Dear Deeply Readers,
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.
We continue to produce events and special projects while we explore where the on-site journalism goes next. If you’d like to reach us with feedback or ideas for collaboration you can do so at [email protected].
State law does not currently allow surface water to be used for groundwater recharge if the goal is managing pollution, reversing subsidence or controlling salinity. That could be a problem as local agencies begin trying to make their groundwater use more sustainable.
Michael Kiparsky Director, Wheeler Water Institute, Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, University of California, Berkeley
Nell Green Nylen Senior Research Fellow, Wheeler Water Institute
California’s five-year drought highlighted the struggles faced by small water systems. Legal and policy solutions are in the works, but they must remain adaptable to meet the needs of small communities.
Kirsten James Oversees the California Policy Program, Ceres
State legislators have until the end of the month to pass the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund. There is an urgent need to provide clean drinking water to the 1 million Californians who lack access to such supplies, says Kirsten James of Ceres.
In 2014 Californians approved Proposition 1. Ellen Hanak at the Public Policy Institute of California breaks down how much of that $7.5 billion has been appropriated so far and what that means for future water spending.
Across California, droughts, floods and fires are straining the state’s aging infrastructure. Jamesine Rogers Gibson of the Union of Concerned Scientists says the state needs to prepare infrastructure for the uncertain impacts of climate change.
Small, cash-strapped water districts don’t have the financial, political or technological resources to treat some of the United States’ most contaminated drinking water.
The social and environmental problems that result from homeless encampments in the Bay Area are being addressed by a surprising regulation – cleaning up stormwater.
California’s prolonged drought has been an opportunity for the state to address critical water issues, but there is still more than can be done. Water Deeply asked four water experts about what the state should tackle next.
California faces a host of water issues, which is why good policy leaders are important. In the first installment of our “Experts to Watch” series, here are nine people who are contributing to policy solutions in the state.
There are an estimated 66 million dead trees in the southern Sierra Nevada. Jeffrey Moore of the Forest Service explains what it means for the region in the latest story in our series, Summer of Fire, on the state of California’s forests.
Overhead irrigation technology, typically used in center-pivot irrigation, has been common for decades all across North America. It’s slowly being embraced in California as a relatively affordable water-saving tool.
Six years ago the Delta Stewardship Council kicked off, headed by Phil Isenberg, an attorney and former state assembly member. Isenberg talks to Water Deeply about the council’s Delta Plan, its legal challenges and the near future.
California Tribal Policy Advisor Anecita Agustinez explains how Native American communities are impacted by some of the state’s most pressing water issues.
Kirsten James Oversees the California Policy Program, Ceres
California may be in danger of losing the gains it has worked hard to achieve in the last year in water conservation. A wet winter doesn’t mean California is in the clear.
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