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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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Stories about water issues in California and the American West, including coverage of energy, climate change, agriculture, innovation, water policy and rights.
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A proposed November ballot measure that would shift high-speed rail funding to water storage projects has attracted opposition from several Northern California water interests. They’ve formed a campaign committee in the hope of defeating the proposition.
Many of the fixes for California’s water problems will be costly and take years to implement. But there are still some easier solutions that require a much lighter lift from water agencies and their customers. Some of these can be aided by financial incentives or strong regulations.
THE TRIBUNE: San Luis Obispo photographer Brittany Anzel App is raising money to turn a photographic documentary project on California’s water crisis into a film, “Where There Once Was Water: A California Story.” App hopes the film will inspire people to take action.
Silicon Valley is suffering through the drought along with the rest of California, but it has not been a big player in funding solutions. That’s partly because water innovations are slow to mature and heavily regulated. Instead, government and universities often provide support to startups.
If you look at the numbers, the severity of the drought doesn’t match the economic impacts. Despite some areas that were hitter harder than others, as a whole, California weathered the drought well in economic terms. Here’s a look at some of the biggest reasons for the difference.
California’s four years of drought pale in comparison to the 15 drought years Australians endured. But Australia’s pain may help ease California’s gain thanks to a new report, “Managing Drought,” which boils down some of the key lessons learned.
Silicon Valley communities have responded positively to local and statewide conservation mandates, reducing water use by letting lawns brown or replacing them with drought-tolerant plants. But what effects have their efforts had – and will they translate to more permanent water savings?
For a century, farming has been synonymous with flood prevention. The thinking was that you couldn’t grow crops on land that flooded in winter. California’s drought has changed attitudes about this, and J. Stacey Sullivan explains how.
Figuring out how much water different users in California get is a tricky business. One statistic says that 50 percent of the water captured by our rivers goes to the environment, but here’s a look at what ‘environment’ really means and why the numbers can be misleading.
Depending on where you live in San Mateo or Santa Clara counties there are many places your water could come from – and, as the drought has shown, some of those sources are more reliable than others. Here’s a look at the pros and cons of the most important sources.
SACRAMENTO BEE: The drought has inspired many California residents to try and make their landscaping more climate friendly. But removing your lawn can be harder than it sounds. Here are some tips on how to get turf removal right and what drought-tolerant plants will make a great new yard.
FRESNO BEE: Opposition is mounting against a ballot initiative to move funding from high-speed rail toward water projects. Those opposing the initiative believe it would harm efforts to build new dams through money to be allocated from Proposition 1, passed in 2014
Water Education Foundation’s executive director Jennifer Bowles talked to Water Deeply about why water literacy in California is so important, in both wet and dry years – and how to bring different voices to the table to work on the state’s complicated water issues.
New research using high-tech tools to measure the moisture in trees found that 120 million trees across nearly every part of California are at risk of dying. Predictions that trends of higher temperatures and decreased precipitation will continue in the future could transform the state’s forests.
Scientists believe that some Chinook salmon “landlocked” behind California’s dams are completing their life cycles without reaching the ocean. Will these fish, stocked by hatcheries, interfere with efforts to return native salmon to the waters above the dams?
A new report from the Pacific Institute has tallied how four years of drought has impacted electricity prices and pollution from the electricity sector. Reduced flows of surface water has meant less hydropower and more natural gas, which is not good for the wallet or the environment.
Is a bottling company about to get unlimited groundwater when locals have been conserving during the drought? Some residents of Mount Shasta City are concerned a loophole in a new groundwater law means that a planned bottling operation by Crystal Geyser could dry up local groundwater wells.
The state hasn’t had a new large dam since 1979, but that may change with the pressures of the drought and the passage of the 2014 water bond dedicating money to new water storage projects. Five options for new or enlarged reservoirs are being considered, but one may have a better chance than others.
FRESNO BEE: The gains from a wet January would be erased in the Central Valley if dry and warm weather continues for much of February. Of particular concern is a high pressure system over Central California that would prevent rain and snow from hitting the area.
Juliet Christian-Smith, a climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, talked to Water Deeply about the two things we need to ensure a reliable water supply in the future. And she explained why the best climate science should guide our water resources planning.
SACRAMENTO BEE: Rains have helped improve water levels in Folsom Lake, but the good news comes as the National Marine Fisheries Service report an alarming decline in the population of the juvenile winter-run Chinook salmon. Only 3 percent survived last year’s drought.
Author Cynthia Barnett tells Water Deeply what she’s learned researching, writing and promoting three books on water: There is no single Big Fix for our water problems, but there are many positive ways we can respond to the crisis, the most important of which is to develop a “water ethic”.
California is still in a drought even though El Niño is bringing above average amounts of water for the time of year – while supplies are being replenished, they started from a very low point. Here’s a look at the impact of January’s wet weather and what’s in store for February.
Delta smelt have become so rare in the wild now that a mere six adults were found during a sample survey of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta carried out last spring. That’s why the U.C. Davis Fish Conservation and Culture Laboratory has a backup plan.
For species like salmon and trout, the benefits to humans are straightforward. But what of the many less charismatic species that naturally occur in California? Do they matter? New research suggests they do. Here’s why.
The latest three-month forecast for California contains both good news and bad. While the weather is expected to be wetter than usual, it will also be warmer. Here’s what this means in terms of the duration and severity of California’s drought.
SACRAMENTO BEE: A Modesto almond orchard is serving as a testing ground for aquifer recharge as scientists and farmers team up to try and solve some of the area’s long-term groundwater depletion issues.
Dozens of California water agencies in 2015 opened recycled water “fill stations,” allowing customers to collect treated wastewater in jugs and tanks for free. It helped drought-weary residents maintain parched landscaping, and it also eased recycled water’s ill-deserved “yuck factor”.
Paleoclimatologist B. Lynn Ingram is the coauthor of “The West Without Water”, which documents the tumultuous climate of the West over 20 millenia. She shares her insights on what we can learn about California’s future weather and water prospects based on that history.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has supported additional groundwater extraction in the San Joaquin Valley, where aquifer depletion is already damaging vital infrastructure. A new water-exchange project may also be spreading toxic soil contamination.
MODESTO BEE: Despite milestones achieved by Stanislaus County’s Water Advisory Committee, three irrigation districts don’t want to participate in new studies to assess the condition of area groundwater. The county hopes to win over those still dragging their feet.
Researchers around the world are exploring how GMO technology might boost food production under hot, dry conditions. They aim to reduce global water demand – and also hope this new arena of research will ease consumer anxiety about genetic engineering.
In 2015 California’s second-largest city engaged in a prolonged series of disputes over water. San Diego continued a number of legal battles against the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which it accuses of wanton spending and poor conservation choices, among other concerns.
One of the most difficult environments for water conservation is multi-family housing, because most units were built without water meters in each apartment or condominium. Ben Bahk’s company AQUEES installs meters and offers a conservation program that can save a good deal of money.
The range of measures used to explain the California drought can be confusing. Here’s a simple summary of some of the most important drought numbers, from well failures to grants for water-system improvements, together with an idea of how these figures have changed as the crisis has developed.
Now that storms have begun moving into drought-plagued California, it’s time to think about making use of that water. You don’t need fancy rain barrels or cisterns. Just a simple flexible rain gutter extension to send the runoff from your roof to the spot in your yard that needs it.
Microplastics found in fabrics and cosmetics accumulate in fish tissue, absorb pollutants and may harm human health. Studies estimate the United States dumps 8 trillion microbeads into its waters every day. The problem is particularly acute in San Francisco Bay, where water flushes out slowly.
Numerous efforts are under way to restore floodplains throughout the state to capture stormwater. The projects simply aim to reconnect rivers with their historic floodplains — long isolated by levees and land development — but require a different way of thinking about farming and land management.
FRESNO BEE: In California’s arid San Joaquin Valley, “We are doing everything we can think of to keep going,” says one farmer. That includes looking for ways to recharge groundwater aquifers after decades of overexploitation. Young farmers say struggles imposed by the drought are teaching them valuable lessons.
SACRAMENTO BEE: California’s new groundwater legislation is likely to limit water extraction significantly, possibly forcing some areas of farmland in the state out of production; meanwhile, conversion to ‘solar farms’ could be the wave of the future.
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