blog post State’s Ecosystems Face a Flood of Changes By Lori Pottinger Jan 11, 2016 Talk of drought has turned to worries about floods. How will the state’s drought-starved ecosystems adapt to the taps being turned on again? An expert interview with Josh Viers.
blog post Testimony: Upgrading California’s Water Grid to Meet 21st Century Needs By Ellen Hanak Apr 2, 2019 Ellen Hanak, director of the PPIC Water Policy Center, describes how modernizing California’s water grid will help the state prepare for a changing climate, and ways the federal government can help.
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 What’s the Plan to End Groundwater Overdraft in the San Joaquin Valley? By Jelena Jezdimirovic, Ellen Hanak, Alvar Escriva-Bou Apr 6, 2020 The COVID-19 hasn’t stopped state-mandated work on managing groundwater for long-term sustainability. This post examines how new groundwater plans propose to end overdraft.
blog post Make California’s Water Grid Climate-Ready By Jeffrey Mount, Ellen Hanak Sep 6, 2018 Climate pressures are seriously stressing the state’s water system. California must prepare its water grid for greater extremes and growing water scarcity.
blog post The Troubled History—and Uncertain Future—of the Salton Sea By Sarah Bardeen Nov 22, 2022 Southern California’s hundred-year-old Salton Sea is drying up, and that’s creating a host of problems, as both wildlife and air quality in the region suffer. We sat down with an expert—UC Riverside professor and PPIC Water Policy Center adjunct fellow Kurt Schwabe—to discuss the issues facing the sea and explore potential solutions.
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.