rural residents and to prevent major losses of waterbirds and extinctions of numerous native fish species, including most salmon runs. California also needs to start a longer-term effort to build drought resilience in the most vulnerable areas.
blog post Anticipating and Addressing the Impacts of the Drought By Alvar Escriva-Bou, Ellen Hanak, Jeffrey Mount May 4, 2021 With the latest drought off to a strong start, what lessons can we learn from the last major dry period—and what actions can we take to manage it?
