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Welcome to the archives of Water Deeply. While we paused regular publication of the site on November 1, 2018, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on water resilience. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors and contributors.
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The acre-foot yardstick has been a reliable standby for water agency officials to explain water use to the public. But it may be time to recalibrate our thinking on that as communities plan new development.
Hannah Holm
Small programs can go a long way to save water and help farmers survive the coming shortages on the Colorado River. These should be the next focus for policymakers now wrestling with drought contingency plans.
Lindsay Bass
Eliza Roberts
Major food growers and retailers are looking hard at their growing and distribution practices to conserve soil nutrients and protect water quality. It’s an effort to reduce impacts throughout the entire food supply chain.
Aquifer recharge by itself isn’t enough to win a water diversion permit in California, says Erik Ekdahl of the State Water Resources Control Board. A more specific benefit is required, and the board is working to ease the process.
California grows 80 percent of the world’s almonds, generating $11 billion annually for the state’s economy. Richard Waycott of the Almond Board of California explains what the industry is doing to use less water and stretch every drop.
Jerry Meral
The $8.9 billion bond measure on the November ballot would solve groundwater contamination in disadvantaged communities, restore wetlands, protect the Salton Sea and much more, says the measure’s author, Jerry Meral.
Kirsten James Oversees the California Policy Program, Ceres
Farming and food production use most of the world’s water and produce 13 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. A number of major growers and processors are taking steps to reduce those impacts, writes Ceres’ Kirsten James.
Californians choose a new governor in just a few weeks. At a recent water conference in Sacramento, participants got a chance to offer the newbie some advice. There was plenty to be heard, as well as some wry humor.
Tom Philp Executive Strategist, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Water available for California farms and cities could decline as much as 44 percent by midcentury due to climate change. Such numbers, while headache-inducing, could make today’s water woes seem trifling.
Old assumptions aren’t working to predict today’s water supplies in the Rocky Mountain state, much less the future. Many planning scenarios ‘are actually pretty scary,’ says one water official.
Shrinking snowpack in the Colorado River watershed is not just a water supply problem, but could also lead to a variety of water quality concerns. Listen to two experts describe these changes and how we might adapt.
A new study has revealed that monsoons in the Southwest have already become less common but more extreme in nature, posing new challenges for water managers eager to capture crucial runoff.
Jeffrey Mount Senior Fellow, PPIC Water Policy Center
Ellen Hanak Director, PPIC Water Policy Center
The state’s water supply system will be strained to cope with climate change. New investments – and new ways of investing – are needed to improve water management, especially to recharge groundwater.
The state formed a working group, with the blessing of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to find ways to reuse wastewater from natural gas fracking wells. But concerned citizens say the process needs more daylight.
It will be challenging to adapt to changing precipitation and snowmelt patterns in the vital Colorado River watershed. Jack Schmidt at Utah State University is launching a project that may provide some answers.
Synthetic garments are shedding tiny plastic fibers at an alarming rate, threatening wildlife that ingest the bits. Potential solutions include new textile blends, better washing machines and special filters. So far, a complete fix remains elusive.
Wastewater treatment has always been hidden away, as nobody wanted to be near it. Now utility managers are inviting the community into their world by building parks, hiking trails and attractive spaces for special events.
Kirsten James Oversees the California Policy Program, Ceres
From software to robots to technology originally designed to detect water on Mars, market-based policy approaches are spurring innovation, writes Ceres’ Kirsten James.
Statewide regulations and local innovations are contributing to making water conservation a ‘California way of life.’ Listen to two experts explain the implications of new water efficiency laws and highlight promising trends in conservation throughout the state.
Sean Bothwell Policy Director, California Coastkeeper Alliance
The Golden State may face a future with more extreme weather, which will further stress water resources, but California is well on its way to dealing with this new reality, writes Sean Bothwell of California Coastkeeper Alliance.
A new report from the Pacific Institute outlines creative collaborations and policy changes needed to better scale stormwater solutions, explains research associate Morgan Shimabuku.
Lithium is found in seawater and in some groundwater. A new filtering material could be used in desalination to extract lithium, potentially offsetting the high cost of producing freshwater from the ocean, says University of Texas chemical engineer Benny Freeman.
The pilot program is kicking off in Ventura County, but experts say that it may be replicated in other parts of the state as California works to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and curb overpumping of aquifers.
A new “space botany” instrument to be mounted on the International Space Station will offer the best data yet on plant stress, helping to track water demand on farms, cities and natural habitats, explains NASA’s Joshua Fisher.
A horizontal levee built by the Oro Loma Sanitary District in the San Francisco Bay Area helps treat wastewater, provide wildlife habitat and protect against sea level rise. And it’s a model that may soon be replicated in the area.
Kirsten James Oversees the California Policy Program, Ceres
Driscoll’s Berries and its farmers in Ventura County are working to save water and tackle sustainable management of the local groundwater, writes Kirsten James of Ceres.
Omar Yaghi of the University of California, Berkeley, helped invent a sponge-like metal compound that harvests water molecules out of the atmosphere at night and then releases it as a liquid upon exposure to sunlight.
A large tract of land has been purchased along the Upper Truckee River in the hope of running restoration projects to aid the watershed and improve Lake Tahoe’s prized clarity. Nicole Cartwright of the Tahoe Resource Conservation District explains what comes next.
Most water agencies don’t think of local water projects like green roofs or efficiency rebates as assets, but now they can. And that means agencies can now access capital markets for funding, which could help dramatically grow these projects.
Mary Ann Dickinson President and Chief Executive, Alliance for Water Efficiency
An assessment of the seven Colorado River Basin states shows that there are two key areas where states are lagging and a stronger legal framework could help, writes Mary Ann Dickinson of the Alliance for Water Efficiency.
Much of L.A.’s water comes from hundreds of miles away. A new report from UCLA is challenging the city to think bigger about its plans to source more water locally in coming decades.
Atmospheric river storms bring a fire hose of tropical moisture to Western states, often delivering a majority of winter’s total precipitation in just a few days. Scientist Bryan Mundhenk talks about a new way to predict these storms up to a month in advance.
Will Sarni Leading Innovator and Investor in the Global Water Industry
Paul Reig Responsible for Managing World Resources Institute’s Corporate Engagement on Water and Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas
There are more than 10 water stewardship frameworks meant to help companies mitigate risk and plan sustainably in a water-constrained world, but there is much more companies can be doing, write industry leaders Paul Reig and Will Sarni.
Arizona has been reusing treated sewage for more than 90 years. Now a new set of rules will allow highly treated wastewater to be plumbed directly into homes and businesses, explains hydrogeologist Chuck Graf.
A new forecasting tool may be able to predict mountain snowpack in the West up to eight months in advance, potentially revolutionizing many aspects of water management. It’s no longer the realm of fantasy, as scientist Sarah Kapnick explains.
Cap-and-trade systems have yet to be used for water conservation efforts, but that could change. Stanford University’s Newsha Ajami has developed a system to help water districts meet water conservation goals.
In the latest Deeply Talks, we talk with experts about the increasing importance of groundwater in California and the role of on-farm groundwater recharge.
Using selective logging and controlled burns, Ashland has reduced fire risk on thousands of acres in the forested watershed that provides the city’s drinking water. The partnership that made it happen could be a model for other fire-prone communities.
In an effort to improve water management, the University of California will install sensor networks across various protected habitats to predict how freshwater moves, biology professor Todd Dawson explains.
Imagine H2O, a startup accelerator, is mentoring a new crop of entrepreneurs. Tom Ferguson explains how they are applying the latest technology to water treatment, leak detection and other problems in the water sector.
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