The case for state-level drinking water affordability programs: Conceptual and empirical evidence from California

Utilities Policy (Elsevier) | April 1st, 2020

Informed by the design of a program in California, we make a three-part argument for why state-level governments might consider implementing direct bill-assistance progra

Informed by the design of a program in California, we make a three-part argument for why state-level governments might consider implementing direct bill-assistance programs for drinking water service to address growing affordability concerns for low-income households. State-level operation of bill-assistance programs represents a departure from the global trend of allowing water utilities to operate bill-assistance programs at their own discretion. We first explain the motivation for enhanced public sector support to help households pay for drinking water service. In state-level contexts such as California, we find that the basic household affordability equation has worsened due to an increase in the numerator of residential retail bills and a stagnation in the denominator of household incomes. We next demonstrate why direct bill assistance to households is necessary even with the presence of other system-level financial support or retail rate structure policies. Finally, we make the case that direct bill-assistance programs are best situated at the state level, due to substantial variation in systems’ capacity and demonstrated willingness to run their own robust affordability programs for vulnerable customers.

The case for strategic and managed climate retreat

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) | August 23rd, 2019

Faced with global warming, rising sea levels, and the climate-related extremes they intensify, the question is no longer whether some communities will retreat�

Faced with global warming, rising sea levels, and the climate-related extremes they intensify, the question is no longer whether some communities will retreat—moving people and assets out of harm’s way—but why, where, when, and how they will retreat. To the extent that retreat is already happening, it is typically ad hoc and focused on risk reduction in isolation from broader societal goals. It is also frequently inequitable and often ignores the communities left behind or those receiving people who retreat. Retreat has been seen largely as a last resort, a failure to adapt, or a one-time emergency action; thus, little research has focused on retreat, leaving practitioners with little guidance. Such a narrow conception of retreat has limited decision-makers’ perception of the tools available and stilted innovation. We propose a reconceptualization of retreat as a suite of adaptation options that are both strategic and managed. Strategy integrates retreat into long-term development goals and identifies why retreat should occur and, in doing so, influences where and when. Management addresses how retreat is executed. By reconceptualizing retreat as a set of tools used to achieve societal goals, communities and nations gain additional adaptation options and a better chance of choosing the actions most likely to help their communities thrive.

The Case of Shifting Snow

Climate Central | February 5th, 2020

Whether you live among palm trees or pine trees, snow plays a critical role in our climate. Snow keeps our planet cooler, significantly affects water resources, and is a

Whether you live among palm trees or pine trees, snow plays a critical role in our climate. Snow keeps our planet cooler, significantly affects water resources, and is a revealing indicator of climate change. Forecasting snowfall and determining long-term trends of snow climatology are inherently challenging, but the research team at Climate Central has produced an analysis of snowfall trends across the United States. While no single overall national trend in snowfall can be discerned from the results, clear regional and seasonal patterns do emerge. In almost all areas of the country, snow is decreasing in the “shoulder” seasons—fall and spring. Results from 145 locations show that 116 stations (80%) had decreased snowfall before December, and 96 stations (66%) had decreased snowfall after March 1. Winter showed a mixed record, with more snow in northern climates, and decreasing snow in the southern regions. We also compared total snowfall from the 1970s to the 2010s and ranked the 20 cities with the biggest percentage gains and losses, using endpoint analysis. The changing patterns of how much, when, and where snow falls have significant impacts on our climate, our economy, and our lives. This report provides a primer on the climatology of snow and includes resources on how to report on snow—or the lack of it—in your area.

The Central Valley Project - Federal or State?

University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) | June 1st, 1955

The challenge of closing the climate adaptation gap for water supply utilities

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | June 29th, 2024

The challenge of hot drought

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | November 21st, 2013

Drought is heating up around the warming world. Particularly hot drought has cost more than US$40 billion and claimed 218 human lives since 2010 in the United States alon

Drought is heating up around the warming world. Particularly hot drought has cost more than US$40 billion and claimed 218 human lives since 2010 in the United States alone. These hot and dry conditions have also contributed to unusually widespread and devastating wildfires, fuelled by wide expanses of weakened and dead trees that were unable to deal with heat stress and subsequent insect attack. Yet, to get a real sense of how this recent change in drought severity might shape the future, one has to look to the past. An analysis of regional and pan-continental North American drought over the past 1,000 years, reported by Cook et al in the Journal of Climate, makes it clear that recent droughts, as costly as they have been, are only a taste of what might lie ahead, independently of any big climate change.

The challenge of unprecedented floods and droughts in risk management

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | August 3rd, 2022

Risk management has reduced vulnerability to floods and droughts globally, yet their impacts are still increasing. An improved understanding of the causes of changing imp

Risk management has reduced vulnerability to floods and droughts globally, yet their impacts are still increasing. An improved understanding of the causes of changing impacts is therefore needed, but has been hampered by a lack of empirical data. On the basis of a global dataset of 45 pairs of events that occurred within the same area, we show that risk management generally reduces the impacts of floods and droughts but faces difficulties in reducing the impacts of unprecedented events of a magnitude not previously experienced. If the second event was much more hazardous than the first, its impact was almost always higher. This is because management was not designed to deal with such extreme events: for example, they exceeded the design levels of levees and reservoirs. In two success stories, the impact of the second, more hazardous, event was lower, as a result of improved risk management governance and high investment in integrated management. The observed difficulty of managing unprecedented events is alarming, given that more extreme hydrological events are projected owing to climate change.

The Changing Nature of Atmospheric Rivers

American Meteorological Society (AMS) | March 15th, 2025

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are expected to strengthen in a warming climate, largely due to the thermodynamic (moistening) effect. Here, we show that this trend is already e

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are expected to strengthen in a warming climate, largely due to the thermodynamic (moistening) effect. Here, we show that this trend is already evident in historical reanalysis data using the AR Tracking Method Intercomparison Project (ARTMIP) tier 2 AR detection tools (ARDTs) and variants of our own global AR detection applied to ERA5, MERRA-2, and JRA-55 reanalysis data. Over the 1980–2019 (ARTMIP) and 1980–2023 (variants) periods, total AR area increased by 6%–9%. AR integrated water vapor (IWV) increased by 1.5%–2.5% while integrated vapor transport (IVT) increased by less than 1% and 850-hPa wind speed (|V850|) and vertically integrated moisture flux convergence (VIMFC) both decreased. IWV increases were the most robust overall. All trend magnitudes were sensitive to subsetting, with fixed-frequency subsets consisting of the most intense AR grid points showing larger increases of 3%–4% IVT, 4%–6% IWV, and 6%–10% VIMFC, this last opposing a decreasing AR-mean VIMFC trend likely associated with large area increases. For individual ARs, maximum IVT and IWV increased at ;3–63 and ;1.5–23 the rate of AR-mean values, respectively. Regional changes were often even larger, particularly for extreme events, though most geospatial trends had low detectability under a false discovery rate control framework. Ultimately, despite considerable ARDT and methodological diversity, we found robust consensus moistening and expansion of ARs between 1980 and 2023. However, further research is required to determine the extent to which these trends are affected by reanalysis observational assimilation changes. For example, previous studies indicate that certain reanalyses misrepresent 1980–94 atmospheric moistening and so may underestimate historical AR expansion and intensification rates.

The Climate has Changed: Now what? Integrated Regional Water Management and Climate Change Planning A Coincidental or Inevitable Union?

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | March 27th, 2012

Adapting California’s water management systems in response to climate   change presents one of the most significant challenges for the 21st century. In the course of

Adapting California’s water management systems in response to climate   change presents one of the most significant challenges for the 21st century. In the course of the past five years, the California Department of Water Resources has taken an active role in both identifying opportunities to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and in positioning California to adapt to changes happening now and in the future. The recent publication of the Climate Change Handbook for Regional Water Planning is the most recent effort to bring together two separate water planning efforts – integrated regional water management and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The key to this planning synthesis is a significant change in the way water planners have addressed issues of water management. This paper looks at the development of integrated regional water management and climate change planning by the CDWR and their current union in the Handbook.

The Collapse of Pelagic Fishes in the Upper San Francisco Estuary: El Colapso de los Peces Pelagicos en La Cabecera Del Estuario San Francisco

American Fisheries Society (AFS) | January 9th, 2007

Although the pelagic fish community of the upper San Francisco Estuary historically has shown substantial variability, a recent collapse has captured the attention of res

Although the pelagic fish community of the upper San Francisco Estuary historically has shown substantial variability, a recent collapse has captured the attention of resource managers, scientists, legislators, and the general public. The ecological and management consequences of the decline are most serious for delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus), a threatened species whose narrow range overlaps with large water diversions that supply water to over 25 million people. The decline occurred despite recent moderate hydrology, which typically results in at least modest recruitment, and investments of hundreds of millions of dollars in habitat restoration and environmental water allocations to support native fishes. In response to the pelagic fish collapse, an ambitious multi-agency research team has been working since 2005 to evaluate the causes of the decline, which likely include a combination of factors: stock-recruitment effects, a decline in habitat quality, increased mortality rates, and reduced food availability due to invasive species.