Search Results

Weather and Climate Summit

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

In 2007, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) was created as a strategic policy initiative for businesses committed to aligning their operations and strategies with 10 principles related to human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption.

California Urban Water Suppliers Water Use Map

This web app from the Pacific Institute shows how different California cities are responding to the ongoing drought. This web feature brings to life newly-released data on residential and system-wide water use, and allows users to explore trends and patterns in that use.

National Geographic ScienceBlogs: The State of the California Drought: Still Very Bad

While we do not know yet what the rest of the wet season will bring – and while we hope for the major storms needed to recharge our rivers, groundwater and reservoirs – it seems increasingly likely that California will not see enough precipitation to get out of the very deep deficit that three years of drought (so far) have produced.

Career Spotlight: Water Program Director

National Geographic ScienceBlogs: The Growing Influence of Climate Change on the California Drought

Over the past three years (and indeed, for 10 of the past 14 years) California has experienced a particularly deep drought. How bad is the drought? Is it the worst in the instrumental record? The worst in over a century? The worst in 1200 years? The worst “ever”? And why has it been so bad?

New Data Show Residential Per Capita Water Use across California

New monthly water use data for California water utilities shows that residential water use varies widely around the state, and that the response to the drought has been uneven.

The New York Times Food for Tomorrow Conference on Sustaining the Global Food Economy

National Geographic ScienceBlogs: Peak Water: United States Water Use Drops to Lowest Level in 40 Years

The most important trend in the use of water is the slowly unfolding story of peak water in the United States and elsewhere.

Huffington Post: The California Water Bond is a Beginning, Not an End: Here’s What’s Next

California voters have approved Proposition 1 - the 2014 California Water Bond. The ultimate value and effectiveness of the bond will depend on how it is implemented and how the funds are spent.

Huffington Post: What Does Proposition 1 — the 2014 California Water Bond — Really Say?

On November 4, California voters will decide the fate of Proposition 1 -- the 2014 Water Bond -- which authorizes the sale of $7.12 billion in new general obligation bonds and the reallocation of an additional $425 million of previously authorized, but unissued, bonds.

Insights into Proposition 1: The 2014 California Water Bond

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Proposition 1, the Water Quality, Supply and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, which was approved by California voters in November 2014.

New Directions for U.S. Water Policy: Welcome

Huffington Post: When Our Responses to Drought Make Things Worse

In a new study just published by the journal Sustainability Science (Springer), analysis from the Pacific Institute shows that many of the fundamental responses of California water...

National Geographic ScienceBlogs: An Open Memo on Ebola and Water

As input to the ongoing discussions about how to meet and overcome the spreading risks of Ebola, here are some summary thoughts about the water-related components of U.S. efforts.

The Corporate Water Disclosure Guidelines – A common and meaningful way for companies to track and communicate their water performance, risks, and impacts

This week, the CEO Water Mandate launched its finalized Corporate Water Disclosure Guidelines – a common approach for companies to effectively and intelligibly disclose the many elements of their corporate water management practice to key stakeholders.

National Geographic ScienceBlogs: The Death of the Aral Sea

In the 20th century, society was either ignorant of, or ignored, the consequences of bad water management. The goal was economic development at all costs.

Corporate Water Disclosure Guidelines: Towards a Common Approach to Report Water Issues

The UN Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate initiative has released the finalized Corporate Water Disclosure Guidelines – a common approach for companies to effectively and intelligibly disclose the many elements of their corporate water management practice to key stakeholders. The Guidelines are available as a PDF report and web-based tool.

Testimony: Desalination Impacts before the Assembly Select Committee on Coastal Protection

On September 25, 2014, Pacific Institute Water Program Director Heather Cooley testified before the Assembly Select Committee on Coastal Protection. Heather spoke separately on desalination intakes and broader policy issues of desalination facilities.

Huffington Post: Our Disappearing Snows: Climate Change and Water Resources

As the Earth has warmed over the past 30 years, the global water cycle has begun to change. In particular, our snows have begun to disappear. The implications for the water systems we've built and operate are vast and pervasive.

Pacific Institute’s Heather Cooley Gives Pros and Cons of Desalinization

Metering in California – Need to Know Fact sheet

This fact sheet examines the effectiveness of water metering as a tool to reduce excessive or wasteful water use by both utility companies and customers.

Water Footprint Outcomes and Policy Relevance Change with Scale Considered: Evidence from California

The “water footprint” -- the amount of freshwater used both directly and indirectly throughout the production chain of a good or service -- has emerged as a valuable tool to evaluate the impact of human activity on the world’s water resources.

Hazard’s Toll: The Costs of Inaction at the Salton Sea

California’s Salton Sea threatens to impose massive public health and environmental costs if no action is taken to alter its decline.

Exploring the Business Case for Corporate Action on Sanitation

As society seeks to meet demands for goods and services for a growing population, it is important to improve understanding of the fundamental science of the hydrological cycle, its links with related global processes, and the role it plays in ecological and societal well-being.