Drought and Equity in the San Francisco Bay Area

California’s ongoing drought has wide-reaching impacts, from how we grow crops to the price of electricity. Often overlooked is its impact on disadvantaged communities. The Pacific Institute and The Environmental Justice Coalition for Water (EJCW) conducted community-based participatory research with eight Bay Area community-based groups to explore and document the drought’s impacts on low-income people in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Where We Agree: Building Consensus on Solutions to California’s Urban Water Challenges

California has a long list of unresolved and difficult water challenges, made more urgent by the severe drought that is gripping the state. As the state’s population continues to grow and climate changes become increasingly apparent, the pressures to identify and implement solutions to these critical challenges have only intensified. Recognizing an urgent need for serious changes in the way water is managed and used in the state, a broad array of stakeholders saw an opportunity to move beyond the traditional rancor and conflict by coming together to identify pragmatic and achievable solutions to urban water challenges.

Managing Drought: Learning from Australia

A new report released today shows that strategies developed and mistakes made during Australia’s decade-long millennium drought provide a powerful resource for California, as the state enters its fifth year of severe drought. “The Australian experience shows that investment in water conservation options provided the cheapest, quickest and most effective contribution to managing demand during the drought,” said Professor Stuart White, director of the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF), at the University of Technology Sydney. “Without them many cities and towns would have run out of water.”

Impacts of California’s Ongoing Drought: Hydroelectricity Generation 2015 Update

The Pacific Institute has released a comprehensive assessment of the costs to California of lost hydroelectricity during the four years of drought from October 2011 to the end of September 2015 (the official California “water year” runs from October 1 to September 30). Under normal conditions, electricity for the state’s millions of users is produced from a blend of many sources, with natural gas and hydropower being the top two. Since the drought has reduced the state’s river flows that power hundreds of hydropower stations, natural gas has become a more prominent player in the mix.

Incentive-Based Instruments for Freshwater Management

Freshwater is one of our most precious and valuable resources. And yet, we already see clear signs of its overexploitation across the globe. One approach to reducing pressure on water resources has been the use of incentive-based instruments, which use financial means to motivate parties towards better managing both the quantity and quality of freshwater. This synthesis aims to understand their full potential, and limitations.

Oil, Food, and Water: Challenges and Opportunities for California Agriculture

A new comprehensive study by the Pacific Institute sheds light on the risks posed when oil and gas exploration and production operate alongside agriculture.“There is growing concern about competition for land and water, and the impacts of soil and water contamination on the food supply and health and safety of farmworkers and consumers,” said Matthew Heberger, the study’s lead author.

Guide for Bringing Integrity to Companies’ Water Stewardship Initiatives: A Framework for Improving Effectiveness and Transparency

Today, the UN Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate announced the first comprehensive guide on forming multi-stakeholder water stewardship initiatives with integrity.

Launched at the CEO Water Mandate’s annual meeting during World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, the Guide for Managing Integrity in Water Stewardship Initiatives: A Framework for Improving Effectiveness and Transparency recommends good practices for developing water stewardship initiatives in an inclusive and transparent manner that ensures sustainable water management.

California Agricultural Water Use: Key Background Information

Water plays a vital role in California’s agricultural sector. And in recent months, water challenges imposed by the current drought have brought agricultural water use into the limelight. In a new “Need to Know” brief, the Pacific Institute provides essential background information on the state’s agricultural water use. The brief estimates total water use for crops grown in California, the water intensity of those crops, and the economic productivity of water.

Water Use Trends in the United States

Total water use in the United States declined markedly in the five-year period ending in 2010, according to data released from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Total water use in the U.S. is now lower than it was in 1970, despite continued population and economic growth. The Pacific Institute analyzes and explains the factors contributing to this positive news, while including a cautionary note, in a new report released today.

Impacts of California’s Ongoing Drought: Hydroelectricity Generation

California’s hottest and driest drought in recorded history is shifting the sources of energy for electricity with adverse economic and environmental consequences. The Pacific Institute, an internationally-renowned independent think tank focused on water issues, released a report that reveals diminished river flows have resulted in less hydroelectricity, more expensive electricity, and increased production of greenhouse gas emissions.

Guidance for Companies on Respecting the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation

The first comprehensive guidance for companies about how to meet their responsibility to respect the human rights to water and sanitation was launched today by the United Nations Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate – a public-private initiative designed to assist companies in the development, implementation and disclosure of water sustainability policies and practices – at UN-Water’s 2015 Annual International Zaragoza Conference on “Water and Sustainable Development: From Vision to Action.”

California Urban Water Suppliers Water Use Map

Last July, in response to the drought, the California State Water Resources Control Board issued emergency regulations prohibiting certain water uses requiring urban water utilities to report monthly water use data. Each water utility reports per-person water use, expressed in gallons per capita per day or “gpcd.” and the portion used by residents in and around their homes. The result is a first of its-kind compilation of monthly water use data for almost all urban water utilities in the state.

Insights into Proposition 1: The 2014 California Water Bond

With the state facing serious and deepening water challenges, voters on November 4th will be asked whether to approve Proposition 1, the Water Quality, Supply and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014. The ballot measure would raise $7.12 billion in new general obligation bonds along with reallocating an additional $425 million of previously authorized, but unissued, bonds to fund a wide range of water-related actions and infrastructures. When the full costs of the bond are assessed, including interest payments, Proposition 1 will cost over $14 billion and be the fourth largest water bond in California history.

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