Water
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. ...
Agriculture
Read about effort to stop new green mandate
Congress votes to stay WOTUS rules until the SCOTUS rules
The broadening and narrowing of the scope of WOTUS and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to use its authority against farmers and other private landowners based on the political leanings of the White House has been an on-going challenge. The current administration was hasty in its decision to issue ...
Agriculture
Water fines for farmers will not keep the wells from running dry
When a profoundly important resource like water is no longer abundant, prioritizing where water goes becomes challenging. The California Assembly is considering legislation that would punish people for over-using water during droughts. The bill, however, does not differentiate between water “needs” and water “wants.” Specifically, food producers and municipalities would ...
Agriculture
Despite recent rains and record snowpack, California’s drought is far from over
The Department of Water Resources announced an increase in allocations from 5 percent to 30 percent of requested water. For agriculture, the increased allocations mean approximately 10 million acre feet of water for the nearly 10 million acres of irrigated farmland in the state or enough water to cover every ...
California
Steven Greenhut – Where has all the water gone?
Our guest this week is Steve Greenhut, PRI director of its Free Cities Center and the author of PRI’s book Winning the Water Wars.
Blog
Future cities could be beacons of innovation and hope
Futurist imaginings of what sort of world awaits humanity often embrace extreme scenarios, ranging from George Jetson’s utopia to George Orwell’s nightmare. They also tend to be wildly inaccurate. With that in mind – and not to stray too far into the territory of unrealistic optimism or excessive pessimism – ...
Agriculture
Klamath Project Could Hurt Generational Farmers and Ranchers
Governor Newsom issued a press release stating, “Today we celebrate a historic victory for the health of the Klamath River and the well-being of all the communities, livelihoods and ecosystems that depend on this vital waterway” while posing in a picture with Oregon Governor Kate Brown, US Secretary of the ...
Blog
Solving Two Problems At Once: Desalination And Nuclear Go Hand In Hand
Two of California’s most pressing problems are a growing scarcity of both water and power. Solving them does not require two separate efforts, though. They can be done together. Declaring atomic energy to be a renewable source of energy and then embarking on a building campaign would relieve the strain ...
Blog
A To-Do List for the California Legislature
When Californians go to the polls in November, they will be choosing from many new faces seeking to represent them in the state legislature. Thanks to redistricting and a wide swath of retirements, there will be at least 22 new State Assembly Members elected this fall and 10 new State ...
Agriculture
Hope for WOTUS changes after Supreme Court hearing
Imagine every highway speed limit in the United States changing every few years to a government official’s determination of a “safe” speed. In some ways the interpretation of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule is similar. When the federal administration changes, the interpretation of the WOTUS changes to ...
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. ...
Read about effort to stop new green mandate
Congress votes to stay WOTUS rules until the SCOTUS rules
The broadening and narrowing of the scope of WOTUS and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to use its authority against farmers and other private landowners based on the political leanings of the White House has been an on-going challenge. The current administration was hasty in its decision to issue ...
Water fines for farmers will not keep the wells from running dry
When a profoundly important resource like water is no longer abundant, prioritizing where water goes becomes challenging. The California Assembly is considering legislation that would punish people for over-using water during droughts. The bill, however, does not differentiate between water “needs” and water “wants.” Specifically, food producers and municipalities would ...
Despite recent rains and record snowpack, California’s drought is far from over
The Department of Water Resources announced an increase in allocations from 5 percent to 30 percent of requested water. For agriculture, the increased allocations mean approximately 10 million acre feet of water for the nearly 10 million acres of irrigated farmland in the state or enough water to cover every ...
Steven Greenhut – Where has all the water gone?
Our guest this week is Steve Greenhut, PRI director of its Free Cities Center and the author of PRI’s book Winning the Water Wars.
Future cities could be beacons of innovation and hope
Futurist imaginings of what sort of world awaits humanity often embrace extreme scenarios, ranging from George Jetson’s utopia to George Orwell’s nightmare. They also tend to be wildly inaccurate. With that in mind – and not to stray too far into the territory of unrealistic optimism or excessive pessimism – ...
Klamath Project Could Hurt Generational Farmers and Ranchers
Governor Newsom issued a press release stating, “Today we celebrate a historic victory for the health of the Klamath River and the well-being of all the communities, livelihoods and ecosystems that depend on this vital waterway” while posing in a picture with Oregon Governor Kate Brown, US Secretary of the ...
Solving Two Problems At Once: Desalination And Nuclear Go Hand In Hand
Two of California’s most pressing problems are a growing scarcity of both water and power. Solving them does not require two separate efforts, though. They can be done together. Declaring atomic energy to be a renewable source of energy and then embarking on a building campaign would relieve the strain ...
A To-Do List for the California Legislature
When Californians go to the polls in November, they will be choosing from many new faces seeking to represent them in the state legislature. Thanks to redistricting and a wide swath of retirements, there will be at least 22 new State Assembly Members elected this fall and 10 new State ...
Hope for WOTUS changes after Supreme Court hearing
Imagine every highway speed limit in the United States changing every few years to a government official’s determination of a “safe” speed. In some ways the interpretation of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule is similar. When the federal administration changes, the interpretation of the WOTUS changes to ...
