The Pacific Institute is the media’s go-to resource for water-related information and analysis. We help shape critical debates on water use and management through articles from some of the top media outlets in the world.
Featured in Los Angeles Times
When Gov. Gavin Newsom asked Californians to voluntarily conserve water last week as he stood in front of the retreating shoreline at Lopez Lake in San Luis Obispo County, some mush have had déjà vu.
It was only six years ago when former Gov. Jerry Brown stood in a field near Lake Tahoe that was bereft of normally plentiful snow and called for water state’s punishing years-long drought.
Featured in The Verge
Drought is putting pressure on California’s already stressed-out grid. As water reservoirs run dry, there’s been a significant drop in hydroelectric generation. Without enough water pressure to quickly turn turbine blades, there could be electricity shortages right when residents need it the most.
Featured in Foreign Policy
For the past few weeks, the American West has been confronting a hellish climate nightmare of scorching heat waves, a severe drought, and raging wildfires.
Featured in ABC News
Imagine a world where water is scarce in the West — or at least stretches of the increasingly hot and dry landscape.
A decades-long megadrought spurred by climate change, which has led to alarmingly low reservoir levels in the region, nearing or at records in some cases, add urgency to considering this consideration.
Featured in ABC News
California’s climate is prone to prolonged periods of drought, which could take a heavy toll on people mentally, emotionally, and financially. It doesn’t suck away only moisture from fields and pastures; it can suck away hope too.
Featured in The Independent
Natural disasters claim victims each year. While scenes of water spilling onto roadways or homes with rooftops torn off make the nightly news, another force of nature is responsible for more deaths.
Heat.
Featured in The Sacramento Bee
Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded his drought emergency declaration Thursday and called on Californians to reduce water consumption by 15%.
In a pair of emergency orders issued during an appearance at parched Lopez Lake near San Luis Obispo, the governor added nine more counties to the list of those covered by his emergency declaration from two months ago.
Featured in The Guardian
A few years ago, after I gave a talk on water and climate change, I had an Arizona rancher come up and ask me if there would be enough water in the future for their livestock or if they should sell out and move north.
Featured in KESQ News
You might have smelt it a couple weeks ago: the stench of rotten eggs. Long time Coachella Valley residents know that funky smell can waft over from the Salton Sea.
Featured in The Telegraph
Summer time in California, America’s golden state, is usually the stuff of dreams.
In recent weeks, however, the West Coast has found itself trapped in a waking nightmare.
Featured in KVPR
As drought settles over the San Joaquin Valley, a new report warns of other circumstances that could result in entire communities losing drinking water.
Featured in SFGATE
Drought resilience depends on location but also extraordinary engineering — determining which California places are running out of water this year and which remain in good shape.
