Water Resources

Fellow Story

Improving Aquatic Connectivity and Resiliency to Major Storms

It is easy to overlook the pipes and boxes carrying water under our roads, but these parts of our transportation infrastructure can have huge impacts on freshwater health and road safety. 2003 Fellow Jessica Levine is working in the northeastern United States to replace and upgrade road crossings to benefit aquatic species and habitat along with other community goals.
April 23, 2015
Fellow Story

Thinking Ahead about Climate Change in Sonoma County

We have a number of Fellows leading in Sonoma County, working to understand the impacts of climate change at a micro level and develop solutions to improve local resiliency to climate change impacts that could be rolled out nationally.
April 23, 2015
Fellow Story

Strengthening Resiliency in Sierra Nevada Meadows

Doug Johnson sees the increasingly severe drought in California as a chance to educate people about the importance of invasive plant management at the landscape level in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The Sierras are an important source of water for all of California, with snowpack formed in winter melting over the spring and summer months and running down to the dry parts of the state. Invasives, some of which are known to be water hungry compared to competing vegetation, can reduce the capacity of Sierra meadows to perform this valuable function. For the state’s residents and agricultural industry, this could make a bad problem worse.
April 23, 2015
Fellow Story

California Department of Water Resources honored with National Climate Leadership Award

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has been honored by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Center for Corporate Climate Leadership for its actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. “DWR exemplifies the dedication and accomplishments that make a difference in the fight against climate change, and sets a high standard for other organizations to follow,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.
April 15, 2015
Fellow Story

Squaw Valley looks to neighbor for water security, Silverman quoted

The Board of Directors of Squaw Valley's primary water provider yesterday reaffirmed its intent to solve its local problems with water imports from Martis Valley. In a 4-1 vote, the Squaw Valley Public Services District (SVPSD) directed staff to “...define a preferred water supply alternative from Martis Valley” as a “redundant water supply” and to identify sites for wells and a pumping station in Martis Valley, a pipeline corridor, and terminal storage tanks in Squaw Valley.
April 13, 2015
Fellow Story

Syrian conflict has underlying links to climate change, Stabinsky quoted

Was the four-year-old military conflict in Syria, which has claimed the lives of over 200,000 people, mostly civilians, triggered at least in part by climate change? A new study by Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory says “a record drought that ravaged Syria in 2006-2010 was likely stoked by ongoing man-made climate change, and that the drought may have helped propel the 2011 Syrian uprising.”
April 10, 2015
Fellow Story

Mini urban reservoirs could help ease California's drought, says Steele

Nancy Steele, of the Council of Watershed Health, estimated that so far, the state has tapped less than 1 percent of the amount of water it might collect from storm runoff. "There's a huge potential," Steele said. "And the city of Los Angeles is doing a project right now -- a storm water capture master plan -- in which they're actually identifying all of the best places to do these kind of projects in the city of L.A." A $7.5 billion state bond approved by voters last November includes about $200 million for stormwater projects.
April 8, 2015
Fellow Story

Disadvantaged Communities Visioning Workshop

Across the prosperous state of California communities struggle to achieve clean, safe and affordable water in their taps and streams. Fellows Mike Antos and Carolina Balazs report on the outcome of a Switzer Network Innovation Grant aimed at providing the state's Department of Water Resources with policy and practice recommendations to ensure environmental justice is integrated into future funding and planning decisions.
April 6, 2015
Fellow Story

Hansen quoted in Wall Street Journal on roll back of West Virginia's storage tank rules

From The Wall Street Journal: West Virginia lawmakers approved a measure on Saturday to roll back strict water-protection rules enacted last year after a chemical spill contaminated drinking water for 300,000 people in West Virginia’s capital. ... Environmental groups fought the measure. "It reduces the regulation of tens of thousands of above-ground storage tanks, some of which have the potential to contaminate drinking water," said Evan Hansen, president of Downstream Strategies, an environmental consulting company based in Morgantown, W.Va.
April 2, 2015
Fellow Story

Steele quoted on L.A.'s quest to 'sponge up' every bit of rainwater

In the past, every time it rained, says Nancy Steele, the city was wasting precious water it didn't even use. The executive director of the Council for Watershed Health, Steele helped plan the Elmer Avenue Neighbourhood Retrofit, and she points to what looks like a normal storm drain. "There's no bottom," she says, pointing to a retrofitted stormdrain. "A normal storm drain would be all concrete. It would direct the water into the storm drain system, which would take the water into, in our case, the L.A. River."
March 30, 2015