Independent research and analysis of California's developed water systems
The Newsom administration's strategy for dealing with flood flows relies heavily on diversions to farmland for groundwater recharge. But flooding in the Tulare basin this year is showing how orchards are not resilient to floods. And orchards have also not been resilient to recent droughts. This is what happens to an almond orchard in full … Continue reading Orchards are not resilient to floods or droughts
The Governor Newsom's May Revise Budget provides an additional $115 million in investments in flood risk reduction, including: $75 million to support local flood control projects $40 million for the San Joaquin Floodplain restoration This is in addition to the $202 million proposed by the Governor in January to reduce flood risk in urban areas, … Continue reading Analysis: Proposed state investments inadequate to address increase in catastrophic flood risk
California's FY 2022-23 budget provides huge, once in generation capital investments. And extreme flooding is a growing climate risk, as the ARkStorm 2.0 study by XingYing Huang and Daniel Swain illustrates. In November of 2021, after the extreme flooding in British Columbia, we called for California to prepare for extreme flooding, citing a 2018 study … Continue reading California’s FY 2022-23 budget invests little in flood risk reduction
European Complex Systems scientists Ilona M. Otto et. al. published a conceptual model of the dynamics of social tipping points towards rapid decarbonization of the earth's economy. The concepts are also applicable to the changes needed to transition to more sustainable resource use, including water. This figure from Otto's paper shows a series of social … Continue reading Could California be at a social tipping point towards sustainability of water use?
Network weaving is a concept from community organizing. Here's a definition from the Kansas Opportunity Innovation Network: Network weaving is the process of building community and strengthening social capital in a community by bringing together and connecting better the actors in a social network ... A successful network weaving approach uses social network maps to … Continue reading Social network weaving for climate adaptation
This is part of a Twitter conversation with Chris Parker, a UK hydrologist who specializes in climate hazards and climate impacts, on Jan 1, 2022. Chris Parker @HyperHydr0 I often wonder how many possible climate hazards, impacts or risks there are that no one has either experienced, observed or thought possible. Given the events of … Continue reading Climate change: a conversation on interconnected risks