This section explores the nuances of global water challenges, featuring insights by our researchers, collaborative pieces with our partners, and Q&A styled dialogues with industry experts. It complements our work by providing context, commentary, and a deeper understanding of our research findings.
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From Source to Tap: Assessing Water Quality in California
October 6, 2020
Water providers in California face myriad challenges in sustainably providing high quality drinking water to their customers while protecting the natural environment.
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Ending Conflicts Over Water
September 17, 2020
In recent years, a wide range of water-related factors have contributed to political instability, human dislocation and migration, agricultural and food insecurity, and in more and more cases, actual conflict and violence.
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How Distributed Water Infrastructure Can Boost Resilience in the Face of COVID-19 and Other Shocks
September 1, 2020
COVID-19 — and the ensuing economic crisis — is affecting all sectors of society, including water. Across the country, water utilities are facing lower revenues, more unpaid and late water bills, and higher costs to protect essential staff from COVID-19.
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Simple Steps for Businesses to Transform Their Landscapes
August 20, 2020
The Pacific Institute has developed an interactive guide, Sustainable Landscapes in California: A Guidebook for Commercial and Industrial Site Managers, which provides step-by-step help for businesses interested in sustainable landscapes.
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Why Should Your Business Be Interested in Nature-Based Solutions for Watersheds?
August 3, 2020
As large users of natural resources, including water, the private sector has disproportionate impacts and dependencies on natural capital.
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Final California Water Resilience Portfolio Released: What’s There, What’s Missing
July 29, 2020
In January 2020, California state agencies released a draft document meant to signify a new chapter in California water. Now, six months later and after extensive public consultation, the final draft of the Water Resilience Portfolio has arrived.
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What Can We Learn from Setting Site Water Targets in South Africa and India?
July 15, 2020
Setting site water targets is a business imperative to reduce water risk and improve water security. Every water catchment has a unique set of water challenges.
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How the Coronavirus Pandemic is Affecting Water Demand
July 6, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed massive health and economic burdens on communities around the world, and no sector of society is going untouched, including the vitally important water sector.
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The COVID Crisis is Slashing California’s State Budget. What Does it Mean for Water Management?
May 26, 2020
It goes without saying that California today, in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic, looks very different from the California of January 2020. Governor Gavin Newsom’s May Revisions to the 2020-2021 state budget reflect this drastic change in circumstance, announcing a $54.3 billion budget deficit and proposing $18 billion in cuts to State funds expenditures.
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Water in the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (“HEROES ACT”): May 2020
May 18, 2020
The newly proposed House of Representative’s emergency supplemental appropriations bill was just released. Among the $3 trillion dollars it allocates are several provisions related to water and wastewater agencies, residential water use, and agriculture.
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Want to Help Fight COVID-19? List Your Organization’s Work on the Water Action Hub
May 15, 2020
People around the world are told to wash their hands to “flatten the curve” and slow the spread of COVID-19, but what if you don’t have a sink or tap in your home?
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How Can the World Avoid the Spread of Future Pandemics?
May 8, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought up problems and challenges related to basic sanitation, as this is not only a global health crisis, but also a social crisis that affects the lives of millions of people living in vulnerable situations.
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The Environment, Climate, and a Global Pandemic
April 28, 2020
The 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic is having the unexpected and unintended effect of teaching us lessons about both the vulnerability and the resilience of our natural ecosystems and environment. As of this writing in late April, we are still in the middle of it, with no obvious end in sight, as the virus continues to spread around the world.
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On Earth Day, Envisioning Our Shared Future
April 22, 2020
We don’t inherit the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children. This saying, commonly attributed to American poet Wendell Berry, reminds us that we are stewards of the earth.
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When Utilities Shut Off Water for the Poor, We Are All at Risk
April 20, 2020
When a household fails to pay its water bill in full for more than a given period of time – typically one or two months – its water service may be shut off by the water utility serving the household.
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Stormwater Capture is Undervalued in California
April 7, 2020
Urban stormwater is an important and undervalued alternative water supply in California. In two recent articles, Pacific Institute researchers examined how to better value urban stormwater capture and incorporate co-benefits provided by this water source.
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Corporate Water Stewardship in the Colorado River Basin
April 6, 2020
The Colorado River Basin is the lifeblood of the West, providing water to more than 40 million people in seven U.S. states and two states in Mexico. Irrigation using Colorado River water generates an estimated $8 billion annually in agricultural products like winter vegetables, cotton, and cattle and dairy. In addition, recreation along the river and its tributary streams (boating, swimming, hiking, camping, etc.) contributes $17 billion per year to local economies.
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Pacific Institute Provides Comments on California Water Resilience Portfolio
February 19, 2020
In January 2020, California state agencies released a draft document meant to signify a new chapter in California water: the Water Resilience Portfolio. The Portfolio was developed in response to Governor Newsom’s Executive Order (N-10-19), which called for a comprehensive strategy to build a climate-resilient water system for the 21st century.
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Taps, Toilets, and Good Hygiene: Critical Ingredients for Resilient Agriculture
January 30, 2020
2019 was a critical year for climate and water. Major events – from hurricanes to droughts and brushfires – highlight that climate’s impacts are being felt now and that the world needs to take action to build resilience while also accelerating action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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Insights from COP25: The (Interconnected) Pillars of Water System Transformation
December 13, 2019
At both major international climate events this year – COP25 in Madrid this month and the Climate Action Summit in New York City in September – there was a clear, resounding message from the environmental community: “We are exactly on track to where we don’t want to go, and change is needed now.” This message, while not new, was spoken this year with unprecedented urgency...
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