Socio-hydrological drought impacts on urban water affordability

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | January 19th, 2023

In water-stressed regions, droughts pose a critical challenge to urban water security for low-income households. Droughts reduce water availability, forcing water provide

In water-stressed regions, droughts pose a critical challenge to urban water security for low-income households. Droughts reduce water availability, forcing water providers to invest in additional supplies or enact expensive, short-term emergency measures. These costs are frequently passed on to households through increased rates and surcharges, driving up water bills for low-income households and altering patterns of water consumption. Here we have developed a socio-hydrological modelling approach that integrates hydrology, water infrastructure, utility decision-making and household behaviour to understand the impacts of droughts on household water affordability. We present here an application based on Santa Cruz, California and show that many drought resilience strategies raise water bills for low-income households and lower them for high-income households. We also found that low-income households are most vulnerable to both changing drought characteristics and infrastructure lock-in.

Spatiotemporal patterns of U.S. drought awareness

Palgrave Communications | September 17th, 2019

Drought is a creeping climatological phenomenon with persistent precipitation deficits. Unlike rapid onset natural hazards such as floods and wildfires, the intan

Drought is a creeping climatological phenomenon with persistent precipitation deficits. Unlike rapid onset natural hazards such as floods and wildfires, the intangible and gradual characteristics of drought cause a lack of social response during the onset. The level of awareness of a local drought increases rapidly through mass media reports and online information searching activities when the drought reaches its peak severity. This high level of local drought awareness drives concerns for water shortage and support for water policy. However, spatiotemporal patterns of national-scale drought awareness have never been studied due to constraints imposed by time-consuming and costly survey data collection and surveys’ limited sample sizes. Here, we present the national-scale study to reveal the spatiotemporal patterns of drought awareness over the contiguous United States (CONUS) using Google Trends data and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Results show that the first two PC modes can explain 48% (38% for PC1 and 10% for PC2) of the total variance of state-level drought awareness. We find that the PC1 mode relates to a national pattern of drought awareness across the CONUS. The spatiotemporal patterns further imply that residents in the Northeastern US region are the most aware of the emergence of drought, regardless of the geographic location of the occurrence. The results illustrate how big data, such as search query and social media data, can help develop an effective and efficient plan for drought mitigation in the future.

Stacked Incentives: Co-Funding Water Customer Incentive Programs

Pacific Institute | June 1st, 2021

Water utilities throughout the United States offer customer incentives to motivate action and foster engagement. Incentive programs can take many forms, such as rebate

Water utilities throughout the United States offer customer incentives to motivate action and foster engagement. Incentive programs can take many forms, such as rebates for high-efficiency fixtures and appliances, technical assistance for installing cisterns and rain gardens, and educational programs about water reuse. In addition to providing water-related benefits, many of these programs generate additional co-benefits, including reductions in energy use for heating or treating water and wastewater, increased carbon sequestration in landscapes, enhancements to local biodiversity, and more. These co-benefits present water utilities with an opportunity to build collaborative partnerships and co-funding for customer incentive programs through “stacked incentives.”

Stakeholder Engagement Guide For Nature-Based Solutions

Pacific Institute | November 14th, 2022

Effective stakeholder engagement is paramount to the long-term success of any nature-based solutions (NBS) project. Drawing from a range of expert sources, this guide off

Effective stakeholder engagement is paramount to the long-term success of any nature-based solutions (NBS) project. Drawing from a range of expert sources, this guide offers accessible and clear guidelines for broad stakeholder engagement, highlighting the diverse global contexts of NBS and identifying key principles and practical steps for incorporating stakeholders into projects. This guide aims to promote inclusive, equitable and even reciprocal relationships for the benefit of both the organizations investing in NBS and the stakeholders and communities who have a role to play or are impacted by an NBS project. This guide can be used to support greater community buy-in for NBS projects, the integration of local knowledge into all stages of an NBS project and organizational efforts to operate from a human rights-based approach, as well as enable local communities potentially most impacted by an NBS project to be part of the decision-making process. This inclusion and integration can afford NBS projects a greater chance of success and sustainability. This guide takes a pragmatic approach to stakeholder engagement by presenting general principles and best practices that should be considered throughout all stages of an NBS project, as well as outlining specific steps for incorporating stakeholder engagement throughout NBS project stages. The identified principles and best practices include engaging a diverse range of stakeholders; building long-term relationships and trust; communicating with empathy; prioritizing transparency and accountability; co-creating rather than imposing; recognizing mutual benefits; removing barriers to engagement; formalizing relationships; ensuring adequate financial support; and appointing well-trained, knowledgeable facilitators. NBS project stages, and subsequent steps for stakeholder engagement, are outlined on the next page. Note that each NBS project is unique, with varying locations, activities, and involved players. Even though the guide is structured around specific NBS project stages and steps, the way that a specific project carries forward stakeholder engagement is likely to vary.

Stopping the Drain on Household Budgets: Addressing Tap Water Mistrust through Affordable Premise Plumbing Investments

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | August 7th, 2019

This report focuses on the issue of tap water mistrust in the City of Los Angeles. While recent research into water quality of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power�

This report focuses on the issue of tap water mistrust in the City of Los Angeles. While recent research into water quality of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) indicates that water at the tap for their customers is safe to drink, the Los Angeles metropolitan region has one of the highest rates of household mistrust in tap water in the nation.

Striving for Equity in Public Investments in Water in California: An Analysis of Prop 1 Implementation

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | August 21st, 2019

 In 2014, California voters approved a $7.5 billion bond measure to fund water quality, supply, and infrastructure improvements. Prop 1 included significant provisions t

 In 2014, California voters approved a $7.5 billion bond measure to fund water quality, supply, and infrastructure improvements. Prop 1 included significant provisions to prioritize investments in disadvantaged communities.  For this report, looking at Prop 1 spending midstream, we analyzed the $2.5 billion that had been assigned to projects as of April 2019 out of $7 billion of the bond funding that has been committed so far through budget appropriations. We analyzed how much of that funding is going to projects benefiting disadvantaged communities and technical assistance efforts to increase the capacity of those communities to secure funds and manage projects. The executive summary of this report with our topline findings and recommendations below also serves as an index to the rest of the detailed report that follows. 

Synthesizing Conservation Motivations and Barriers: What Have We Learned from Qualitative Studies of Farmers’ Behaviors in the United States?

Society and Natural Resources (Routledge) | August 15th, 2019

Since 2011, qualitative studies examining adoption of conservation practices and programs (CPPs) have burgeoned. This article presents a systematic review of al

Since 2011, qualitative studies examining adoption of conservation practices and programs (CPPs) have burgeoned. This article presents a systematic review of all U.S.-based qualitative investigations into CPP adoption since 1996. We found three themes are discussed primarily as motivating adoption: farmer characteristics, environmental awareness, and trust in information sources. Four themes are discussed primarily as barriers to adoption: farm management, negative perceptions of a conservation practice, perceptions that adoption is a risk, and land tenure. Four themes were discussed as both motivations and barriers: economic factors, social norms, perceptions of government programs, and farm characteristics. Overall, we found farmers’ economic and management needs and their perceived and actual limitations to conservation behavior influenced adoption. Implications of our findings for policymakers and practitioners include promoting systems-based conservation strategies and stressing the benefits of conservation practices.

The California drought: A quasi-experimental analysis of social policy

Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (Wiley) | January 15th, 1980

The California water model: Resilience through failure

Hydrological Processes (Wiley) | March 21st, 2019

No earth resource is more abundant than water, but no other resources is more oversubscribed or a source of greater controversy. California, for example, generates an ave

No earth resource is more abundant than water, but no other resources is more oversubscribed or a source of greater controversy. California, for example, generates an average run-off of 100 km3/year, but the state's ecosystems and parts of its economy have been limited for decades with drought punctuated by years of exceptional rain or snowmelt and flooding. California has nonetheless managed to thrive, with 40 million people, agricultural production exceeding $45 billion/year, and the world's largest economy. Through droughts, floods, and constant tension between environmental protection and economic growth, California has evolved a diverse toolkit for managing its water. But ... is California's model of water management one of the world's greatest successes or instead a history of dismal failures?

The Enduring Role of Tribes in the Colorado River Basin

Water and Tribes Initiative | July 1st, 2019

The purpose of this policy brief is to explain the origin, rationale, and purpose of the Water & Tribes Initiative in the Colorado River Basin. As explained more fully be

The purpose of this policy brief is to explain the origin, rationale, and purpose of the Water & Tribes Initiative in the Colorado River Basin. As explained more fully below, the long-term objectives of this Initiative are to: • Enhance the capacity of tribes to advance their needs and interests with respect to water management in the basin; and • Advance sustainable water management through collaborative decision-making.