Advancing One Water Through Arts and Culture: A Blueprint for Action

U.S. Water Alliance | June 26th, 2018

No matter who we are, where we live, or what we do, water is essential to our lives. It is life’s most precious resource, an indispensable ingredient for prosperity, pr

No matter who we are, where we live, or what we do, water is essential to our lives. It is life’s most precious resource, an indispensable ingredient for prosperity, progress, and well­-being. Water challenges in the United States are vast and mounting—communities are suffering from poor water quality, drought, flooding, and more.  Our water and wastewater infrastructure is aging and in urgent need of replacement and renewal. Our water systems are further stressed by increasingly unpredictable weather, sea level rise, and shifting populations. The complex water challenges we face today cannot be solved solely by the approaches we have used in the past. Water leaders—utility managers, public officials, farmers, river keepers, business leaders, manufacturers, com­munity leaders, philanthropy, and others—recognize that business as usual will not get us to a sustainable water future. Visionary water leaders are working to shift the paradigm of how water is viewed, valued, and managed. They are taking a One Water approach, elevating water as a national priority, inspiring our collective imagination, and activating new solutions. Water leaders are increasingly turning to artists and cultural leaders to help bring visibility to water issues, create more inclusive and imaginative planning pro­cesses, and leverage infrastructure investments to provide additional benefits to the communities they serve. At the same time, many artists and cultural leaders have become increasingly aware of and engaged in the water issues facing their communities. There is tremendous  opportunity to utilize arts and culture strategies to advance sustainable, integrated, and inclusive manage­ment of our nation’s water resources. As creative thinkers and doers, artists can be powerful partners to water leaders seeking to reimagine traditional approaches to water planning and management, and connect with communities in new ways. This report aims to help water leaders envision the various ways that arts and culture can advance One Water goals, and how they can most effectively partner with artists and cultural leaders. In addition to serving water leaders, we hope this document will provide artists and cultural leaders with insights on the priorities of the water sector and reveal synergies. By establishing a shared framework, we hope to enable increased collaboration between the water and arts sectors. The report is organized in the following manner: • Our Current Water Landscape provides a brief overview of the complex water ­related challenges that face our communities; • A New Paradigm for Water: The One Water Approach describes how the water sector is embracing a more innovative, integrated, and inclusive approach to water management; • Opportunities at the Intersection of Water, Arts, and Culture outlines seven ways that arts and culture can advance One Water goals; • The Path Forward: Building Cross-Sector Capacity for Collaboration offers recommendations for how we can seed and spread collaborations between arts, culture, and water leaders; and • Art in Action presents eight case studies that demon­strate how arts and culture strategies are driving positive water ­related outcomes in communities across the country.

Alternatives Report Post-2026 Operational Guidelines and Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake Mead

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | January 17th, 2025

In December 2007 the Secretary of the Interior adopted coordinated operating guidelines for operation of Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam for an interim period that expires

In December 2007 the Secretary of the Interior adopted coordinated operating guidelines for operation of Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam for an interim period that expires in 2026. To address long-term Colorado River operations after the expiration of these guidelines, the United States Department of the Interior initiated a National Environmental Policy Act process on June 16, 2023, to develop and adopt successor domestic guidelines and agreements for the operation of Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam to take effect in mid-2026, before the current operational framework expires. On November 20, 2024, the Bureau of Reclamation published the range of alternatives planned for analysis in the draft environmental impact statement and committed to providing additional information in a subsequent report. This report describes these alternatives and the process for developing them in more detail. The alternatives were developed over the past year and incorporate considerable input received from the Colorado River Basin States, Colorado River Basin Tribes, conservation organizations, other federal agencies, and other stakeholders during that time. Throughout 2024, the Bureau of Reclamation worked extensively with these key partners to integrate their input into the range of alternatives. The alternatives identified in this report provide a reasonable and broad range of Colorado River operations that capture an appropriate range of potential environmental impacts from implementing new operational guidelines post-2026. Click here for USBR notes on the alternatives development process.

Assessing and communicating the impacts of climate change on the Southern California coast

California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) | August 27th, 2018

 Over the course of this and the next century, the combination of rising sea levels, severe storms, and coastal erosion will threaten the sustainability of coastal commu

 Over the course of this and the next century, the combination of rising sea levels, severe storms, and coastal erosion will threaten the sustainability of coastal communities, development, and ecosystems as we currently know them. To clearly identify coastal vulnerabilities and develop appropriate adaptation strategies for projected increased levels of coastal flooding and erosion, coastal managers need user-friendly planning tools based on the best available climate and coastal science. In anticipation of these climate change impacts, many communities are in the early stages of climate change adaptation planning but lack the scientific information and tools to adequately address the potential impacts. In collaboration with leading scientists worldwide, the USGS designed the Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) to assess the coastal impacts of climate change for the California coast, including the combination of sea level rise, storms, and coastal change. In this project, we directly address the needs of coastal resource managers in Southern California by integrating a vast range of global climate change projections and translate that information using sophisticated physical process models into planning-scale physical, ecological, and economic exposure, shoreline change, and impact assessments, all delivered in two simple, user-friendly, online tools. Our results show that by the end of the 21st century, over 250,000 residents and nearly $40 billion in building value across Southern California could be exposed to coastal flooding from storms, sea level rise, and coastal change. Results for the other major population center in California (the greater San Francisco Bay Area) are also available but not explicitly discussed in this report. Together, CoSMoS has now assessed the exposure of 95% of the 26 million coastal residents of the State (17 million in Southern California) 

Assessing Regional Strategies to Cope with Drought, Climate, and Environmental Flow Policy Impacts for a Sustainable Water Supply: A Case Study of the Bay Area

American Chemical Society (ACS) | December 27th, 2024

Assessing Representation, Access, and Transparency Among Decision-Makers in California’s Water Sector

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | August 22nd, 2025

The study analyzed the composition of governing bodies in California’s water sector. It identified 1,980 Public Water Agencies (PWAs) and sampled 688 (or 35%) of them,

The study analyzed the composition of governing bodies in California’s water sector. It identified 1,980 Public Water Agencies (PWAs) and sampled 688 (or 35%) of them, examining board members and executive (or C-suite) positions. Results show that historically marginalized communities—including women, Latinos and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)—remain significantly underrepresented in these decision-making bodies.

Assessing virtual water trade and inequalities in household water footprints across California’s counties

Publisher not available | March 20th, 2025

The concept of virtual water trade suggests water flows from water-rich to water-scarce regions, but local disparities are often overlooked. This study uses a multi-regio

The concept of virtual water trade suggests water flows from water-rich to water-scarce regions, but local disparities are often overlooked. This study uses a multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model to assess virtual water transfers among California’s 58 counties and the rest of the conterminous U.S. in 2017. Results show the Central Valley exported large volumes of virtual water via water-intensive crops (e.g., fruits and vegetables) but imported water embodied in industrial, mining, and thermoelectric processes. These imports eased water stress in the Central and South Coast but left Central Valley scarcity unresolved. Linking household consumption with MRIO reveals the highest-income group (over US$200k) had per capita water footprints 1.8 times larger than the lowest-income group (below US$15k). Although household size and consumption patterns mitigated this gap, Central Valley’s high water intensity fueled excessive footprints. The study underscores the need for targeted, equitable water management policies, promoting more effective water conservation strategies.

Big Ag, Big Oil, and the California Water Crisis

Food and Water Watch (FWW) | February 1st, 2023

Climate change is wreaking havoc on California’s water stability. The state is mired in long- term drought, punctuated by relatively brief periods of extreme precipitat

Climate change is wreaking havoc on California’s water stability. The state is mired in long- term drought, punctuated by relatively brief periods of extreme precipitation and catastroph- ic flooding. But the impacts of climate change on state water supplies only tell part of the story. Most of California’s water goes not for individual use, but instead to corporate agricul- tural and fossil fuel interests (Big Ag and Big Oil). These users reap tremendous profits, while more than 1 million Californians lack access to clean water.

Biological sensitivities to high-resolution climate change projections in the California current marine ecosystem

Wiley | July 28th, 2022

Broadening understandings of drought: the climate vulnerability of farmworkers and rural communities in California (USA)

Environmental Science & Policy (Elsevier) | November 1st, 2018

The vulnerability of food and agricultural systems to climate variability and change is extensively studied. However, the vulnerability of agricultural labor is largely

The vulnerability of food and agricultural systems to climate variability and change is extensively studied. However, the vulnerability of agricultural labor is largely ignored in climate vulnerability and adaptation studies, especially in the context of developed countries. This research examines the drought vulnerability of farmworkers both in the fields and in their communities by analyzing how changes in water resources and agricultural practices impact socioeconomic drought. A combination of surveys and semi-structured interviews with farmworkers, farmers, and social service providers in California’s San Joaquin Valley is used to identify the impacts of drought on agricultural labor, water security, food security, and health. Findings demonstrate that drought impacts and vulnerabilities are multi-scalar and uneven. Agricultural drought adaptations, including increase in groundwater pumping and changes in crops, reshapes the vulnerability of farmworkers and rural communities. There is a need for continued interdisciplinary research on the socioeconomic dimensions of drought as well as increased representation of needs and vulnerabilities of farmworkers and rural communities in drought and climate change adaptation planning.

California against the sea

Los Angeles Times | July 7th, 2019

THE CALIFORNIA COAST GREW AND PROSPERED during a remarkable moment in history when the sea was at its tamest. But the mighty Pacific, unbeknownst to all, was nearing i

THE CALIFORNIA COAST GREW AND PROSPERED during a remarkable moment in history when the sea was at its tamest. But the mighty Pacific, unbeknownst to all, was nearing its final years of a calm but unusual cycle that had lulled dreaming settlers into a false sense of endless summer. Elsewhere, Miami has been drowning, Louisiana shrinking, North Carolina’s beaches disappearing like a time lapse with no ending. While other regions grappled with destructive waves and rising seas, the West Coast for decades was spared by a rare confluence of favorable winds and cooler water. This “sea level rise suppression,” as scientists call it, went largely undetected. Blinded from the consequences of a warming planet, Californians kept building right to the water’s edge. But lines in the sand are meant to shift. In the last 100 years, the sea rose less than 9 inches in California. By the end of this century, the surge could be greater than 9 feet.