Our Work

Harnessing the Power of Water Efficiency and Reuse

Water-use efficiency and water reuse are powerful, albeit still underutilized, strategies for enhancing water sustainability and resilience. Together, they can substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity (SDG 6.4); enhance water quality (SDG 6.3); protect and restore water-related ecosystems (SDG 6.6); and reduce energy use (SDG 7.3) and associated greenhouse gas emissions (SDG 13), among other benefits.

Pacific Institute Approaches Historic UN 2023 Water Conference Through Lens of Water Resilience

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) prioritize ambitions on 17 interlinked sustainability issues to reach by 2030. Of these, SDG 6 focused on water is central to achieving the overall 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

Saving Water, Time, and Money by Fixing Leaks in Affordable Housing

Climate change is accelerating the water and wastewater access gap faced by millions of people in the United States. While no one region or group of people will be spared from the impacts of the climate crisis, frontline communities—those who experience climate change first and worst—are those most at risk.

A Pivotal Moment for Water

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) prioritize ambitions on 17 interlinked sustainability issues to reach by 2030. Of these, SDG 6 focused on water is central to achieving the overall 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

The Climate Crisis is a WASH* Crisis

Climate change is accelerating the water and wastewater access gap faced by millions of people in the United States. While no one region or group of people will be spared from the impacts of the climate crisis, frontline communities—those who experience climate change first and worst—are those most at risk.

Salton Sea Salinity Webinar

California’s Salton Sea – the state’s largest lake – contains more than 470 million metric tons of dissolved salts. It’s more than twice as salty as the ocean and getting saltier. An unknown amount of additional salt – likely measuring in the hundreds of millions of tons – lies on the lake bottom and along the shore. Some three million tons of salts – enough to cover a square mile of land three feet deep – flow into the Sea every year.

How Onsite Water Systems Can Contribute to Regional Water Resilience

Across the United States and the world, communities are facing more severe and frequent extreme weather events. Companies undertaking new development projects are considering ways to make their sites more resilient to disruptions caused by these extreme events.

Winter Storms Fill Hetch Hetchy, Renew Debate About Reservoir’s Future

Senators Form Bipartisan Colorado River Caucus as Tensions Rise in West Over Water Crisis

Examining California’s Role in the Colorado River Water Conflict

The Colorado River Is Disappearing. Here’s How to Replenish It.

The Wonder of Wetlands: A Nature-Based Solution for Environmental Challenges 

It’s all hands on deck for the Colorado River Basin. Nearing a quarter-century of drought (better described as a continuing shift to an ever-hotter and ever-drier climate), the most famous and important river in the West faces an existential crisis.

As the Colorado River Dries Up, States Can’t Agree on Saving Water

How to Save the Colorado River and the American West

Managing the Unmeasured – Colorado River

It’s all hands on deck for the Colorado River Basin. Nearing a quarter-century of drought (better described as a continuing shift to an ever-hotter and ever-drier climate), the most famous and important river in the West faces an existential crisis.

Guide for Developing Onsite Water Systems to Support Regional Water Resilience

Onsite water systems have the potential to provide multiple benefits for a site, water and wastewater
systems, ecosystems, and communities.

The Fight Over California’s Ancient Water

As Storms Batter California, Newsom Says State Is ‘Proof That the Climate Crisis Is Real’

Suddenly, California Has Too Much Water

As Storms Batter California, Newsom Says State Is ‘Proof That the Climate Crisis Is Real’

Salton Sea Hydrology

The objective of the webinar is to improve understanding of current and possible future Salton Sea inflows and the water demands of various Salton Sea projects and provide an opportunity for discussion among modelers, agency staff, stakeholders, and the public generally.

La Hidrología del Salton Sea

El objetivo del seminario web es mejorar la comprensión de los flujos de entrada actuales y futuros de Salton Sea y las demandas de agua de varios proyectos de Salton Sea y brindar una oportunidad para el debate entre los modeladores, el personal de la agencia, las partes interesadas y el público en general.

California’s Dilemma: How Do You Harness an Epic Amount of Rain in a Water-Scarce State? Let It Flood, Scientists Say

Opinion | Flooding in California Has Been Worse Before — And Likely Will Be Again

NASA: Yes, it’s freezing cold. No, that doesn’t mean climate change is a hoax.