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].
A new report from scientists at UCLA paint two different future scenarios for the Sierra Nevada based on greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Researcher Neil Berg explains why this is an opportunity to rethink California’s statewide water conveyance system.
A new study is the first to produce solid estimates of the hydrologic benefits of forest restoration work. Scientist Roger Bales explains how this could create a new method to finance controlled burns and selective logging.
March precipitation gave California a much-needed boost, but the state is still well below average in snowpack and climate impacts are already apparent, say experts.
Concerning forecasts for runoff into the Rio Grande and the Colorado River are just the start of the bad news for the West as California and other southwestern states face warm weather, below average precipitation and paltry snowpack.
Here’s a look back at some of the key moments in 2017 as well as Water Deeply’s most read stories and the top reads from around the media picked by experts.
As California’s most destructive wildfire season rages on, wildlife experts and forest managers are talking about the struggles to manage heavily populated coastal ecosystems.
Brian Gray Senior Fellow, PPIC Water Policy Center
Leon Szeptycki Director, Water in the West
Barton “Buzz” Thompson Robert E. Paradise Professor in Natural Resources Law, Stanford Law School
Assigning Ecosystem Water Budgets for California’s major watersheds would provide a defined amount of water that could be flexibly allocated and could ease conflict, say authors of a new report from Public Policy Institute of California.
The exploding craft beer movement is taking on the challenges of a water-constrained world and improving conservation and efficiency in production. Some are even experimenting with using recycled water in their brews.
Many studies have modeled future impacts from climate change, but scientists have shown that warming trends are already affecting water and ecosystems in the West.
A new wireless sensor network in one Sierra Nevada watershed aims to fill yawning data gaps about snowpack, rainfall and runoff potential. The result could be safer flood forecasts and better water supply projections, says University of California professor Roger Bales.
A century of fire suppression followed by the worst drought in recorded history has put California’s forest landscapes and water supply at risk. A study led by Van Butsic of U.C. Berkeley proposes a new way to manage forests.
Meadows play an important role in water storage and flood prevention. But a new study shows that warming temperatures and resulting tree encroachment could doom these landscapes, except at very high elevations.
A newly published study examined more than 400 years’ worth of information on wildfire behavior in the Sierra Nevada and compared it with temperature and moisture data. But it turned out that climate was not the biggest influencer of fire behavior.
Using new snowpack data collected by satellites, we now have a better view of California’s water deficit, and it is not a pretty picture. Steven Margulis of UCLA explains just how deep the problem is.
A bark beetle epidemic driven by drought is killing off millions of trees in the Sierra Nevada as California starts another summer plagued by drought and higher temperatures.
A bill in the California Legislature aims to improve water supplies by restoring key watersheds in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges. Critics say that’s an important step, but the bill needs to go further.
Climate change will lead to hotter, drier weather in San Diego, but also more frequent floods caused by larger storms. Water supply will be diminished but demand is expected to increase.
Drought is taking its toll on Mono Lake, which is hovering close to a level that endangers its vital bird habitat. Low lake levels also affect air quality and water diversions to Los Angeles.
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