Tag Archives: groundwater management

How Better Data is Helping to Improve Water Management in California

By Spencer Cole Careful stewardship is key for managing California’s highly sought-after water resources, but a lack of reliable data hampers this goal. That’s beginning to change, however, thanks to two things: technological advances and the passage of the Sustainable … Continue reading

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How to incentivize better groundwater use

by Ellen Bruno, Molly Bruce, and Katrina Jessoe For more than a century, parts of California have been using groundwater faster than the resource can be replenished. As a result, aquifers are dwindling—a mounting challenge for irrigators, communities, and ecosystems.  The … Continue reading

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The myth of normal river flow: Drought, floods, and management of California’s rivers

By Julie Zimmerman, Jennifer Carah, Kirk Klausmeyer, Bronwen Stanford, Monty Schmitt, Mia Van Docto, Mary Ann King, and Matt Clifford Is California still experiencing drought? Even after a winter of record rainfall and snowpack, followed by a tropical storm, this … Continue reading

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The Earth is Falling! – Land Subsidence and Water Management in California

By Jay Lund, Thomas Harter, Rob Gailey, Rick Frank, and Graham Fogg Groundwater problems are mostly invisible.  However, as California has come to rely more on groundwater during the drought, land subsidence from groundwater drawdown and accumulating overdraft has become … Continue reading

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The hard work of sustainable groundwater management

By Erik Porse Under California’s new groundwater law, local agencies must adopt long-term plans for sustainably managing basins subject to critical overdraft. Preparing these plans will be challenging, requiring collaboration and compromise among water users accustomed to pumping as they … Continue reading

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Modernizing California’s groundwater management

“A broad consensus appears to be building among California water users and policymakers that it is high time to establish an effective, statewide framework for groundwater management.” — Groundwater Resources Association of California, Contemporary Groundwater Issues Council As California strains … Continue reading

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Why California’s agriculture needs groundwater management

California’s agricultural prosperity increasingly depends on groundwater availability during drought. Global markets favoring high-value nuts, fruits and wine grapes are fueling a steady conversion of farmland from annual crops and pasture to orchards and vineyards. The growing profitability of these … Continue reading

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Funding sustainable groundwater management in California

Ellen Hanak, Emma Freeman, Caitrin Chappelle, Brian Gray, Jay Lund, Dean Misczynski, Josué Medellín-Azuara, David Mitchell, Jeff Mount, James Nachbaur, Robyn Suddeth, Buzz Thompson One of the few current bright spots on California’s waterfront is that the drought seems to … Continue reading

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Resistance is futile: Inevitable changes to water management in California

“Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt” — anonymous By Jay Lund and Ellen Hanak Water policy in California has always been about making and resisting change. The gold mining period, the growth of agriculture and cities, and today’s environmental … Continue reading

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Groundwater and climate change in California

By Andrew Fisher, Graham Fogg, Joshua Viers, Jay Lund, Ruth Langridge and Patricia Holden For all the talk of climate change adaptation, California has yet to comprehensively address the effects of warmer temperatures and changing weather patterns on the state’s … Continue reading

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