blog post World Water Day through a California Lens By Caitrin Chappelle Mar 22, 2018 This year’s World Water Day calls for addressing water challenges with nature-based solutions.
blog post The Connection between Groundwater and Surface Water By Jeffrey Mount Oct 15, 2018 Surface water and groundwater are closely linked, but a legal divide kept them separate—until now.
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.
Report Climate-Smart Tools to Protect California’s Freshwater Biodiversity By Ted Sommer, Jeffrey Mount, Brian Gray, Letitia Grenier ... May 24, 2024 Half of California’s native freshwater species are highly vulnerable to extinction within this century. Our new report describes the urgent action needed to save them.