California Holds the Key to Western Water Security

By Edward Ring
05/15/2023
Dams and aqueducts on the Colorado River make civilization possible in the American Southwest. But for the last 20 years, as a prolonged drought has gripped the region, withdrawals from the river have averaged 15 million acre-feet per year, while inflows into Lake Mead and Lake Powell have averaged only 12 million acre feet per year. For the first...

TAGS: California water policy, tiered water rates, water infrastructure solutions, water rationing, water reuse, water storage

Cleaning Bay Source Pollution Will Enable More Delta Diversions

By Edward Ring
04/10/2023
On February 21, the California State Water Resources Control Board waived environmental regulations in order to permit more storage in Central Valley reservoirs. This came a week after Governor Gavin Newsom temporarily suspended environmental laws that prevent reservoir storage if flow through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta falls below 58,000 acre feet per day. A guest opinion piece...

TAGS: California water policy, water infrastructure solutions, water rationing, water reuse, water storage

Questions About Water for Governor Newsom

By Edward Ring
08/26/2022
  Borrowing a page from the More Water Now campaign, which unsuccessfully attempted earlier this year to qualify a water funding initiative for the November 2022 ballot, Governor Newsom announced a new water supply strategy on August 11. Perhaps with the presidency in mind, or perhaps because he really means it, Newsom’s remarks were surprisingly accommodating towards those of us who...

TAGS: California water policy, environmentalism, Gavin Newsom, Newsom, water rationing, water reuse, water storage

The Abundance Choice: The Complete Series

By Editorial Staff
06/16/2022
Note: This webpage is dedicated to the complete The Abundance Choice series by Edward Ring. In this series, Edward Ring, a contributing editor and senior fellow with the California Policy Center, examines California’s ongoing water crisis and the many years of failed water policies that got us here. Ring outlines the challenges facing California’s leaders...

TAGS: California water policy, Edward Ring, environmentalism, water rationing, water reuse, water storage

The Abundance Choice – Part 3: The Mechanics of Ballot Initiatives

By Edward Ring
06/14/2022
Editor’s note: This is the third article in a series on California’s water crisis. You can read the entire series including recent updates in his new book “The Abundance Choice, Our Fight for More Water in California.” By the spring of 2021, it was obvious the California State Legislature would not change its inadequate approach...

TAGS: California water policy, Edward Ring, water rationing, water storage

The Abundance Choice – Part 1: California’s Failing Water Policies

By Edward Ring
05/27/2022
Editor’s note: This is the first article in a series on California’s water crisis. You can read the entire series including recent updates in his new book “The Abundance Choice, Our Fight for More Water in California.” In October and again in December, as the third severe drought this century was entering its third year,...

TAGS: California, California water policy, Edward Ring, water rationing, water storage

Using Online Resources to Qualify Ballot Measures

By Edward Ring
01/29/2020
There is a mass delusion afflicting millions of Californians. They endure a cost-of-living nearly twice the national average, high taxes, the highest incidence of poverty, the most hostile business climate, some of the worst K-12 schools, well over a $1.0 trillion in bond and pension debt, unaffordable homes, among the highest prices in the nation for gasoline and electricity, water rationing, and they drive on congested and decaying...

TAGS: Edward Ring, Edward Ring, Gavin Newsom, homelessness, water rationing

Water Rationing Laws Exemplify the Malthusian Mentality of California’s Legislators

By Edward Ring
06/12/2018
As reported in the Sacramento Bee and elsewhere, on May 31st Gov. Jerry Brown “signed a pair of bills Thursday to set permanent overall targets for indoor and outdoor water consumption.” After pressure from the Association of California Water Agencies and others, the final form of these bills, Assembly Bill 1668 by Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Glendale,...

TAGS: water rationing