Water
Blog
Read the latest on California's water crisis
Proposed State Water Regulations Would Add Bureaucracy, Not Water Supply
Anyone who has lived in California for more than five minutes, or visited for 10, knows the state has an enormous water problem. They’d also know that the current political class has no answers. Or rather what passes for “answers” are policies that won’t work. While much of California is ...
Kerry Jackson
January 30, 2024
Commentary
Read about California's water woes
California Sets Fire To The Rain
The Los Angeles Times recently noted that even after “a ‘miracle’ water year,” challenges are still ahead for California, and they might arrive as early as the coming winter. And what are those challenges? The San Francisco Chronicle puts it plainly: “California will soon require many cities to significantly cut ...
Kerry Jackson
October 11, 2023
Agriculture
Read about new state water law
SB 389: New water law wastes time in the race to save a valuable resource
Water rights in California are split into pre- and post-1914 categories with pre-1914 and riparian rights given supremacy over post-1914 rights. The pre-1914 and riparian rights are largely for surface water withdrawals – effecting streams, rivers, and tributaries throughout the state. In recent years, activists have called for a total ...
Pam Lewison
October 11, 2023
Commentary
Read about lack of action on state water infrastructure
Farmers Flush With Water Now, But State Still Hasn’t Prepared for the Next Drought
For most of the state, the drought is over. The Central Valley is receiving their full state water supply allocation and farmers don’t need to pull water from the ground to keep their crops from dying of thirst. But that doesn’t mean the signs along Interstate 5 and Highway 99 ...
Kerry Jackson
August 29, 2023
Agriculture
Learn how water legislation would affect CA farmers
Assembly Bills Would Upend Century of California Water Rights Management
Water rights are always complicated in the west. They become more complicated when squabbles over who “deserves” more water come into play. The California Legislature is currently considering three bills that would represent a significant shift in how water rights are policed throughout the state. Assembly Bill 1337 would implement ...
Pam Lewison
June 28, 2023
Blog
Read about CA's war on suburbs
To reduce costs, California also needs to build new suburbs
The three myths that have led to this predicament are the following: Nuclear power and natural gas power causes unacceptable harm to the environment; reservoirs and desalination plants cause unacceptable harm to the environment; and single-family homes nestled in sprawling suburbs cause unacceptable harm to the environment. These are myths. ...
Edward Ring
June 21, 2023
Agriculture
Colorado River ‘plan’ staves off federal interference, keeps water coming
The Colorado River supplies 4.4-million-acre feet of water to California every year with about 80 percent of that allocation being delivered to farms in the Imperial Valley. (An acre-foot is enough water to cover one acre of land with one foot of water or 326,000 gallons.) Earlier this week, California, ...
Pam Lewison
May 31, 2023
Agriculture
Part of WOTUS struck down in victory for private property owners
The ruling changes how “waters of the United States” can be applied by leaving wetlands that are not directly flowing into a body of water that meets the definition of “rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water that flow across or form a part of State boundaries” out of the ...
Pam Lewison
May 26, 2023
Agriculture
Pam Lewison – How This Year’s Record Rains are Impacting California Farmers
PRI fellow in agriculture policy Pam Lewison joins us for a discussion of how this year’s record rainfall has been both a blessing and a major challenge for California’s farmers. She also discusses federal and state policy debates and pending legal rulings that could significantly impact state water policy and ...
Pacific Research Institute
May 8, 2023
Agriculture
Read blog on California's water challenges
Water, water everywhere …
California is enduring the embodiment of “it never rains but it pours.” After more than two years of drought, the state is being deluged with more water than can be collected. Long, severe droughts have four distinct stages that affect everything from soil moisture to the socioeconomic structure of society. ...
Pam Lewison
April 19, 2023
Read the latest on California's water crisis
Proposed State Water Regulations Would Add Bureaucracy, Not Water Supply
Anyone who has lived in California for more than five minutes, or visited for 10, knows the state has an enormous water problem. They’d also know that the current political class has no answers. Or rather what passes for “answers” are policies that won’t work. While much of California is ...
Read about California's water woes
California Sets Fire To The Rain
The Los Angeles Times recently noted that even after “a ‘miracle’ water year,” challenges are still ahead for California, and they might arrive as early as the coming winter. And what are those challenges? The San Francisco Chronicle puts it plainly: “California will soon require many cities to significantly cut ...
Read about new state water law
SB 389: New water law wastes time in the race to save a valuable resource
Water rights in California are split into pre- and post-1914 categories with pre-1914 and riparian rights given supremacy over post-1914 rights. The pre-1914 and riparian rights are largely for surface water withdrawals – effecting streams, rivers, and tributaries throughout the state. In recent years, activists have called for a total ...
Read about lack of action on state water infrastructure
Farmers Flush With Water Now, But State Still Hasn’t Prepared for the Next Drought
For most of the state, the drought is over. The Central Valley is receiving their full state water supply allocation and farmers don’t need to pull water from the ground to keep their crops from dying of thirst. But that doesn’t mean the signs along Interstate 5 and Highway 99 ...
Learn how water legislation would affect CA farmers
Assembly Bills Would Upend Century of California Water Rights Management
Water rights are always complicated in the west. They become more complicated when squabbles over who “deserves” more water come into play. The California Legislature is currently considering three bills that would represent a significant shift in how water rights are policed throughout the state. Assembly Bill 1337 would implement ...
Read about CA's war on suburbs
To reduce costs, California also needs to build new suburbs
The three myths that have led to this predicament are the following: Nuclear power and natural gas power causes unacceptable harm to the environment; reservoirs and desalination plants cause unacceptable harm to the environment; and single-family homes nestled in sprawling suburbs cause unacceptable harm to the environment. These are myths. ...
Colorado River ‘plan’ staves off federal interference, keeps water coming
The Colorado River supplies 4.4-million-acre feet of water to California every year with about 80 percent of that allocation being delivered to farms in the Imperial Valley. (An acre-foot is enough water to cover one acre of land with one foot of water or 326,000 gallons.) Earlier this week, California, ...
Part of WOTUS struck down in victory for private property owners
The ruling changes how “waters of the United States” can be applied by leaving wetlands that are not directly flowing into a body of water that meets the definition of “rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water that flow across or form a part of State boundaries” out of the ...
Pam Lewison – How This Year’s Record Rains are Impacting California Farmers
PRI fellow in agriculture policy Pam Lewison joins us for a discussion of how this year’s record rainfall has been both a blessing and a major challenge for California’s farmers. She also discusses federal and state policy debates and pending legal rulings that could significantly impact state water policy and ...
Read blog on California's water challenges
Water, water everywhere …
California is enduring the embodiment of “it never rains but it pours.” After more than two years of drought, the state is being deluged with more water than can be collected. Long, severe droughts have four distinct stages that affect everything from soil moisture to the socioeconomic structure of society. ...