Author Archives: jaylund

This is a re-post from 2019 with updated links for pictures and further readings. by Jay Lund Collapse of Los Angeles aqueduct pipeline through Antelope Valley from a major flood in February, 1914 (3-months after the aqueduct’s official opening) “In … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund After three years of drought and two dry months, plus two wet weeks, into California’s “wet” season for 2023, California has become unsettlingly settled into this long drought.  Most cities have decreased their water use, some more … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund California water policy is often discussed and depicted as being impossibly complex.  In its essentials, it can be seen much more simply, as in the flow chart below.  Without extreme events (such as floods and droughts), the … Continue reading →

by Kathleen Schaefer People have been asking if Hurricane Ian will push the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) into an affordability crisis?  Some argue the NFIP is already there. Two weeks ago, the Greater New Orleans, Inc.’s Coalition for Sustainable … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund Happy New Water Year, 2023!  (October 2022 – September 2023) The first New Year celebration for California’s water wonks is October 1, the beginning of the new Water Year, the nominal beginning of California’s wet season.  California … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund The graphic below seems to apply to any bureaucracy, with larger bureaucracies showing this tendency more strongly.  In this vortex conception of management, one can often make more progress from the periphery than from the center of … Continue reading →

By Nicola Ulibarri California uses plans as a primary tool for managing water throughout the state. Regulations like the Urban Water Management Planning Act of 1983, Regional Water Management Planning Act of 2002, Water Conservation Act of 2009, and Sustainable … Continue reading →

This week’s CaliforniaWaterBlog post is an excerpt (Box 1) from a recent Delta Independent Science Board report on non-native species and the California Delta.  This excerpt summarizes the experience of the Great Lakes, and how its physical and ecological management … Continue reading →

by Jay Lund People often have strange ideas about how water works.  Even simple water systems can be confusing.  When water systems become large complex socio-physical-ecological systems serving many users and uses, opportunities for confusion become extreme, surpassing comprehension by … Continue reading →