The Impacts of California's Drought on Hydroelectricity Production

The Pacific Institute just released a report that evaluates how California’s drought has resulted in less energy produced by hydroelectric dams and a greater reliance on the more expensive process of burning natural gas.   The current severe drought has many negative consequences. One of them that receives little attention is how the drought has fundamentally … Read more

California Has About One Year of Water Left. Will You Ration Now?

Op-Ed published in LA Times March 12, 2015 By: Jay Famiglietti Given the historic low temperatures and snowfalls that pummeled the eastern U.S. this winter, it might be easy to overlook how devastating California’s winter was as well. As our “wet” season draws to a close, it is clear that the paltry rain and snowfall … Read more

Learning from Yesterdays Mistakes to Avoid Tomorrows Tragedies

Though humans have lived along the bountiful shores and rivers of the far North Coast for tens of thousands of years, the span of our now-dominant civilization’s history here has only begun to exceed a century and a half. Looking particularly at the environmental history of the Eel River, it’s striking that some of the … Read more