New Report: At Risk: Public Supply Well Vulnerability Under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
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A new Pacific Institute report paints a concerning picture about public supply wells going dry in California. The report, released on June 22nd, finds that 42% of shallow wells supplying water to community water systems in California’s San Joaquin Valley are vulnerable to going partially or fully dry under the state’s minimum thresholds.
Read more and download the report here.
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New Report and Upcoming Webinar: Stacked Incentives: Co-Funding Water Customer Incentive Programs
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Combining customer incentive programs can increase uptake and have many other benefits. Stacked Incentives: Co-Funding Water Customer Incentive Programs, released June 8th, finds that in the water sector, combining these incentives into a single “stacked incentive” program can improve funding, customer engagement, equity outcomes, and more.
Read more and download the report here.
Sign up for the upcoming webinar “Stacked Incentives: Co-Funding Water Customers Incentive Programs” on June 29th at 11:00AM PT here.
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Dr. Amanda Bielawski Joins the Pacific Institute’s Executive Team as Director of Communications and Outreach |
We are proud to announce that Dr. Amanda Bielawski has joined the Pacific Institute's executive team as Director of Communications and Outreach. Amanda will drive our communications strategy to advance global water resilience and lead outreach to policymakers, environmental justice communities, corporate sustainability leaders, and other stakeholders.
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Update from the CEO Water Mandate: Business Action on Water and Sanitation is Critical to Future Prosperity
The Pacific Institute is Co-Secretariat of the CEO Water Mandate, a UN Global Compact initiative that mobilizes business leaders on water, sanitation, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
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WASH4Work aims to mobilize the business sector to address water, sanitation, and hygiene challenges in the workplace, in communities where companies operate, and across supply chains. In this blog post, Tom Williams (Director of Water at WBCSD), Alexandra Knezovich (Director of Operations at the Toilet Board Coalition), and Michael Alexander (Head of Water, Environment, and Agriculture Sustainability at Diageo and Vice Chair of the WASH4Work Coalition) discuss WBCSD's call to action for the business community. These leaders also discuss how WASH4Work can support businesses in their journey. The CEO Water Mandate serves as the WASH4Work Secretariat with support from the UN Global Compact.
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Upcoming Webinar: Official Launch of Nature-Based Solutions Benefits Explorer Tool
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Nature-based solutions (NBS) use or mimic natural processes to meet societal and environmental needs. They can be used to restore, manage, or protect water resources while also increasing biodiversity and providing additional social and economic benefits. Yet NBS are under-utilized, partly because of a lack of frameworks and tools for identifying the benefits and monetizing the full scope of co-benefits these solutions provide. The final event in a three-part series on NBS for watersheds, this webinar will be the official launch of the NBS Benefits Explorer tool for benefit identification and accounting.
Learn more and register for the webinar:
Date: July 15 I 8:00AM PT
View the previous webinars in this series:
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Open Source Tool Supports California Groundwater Sustainability Plan Development |
Drought and unsustainable groundwater use threaten vulnerable groundwater wells in California. Yet many groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) lack adequate well protection programs. Designed to accelerate vulnerable well protection planning, gspdrywells.com is an open-source tool that allows users to interactively explore how groundwater level changes (including minimum thresholds set by GSPs) may impact domestic well failure in California. The tool was developed by researchers at the Water Data Lab, the Pacific Institute, and the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability.
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Blog Post: The 2021 Western Drought: What to Expect as Conditions Worsen
By Cora Kammeyer, Dr. Peter Gleick, Heather Cooley, Dr. Gregg Brill, Sonali Abraham, and Michael Cohen
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The American West has entered another drought crisis, with nearly the entire region facing abnormally dry conditions. State and local leaders are making emergency declarations and water allocations are being slashed, and the dry season has just begun. In this blog post, Pacific Institute researchers explore current drought conditions and the plethora of impacts on the environment and wildlife, urban and rural communities, and the agriculture and energy sectors.
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Pacific Institute in the News: Focus on Drought
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June 17th was Desertification and Drought Day. Around the world, climate change is increasing drought's frequency, intensity, and duration. Meanwhile, the American West has entered another drought crisis, with nearly the entire region (97%) facing abnormally dry conditions and over 70% of the region already in severe drought. Here are some highlights from our recent interviews on drought, with a focus on the drought in California:
Los Angeles Times: California’s Hottest, Driest Days are Getting Even Drier, Worsening Fire Risk
CalMatters: Water Shortages: Why Some Californians Are Running Out in 2021 and Others Aren’t
Bloomberg: California Walking a ‘Tight Rope’ as Hydropower Supply Fades
NBC: Drought Stricken Communities Push Back Against Data Centers
The Guardian: ‘Dire Situation’: Silicon Valley Cracks Down on Water Use as California Drought Worsens
Read more news featuring Pacific Institute research and experts here.
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From the Blog: Pacific Institute Insights
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Podcast: What is a Water Futures Market?
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In this Ripple Effect podcast episode, Cora Kammeyer of the Pacific Institute explores the new California water futures market: what it is, how it functions, and what its impact might be on the water community. "Using a financial tool to mitigate financial risk associated with water scarcity is not getting to the root of the problem," she explains. "We need to reduce water use and use water in smarter ways and adapt to this new climate."
Listen to the podcast here.
Check out our recent blog posts on California's water futures market:
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Help create and advance solutions to the world’s most pressing water challenges. |
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