California’s Water Economy: An Overview

By Edward Ring
07/10/2024
If energy powers civilization, water gives it life. One of the biggest challenges of our time is to develop the means to deliver both of these essentials in abundance, while also keeping them affordable and ecologically sustainable. We believe this is possible with common sense solutions that balance the needs of people with the needs...

TAGS: California water policy, water storage

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

Rebuilding California’s Infrastructure (Introduction)

By Jill Eicher
11/23/2016
Part 1 of 6 Part Series This is Part One of “Rebuilding California’s Infrastructure,” to access the other five sections, click on the links below. To access the entire six-part study in a single, printable PDF document, DOWNLOAD HERE. Part One: Introduction Part Two: Water Reuse Part Three: Water Storage Part Four: Desalination Part Five: Energy and Transportation...

TAGS: California infrastructure, desalination, energy infrastructure, financing infrastructure, infrastructure, sewage reuse, transportation infrastructure, water reuse, water storage