blog post Got Surface Water? Groundwater-Only Lands in the San Joaquin Valley By Jelena Jezdimirovic, Ellen Hanak, Alvar Escriva-Bou Jul 8, 2019 Twenty percent of the San Joaquin Valley’s irrigated farmland doesn’t have access to surface water. This creates complications for sustainable groundwater management planning.
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.
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 Could Rangeland Return to the Central Valley? By Caitlin Peterson Mar 28, 2022 As Central Valley farmers confront the need to fallow some farmland to comply with SGMA, we interview two experts about a possible alternative to fallowing: converting formerly irrigated farmland into rangeland. It would keep the land economically productive—and might bring other benefits.
blog post Commentary: How to Address Groundwater Planning Gaps By Ellen Hanak, Jelena Jezdimirovic Jun 16, 2020 Groundwater sustainability planning for the San Joaquin Valley will have to resolve gaps in three key areas to ensure success.
blog post Water Availability for San Joaquin Valley Farms: A Balancing Act By Jelena Jezdimirovic, Ellen Hanak, Alvar Escriva-Bou Apr 21, 2020 California’s largest farming region has wide variability in access to surface water. We examined how the mix of supplies affects solutions to end groundwater overdraft.
Policy Brief Policy Brief: Improving California’s Water Market By Andrew Ayres, Ellen Hanak, Brian Gray, Gokce Sencan ... Sep 14, 2021 This policy brief distills key takeaways from our report on water trading and banking in California, and how they will help the state bring its groundwater basins into balance under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). A broad range of policy changes could improve and expand California’s water market while protecting communities from harm.
blog post Four Ways to Foster Cooperation over Groundwater By Ellen Hanak, Jelena Jezdimirovic Aug 6, 2018 New groundwater agencies face the difficult task of developing plans to bring their basins into balance. Cooperation will be key to success.
blog post Creating Collaborative Recharge Partnerships in the San Joaquin Valley By Sarah Bardeen Oct 11, 2021 Bringing the San Joaquin Valley’s groundwater basins into balance by the early 2040s is going to be challenging, but two neighboring groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) in Madera County are collaborating to move the process forward. Learn about their successes—and how things could be improved.
blog post Sinking Lands, Damaged Infrastructure: Will Better Groundwater Management End Subsidence? By Alvar Escriva-Bou, Jelena Jezdimirovic, Ellen Hanak May 14, 2020 Excess groundwater pumping can cause land to sink and damage infrastructure. Groundwater plans are supposed to reduce this risk—but do they go far enough?
