“The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced draft basin prioritization for 57 groundwater basins recently affected by basin boundary changes under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). For more than 75 percent of these basins, the results are a confirmation of prioritizations established in 2015. “SGMA is a pillar of the department’s integrated, holistic approach to water [...]
The Colorado River making its way through Westwater Canyon in Utah, not far from the Colorado state line. How much water flows past this point has a direct bearing on water levels in Lake Powell. Anybody who has gone camping in the desert for more than a day has asked the same questions [...]
Ellen Hanak, director of the PPIC Water Policy Center, testified today (April 2, 2019) before the House Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, at a hearing on the state of western water infrastructure and innovation. Here are her prepared remarks. Most western states rely on water “grids”—networks of above- and below-ground water storage and conveyance [...]
New research suggests a way to map precisely where and how to use groundwater recharge to refill Californian aquifers and stop the land from sinking. In California, the amount of water exiting aquifers under the state’s most productive farming region far surpasses the amount of water trickling back in. That rampant overdraft has caused land [...]
Dillon Reservoir’s role in the mountains and why residents should be prepared for high river flows every spring. Spring is a critical time for Summit County residents and Denver Water customers. It’s when snow starts melting, which helps fill Dillon Reservoir. But large amounts of snow melting too fast can lead to flooding and hazardous water [...]
When snowpack in the eastern Sierra runs off into the Truckee River each spring, it hits several reservoirs before winding through Reno and flowing into Pyramid Lake. During the past couple of months, so much snow fell on the Truckee Basin — about 185 percent of normal for this time of the year — that [...]
How can state and federal agencies help California’s largest agricultural region address its difficult water management problems? This was the theme of an event last week that brought together PPIC experts with top officials working on issues related to water, agriculture, and natural resources. Ellen Hanak, director of the PPIC Water Policy Center, launched the [...]
The San Joaquin Valley is in a time of great change. Decades of groundwater overuse have caused drinking water and irrigation wells to go dry, increased the amount of energy required to pump water, harmed ecosystems, and reduced the reserves available to cope with future droughts. Groundwater overdraft has also caused land to sink, damaging [...]
Andrea Lopez, spokeswoman for Ute Water Conservancy District, Center, talks about the Drought Response Information Project at a joint news conference along the banks of the Colorado River at Redlands Boat Ramp. Abundant rain and snow this winter washed away Mesa County's drought, but depleted water reserves are still recovering from one of [...]
SWIIM System's Lance Donny presents an overview of the new SWIIM dashboard to participants at the Salinas Agtech Summit on March 27, 2019.
