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Notes from the Field: The “We are Coming Syndrome” Calls for Community-Decision-Making Tool

In Ghana, there is a saying that goes like this: “the world changing does not mean the sky will be on the ground but only that people will shift away from doing things the way they used to do them.”

Peter Gleick – Climate Change and the Water Cycle

The World’s Water, Volume 7

The World’s Water, Vol. 7 was released as the Pacific Institute headed into its 25th Anniversary year.

Peter Gleick Talks About The World’s Water Vol. 7

Water Works: Rebuilding Infrastructure, Creating Jobs, Greening the Environment

Every year, 860 billion gallons of untreated sewage enter the United States’ waterways – enough to cover the entire state of Pennsylvania with waste one-inch deep.

Notes from the Field: DIY: Do-It-Yourself as a Way of Life

DIY is one of those terms that is at once so familiar to me and seems universally used and understood, but in reality it takes on a very different meaning in different contexts, cultures or countries.

“Climate Change is Happening” from the National Center for Science Education

Notes from the Field: Urban Water Sources in Malang and Makassar, Indonesia

In a tropical country like Indonesia water is available everywhere -- pouring down in torrents onto city streets, hovering as mist in rainforests and along the coastline, snaking as rivers from countryside to city, and bubbling up from beneath your feet where you least expect it.

The Waghad System: Institutions, the Role of Mobile Technology, and Wise Water Use

The Waghad system has well developed water institutions that have contributed to it being such a major success story. One of the hardest problems to tackle in all water management is enforcement of rules.

Notes from the Field: Community Learning Sessions in Malang

At the beginning of one of the WATER SMS Project learning sessions in Malang, Indonesia, resident Pak Suep said, “We feel that we are small people. We don’t have any right to complain.”

Speaking Truth on Coming Home: Research Findings and Recommendations on Re-entry in Richmond

Incarceration affects individuals, families, and the community in profound ways. The Safe Return Project is a participatory research and action initiative led by a group of formerly incarcerated Richmond, California residents carrying out research, community organizing, and policy advocacy to improve community reintegration after incarceration.

Potential Water Savings Associated with Agricultural Water Efficiency Improvements: A Case Study of California

The Pacific Institute analyzes the potential for water savings from irrigation efficiency improvements in California, USA in a newly published peer-reviewed article in the journal Water Policy.

Letter on California Department of Water Resources’ Emergency Agricultural Water Measurement Regulation

This letter on the California Department of Water Resources’ emergency agricultural water measurement regulation from the Pacific Institute claims the regulation fails to comply with SBX7-7 and would result in little change in agricultural water management.

Notes from the Field: A Success Story in Participatory Irrigation Management in India: The Waghad Farmer Managed Irrigation System

Last week I visited a farmer-managed irrigation system in India's Waghad Medium Irrigation Project. 

Notes from the Field: Field Report from Hivre Bazar

Op-Ed: California’s Drought Impact: What Really Happened During State’s Drought?

California's three-year drought, which ended with this season's cool and wet weather, had complicated impacts that have been poorly understood. The Pacific Institute just completed a nine-month assessment of new data from California's agricultural, energy and environmental sectors to evaluate consequences of the drought for the state.

Policy Options for Water Management in the Verde Valley, Arizona

The Verde River in central Arizona faces unprecedented threats from over-allocation, development, and a lack of cohesive water management. This report models the effects of growth on river flows and on the regional economy.

Recommendations to Optimize Outcomes for Specialty Crop Growers and the Public in California

A new multi‐stakeholder coalition of leaders, the California Roundtable on Water and Food Supply, released Recommendations to Optimize Outcomes for Specialty Crop Growers and the Public in California and set of recommendations calling on decision‐makers to employ agricultural water stewardship as a guiding framework to inform agricultural water management in California...

Impacts of the California Drought from 2007 to 2009: Surprising Outcomes for California’s Agriculture, Energy, and Environment

California’s three-year drought from 2007 to 2009 had far-reaching impacts that were highly publicized, but not well understood.

Municipal Deliveries of Colorado River Basin Water: New Report Examines 100 Cities and Agencies

In 2008, the Colorado River basin was supplying water to over 35 million people in seven U.S. states as well as Baja California, Mexico. This report is the first to compile real population and water delivery information numbers for the 100 cities and agencies delivering water from the basin.

The Integrity of Science and Climate Change: Logical Fallacies and Abuse of Science

Peter Gleick discusses the role of science in policy.

Testimony: The Vulnerability of U.S. Water Resources to Climate Change

This testimony was presented before the Vulnerability of U.S. Water Resources to Climate Change on Capitol Hill, Washington DC by Peter Gleick.

Invited Presentation and Comments to the Delta Stewardship Council

There is broad agreement that no single strategy in the area of water storage, water efficiency, water
pricing, or water policy will be sufficient to satisfy the goals of sustaining the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta’s ecosystems and vital water delivery systems.

The Human Costs of Nitrate-Contaminated Drinking Water in the San Joaquin Valley

This report focuses on the costs of nitrate contamination in drinking water, pointing to key policies and further research needed to better understand and resolve this entrenched challenge.

Op-Ed: Report Wrongly Excuses Farms From Helping Solve Water Woes

The latest report on California's water crisis has recently been released by the Public Policy Institute of California, and while there are good things in this work, it has two fundamental flaws that cannot be ignored: It completely lets the agricultural sector off the hook for its part in causing – and ultimately helping to solve – our water problems, and it lays all the pressure and responsibility on urban water users and the environment.