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.

The evolution of human population distance to water in the USA from 1790 to 2010

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | January 25th, 2019

Human societies evolved alongside rivers, but how has the relationship between human settlement locations and water resources evolved over time? We conducted a dynamic 

Human societies evolved alongside rivers, but how has the relationship between human settlement locations and water resources evolved over time? We conducted a dynamic analysis in the conterminous US to assess the coevolution of humans and water resources from 1790 to 2010. Here we show that humans moved closer to major rivers in pre-industrial periods but have moved farther from major rivers after 1870, demonstrating the dynamics of human reliance on rivers for trade and transport. We show that humans were preferentially attracted to areas overlying major aquifers since industrialization due to the emergent accessibility of groundwater in the 20th century. Regional heterogeneity resulted in diverse trajectories of settlement proximity to major rivers, with the attractiveness of rivers increasing in arid regions and decreasing in humid areas. Our results reveal a historical coevolution of human-water systems, which could inform water management and contribute to societal adaptation to future climate change.

The futures market for water rights trading in California: Analyzing the emergence of a controversial experiment

Environmental Challenges (Elsevier) | March 29th, 2025

This paper presents a qualitative case study of the world's first water futures contract in California, a market that enables hedgers and speculators to bet on water pric

This paper presents a qualitative case study of the world's first water futures contract in California, a market that enables hedgers and speculators to bet on water prices. It is attempted to explain which factors shaped the emergence of the unique market by applying the Political Process Inherent Dynamics Approach (PIDA), an analytical framework from the field of environmental policy analysis. In addition, the topics of heated debate that have surrounded the new market are summarized and contextualized. To obtain the relevant information, expert interviews, complemented by online sources, were subjected to a Qualitative Content Analysis. It is concluded that the launch of the contract is an extreme case of private business actors shaping water governance, made possible by a longstanding market philosophy in the US, that gives leeway for actors of financialization to create facts. In the political-administrative realm, a lack of accountability and will to interfere seems to prevail. However, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other actors have led efforts to abolish the market, criticizing water futures in ways that resonate with broader debates about privatization and food futures.

The Great California Delta Trail: Blueprint Report for Contra Costa and Solano Counties

Delta Protection Commission (DPC) | September 1st, 2009

The Delta Trail concept was born out of Senate Bill 1556, created by Senator Torlakson and signed by Governor Schwarzenegger to facilitate the planning and feasibility pr

The Delta Trail concept was born out of Senate Bill 1556, created by Senator Torlakson and signed by Governor Schwarzenegger to facilitate the planning and feasibility process for the establishment of the Delta Trail in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The bill requires the Delta Protection Commission (DPC) to facilitate the trail’s planning and feasibility process.  This Blueprint Report reflects the outreach, feasibility, and planning process developed for the Delta Trail in Solano and Contra Costa counties through work with a broad cross-section of local agencies and stakeholders. It provides a template to be considered for the trail planning process in the other three Delta counties – Sacramento, San Joaquin and Yolo. The Blueprint Report establishes a specific vision, goals and policies for the Delta Trail. It provides a review of the Solano and Contra Costa Counties settings, a summary of related adopted policies, a review of regional trail technical issues and best practices, and an action plan to implement the vision and goals, recommended outreach and engagement strategies, a description of potential trail concepts, and information on funding opportunities.

The impact of pricing structure change on residential water consumption: A long-term analysis of water utilities in California

Water Resources and Economics (Elsevier) | February 10th, 2024

California's demand-side urban water management policies, such as shifting water pricing structures from non-conservation to conservation-based rates, have received much

California's demand-side urban water management policies, such as shifting water pricing structures from non-conservation to conservation-based rates, have received much attention in terms of meeting the state's short- and long-term water conservation policies. This paper quantifies the effect of pricing structure changes on residential water consumption using a survey dataset of 189 major California water utilities from 1994 to 2019. Results of our study demonstrate that residential per capita per day water consumption was reduced by an average of 2.6% when water agencies switched from non-conservation-based to conservation-based pricing structures. We also found evidence that the longer a utility maintained a non-conservation-based rate structure before switching to conservation-based pricing, the larger the water consumption reduction in that utility's service area. In addition, utilities that reverted to non-conservation rates after having longer-term conservation pricing structures experienced smaller increases compared to having long-term non-conservation ones in water use in their service areas. This suggests evidence of a crowding-in effect for transitions from conservation-based to non-conservation-based pricing structures.

The Innovation Deficit in Urban Water: The Need for an Integrated Perspective on Institutions, Organizations, and Technology

Environmental Engineering Science (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.) | August 1st, 2013

Interaction between institutional change and technological change poses important constraints on transitions of urban water systems to a state that can meet fut

Interaction between institutional change and technological change poses important constraints on transitions of urban water systems to a state that can meet future needs. Research on urban water and other technology- dependent systems provides insights that are valuable to technology researchers interested in assuring that their efforts will have an impact. In the context of research on institutional change, innovation is the development, application, diffusion, and utilization of new knowledge and technology. This definition is intentionally inclusive: technological innovation will play a key role in reinvention of urban water systems, but is only part of what is necessary. Innovation usually depends on context, such that major changes to infrastructure include not only the technological inventions that drive greater efficiencies and physical transformations of water treatment and delivery systems, but also the political, cultural, social, and economic factors that hinder and enable such changes. On the basis of past and present changes in urban water systems, institutional innovation will be of similar importance to technological innovation in urban water reinvention. To solve current urban water infrastructure challenges, technology-focused researchers need to recognize the intertwined nature of technologies and institutions and the social systems that control change.